Vanitas

Which is what I've been saying, as long as you have the stuff that's relevant for your time period of the process you should be fine. My stance on it though is to just be prepared in case they throw a curveball. There is one other positive change of this though - at least we'll have a DS-160 to show at the gate now in case people come up against that woman who yells at people for not having it or threatens to refuse entry to K1s for only having an appointment letter...

Thank you for this response.
VJers are sometimes too quick to jump to conclusions.

ok - perhaps the man is freaking out because he thinks AOS must be done immediately? If that's the case, this freakout is having some bad words from him, he's not thinking straight.
OP - remind your friend to tell her husband that AOS doesn't have to be filed immediately, and that he should get busy to work and save the money over the next 3 months, making it a goal to work and save the monies.
Right or wrong, I'll posit he's having a massive freak-out because he really didn't plan ahead. Happens, sometimes.
I don't want to think he's a creep, at the moment, but I don't discount that concept, either.

Yep, he’s a loser for sure!
Along with the other 11,300,000 unemployed losers (ww.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf) or oops, I forgot—we can’t really trust what the government tells us. CNN puts the number at 86,000,000 losers.
(See: http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/03/news/economy/unemployment-rate/)
In America when a person is unemployed the person collects unemployment benefits. If the person is not eligible (perhaps they had not had the job long enough) voila—they are magically “employed” (statistically). Once a person has exhausted his or her unemployment benefits—again,like magic—they become employed (according to statistics).
In short, America is absolutely full of unemployed persons who over time become more and more discouraged. He is one of them.
To say this fella is a loser is cruel. There is no other word.
We don’t know his story. Perhaps he had a job and lost it. Perhaps he was like me (I’m unemployed) and optimistic—a year or two ago. But optimism does not create jobs.
My guess is that the problem can be summed up in one word: depression. I’ll bet that he’s worn down and depressed. This occurred by the millions during the Great Depression of the 1920-1930’s. Men abandoned families frequently rather than face the bleak reality that there were NO jobs anywhere. Now, it’s not that bad today—but it is bad for some.
My advice to her would depend largely upon her skills. If she speaks English poorly, and does not have an education equivalent to high school, it will be a hard road for her. If she speaks English well and has high school skills—she’s been here long enough to be able to work. (If not, perhaps discussing this as an option will lead to her being able to work in the US)
So my advice would be to go and get a job at McD’s or equivalent. They are always desperate for employees—or stocking grocery shelves, or working independently as a cleaning service. Anything is fine--$7/hour or $8 per hour is fine—it’s a start. Find a nursing home and obtain work as a CNA (Nurses Assistant) here in NH there are many large places who will train a person for free—here wages rise quickly to $12-$14. Use that as a jumping stone and become an LPN (nurse) and voila wages rise to $17=hour—use that as a jumping point to an RN—voila! Now she’s making $24+/hour. (If she's not yet empowered to work maybe telling him that she is willing to do so will keep the relationship together until she can work.)
She’s here—she’s empowered to start earning so consider trying that. Living with mom does not need to be a negative thing it reduces the bills. As a matter of fact, culturally she is less likely to mind that than he.
This will not fix things totally but it may offer him hope and it may give him time to find a job—anything, part-time is ok.
There is a syndrome that afflicts America and it goes like this:
You’re unemployed—that’s ok.
You’re unemployed for more than a year—that’s not ok, now you’re a loser. (He is likely in this category)
I’m not being facetious here. Many, many temp agencies will simply not hire a person if they have been out of the labor force for more than one year. This leads to a plethora of “no job available for you” responses. Often this affects men more than women as women are often more willing to find/learn new skills. Often men faced with finding that no temp agency (often the only good source of jobs) will hire them become depressed and drop out.
The answer is simple. The man must work at some job—any job—part time or full time for six months to be able to go back to a temp agency (about the only place where there are full time jobs) who will now hire them. This may be his only option, and her working earning some income could be the catalyst that gets him back on his feet (along with the relationship).
A couple is a team so I’d suggest that she act like part of a team and try to figure out how to create some cash flow—any will likely improve things.
It would be a terrible thing for her culturally to have to go back to the Philippines and probably terrible to divorce (divorce is unacceptable to most Filipinas).
It’s a difficult situation but one that literally affecting millions of couples since finances is the number one source of contention within marriages.
(See: http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/Study-Money-is-top-source-of-c_1369177022/)
Nah, he’s not a loser—he’s just depressed and she, like myself, and like millions of other Americans are in the same boat.
Note: Every community has GED (General Education Degree) courses—they are generally free and usually they include English tutoring if necessary.

