UK to US... where to start!! Help!!! :help:

[londonhornet 0]

My wife is puerto rican/American, with a US passport. I am a British resident with a British passport. We met in 2006 and in August 2008 we married in puerto Rico at an official ceremony whereby my friends and family from the UK also attended. In October 2008, my wife moved to the UK with the intention to work and settle. We successfully applied for a 'Spouse Visa', which enabled us to be together on a permanent basis. My wife has subsequently gained employment and we have been living together since.

As mentioned, my wife has been working and I am a serving police officer with the Metropolitan police and have been so for 7 years. Neither of us have children, nor do we have any convictions, medical conditions, or debts.

Due to declining health conditions of my wifes mother who lives in puerto Rico, we have decided that we wish to permanently settle in the USA and be with her mother in order to facilitate her welfare.

Our intentions are that my wife would move back to puerto Rico in December and seek employment, and I will remain in the UK in order to deal with any outstanding issues. Ideally, I would like to move to be with her in March 2010.

We have been searching online on several websites, tried to contact the US Embassy in London and are getting constantly redirected. We have a lot of questions outstanding.... examples of these include:

- What paperwork we would need to fill out? I have been told K1, K2 and K3? Also mentioned is an I-130??!! So lost already!!

- How long would a scenario such as ours take to be processed? Can I be in the US with her while the application is processed?

- Would it be worth considering legal assistance? I've already been advised an initial consulatation is £300 plus VAT!! Daylight robbery!!

Thank you ANYONE who can offer assistance!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My wife is puerto rican/American, with a US passport. I am a British resident with a British passport. We met in 2006 and in August 2008 we married in puerto Rico at an official ceremony whereby my friends and family from the UK also attended. In October 2008, my wife moved to the UK with the intention to work and settle. We successfully applied for a 'Spouse Visa', which enabled us to be together on a permanent basis. My wife has subsequently gained employment and we have been living together since.

As mentioned, my wife has been working and I am a serving police officer with the Metropolitan police and have been so for 7 years. Neither of us have children, nor do we have any convictions, medical conditions, or debts.

Due to declining health conditions of my wifes mother who lives in puerto Rico, we have decided that we wish to permanently settle in the USA and be with her mother in order to facilitate her welfare.

Our intentions are that my wife would move back to puerto Rico in December and seek employment, and I will remain in the UK in order to deal with any outstanding issues. Ideally, I would like to move to be with her in March 2010.

We have been searching online on several websites, tried to contact the US Embassy in London and are getting constantly redirected. We have a lot of questions outstanding.... examples of these include:

- What paperwork we would need to fill out? I have been told K1, K2 and K3? Also mentioned is an I-130??!! So lost already!!

- How long would a scenario such as ours take to be processed? Can I be in the US with her while the application is processed?

- Would it be worth considering legal assistance? I've already been advised an initial consulatation is £300 plus VAT!! Daylight robbery!!

Thank you ANYONE who can offer assistance!!

You probably do not need legal assistance, doesn't sound like you have any issues. I would see about filing a DCF in London. Read the forums and guides about filing a DCF. This will be the fastest, easiest and cheapest route for you

[Lancelotte25 1]

My wife is puerto rican/American, with a US passport. I am a British resident with a British passport. We met in 2006 and in August 2008 we married in puerto Rico at an official ceremony whereby my friends and family from the UK also attended. In October 2008, my wife moved to the UK with the intention to work and settle. We successfully applied for a 'Spouse Visa', which enabled us to be together on a permanent basis. My wife has subsequently gained employment and we have been living together since.

As mentioned, my wife has been working and I am a serving police officer with the Metropolitan police and have been so for 7 years. Neither of us have children, nor do we have any convictions, medical conditions, or debts.

Due to declining health conditions of my wifes mother who lives in puerto Rico, we have decided that we wish to permanently settle in the USA and be with her mother in order to facilitate her welfare.

Our intentions are that my wife would move back to puerto Rico in December and seek employment, and I will remain in the UK in order to deal with any outstanding issues. Ideally, I would like to move to be with her in March 2010.

We have been searching online on several websites, tried to contact the US Embassy in London and are getting constantly redirected. We have a lot of questions outstanding.... examples of these include:

- What paperwork we would need to fill out? I have been told K1, K2 and K3? Also mentioned is an I-130??!! So lost already!!

- How long would a scenario such as ours take to be processed? Can I be in the US with her while the application is processed?

- Would it be worth considering legal assistance? I've already been advised an initial consulatation is £300 plus VAT!! Daylight robbery!!

Thank you ANYONE who can offer assistance!!

You probably do not need legal assistance, doesn't sound like you have any issues. I would see about filing a DCF in London. Read the forums and guides about filing a DCF. This will be the fastest, easiest and cheapest route for you

DCF it is, file for IR-1 for it seems like your are married for more than 2 years.

Being with her in the US while the petition is being process is not a good idea, it might jeopardize the processing.

[Lancelotte25 1]

How long it will take? It's case to case basis.

