London i-130 credit card charged but no noa1

[Brian1977 2]

Hello all,

long time listener first time caller.

I am a US citizen and permanent resident in the UK and have been for 11 years. My partner since 2004 (and now husband since 2014) is a UK citizen. We would have moved back to the US earlier, but it wasn't until last year's supreme court decision that it was legally possible for me to sponsor him.

I applied for his i130 on 4 July through the embassy and my credit card was debited on 8 July.

However, I never received an noa1 email- is this normal?

I used the contact form to contact the embassy and did not get a response. Is this normal, or did my application end up in the black hole to be not touched for months, or will I just magically get a 'brown envelope' through the post? The status update today said 'applications recieved on Jun 24 are being processed as of Jul 24' so I am just assuming my date must be the 8th or there abouts.

This whole process is so nervewracking- even though we tick all the boxes now, it is so hard to plan anything- I know it can take from 3-6 months or more, and I wish I had a crystal ball so I knew when we could put our house on the market. I'm sure everyone feels like this when in limbo. What's worse, we purchased an antebellum home in St Louis to rehab, where we intend to move that was a short sale thinking it would take 6 months or more or the bank to approve and the timing would line up perfectly, but that went through in 3 weeks- so now we have an empty house 3000 miles away to keep on top of, and hope that it all goes through so we can actually go and live there!

many thanks!

Brian

[Cori and Rob 55]

Wow, Brian, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate! Hang I'm there- the wait is long but it is worth it. To answer your question, the NOA1 can take some time to arrive. It usually comes within 2 weeks or so after the charge, but can take as long as 30 days. The most important thing is to get the hard copy of the NOA 1, as I've heard that some people have had issues with getting emails I'm the past. I would say if you don't get something in the mail by 8/8, call to find out what is up.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Brian--

Have you read the UK DCF wiki article on Visa Journey? It is the most complete info around and may help you know what is normal. http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/DCF_London

Maybe they forgot to email. Or did you check junk mail folder? Taking your money is a good sign.

Good luck

Edited July 29, 2014 by Nich-Nick

[Cori and Rob 55]

Thanks, Nich. I should have seen this was a DCF. My advice does not stand in this situation. All the same, good luck, OP!

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Thanks, Nich. I should have seen this was a DCF. My advice does not stand in this situation. All the same, good luck, OP!

Granted, I did DCF a long time ago, but I never received an NOA1. The card was charged and frankly, I didn't even know I was supposed to receive an NOA1 until I joined VJ a month or so after filing. The card being charged is a sign that things are in the works. After pestering London, I eventually got an email telling me not to worry, the card being charged signified that the I-130 had been received and was in process. I considered this my NOA1 of sorts!

[Brian1977 2]

Thanks everyone for your help and kind words!

Nich- thanks for that link again- I came across it ages ago and couldn't find it again- its really helpful.

In other news...

Matt got his immunizations today, and the GP signed his police clearance too- so that's off now as well. He charged £15 under the table- I think he needed some cash for lunch or something. Our lazy GP didn't give Matt a record of his immunizations though- he said the doctors at the clinic can call him to verify- I told Matt to go back and get a stamped copy.

Now I'm just doing my back tax returns. I'm one of those people- probably like 90% of American expats- who didn't realise until I renewed my passport this year that I needed to file US taxes even though I've been living here for years. I am very glad that the new passport highlights this, becuase it seems that you're just supposed to know- I never thought about it, as I've been paying taxes in the UK for ages now, and figured you pay taxes where you live.

I filed my 2013 taxes online back in March, but since looking at the affidavit of support, it looks like they want the past three years, so I'm doing my 2011 and 2012 now. I hope they don't ask for tax info before this, as I would really struggle to find my old paperwork.

Hopefully the fine for late filing won't be too huge and it won't be a criminal matter. I know that ignorance of the law is no excuse and I'm resigned to take my medicine, whatever it may be.

By the way- its really easy to file online if you earn less than about $90,000 a year- you put a bunch of stuff in boxes and it all amounts to zero, and sends itself off automatically. For my back forms, I'm just duplicating what I did in 2013 but with the previous years allowances. At least the pay freeze has made this easy!

My understanding of the AOS is there are 2 parts- the residency requirement and the financial requirement.

I've also sent my dad the affidavit of support, as he's going to have to sponsor Matt, as although I've never earned less than $50K since being in the UK, I have officially zero US income. We (hope to) have a lump sum from selling our house that will be well over the limit, but we don't want to sell the house until we are further along, so the sponsorship seems the way to go to meet the financial part of the requirement. I am getting 2 agents to value our house, and we will list it once we get a visa interview date, so that we can use the official valuation, estate agent's contract, as well as the real estate ads to prove that the house really is for sale. We might even have an offer by that time, given how hot the market is at the moment.

Since we have purchased our 'new' house in St Louis, hopefully this should be enough, along with evidence of our British house being for sale, to prove our intention to re-establish ourselves in the USA permanently. It is a bit of a gamble though- if our house sells and Matt's immigraiton doesn't go through, we will lose this house that we really love, and it would be very difficult for us to find another one as nice. I think I read that that once he gets his papers, we MUST travel within 90 days, and trying to time immigraiton with listing and then a buyer closing on our house in that time is quite difficult.

I'm mainly sharing all this for others who might be in the same position later- I learned so much from everyone on this forum that hopefully others can learn from my experience too.

Thanks again everyone!

Brian

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

You have six months from the medical date to use the visa, so you don't need to put the house on the market until after the visa in in hand. Showing intent to re-establish domicile isn't that drastic where you have to cut your ties prior to the interview.

Sounds like the other things you mentioned show you are on track.

[Brian1977 2]

Hooray! the envelope in my familliar handwriting arrived today with the NOA2.

It was dated 27 July though, so it was procesed very quickly indeed.

It didn't have a reference number on it, with the first box checked that stated that the number would be sent within the next 8 weeks. I understand that I can call the number and politely ask if they have this.

It took a few reads of the form to make sense of it, as it has every possible outcome listed, but the one that is relevant is highlighted and ticked.