LondonWelsh

Thanks 123Alexch. 

I'll give them a call today and see how far I get. I'd not heard of Infopass before so thanks for that!

Can I ask when you and your husband sent your paperwork in?

Hi everyone!

My 2yr green card expired on 5 October. I sent off all the paperwork on 21st of August, to California and paid for priority mail express so I know it definitely arrived. There's nothing especially unusual in our case as far as I can see, but I've not even had the receipt yet, and I thought it usually took 2-3 weeks for that to come through.

Has anyone seen a delay this year?

Is there anyone we can contact? The only thing I saw on the USCIS website was a chat bot and that didn't help, and without a receipt I can't do the check status thing.

I am hoping to go back to the UK for Christmas and I know I'll need my expired green card and the receipt to travel (right)? As much as anything else if makes me nervous knowing I'm here without the correct paperwork!

Thanks in advance

Rebecca

Thanks, I probably will!

Best to keep everything until you've gone through naturalization if that is your desire.

Ah thank you

What does POE stand for? I'm so bad with the lingo! I can guess what it means

They are having probs in general. A few weeks back there was an announcement about it.
It is ok to pay when you get here. I paid 3 days after POE and I got the GCs in the mail 5 or 6 weeks later.

thanks, I'm using Chrome but will try another!

try using a different browser, like Chrome, etc.

Just wondering what is the best thing to do with all the paperwork after the Visa is approved?

I've been a big fan traditionally of keeping any and all paperwork but I'm aware that we need to keep it to a minimum for moving, which we're doing next week!

Is there any need to keep any of it?

I'm talking about the forms, copies of evidence etc? What did other people do, have you ever found it useful?

I didn't need half the evidence I collected for the interview anyway but it feels weird just binning (shredding!) it!

Thanks for any advice

LW x

Hi there

Has anyone else had problems paying the visa fee on the USCIS website? I've been trying today (we fly next Wednesday) but I'm getting a 404 error!

I know you can in theory pay when you're over in the US but I'd really rather get it done!

Even the contact form doesn't seem to be letting me submit :/

LW x

Hiya

It was me who had the interview and my husband is the American one in our situation. So I didn't put anything down for my income, are you the one filling in the I-864? You're the American citizen and petitioner? In that case I think they expect you to have filed with the IRS and will need to show what the amount is you've earned over here in dollars. Does that make sense? That's what my husband did, he back-filed with the IRS as he'd been over here in the UK for 10yrs and hadn't filed in all that time.

Hope that helps

LWx

That's awesome oh found it so painless! Our interview in the London embassy is October 3rd! So I'm just trying to get everything together. Just a question about your I-864 form, what did you put for your annual income? I'm struggling with this as I am employed and obviaouly have a salary in the UK, but I don't know whether I should convert this to dollars or to just say zero. Any help with this would be awesome thanks! Congrats again!

Hi Mordecai, thanks for your reply!

We are flying American Airlines and they don't have any specific requirements other than the certificate of health - I'll fly with that and his other documents. I think we'll get him the rabies shot anyway to be honest but it'll only be 6 days before he flies, better safe than sorry though!

Thanks LWx

Hi LondonWelsh,

In my case the rabies vaccine had to be administered because otherwise the cat wouldn't be allowed OUT of my country (one thing is what USA authorities want from you when you enter their country with cat, another thing is what the airlines want to see to even let the cat on board). The Polish certificate from the County Veterinarian Inspector had a question about rabies on it and it was specified on the airlines website that the pet needs to have had a rabies shot.

You are absolutely right - the CBP and CDC websites don't mention the quarantine (and there probably really isn't any for cats). I found the info about quarantine on the website of the airline I was traveling with. It says: "NOTE! In case of carriage of animals to the United States of America a 30 day-long quarantine since the last vaccination against rabies is required." http://www.lot.com/us/en/travelling-with-pets That information is probably either outdated, or it only pertains to dogs, and not all pets. My bad, sorry.

