manfromafrica1
Registered Users (C)
We had a successful interview in London on Wednesday 10th Sept which brought to an end 7 years of trying for DV visa.
My wife was the principal applicant (qualified through my birth) and overall it was not as traumatizing as expected, in fact we were in shock as to how quick and informal it was.
The process is more or less as per the experience of gooma
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=1954569&mode=linear#post1954569
However, there were slight variations perhaps because of individual circumstances.
Important Points / Lessons to Note:
1. Do not bring any electronic devices with you to the Embassy.
A fellow African couple had a bitter bitter start to their CP because although they were in front of us in a long que for the security check (7.40 am for 8.00 am appt), they were all flustered when they were informed that the gentleman could not take his electronic device into the embassy and was given a map with directions of where he could go store the item (I believe these people charge £10 per item). He was remonstrating with the security guy as to why this was not indicated on his letter and was informed that he should have checked on the embassy website.
2. Once into the building we were given our number (we were scheduled 4th in the immigrant visa category). First number was called at 8.00 am.
We were summoned to counter 1X at around 8.45 where the lady asked for passports first.
We had all our documents in order as per the letter i.e. A, B, C etc however, she did not follow that order so we were providing the relevant docs as per her request. The order was All originals of applicant first followed by photo copies and then for beneficiaries.
She also asked for two copies of our marriage certificates even though we only have one original and we provided a copy already ( I suppose they require one for applicant and another for beneficiary).
Another thing that surprised me was that she did not specify which documents she required or did not require apart from the bank statements. (She was just following the requirement category - she asked Q. "evidence of Qualifications ?", gave her degree certificate and transcript - asked her if she also required school leaving certificate to which she replied, everything you have. So gave her everything, but, she only required the first page of our bank statements i.e., the one showing current balance on each account for the latest month (we took an original set and copies for each account for the last year).
We were asked to go and pay (for all three of us) and I was again puzzled as my thorough research including experiences on this forum suggested that only the first applicant had to pay first in case your visa was denied (benificiaries would not loose fees paid).
There was some delay when it came to figure printing as these had to done several times due to some technical problems with computer system.
After paying she gave us a pink form for the couriers to be filled and she said that we were to wait for the announcement to be made for our interview.
3. No sooner had we paid, our number was called to window 1X where we were greeted by a nice American gentleman who I presumed was the Vice Counsel (from the rubber stamp he had ). He told us to take an oath that all information was true and went through our documents and was examining the police certificates in detail. When it came to my wifes qualifications he took out a manual which had information on various countries, thoroughly looked at degree certificate, transcripts and went through her school leaving certificates and transcript (counted subjects and looked at grades).
He was friendly and only asked three questions :
a. Why do you want to go to the US? (reply: family there, husband qualified therefore good prospects to get job and settle and British weather).
b. Which state are you going to in the US? (Texas - he joked that it was warm there and told my daughter that it was closer to Disneyland))
c. Who provided Affidavit of Support?
He apologized for the computer problems and congratulated on our visa and wished us good luck in the US.
4. From our experience,
a. Never give up hope (after years to trying and waiting anxiously each year for the notification letter we were not going to try anymore and felt there was no chance but luck was on our side and we just made it in the last bulletin for Africa CN).
b. Keep it simple and stick to the requirements as stated in the letter and information on this forum. Make sure the information you provide in the first reply to KCC is accurate.
c. Do thorough research and diligent preparation - i.e., have your documents ready and verified, be at the embassy before time and don't bring your electronic note book as this will add more pressure and sour your experience.
d. bring as much supporting evidence as possible i.e., transcripts of your qualifications to avoid delays on visa issuance.
I am now changing my user name from: Manfromafrica to "Coming To America"
Thank you to all on this forum particularly to those on London Interview Preparation ... messers:abeku66 (sorry could not post earlier otherwise you could have known about transcript requirement even at short notice) , gooma, davo macon (hope your visa comes through soon).
My wife was the principal applicant (qualified through my birth) and overall it was not as traumatizing as expected, in fact we were in shock as to how quick and informal it was.
The process is more or less as per the experience of gooma
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=1954569&mode=linear#post1954569
However, there were slight variations perhaps because of individual circumstances.
Important Points / Lessons to Note:
1. Do not bring any electronic devices with you to the Embassy.
A fellow African couple had a bitter bitter start to their CP because although they were in front of us in a long que for the security check (7.40 am for 8.00 am appt), they were all flustered when they were informed that the gentleman could not take his electronic device into the embassy and was given a map with directions of where he could go store the item (I believe these people charge £10 per item). He was remonstrating with the security guy as to why this was not indicated on his letter and was informed that he should have checked on the embassy website.
2. Once into the building we were given our number (we were scheduled 4th in the immigrant visa category). First number was called at 8.00 am.
We were summoned to counter 1X at around 8.45 where the lady asked for passports first.
We had all our documents in order as per the letter i.e. A, B, C etc however, she did not follow that order so we were providing the relevant docs as per her request. The order was All originals of applicant first followed by photo copies and then for beneficiaries.
She also asked for two copies of our marriage certificates even though we only have one original and we provided a copy already ( I suppose they require one for applicant and another for beneficiary).
Another thing that surprised me was that she did not specify which documents she required or did not require apart from the bank statements. (She was just following the requirement category - she asked Q. "evidence of Qualifications ?", gave her degree certificate and transcript - asked her if she also required school leaving certificate to which she replied, everything you have. So gave her everything, but, she only required the first page of our bank statements i.e., the one showing current balance on each account for the latest month (we took an original set and copies for each account for the last year).
We were asked to go and pay (for all three of us) and I was again puzzled as my thorough research including experiences on this forum suggested that only the first applicant had to pay first in case your visa was denied (benificiaries would not loose fees paid).
There was some delay when it came to figure printing as these had to done several times due to some technical problems with computer system.
After paying she gave us a pink form for the couriers to be filled and she said that we were to wait for the announcement to be made for our interview.
3. No sooner had we paid, our number was called to window 1X where we were greeted by a nice American gentleman who I presumed was the Vice Counsel (from the rubber stamp he had ). He told us to take an oath that all information was true and went through our documents and was examining the police certificates in detail. When it came to my wifes qualifications he took out a manual which had information on various countries, thoroughly looked at degree certificate, transcripts and went through her school leaving certificates and transcript (counted subjects and looked at grades).
He was friendly and only asked three questions :
a. Why do you want to go to the US? (reply: family there, husband qualified therefore good prospects to get job and settle and British weather).
b. Which state are you going to in the US? (Texas - he joked that it was warm there and told my daughter that it was closer to Disneyland))
c. Who provided Affidavit of Support?
He apologized for the computer problems and congratulated on our visa and wished us good luck in the US.
4. From our experience,
a. Never give up hope (after years to trying and waiting anxiously each year for the notification letter we were not going to try anymore and felt there was no chance but luck was on our side and we just made it in the last bulletin for Africa CN).
b. Keep it simple and stick to the requirements as stated in the letter and information on this forum. Make sure the information you provide in the first reply to KCC is accurate.
c. Do thorough research and diligent preparation - i.e., have your documents ready and verified, be at the embassy before time and don't bring your electronic note book as this will add more pressure and sour your experience.
d. bring as much supporting evidence as possible i.e., transcripts of your qualifications to avoid delays on visa issuance.
I am now changing my user name from: Manfromafrica to "Coming To America"
Thank you to all on this forum particularly to those on London Interview Preparation ... messers:abeku66 (sorry could not post earlier otherwise you could have known about transcript requirement even at short notice) , gooma, davo macon (hope your visa comes through soon).
