MrsDarby

Homesick-Can you read? He never asked for a free pass because of the exchange rate!

I might also add that the agreed amount he is paying right now is more realistic. He paid a lot more while living in the UK to avoid court, because ex-wife and her lawyer kept threatening court which would've meant more money for him.

Don't comment if you don't have advice for me. I was not asking for your opinion.

My husband pays way more than what he would be expected to pay based on his income. His child is definitely not going without. the one who suffers is our baby. So, maybe we shouldn't have had a child then?

Hi,

I hope someone has some information regarding this or can give me some advice! Thanks in advance.

My husband and I live in the US-he is from England. He has a son and an ex-wife in England. This ex-wife is absolutely relentless. My husband was paying a certain amount in child maintanence while living in the UK. He is unable to pay that amount over here, because he makes less, cost of living is less, and the dollar is less than the pound. Well, ex-wife and my husband had finally agreed on a fair amount of child support after going back and forth through her lawyer. Ex-wife will not deal with my husband regarding child maintenance-she prefers to do everything through her lawyer.

Now ex-wife wants the difference in the amount from what he was paying before and what he is paying now from the last 14 months. Her lawyer had sent my husband an e-mail regarding this, and they said they would take legal action against my husband, and that they can regardless of us living in the US. My husband responded to her e-mail immediately and said that at the moment he is unable to pay back. He also offered to send copies of his bank statements to prove that he is in serious debt. He is significantly into his overdraft in his UK account. We do not own anything of importance over here-cars are paid off and no house payments. I'm currently on maternity leave with our new baby, so I don't have income right now either. Well, he hasn't heard from the lawyer in over a month which leads me to believe that they are over in the UK "hatching a plan" to go after us over here. Like I said, ex-wife and her lawyer (who is probably getting a lot of money out of this) are relentless.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm sure we wouldn't be required to pay back, because in their separation agreement it does state that if the earnings of my husband changed that would also change the amount of child maintanence. I feel really sick about this, because ex-wife is always after us about something. 4000 miles is NOT far enough away! I have a new baby that I'm looking after, and half the time I'm stressed out over this whole situation. I would like my husband to seek legal advice over here (even if it's just a one time meeting), but he thinks that would cost a fortune. He is currently at the beginning of getting his own business up and running, so finances are still tight.

Does anyone know what they can do to go after us over here? There is some sort of reciprocity between the US and the UK, but every website I look at is difficult to muddle through. Would we be required to attend court here? Would we have to pay for that? I can't imagine my husband would be required to travel to the UK for a court hearing.

She wants what we don't have. If you don't have the money-you can't pay it. I know it's as simple as that, and I'm sure the courts would see it that way (plus we have a child to support too). That being said, I'm still feeling ill over this situation.

Thank you.

Hi,

I hope someone has some information regarding this or can give me some advice! Thanks in advance.

My husband and I live in the US-he is from England. He has a son and an ex-wife in England. This ex-wife is absolutely relentless. My husband was paying a certain amount in child maintanence while living in the UK. He is unable to pay that amount over here, because he makes less, cost of living is less, and the dollar is less than the pound. Well, ex-wife and my husband had finally agreed on a fair amount of child support after going back and forth through her lawyer. Ex-wife will not deal with my husband regarding child maintenance-she prefers to do everything through her lawyer.

Now ex-wife wants the difference in the amount from what he was paying before and what he is paying now from the last 14 months. Her lawyer had sent my husband an e-mail regarding this, and they said they would take legal action against my husband, and that they can regardless of us living in the US. My husband responded to her e-mail immediately and said that at the moment he is unable to pay back. He also offered to send copies of his bank statements to prove that he is in serious debt. He is significantly into his overdraft in his UK account. We do not own anything of importance over here-cars are paid off and no house payments. I'm currently on maternity leave with our new baby, so I don't have income right now either. Well, he hasn't heard from the lawyer in over a month which leads me to believe that they are over in the UK "hatching a plan" to go after us over here. Like I said, ex-wife and her lawyer (who is probably getting a lot of money out of this) are relentless.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm sure we wouldn't be required to pay back, because in their separation agreement it does state that if the earnings of my husband changed that would also change the amount of child maintanence. I feel really sick about this, because ex-wife is always after us about something. 4000 miles is NOT far enough away! I have a new baby that I'm looking after, and half the time I'm stressed out over this whole situation. I would like my husband to seek legal advice over here (even if it's just a one time meeting), but he thinks that would cost a fortune. He is currently at the beginning of getting his own business up and running, so finances are still tight.

