UKHusband

Also, there was a glitch in the system in late august, which caused a LOT of people to only have SOME of their forms logged and it took weeks to relocate them.

Think our forms arrived around the same time as yours, and they never relocated them (or told us they were lost until we got there - even confirming by email that they 'had everything') - we had to fill them in again in the waiting room!

Fun.

All's well that ends well though - mistakes will happen! Best advice, try not to obsess over dates if at all possible - will drive you nuts!

We seem to have got lucky on this occasion - interview 22nd, picked up passport 25th, so three days here.

Three days for us.

Just collected my passport from DX - had a bit of trouble finding the place, but after that, plain sailing.

Great news on the 'issued's above - early next week you should be finally finally finished!

Feels good to have everything done and dusted (except for paying the $165 fee of course, but it's their turn to wait for a bit for that lol)

DX status says 'now out for delivery' this morning, even though I booked to collect it lol.

I'm just going to pop down there at lunch time and assume it will be there!

I called DX Couriers when I got this status upon checking the tracking number and they told me it was ready for collection from their depot. So I went and got it a couple hours later.

Maybe it was there today then? Would be super quick if so though, given that our interview was only two days ago?

I'll give them a call in the morning! Thanks.

Think in this particular case it is AP in the truest sense - they are literally administratively processing your approved visa!

Speaking of which, I got an email earlier saying my passport is with the courier and providing a tracking number - it's not actually of any real use to me though as I arranged to collect it rather than have it delivered, and all it says on the page when tracked is:

Booked for collection from collection point

It doesn't say when I can collect it. Assuming I will get another email tomorrow when it arrives at the depot?

Just to get this thread back on topic, my number one piece of advice is try not to obsess over every little detail and time frame.

It's easy to get paranoid if you're reading Visa Journey and see others getting NOAs or medical and interview dates while your CEAC tracker remains stubbornly stuck fast, but they almost certainly haven't forgotten you/lost your forms and they will get to you - some people are on the lucky end of the scale and zip through quicker than others, but that doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong for you, and there is very little you can do until you've gone beyond the stated time frames anyway!

Ours was a K 1 visa and has changed to AP. Maybe cos yours is spousal? We had ours 22nd October too. Just waiting and praying it changes to issued soon.

It will, don't worry - they just like to give you one last period of fretting before you are released from their clutches...

Then of course you have to wait for the email to expect delivery/notification to collect.

But then that really is it ;-)

Our interview was on the 22nd too, but slightly different to the other '22nd'ers' ours changed to AP immediately and 'issued' at some point before the end of the same day.

CEAC says "Your visa has been printed. Depending on local procedures at the location where you were interviewed, your visa will be mailed or available for pickup soon. If there are further questions, or if we need updated contact information, you will be contacted."

Not had an email saying it has been released to the courier yet though. No hurry for us though as we're not travelling until December 15th now.

Think we were pretty much exactly six weeks, so seems likely...

Just finished reading through this entire post which was incredibly helpful.

Congrats on the visa and good luck in the states!

Good luck to you mayb if you're just starting out - don't worry, it's nowhere near as tough or scary as it seems at that initial point!

Lost_at_sea's guide to DCF should be required reading for everyone starting out on this process - I am convinced that if you follow it (and actually qualify of course) that you will simply struggle to go wrong even if you try - she definitely cut through all the noise and confusion for us, and we are hugely grateful.

(of course you can't factor in the embassy receiving and then losing your forms as happened to us - not quite sure how we got to the interview stage at all given that, but glad that we did! Certainly wasn't prepared for that moment at the window when he told us that though - a definite 'ffs' moment, but was quickly resolved!)

This forum is an incredible resource for people going through a process that is out of just about everyone's comfort zone at first, and full of super nice and ridiculously helpful people.

I would say though that you can drive yourself quite mad with the waiting if you spend too much time here/refreshing the CEAC tracker so I'd say a combination of Visa Journey and a good dollop of patience are prerequisites for this experience lol.

Speaking of CEAC, our status has updated to 'issued' last night, so now we're just waiting for the courier notification before the (seemingly endless) waiting is finally over!

Just closing this off! Had the interview today, very quick and painless (apart from having to re-fill a couple of forms that they had lost!). Was probably at the windows less than 10 minutes combined on both visits.

Most of the stuff we took came back with us without even being looked at, including most of the tax returns, an I-864a and all of the relationship stuff. They didn't ask to see any of the 'intent to re-establish domicile' stuff, not even any questions about where we would be living - quite surprising really.

Thanks to everyone from this incredible community who assisted - just over three months, start to finish, would have made a right mess of it without you lot lol.

Good luck to those still in the middle or just about to start the process - certainly if our experience is anything to go by, doing DCF through the London Embassy is efficient, simple and much easier than I would have ever thought it would be!

Done now until citizenship in three years (I think?)

Yeah I did read it thanks, and sent it on to her father who went through it with his tax accountant.

They're redoing the I-864 with 2013 on it, and yes he's sending the W-2s apparently.

