NicolaRobert

Yes, 4 steps: Go in, pay their insane price, get out, think "what was I worrying about".

Blood pressure seems to be a big thing for them if it's even slightly higher than normal. Apart from that, they don't really care.

Ok, those steps sound pretty good to me. I just need to get it done, and keep my fingers crossed it gets to the Embassy in time for my interview on the 1st.

I do tend to have high blood pressure, but as far as I can tell from all the info I've read that isn't the kind of thing they are really looking for.

I just really want all this stuff to be over and done with. Will be so happy to have it all behind me.

Good luck with your medical tomorrow I also have mine in London tomorrow...also not good with those sort of things so know how you're feeling!! I've been told by someone who has done this recently that it really is nothing to worry about and everyone is real nice...may see you there!!

Good luck to you too. Mine is in the afternoon. Very happy it's so close to Oxford Street as plan on doing a little retail therapy afterwards!

NOA2!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!

Yay for you! Bet you are relieved. Won't take long now, I promise. Get all that paperwork ready for the NVC, and you'll be moving along nicely!

I have my medical tomorrow! Getting a little nervous/stressed. I don't have any issues, but just hate this kind of thing. Any advice from anyone who's done their medical in London?

When you visit to get married just be honest.

We got married in the US last August and when we were coming in we (or more importantly I) got asked what the purpose of the visit was. And I was so excited (this was about two weeks before our big white wedding) that I was practically bouncing when I told them we were getting married. The Officer laughed at my excitement, and then did ask a few questions to make sure we weren't planning on doing an Adjustment of Status. We just showed them our tickets out of the US, and our work permit stamps for the Cayman Islands and they were good with that. In your case I would make sure you have proof of your return ticket and proof of your course to prove ties to the UK.

Pick your own for K1 and DCF has only been in effect two months. There's still slots set aside for NVC in the manner they have always done so that part shouldn't be different. NVC has to micro manage and check all your documents and take payment ahead of time. They come up with some weird RFEs on the I-864. Things I am sure London wouldn't even be bothered with. And London does have the final say. And it takes them a long time to get around to your case to check it. It's kind of a bottleneck in my opinion since DCF people get the same visa without NVC. London checks everything at the interview for DCF and K1. If it's unacceptable, they tell you what to fix before they can issue the visa.

So this online scheduling is new and I don't have my head around it yet. Wondering if once NVC gives you an interview date, you would somehow be able to log in, see your date, and pick a different one. Just thinking out loud because I have no clue. You can also use one of the contact forms to ask for an earlier date, but seeing what was open and changing yourself would be a bonus. Something to experiment with when you get there.

I thought about trying to see if I could rebook my interview date, because I could actually have used a few extra days as I only get back from the US on Thursday. But decided I didn't want to risk screwing around with it in case I ended up worse off! But I can see that if you could do that it might be worth it.

I don't get the whole NVC vs Embassy thing I have to admit. It seems crazy to go through everything through the NVC when, as you say, London will double check it all again anyway. I guess maybe it speeds up the interviews slightly? As in, if a case as already been pre-screened by the NVC they are less likely to dig into details at the interview? But that seems unlikely. I imagine they treat them all the same.

I haven't even got my NOA2 yet. 159 days and counting. I imagine my interview will be next year.

I'm fortunate that I work for an airline and have get able to go back and forth every 6 or 8 weeks or so. I've been to see my husband around 40 times and I don't know how people cope who only go once a year or something.

Yes, my denial fears are also almost groundless. No reason why I wouldn't be approved but because my NOA2 is taking so long I'm getting nervous. I'm assuming it's background checks on my husband because he has done prison time.

The whole "pick your interview date" is confusing. Can't understand why it can't be for everyone. My biggest fear is that us doing CR-1/IR-1 through NVC will wait longer because NVC will not be pro-active in choosing a quick date for us. And if an earlier date becomes available due to a cancellation we won't be able to grab it. This process is already twice as long as K-1.

I wouldn't worry too much about the interview being delayed by going through the NVC - I thought that would be the case, and the woman even told me that it would be about 60 days before they gave me a date (which would then be 30 days from then) but in the end it was less than a week. I think the Embassy (from what I understand) releases a load of slots to the NVC each month or 2 weeks or whatever, and the NVC allocates those on a first come first served basis (based I think on when your case is complete with the NVC). So once you get past this stage and submit all your stuff it should speed up. We submitted our paperwork to the NVC on the 17th of Jan and had the case complete email from the NVC mid Feb. The only reason it's taken until now is because of changing the interview location from the Cayman Islands to London. But our whole case was quick excluding that delay. less than a month from NOA1 to NOA2. But we slowed it down ourselves.

Use this time to make sure you have pretty much everything ready to go, and I reckon you'll find it moves pretty quickly once you get your NOA2.