Does anyone know what they can do to go after us over here? There is some sort of reciprocity between the US and the UK, but every website I look at is difficult to muddle through. Would we be required to attend court here? Would we have to pay for that? I can't imagine my husband would be required to travel to the UK for a court hearing.

She wants what we don't have. If you don't have the money-you can't pay it. I know it's as simple as that, and I'm sure the courts would see it that way (plus we have a child to support too). That being said, I'm still feeling ill over this situation.

Thank you.

Hello,

I have a few questions for those of you who transfer money between US and UK bank accounts. My husband has an account in the US, and he also has his account in the UK. He needs to transfer money from his US to his UK account on a fairly regular basis.

Does anyone else do this? If so, how do you transfer money? What have you found to be the least expensive way of transferring money?

Is it expensive to transfer through what the bank has set up? What about paypal? I may check into that. My other idea is for his mom in the UK to have a check card from his US account. She could then withdraw the money from the account using his ATM card, and then deposit it into his UK account.

Any other ideas?

TIA.

I'm sure your questions have been answered, but I will add in my two cents!

The K-1 is a one time entry visa. I believe it also states that right on the visa in the passport.

You will have to apply to get permission to leave the country.

My husband and I have been married since April. We sent in our paperwork for permission to leave the country about one month ago (or just over), and we haven't heard anything yet.

It's really hard to plan anything when they don't give you much of a time line!

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I recently sent our paperwork in for him to become an unconditional status and to receive his work permit.

At what point in the process do you get a social security number/card? Is this something we can do on our own at any time? Or does this happen along the way as part of the K-1 process?

Should we go to the SS office?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

I don't see any problem with him coming over for the summer. I believe he can stay here for 6 months on his passport (no he can't work).

If he leaves the country and comes back, the time will start over.

My husband and I did the same thing. I lived in England last summer (I'm a teacher) so we could be together for a longer period of time. It was great to have that time together and for me to be able to live over there.

Good luck!

I would say if you can do it financially, then go for it!

Sweet Defiance-Your fiance has to leave the country by 6 months. He cannot over extend his visit. If they find out, he will be forced to leave and that could jeopardize the process.

I don't know if it's different coming over to the US (than it is going to England), but I never had any trouble coming back and forth. They asked how long I'd be staying, and I told them 3 months. They asked why and I explained that we are engaged and I have the summers off due to being a teacher. No more questions were asked.

I think your fiance can just explain that he has a few months off work and is coming to spend time with you.

That's a really good question I've often wondered. My husband and I met in person-very unexpectedly. We were both on vacation in Mexico with friends. At that time I didn't think anything would ever happen between us. We kept in touch as friends for five months, and then one of my girlfriends and I went to England. Seeing him again made me realize that I wanted to be with him. That's when I realized that I loved him too.

Fortunately for me, I've been able to spend longer periods of time with him in England (I'm a teacher). We both felt it was VERY important to spend a longer amount of time with each other before we got married. Yes, he had asked me to marry him and we had started the paperwork for the K1 visa before I went over there for 3 months, but we still felt that it was important to spend some time together on a regular day-to-day basis. Up until that time whenever we were together it was for a week or two here and there, and usually the person's country we were in also had that time off from work. We just wanted a taste of being together in a more realistic situation.

Unfortunately many couples are not able to do that for work, family, financial reasons. This process does not allow two people to "date" as other people are able to date. It's visit here and there, talk on the phone, e-mail, and then get married.

My husband knows me better than anyone else and vice versa. I really think a big reason for that is we talked on the phone everyday for usually at least 2 hours. We had each other's undivided attention like you can't get if you are sitting in the same room with each other with the TV on. All we had was verbal communication with each other. We didn't have to think about the physical aspect of a relationship because you can't have that over the phone. I'm just thankful that all parts of our relationship are fabulous!

