overandout

Wow, I can't believe it has been 8 months since we recieved my husband's visa and arrived in the US. I was living in the UK as a student (I am the USC) and we got married in June 05 and started the <sarcasm>wonderful</sarcasm> journey...

Things were very difficult when we first arrived. We had no apartment or home ready for us, so had to live in my childhood bedroom in my dad's house. My dad was very helpful and accomodating, but to go from having your own space to having none whatsoever, put a real strain on us. Neither one of us had a car, so first priority was getting some kind of transportation - we live in the middle of nowhere (or what seems like that when compared to areas in the UK all linked by train and bus!) so a car was a necessity as far as finding jobs and getting to them every day. We managed to get a deal on a Honda which has been the most reliable car, I would reccomend the Civic to anyone. Because we weren't paying rent, we did have the luxury of being able to visit a lot of places in the area so that Paul could get better aquainted with his new surroundings. I think that helped a lot. We were also forced (but grew to enjoy, lol) to spend a lot of time with my family members. Being surrounded by supportive people is so important in this kind of situation. Get out and make some friends and contacts is all I can say, I can't emphasise that enough...and it's the last thing you feel like doing, but you have to push each other. Get out and explore.

Eventually in July I got a job at a retail store I used to work at. My friend was the manager there and she gave me a decent wage (for retail). That got us a little bit of income coming in. Paul went on many job interviews. He had some interest from a few people, a few even told him he was too qualified for the job. A temp agency here that I also ended up using myself were very professional and helpful, and best of all, very local. Many of the temp agencies we recieved letters from after they saw our resumes on Monster or CareerBuilder were at least an hour away in the more built up areas that we weren't interested in commuting to in the first place. Eventually through one of our friends, he got an interview with a small but growing HVAC company to be an office assistant/receptionist. He got the job in August and it's now February - he's recieved two raises and a promotion already, he is now the office manager. This is all down to his hard work, and he hasn't been afraid to stand up to his bosses and suggest new ideas for the company. If you have the opportunity to work for a small company, I would not pass it up. Don't think that the only good jobs are in the cities! As for me, I worked in retail until the end of October to keep the money coming in while we moved into our own apartment. I then signed up with the local temp agency, who found me a job in less than two days working in the customer service department of a hospitality glassware company. It pays well and isn't too far of a commute, and the company is European owned and growing.

So far so good. Paul took his driving test and passed, he now has a NJ driver's license. We were happy with our apartment, which was gigantic compared to the one we had back in England, for nearly the same rent. After being there a few months, we decided we wanted to buy a house. We had some savings together so started the search. Then we spotted this adorable colonial in my hometown. It had been on the market over the summer, then sold. We had actually been keeping an eye on it but weren't ready to actually start looking. Then, due to an issue at closing, it was back for a couple of weeks. We figured we couldn't lose anything by just going to look at it - we called up the wife of one of Paul's colleagues who was a realtor (contacts, people! network!) and she took us to see it right away - it was perfect. The only problem was that the furnace was too old and needed to be replaced. Well, Paul works for an HVAC company - they installed a new one for us for cost. Of course there was a little bit of pain involved there, we ran out of heat over one weekend and froze our asses off for a few days (In North Jersey, in February...COLD!), so they came in and did an emergency installation for us. So, we bought a house. It has had its problems. Having your first home is certainly no picnic. Our major problem though has not been with the house, but the apartment.

When we moved in, we signed a one year lease. Part of the terms of the lease were that if we moved out before the lease was up, we had to pay rent until the apartment was rented to a new tenant. Well, we didn't read that part. We thought it would be like our contract in England, where all we had to do was give thirty days notice that we were planning to move out, no strings attached. When we looked at the house and decided it was what we wanted, we were told someone else had already put in an offer that the owners were considering. We had to put in our own offer (and a better one) as fast as possible, so we didn't stop to consider the apartment lease. All the waiting drove us nuts. It felt like the visa process all over again. There were fights and tears and a hell of a lot of stress. We moved out of the apartment in mid December, and waited impatiently for it to be rented to someone else. The poor manager probably wanted to kill me, I called him a few times every week to see how it was going. Then at the end of January, we recieved a bill from the apartment management - for $10,000. Freaking out ensued. Where the hell were we going to get that kind of money? Who has that just sitting around, especially after we just signed on for a $250,000 mortgage??? As with most things, especially the visa, it came down to the wire, to the end of this month. In fact, today would have been the day we were going to go to the bank and apply for a personal loan. I got a call on Friday from the apartment manager saying they had rented the apartment and the new tenants were moving in that day. PHEW.

