americanjetset

Hello fellow Visa Journeyors!

I've just finished preparing my ROC Package and organized it with binder clips by sections (banking, taxes, etc). I am just sending the stack of paperwork (no folders, etc).

The trouble that I now seem to have is that the stack of paperwork is too thick and I'm not sure how to mail it.

I've stopped by USPS and I tried to use the largest bubble mailer that they had but some of the papers got bent in process and it was still a struggle to fit everything inside.

The gentleman at the counter recommended that I use a flat rate priority box. Does anyone know if USCIS accepts boxes?

For the medium size, the papers barely fit. Some of the edges might be curled upon opening.

For the large size box, everything fit perfectly, but there is so much extra room that I am afraid the papers will be damaged in transportation and I'm not certain if I can pack with bubble wrap.

If anyone could share how they sent their packages (I've estimated that mine is about 4 inches thick) or had any suggestions, I would be very grateful!

I had all the bills in my name and so sent none of them. Also had no wills yet. Still approved based on other evidence. There are MANY suggestions, but you aren't going to have all of them.

This is a good point and it is reassuring to know that if you lack one strain of evidence, other types will make up for it. I will have to begin the great sifting-through of all the paper we have accumulated. Thank you!

The bills show either joint residence or joint liability, not the comingling of funds.

Some of my bills had both of our names, some didn't. I submitted all and highlighted their payments in our joint banking account. So no matter whose names they were in, they were paid from a single account.

Do you have joint credit cards? Gym memberships? Etc. No single piece of evidence is needed but in aggregate they help boost your case. Good luck!

I hadn't thought of highlighting the payments (I was considering highlighting both our names on every document, but not sure if that is overkill), but that is quite a good idea and it navigates the 'bills in only one name' issue nicely. Thank you!

We have 2 joint credit cards that we've had since March (we thought we could rely on debit forever until we began thinking about the credit history needed in buying a house ).

Hello Visa Journey!

It's been quite a while since I last posted, but I am just beginning to compile my evidence list.

While I have joint car title, lease, tax transcripts, his name under my auto insurance, etc (I'm afraid we are still setting up financially, so don't have the money for a lawyer and a will as is often suggested), I am running into a problem with the bills.

Most are under either of our names but not both. This is making me not want to submit them as I don't want USCIS to think that it is inadequate proof of co-mingling of funds.

I tried to contact my internet provider, energy, and car insurance to get both our names added to the bill statements.

• Internet (in his name) and Energy (in my name) said that they could only have one user on bills as they only input one social security number on the account. There is nothing I can do to add a second bill payer on the statements.
  [Note 1: I can add a user so it shows our user names on the webpage, but I am not sure how useful this is as there are edit buttons with 'add new user' on the page]
  [Note 2: I also asked if they could provide any documents that list him on the account and they said they couldn't send anything]

• Similarly, with the auto insurance, I was told it was my membership and while I can have someone under my policy, I cannot have anyone under my bills.

I want to do what I can so that we are hopefully approved at round one. The joint bank statements and tax returns show shared financial responsibility, but I'm concerned that this will not be enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've e-mailled the London Embassy (managed to get the code) but I don't know. I feel that maybe I'm being a little too impatient as I don't like the thought of leaving the UK while my husband's visa is still processing.

The extortion line and the Department of State both said to wait 6 weeks for processing. I suppose I just became a bit over-enthusiastic from looking at how fast other people's timelines were from medical to visa appointment.

Jakanna, I know you posted your DS-230 and DS2001 before we did. Was it difficult trying to find out that they had logged the DS-230 and DS2001 before your medical? They should have had both our DS-230 and DS2001 by the 10th but it still isn't showing up as filed. (They said they have the medical results in the system for the 12th)

Hopefully will have some good news next week or in the next 6 weeks.

We did next day delivery with all our forms too. So I was thinking that if I was able to contact the Embassy via e-mail, I could upload the signatures as an image. I am kind of at a loss how to contact the embassy for an e-mail code - I assume they give you the e-mail address that you should write to over the phone? They had all of our paperwork in the office by the 10th, so it's baffling to me that it hasn't been logged yet! Our medical was a day after yours. We put the 21st of August as our leave-by date.

If you don't mind and can find the number, it would be a great help! I just wish I could get some confirmation that they actually have all the paperwork and hadn't put it off to the side

Do you think the Embassy Line and the Dept. of State are the best ways to go on this?