It seems that your best option to avoid any delays would be to have someone co-sponsor your partner rather than you. It seems that being able to prove you earn an income (above the specified poverty level) and pay taxes is quite crucial in this process. They want to make sure that your partner will not move to the US, and then live off goverment assisted programs. They want you to prove that you can support this person if needed.

In Minnesota only one person needs to be present to apply for the marriage license. My husband did not have to bring anything in to show proof of residency. He didn't have a SSN, so she just put a line through that space on the marriage license.

I would check with the state's requirements. I'm sure you can look online in their government section under marriage license.

My husband travelled to London twice-one week for the medical and then the following week for the interview. They say that you can try to get both appointments within the same day, but my husband didn't seem to be able to. He just wanted to get the medical over with so he'd be able to bring the appropriate papers to his interview instead of having any delay.

ALABAMA:

Shari (& British hubby, Keith) - Birmingham, Alabama

Miranda and James (another future British hubby!) - Huntsville, Alabama

Welshcookie - Mobile, Alabama (eventually)

ARIZONA:

BlueRaiderUK - Michael & Ashley - Mesa, AZ

ARKANSAS:

SpriteyStace (Stacy & Paul) - Stuttgart, Arkansas

CALIFORNIA:

Ladybutterfly444 - San Diego, California

lynzm22 (lynsey and Jason)- Lancaster, California

Daisy - hubby is north of Palmdale, California

Perfect - South Orange County, CA

ddchucksgirl - northwest Lost Angeles, CA

robinklake - Myself and UK fiance are in sunny Santa Monica, CA!

Purple Hibiscus - Huntington Beach, CA.

Els and Brian-Riverside, CA

Englishsammy (Sam (not there yet!) and Roshon) - Fresno (Woohoo laughing.gif ), CA

COLORADO:

Ladybird216 - Western Colorado

Boiler - Boulder County, Colorado

CONNECTICUT:

Jayke (and hopefully within the next 3 weeks her British hubby) - Connecticut

Bradfordplip - Time split between SE Michigan & NE Connecticut

nickels&dimes - Connecticut (Nickels=Sheril UKC & Scott USC)

FLORIDA:

Kerry - Central Florida

Munchkins (Val and Alan ) - Jacksonville Florida -to be with daughter and family

atothelkini (Alan, N.Ireland) - Tallahassee, Florida

missyandneil - Orlando, Florida

Kate, Josh & bump - Tallahassee

LisaD - (newly engaged!) - Lisa Daytona Bch FL, David Sunderland...

Lawrencetoland - Josie and Damian - Orlando, FL and Astoria, NY

lynnd227-Lynn (from New Jersey) and Liam (from Northern Ireland) to Palm Beach County

GEORGIA:

Crazy Brit - Covington, Georgia

Matti_n_Kelli: Hiram, Georgia

IDAHO:

MeandMyGeordie - Sher (USC) & Steve (Newcastle upon Tyne) South Central

Idaho, Twin Falls

ILLINOIS:

pj1959us (hubby David)---central Illinois

Luv2teach77 (And her handsome british Husband ) - Trenton, Southwest Illinois

(Near Missouri border)

JJM8081(British fiance Joe)--Chicago suburbs

poppy33usa - just on the illinois side of the illinois/missouri border in the st louis metro area

jpkeswim - Southwest, Illinois near St. Louis Missouri

Crisscat - (Sharri & Neil ) Southern IL 65 miles southeast of St Louis MO and not far from alot of you here in IL LOL

Yorkie - Chicago, Illinois

Frances (Yorkshire hubster, VJ username falcozappa) - Chicago

Circus-of-Power(Paul and Catherine) Central IL

morning75-Jim(Somerset, UK) and Amy-Hopedale, Illinois

INDIANA:

Annelizabeth - Southern Indiana

Andy(uk) Patricia - Near Indy, Indiana

Baileyj - Southwest Indiana

IOWA

Ktun - Kate (originally from London) & hubby Craig. Iowa/Nebraska borders, 2 minutes over the bridge from Omaha Nebraska.

