First post, so hello! And also a few questions regarding steps after the interview!

[Shellbug 0]

Hiya,

First post here after being directed here by Reddit /r/longdistance (amazing place)

First of all I should tell you a little bit about me I guess!

I'm F 27 from Devon, UK and my Fiancée is 30 M from Iowa, USA.

We are moving along nicely in our petition for the K1 visa which we started in September 2015 and I have my interview next month!

So excited (and totally nervous) and cannot wait.

Going through this process and getting to this part has literally been so so so tiring and I've got to the point that my brain is the consistency of mashed potato. (So sorry for any mumbling and anything that makes little to no sense in this post!)

I have had a little look around for answers already so am so sorry if these questions have already been asked (As I'm almost 100% sure they have) I just wanted one place I could ask my questions and get feed back I can refer to easily.

So here goes, any and all advice / comments will be extremely helpful and I cannot thank you all enough in advance! (You all sound like such an amazing and supportive community!)

First of all, my interview is coming up and I wanted to see if anyone has a fool proof friendly list of things I need to bring with me,

So far I have

• all evidence of my financial savings in my savings / current account
• passport sized photos (2)
• evidence of flights and visits
• photo evidence of our relationship
• Birth Certificate
• Medical certificate (and vaccination records ,... will get my full medical records from my Dr, soon)
• Police certificate
• Passport
• My interview letter and receipt of payment for the visa.

I was wondering what else needs to be taken / will be asked for (or anything I should take for a 'just in case' moment) I am also getting my Fiancée to write a statement and sent to me of his intent to marry me as I heard sometimes this has been asked for.

I believe the interview part will be fine! I'm just panicking about forgetting or overlooking something in the paperwork and that terrifies me! (I like to pretend I'm a organised person!)

Other queries I had was about the return of the passport after the interview, does anyone know how long this definitely will take? I am hoping to fly out for his birthday which is roughly 2-3 weeks after my interview but feel I shouldn't book anything until I am sure my passport will be back with me!

Another question was how long it took to process you through the first point of entry into the USA after your K1 is all approved and ready to go! (I have to get a connecting flight and was wondering how long I should have between flights, I was thinking 5ish hours to be on the safe side?)

Next and possibly last question (for now) was about my personal belongings. Has anyone found a good way of shipping over their stuff (for a reasonable price) I have a site I have found which seems to be my best bet so far. (http://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/) I just want to make sure that my things will get delivered safely so any tips on boxing them up would be amazing! I am mostly sending over books, a few sentimental DVDS, photo albums and a few nick nacks that hold a lot of sentimental value to me.

Again thank you to anyone who reads this and any / all feed back, comments and replies will mean the world to me! I'm just trying to get my head around EVERYTHING. I admire you all and look forward to reading replies!

Thankyou!

Michelle

XxxX

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

What to take to the interview is Embassy specific. London differs from other countries so here's London info.

Appointment letter

DS-160 confirmation

Passport: must have at least eight months validity left

Birth Certificate: must list parents' names.

Adoption Certificate: If applicable

Name Change Deed Poll: If applicable

Divorce Decree or Death Certificate: If previously married

Police Certificate (and Subject Access Report if it says "no live trace")

Court and Prison Records: If applicable

Military Records: If applicable

Photographs: one US passport style

Evidence of Support (Affidavit of Support): I-134 and one proof of the American's income

Translations: All documents not in English

New letter of intent from USC if petition has expired

Visa Fees: receipt from paying online

Comment on your list:

"evidence of my financial savings in my savings / current account." It should be the American's income like a letter from his employer or a tax return.

"evidence of flights and visits" NO. London will not look at that stuff. They don't care.

"photo evidence of our relationship" NO. London will not look at that stuff. They don't care.

"Medical certificate (and vaccination records ,... will get my full medical records from my Dr, soon)" NO

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How long to get visa? It varies. Here's the UK (London interviews) list. The date is the interview date and the number of days it took to have the visa in hand. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/550974-interview-date-to-visa-in-hand-how-long-2015-data/?p=8066333

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Your POE time to process will vary by airport, time of day, time of year, etc. Look at the menu bar for the word POE. CLICK that and find your airport and you can read what other people experienced at that airport.

