Paulonto

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