KENTUCKY:

Itsmeitsmeitsree! (Billy and Becky) - Lexington, Kentucky

MAINE:

clmarsh (Christina & Chris): Portland, Maine

MARYLAND:

Terry & Jeannine.... Towson, Maryland

MASSACHUETTS:

matanddanni-Southampton,MA

Kezzie - Boston MA

MICHIGAN:

Bradfordplip - Time split between SE Michigan & NE Connecticut

euro (Amanda) & Mark(USC)..Brownstown (near Detroit)

sanctifyer - somewhere near detroit in mid 2006

badbabe113 - Rockwood Michigan (near detroit)

David(alias Scotty)Scotland to Livingstone County to be with Bess

lizaanne (USC) & Simon (Brit) - Detroit area -one of these days, if this process ever ends

Charlie76 - Michigan, Detroit area

mary&tom - Southeastern Michigan

Alison and Scott - Otsego in Plainwell, Michigan

Colin(Keigwyn UK) and Lisa - Escanaba way up in the UP

MINNESOTA:

Chrissy25 - Southern Minnesota

britsngrits - Twin Cities of MN - Paul-Peterborough

JayJay - Minnesota Lake, near Mankato about 2 and a half hours away from the twin cities

Tucker (Minneapolis) and Fiona (St. Boswells, Scotland) - Twin Cities

MrsDarby (Twin Cities) and Oliver (Worcester England) We are married and living in the Twin Cities

MISSOURI:

DaniChristine - Dani (USA) and Anthony (Northern Ireland)

Rosie420 - Waynesville, MO (Right in the middle!)

MONTANA:

wherezdabearz - John (USA) and Alison (UK) hope to be living together in Missoula (that's where da bearz are...) from end of Jan 2006

techgirl - Terry (USA) and Davo (UK)- Flathead Lake (western MT)

NEW JERSEY:

Gemma12nEl - Bergen County New Jersey

VisagirlNJ - My fiance will be moving to Hudson County, NJ in APril

Jodyangel - South Jersey

NEW YORK:

Louandmikek3 - Long Island, New York (Louise, UK and Mike, US)

DavidUK- Manhattan, New York

Gwen75 - Manhattan, New York

Shakysgirl- Russell (UK) and Patricia (US)- upstate NY

Donna(dmd01708) Oneida County, Upstate New York

Estella76 - Marie (US) and Adam (UK) - Queens, NY

Peachbythebeach - Me (US) Hubby (UK) - Long Island

NORTH CAROLINA:

Jo1973 - Durham, North Carolina

saturn5man (Neil) - Near Raleigh, North Carolina

Jaylen Brit(UK) and LenJayUS (US) - Lenior, North Carolina (from this year)

mullensgirl (UK) Chris (USC) Eventually Jacksonville NC

ajames79-Franklin, NC and BigChris(who never posts) Yorkshire UK

OHIO:

TenderCats (hubby) - Ohio

Widge - NE Ohio

Helen - Columbus OH

martinleach-Martin (St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK) to Westerville

OKLAHOMA:

Sukie175 (Sarah) - Gage, NW OK (near Woodward)

OREGON:

Pam & Dave, Portland OR

ZZZZZZ (aka Pam & Dave) Portland OR/ Southminster UK

blandas - Move from Loughborough (just south of Nottingham) to Oregon.

PENNSYLVANIA:

Broma25 - Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Britjohn- Delaware County, Pennsylvania (near Delaware border)

cheeky^Wolf - (Helen will be there soon) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pumpkinsnook - Berks Co, Pennsylvania (arriving 17th August - 13 days and

counting!)