Things are certainly still not perfect and I don't think anything will ever live up to the ideals we had in our heads before we came here - but in 8 months we've managed to do all this through had work and perseverance. We have a lot to be grateful for.

So, it has been scary at times. Other times it's been great. You just have to keep pushing and pushing and don't lose sight of your goals. The best way to get by, at least here in our rural area, is to make friends and be a part of the community. Rely on family if you can. Paul just joined the local volunteer fire company and I think this is going to really help him with getting out there and doing things on his own too. Join the first aid squad, the fire company, if you're religious, find a church and make some friends there. It sounds really cheesy, but it does help. Even just go to a local bar and talk to some strangers about the area, you never know who they might know who could help you with something, or they might be able to help you, or they might just turn out to be a very good friend. In our experience, in our area, people have been very generous and I don't know what we would have done without them.

If anyone needs any help at all with anything, please let us know!!!

- Carrie

Ah, the American Dream...two guns for everybody

Hi,

We finally received our visa!!! We'd emailed the embassy on Monday and this morning they told us it was approved and sent via SMS yesterday. Then the courier arrived just after lunchtime!

Someone please updated us as being "approved"

We've already bought our plane tickets!!! Wahoo!!!

Congrates to Euro and Cashandcari!!!

Hi,

I hope this works out for you. It is a concern to us too as my husband resides in the UK and sold his house in the USA. The only factor that we hope will qualify him as a sponser, is that he has not given up his job in the US. He has continued to work for his company in Chicago via the internet. After reading about your experience may be we should ask his Dad to fill out the forms as a co sponser just in case.

Good Luck

Sarah

That might be a good idea - it's not like it costs anything to have his dad fill out the form (except of course for the notary fee) - better to be safe than sorry. Our problem was that I had considered my dad a 'household member' as I consider my residence in the US with him to be my 'home' - but since I've been in the UK for the last three years, I count as being 'domiciled' in the UK, therefore my dad doesn't count as a household member and has to fill out a separate I-864. I'd imagine the case is the same with your husband, his dad will have to fill out a seperate I-864 rather than be eligible to be included on your husband's I-864 as a household member.

Thanks guys, we'll be thinking of you on Tuesday! Good luck!

Hi,

We had problems...

We've posted a separate thread about the day and to see if anyone else has had the same delay:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11341

We didn't get a no. They said we can have a visa... provided we refill out the exact same information but on a different form and send it in *rolls eyes*

Paul

So we had our interview today at the London Embassy (yay!). The woman said everything was fine and she was happy to approve and issue us a visa...but...because I don't actually live in the US right now (even though I consider it my residence, I live in the UK as a student also) my dad (who lives in NJ) doesn't count as a household member and therefore has to fill out a seperate I-864 as a co-sponsor. Argh . So she asked that we have my dad fill out a new I-864. He has to get it notarized and then send it to me, then I have to contact the embassy's courier service who will come pick it up and deliver it to the embassy so I assume that won't take long, but does anyone know how long things will take once they recieve it at the embassy?

They already have all of my dad's tax information (since I used him as a household member's income to qualify on my own I 864) and employment info, confirmation of his salary, etc.. I'm hoping this means that getting them his I 864 is just a formality. The woman who did our interview did say that it's a very common issue, she gave us a blue sheet that explains various issues and reasons for denial of visa applications and this one is top of the list.

The first guy who went through all our paperwork and stuff asked us if we had any definite travel plans, and since they've repeatedly said on every letter not to make any, we said no but we were hoping to leave in June, so all he wrote on the form was 'six months'...so obviously I don't think the lady who conducted the interview knew when we were hoping to leave, so all she told us was that we'd have the visa and be able to leave within six months from today which is pretty vague! We were both so worried and shocked I guess that we didn't even think to ask her exactly how long it would take. The problem is that my student visa for the UK runs out on the 30th of June and we've basically been planning everything around leaving at the beginning of June, so we're hoping that once the embassy gets the documents they need it will be straightforward and they can issue the visa pretty quickly.

