Current E 2 Processing time

[Kevin Francis]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any idea of the current processing time at the London Embassy?

I sent my renewal application for my e2 in on Dec 4th and my credit card was charged the $131 processing fee on the 15th. Since then I have heard nothing.

I'm hoping I get my interview by the middle of feb - what are the chances ?

It's my 3rd e2 renewal and the last two each received 5 years.

[InnVic]

There appears to be very few offices, and especially Government offices, that do any work between Thanksgiving and New year. I believe things are moving faster than in the past but the holidays will probably have slowed progress.

[peter gold]

You should have no problem for a Feb appointment.

[JulieC]

There appears to be very few offices, and especially Government offices, that do any work between Thanksgiving and New year. I believe things are moving faster than in the past but the holidays will probably have slowed progress.

The embassy have both English and American public holidays off as well so have more than most!

[Jupiterdays]

Kevin, just wondering if you had by any chance received an appointment yet? We submitted our file about the same time as yourself to the London Embassy and haven't heard anything. We had our attorney call the embassy as we have been asked by a department of the US government if we can supply pilots and helicopters to Haiti (my husband would like to go himself but landlocked) but the reply was we've got up to 3rd March 2010 to ask for additional information!!

[Kevin Francis]

Hi Jupiterdays,

I have not and I'm starting to get a bit concerned about my own feb travel plans.

Hmm March 3rd I suppose that means it could take to April to set the interview date.

[Kevin Francis]

Just received my e mail from the embassy - interview within the next two weeks !
Only additional info request are the employee w2's.

[twen]

Good Luck with the interview Kevin

[Kevin Francis]

Thanks Twen !

[Phoenix]

Good luck from us as well Kevin :tu:

[Kevin Francis]

Cheers Phoenix.

Anyone else had a recent renewal ? What's the embassy's view on things given our current recession ?

[Jupiterdays]

Congrats on getting the appointment Kevin and good luck for the interview. Hopefully this means that we might be hearing soon too as we submitted our file to the embassy 6 days after you.

[Susie]

Just received my e mail from the embassy - interview within the next two weeks !
Only additional info request are the employee w2's.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you :)

I know it is a bit late but :welcome: to our site

[Kevin Francis]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated !
I must admit I'm starting to get a little more apprehensive as the interview approaches. It's my third renewal and the business is doing fine ( took on another staff member this week) but ya just never know... Ironic isn't it as E2 holders we are all used to very much controlling our own affairs and business's and then for a couple of hours every 5 years its all out of our hands.

I have now confirmed the date - I requested monday march 15th and received an 8 am appointment. Looks like I might be first in line .

I'l take that as a good sign.

[dip your toe]

Good luck Kevin.

One of the biggest advantages, to me personally, of running your own business is being in control of your own destiny and I positively detest the fact that an outsider can make decisions that can affect, not only my business, but the furure of my life and my family.

Yet, if I look at it realistically, the state/governments have become more and more intrusive into how you can run your business over the years and perhaps we should look at the E2 renewal in that light and accept it, the renewal, for what it is, i.e. just another hurdle in the complexities of running your own business. With that in mind, it can be seen in a different light.

All the best for the 15th.

[Kevin Francis]

Yet, if I look at it realistically, the state/governments have become more and more intrusive into how you can run your business over the years and perhaps we should look at the E2 renewal in that light and accept it, the renewal, for what it is, i.e. just another hurdle in the complexities of running your own business. With that in mind, it can be seen in a different light.

Thanks Dip ! Very good point - I love working in the USA and the renewal is all part and parcel of being over here and operating a business. They could make it a 2 am interview in Iceland and I'd still be there with a smile on my face and wearing my best bib and tucker !

[Jupiterdays]

Finally heard back from the London Embassy yesterday inviting us for the interview. Emailed back immediately and got a date of 10th March at 8am from them today. We have had some exceptional growth in the business and have a number of US employees but still my husband has gone into panic mode. Let's hope they will give us some credit for staying a float in these current economic times !!!

[kirtida8]

Good luck Jupiterdays and stay positive :)

[Steve in clermont]

Hey Guys , Even though you both have 8am appointments , plan to be there for 7am, they will shedule 200 people with 8am .... I remember having 8am last febuary , and finally walked out of there at 3pm. It was like that the first time i went too. They only did 8 E2s in front of me, dont know why it took so long.

Best of luck with it

steve

[Kevin Francis]

Good luck Jupiter Days ! Sounds like you have nothing to worry about if you have a number of employees. Leave them in a good mood for me as your in 5 days before hand.

Thanks Steve I'm following that advice and I'm not planning anything else for the rest of the day - ( except a celebration in the evening of course ! )

Anyone know what they consider enough employees these days ? Also how do they count/value part time employees ?

LOL Jupiter Days your husbands getting me worried now !

[Jupiterdays]

Thanks Kevin, he's a little more positive about it today now I've managed to find all the original documentation from when we started the business, he thought it was lost.