Antone and Lyanthya - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Abby(PAX) and Ewen - Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania (likely moving to NYC, NY in the summer of 06)

Helen (soon to be in Pittsburgh, PA) & Dave (USC)

bettenan (Bette & Richard) Beautiful Bucks County, PA

SOUTH CAROLINA:

zenaelarabi - (Oxfordshire to Columbia SC)

pink_cloud-Charleston, South Carolina

TENNESSEE:

govols- (Karen & Tony-from England)-Middle Tennessee

TracyTN (and future hubby ChasUK) - Nashville, TN

Memphis - Mike Wooten future wife Adele (mrsw2b UK)

TEXAS:

Geordieluvr (aka Andria and her Geordie Peter) - Richardson, Texas

medicjeff (wife Jane from the UK) Austin, Texas

Melo (aka Anita from London) & Paul now in Odessa, Texas moving to Houston, Texas

silent whispers - San Antonio, Texas

tamarae (Shawna & Ciaran from the UK, arriving soon) - Lubbock, TX

UTAH:

HuffyTheSlayer - Salt Lake City, UT

VERMONT:

Lou - Central Vermont

VIRGINIA:

naiku - Northern Virginia (whenver this process is finished)

mijkij (also NoVA)

Litlemo (aka Ally - Geordie,,, Greg - USC)

MrsBeer:30- N.Virginia

KikiDoug - (Kiki, from England...Doug, from the USA) - living in the very SW corner of Virginia!

WASHINGTON:

arwensun1965 - Kent, WA

samantha_lou - Vancouver, WA

Alana (US) & Ewan (Scotland) in Des Moines, Washington......

torpedo_bob, Camas,Washington

WEST VIRGINIA:

Margyw- West Virginia

rebeccajo (and robertwesley - Wes) irishman & southern gal in West Virginia

Girona40 - Curt (USC) and Glenys, Michael and Sarah (UK)

WISCONSIN:

Michelle(USC)andCraig(England)...northern Wisconsin...border of UP of Michigan

Badgerbabe - Green Bay, Wisconsin

SteveLaura/LauraSteve - from London, UK to Milwaukee, WI

Moonlite-just north of Milwaukee

AllSerene-near Milwaukee I think?

Mellie(and Scott)-near Milwaukee

Here's what I know...

1. I don't believe your second job will "hurt" you. You need to prove you are working and paying taxes consistently. Although you haven't been employed long, it can't hurt you.

2. As far as income, receiving child support is part of your income. I had to fill in any and all income I receive. Although I don't receive child support, I do have savings bonds and things like that I had to include. I think including any sort of income can only help you.

3. Taxes might be a problem for you. You have to include your taxes for the past THREE years-2003, 2004, 2005. You are supposed to file taxes regardless of how much you make. It shows that you are employed and a taxpayer. I couldn't find my 2003 taxes, but my lawyer said we needed them, so I had to contact the IRS and get a copy. I was a full-time student at the time and thought maybe we could just say that I didn't work and just went to school, but no, I had to submit my taxes.

Do you have taxes for any of the other years? You could probably try and submit what you have and see if they come back to you requesting more information. Your other choice may be to have someone else co-sponsor your husband.

**I'm not an expert...I'm just telling you what I know and my experience.

I don't think your question is silly in the least!

As someone else mentioned, it is your personal decision. That being said, I will put in my "two cents" too.

Recently someone else posted a similar question, and almost everyone said not to hire a lawyer. Well, my fiance (now husband!) and I hired a lawyer. I started looking into the process myself (didn't know about this website), and I felt so overwhelmed. I called a few immigration lawyers in my area, and they all seemed to just want my money. They weren't willing to give me any information over the phone unless I agreed to meet with them. That would've cost about $200-$400 for an initial meeting unless I would've retained their services, then I would get the money back.

Instead I looked through the phone book and called a lawyer who works out of his home. He was so nice and immediately put me at ease. He was an immigrant many years ago from Canada who is now a citizen. His wife came over from Canada on a K-1 visa, so he'd been through the process himself. They'd also adopted a baby from Russia, so he's had a lot of personal experiences with immigration.

Anyway, I'm rambling on...so we decided to hire an immigration lawyer although our case was also very straightforward. Our lawyer does all the paperwork (I usually give him the information via e-mail or when we meet), and then he fills it all out. I then double check to make sure it's all accurate. He does all the photocopying of pictures, documents, everything we submitted that was proof of our relationship. I've realized that we've sent in much more than was necessary, but I'd rather go above and beyond then have anyone who's deciding our future come back and say, "You have to submit this or that..."

Some people say it's a waste of money, but my opinion is that having the support and being put at ease is worth the money! My husband and I didn't want to make any mistakes. We wanted it to be as smooth and possible.

