Hello everyone,
So as promised I'm going to share with you all my Interview experience, hopefully it will help out some of you.
(BTW, this was all the way back in February, so I might not remember everything and get some details wrong). I'm going to try be as detailed as I can, I'm breaking this up into 3 parts (Before Interview, Interview, and POE), so if you're only interested in the interview itself, skip the first one
PRE-INTERVIEW
Flew into London from Jersey Channel Islands (JER - LCY) the day before as I had to be at the Embassy for 8am, so gave myself enough time to prepare and at least try and get some sleep before the big day.
I was staying at a Premier Inn in the Docklands area so 7.30am it was straight onto the DLR to Canning Town and then the Jubilee line to Bond Street (if I remember correctly?). It took about 30min. From Bond Street it was only about a 10min walk to the Embassy.
Once I arrived, around 8.20am, the two queue's outside were already big, and just kept growing. The first and smaller line of people was to register and let them know that you got here and waiting. I think I had to present my invitation letter, which I got about 3 weeks prior, and the 2nd NL. Then it was onto the 2nd, bigger line to go through security (just like a mini airport version kinda thing). This takes a while btw!
Once inside, got a number issued for me at the reception, which was a sticky label that went on my passport. Went into the massive waiting area which was almost full, managed to find a seat, and then my patience was tested...
INTERVIEW
About 2 hours later, my number finally came up on the screen for the 1st time out of 2. Went up to the designated window and was greeted by a guy in his 30s, was quite nice and just asked me one by one for the relevant documents.
- He asked if I had an Affidavit of Support, which I did not, so instead handed him my most recent bank statement. On there, I had £5,000 ($8,400) which of course I was worried about, but much before that, I decided that I might as well give this my best shot anyway. It was worth it.
The guy didn't really say much - he asked when I was planning on moving, where about, and if I had anyone to stay with/knew anyone (in a chitchat, non-interview manner, though I'm sure it counted just as much as I seen him write one of my answers down) to which I replied June - July, Virginia Beach, VA, and with a friend that I knew there. After this he told me to go to the window next to him and pay, and to go back to the waiting room and wait for my number to be called up again, then he wished me good luck. All in all this lasted about 5 minutes.
Back to the waiting room it was - about 1h30min later I was called in again, heart pounding, greeted by a smiley, African-American lady in her mid-20s.
She asked me very general questions:
- Are you married?
- Have you ever served in the military?
- Have you got any criminal convictions?
- When are you planning on going?
Before, on the forms that I had sent off to the KCC, I did not put an address for where I would like my GC to be mailed, she noticed this and asked me if I had one to provide her with now, so I gave her my friends' one.
Now this is the part I was MOST worried about... REGARDING my education, as said in posts before - She picked up my BTEC diploma and asked if this was my HS diploma equivalent, to which I said 'I think so'. I was so overwhelmed and heart pounding that I couldn't possibly get any more out of me. She just smiled, put it down and said 'Alright, great', and moved on. That's it. Nothing else about this.
Not a word was mentioned about my finances.
Next she's done a whole bunch of typing around on the computer, paused for a second, looked at me, smiled and said 'Congratulations Sir, your visa has been granted'. I almost fainted and my jaw must have dropped because she just said 'It's all real, don't worry'. I can't really remember what else I said at that point.
After this she confirmed with me that I wanted my visa mailed to Southampton (I chose this a couple of days before, on an online website, as Jersey wasn't an option). Exchanged a couple more words, expressed my gratitude and wished each other a nice day. My way back to the hotel after this was just a blur.
All in all, I was at the embassy from 8.30am to about 11.30am but the actual interview only lasted about 7 minutes.
I think I was very lucky with the CO I got, as I've heard the London Embassy is more on the strict side of things.
POE
My Port of Entry decision changed eventually and I ended up choosing Las Vegas, Nevada as my destination. This was because it is much cheaper than most major cities, and I'm not much of a spender so it was a perfect combo.
More to the point, and I'll try to keep this short:
15th of July, I flew Jersey States Airport - London Gatwick - McCarran Intl (JER - LGW - LAS)
From Jersey to Gatwick only took 45min as it always does, once there I had 40min to get through the mini security for connecting flights, it only took about 10 so I had plenty of time to get myself a drink and slowly make my way to the gate.
Flight from LGW to LAS took 10h30min and it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. Got to see beautiful Greenland though.
Once there I lined up for the massive queue going through Immigration, the CBP officer took my passport, looked at my visa and asked what DV1 was, I said it stood for 'Diversity', he didn't really seem to get it when I told him about the lottery, joked that it didn't look like me on my passport and visa photos and referred me to a supervisor. Got escorted to a separate room with about 3 other people there, my envelope handed in to one of the people, 5min later I was called in to the desk.
The officer asked me if I was immigrating here today, to which I said yes, and he just replied 'Well Welcome to the United States' in a sort of bored tone. He was overall quite nice though. He proceeded to take another finger print with a black chalk thing that stained and noted that the mailing address for my GC was in Virginia Beach, VA and asked if I needed to change it, which I did.
That was about it, although on my way out I went out the wrong door and set the alarm off which was extremely embarrassing, I got a few dirty looks off of other officers and quickly walked off. Haha
Picked up my bag from the carousel and on my way out handed in the Customs Declaration form at the last checkpoint. That was it. I walked out and was free to go. Amazing, overwhelming experience.
I know this was extremely lengthy, but hopefully it'll help someone. Any questions please ask Thank you everyone!
