First and foremost, I like to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone on this forum. Ever since I stumbled across this forum many months ago, It has kept me sane. Many nights I lay awake in worry, the only place to come for answers or comfort is here. I wish everyone’s prayers and dreams come true.
Well my interview date was December 20. I arrived in London with my wife on the 19th. I had read from this forum about the different size of photographs required by the London Consulate. Although I already have some pictures from US, I went to one of the designated photographers by the Consulate. The place is called ‘Passport Photo Service’ opposite Selfridges in London and above ‘Phones-4-U’. They were very professional. It cost £5.25 for 4 photographs and took minutes. They also cut the photos to the exact size required.
The next day (the interview date). Myself and my wife arrived at the embassy at about 7.15 a.m – because of heightened security the embassy is surrounded by fencing and there is only one entrance to the embassy which remains closed until 8am (near North Audley Street). Whilst the gates were closed we went for coffee at a café on North Audley Street (a minute walk from the gate and a godsend on a cold dark morning!). At about 7.55 a.m we went back to the embassy, now there were a few people on the line. All visa applicants (non immigrants and immigrants) were on the line. At about 8.05 a.m the gate was opened and they asked for people with an appointment letter to step up, some people in the front did not have a letter, so we went to the front of the line. The man at the gate checked our letter across his list and in we go. At the main entrance to the consulate, they asked us to pass our bag through a metal detector and each person also had to walk through the metal detector (Security was tight as expected, but the security people were very nice). Once we passed through, up some flight of steps, through a door and we saw 6 cubicles. There was instructions advising people to report at cubicle 2 or 3. There were very few people, so we went straight to one of the empty cubicles. The staff (English personnel) were VERY friendly they asked ONLY for the original documents requested in packet 4. These are
Passport
DS230 - Part 2
Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Police Certificates (UK and Nigerian for me)
Notarized Affidavit of Support (for my wife)
Notarized Employment letter
Form 9003
No specific order was required. They took the originals and photocopies. We were asked to go and pay the application fee ($260 per person), after which we sat down and waited. 20 minutes later we were called by another guy (who is American), he was very friendly. He located the current H1 visa in my passport, and said, ‘yeah that’s what I want’, he looked at the Employment letter, and joked that the salary was just about enough to live on in New York! He also asked where my office is located (I use to be at World Financial Center). I told him where we relocated to. At that point he told us to sign DS230 Part 2. He also gave us another form to sign, The form basically said that if I lost my job before returning to the US I should let them know. He explained that we have to sign it because the employment is the whole basis of the Immigrant Visa. Then he advised us to go and do the Medicals and return by 12p.m, he said once everything is OK they will have a visa for us.
He also returned the originals of our documents except the Employment Letter. The whole interview took 5 minutes!!
So off we raced to the Doctor’s office which is located at 53 Great Cumberland Street. The embassy provides a map. This is roughly 10 minutes walk from the embassy. When we got there, the guy at the door checked our passport, gave us an instruction sheet which details the documents required. These are:
Passport
Medical Questionnaire
Passport Photograph
Vaccination record (if you have any)
After gathering the documents in
Well my interview date was December 20. I arrived in London with my wife on the 19th. I had read from this forum about the different size of photographs required by the London Consulate. Although I already have some pictures from US, I went to one of the designated photographers by the Consulate. The place is called ‘Passport Photo Service’ opposite Selfridges in London and above ‘Phones-4-U’. They were very professional. It cost £5.25 for 4 photographs and took minutes. They also cut the photos to the exact size required.
The next day (the interview date). Myself and my wife arrived at the embassy at about 7.15 a.m – because of heightened security the embassy is surrounded by fencing and there is only one entrance to the embassy which remains closed until 8am (near North Audley Street). Whilst the gates were closed we went for coffee at a café on North Audley Street (a minute walk from the gate and a godsend on a cold dark morning!). At about 7.55 a.m we went back to the embassy, now there were a few people on the line. All visa applicants (non immigrants and immigrants) were on the line. At about 8.05 a.m the gate was opened and they asked for people with an appointment letter to step up, some people in the front did not have a letter, so we went to the front of the line. The man at the gate checked our letter across his list and in we go. At the main entrance to the consulate, they asked us to pass our bag through a metal detector and each person also had to walk through the metal detector (Security was tight as expected, but the security people were very nice). Once we passed through, up some flight of steps, through a door and we saw 6 cubicles. There was instructions advising people to report at cubicle 2 or 3. There were very few people, so we went straight to one of the empty cubicles. The staff (English personnel) were VERY friendly they asked ONLY for the original documents requested in packet 4. These are
Passport
DS230 - Part 2
Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Police Certificates (UK and Nigerian for me)
Notarized Affidavit of Support (for my wife)
Notarized Employment letter
Form 9003
No specific order was required. They took the originals and photocopies. We were asked to go and pay the application fee ($260 per person), after which we sat down and waited. 20 minutes later we were called by another guy (who is American), he was very friendly. He located the current H1 visa in my passport, and said, ‘yeah that’s what I want’, he looked at the Employment letter, and joked that the salary was just about enough to live on in New York! He also asked where my office is located (I use to be at World Financial Center). I told him where we relocated to. At that point he told us to sign DS230 Part 2. He also gave us another form to sign, The form basically said that if I lost my job before returning to the US I should let them know. He explained that we have to sign it because the employment is the whole basis of the Immigrant Visa. Then he advised us to go and do the Medicals and return by 12p.m, he said once everything is OK they will have a visa for us.
He also returned the originals of our documents except the Employment Letter. The whole interview took 5 minutes!!
So off we raced to the Doctor’s office which is located at 53 Great Cumberland Street. The embassy provides a map. This is roughly 10 minutes walk from the embassy. When we got there, the guy at the door checked our passport, gave us an instruction sheet which details the documents required. These are:
Passport
Medical Questionnaire
Passport Photograph
Vaccination record (if you have any)
After gathering the documents in