New interview checklist: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/cons-visa/iv_and_k_interview_checklist.pdf

Two posts have been removed for transporting previous drama into this thread, and one post quoting same. Numerous other posts have been removed for belittlement, unnecessary ridicule, or nonresponsiveness.

Regardless of the motivation behind the OP's query, enough remaining answers yield enough constructive information for this thread to have fulfilled its purpose. The thread is closed and should not be restarted or referred to elsewhere.
TBoneTX
on behalf of VJ Moderation

Replace that entire quote with just "Marklar" then.

As most of you know we were issued with the 221g Refusal form at the interview on the 24th September due to my passport and birth certificate not being up to standard.
I really cant express how stressful the last 2 weeks and 2 days since my interview have been for us, and all of our family and friends.
We were told that it may take 15 working days for our visa to be Issued, which means we would have missed our wedding.
Today we logged into CEAC and found London have Approved and Issued our visa in 4 working days!! Really I cant fault them on their efficiency and speed in which they processed our case its really unbelievable.
Most of all THANK YOU to my VJ friends (you know who you are) who have been messaging me for the past 2 weeks with their prayers, crossed fingers, well wishes, whatever. Really what I would have done without this support network I dont know.
Of course I wont relax until its in my hand, and im through immigration with no problems lol, but for now, this will do just fine

True. One post has been removed for unnecessary profanity, and approximately a dozen others for bickering or reacting to bickering.
The OP sincerely finds herself in a situation of crisis. We can offer constructive opinions on the basis of what she has posted. We can't go beyond a certain point of judging her fiance (who is not here to admit or refute anything). We can certainly avoid detracting from and disrespecting the OP's situation.
Let's be respectful of the OP and of ourselves. It would be regrettable if any bickering or insults were to continue, because offenders will have to be banned from further participation in this thread.
TBoneTX
on behalf of VJ Moderation

There are many excellent replies here. I'm struck most by the "he is a pig" in the OP, and that the petitioner chose not to be forthcoming with his (assumedly) pending wife-for-life during a whole 8 months -- instead choosing to look elsewhere while (assumedly) pretending that all was well during his communications with her all that time.
If I knew all this as a CO who was deciding on whether to grant a visa, I know exactly what I'd do. If I were a kindly older relative of the OP, I'd say "All the available men on Earth who would figuratively kill for a relationship with you, and this is the level of your standards?" If I were the OP's best male friend, I'd say "He's saving you a lot of time. Count yourself lucky that you found out now, instead of later when it would be far more difficult to extricate yourself."
A rock-solid marriage relies on transparent communication, and there was none until the beneficiary actually arrived and found out the truth of what was going on. It was far different from her truth.
For a marriage that "has" to happen in a few weeks, a lot of fundamental counseling (individual for him, but better for the couple) needs to cover a lot of ground. My male perspective is that the OP should return home now, let the fiance pursue his counseling and personal growth, and -- in time -- pursue another I-129F/K-1, if they mutually wish. Right now, doubts exist on her part, and growth is needed on his part. Personal changes can be made but not endure, and the legal pressure of having to marry now should not compel a marriage at this time.

Not helpful at all.
The guides (specifically the K-1 Visa Guide and K-1 Flowchart) will give you a hand here. Basically, your petition gets passed to the NVC (National Visa Center) - who will then, assuming all is well, mail it over to the London Embassy.
But before then, start ringing the NVC to see if you can get the case number and get the medical at Knightsbridge booked. You'll also need to sort out your ACPO certificate. Like I say, the guides have all the answers!

Hmm, you know.. that actually works in an old TV jingle/intro from a kid's show I used to watch called "Rosie and Jim".
Wacko and Slim, Wacko and Slim..

Um....well....ya gotta respect authoratah..........

I accounted for the boom and bust cycle of USCIS processing in my regression model. It covered two years of data for every filing type at the CSC. The slowdown in I-129F processing that we are discussing was still an abberration even accounting for the CSC's historical boom and bust patterns, and the slowness was almost entirely attributable (88% attributable, if i recall correctly) to the DACA program implementation. Those boom and bust cycles are not some secret that only "those who've been around a while" know about. You are really out of your depth discussing this as you obviously have not bothered to think deeply about the numbers relevant to his discussion or the analysis of those numbers that was done by myself and others.
And, as long as you keep being wrong about the issue, I will keep correcting you on it. If you don't want to be corrected, don't opine about topics you do not fully understand.