I wasn't planning on lying. I just don't know if they need a new form or not. I guess I'll fill one in just in case. Technically the old form is still correct in that the annual salary is still the same, and we still have savings and assets well above what we need anyway.

I'll get him to sign a new form tomorrow.

So, I have been trying to look for an answer to this, but I'm struggling.

My husband (the petitioner) has just recently changed his job. His actual annual salary doesn't change much (has gone up by about $2000.) But I don't know if we need to redo the form, if they'll ask for it at the interview - or if we just leave it. I do have a letter from his new employer stating his job and salary, that I was planning to bring along to the interview just in case.

Any advice?

Welcome! I'm also doing CR-1 (it will be IR-1 as our two-year wedding anniversary is in September and I won't be there before then) not through the embassy. Timelines are something I try not to look at! And yes, a lot of the discussion here does not apply to us. Nice to meet another one on the same path.

I'm also very nervous about denials due to the unusual nature of our case (previous UK spouse visa denial for my husband and his criminal record).

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Very nice to meet someone else doing the same thing. Do you have your interview date yet? I think that was the weirdest part for me. I kept seeing this stuff on here about booking your interview with the London embassy, and then instead being told I basically had to wait for a date (and at that point that I would have to wait 60 days) really through me. Until I realised that you only book the interview yourself when you're on a different 'path'.

My denial fears are really stupid if I'm honest. There is zero logical reason for me to be denied - but I can't help worrying that they'll just decide they don't like me!

I've spent a lot of time in the US over the last few years. We got married here, and spent holidays here before Hubby moved back - and since then I've spent just about as much time as my VWP will let me. I thank god that I'm a writer and can basically earn royalties even if I take 3 month holidays. Don't know how I'd have coped just not seeing him for 6 months. But now we're really at the end and I won't just be in the US on holiday, but actually living here full time, kind gets scary.

But honestly, I just can't wait for us to get started on our lives together!

Do you have an Aldi near you? There is one near us in Michigan, and I find it WAY cheaper for a lot of stuff when I am over visiting Hubby. Even dollar stores can be pretty good for dried goods or canned goods. Like, pasta is pasta, right? And if you save money there, then you can afford the more expensive luxury stuff! Or at least that's how I look at it.

Have you spoken to your other half about how you're feeling? Sometimes talking about it can help a lot!

So I am currently having nightmares about my visa being denied at the interview in two weeks for no apparent reason!

I found this thread and thought I'd do a little update/intro of my own. I notice that most of the people on this UK section of the forum are doing K1, or CR1s through the embassy rather than the NVC, so I keep reading threads and going 'but - but I didn't do that - oh '. Then I look at their case and take a deep steadying breath.

A little about us and our case so far. We met in the Caribbean and after getting married last August, and knowing our work permits were running out in the Caymans, started the process of getting me a green card/visa. Of course we ended up making a major mistake by starting the process when we knew we were probably going to have to leave the Caymans before it was completed, and spent 6 months from December until June trying to get my location changed to the UK.

Once it happened everything else was insanely quick. Despite the woman from the NVC telling me it would take up to 60 days to get my interview date, a week later I got an appointment for the 1st of August. Kind of made us crazy knowing that if we hadn't had to change the location of the interview I probably would have had my interview sometime in April! But such is life. I have my medical next Friday. And we have this desperate dream that I might be in the US by our first wedding anniversary on the 29th of August. I don't know if that's wishful thinking or not. Maybe someone here can tell me.

So, yeah, that's us. I have to admit that we've been working towards this since October last year, and now it's actually happening (as in we have some kind of end date) I'm actually getting nervous about the move. I've lived overseas a lot, but always had it in my head that I would go back to live in the UK in the end. Now this is a permanent move. And it's kinda scary. Exciting though!

You need to give it more than a year. This is just honest advice from someone who has lived in a new country practically every four years of my life (though some of those moves were back to the UK). But they say it takes time to adjust to a new place. The first year you are just finding your feet. Sussing things out. It only in the second year that you start to really either settle in, or hate the place and that's when you can start making serious decisons.

Right now you're probably just feeling homesick, even if you're not consciously thinking 'I miss home', the comparison is there and when you are feeling homesick the comparison will always be unfavourable.

Get out, explore your area, get to know people. All of that will help so much. And see if you can't afford to get your little one into pre-school. That way you'll meet other Mums and that will help too. They might be like 'oh, don't go to Walmart, there's this cheap place on such and such street...' etc.

Good luck. Keep your chin up.

You're finding things expensive? I'm not in the US yet - but I've spent long periods of time here on holiday over the last 2 years and I've always found it to be cheaper than the UK for most things. Although I guess it depends on where you're living just like the UK. I've certainly found most food to be cheaper.

Being at home all the time isn't going to help your stress levels. Have you tried finding any local mother and toddler groups in your area? It would help you get out and meet people.