However, even though my cat was not examined by anyone at the Chicago airport upon arrival (I didn't even have to take him out of his container), the CBP officer asked about the cats documents and they were thoroughly examined.

Thank you

I'm getting him seen at the vets 6 days before travel to get the health certificate so will ask about rabies vax. I had an inclination to print those pages and I think I will!

When I flew with my cat from Peru to the US in November, the airline wanted to see the health certificate, but the customs officers didn't ask for any paperwork, just took a look at the cat and sent him through. LondonWelsh, I found the same info you did, that there are no federal vaccination requirements for a cat and that state requirements vary (but most have no vaccination requirements either). If it were me, I would probably give the cat the rabies shot now, get a health and vaccination certificate, and then print out the official pages where it says there are no requirements for cats. I think you'll be fine, worse case scenario would be a quarantine but with cats there are really few concerns.

Hi there!

Just came across this thread and we are travelling to the US (Chicago) from London with our cat in a couple of weeks. He has to go in the hold though not the cabin.

I'm interested that you said you had to show evidence of the rabies vaccine? It says on the CDC website that it's not needed: http://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/cats.html and Illinois said it's not needed either: https://www.agr.state.il.us/international-import-requirements-for-dogs-and-cats/

Edited: also found this https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/56/~/pets---cats

Can I ask where you found out that the CBP wanted to see it? We don't have time to get our cat the vaccine now and we won't be able to fly with him if this is the case

Many thanks for your help!

LW x

Yes, the rabies vaccine is the one that the CBP wants to see. The rabies shot must be given 30+ days before travel (no less than 30 days before travel or the cat might get quarantined).

I did not use any papers from pettravel.com. I actually wrote my own "Pet health and immunization certificate" document and asked my vet to sign it (of course she thoroughly checked that all info was accurate) because I wanted to have this document in English and I didn't feel like paying for another certified translation. Obviously, since you're from Ireland, you won't have this problem The health certificate that I put together contained the following:

- data of the owner (first name, last name, address, phone number)

- data of the cat (name, breed, age, color, sex)

- Information that the cat is in good general health and free of signs of any communicable diseases

- info on all the recent immunizations (dates, names of vaccines, names of diseases that they are against, manufacturer)

- contact info for the vet (name, address, phone number, signature, stamp, preferably on letterhead, although mine wasn't and it was OK too)

Document should be dated as close to the travel as possible (definitely no more than 2 weeks). Mine was dated 8 days before travel.

Hiya!

I got confused by your timeline but I'll try to help

Basically what I took to the interview was a signed letter from my husband with a bullet list of things we'd done to prove intent to re-domicile. In our case this was:

- a letter from my husband's Dad to confirm he would give us a house to live in rent free for a year, and he would give my husband work. We also had mortgage docs to prove home ownership.

- emails to a preschool we are hoping to enrol our son into

- emails to removal firm to ship our things out to the States

- My husband's Indiana drivers licence

- Son's US birth docs (we got his US birth cert and passport soon after he was born even though he was born in the UK cos we thought we might want to move to the States)

- Email declining our son's school place in the UK.

In the end though, we weren't asked for any of this. The guy at the window just asked where my husband was and then asked me "what is the plan?" so I told him we had a house to live in etc and offered to show him the documents but he said it wasn't necessary! I'm still very glad I had them though as they could easily have done so.

Hope this helps

LW x

Great news LondonWelsh!! Can you tell me a little more about the intent to re-establish domicile? This is the one thing I'm worried about as we are moving and then looking for work. My husband (USC) has been talking to his contacts and networking but doesn't officially have a job lined up. What did they ask? What evidence did you give?

Any advice appreciated!! Our interview is 31st October.

