pucklechurch

I've looked after many US students in Oxford over the years and have taken them on some occasions up to the John Radciffe to be patched up after some alcohol related accident. No charge, ever (and that includes, in some cases, a lengthy ambulance ride).

By using consolodating sites like Mobissimo.com or Kayak.com you can sometimes get a better deal as they check all other sites like CheapTickets, Expedia and Orbitz for you. Sometimes a single ticket does work out cheaper, sometimes it doesn't. On January 10th this year I purchased a one way ticket from Chicago to London for $320. This was a 'White Label' flight, in other words the airline details are not given until you've bought the ticket (presumably because the airline doesn't want to be seen giving low cost deals) but by noting the departure time I knew I'd flying United and not some God-forsaken comedy carrier like Air India or some Russian job.

I like a good singsong like the next man but my allegiance is to Great Britain and her oversesa dependences, however when a former colony wants to raise it's flag and give a bit of the old pomp and circumstance then as a guest with a Green Card I'll do my bit to fit in. Don't want to border on the sychophantical and go too far by learning all the lyrics, raise a toast and do a bit of back slapping with the buddy next to me. That would be too over the top.

My wife received her 'indefinite leave to remain' stamped in her passport about a year after we were married in the UK. We got this sorted out through immigration lawyers and it just consisted of us sending in our passports and marriage certificate so there was no medical, interview, fingerprinting, etc. It was only when circumstances changed and we moved to the US that I had to go through this whole Green Card pantomime.

Well, I used mine twice. Nothing to be scared of. Left the US for two months. Came back. Left again for three months, came back. No problems at POE. Went through the visitors line as I hadn't received my GC at that point in time. I work internationally so it's vital that AP or, subsequently, the GC works without any hitch and I'm happy to say it does.

I think the loudness thing could be due to the Americans getting easily excited. "Wow, there's the London bridge, gee! that castle must have been built at the time of Christ, etc". Not an unusual trait but one that could cause friction. Often if a Yank is talking loudly in a restaurant it's usually about something that has excited him or her, be it sport or sightseeing. Calm down we don't all want to hear it, nor do people in the next building or across the road.

Thankfully I've lost my comedy Northern English accent, but I still pronounce words like Bath, Path and Ask with a hard 'a' sound like most of the UK (with the exception of the South East). So why do the Yanks still think I sound Australian?

This is something I was seriously considering last summer. My wife and I were working abroad and felt it would be easier to reschedule than take time off and fly half way around the globe at considerable expense just for a couple of days. After a month waying up the pros and cons I thought the risk was too great (mainly from advice I'd read here) so I made the journey. It was a long expensive weekend that ultimately proved worthwhile.

I left mine blank just like the online example and got my AP about two months later. However, I can't see it being harmful if you put a line or two down about visiting family.

So, you are now married to a USC? But overstayed a visa waiver by less than 180 days? 88 days from the end of your legal stay that's actually less than the 178 you were thinking.

Oh goodness, no. For the date section, just put whatever sounds about right for departure, it doesn't have to be exact, in fact it as long as it's somewhere within the 12 months of your AP, that'll do. Don't bother with all that visiting relatives and going to Rome lark either, you can leave it blank. I wish they had a section for business or pleasure as I'd like to put 'none of your business'!! AP has become more relaxed since the days of yore, the time away and the reasons for going used to be more strict than they are today.

What they can't do is return from London married and apply to adjust status.

Actually, they can. A US citizen can return to the US with a non-US spouse. The non-US spouse fills in an I 94W visa waiver. The non-US spouse intends to depart the country within 90 days. During that time circumstances change for whatever reason eg the US citizen got a new job, won the lottery, inherited a fortune, became seriously ill, (or all four!!) then the married couple can adjust status as the I 94W allows this for immediate relatives, ie married couples. This is wholly based on non-immigrant intent when they first crossed the border.

'can we return to the states whenever we want to'

You can leave the USA after your marriage and return to the USA on another visa waiver as long as you intend to leave again within 90 days. They may question you again at your port of entry so you'll have to prove you have no intention to emigrate and that you (and your American husband) are living and working in the UK. Don't cause further interogation and more problems by mentioning your marriage to a US citizen, ONLY reveal it if they ask you, which they probably won't as you'll come in through a different line. As you are living in London you are only in the US as a tourist.

However if you are moving back to the US to live and adjust status then it will be a different scenario, better to browse through the guides listed above and see which route best suits you.