The lady did tell us that when my husband enters the US, I either have to already be in the US or he needs to be traveling with me or he could be refused entry, so hopefully if any of you are in a similar situation you won't get stuck at immigration when you arrive in the US!

Phew, sorry this is so long, it's been an interesting day! I hope the rest of you are having better luck! I guess it could be worse...

Hi,

Has anyone who has had an interview recently tell me whether they are asking for a copy of the 2005 tax return yet?

Thanks!

Paul

Hi,

My visa is near to be complete and so I'm now planning ahead to the actual moving part.

What about paying Customs fees on the personal effects I am bringing into the US with me? It will mostly just be clothes, dvds and a few books etc, but do I have to declare the full value of each item on any custom's forms?

If anyone who's already made it over has any experience/advice/information - I'd be greatful to hear it!!!

Congrates Crash amd Cari!

We booked my medical at the start of this week. Mine's on the 4th of April. The girl who answered the phone (eventually, it was engaged the first few times I tried on Monday morning) just asked me when I wanted it. I didn't get my first preference of dates/times, but she did list a few alternatives, which I picked from, so there must be quite a few available.

And to people who have already had their medicals...

Does it really take an hour and a half? (the telephone woman told me this)

Does this mean it's very intrusive?

If anyone can reassure me, that'd be great!!

Paul

An interview appointment has been scheduled for you on April 28, 2006 at

9:30 am. Written confirmation of the date and time of the appointment was

sent to you on March 23.

I LOVE YOU LONDON!!! :energetic:

Someone update the list pleaseeee!

Wahoo!

Congratulations Euro!

How did you find out? i.e. did you get written instructions through the mail or did you get a reply to your email?

All my paperwork has been a week behind yours so I should find out next week!

Happy Anniversary!

We haven't gotten our visa yet so maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, but we're hoping to have it all sorted out soon. I'm a little worried about how my husband will adjust to life in the US. Right now we both live in the UK (I'm a student from NJ) so we'll be moving in with my dad when we move to the states. This seems like it will be weird enough for him on top of everything else - the house and yard are a nice size but my childhood bedroom definitely was not built for two adults to live in so it will be cramped, but I think he'll feel uncomfortable in the more 'communal' areas like the living room or kitchen with my family who he's only met a couple of times before and never spent a long amount of time with. I'm wondering what will be best for Paul - should he take some time to get himself situated, visit places, have a little vacation, or should he dive right in and get into a routine? Just wanted to know what other people's experiences have been and what works best. I want to make everything as easy as possible for him because I know it will be difficult and stressful living in someone else's home in a new country knowing that you're there for the rest of your life. (well, not at my dad's for the rest of our lives I certainly hope, but I just mean in the US).

Of course it will all just take time and patience but I'm running short on both of those as the moment so could use some encouraging advice.

You might want to call the NVC if you haven't recieved forms you're expecting in the mail. We were waiting on the I-864 packet which seemed to be taking ages..we got in touch with them and they promptly re-sent the packet which we recieved a week later. (this is of course only necessary if you're sure you need the form in the first place). Does Canadian post have some kind of express air mail or surface mail to the USA? We sent our fee bill payments to the US po box (St Louis) address without a problem using an express airmail service. I wouldn't reccomend sending your payment to anywhere other than the official address they give you, it might cause even further delays.

Thank you for all that info! It certainly clarifies a lot of things for us. As you can see from my updated signature timeline we have found out that the embassy have our case and we've been told by e-mail that we should hear from them within the next four weeks. I have read that around the time you said you were waiting for your interview they had a backlog of work so maybe that was why yours took so long, hopefully they'll have sped up by now but either way we'll just have to be patient. thanks again!

We got an email from London today confirming receipt of our case (not sure what day it got there though). They confirmed they will contact us with written confirmation of date/time of interview in approx 4 weeks (i.e. packet 4).

So 8 weeks from case being received at London still seems to be the estimated timescale to get an interview.

Hi, thanks for adding us.

I'm pretty sure we don't get a packet 3 as we are just going for the CR1. Now that NVC have said they're done with our case, they give it to London, who go straight to issuing a packet 4 (as far as we can tell).

