Part sixteen - the interview

So after all the excitement, perhaps it's time to explain the how's about getting through my visa interview. I guess until your actually there you could read a million web pages and experiences and non of them will be like your own and in reality unless your immigrating you might never ever get to step inside that building. Getting into the Embassy at Grosvenor Square was like going through airport security, you line up with your passport and your interview date ready to hand over, your given a see through bag to empty your coins, belts and keys into [your not allowed to take anything electronic into the building, so phones, mp3 players, key fobs, laptops, batteries are all banned - I left mine in the left luggage in Kings Cross].

After getting through the first line, you queue up for security checks, bags and paperwork go into a box to be X rayed while you walk through the security checking device. Then you walk towards the entrance pass lots of armed guards with very scary guns, but you can understand why. Once your in embassy I was given my identification letter and number, this number is the one I waited to hear being called out to go to my interviews. Until then you sit in what resembles an airport departure lounge, rows and rows of seating all facing screens. After getting into the embassy and sitting down at 8:25am it took an hour before I was called for my first of the interviews. 

The first part involves handing over my original documents - the police forms, birth certificate and my passport, the lady asked me a few questions about how I met Joe, took my fingerprints and went through the immigration process once I land at my "point of entry" [Detroit airport]. Oddly she knew Detroit so she passed on some really useful information about how to sort and where in down town we need to go to do the next steps to adjust my status. After that she told me to sit back down until my number was called again and to fill out the courier form. 

Waiting seems to be what going to the embassy is all about, the second hour wait seemed however to go a lot quicker, and to be honest i did enjoy all the people watching. There was so many types of visas yet along people there, from families, posh city workers, young people, older people, all there to immigrate, and the amount of different passports i saw was amazing. You forget that you're just one person in a sea of millions trying to get to America, I guess it still is a country with a massive draw for people.

An hour later and I was called to see the second person for my more formal interview, checking my fingerprints he got me to swear my details where true, asked about what Joe does for a job, why I was working for Boots with two degrees [I ask myself that a lot] and how we met. He went through my whole file of papers, signing and ticking things - my file is literally one or two inches thick! Than after passing me my documents back and telling me he was keeping my passport he informally just told me go "take your courier sheet to the payment desk because your approved". I walked to the desk with the biggest smile ever on my face.

It will take another 7-10 days to get my passport with all my visa paperwork back then I'm free to enter America and my new life begins. Even two days on from finding out it really hasn't sunk in, next week will be crammed with trying to start sorting everything out. Altogether this part of the "journey" took nine month, we have a couple of months out, we get married and the next steps start all over again.

Thank you to everyone that's ever supported us or wished us well and said well done, it really does mean a lot.