For those of you with us visa queries

[posh123]

I just wanted to let you know what my experience was like as I know their are a few of you with the same predicament as me. I arrived at the embassy at 9am last Thur with a 9. 30 appointment time, little did I know that there were many people with the same time as me. I had to wait in a queue outside for about an hour, thankfully it was a sunny morning. When I got inside I had about a 2 hour wait and when I saw the interviewer it lasted all of 2 minutes. She said as my offense was less than 5 years and it was alcohol related (drink driving dec 2005) I had to visit one of their doctors for a medical. I phoned straight away and luckily they could fit me in that day. So with another 3 hour wait to see the doctor paying �135 for the privilage I was asked a few questions about my drinking habits and she took a blood test. I knew the results would be clear as I havent had a drink for a while. I received an email today saying they will issue me a visa, I am hugely relieved and can now get excited about my holiday to Florida which is already booked. So it took a week for the embassy to get results and for them to get back to me. Hope this helps those of you in same situation!!

[jno]

very interesting... so they have a 5-year cutoff?

[posh123]

Yes for the medical but you would still have to apply for a visa.

[munchie63]

seems crazy to me though.

If they made you have the blood test there and then unprepared I could understand it, but if you have to book the medical, then all you need to do is book it for a months time, and not have a drink etc in-between. The test would then be clear.
I'm not implying you're an alcy by the way posh.

your wait of 1hr then 2 seesm about right. I waited around 45mins outside, then an hour inside, before a 3min 'interview'.
It was in October too - good job I was prepared for the wait.

[Dee Sa]

Have a great time in Florida, you have earnt it ! personally I would have just ticked the waiver box.

[dzug]

You were perfectly entitled to travel on the visa waiver scheme - drink driving is not a crime involving moral turpitude and you could quite truthfully have ticked the NO box on the form.

But yes I had heard that they are giving visa applicants with a drink problem a hard time - crazy that they get you to apply for a visa that you don't legally need and then put you through extra hoops and expense to get it.

[RevFunk]

As it has been stated about a thousand times on here lol US customs have NO direct link to UK records so you could have just used the vias waiver program and not bothered with all the hassle

[Boisdeslandes]

You had a good outcome. My son went through the same process at the US Embassy but he has a possession of cannabis conviction going back 9 years and he has been told he needs to have a medical. Trouble is he won't get a clear result for a while and our holiday is in 6 weeks. My guess is if the result is positive then he is completely stuffed.