As I say, I've not made the move to the US yet, but I have lived overseas most of my adult life, and it takes a while to adjust to a new country. But the important thing is to get out there. Even if you can't find paid work, volunteering somewhere would help get you out of the house and socialising. Plus it would help to get you involved with the local community.

Look into nursery for your little one. It's not free, but there are pre-school places for the under fives (my American sister-in-law has just enrolled her 3 year old in one for the autumn). Maybe you could afford one or two days a week?

Have you ever moved countries before? I know it's pretty tough the first time you make a move like this.

Only 5 boxes of books? That's pretty impressive. I'll be happy if I can get my stash down that low!

Thanks for all the responses, guys.

Looks like my best option is just to suck it up and get the two shots I need when I go for my Medical. I hate needles which was why I was trying to avoid it.

I KNOW I had my MMR because they did a vaccination day at school when I was in my early teens, but I have no idea if there is a record.

Like the poster above, the trouble is that I've travelled so much that I don't think I've ever seen the same Dr twice! Even in the last 10 years I've been travelling so much.

I do have this thing from my current surgery to check my records online - so if I can get that working I might be able to track down proof of the MMR.

If not I'll just pay to have them at the medical.

Whew, after all our waiting it seems like everything is a rush now! Thanks again for the help!

Urgh - yeah I guess I'll call the airline and check that one out.

I just really don't want to have to change my passport right now. I have literally 10 days when I get back from my current visit to the US until my interview, so I'm freaking out enough about getting everything done, without the hassle of changing my passport as well.

I guess the further question would be, does it really matter if my visa/green card is in my maiden name? It a double-barrelled name anyway, so it's the same name, just with a little extra added on the end!

But the visa paperwork all has my married name on it, not what's in my passport. Or most of it does. So I'm just not sure what they are going to use. Which is the case? That the paperwork has to match the passport or not?

Maybe some of you guys can help me out with this one.

I have my medical on the 22nd of July. I'm currently in the US visiting hubby and get back to the UK on the 21st. (yeah, I know I'm cutting it close, but they suddenly got our case moving after a 6 month delay and I had already flown to the US when they gave me my 1st August interview date!).

But the thing I'm really worried about is the vaccination records. I have moved literally every 4 years since I was 2, and a fair few of those moves were overseas. And I have no idea how to track down my records. My mother insists I've had every one of the shots I need, but obviously I don't think they are going to accept 'My Mum says...' as proof.

I've been in touch with my current doctor in the UK but they don't seem massively helpful. Will I just need to get the shots again? Would really like to avoid it if at all possible...

I got a pretty reasonable quote from one company. I think it was Anglo Pacific - something like that. I was just trying to get ideas of cost seeing as I didn't even have an interview date at the time. But they called me up and we discussed exactly what kind of stuff I had and approximately how much, and they seemed pretty good. Very helpful over the phone and the quote they gave me for door to door was really reasonable. Though it might change once I see exactly how much stuff I have!

Admittedly I mostly have boxes and boxes of books. So I'm just happy as long as I pay by volume not by weight.

I got a pretty reasonable quote from one company. I think it was Anglo Pacific - something like that. I was just trying to get ideas of cost seeing as I didn't even have an interview date at the time. But they called me up and we discussed exactly what kind of stuff I had and approximately how much, and they seemed pretty good. Very helpful over the phone and the quote they gave me for door to door was really reasonable. Though it might change once I see exactly how much stuff I have!

Admittedly I mostly have boxes and boxes of books. So I'm just happy as long as I pay by volume not by weight.

Yeah, I live near Peterbourgh so I can easier go up there to get the passport done in a day.

The downside is my in-laws have already booked a christmas trip away for hubby and I, and booked it under the name in my passport now. And the fee to change the tickets is probably around $400 too.

I guess my point is, can my green card (visa stamp) be under my married name, but in the passport with my maiden name? If so, I'll just leave it and sort the passport out in a few years. I don't mind so much sending it off from the US - but the post on the Caribbean island I lived on before was notoriously bad. I once got a Christmas card from my mum in April. I didn't want that happening to my passport.

It takes them about 45 days to deal with any incoming paperwork or emails. Or at least, that's what I got told repeatedly.

I think it's honestly just volume of stuff they receive. It's got to be dealt with in the order they get it, and I think they just have a backlog. It's the same in any government department.

I'd say just wait it out. 6 weeks isn't that long, and if the case is complete otherwise I imagine it will get shunted onto the next stage as soon as they process that additional paperwork.

Ok, so I'm wondering if someone can help me with this one. I changed my name when I got married (double-barrelled it anyway), but never changed my passport, partly because I was overseas at the time and doing so would require sending it off to another country (and I was so not comfortable with being in another country without my passport) and I also had about 5 years left before it expired.