Good luck.

I have no idea! It's the next step you take after you are married. He was approved at his interview in London for the K-1 visa. We got married last month, and now we are on the next step.

Not sure if it is greencard or EAD. What is EAD? All these acronyms are really confusing!

My husband and I are getting ready to submit his paperwork for his change of status to unconditional.

For those who are farther along in the process (who are working or almost approved to work) how long did it take you from the step we are at until the step you were finally approved and able to work?

I just can't believe that it takes this long. It seems a bit unfair!

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are getting ready to submit our paperwork to change his status from conditional to unconditional. We heard I am required to submit the past three years of taxes-2003, 2004, 2005. In addition I have a notarized letter from my employer with dates I've been employed (since before 2003 at the same place) and check stubs.

The problem I have is that I can't find my 2003 tax return or W-2 forms anywhere. Apparently my family's accountant didn't do my taxes that year. I can't remember doing them myself, although I must have.

Do you think it's okay to submit only my 2004 and 2005 tax information? I could maybe get a copy of my W-2s from my employer, but I wonder if they keep those forms.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

No, a lawyer can not make the process go faster for you...

That being said, we had/have a lawyer. I didn't know about this website back when we started the process, and I didn't know anyone who had gone through it either. I went online to look for information (including the USCIS site and US Embassy in London), but I felt overwhelmed. I DID NOT want to make any mistakes. We didn't want this process to take any longer than it absolutely had to.

Yes, a lawyer can make mistakes, but he did a lot of the "leg" work that I just didn't feel comfortable doing on my own. Also I would proof read all paperwork before it was sent in. Therefore if there were any mistakes, I was able to notify him.

We found a very small law firm (he works out of his home-and way less expensive), and he has personal experience with immigration. His wife immigrated from Canada, and they had run into some problems when coming back to the States from Canada. I liked the idea that he had personal experience with it. It made us feel like he was in his job to truly help others who were in the same situation.

I know a lot of people are/can do it on their own, but I found that having a lawyer put me at ease. For that reason it was worth the money!

Good luck

If you are in love and really want to be together, I suggest you go about it the legal and "right" way. Why risk your future and life together by going about it illegally? Is it really worth it?

Yes, people come as visitors, marry, and then apply for change of status, but they are taking a big risk.

Here is what we did...

I wrote a letter and included: where, when, how we met. I described the circumstances just as they happened. Then I wrote about each time we were together-where, when, how long, some of the things we did/talked about. I also wrote about how we talked on the phone, sent letters, e-mails, and text messages when we weren't together. I included our future plans and goals, how I felt about him, etc. Our lawyer advised us to "pull at their heart strings". I pretty much laid my feelings out on paper. It doesn't have to be just objective (although of course you must include the facts), but it doesn't hurt to include feeling and emotion.

My fiance did the same with his letter.

We also had each letter notarized (I believe that is a requirement).

If each of you is writing a letter, they shouldn't be the exact same letter. I feel that it's important to write more than just the example that is in the link that someone else posted.

Good luck!

ALABAMA:

Shari (& British hubby, Keith) - Birmingham, Alabama

Miranda and James (another future British hubby!) - Huntsville, Alabama

Welshcookie - Mobile, Alabama (eventually)

ARKANSAS:

SpriteyStace (Stacy & Paul) - Stuttgart, Arkansas

CALIFORNIA:

Ladybutterfly444 - San Diego, California

lynzm22 (lynsey and Jason)- Lancaster, California

Daisy - hubby is north of Palmdale, California

Perfect - South Orange County, CA

ddchucksgirl - northwest Lost Angeles, CA

robinklake - Myself and UK fiance are in sunny Santa Monica, CA!

Purple Hibiscus - Huntington Beach, CA.