Steve, thanks for the advice - aiming to get him into a hotel just minutes from the embassy so he can be there early without any hitches.

Good luck to everyone who's got one of these dreaded interviews soon.

[Jupiterdays]

Geoff had his interview this morning and was awarded a three year E2, as ours was classes as an initial application because we had never had it awarded there before.

There were five other E2 to applications at the same time and they all hot seen first as they were either renewals or employees.

The interviewer was an older gentleman who had a British lady as an assistant. He said he is the only one dealing with the Evisas and they do on average 6 applications per session.

They looked for marginality, employees and how business was currently performing. They also said they were not bothered whether the employees were W2s or 1099s just as long as our wages bill matched or exceeded Geoff's own salary. A pleasant interview was had.

Good luck for next week Kevin

[peter gold]

congrats and thanks for posting the change of personnel as that is recent

[Kevin Francis]

Had my interview and received approval for another five years.

It was a very positive and pleasant experience with the embassy and once I get past this jet lag (having arrived back last night), I'l write up my notes from the interview.

[kirtida8]

Great news Kevin - well done!

[anniefromessex]

Well done Kevin - excellent news.

One thing I don't understand though is how come different interviewers view what a lot of people have fallen down on in the past differently, ie W2's or 1099's. Even though that is excellent news, just think how others feel when they have been denied because of using subbies and not having any/many on the books. Its about time this discrepancy was ironed out - it's no good changing the interviewer every so often who has a different viewpoint because people's lives are at stake here, which I just wish they would understand - we are not just a number we are human beings!!!

Sorry to go off thread to a degree but happy for Geoff and Kevin.

Love Anniexxx

[britcan]

well done- I have just emailed Glenn Beck and Chris Wallace to ask them to start an investigation into how E2 visa holders are treated compared to illegals, not sure if it will be taken seriously but something needs tobe done here!!

[peter gold]

well done Kevin

[Denise100]

I am happy for you (both) to get the renewal! It's somewhat comforting to read that I am not the only one who gets stressed out by these interviews - as with your own being the 3rd renewal you would think you would get used to it!! But I can see that one doesnt........as it still boils down to one person making the call for or against!

Very happy for you and look forward to your notes re the interview!

[Kevin Francis]

Although this was my third renewal and the second one to be done by myself, I found the whole application process far more uncertain then the last time around. The major reason being that my original business ( I import my own collectible ceramics line) has changed considerably and now contains a very strong commercial real estate element.
I was concerned as the real estate is through a separate LLC that I set up with a partner back in 2000 and It could be possible that to avoid the problem of marginality I needed to clearly show income from both of my company's.

Again one of the problems of the lack of specific guidelines is I couldn't be certain if we would be deemed as marginal, I didn't think so as both companies were showing profits, but the original business's turnover was down about 40% from my last application and the recession is biting hard on the gift business.

I had a similar situation in terms of persons employed going from 8 last time to now only numbering 1 full time and two part time for all of last year. However I had actually taken another full time staff member about 2 weeks earlier ( I had brought a copy of their pay checks to show if needed - they were not.) ( I also had a list of people paid on a cash basis such as cleaners - not substantial but surely worth mentioning if needed as well as details of the pottery in england that make my pieces)

My final concern was the question of what were the appropriate level of personal drawings/earnings for myself. In my last renewal they questioned me quite strongly on this as like many business owners I don't pay myself much and I'm always the last to get paid. I remember we got into a bit of silly argument about how much a single man my age required to live on. This time I was prepared with a spread sheet showing the total value of all my owner benefits and personal costs etc etc.

I should really add a final concern if I'm being honest, the further you get into preparing your renewal yourself the more you realize you don't really know. Reading this board a few months before I started made me wince when I thought of how many things I had missed out of my last application - business plan - personal letter to name but a couple.

This time around I spent a considerable amount of time on the cover letter, walking through the history of the company and including wherever possible photos of my remaining staff and pictures of the other space that we rent out. The letter also walked through the part of my accounts showing how the companies were related in terms of income and how profits are distributed through to the original E2 Company. Final part was a analysis/interpretation of my submitted accounts to date (Oct) obviously focusing on the better aspects of them and also fusing them together to give total turnover and profit figures.

I did the same for the business plan setting out my goals for the next five years for both companies - again inserting as many pictures as possible into a word document to show products and people as much as possible.

With regard to the rest of the documentation I simply followed the directions and made certain I listed two of everything ie one from each of my companies. Tax returns, accounts up to the date of application, ownership docs, investment values etc etc.

It came to a very thick binder, probably about 3 times what I submitted in the previous application.

The biggest problem I had was the additional online form that they ask you to fill in and bring to the interview. I left this to the day before departure and it would not work for me, everytime I got to the end of filling it in the site crashed on me - the embassy site not my computer. Also they now want you to upload your photo with it and it the proportions are out of place they don't accept it. In the end I had to find a internet cafe on the sunday and fill it in.