It's okay. This is just a minor setback, you've got everything in motion to have this fixed ASAP. You'll get there.

Next time, please do read 13 pages of discussion, or at least the last couple, to see whether you're offering comments through the barn door after the horse has been sold. It's common courtesy, and you look better in the eyes of others for having done so.

NOA2 on Thursday - Sent to NVC today (Monday). Just ordered my Birth Cert and my Deed Poll. Next step once I've got my savings in my account is to get the Police Cert. Forms are all done except for DS-260. So even if it takes a while to get through NVC, I'm going to be well and truly ready.

It's okay. This is just a minor setback, you've got everything in motion to have this fixed ASAP. You'll get there.

It's okay. This is just a minor setback, you've got everything in motion to have this fixed ASAP. You'll get there.

See if they will do your shots again at your GP's surgery rather than paying out the wazoo for them at Knightsbridge. And remind them that the NHS lost them, not you and therefore it would be nice if they could do it on the house or at a reduced rate.

When I did an adv. search for threads like this, I found that while they started off well they tended to get derailed big time because they didn't focus on the subject matter (the last one went from "you need to do this" to "I want to get this food to take with me" to "I'm going to be living near you"). Others got ignored and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I would like this thread to be the main resource for things you need to do or cover before you leave for the US from the United Kingdom. Hence I will be dividing it into sections and anyone can contribute items that they know of which needs to be sorted before you go.
Government (inc. Taxes)
-File Form 85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-leaving-the-uk-getting-your-tax-right-p85 with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
-Check with Jobcentre Plus regarding any benefits you are currently claiming. Most will stop when you move abroad (like JSA and ESA).
-Inform your Local Council you are leaving. You may be able to claim back Council Tax for the time you won't be in the UK if you paid it in one blast up front.
Medical
-Get your Medical Records from the Doctor's. You may have to pay for this. Also inform Doctor's you're emigrating and thus will be leaving the surgery.
-Stock up on any vital medications you will need whilst changing over to a US Doctor. Be aware that some items (or large quantities of items) will need a Doctor's Letter verifying you actually need the medication.
Financial
-Inform your Bank that you are moving abroad to the States. You might want to keep the account open to avoid exchange rate fees when you visit the UK.
-Transfer any savings or anything in that vein over to where you want it to be (be it in a UK or US account).
-Cancel any Insurance Policies you won't need in the US (Car, for example).
-If you're expecting a pension you may need to check on whether it can be paid in the US or if you need to take action now.
Employment
-Hand your Notice in and make sure you get the length of time right. You might lose pay or the like if you don't.
-See if you can get a reference to take over with you, sealed in an envelope (if on good terms with employer).
-Don't do anything silly on your last day of work which might jeopardize you being able to leave for the States.
Possessions
-Anything of sentimental value you can't pack could be couriered over pre-move in plenty of time. Check around for costs and applicable regulations at Customs and Border Protection. See details here: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go
-Get any last items of food or drink you want to take over with you to tide you over, again keeping in mind the Customs regulations (see link above).
-Sell anything you can't take or don't want to take. Ebay or local shops may be an idea. Charity shops are also an excellent idea.
-If renting accomodation make sure it is clean and tidy, nothing is missing from your inventory and the Landlord knows where to send a deposit refund to (or a bill for damages/cleaning).
-Make sure your Mobile Phone is unlocked and therefore can accept a US Simcard to save on roaming and all.
Family/Friends
-Make sure your family can get hold of you in an emergency (be it via email, social media, phone or whatever you choose). You might find that teaching family members to use Skype or the like is a good idea.
-In a similar vein, make sure that you have a nice send-off with your friends and family so they can all see you before you go. This may be the last chance you get for the next six months or so.
--------
What else do you think needs to be added under these categories, guys?

Then maybe you need to go and read the Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits forum a bit more deeply before you put hands to keys.

Daddy, Daddy Cat!
And in answer to your first question.. been a little busy with some stuff to be honest. And playing lots of Diablo 3. But I got the best news ever today and that is my NOA2.