Update: Carla’s K-1 interview took place in 2012. It’s highly likely that some parts of the interview process will have changed since then – for example, we’ve recently read that it’s now okay to take phones into the Embassy. For that reason, we recommend that you read Carla’s experience to give you a general idea of what might happen, or just out of interest to see what her interview was like – but also check some more up-to-date accounts, to give you a fuller picture. Remember also that internet reports are no substitute for expert advice from an immigration attorney or qualified professional.
One of the most dreaded parts of the K-1 visa process is the Embassy/Consulate Interview. The day of the interview is Decision Day; it’s the day when you gather up all the documents you’ve been preparing over the last few months, and you take them all to the Embassy to submit your visa application to the consular official. It’s the day when you put your future into the hands of the Embassy, and hope that they will believe that your relationship is genuine, and that you are deserving of a U.S. visa. If they do, you can start to look forward to a new life with the one you love. If they don’t, well, that doesn’t bear thinking about!
Please remember that every Embassy does things differently, and also that visa applications are all dealt with on an individual basis. So we don’t claim that the visa interview experience will be the same for everyone; quite the opposite, in fact.
Carla’s note was originally published on our Facebook page shortly after the interview. It’s long and detailed, because so many people asked her to write it that way. Here it is:
My K-1 interview took place at the U.S. Embassy in London on 24th May 2012. I woke up at the ridiculously early time of 4:00am (having sacrificed some of my usual time on Skype the night before, in order to go to sleep at 12:30am instead of 3:30am!) – and I made my way to the station to catch the 5:56am train.
I arrived at London Waterloo at 7:07am and took the Jubilee line (just three stations) to Bond Street. From there, it was a pleasant walk down an unusually-quiet Oxford Street, and then a left turn into North Audley Street, towards Grosvenor Gardens, and the U.S. Embassy was on the right. It’s good to allow 15-20 minutes for this walk. The embassy is easily recognisable because of the row of flags outside it. I reached the Embassy at 7:36am, and was surprised to see quite a lot of people waiting outside. At first, I thought that perhaps they were waiting for something else – but then I decided they they all seemed to be carrying documents, and joined the end of the line.
I had lots of documents and forms with me. For a complete list, please see: “Forms and documents Carla took to her K-1 visa interview“.
The line moved quickly, and within moments I reached the first set of officers, who asked me for my passport and the visa appointment letter. That’s not the MRV application fee receipt, but the actual appointment letter I’d received in the mail a few weeks before. I was glad I’d put that letter, and the passport, at the front of all the paperwork!
I was asked if I had a mobile phone or any electronic devices with me, and then was given a clear plastic bag to put my watch in, and any loose change, or a belt, if I’d had those things. Then I joined the line of people again.
Important note: Mobile phones, laptops, cameras, Kindles, iPods – and any other kinds of electronic devices – are not allowed in the Embassy. If you take them with you to London, you can leave them at Gould’s Pharmacy in North Audley Street, where they will hold them for you for a “small fee”. You should do this before you arrive at the Embassy (the pharmacy opens early), because there’s no point in queueing outside the Embassy if you still have your phone with you. Alternatively, you should make sure you bring a friend with you, to look after everything while you’re inside the building.
On the subject of friends: the U.S. Embassy in London is located in Grosvenor Square, which is a lovely park, with plenty of seating and grass. Just around the corner are lots of shops and places to eat – so if you bring someone with you, they will find lots to do while they wait. Just make sure you agree on how to find each other afterwards, especially if your friend is looking after your phone for you!
So… back to the line. Just a few moments later, I was called forward by a security officer, who again checked my passport and appointment letter, and indicated that I should join a small line of people outside an airport-style security building. I was beckoned inside, where I loaded all my paperwork into plastic trays, put my bag on a conveyor belt, and walked through a security arch, holding my breath as I waited for the “beeeep”… which didn’t come. Then I gathered up all my stuff, and was told to “PULL HARD” on the door leading out of the security building, and to “follow the yellow VISA signs.” That was easy enough, and I followed the signs pointing right, then left, then up some stairs and into the Embassy building.
The reception desk was right in front of me, and I was asked for my appointment letter again, but not my passport this time. I was given a ticket number: I906, and a sticky label was placed on my appointment letter – perhaps in case I was going to be too nervous to remember the number otherwise! Then I went up a short flight of stairs, and into the waiting area.