[Kevin Francis]

Got to the embassy around 7 am. There were only two of us in line but by 7.15 there were about 30 people and by the 8 am opening about a 100. I had to take my car key fob and place it on deposit at a local chemist before they would let me through ( fortunately the guard let me cut in front when I got back from the chemists.)
Inside I was given a number E 903 and sent to wait the call. There's tv screens all over the place and soon it was E900, 901, 902 and then 904 ! No 903 ! then E905 and then finally 904. Does this mean anything is the thought going through my head during the wait.
First part of the interview was really quick and easy. Quick handover of the online form and clarification that I had brought the requested docs for the interview. ( staff W2's)
Then there was about a 15 min wait until the second interview. By that time I had read the number call notes about numbers being called out of sequence and not to worry about it.
The officer who saw me was I would guess in his middle 50's and knew his stuff. Very friendly and polite greeting me with " ah Kevin Francis, Toby Jugs publishing and property management, how are you doing ?" He then proceeded to look at my file and I could see he was reading the cover letter. First question he asked was about Toby Jugs and whether our designs ever changed - no question on money staff or anything else I was worried about. He then went on to joke about how long people had been making Tobies ( 17th cent). I felt at ease he had clearly read everything I had put in the letter and was genuinely curious about this aspect of my business. He then went on to ask me how the recession was effecting us ( badly but we have handled worse was my reply trying to impress on him that we have been doing this a long time and did not intend to stop)
He then asked me if I had brought the w2's they had requested and asked me to give him the total number of workers. I told him 4 and he said oh you have increased from 3, that's good. I then mentioned other workers connected through the real estate and not on w2's. He listened politely and then said "don't worry your fine with what you have here indicating my application. From that I can assume my 1 full time and 2 part time was sufficient but it was also interesting that he was prepared to listen about other claims we had for employment that did not fit into the 1099/w2 mould.

I then asked him about the second company as part of the application but couched it in terms of did I present the info correctly. He said it was fine and that it was quite common for people to have set up second companies by the time renewals came around him. I got the distinct impression that so long as you showed everything for the new company as is requested for the original that it will be included. ( this was born out by my eventual receipt doc which list both companies as well as a couple of DBA I use for the gift lines.
I then asked him if the overall application was too thick and he simply suggested that I not use so many plastic page separators. We then had a interesting discussion about using lawyers to prepare your application. I told him I had done it myself and not used a lawyer. He seemed slightly amused and said that whilst he couldn't really comment on the merits of spending 5 to 8k on a lawyer. He did point out that all the info they require is clearly shown and all you have to do is collect it and present it and furthermore should you submit your application without it they would simply just ask you to resubmit. Clearly not an official response but quite interesting I thought.

During the conversation I wanted to ask him more specific questions about qualification levels but did not want to give away my concerns. Also found myself wanting to show all the back up info I had prepared but as he didn't ask I kept quiet. Funny really it was quite hard to do especially after I realized things were going well (which was very early on.)

By this time only about 10 mins had passed and he directed me to the payment window to pay my visa fee. Two mins ( they take $) for that and then about 3 mins of additional form filling on his side which mainly seemed to be figures from my accounts. No additional questions and suddently it was "I'm pleased to tell you that your visa has been renewed for 5 years. good luck Mr Francis" .
That was it, 10 minutes later I had paid the courier fee and was back outside at about 10.30. I resisted the temptation to punch the air and kick my heels until I well outside the sight of the police carrying guns outside the gates.

I hope the above is of use to others, I think I was very fortunate in having a business that has been around a long time and that undoubtedly colored the embassy's view. However I did get the impression that they were understanding of the current situation out there and I did feel that there was a certain flexibility in how they can interpret your business figures and situation. I was very upbeat and positive in my application and letter and I hope in my appearance at the interview. I know that helped me considerably as did the cover letter and business plan.

[dip your toe]

Excellent write up. Thank you and congratulations.

[Denise100]

Excellent write up and very encouraging! The message throughout is care and attention to detail - and review review and review again. Your caution obviously paid dividends.

How long did it take you to pull it all together do you think?

Also - when did your E2 visa expire, when did you submit your renewal - what was wait time from submitting to interview? (asking becaause I want to know if the expiry and the renewal have to be seamless, assuming you are legit to be in the country on the I94).

Thanks again Kevin - I am sure you will inspire lots of readers on here!

:)

[Kevin Francis]

My visa expired in early Nov 09 and I submitted the application about 3 weeks after that date in early Dec, my I94 was stamped for April 2012. I heard nothing to suggest that I was late in resubmitting and the visa was finally dated for March 2010 nearly 4 months after the last visa. However I would think the closer you get the application in to the expiration date the better but certainly a few weeks either way does not appear to be an issue..
It only took about 2 weeks to get the basic application together and then about 6 weeks of adding and revising things until I was happy with the final appearance.