I've just mentioned to someone else on here that our timings were a bit screwed up as I had my medical a bit early on in the process and we took a long time about everything so I'm not the best to advise on that side of things - I was more offering advice on the London interview itself if anyone had any concerns Sorry to not be more use in this case! Good luck with everything x

How long did it take from when you filed the application at the embassy to getting a approval ??
I did dcf my husband is from a different country though.
I'm getting closer to my due date and I do NOT want to give birth aboard

To be honest I'm not the best to advise on timings as ours were all a bit screwy- I had my medical way too early in the process! I'm sure things can be done quicker than we did!

yes, i'm getting it done in London. How long it took from NOA2 to interview?

Will you be having your interview in London? When you have your medical, if they're not satisfied with your vaccination records you can pay to have extra done at your medical in Knightsbridge... They will want official records of your vaccinations, yes, and will give you records of any vaxes you get with them.

Hope that helps

hi! i'm so glad to see good news! i'm so worried that i won't be able to get all paperwork sorted..i had my NOA1 on the 15th of July, NOA2 on the 6th Sep. i'm about to get my Police Certificate so i will be waiting until i get LDN case number and get med test.

I also need to ask about the medical exam. i don't have vaccination records - i listed them to my GP. I hope he will be able to write an immunization report? i'm about to get a flu jab this week. Do they CHECK everything? I need to find out how quickly you had that sorted? i'm also about to give my notice to my work just when i got my interview date. Do you think it could be not authorized for some reason? (i'm sorry for so many question!!!)

Hello all

Just to reassure anyone currently waiting to go to their interview in London I can report my experience today was very painless! I was in and out in around an hour having gotten there early - my interview was at midday and I was out at around 12.15pm!

I had what I thought was a fairly complex case with a joint-sponsor and relying on his (Father in Law's) assets to prove income but in the end I maybe needed 20% of the extensive paperwork I had prepared! However I would still advise being as prepared as possible- it made me feel a lot better that whatever they asked (husband's intent to re-establish domicile etc) I had ample documentation to prove everything.

Happy to answer any questions on the experience (inbetween frantically booking flights etc, we are moving in 3 weeks!)

LWx

PS Big thanks to everyone who helped me on this forum, especially Nich-Nick, at times it felt like this day wouldn't come so I'm a bit in shock that it's finally over!

Thank you

He doesn't qualify on income not this year anyway as his accountant wrote so much off!

Ah OK, I got confused as it says "have you filed for the last three years" but actually you only need evidence for one year.

I think I might just take *everything* but just initially hand over the essential stuff and have the rest as back up if needed!

LW x

If your FIL qualifies on income alone, then you don't need to submit all the assets, mortgage, savings, deeds, etc. He is only required to submit ONE tax return, not three. You might want to simplify your submission and take a lot of that out if he has a job that pays enough. You do need a photocopy of his US birth certificate or passport showing he is a US person. London is very easy on the affidavit of support as long as you have the required things included.

The embassy does not take payment for the courier. That's through an independent contractor website.

If you pick a depot, then you don't pay anything. Just go collect your passport/visa when you get the email saying it's there.

If you want to switch to home delivery, go back to https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/iv and pick
"Continue - Review and manage your existing Consular Immigrant Visa Appointment or Returning Resident request."
Log in and see if you can find the option to give a delivery address and pay online with a credit card.

Thank you!

The evidence my FiL has sent me is EPIC. There must be a couple of hundred pages or more in all with 3yr complete tax returns, mortgate statements, bank statements, deeds on houses etc etc...

With our tight turnaround I'm very afraid of being turned away for not having copies of things :/

As long as I haven't done anything wrong with not having paid for the courier yet! I'll look into changing it, I thought there would be an obvious link in the correspondence they gave me but there isn't! I do find the communication from the Embassy quite confusing even after dealing with it for months, oh well!

Thank as ever for your help

LW x

Yes to phones allowed.

Photocopies- London website still says one photocopy of your supporting documents along with original. That would be of things you want back like birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree. You don't really need the I-864 affidavit of support form back and tax records can be photocopies anyway so not a irreplaceable original, but do make a photocopy just for your records before your turn in the only one you have. With that said, London has not actually wanted any photocopies of anything at the interview for over a year. They say something like "we don't need these anymore." You will be given back your originals of birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc even if they don't take photocopies of them from you.

