Mad_Scottish

I was aware of the US tax requirement, which I have always found disgusting. I spent a lot of years abroad and remember the American all complianing about still having to file and pay despite not even living in the US. It is what it is really. We have a son and plan on having another child and we are likely to return. My wife just would really like to try living abroad, so going through the spousal visa application and waiting while she is back here in the US just isn't an option. I will just wait to get citizenship into place first.

Thank you Ian as this is what we have been trying to find out.

I can apply for citizenship in 2016, so I will wait for them and then look at options. Just one of those situations where my wife now would like to really take on the opportunity of living abroad. I have been the lucky one to have travelled all over and lived in a lot of countries so she is now at that stage where she doesn't want to regret not taking the chance while our children are young.

The above information helps a lot, so thank you once again.

Good Evening Everyone,

I hope you are all well.

I have a quick question in regards to the whole green card to citizenship process along with remaining in the US.

My wife and I have been discussing options about returning to the UK, she is American, I am the one that moved over here to be with her. I have my green card now and I can get the condition of marriage removed at the start of 2015. Once I have that, which is valid for 10 years (if I remember correctly) this is where we are looking for more information.

If we were to move back to the UK, is this going to cause an issue if we come back a few years later from a processing standpoint? How would that situation work in terms of me applying for citizenship? If I have the green card that is valid for 10 years, does it simply give us the luxury of being able to come and go as we please?

thank you,

It is very easy to get stressed about the process because you sit in the dark for most of the process. What you submitted, you should be more than fine. The process takes a while, try not to let it consume too much of your energy.

My application for AOS got sent over to the Cali office and they are processing April now. I filed in May so I am expecting at least another 2-3 months. The processes are going to vary but this may give you an indicator of where the other offices are (or not). I hope this helps at least a little bit.

The worst thing is the sitting in the dark. Try and not stress over it and find patience if you can. Everything is taking forever at the moment. I am waiting on my green card and it is taking forever. I fully sympathise but as above, don't submit anything after the fact. Wait for them to contact you to say they need more or you will get your next notification.

Harpa, thank you very much. I haven't printed any forms off yet so that is appreciated. I really do hope I don't have to pay anotehr $380, because it seems rediculous to pay for something they are failing to process within their own time frames. I do fully appreciate that it is very much a case of get over it, it is how it is but it would be nice to avoid the cost.

My wife and I just moved so $380 isn't in the budget right now haha.

Hey Everyone,

I am already in the US and came in under the K-1 visa. My wife and I will have been married for nearly a year. Time has flown by!!

However, I still not have my green card and I am now at a stage where I need to get the ball rolling with extending my EAD. I searched on the USCIS site and I couldn't find anything other than just applynig for another EAD. What I wanted to ask is am I simply applying for another EAD or is there a process in place that covers extending the current EAD you have?

My green card is no where near getting processed by the looks of things. I am still showing as on initial review and everything was submitted back in May. I would apprecaite any feedback regarding the EAD extention process or even just finding out if I need to simply apply for another one.

Thank you,

Just an update on this, I went in early and was processed right away. I was in and out within 5 minutes.

Quick question to you as well..... did you come in on a k1 visa? I am just amazed at the speed you got your green card!

Thats annoying as hell. They need to make this clearer because everything I read in the instructions for each said that the biometics was for the AOS not the EAD. They need to back to automatically awarding the EAD if you are coming in on a K visa. Thank you for your help!!

Going through the baltimore office. Still waiting on my EAD and they have had it for 55/56 days

Have the time for the biometrics for tomorrow but can you walk in early so that you get seen earlier or are they strict about the appointment times therefore it would be useless going in early?

Just a quick question regarding the EAD, that just comes through in the post right?

Ok

I dont mind if they take a while with the green card im just trying to find out roughly how long people had to wait after their biometrics (from previous experiences) rather than this turning into a huge convo about something else. I am not too worried about the EAD because that is averaging around 70 days and im already half way through that.

To be fair I dont really care about how long the green card takes, I just want the EAD asap. Want to work, then the green card can take its time!