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There are shipping threads in the UK forum where people discuss sending stuff. Start a new post in the UK forum about shipping your stuff and you'll get comments. Too much for this multi-topic post. This is the UK FORUM http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/99-united-kingdom/

Here's a new post that may interest you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/534020-uk-vjers-progress-update-thread/?p=8066612

Welcome!

[Shellbug 0]

Thank you so much for your info, it's all fantastic and has really helped.

I feel I have everything I need for the interview but one thing. you say "It should be the American's income like a letter from his employer or a tax return." He is currently on disability benefits so not sure if we will find a problem here. Not sure what he can send over to help this along, we had a immigration lawyer help us fill out all our initial forms and he said this shouldn't be an issue. He said my savings would be enough to carry us through this process. (And it hasn't been flagged up as a potential problem throughout). I will get my fiancée to call him and see what forms he should send to me to bring along to my interview. (unless anyone knows of anything?)

Thank you again so much and I will go through the links you provided and check them out

XxxX

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Thank you so much for your info, it's all fantastic and has really helped.

I feel I have everything I need for the interview but one thing. you say "It should be the American's income like a letter from his employer or a tax return." He is currently on disability benefits so not sure if we will find a problem here. Not sure what he can send over to help this along, we had a immigration lawyer help us fill out all our initial forms and he said this shouldn't be an issue. He said my savings would be enough to carry us through this process. (And it hasn't been flagged up as a potential problem throughout). I will get my fiancée to call him and see what forms he should send to me to bring along to my interview. (unless anyone knows of anything?)

Thank you again so much and I will go through the links you provided and check them out

XxxX

Yes, London will allow you to self-sponsor with no I-134. Bring evidence of your savings. If in various banks, a summary page with a total in £ and $ would be useful.

[MarkerOne 4]

1) Affidavit of support must be supplied by the petitioner

2) Medical examination should be done by certified medical center provided by the embassy.

3) Take 2 Passport photos

4) Take copy of the NOA2 with you.

5) Your bank account statements and financial status might be of help at the interview.

6) Make copies of your Birth Certificate, Police Certificate from where you are living now and any other countries you have lived in for more than 6 months.

7) If you have a copy of the entire petition I 129f you should take it with you.

[yuna628 9,547]

Hi there OP:

I think you should be just fine,, but also remember to take some time to relax. There is absolutely no need for medical records, afterall to obtain an interview you would have completed your medical at Knightsbridge. The results of that get sent along to the embassy. You would have been given a completed DS3025, now that's a document you'll want to hang on to stateside.

I'll also point out the following: obtaining your K1 is just the first part of a two-fold process. Once you marry in the US, you'll also need to go through the adjustment of status process. You said that you would be self-sponsoring yourself for your K1, and London is certainly known to accept that without a problem. But for adjustment of status, your future husband will need to financially sponsor you, either by himself or jointly, with a joint sponsor(s).

POE varies depending on the airport, in our case it took my husband all of ten minutes. It was the fastest I have ever seen him arrive in all our years of travel.

[Shellbug 0]

These are all so wonderful, thank you thank you thank you so so much,

I see "I'll also point out the following: obtaining your K1 is just the first part of a two-fold process. Once you marry in the US, you'll also need to go through the adjustment of status process. You said that you would be self-sponsoring yourself for your K1, and London is certainly known to accept that without a problem. But for adjustment of status, your future husband will need to financially sponsor you, either by himself or jointly, with a joint sponsor(s)."

-We are aware and have been preparing and looking into this a lot more as it comes closer. (And it's something our immigration lawyer will help us with) His father has said he has no problem with helping sponsor me, sign the papers and be a named person on my petition, but financially I will be able to fully support myself until I am legally able to work (with money left to me and savings I have) and luckily due to my profession and connections with friends and family out there I have a work situation sorted (of course I must stress, when I am fully legally able to work!)