The courier scheduling website normally would give you an option for home delivery by paying a fee online. It's free to pick up at the depot and $30 (converted to ££) for home delivery. When setting it up online you typically choose your closest depot first and the optional home delivery choice comes later.

Nothing from the medical needs to be taken to your interview. They get what they need straight from Knightsbridge. They will hand back your chest x-Ray on cd at the interview. You don't really need it for anything else in immigration, but they don't have a reason to store them at the clinic or embassy so give it to you.

Hi there!

This is good to read- I have my interview next week!

I'm wondering how long it took to get your passport etc back in the end?

I have a very tight turnaround for when we need to fly!

Thanks

LW

All

Firstly many thanks to those of you who helped us through our journey. We are now over the line and approved yesterday lunchtime! I wanted to summarise what we did when we submitted our packs so everyone has an idea of how others are doing It. It can be done quickly. Ours was a little over 4 months, we could have done it in under 3 but had holidays and weddings in between. We also wanted to make it clear that you don't have to listen to all those negative ones out there on this forum that tell you 'your stupid' (one person said that to me for a very basic question I had no idea to the answer else I wouldn't have asked it!) Our route to success wasn't perfect (we'd made several errors as show below, some pretty amateur) but being calm and relaxed and polite goes along way. We did not seek any legal advice apart from 30 mins with an attorney in the US who made us realise legal aid was an expensive time drain.... We're no professionals but we made it at only the basic costs. Pretty sure I haven't missed anything below. If I have I am sure someone on here will be quick to point it out but it's approved so it can't really be wrong....!

Unless stated otherwise, all forms were stapled in top left corner! Photos put in clear bags and paper clipped to the top left

We also took copies of EVERYTHING incase anything got lost

June 2nd 2014

Married in New York

August 2014

Went through spousal visa process for my wife (USC) to come to the UK

April 7th 2016 - submitted petition

Cover letter explainging what was being submitted in the pack
Checklist! Important (embassy standard one)
Submitted I-130
G325a for petitioner
G325a for beneficiary
Copy of Petitioner US passport
Copy of petitioner UK VISA
Copy of employment contract for petitioner to prove UK residence
Copy of ongoing bank statements of petitioner
Copy of beneficiary UK passport including previous US VISA page (L1 visa holder which seemed to help referencing that)
Marriage certificate and copy
Payment form
Lots of evidence

April 13th 2016

Rejected due to the below

- invalid expiration date on credit card (we'd missed the box and hadn't populated it!) - triple check each form. You put a lot of focus on the main forms that smaller ones you can easily mess up
- they also sent back all our evidence we sent. They don't want to see that here

Cost $420

April 14th 2016 re-submitted

April 18th 2016 NOA1

June 7th 2016 NOA2 I-130 approved

July 5th 2016 - emailed the embassy as we had not received our case reference to continue our processing. They emailed on July 7th stating a letter was sent on June 23rd (we never received) with our case reference attached in the email.

July 10th - submitted DS260

July 15th - ds2001 notification of readiness completed

July 17th - ACRO police certificate arrived (submitted 1 week prior) cost £80 expedited

July 18th - booked medical for August 2nd (need the case reference and police certificate) and also booked embassy interview for August 15th (was on holiday in between medical and also you need 5 clear days post the medical before interview)

Rest of July - were on holiday but put together our pack of key documents (listed below in interview section) and also all of our evidence. We went complete overkill but wanted to be sure we had anything they could ask for -

Joint leases in UK
Joint banks in UK
Holidays around the world
Joint medical UK
Car insurance UK
Bills UK
Joint accounts in the US
Affidavits of support from friends and family
Tons of photos
Last months phone bills (wife left for US almost a month ago to get things sorted)
Proof of domicile - seems to be a major concern area on this forum. This was not the case for us. We put together a whole separate pack of documents and cover letter stating my wife had returned and her leave from the UK was temporary etc and that she'd maintained domicile by doing tax returns, kept driving licence, kept bank accounts, had mobile phone in US, travelled back frequently etc etc