They are neutered and are not fighters but will NOT be caged up at home because of FIV. Other cats in the area that find there way onto our land have more chance of being run over by a truck than catching anything from my pets. Would you keep a cat indoors because there was a chance it might get hit by a car? As I know the disposition of my cats and how much they love outdoors my wife and I came to the decision that was made, whether you feel it was irresponsible is something that has no bearing on how I will care for them, but thank you for taking the time to present your feelings to me.

In the case of three of my cats, they were found then taken to an animal shelter and if nobody claimed or wanted them then they faced death or we would take them back. That's why they live with us.

His diagnosis was after he arrived here. It wasn't a feature on his pet passport.

My four are all outdoor cats mingling with many others in the area. They go mad if they find the back door closed. Not only that, but other rescued cats pass through as we find homes for them so it's difficult to keep everyone apart.

Thanks for the kind words, missy antha.

All my cats are doing fine but their friendship can be a little strained at times. Two of them (including the one from England) have FIV so we need to keep a close eye on them as they are quite vunerable. With the right care I hope they stay with us for a long time. My dog is ten years old and, when we were alerted to where he was, he'd been roaming around a local farm for a week and the owner wanted to shot him. It was over Thanksgiving dinner that the discussion came around to this so we went the next day and picked him up. We did alot of advertising in the papers and the Golden Retreiver rescue centres but after two months we knew he was here to stay. I'd love to know his past, who he belonged to and what his name used to be.

I love it when an ignorant reporter calls a black person from the UK an 'African-American'.

I can't believe someone would be so totally stupid. I've heard rumours that people do make this pig-ignorant remark. For f--k's sake they are bloody black. What's the point of some fancy name that changes decade by decade and doesn't even apply to a British citizen?

There are plenty of Yank-English and English-Yank dictionaries out there that could help alot of people.

I'm not happy with this answer, but based on your trip being partly in Yorkshire (from the earlier photographs) I would hazzard a guess at Scarborough Castle.

York. The first one is outside the Minster and I think the second one is the Multagular Tower in the city museum gardens.

I'll guess. Whitby Abbey?

My current American wife is slim, but then again I've been lucky.

I was the one quoted earlier. Took United with my cat after he had his blood tests and received his pet passport. There is an option to have a photograph of the pet done as well but I didn't go that far. I paid my additional fee at my departing airport and not to United online where I initially bought my ticket. Once the 'excess baggage' fee was paid we checked in normally. The only time he was taken from me was at Heathrow when he went into a separate area (presumably where they keep bags) and I went through security and boarded later to find him sitting in first class waiting for me. Sadly our designated seats were in steerage so we moved back there before departure.

He was quiet all flight and his heart seemed to beat quite fast. He was not sedated as I was told not to do this. His nose was quite dry and he didn't want water or food. I dabbed his face with water now and again. Occasionally I'd zip open the sherpa bag and he'd stick his head out then pop it back in again. The only major problem was at Chicago. Got through immigration with just a simple check and a look at his pet passport then headed for a connecting flight. To get through to the domestic terminals we had to go through security again and this time I was told to take him out of the bag which he didn't like, the claw marks were with me for the next two weeks. We did have someone near us on our second flight who had mild cat allergies but it wasn't a major issue.

Since then we have flown two more cats from California. We now have four rescued cats (one local, two from the West Coast and one from Berkshire) plus a Golden Retiever that was found abandoned and hungry just before the winter set in two years ago. All are doing well and one day, if circumstances change some of them (if not all) will make the journey back to the UK, although we may have to do it in stages.

The Nebraska test is fairly straightfoward. You need to turn up in a specific vehicle. It has to be a beat up old truck with a faded 'Bush Cheney 04' sign on it, peferably with a couple of dead deer strung up in the back. The instructor joins you and for the next part of the test you drive around and around the parking lot at Wal-Mart until the space nearest the main entrance becomes available then you speed up and try and grab the slot. First in, wins the license. The problem is, there are additional rules, firstly during the test no turn signals must be made, it is state law that it is nobody's business but your own where you are going, secondly, during the test you must be driving with one hand holding a half pound cheeseburger and the other hand holding your phone. The license is good until you reach the age of 95 or have been registered blind for more than three months.

My cat travelled with me in the cabin from London to Chicago. I flew United and they allowed my cat to sit on my lap in a 'Sherpa Bag' and I paid about £50 excess baggage. I would have been uncomfortable if he'd been in the hold underneath. As it was, we both had a decent flight helped by the fact that I had a pet lover in the seats either side of me and that one of the inflight movies was Garfield.