We started the process and half my paperwork has my married name, and half the paper work has my maiden name.

As in, even the stuff from the NVC. One thing I have from them is addressed to my married name, but my visa interview letter is addressed to my maiden name. I'm a little worried that it might cause confusion come the time of my interview etc.

Any advice?

So, I realised that despite the amount of time I've spent on this site over the last year or so I never actually found this little place to introduce myself, and so I thought, what the hell, I should do that.

So, about us. Well, I'm from the UK and Hubby is from Michigan (Downriver). We actually met when we were both working on a teeny Carribean island. We worked at different resorts, at opposite ends of the island - but seeing at the island population was only 150 people it was inevitable that we would meet!

We lived together there for just about two years, and got married last August (nearly a year - eeek!). We knew we wouldn't be able to stay in the Cayman Islands forever (work permits only last a max of 9 years and when we met he'd been there over 6!). So after lots of discussions, going back and forth between the UK and the US we finally decided on the US. Mostly because he already owned a house in Michigan, and already had some promises of work should he return home.

So we began the process of getting my CR1.

It's been a slightly rocky road. It all started off great, and smooth as anything - getting my NOA2 within less than a month. We submitted everything else and then disaster. We had to leave the Cayman Islands earlier than expected. So we contacted the NVC asking them to change my interview location to London, as I'd have no choice but to head back home until everything was approved. We made the request in December 2015. It finally got changed at the end of June 2016. Every time I spoke to them they told me that it wouldn't take long, and it was such a simple thing, but somehow it took forever.

However, it finally happened, and was followed less than a week later with my interview appointment date. Which will be the 1st of August. So we are keeping our fingers desperately crossed that I will get approved and get my passport back in time to make it to the US in time for our 1st wedding anniversary on August 29th!

I may not have posted much on this site, but it's been my go-to place when I have any questions, or just needed reassurance that I wasn't the only person going through this. I might not contribute much, but I've read hundreds of threads, and gotten great advice without ever having to ask a question (because other people have normally done it for me first!).

I'm super excited to finally get to the US permanently. I keep popping over for visits, but it's not the same. Besides costing us an arm and a leg! We are so excited to settle into our lives together, start a family and all that stuff. But at the same time, the more I think about leaving the UK for good, the more nervous I get. I've travelled and lived abroad a lot, but in the back of my mind was always the idea that I would go home sometime. Now, hopefully, I will be settling for good. Scary times.

Anyway, I have rambled on for far too long. But hello to all. And thanks for all the great advice, even if you didn't always know you were giving it to me!

Whatever you do don't file now with her address as Singapore and then change it to Japan later. It's NOT a wise move.

We just spent 6 months trying to get them to change my interview location because we'd done a similar thing. They told us it would be oh so simple to change the address (and therefore the interview location) later. It took us 6 months, dozens of emails and hundreds of phone calls to get it fixed. We filed when we were both living in the Cayman Islands, we then had to leave because of work permits there and tried to change everything. Nightmare. Honestly, our case was 'completed' back in Feb and I have JUST had the location changed to London. Which included changing our case number and our completion date to June.

As for your actual question, even with all our hassles we still did it all ourselves without a lawyer. Every time we spoke to a lawyer they tried to convince me to come in on my Esta and then apply for AOS. Obviously we weren't going to do that.

To be honest, the paperwork really isn't that complicated. It's perfectly possible to do it all yourself. And save a few thousand dollars in the process. We were quoted 3,000 and 3,500 each time.

I don't know if anyone here has ever been in this situation but I'm hoping someone might have some advice and help.

My husband and I were both living overseas when we met and got married. We then applied for a visa for me as his spouse so that we could return to the USA together.

Following that, sooner than we would have liked his work visa ran out and we had to leave the island in the Caribbean where we were living. He returned to the US and I returned to the UK.

We called and changed our addresses with the NVC and they told us that in order to change the location of my interview we had to do it in writing. I sent them a letter around the 10th of December. We waited a while and when I made a follow up call to see if they had recieved the letter they told me I could actually do it via email. So on the 5th of Jan I emailed with the same information. My husband followed up with another letter from the US once he got there. I came to the US for a visit on the VWP whilst we waited for the case to be sent on to the embassy in London.

Since then we have had confirmation that our case is complete and all we are waiting for is for it to be sent out to the consulate/embassy for processing. Unfortunately there is a hold on it whilst they wait to get the interview location changed.

It's now been three months - and nothing has happened. I guess my question is has anyone else had to change the location of thier interview, and if so how long did it take? It feels like it's been so long with nothing being changed when my case could have already been sent to the embassy and I might have my interview date by now.

We're getting so frustrated as my holiday draws to a close as we are facing being apart with absolutely no end in sight. Every time I call the NVC they are unable to give me any idea of when the change might be made.