August 2nd - Medical in London at the embassy approved doctor. Had two vaccinations. Total cost £310 (includes vaccinations and 4 photos they need)

August 15th - Interview! Was incredibly simple. Got there at 11.10 (was a 12noon appointment). Ensure you print out your appointment letter and show your passport at the front. I was in by 11.20 and had my first window done by 11.40 (Window 13). Very delightful young American guy. You basically go up, finger prints taken, hand over your key documents and then pay the $325 fee (window next to the initial Window). Key documents are -

Passport
Birth certificates plus copies
Marriage certificates plus copy
Police certificate plus copy
1 photo (not sure why you need 2, they only took 1, but take 2 in case)
I864 plus any supporting docs so last year tax return or evidence of assets
I864 for co-sponsor
I864a for co-sponsor wife (we went this route and sponsor, wife's father, joint files. We heard he could just do an individual I864 with his W2 and break up income but we decided I864a route)

Good document we found was a checklist online for the interview documents. Embassy standard one.

Lasted all of 5 mins. Went back and sat down. 12.20 called back up but to window 15. Went up, had to re-validate finger prints, swear on oath that all information was correct, then asked me how long we'd been married, and how long I had known my wife. That was it. No evidence needed. No proof of domicile needed. I was a bit shocked so I said I have this big pack of documents here, do you need to see proof of domicile or anything else and he said 'no, all looks fine, no red flags here. visa approved'. I asked how long until it turns up, he said 1-2 weeks but they are busy at the moment. I have been there a few times and never seen it so busy. Brexit must be making all of us hungry to move to the US!

So after all that prep, didn't need most of it. But I am definitely not saying don't do it. Each case is different, and different people on different days say different things. But hopefully some more pleasant reading for the rest of you out there still working hard on it!

Good luck and remember the embassy people are just people doing their job. Be nice and polite and it's all ok

Hello!

I have my interview in London next week and I think a few things have changed since some of the guides I've read. Wondering if anyone can advise on the following:

1) Are you permitted to take phones in now? I know you definitely weren't when I went to get my son's citizenship a few years ago. My husband and child will be waiting for me in the park/cafes nearby so be quite handy to keep in contact with them!

2) I know you have to take two copies of everything, does this include the affidavit(s) and all the accompanying evidence? I've read conflicting things!

3) With the courier, I currently have 42 Hounds Ditch as my collection point and I know I have til the morning of my interview date to change this, is that all I have to do at this stage? I think at other times you've had to pay the courier fee in advance or something? I don't want to leave anything til the interview then find out I should've done something beforehand!

Any other tips for interview day welcome of course

Many thanks in advance!

LWx

Fourth question!

Are we expected to bring anything along from the medical? I can't see anything about it on the checklist but I'm sure I remember somewhere reading that you're meant to take your vaccination records from the medical along with you...? Thank you!

Hello!

I have my interview in London next week and I think a few things have changed since some of the guides I've read. Wondering if anyone can advise on the following:

1) Are you permitted to take phones in now? I know you definitely weren't when I went to get my son's citizenship a few years ago. My husband and child will be waiting for me in the park/cafes nearby so be quite handy to keep in contact with them!

2) I know you have to take two copies of everything, does this include the affidavit(s) and all the accompanying evidence? I've read conflicting things!

3) With the courier, I currently have 42 Hounds Ditch as my collection point and I know I have til the morning of my interview date to change this, is that all I have to do at this stage? I think at other times you've had to pay the courier fee in advance or something? I don't want to leave anything til the interview then find out I should've done something beforehand!

Any other tips for interview day welcome of course

Many thanks in advance!