The US tax system is way out of my comfort zone to be honest, and I didn't ask why they got an extension - this process has been intrusive enough for them!

I certainly feel more comfortable having 2013 in hand though, so I'm siding with you on this one lol. Thanks.

Have resolved this now and he is sending over 2012 tonight, however as it turns out he has only just filed 2012 as they received a 6 month extension for some reason, which is why he didn't have it at the time he sent the other stuff over.

Googling it, it seems yesterday was some kind of deadline for filing 2012 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2013/10/15/today-is-tax-filing-day-your-return-is-due-shutdown-or-not/) so I wonder whether we would have been okay without it in any case given the timeline? If our interview had been a couple of weeks earlier it wouldn't have been possible to take 2012 it seems...

Better safe than sorry though! Thanks guys!

Thanks guys, will get him to get on to his accountant today!

You need their 2012 tax return or transcript as that is most recent. And don't forget proof that each are US citizens (or permanent residents)...photocopy of US birth certificate, US passport bio page, or greencard.

If Mom makes enough on her own, then her form I-864 would have been fine without adding Dad as her household member. With a joint tax return, she would have to clearly prove her separate income, which she did with the employer letter. Since you already have the forms, it's fine to go with including Dad. No need to do over.

Thanks for the advice - my wife's father said he didn't have 2012 at the time he provided this stuff, and they have completed the forms using 2009, 2010 & 2011 tax returns (as it turns out I actually had all three years of joint tax returns, not just the one).

I have copies of their passports, and WR2s (I think that's what they're called?) for 2011.

Their employment letters detail salary and are dated a month or so ago, and in the case of my wife's father he's actually the co-owner of the business... Is not having 2012 going to prove problematic?

Thanks - fairly comfortable we've done it right (famous last words lol).

Not sure we actually needed the I-864a off her dad in the end as her mother is making several times the poverty level on her own, but I suppose it can't do any harm to have it?

Looking at what her parents have supplied they have sent the forms (one I-864 and one I-864a), their tax transcripts for 2011 and a letter from each of their businesses of employment confirming terms and salary. Is this enough?

Left our savings off in the end, and as we've both currently left employment in readiness for the move (opportunity for voluntary redundancy was too good to turn down - gift horse, mouth etc) my wife's I-864 shows no income and no assets lol.

Thanks for the assist!

Just filling in my wife's I-864 ready for our interview next week and was hoping someone could clarify a couple of things for us!

Here is what we are doing:

Wife - I-864 (Petitioner)

Wife's Mother - I-864 (Co-sponsor)

Wife's Father - I-864A

Is that right? Or should both her parents fill in I-864A?

If so, on my wife's I-864 do we list her parents as part of the household in part 5 and include their incomes or not?

Also, we have savings both here in my name and in the US in my wife's name, it's not an insignificant amount but not enough to meet the whatever times poverty guideline (is it 3x for savings?) so is there any point in including it at all?

Personally I would email them rather than call (although by all means do both!) as on the two occasions I called DoS I found to be a complete waste of time as they neither know nor can tell you anything useful, or advance your case in any way!

Explain your circumstance in the email and ask if you can be considered for an early interview and make yourself available for any last minute appointments (if that's possible!) - hope is not lost for the first week of November if you get an interview around the 22nd like we did!

I emailed the LondonInfoUnit this morning to add my wife to the access list and they responded within an hour, so it might be a good time for them!

Sounds like our timelines are similar - your packet three was processed on the 20th, ours on the 25th, maybe drop them an email and ask what's going on? Imagine you will get news very soon now!

I wonder with no CEAC update what would have happened if our Interview letter was lost in the post, as the interview falls within their stated four week period, and we would not have known to turn up (I am exceptionally patient compared to a lot on here lol, and wouldn't have called them to check, which in this case would have screwed us over)!

Surprised to find today that our Packet 4 was sent on the 9th October - reason for the surprise was there was no CEAC Tracker update since the 27th September, so anyone who is sat there frantically refreshing their case status should know that it's not the be all and end all lol.

When I used the contact form it took them two weeks to reply, by which time I'd received packet 3 and booked the medical.

Seems to be quite common (in this process) for the DOS not to be up to speed.

Would have thought you should have had Packet 3 by now, perhaps it's lost in the post (you wouldn't be the first!), but not sure there's much you can do other than wait for the reply from the contact form at this point? Frustrating.

Just do it for the three years. That is what is covered by the waiver (all they really seem bothered about for compliance).

When you file the returns send a copy of page 1 of each year's 1040 form, along with a stamped addressed envelope and, in your cover letter ask them if they would kindly return the copies stamped 'received' as you are applying for the visa and need them.

I did this, mailed everything to the London embassy on Monday and had the stamped copies back on Thursday. Which I thought was brilliant.

Thanks guys, we're getting the birth certificate sent over...

Best thing about this site is that it's almost impossible to miss anything - will make the whole interview process so much less stressful!