Els and Brian-Riverside, CA

COLORADO:

Ladybird216 - Western Colorado

Boiler - Boulder County, Colorado

CONNECTICUT:

Jayke (and hopefully within the next 3 weeks her British hubby) - Connecticut

Bradfordplip - Time split between SE Michigan & NE Connecticut

nickels&dimes - Connecticut (Nickels=Sheril UKC & Scott USC)

FLORIDA:

Kerry - Central Florida

Munchkins (Val and Alan ) - Jacksonville Florida -to be with daughter and family

atothelkini (Alan, N.Ireland) - Tallahassee, Florida

missyandneil - Orlando, Florida

Kate, Josh & bump - Tallahassee

GEORGIA:

Crazy Brit - Covington, Georgia

Matti_n_Kelli: Hiram, Georgia

IDAHO:

MeandMyGeordie - Sher (USC) & Steve (Newcastle upon Tyne) South Central

Idaho, Twin Falls

ILLINOIS:

pj1959us (hubby David)---central Illinois

Luv2teach77 (And her handsome british Husband ) - Trenton, Southwest Illinois

(Near Missouri border)

JJM8081(British fiance Joe)--Chicago suburbs

poppy33usa - just on the illinois side of the illinois/missouri border in the st louis metro area

jpkeswim - Southwest, Illinois near St. Louis Missouri

Crisscat - (Sharri & Neil ) Southern IL 65 miles southeast of St Louis MO and not far from alot of you here in IL LOL

Yorkie - Chicago, Illinois

Frances (Yorkshire hubster, VJ username falcozappa) - Chicago

Circus-of-Power(Paul and Catherine) Central IL

INDIANA:

Annelizabeth - Southern Indiana

Andy(uk) Patricia - Near Indy, Indiana

Baileyj - Southwest Indiana

KENTUCKY:

Itsmeitsmeitsree! (Billy and Becky) - Lexington, Kentucky

MAINE:

clmarsh (Christina & Chris): Portland, Maine

MARYLAND:

Terry & Jeannine.... Towson, Maryland

MASSACHUETTS:

matanddanni-Southampton,MA

Kezzie - Boston MA

MICHIGAN:

Bradfordplip - Time split between SE Michigan & NE Connecticut

euro (Amanda) & Mark(USC)..Brownstown (near Detroit)

sanctifyer - somewhere near detroit in mid 2006

badbabe113 - Rockwood Michigan (near detroit)

David(alias Scotty)Scotland to Livingstone County to be with Bess

lizaanne (USC) & Simon (Brit) - Detroit area -one of these days, if this process ever ends

Charlie76 - Michigan, Detroit area

mary&tom - Southeastern Michigan

Alison and Scott - Otsego in Plainwell, Michigan

Colin(Keigwyn UK) and Lisa - Escanaba way up in the UP

MINNESOTA:

Chrissy25 - Southern Minnesota

britsngrits - Twin Cities of MN - Paul-Peterborough

JayJay - Minnesota Lake, near Mankato about 2 and a half hours away from the twin cities

MrsDarby-Oliver (England) and Alicia (Minnesota)-now both living in Minnesota

MISSOURI:

DaniChristine - Dani (USA) and Anthony (Northern Ireland)

MONTANA:

wherezdabearz - John (USA) and Alison (UK) hope to be living together in Missoula (that's where da bearz are...) from end of Jan 2006

techgirl - Terry (USA) and Davo (UK)- Flathead Lake (western MT)

NEW JERSEY:

Gemma12nEl - Bergen County New Jersey

VisagirlNJ - My fiance will be moving to Hudson County, NJ in APril

NEW YORK:

Louandmikek3 - Long Island, New York (Louise, UK and Mike, US)

DavidUK- Manhattan, New York

Gwen75 - Manhattan, New York

Shakysgirl- Russell (UK) and Patricia (US)- upstate NY

Donna(dmd01708) Oneida County, Upstate New York

Estella76 - Marie (US) and Adam (UK) - Queens, NY

Peachbythebeach - Me (US) Hubby (UK) - Long Island

NORTH CAROLINA:

Jo1973 - Durham, North Carolina

saturn5man (Neil) - Near Raleigh, North Carolina

Jaylen Brit(UK) and LenJayUS (US) - Lenior, North Carolina (from this year)

mullensgirl (UK) Chris (USC) Eventually Jacksonville NC

OHIO:

TenderCats (hubby) - Ohio

Widge - NE Ohio

Helen - Columbus OH

OKLAHOMA:

Sukie175 (Sarah) - Gage, NW OK (near Woodward)

OREGON:

Pam & Dave, Portland OR

ZZZZZZ (aka Pam & Dave) Portland OR/ Southminster UK

blandas - Move from Loughborough (just south of Nottingham) to Oregon.