LWx

Belated reply to this, sorry! Hectic week :/

Yes we have the 2013 and 2014 tax returns Also a photocopy of both birth certificate and passport (belt and braces!)

There is actually a deduction on his tax return of about $700 *after* line 22 so we are putting the lower figure just to be on the safe side so it doesn't look like we're putting more than the final amount.

Thanks again for your help!

LW x

I think 31-July is fine. Do you have 2013 and 2014 tax returns that might show more income and that he doesn't typically take such large business deductions? Schedule C is where you can see the breakout of income vs expenses.

You will be presenting this in person in London, right? While they do have to follow the law which is precise, they won't be hard-nosed about it and make you jump through extra hoops.

Also be sure you have a photocopy of his American birth certificate or passport which is required from a joint sponsor.

...and yes presenting in person, in London

Hi I'm so sorry I've only just seen this!

I used the form provided in one of the answers above and it was fixed within a day or two... hope you've had more luck since posting!

LW x

How did they fix the issue?

I am having exactly the same issue last 3 days.

I sent e-mail to embassy and CSC but nothing is happened so far.

Can you help me about that?

One more thing on this, the current statement we have for his investment portfolio is from 1-31 July.

Will we need the one from August as my interview is on 13 September (and presumably he could cash the whole lot in on August 1st?!)

If so will an emailed copy do as I'm not sure it would arrive by post in time?

And also would this invalidate the amount he's currently put on the form as August figure may be slightly different from July? Or will it not matter as long as it's above the amount we need it to be?

TIA once again!

So as a household of 2 we need to have $20,025 as our poverty guideline https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864p.pdf and if he has $8071 on his 2015 tax return, that means he has to prove 5x the shortfall which would be $11,964 x 5 = $59,770.

He has £135k in shares and £118k in real-estate (checking the exact amount as two of his three properties were assessed together and one is his main residence so that won't count, but even just in shares he has enough) so that should see me fine anyway right?!

As long as we can prove it?

Writing this stuff down for me as much as anything else

Thank you. DEFINITELY don't want an RFE- no time, we need to fly 1st week of Oct and interview is Sept 13!

I think we'll play it safe then and do as you suggest. The only reason this even happened is he used an accountant to make it go faster and they said he could claim the expenses!

No marriage, no dependents, he is a household of 1 (so, 2 including me for the purposes of the form )

Might be worth me having copies of his earnings for this year anyway in case they ask? (Bank statements)

TVM!!

Thank you. DEFINITELY don't want an RFE- no time, we need to fly 1st week of Oct and interview is Sept 13!

I think we'll play it safe then and do as you suggest. The only reason this even happened is he used an accountant to make it go faster and they said he could claim the expenses!

No marriage, no dependents, he is a household of 1 (so, 2 including me for the purposes of the form )

Might be worth me having copies of his earnings for this year anyway in case they ask? (Bank statements)

TVM!!

Page 7 (Part 6, Item no.2) Is what I mean by a regular employed person has resources to document his current income. For example somebody who graduated from college in 2015 and only worked November and December would have a sorry looking tax return. But he has the option to document his new job pays $3000/ month and claim current income of $36,000 per year. He can document it with an employer letter, employment contract, or pay stubs.
But a self-employed person has no "employer" to write a letter. There is nothing that will document his profit/loss except filing a tax return.

I think if you predict a self-employed figure for 2016 and that amount is higher than 2015 tax return Line 22, then you will get an RFE saying the income is not documented. It's just a problem with a self-employed sponsor. He tries to lower his tax bill by coming up with all kinds of deductions to lower his income. (We do the same). But it backfires on you because he needs more income to sponsor.

What I would do if it was mine:
1) Put current income box as whatever his 2015 tax return says on Line 22
2) Use 5x assets to make up the shortfall in income. Document them.
3) Don't write letter to explain anything. It's the government and there is no subjectivity or sympathy on the form. Show enough money on the form and prove it with documents....tax return, financial statements.

Forgot to say-- is he married and is the tax return Joint?