So as promised I'm going to share with you all my Interview experience, hopefully it will help out some of you.
(BTW, this was all the way back in February, so I might not remember everything and get some details wrong). I'm going to try be as detailed as I can, I'm breaking this up into 3 parts (Before Interview, Interview, and POE), so if you're only interested in the interview itself, skip the first one PRE-INTERVIEW
Flew into London from Jersey Channel Islands (JER - LCY) the day before as I had to be at the Embassy for 8am, so gave myself enough time to prepare and at least try and get some sleep before the big day.
I was staying at a Premier Inn in the Docklands area so 7.30am it was straight onto the DLR to Canning Town and then the Jubilee line to Bond Street (if I remember correctly?). It took about 30min. From Bond Street it was only about a 10min walk to the Embassy.
Once I arrived, around 8.20am, the two queue's outside were already big, and just kept growing. The first and smaller line of people was to register and let them know that you got here and waiting. I think I had to present my invitation letter, which I got about 3 weeks prior, and the 2nd NL. Then it was onto the 2nd, bigger line to go through security (just like a mini airport version kinda thing). This takes a while btw!
Once inside, got a number issued for me at the reception, which was a sticky label that went on my passport. Went into the massive waiting area which was almost full, managed to find a seat, and then my patience was tested...
INTERVIEW
About 2 hours later, my number finally came up on the screen for the 1st time out of 2. Went up to the designated window and was greeted by a guy in his 30s, was quite nice and just asked me one by one for the relevant documents.
- He asked if I had an Affidavit of Support, which I did not, so instead handed him my most recent bank statement. On there, I had £5,000 ($8,400) which of course I was worried about, but much before that, I decided that I might as well give this my best shot anyway. It was worth it.
The guy didn't really say much - he asked when I was planning on moving, where about, and if I had anyone to stay with/knew anyone (in a chitchat, non-interview manner, though I'm sure it counted just as much as I seen him write one of my answers down) to which I replied June - July, Virginia Beach, VA, and with a friend that I knew there. After this he told me to go to the window next to him and pay, and to go back to the waiting room and wait for my number to be called up again, then he wished me good luck. All in all this lasted about 5 minutes.
Back to the waiting room it was - about 1h30min later I was called in again, heart pounding, greeted by a smiley, African-American lady in her mid-20s.
She asked me very general questions:
- Are you married?
- Have you ever served in the military?
- Have you got any criminal convictions?
- When are you planning on going?
Before, on the forms that I had sent off to the KCC, I did not put an address for where I would like my GC to be mailed, she noticed this and asked me if I had one to provide her with now, so I gave her my friends' one.
Now this is the part I was MOST worried about... REGARDING my education, as said in posts before - She picked up my BTEC diploma and asked if this was my HS diploma equivalent, to which I said 'I think so'. I was so overwhelmed and heart pounding that I couldn't possibly get any more out of me. She just smiled, put it down and said 'Alright, great', and moved on. That's it. Nothing else about this.
Not a word was mentioned about my finances.
Next she's done a whole bunch of typing around on the computer, paused for a second, looked at me, smiled and said 'Congratulations Sir, your visa has been granted'. I almost fainted and my jaw must have dropped because she just said 'It's all real, don't worry'. I can't really remember what else I said at that point.
After this she confirmed with me that I wanted my visa mailed to Southampton (I chose this a couple of days before, on an online website, as Jersey wasn't an option). Exchanged a couple more words, expressed my gratitude and wished each other a nice day. My way back to the hotel after this was just a blur.
All in all, I was at the embassy from 8.30am to about 11.30am but the actual interview only lasted about 7 minutes.
I think I was very lucky with the CO I got, as I've heard the London Embassy is more on the strict side of things.
POE
My Port of Entry decision changed eventually and I ended up choosing Las Vegas, Nevada as my destination. This was because it is much cheaper than most major cities, and I'm not much of a spender so it was a perfect combo.
More to the point, and I'll try to keep this short:
15th of July, I flew Jersey States Airport - London Gatwick - McCarran Intl (JER - LGW - LAS)
From Jersey to Gatwick only took 45min as it always does, once there I had 40min to get through the mini security for connecting flights, it only took about 10 so I had plenty of time to get myself a drink and slowly make my way to the gate.
Flight from LGW to LAS took 10h30min and it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. Got to see beautiful Greenland though.
Once there I lined up for the massive queue going through Immigration, the CBP officer took my passport, looked at my visa and asked what DV1 was, I said it stood for 'Diversity', he didn't really seem to get it when I told him about the lottery, joked that it didn't look like me on my passport and visa photos and referred me to a supervisor. Got escorted to a separate room with about 3 other people there, my envelope handed in to one of the people, 5min later I was called in to the desk.
The officer asked me if I was immigrating here today, to which I said yes, and he just replied 'Well Welcome to the United States' in a sort of bored tone. He was overall quite nice though. He proceeded to take another finger print with a black chalk thing that stained and noted that the mailing address for my GC was in Virginia Beach, VA and asked if I needed to change it, which I did.
That was about it, although on my way out I went out the wrong door and set the alarm off which was extremely embarrassing, I got a few dirty looks off of other officers and quickly walked off. Haha
Picked up my bag from the carousel and on my way out handed in the Customs Declaration form at the last checkpoint. That was it. I walked out and was free to go. Amazing, overwhelming experience.
I know this was extremely lengthy, but hopefully it'll help someone. Any questions please ask
Thank you everyone!
