Thank you! I am hoping she feels the same!
How wonderful! Hope she has a terrific time. My junior year abroad was a very formative experience.
My D is supposed to be getting on a plane to London in 2.5 weeks, but she still hasnât heard a thing about her visa, so right now itâs all stress and turmoil and uncertainty. The 21 day visa process went totally and completely off the rails (here we are 6 weeks later) and there is apparently not one single thing she can do about it, or even a process to figure out what the is going on. There is no one to call, no one to email, nowhere to just show up. She tried the paid email service and they told her there is no process to talk about your specific application. Obviously itâs too late to go to Haverford for the fall if something is wrong, so here we are⊠stressed and waiting. I never imagined this would become such a pain- no one ever has any problems getting their visa, Haverford said. Gah.
Is there some kind of âexpeditingâ firm that you can hire to help with this? My son had to come back to the US to get his skilled worker visa before starting his post-Oxford job in London. His employer sent him to an expediter firm here in NYC and he had his visa in a matter of days. Unfortunately the British Consulate in NYC is still closed due to COVID.
There would have been- not that we could have afforded the crazy cost- but not at this point. Thatâs a service you buy at the beginning. At this point her application and materials have all been received and judged- and apparently even decided- but no one can tell her what the decision was, or where her documents/passport are. Itâs like her stuff just⊠poofed⊠and theyâre not even allowed to (or able to) tell her what the decision was so she can plan accordingly.
@milgymfam I am so sorry! The visa process was a pain but we got lucky and got it in time. I am crossing my fingers it shows up in the next 2.5 weeks!!
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@milgymfam, I am sorry your daughter and you are going through this!
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I canât PM you, but PM me if youâd like me to try to reach out to the Haverford alumni network. Itâs a long shot, but there may be someone who can help.
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I canât imagine an alum can help- neither Haverford nor Oxford seem to be able to in their official capacity- but I do appreciate the idea.
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You can PM anyone (even those with private accounts) by starting a PM from your account and entering their handle/user name.
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Try contacting one of your US senators or your House member. Sometimes those offices will help. Call them.
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@milgymfam My wife was able to get our kidâs passport renewed in less than 24 hours after she called our House member (normally it takes more than a week). So yes, do so, it really works.
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The problem is not something the US can fix though- the UK embassy has her application and passport. We have been told by her college, by Oxford, and by the paid UK visa email service but there is nothing we can do at all except wait and hope it comes. Iâm not sure what a senator or Congress person could do, but this isnât the first time thatâs been suggested @homerdog- I just canât see the point.
@milgymfam I think what people are suggesting is that your senator or representative could be the liaison to State Department which could contact UK Embassy for further information/expediting the process.
If you donât want to utilize those services, you donât need to - but those services are available.
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The state representative could pick up the phone to the embassy/consulate.
We also thought âwhat can our Congressional Representative do with the State Department?â It turns out - a lot.
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Itâs worth contacting Member of Congress or Senator. Extra points if you have an existing relationship with the elected official. Send me a DM if you want some tips. (Rather not post them in a public forum.)
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Her visa unexpectedly showed up this morning. What a huge relief! Two weeks to go!
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Wonderful news! So glad for your daughter.
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When she arrives at LHR, there used to be a special line for Tier 4 Visa holders. Take a look for that before standing in the long regular line.
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New reader/poster so forgive me if this has been discussed already â
I am feeling melancholy about Dâs college years being impacted by the pandemic. Freshman year she spent half in the dorm and half studying remotely from her bedroom here. Her sophomore year she took remote classes from her off-campus apartment, so at least she got away from home and had interactions with her roommates. This junior year she is studying abroad (direct enrollment) the entire year. Presumably sheâll be in an apartment at her US college for senior year. Whereâs the fun campus traditions? Loyalties? Memories? Sheâs happy with your choices and they are good ones so I donât express these thoughts to her. I know others have it worse; Iâm just sad about the whole thing.
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