Well, my trip to london has been successful and in 3-5 working days I will officially be the proud owner of a C1/D visa for America! The trip down to London was far less painful than expected with minimal hiccups and decent weather!
The hotel we booked claimed itself as a ‘one room suite’ which was overstatement to stay the least! It was barely a box with a shower, loo and sink in a 4ftx2ft space – for £70 a night for two people overlooking hyde park however…it’s a pretty good deal!
On the first day in London mum and I decided to walk from the room to the embassy building to see if it would be feasible in the morning or whether the tube would be our best option and, though it was a lovely walk through the park, it was quite long winded and a bit twisty/turny so the underground was opted for, preventing me from getting lost!
So, the main point of this entry is to go through my embassy experience and let you guys know what to expect. My embassy appointment was scheduled for 8:30am and we arrived outside to start queueing at about that time, if not a little before, along with what looked to be about 50 other people. The system was well organized and ran fluidly; left queue first to give your name in and sort out any electronics and metal items, then the right queue to wait to be called forward to the security queue which comes next, where they check your passport, then finally you are called through 4 at a time to the security room to be checked through to the embassy proper.
From the security desk you then walk round the side of the embassy building and through a door into the foyer area where you hand over your ds-160 paperwork to be scanned in so you can be allocated your ticket number. Once you have your number you then are directed through into a large hall to wait to be called up. If you, like me, are a big fan of american sodas and crisps then I highly recommend you take some money in with you as there is mountain dew and welchs soda and root beer galore, amongst other things! Once in the hall you will be called twice, the first time to a booth number between 1 and 11 for your fingerprints to be taken and your documents to be checked and retained, and then a second time after that to a booth numbered between 12 and around 24 for you “interview”.
As a british citizen the only paperwork I was asked to show was the ds-160 form I had printed off and the visa letter steiner had provided me with. I was asked what job rolei intended to fulfill on the ships and whether I had already trained in that profession. After that I was told my visa application had been granted and I should expect it in 2-5days. Easy as that! The whole process took about 2 hours and was pretty painless, all things considered.
And I met Ricky Gervais in the security check area…planning another idiot abroad series maybe?
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