Still anything else anyone has to offer and say on all these subjects are great, It's really putting my mind at rest but also giving me a lot to think about and sort out! (something's I haven't thought of before have been brought up)

I do have one question:

Birth certificates and divorce certificates. I, have never been married before so have no divorce certificates. My fiancée has been previously married. Do I need a copy of his divorce / birth certificates as well or are they just looking at mine in the London interview... it's not 100% clear whether I need both parties information or just mine.

Sorry for all the questions I just want to make 100% sure I get this right and sometimes can find myself bogged down by all the legal and technical language used on official sites. I find talking to people (especially those with experience) SO much more helpful!

Thank you all so much again

Michelle

XxxX

[TBoneTX 43,476]

Country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the UK regional forum.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I do have one question:

Birth certificates and divorce certificates. I, have never been married before so have no divorce certificates. My fiancée has been previously married. Do I need a copy of his divorce / birth certificates as well or are they just looking at mine in the London interview... it's not 100% clear whether I need both parties information or just mine.

Sorry for all the questions I just want to make 100% sure I get this right and sometimes can find myself bogged down by all the legal and technical language used on official sites. I find talking to people (especially those with experience) SO much more helpful!

Thank you all so much again

Michelle

XxxX

London K1 interview:

Only your documents. Nothing from fiancé since you will be self-sponsoring with your own funds.

A note on affidavit of support after marriage and adjusting status. The form I-864 allows the intending immigrant's assets to be used as well as a spouse's assets. In your case, you are both of those. After marriage you can report your assets on the form as household assets and supply documentation of those assets. Social Security Disability also counts as income, just like child support payments received. Because it doesn't appear on the tax return, you would have to separately document it with official paperwork showing the amount earned yearly.

[simonschus 58]

Hi Shellbug,

Hello - as a fellow person who sometimes lives in Devon, it is pleasure to have you here! It's been a wee bit windy and rainy today!

You mentioned something about flight connections, etc - I have a bizarre love for airlines/alliances, airports and flight schedules so I thought I'd chime in on this one.

As you're in Devon, you're potentially quite close to Exeter airport (and perhaps Bristol or Newquay airports). You can get a flight from any of those airports straight to Dublin Airport, Ireland. What is the benefit of that? Well, Dublin Airport has lots of onward flights to the US and is also the home of a very good US Preclearance facility. The facility means that you can go through US Immigration whilst in Dublin at their Preclearance Facility. Your flight from Dublin would land in the US as a domestic flight and you wouldn't need to go through immigration and could just head straight to your connecting flight. I've done this option many times, and my connection on landing in the US at JFK or Philadelphia is sometimes just 45 minutes! That is only an option though. I note that the reviews of using Dublin as a the Immigration POE into the US are generally quite positive for K1 visa. My parents live in Devon so we're doing doing that for my partner's and my wedding as we didn't want them to trek all the way to London. We're flying them from Exeter to Dublin which has only got one direct flight a day to Dublin which is a little inconveniently times as you need an overnight in Dublin, but there are several flights a day from Bristol. I might be doing the Dublin Preclearance route too as my K1 POE but have also got my eyes set on a slightly different route (currently looking at going via Madrid or Helsinki).

Alternatively, if you end up flying from somewhere else (e.g. LHR, BHX, MAN, AMS) and don't go through the Preclearance facility in Dublin then I'd try to have a connection time that you'll be happy with without getting anxious (otherwise you'll spend the entire flight worrying about the connection). If the two flights are actually on the same ticket then it doesn't matter to much if you miss the connection as the airline will just rebook you on the next available flight. Having not done the K1 entry yet, it seems that it can range from around 20 minutes to around 90 minutes.

Simon.

P.S. If you happen to have ever collected a good number of airmiles then the route through Dublin could sometimes save a wad of cash too, depending on the airline through which you collected your airmiles. There are some good websites out there explaining such options, including one that is UK focused.

Edited March 24, 2016 by simonschus