It was 7:49am. The waiting area was a huge room – not impressive to look at, but rather like a cross between a school hall and an airport lounge. There was a row of large screens across the middle of the room, and rows of chairs facing them – ten rows of twelve seats on one side, and fifteen rows on the other side. Knowing that my eyesight isn’t great, I sat in a seat close to where the screens were – just in case they were going to have some important information on them! On the right-hand side of the room were eleven (numbered) windows, like the ones you’d see in a bank or post office – and there was a sign indicating that windows 12-25 were around the corner.
It was very hot in the waiting area. There were floor-to-ceiling windows on one side that looked out over the park. The floor-standing fans weren’t switched on until later, and there seemed to be no air-conditioning. There was an area at the far end of the room with what looked like tea and coffee, plus cold drinks – but I didn’t investigate further, in case something important happened while I was messing around with drinks. Yes, I was a bit nervous.
At 8:00am came the first announcement: “Now serving N1 at Window 1”, followed quickly by other N numbers up to 10 – but with no sign of any number starting with “I”. I began to realise that non-immigrant visa applicants were clearly in the majority here. Five minutes later, the first immigrant visa number was called, “I901 at Window 14”. The screens in the middle of the room started showing lists of numbers – the number was shown once as it was announced, then was swiftly replaced by the next number. But there was also a screen with a full list of every ticket number and its corresponding window.
Progress was fast for “N” ticket holders. Number N31 was being served by the time immigrant visa number I903 was called to a window… and N90 was called to a window by the time 8:30 arrived. It feels as though you’re holding a ticket number that’s been forgotten about, as endless “N” numbers are called!
At 8:35am, “Now serving I906 at Window 14”. Yay! My number! I found the right window, and a friendly (English) guy was there, with a pink folder containing all the stuff Larry and I had previously sent to the Embassy. He asked me if I had made any travel plans, then took my passport and appointment letter, and disappeared into the back office for a while. When he returned, he asked me for two passport photos (U.S. size, not U.K. size) I waited patiently while he did a lot of checking things on his computer screen, and stapled each of the photos to a couple of forms.
Note: There is a photo booth at the Embassy, which appears to give two U.S. size passport photos for just £5.00 (you’ll need coins for this). This is much less expensive than the cost of the same thing at most high-street photography places, and I was annoyed to have paid £14.95 for the same thing, just the day before. But I wouldn’t recommend that you wait until you get to the Embassy to get your passport photos. If the machine had broken down and was out of use, it would be too late to get the pictures that are so important for your visa application. It was being used quite a bit… but seemingly for people who had arrived at the Embassy with U.K. size photos rather than U.S. size.
Back at the window… my next task was to have my fingerprints taken. There was a fingerprint scanner at the window, and I was asked to put the fingers of my left hand on the scanner, then my right hand. After that, both thumbprints were taken together, and I was instructed to stand back, then reach the scanner with my arms straight, to ensure that both thumbprints would be scanned properly. After that, I was given my K-156 forms to sign. These were the ones that I’d previously sent to the Embassy, unsigned.
After that, I was asked for a series of documents, plus the photocopies to go with them. These were the documents that were requested (but please bear in mind that this was just my interview. Other interviews will be different):
- Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fee receipt (to prove that your fees have been paid in advance);
- Birth certificate original, plus photocopy;
- Birth certificates of any accompanying children, plus photocopies:
- Signed and notarised consent form, or custody agreement (for accompanying children), plus photocopy:
- Evidence of termination of previous marriage, plus photocopy:
- Police certificate, plus photocopy:
- I-134 Affidavit of Support (from petitioner), plus photocopy;
- Petitioner’s Tax Return;
- Petitioner’s Certificate of Employment.
The consular official also checked that I had my vaccination worksheet, which had been given to me at my medical exam – and said that I would need to have it with me on arrival in the U.S, along with all the other documents I had just given to him. He took my phone number, and said that all the original documents would be returned to me. Then he gave me a CD in an envelope, and said that it contained my chest x-ray from the medical exam (yay! exciting!) and that I would need that for when I entered the U.S. Then I was given a pink Courier Delivery Form, and asked to go back to the waiting area and complete the form with my address details, so that I’d be able to get my documents sent back to me.
I went back to the waiting area at 8:55am. That first interview had taken 20 minutes.
After I’d filled in my name and address details on the Courier Delivery Form, I sat for a few minutes, then casually turned the form over, to look at the back – and it was marked “PLEASE READ THIS LETTER CAREFULLY”. Oops. I’d nearly missed it!