I still need to have my medical before the interview date so I hope they send the details out soon!

Yay! We phoned the NVC today and they said our case has been sent to the London embassy on 28th February!!! Although slightly worringly we also received an email from London today stating:

We have no record of having yet received an approved petition and case

file

in your name. However, there is currently a delay of 6 to 8

weeks

between the date the forms are received by the Embassy and the date in

which

they are processed and entered on to our system. As soon as the

Immigrant

Visa Unit has received your forms and completed the required additional

processing on your application you can anticipate receiving further

information on how to proceed.

Should I be worried it's not on their records 9 days after it was sent? (Most DHL packages for that date were delivered within a few days)

Does it really take 6-8 weeks for them to schedule an interview? Or do they mean 6 -8 weeks until the interview?

Can we be added to the list please? ;

Yay! We phoned the NVC today and they said our case has been sent to the London embassy on 28th February!!! Although slightly worringly we also received an email from London today stating:

We have no record of having yet received an approved petition and case

file

in your name. However, there is currently a delay of 6 to 8

weeks

between the date the forms are received by the Embassy and the date in

which

they are processed and entered on to our system. As soon as the

Immigrant

Visa Unit has received your forms and completed the required additional

processing on your application you can anticipate receiving further

information on how to proceed.

Should I be worried it's not on their records 9 days after it was sent? (Most DHL packages for that date were delivered within a few days)

Does it really take 6-8 weeks for them to schedule an interview? Or do they mean 6 -8 weeks until the interview?

Can we be added to the list please? ;

So will it really be 6-8 weeks before they can even give us an interview date? Or, if the date is assigned by NVC (I'm still not clear on this, who books/assigns the visa interview date??), will we be given an interview date soon while London processes our forms in the meantime in time for the interview? Wish I knew/understood the inner workings of all these government processes.

Basically when you are required at NVC stage to submit both DS-230 pt I & II.......those are the cases that the NVC schedules the interview. In the case of London.....London will schedule your interview date. Thats about all I can help you with Im afraid as Im not familiar with the interview wait times etc there.

Thanks, that was one of my main sources of confusion, I couldn't figure out who was going to be doing it...luckily about ten minutes after making this post (it figures) I got through at NVC and talked to an operator who basically confirmed what you said and also gave me the date our case was sent to London, yay, one more piece of the puzzle...

I e-mailed the London Embassy recently to find out if they'd gotten our case yet and when we should expect to recieve an interview date, and this is the reply I recieved:

We have no record of having yet received an approved petition and case

file in Mr. *******'s (my husband) name. However, there is currently a delay of 6 to 8

weeks between the date the forms are received by the Embassy and the date in

which they are processed and entered on to our system. As soon as the

Immigrant Visa Unit has received your forms and completed the required additional

processing on your application you can anticipate receiving further

information on how to proceed.

(just as a note, we did tell them that NVC had told us the case was sent to them...which we're not actually totally sure of since we can't get through to an operator or the automated system, we've just assumed it's been mailed out since it's been almost 2 working weeks since our case complete date and were hoping for a miracle )

So will it really be 6-8 weeks before they can even give us an interview date? Or, if the date is assigned by NVC (I'm still not clear on this, who books/assigns the visa interview date??), will we be given an interview date soon while London processes our forms in the meantime in time for the interview? Wish I knew/understood the inner workings of all these government processes.

Hi there,

As per the automated NVC helpline, our case was completed on February 21st... what happens now? The machine said to wait for up to 8 weeks, but I don't know what I'm waiting for! I think we're waiting for confirmation that they've sent the case to London.

I'm a bit concerned as most cases seem to be forwarded to the embassy relatively quickly. Is 3 weeks a long time to wait for the case to be sent to London?

After it's sent how long before an interview date is generated?

What's the quickest way to find out the interview date? Does the London Consulate have a website it lists them on?

Will ringing the DOS number help, or can they only assist if the date has actually been scheduled?

Please help!!!

yup, we've already gotten that in advance but thanks!

Thank you, we haven't gotten the letter from the NVC yet (about how long did you have to wait before you recieved this? we only know the case is completed by using the NVC's automated message thing) but we will try calling that number soon!