PENNSYLVANIA:

Broma25 - Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Britjohn- Delaware County, Pennsylvania (near Delaware border)

cheeky^Wolf - (Helen will be there soon) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pumpkinsnook - Berks Co, Pennsylvania (arriving 17th August - 13 days and

counting!)

Antone and Lyanthya - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Abby(PAX) and Ewen - Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania (likely moving to NYC, NY in the summer of 06)

SOUTH CAROLINA:

zenaelarabi - (Oxfordshire to Columbia SC)

pink_cloud-Charleston, South Carolina

TENNESSEE:

govols- Tennessee

TracyTN (and future hubby ChasUK) - Nashville, TN

TEXAS:

Geordieluvr (aka Andria and her Geordie Peter) - Richardson, Texas

medicjeff (wife Jane from the UK) Austin, Texas

silent whispers - San Antonio, Texas

tamarae (Shawna & Ciaran from the UK, arriving soon) - Lubbock, TX

UTAH:

HuffyTheSlayer - Salt Lake City, UT

VERMONT:

Lou - Central Vermont

VIRGINIA:

naiku - Northern Virginia (whenver this process is finished)

mijkij (also NoVA)

Litlemo (aka Ally - Geordie,,, Greg - USC)

MrsBeer:30- N.Virginia

WASHINGTON:

arwensun1965 - Kent, WA

samantha_lou - Vancouver, WA

Alana (US) & Ewan (Scotland) in Des Moines, Washington......

torpedo_bob, Camas,Washington

WEST VIRGINIA:

Margyw- West Virginia

rebeccajo (and robertwesley - Wes) irishman & southern gal in West Virginia

Girona40 - Curt (USC) and Glenys, Michael and Sarah (UK)

WISCONSIN:

Michelle(USC)andCraig(England)...northern Wisconsin...border of UP of Michigan

Badgerbabe - Green Bay, Wisconsin

SteveLaura/LauraSteve - from London, UK to Milwaukee, WI

Moonlite-just north of Milwaukee

AllSerene-near Milwaukee I think?

Mellie(and Scott)-near Milwaukee

Here's what my husband and I sent in for our I-129F packet to prove our relationship:

-ALL plane ticket stubs

-All credit card statements showing proof of purchase of plane tickets

-All telephone bills to prove we corresponded over the phone-for these I had to call my cell and long distance companies and have them sent out bills from the date we started talking to the current dat. They happily do this at no extra charge.

-At least 25 photos to show us together in different places (England and the US) We also wrote on each picture: date, where, names of people in each picture

-All letters and cards we'd sent to each other including envelopes (this proves they were sent). We didn't keep all envelope which was okay. Our lawyer made copies of the letters and cards so we didn't have to send originals.

-Affidavits from: me, husband, my mom, his mom, his dad, and my roommate. Each stated who they were, the times they'd seen us together, and their thoughts on our relationship and upcoming marriage. I wrote about meeting my husband, all the times we'd been together, our mutual goals for the future, etc.

-Any proof of upcoming marriage plans (at this point we didn't have this).

-copies of EACH page of both our passports (if you leave a few pages out or only copy the ones with the stamp, they may wonder why you didn't copy all). This shows more proof of visiting.

I think you should add more photos if possible. I also think each of you should write a letter. Is there anyone else that can write a letter on your behalf?

Good luck!

I tried to start it on my own, but it seemed very overwhelming. I finally hired an immigration lawyer (not from a large firm-has an office in his home), and he has been a lifesaver. We had to get the required information together, but he tells me what and when. He fills out all the paperwork, makes any photocopies, and sends everything to the appropriate places.

Some lawyers can be really expensive, but ours was very reasonable. My advice would be to call a few lawyers in your area and talk to them about it on the phone. Those who seemed to do it "just for the money" weren't willing to answer questions on the phone. They wanted me to pay them X amount to meet with them. I think our lawyers fees (not including immigration fees) is about $800. I think we got a great deal.

Good luck!