I can't stop looking at my new visa!!!
We got it on Friday, and it was (just like all of you advised) so much easier than I had built it up to be. Our appointment was for 9am. I hadn't done any e-fastrack app or anything. I wanted to do it all in person. So, we got there at about 8:20am and were told to come back at quarter to. At 8:40, we were second in line. They let us in at about 9am. The security guards were all really nice. We only waited for five or ten minutes (on the tenth floor) before the woman in front of us was called up to the visa window. She didn't have all of her docs, and I think she wanted to pay with a personal check, which isn't allowed. So, she left and we went up. The officer was so nice! He was in a really good mood. He asked for my application, then our passports (my husband was with me), then he asked about where we'd be staying in the UK. I said we'd stay with my husband's mom temporarily until we found a flat to rent. I showed him her letter saying we could stay with her, a certified copy of her mortgage statement, and a certified copy of her entire passport (he only looked at the picture page). Then he asked for financial stuff, so I gave him my latest savings statement showing approx. $4,000 in savings and an email from my husband's old employer in the UK offering him a job, with a contract attached. Then the officer went away for a bit and when he came back, he told us to pay at the next window and come back for the visa at 10:30!!!!! They didn't take cash, so I paid with a credit/debit card and we got a little postcard that told us to come back at 10:30. We went and got coffee, and at 10:40 or so, I had my visa in my hands!!!
It really was so much easier than I'd thought it would be. I think it helped that my husband was with me (for my nerves and as proof that we're a real couple) and also that I was so organized with all the documents. I had so much more that he didn't ask for.
So, that's it! I had hoped they would post-date my visa, since I'm not actually going until August, but right now I don't mind that I'll have to pay L500 in a couple of years...I'm just so happy that we've got it and I'm on my way!
