I've officially been granted my Visa for my second summer in the states... so exciting!
It was a LONG 22 hour day, but it was all worth it.
I awoke and rolled out of bed at 2.25am to be ready for my Taxi arriving at 3.30am. The coach set off from Bradford at 4.10am and arrived in London Victoria Coach Station at 9.30. Usually I would sleep on the coach, but why sleep when the Great British Bake Off is on Netflix! I managed to pretty much watch the whole first season in one sitting haha.
Once arriving in London, I stretched my legs and had a little walk around whilst waiting for Amy's coach to come in from Nottingham (My friend from university, whom I also unfortunately live with😏). I was also waiting for Steph's train to arrive from near Brighton (my beloved co-counselor from last year). Thankfully, i've been to London so many times that I pretty much know my way around that area. Amy and Steph both arrived at around 11am and we made our way to the new US Embassy which is only around a 20-25 minute walk from Victoria which was a bonus!
There is not much around the Embassy, so we ended up having a leisurely stroll and a catch up along the Thames and stopped off at a little cafe for lunch before heading back to the Embassy. Our appointment was at 2pm, but we had to arrive 30 minutes before to have our security checks.
It was a lot less organised than I remembered it being last year, but that could be because last year the J1 Visa days were dedicated days, whereas this year there is an hour or so every day dedicated to the J1 visa!
Once we had cleared security, we checked in at the desk and were given a number and made our way up to the first floor of the embassy.
The room looks a lot like an airport lounge, and you have to wait for your number to pop up on the screen (a bit like a doctors surgery). When your number comes up, you go up to a post office styled booth and you have your finger prints done and passport checked etc.
You then have to sit and wait for your designated number to circulate again to have your actual Visa interview with an American. The waiting around takes the longest, and the interview takes 3 seconds! Luckily, I had Amy and Steph with me which meant that time flew.
1 hour and 20 minutes later, the three of us were out of the Embassy with our visa's approved!
We walked back to Victoria train station and had a celebratory Wetherspoon's before the three of us parted ways (until I see Amy back in Newcastle the weekend after, and Steph next month in NYC!).
It was a very rushed Visa day in comparison to last year's visa day, and I personally preferred the old Embassy having designated visa days as it was a nice chance to meet other people from camp.
My coach home was delayed on the road, meaning that I arrived back to Bradford an hour after we were meant to which resulted in a grouchy and not very happy Jade!
But hey, the things we do for camp! And if you're still waiting on your visa day, do not panic. There is nothing to worry about. If you have all your paper work, it will all run smoothly!
I'm in the process of putting together a general camp packing list for you all. I wish I had a realistic one last year.
Jade x x
Posts