The Department of State seem like they have fairly good access to everything submitted - although I do find it disconcerting that nothing else has been logged (but maybe I'm just extremely impatient?).

I'll try getting a code for e-mailing on Monday. Would that be the operated assisted number 09042-450-100? I'll write up how it goes.

Do you know if the CEAC has different headings when everything has been received? Mine says: Ready and was last updated on the date that the medical results would have been received.

Thank you for explaining that to me! That makes so much more sense!

I sent the DS-230 so that the embassy would receive it on July 4 and the DS-2001 was sent so that it would be received on the 10th.

In the cover letter for the DS-2001, I said that I was planning to leave the UK the end of August (giving my exact flight date) and would like to be able to attend the interview; I said that my husband's travel plans were dependent on when he received the visa (I didn't want to book something I would later have to cancel).

Do you think there's anyway to chivvy them along in sending out an interview letter?

I'm sure you'll be fine! I've never voted (left just before I turned 18 and then was too late in registering!) and you have a driver's license! Both of those are great links to domicile!

I sent in the DS-230 and then sent the DS-2001 a week later (I sent the readiness form the day that my husband had the medical).

My husband just phoned the department of state and they said that they have logged my husband's medical results but have no record of logging any of the other paperwork and that it could take up to a month.

We were hoping to leave the UK together in August together. However, in light of the phone call (we were half hoping the interview appointment paper would arrive this week), I am not hopeful that this will be happening.

Does anyone have any experience with contacting the London Embassy and asking for the paperwork to be logged (is there any way we can try to get the process up and running)? If not, in your experience, how long does this stage usually take?

Great! Thank you for all the help!

lost_at_sea--> I'm a bit different to Dbkrantz as I've lived in the USA up until 3 years ago and have consistently filed tax returns. Thanks for posting it as an example though!

florida4life and Nich-Nick --> I'm so relieved that I won't have to bother with the convoluted I-864A! Would there ever be a reason that they would ask for an I-864A instead of an I-864?

Hello VJers!

I thought I had my Affidavit of Support under control, but the more I read, the more confused I become.

I am filling for DCF in London. I am (USC) currently on the last month of my student visa and will be coming back to the USA in the upcoming months.

My husband (UKC) and I will then be living with my father and his wife in their home (also my childhood home that I am using in my links to domicile section).

I would prefer my father to fill out an I-864 form because it seems more straightforward to me.

However, does he have to fill out an I-864A because he will be a household member (bear in mind that I have just graduated and have no income/jobs, so is an I-864A necessary as there is nothing to combine his income with and he is wholly sponsoring my husband?)

Another spanner in the wheel is that I am worried that if he fills out an I-864A, his wife will have to fill out a separate I-864A as well because they file taxes jointly.
My father, however, does not want to release any of his wife's pay stubs (evidence of her employment) as he says she does not make much money and it is hers to use.

Can anyone offer any advice? I am worried about my husband simply coming to the interview with an I-864 as I have heard horror stories in the past where a CO will refuse the application and demand that another interview be rescheduled once an I-864A has been acquired

Thanks!.

Etta&James--> Can you fill out what you can of the DS-230 part II and leave the signature in-front-of-consular-officer part blank? Or would it be more advisable to leave all of the DS-230 part II form blank and fill out the whole thing later (I presume at the interview)?

UPDATE: I've e-mailled the field office in London and they said as long as I have been on my student visa for 6 months, I can go through the DCF route. I'm so confused! What counts as legal residency in the UK?

Hello! I am hoping to go through the DCF route as the field office sounded optimistic that I was eligible (keeping fingers crossed!).

However, I have one question.

The I-130 checklist states that We will require a copy of your marriage license plus marriage certificate to show that it has been publicly registered in the state/country. (cited from http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/dhs/i130-checklist_for_spouse.pdf )

However, when I phoned my registrar, they said that they don't know what a marriage licence is and that they do not give out the paper that is on public display for 15 days after you give notice.

What do I do? Is there a marriage licence that you can obtain in the UK? Is it called something else (or is there an equivalent that I need to ask for)? Don't want to be rejected just for this when I have my marriage certificate.

Thank you VJers!

Thank you for your answers! I wish that I could file for DCF, but I don't think that I am eligible as a student (I am not in the UK with indefinite leave to remain), however I have been in the UK for 3 years. I will e-mail the London Embassy as their website http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

is making me optimistic!

I apologise, I didn't know if the visa would include the petitioner's name somewhere on the visa? I just wanted to ensure I was filling out the I-130 correctly.