The letter said, “You have just completed stage 1 of the visa interview process by submitting your visa application to the consular official. Please take a seat and wait until your ticket number is announced before proceeding to stage two – the Visa Interview.” It went on: “Due to the number of visas processed daily, applicants should anticipate a wait of several hours before they are called for an interview”.
I stayed in my seat, and prepared myself for a long wait. I’d brought a book with me, but numbers were being called out every few seconds, and I didn’t want to miss mine – so I spent my time “people watching” instead. It was interesting, because the place was so full by that time. There was what looked like a girl band there – wearing full make-up, huge false eyelashes, skirts that left nothing to the imagination, and huge platform heels. In contrast, there was a frazzled-looking couple, with a baby who wouldn’t stop crying, an arguing couple, a raucous group of friends who made a lot of noise, and seemed to be having lots of fun… and a young girl who wept silently onto the pages of a magazine.
Finally, at 10:15am, my number was called. I said a short, silent prayer, and went to window number 15. The officer at this desk was a U.S. citizen, and he asked me to place my left hand on the fingerprint scanner, to check that I was the same person who had handed in the documents earlier. The next thing I had to do was to be “sworn in”. So I raised my right hand, and said a clear “yes” when he’d finished reading the oath. Then came the questions:
“How did you and Larry meet?” That was an easy one. The officer said, “Oh, so you’re both musicians?” and seemed very interested to talk about handbells, and the difference between bass and treble bells. He asked what sort of communication we’d had on the Handbell Community site – and seemed happy with my answers. He then asked when we’d moved to talking on Facebook, and how our communication on social media differed from the way we’d communicated on the handbell site.
I was then asked when we first met in person, and then “At what time would you say that you considered yourselves to be ‘in a relationship’?” Then I was asked, “So, you met in person in August 2010… but why did it take you a whole year to meet each other again?” These questions were easy enough to answer, and the whole thing flowed more like a conversation than a series of questions. The officer was serious, but not unfriendly. I was aware that he was watching my face (and eyes) intently as I talked.
Then the officer said, “But Larry has been to the U.K., hasn’t he?” and I was able to say yes. I was asked a couple of questions relating to my children, and their feelings about the situation, and there was a question about whether or not I planned to seek employment in the USA. The final, and most searching, question was, “Bearing in mind the fact that you’ve actually spent very little time in the same place… what is it about Larry that makes you so certain that you want to uproot your child, leave your family, and move so far away from the place you’ve always called home?”
Whatever I said, it must have been okay. When I’d finished talking, there was a moment of silence, when he continued to look at my face. I think I smiled, because, even when the pressure is on, it had been good to be able to talk about a relationship that makes me so happy. I expected him to ask for my huge bundle of Relationship Evidence – all the photos, letters, phone records etc – but he closed the file in front of him, and said, “I’m satisfied with your relationship, and I’m satisfied with your file. Congratulations – you got your visa. Now, why don’t you go wake Larry up and tell him the good news?”
I said thank you, and immediately felt the tears start to fall. After such a long wait, it was hard to believe that this moment had actually arrived. So the next few minutes were spent in the Ladies’ (known as a “restroom” in the USA), where I let the tears flow for a while.
After that, the final thing to be done was to visit the Courier Delivery Services counter, where I handed in the pink sheet, and discussed the options for having my passport and original documents returned to me.
Note: The Courier Delivery Services do not accept payment in cash, or by American Express, so you need to make sure you have a credit card or debit card with you on the day of your interview. Prices (at the time of my interview) for return of documents varied from around £15 to around £36 for single visas; you pay higher charges for specifying what time of day you’d like the delivery to be made.
After that, there was nothing left to do but go back out of the Embassy, following the same route back, and going through the security building on the way out.
Yay! APPROVED! Even though I knew that having the K-1 approval was just the start of a lengthier process, it still felt so good to have survived the interview. It was worth all the months of preparation.
Please remember that all information given is from our own personal experience only. We’re not immigration experts, and nothing on our website should be construed as legal advice, or relied upon for your own visa process. Every case is different – and for expert help and advice, we would always recommend that you contact an immigration attorney.
If you’d like to talk to us about your own visa experience, or your long-distance relationship, you’re welcome to get in touch with us on our Facebook page. We can’t give legal advice or financial help, but we’re always happy to hear from people in long-distance relationships, so if you’d like to talk anything through with us, please get in touch.
© Larry and Carla Sue