I have posted this here because I came into the US on a K1 visa and all the other paperwork is in (EAD and App for Green card). My question is a simple one really, I just wanted to know how long(roughly) it took for people to get their hands on their green cards after they had had their biometrics appointment. My biometrics app is at the end of the month so just wanted a rough idea of how long the green card will take after that.

The chicago office sent my applcation over to the california office so that it will get processed quicker, which is great. Anyway.... apologies if this is the wrong forum for posting this.

I completed the k1 visa process at the end of january. Try and not stress over it. As long as neither of you have anything beyond the norm, ie criminal records etc or anything else that will flag up on the system dont worry about it. You definitely do not need a lawyer. Use the guides for the K1 visa process that they have on this site.

File what you need to for the k1 visa petition with the USCIS, this will take around 3-4 months. Then get your fiance to prepare for the interview in london, which is really straight forward.

I cannot reiterate enough though, try and not stress out. It isnt a hard process as long as you are both legit and he doesnt have any issues that will cause problems with the US Immigration and customs.

There are embassy reviews for london on this site as well.

I just completed the K1 visa process today got the approval down in London. It took us 9 months but that was due to problems with getting a police certificate from Malaysia as I lived there for more than a year after the age of 16. ANYWAY, it is pretty straight forward as long as you can your hands on all the information.

If you want to get married in the US and he comes back then yes he has to file for the CR1 visa. If you want to wait and you guys file the k1 visa you should get it around 7 months as said above.

But do not under any circumstances lie about why he is over in the US because it can cause some serious problems later on. If you want to get married in the US be honest and then say that you will file for the CR1 visa etc

Just to dispell this as an option, he cant come over with you, you guys get married and then stay in the US. He has to leave and come back to the UK and complete the process here. If he stays in the US or files for the AoS he will face deportation on the grounds that he lied about why he was in the US and over staying his visa (the 90 days given by the VWP). That seems dire, it isnt meant to be. My fiance and I stomped around the process and had a lot of ideas most of which were completely stupid.

The process is what it is and is by and large straight forward. If you can get through the visa process you have a good relationship

The previous K1 application can be explained as you had initially decided to start it then decided to cool the jets a bit. Can link it to work or different things going on in your life or just be honest. Either way the papertrial is there (obviously) so witholding information will get the both of you no where.

She is fully entitled to apply for a tourist visa, she just needs to be honest on the application and when asked about it be honest about it. They will respect that.

But you also hit the nail on the head, it is going to be come down to what her interviewer thinks.

I just had to provide proof I was in the country and I did that by scanning one of the visas I had. They just processed it and voila. Was straight forward apart from being messy and time consuming.

Leekee I am assuming that you are from malaysia? I was only living in Malaysia as an expatriate and I applied through the High Commission in London. To be honest though, the High Commission were rather hopeless and took forever. I ended up having to ring the consular department in KL myself from the UK and I got through to a woman who was able to help me.

It was a very long drawn out process because the High Commission in London were so hopeless. They told me they had sent my application onto malaysia and that it would take 1-2 months. When I rang malaysia around the 2 month mark they told me they had no paperwork for me. I scanned and emailed everything that was necessary to the woman (who was fantastic) in malaysia and she got the ball rolling. It took me 4 months in total to get the paperwork.

But you shouldnt have to be in Malaysia to get it. You just apply for it and they send it to you. But you do need to deal with their high commission in whichever country you are in.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone on the site that has helped Jennie and myself. I have spoken to 3-4 people at some length seeking information and dealing with the whole process. Thank you for the patience and the input you have given and I would like to say that if anyone has questions then please feel free to message me as well.

Espcially if you are going through your interview in London then obviously I am very UK specific as each embassy does vary. London are very straight forward so dont over think it too much!

Thank you everyone, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY WHOOHOOO.... I should be US bound in 2 weeks and that will be moving and with my fiance finally. It has taken us 9 months to get through everything and it only took that length of time because I was waiting on police certificates from Malaysia and they took 4 months lol :S

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!

I honestly have so much info. I have emails and a lot of skype history. I am basically using emails to supplement the skype history because otherwise it will literally get rediculous. Jennie and I can email over 50 times a day without breakin a sweat!