I apologise for posting so much! When I began putting papers together for the I-130, I never realised it would be this overwhelming!

Background:
American student came here on a tier 4 student visa in 2010
Before I came to the UK, began talking to another UK student on a student forum
Met him shortly after I arrived in the UK, we immediately hit it off and visited each other from Sept to Dec (we were at different universities)
He quit his degree (nothing to do with our relationship) and he later moved in with me in Jan

We have lived together for going on 3 years since and have tied the knot in April in the UK

Although we have just gotten married, I wanted to start the visa process asap, so we are not separated for too long after I return to the US.

I originally was only going to submit what the I-130 asks for. However, now that I have come across several posts where the petitioner was denied on the basis that they were too recently married and the evidence has not been sufficient, I don't know whether I should front-load.

If I were front-loading, I would include facebook wall posts (I put all the ones between us on a Paint Document and it looks sort of like a collage - from 2010- oct 2011). I don't know whether to include this or not?

Here's what I have so far (I have italicized the ones I am unsure about submitting)

I-130 Checklist:

-completed G-1145
-cover letter (expressing intent to petition and listing contents)
-$420 fee as a cheque or money order
-completed signed and dated I-130
-completed and signed G-325a (1 for petitioner, 1 for beneficiary)
-proof of US citizenship (petitioner birth certificate and passport info page) (copy)
-beneficiary birth certificate and passport bio page (copy) [note- I have heard that they sometimes erroneously request this, so I'm covering all my bases]
-proof of marriage - marriage certificate (copy)
-passport style photo (1 for petitioner, 1 for beneficiary)
-proof of bona fide relationship (joint tenancy for two properties - 1 from 2011, 1 from 2012)
-proof of bona fide relationship (council tax with both our names)
-proof of bona fide relationship (joint bank account that we are opening this weekend)
-proof of bona fide relationship (affidavits from mutual friend [present at wedding], mother in law [present at wedding] and my father [had health issues so didn't make it to wedding but writing in awareness of marriage)]
-proof of bona fide relationship (letter of relationship evolution)
- joint trip abroad including e-mail of flight itinerary, luggage receipt, passport stamps on both petitioner and beneficiary passports
-photographs together - pictures of just us, pictures with friends and family, and pictures of wedding.
-wedding invite
-letters from friends and family and to each other [i don't know whether to include these as we exchanged them all in person = no date stamps, and one card just says 'to the happy couple']

Is there anything a recently married couple should be including? My maiden name is on everything except the marriage cert. Thank you!

Thank you all so much for your help! I have heard it costs extra money to change if you have the visa originally issued in your maiden name, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and go with your advice, Nich-Nick and mpwhitebird Thanks again!

Hello all!

I just got married yesterday and my partner and I were hoping to start the visa process within the next week. (marriage took place in England and am an American over on a student visa).

However, my father raised a few concerns so I would like a second opinion.

I was planning on filling out the forms taking my husband's name. then under the 'other names known as' section, I was planning to put my maiden name.

However, while I am receiving mail in my married name and have changed my individual bank account in addition to opening a joint account under new married name,

my passport still only has my maiden name and I am unable to update my American bank and credit accounts (they told me this must be done in person and I was planning on moving to the US with my partner once he is issued a visa). Also, my social security is still under my maiden name. Can I still fill in the forms with my new married name or should I continue to use my maiden name and wait to change when I am in the US? Any advice or input would be much appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

When sending greeting card photocopies for the I-130, do you photocopy both front and back?

Just a little apprehensive that immigration won't share my sense of humour on the Valentine's Day card I picked for my husband (I normally throw cards away so this is the only one I could find)

Ok, after much research, I have found that I must send my I-130 to the Chicago Lockbox as students are not considered permanent residents. Guess I answered my own question, haha.

Hi!

I am a student on a Tier 4 visa for a 3 year undergraduate degree (my degree ends in May).

I know I don't qualify for DCF because I am not a permanent resident. I am currently on a joint lease with my husband and am still on Tier 4 Visa.

I was planning to submit my I-130 to the USCIS consulate in London. Am I able to? Or do I have to file for the Chicago lockbox?

I am very confused. For either London or the Chicago lockbox, do I have to visit an embassy/consulate in person (and make an appointment) or do I just send the packet in the mail?

Thank you in advance!

Thanks so much KDH for your help! Want to make sure I'm doing everything right so there isn't a delay in processing!