[Help] American Embassy - visit for Visa interview

[Norman Potting]

Youngest Potting is off to the USA to work at a Summer camp. Mrs P and her have worked hard on the paperwork and myself and daughter are off to the US Embassy for her visa interview at 10:00 am next Tuesday.

Have any of you visited for this purpose and do you have any words of wisdom to share on this subject? Having looked at the paper work we have advised her to say "no" to the questions regarding to whether she is visiting for immoral or terrorist purposes. Roughly how long does the interview take?

 

[lawros left foot]

Wrong thread.

 

[Shuggie]

Just never, ever say something like "I'd like to live in America one day" ... a couple of people I know were denied work visas for hinting that they saw the visa as a step on the path towards a more permanent arrangement. It doesn't go down well.

I have been interviewed twice, both times by preppy Ivy League types. They seemed to be going through the motions rather than being interested in catching me out. The interviews took a matter of minutes and were little more than a spot check of all the info I had provided on the application form. Presumably they would have shown a little more interest if I had contradicted myself. Just be a normal, polite British person and you'll sail through it.

Good luck!

PS don't mention NSC or they'll ship you off to Guantanamo Bay on arrival as a pinko non-combatant keyboard warrior.

 

[Lower West Stander]

PM’d you


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[1066familyman]

Reminds me of a little incident years ago.

We had a Scouser orgainising our community samba band. During a break in practice a few of us went outside for some fresh air and a stroll. On return a couple of the young lads from practice were smoking a spliff on the fire exit. Immediately our Scouse leader saw them he went into deadly serious mode. 'Do you realise if you get caught smoking that you could get a criminal record?! And if you get a criminal record they'll never let you into America!', he said, before breaking into a smile and saying....'That being the case, give us a toke'.

 

[BNthree]

Years ago I had similar and they literally asked me a couple of questions confirming the details written down and then rubber stamped it.

 

[happypig]

Don't do what Gilbert Harding did, at the Toronto US consulate he was asked if he intended to overthrow the US government and he replied "sole purpose of visit".
He was arrested on arrival

 

[Doonhamer7]

One of my colleagues (white British) did - he had worked on our contract in Afghanistan (so no ETSA for him) supporting the NATO / UK / US troops. Once he mentioned this the “Military state of the US of A” nearly gave him a personal guard of honour to the airport. He said it was embarrassing how much they loved the job we did for “their boys”. Shows that feeding their squadies gets you so much credo.

Another of my mates (part white, British born, British educated, British passport) who had worked on an infrastructure project we had in NW Pakistan and had a Middle Eastern name didn’t have as smooth a time - not saying their was racial bias or profiling but…..

 

[studio150]

Just say Trump won the last election and is the true President and you will get the VIP treatment,

Hope it all goes smoothly and young Potting enjoys the experience.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Don’t forget “God Bless America” and she should be ok

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

If you've done the paperwork it's pretty much a formality.

Mine was a 2 stage interview - first bit was to hand over the documents which they checked then returned to me then called up for a face to face interview which was pretty brief. Next was to go and pay the cashier any outstanding amount and arrange for delivery of passport with visa. The longest wait was getting there and waiting to be called up for the documents, after that quite quick. From start to finish was 2 hours which gives you a chance to try out all that American candy they have in vending machines

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Youngest Potting is off to the USA to work at a Summer camp. Mrs P and her have worked hard on the paperwork and myself and daughter are off to the US Embassy for her visa interview at 10:00 am next Tuesday.

Have any of you visited for this purpose and do you have any words of wisdom to share on this subject? Having looked at the paper work we have advised her to say "no" to the questions regarding to whether she is visiting for immoral or terrorist purposes. Roughly how long does the interview take?

I have a B1/B2 work visa which, I don’t really need these days, but I still maintain. It’s a stretch to say it’s an interview..more they check your papers in front of you, take your passport and say they’ll send it back in a few days.

 

[East Staffs Gull]

Many years ago a mate of mine travelled to Australia. On entry he was asked by border control whether he had a criminal record. His reply was “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that you still needed one.”

 

[Albion my Albion]

You should mention that you love the idea of voting by mail. That ought to win you some points with the current administration.

 

[rippleman]

Have a colleague who went last week. They still have covid paranoia so make sure junior has a mask or they won't let her set foot.

 

[Official Old Man]

Ask Sunak.
Meanwhile a friend of mine has a target of visiting every country in the world. As an airline worker this started quite easy but now he is out of the business he is ticking of the last 14 countries. Last week was Haiti but flew via the US. Imigration hauled him in as his passport showed Afganistan, Pakistan and lots of other 'red alert' countries. A 30 minute lecture and he left with a clearance note on his file for future reference.

 

[Live by the sea]

Ha - they are not trying to catch you out but want to ensure no loons admitted , we have enough home grown ones !

 

[Jim Van Winkle]

I had my interview for my Green Card about 11 years ago — I expected it to be like the opening scene from Scarface. It didn’t live up to my expectations. The missus had to wait outside. The queue to get into the US Embassy was longer than the interview. We had a lawyer do our paperwork, so handing over the paperwork and the two minute interview were just a formality.

My only advice would be try not to have any banter or jokes with the person doing the interview. It’s one of those bureaucratic places that has had all of it’s soul sucked out.

Good luck to your daughter. She will love the US. They love us Brits.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I had my interview for my Green Card about 11 years ago — I expected it to be like the opening scene from Scarface. It didn’t live up to my expectations. The missus had to wait outside. The queue to get into the US Embassy was longer than the interview. We had a lawyer do our paperwork, so handing over the paperwork and the two minute interview were just a formality.

My only advice would be try not to have any banter or jokes with the person doing the interview. It’s one of those bureaucratic places that has had all of it’s soul sucked out.

Good luck to your daughter. She will love the US. They love us Brits.

Lots of queuing and waiting with two brief sessions of checking documents and answering questions. Look tidy and be polite.