Seth451

Help!!



My H1B expires Jan 21 2004. I have to travel to UK on Jan 19-20, by
which time I will have *approval* for an extension (my employers are
premium processing me).



I understand I still have to submit my passport to the US embassy in
London in order to get my new visa (I am British).



Can I arrive in London, submit my passport, and then pick it up from the
embassy? How long does this take? Are there any ways to expedite the
process? I intend to stay in the UK for about a week.



Many many many thanks.



Anil

J. J. Farrell

"seth451" <member18558@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:...
    > My H1B expires Jan 21 2004. I have to travel to UK on Jan 19-20, by
    > which time I will have *approval* for an extension (my employers are
    > premium processing me).
    > I understand I still have to submit my passport to the US embassy in
    > London in order to get my new visa (I am British).
    > Can I arrive in London, submit my passport, and then pick it up from the
    > embassy? How long does this take? Are there any ways to expedite the
    > process? I intend to stay in the UK for about a week.

You have to book an appointment to be interviewed at the Consulate.
Someone has to make the appointment by phone from within the UK, but
it doesn't need to be you. Last time I checked, appointments were
being offered for about 4 weeks after the phone call. At the interview,
you hand over your passport. They return it to you by mail, usually
about a week later. More information is available on the Consulate
pages of the London Embassy web site.

It should fit in reasonably well with your plans if you get someone
to call now and book an appointment for immediately after you plan
to arrive in the UK. I've not heard of anyone managing to expedite
this process.

Dean

I'm kind of facing the same situation. My H1B will expire in March
2004. But I have been able to get an extension until January 2006. Now
I have to get a revalidation from US Embassy in Jakarta, and they told
me that my appointment is set for March 7, 2004. I can't comply to
this condition because I only have two weeks vacation left from my
office. If I leave now, I have to be back in the U.S. first week of
January. Can this process be expedited?

Thanks so much for any information.

-- Dean


"J. J. Farrell" <> wrote in message news:<VGBCb.1758$>...
    > "seth451" <member18558@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > >
    > > My H1B expires Jan 21 2004. I have to travel to UK on Jan 19-20, by
    > > which time I will have *approval* for an extension (my employers are
    > > premium processing me).
    > >
    > > I understand I still have to submit my passport to the US embassy in
    > > London in order to get my new visa (I am British).
    > > Can I arrive in London, submit my passport, and then pick it up from the
    > > embassy? How long does this take? Are there any ways to expedite the
    > > process? I intend to stay in the UK for about a week.
    >
    > You have to book an appointment to be interviewed at the Consulate.
    > Someone has to make the appointment by phone from within the UK, but
    > it doesn't need to be you. Last time I checked, appointments were
    > being offered for about 4 weeks after the phone call. At the interview,
    > you hand over your passport. They return it to you by mail, usually
    > about a week later. More information is available on the Consulate
    > pages of the London Embassy web site.
    >
    > It should fit in reasonably well with your plans if you get someone
    > to call now and book an appointment for immediately after you plan
    > to arrive in the UK. I've not heard of anyone managing to expedite
    > this process.

Sharon

    > Can I arrive in London, submit my passport, and then pick it up from the
    > embassy? How long does this take? Are there any ways to expedite the
    > process? I intend to stay in the UK for about a week.
    >
Hello,
I am british and needed to revalidate my 2nd H1B. I was informed that
I could do this by mail. So I got all my documents together and went
to the US embassy in London. Bad idea. Due to the new security they
will not let you in the door and they certainly will not let you drop
anything in the post box. So I had to take my bits to the Post Office
and post it in the normal next day registered delivery.

This was on 10th December 2003. It is now the 2nd January 2004 and my
passport and new visa has not yet been sent back. I called the embassy
and they informed me that the current processing times for H1B
validation is at least 20 working days. So I am still waiting.

There is no way for anyone whatsoever to expedite this process.
So my advice to you is to certainly plan for more than one week.

Regards.