If you are lucky enough and have all documents required ready, you're gonna make it within 5 months.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Yes, DCF via London is your best bet, and should get you over around March or even earlier if you wish (once issues, you'll haven 6 months to use the visa, so no hurry); a K3 is obsolete and a CR-1 via the USA takes much longer than you wish it to take.

The I-130 is the petition the USC (your wife) files to allow you to apply for a visa. You'll be applying for a spousal visa, CR-1. You can visit on the VWP while the petition is pending. No need for a lawyer as long as you are detail orientated and have no problem filling out forms; the guides on this website will help ypou understand the process better than many a lawyer!

[Lancelotte25 1]

Yes, DCF via London is your best bet, and should get you over around March or even earlier if you wish (once issues, you'll haven 6 months to use the visa, so no hurry); a K3 is obsolete and a CR-1 via the USA takes much longer than you wish it to take.

The I-130 is the petition the USC (your wife) files to allow you to apply for a visa. You'll be applying for a spousal visa, CR-1. You can visit on the VWP while the petition is pending. No need for a lawyer as long as you are detail orientated and have no problem filling out forms; the guides on this website will help ypou understand the process better than many a lawyer!

I agree, our attorney made an error with my wife's family name and house number when she filled up the I-130 form.

I told my wife not to hire an attorney but she insisted. Anyhow, I'm glad we didn't had any problem with USCIS, we got approved after 32 days.

[londonhornet 0]

GUYS! We are so very grateful for all your advice trust me - we feel lost because we don't know who to talk to or where to start...

I have never heard of a DCF, what is this!? And do we need to start the I-130 forms before this DCF business!? The reason I ask is because everyone keeps talking about K1's etc.... ????

Seriously. Very grateful for your assitance everyone.

[Luke and Deanna 0]

Use the guides on the site as they are very helpful. I myself have no idea what DCF is but here is link to it from this web site;

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=dcf

At the top of the Visa journey home page you will see guides, in there is so much great info.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Luke and Deanna

[rebeccajo 14]

Have a look at the Guides for a basic idea of processing through a Direct Consular Filing (DCF).

I apologize in advance for being overly intrusive, but is your MIL's condition manageable without such a drastic change from your original plan? I don't know where you all prefer to live, but returning to the UK will become a lot more costly and cumbersome after 2011. Your wife is presently on a path to obtaining her ILR and if she gives that up, it won't be available to her later. In order to live in the UK permanently she will have to take UK citizenship.

Plus it seems you have a good stable job over there.

As I said I don't mean to be intrusive. I too have elderly parents here in the US and my mother is not well. My husband and I are in a position right now where we would like to return to the UK but feel compelled to stay here.

I'm merely suggesting you take a look at how things are changing via UK immigration and what your options will be should you wish to return there. The website uk-yankee.com is a good place for that research.

Good luck to you both.

Edited September 30, 2009 by rebeccajo

[rebeccajo 14]

As the poster is already married and appears to be interested in DCF, I'm moving this thread to that forum.

[sharpies 0]

GUYS! We are so very grateful for all your advice trust me - we feel lost because we don't know who to talk to or where to start...

I have never heard of a DCF, what is this!? And do we need to start the I-130 forms before this DCF business!? The reason I ask is because everyone keeps talking about K1's etc.... ????

Seriously. Very grateful for your assitance everyone.

My husband (UKC) and I just completed DCF in London. We filed the I-130 on June 22nd and were granted the visa at our interview on September 14th. It helped that I had all the necessary paperwork all organised from the beginning - for example - I ordered his police certificate immediately - that took just over 2 weeks.

You both need to be in the country when you file the I-130. The Embassy has been moving quite quickly so you should be able to be in the USA by March.

Good luck!

[londonhornet 0]

Congratulations guys!!

Is it not worth submitting the I-130 until we have obtained all our paperwork? Do you think it will be a problem if she leaves in December before me, and before my interview with the Embassy? I'll probably ###### my pants when I get interviewed!!!

[sharpies 0]

Congratulations guys!!

Is it not worth submitting the I-130 until we have obtained all our paperwork? Do you think it will be a problem if she leaves in December before me, and before my interview with the Embassy? I'll probably ###### my pants when I get interviewed!!!

I am pretty sure she will need to be in the country when you file the I-130. You don't have to have everything in order, but I suggest you send off for the police certificate straight away, as that takes a while to get back to you. I also had to order a long form birth certificate for my husband (he claims he didn't have one before) and that took about 2 weeks too. I found that it is best to get your head around everything straight away and then that will help you to know what you need to get organised.

You can attend the interview alone. I wanted to go with my husband because I wanted to see what it was like. It isn't too scary. As long as you are prepared. I had loads of evidence in my file (the stuff they ask for and a bit more) and they didn't even look at it. When it comes to the interview, the I-864 form is the most important. It all comes down to the money!

This is a great thread - everyone who has contributed has done DCF in London. There are loads of questions and answers, which should help you:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=195548

[Cuchita 1]

These guys can help you:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=219925