jacamero

Click on POE just to the right of the Embassy/USCIS button

Thanks guys, found it!! Sounds like Chicago is a good one to go thru. That is a relief!!

Basically he arrives at Chicago and goes to customs where he turns over the sealed envelope(s) he and the kids got from the Consulate in the UK. They may ask a few questions but it shouldn't be anything to worry about as everything has already been approved. He will complete some forms for the green card and SS card. 6 months is a catch all worst case kind of thing. 30 days is more realistic at the outside. My wife arrived in September and by the time we got home from our 2 week vacation her SS card and green card were in our mailbox.

Oh wonderful! Thanks for your insight, that makes me feel better!!! Did your wife's SS card arrive without you having to go to the SS office to file for it? We checked the box to have it sent to us, but then I read that it's best if you go down to the office and apply for it in person as it might not come automatically. Thanks!!

Julie

Michigan

just to let you know if u go up to top of the vj page and click on the tab reviews embassy/consulates /poe u can read reviews of different airports and there ratings for poe..im in same boat which place to have my husband poe at..

Thanks! I just went there but found no POE reviews, only embassy and interview ones. I wish you best of luck on finishing your process!!

Hello everyone! Well after being married for 4 years and working for 3 years on this immigration process, finally my husband has got his and his 3 children's visas in hand and will be flying from Manchester, England to Detroit, Michigan to be with us forever this Friday, 11/11/11!

Now he's stressing over going thru immigration at Chicago O'Hare, which will be his first POE to the US. Can anyone who has gone thru it fill us in a bit on what happens, what they ask, if it was hard or easy, did it take a long time, etc?

Also we went the IR1 route as we thought he'd be able to work right away when he got here. But the letter he got back with his passports and sealed envelopes mentioned something about filling out a green card form at customs and waiting six months?? That's why we didn't go the K3 route, to avoid the six month wait so he could work straight away. Did we misunderstand? Are there additional fees for this form?

Thanks everyone! We are so excited, but still feeling anxiety over this all until I pick him up at the airport Friday night!!

Hugs,

Julie

Michigan

My husband lives in England and I live in the US. We have sent in the last of his paperwork and it was received January 6, 2011. We had read that his interview can't be booked until he has his medical, so I asked the NVC and they say he can't book his medical until he has his interview date. So we are confused. He called and booked his medical in London already for Feb 7, 2011 and they gave him a list of things to bring but said nothing about bringing a letter with an interview date. So now we're confused and not sure whether to keep the medical or cancel it and wait. It seems like you always get contradicting information on this journey, it's a wonder anyone makes it thru without developing high blood pressure LOL

Can anyone who's done this recently shed some light on this?? We'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks a lot

Julie

Michigan

We are getting towards the end of our journey (yipee!!) and I'm putting together the pieces we need to mail off the DS-230 packet. I've been reading up to make sure I don't miss anything, and am a little confused on a couple of points. I thought maybe someone might be able to help me out here.

One question is do I need to send a copy of MY birth certificate (I'm the US citizen, my husband is from England) along with it? Will they require a copy of MY previous marriage certificate and divorce? And does my husband need to send a copy of something stating he has legal custody of his 4 children that he's bringing with him to the US?

The other questions about the interview are how much will he have to pay at the interview in London? And does he need to bring his children to the interview as well? Or will they require just him to come (alone)?

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help!!

Hugs,

Julie

Michigan

However I beleive they are in the I-130 stage and there was no requirement for that permission unless it has changed. That comes at the NVC level.

JAcamero does the hubby have any custody documents?

They didn't ask for a permission in the list of things to submit with the I-130, so we didn't submit one. But if that's what they want (permission from the mother), it will be easy to get since she doesn't want them and doesn't care. But yes, my husband has a custody document with his divorce papers.

Take a deep breath may be something as simple as a missing signature. Please let us know once the RFE arrives what it states.

It will be fine and I think it is wonderful that you are going to love the WHOLE package. I have goose bumps

Thanks, you are sweet. They are great kids, I love them all like I do my own. I have 3, so we'll have 7 total once he gets here LOL We got the Brady Bunch beat by one!! hahahaha

but yeah, we are hoping it's something really simple. I'll keep ya posted, thanks for the reply!!

Just a guess. if one of the kid is over 14 they need a G325A. I assume you submitted 4 dfferent I130S

Yep, we sent in 4 different I-130's for them. The oldest is 13 and will turn 14 in March. The rest are 10, 8 and 4 years old. Thanks for your help, it's appreciated!!!

RFE does not indicate a path to a denial. You should not worry (I know you will any way, but try not to) - wait for the RFE notice - could be something simple.

Thanks for the reassurance! You are right, but I still worry LOL I will let you all know if it's something simple. I love the flags you have at the bottom of your post, where'd you get them? Thanks again!

My husband was approved (he's from England) by USCIS back on Aug 11 and has been in the NVC for a while now, but his 4 children that are coming were still back at USCIS. Today I got 4 emails from them requesting more evidence for the children. I called the office to see what they needed and they said they didn't have that information and I should wait for the letters to come in the mail. My husband and I are wondering what in the world would they require for children? Should we be nervous they will deny the children?? Has anyone else gone thru this?? Thanks everyone!!

is he listed on their BC?(birth certificates)

Yes, he's on all their birth certificates and he has custody of them due their mother abandoning all of them. And thanks for the reassurance on not to worry. I'm trying not to, honestly!! LOL But I'm sure it's something simple. My husbands went thru fine, with no requests for evidence at all. So he told me not to worry, that if he went thru fine, there shouldn't be a problem with the children. I'll keep you posted if you'd like. I appreciate it!!

My husband was approved (he's from England) by USCIS back on Aug 11 and has been in the NVC for a while now, but his 4 children that are coming were still back at USCIS. Today I got 4 emails from them requesting more evidence for the children. I called the office to see what they needed and they said they didn't have that information and I should wait for the letters to come in the mail. My husband and I are wondering what in the world would they require for children? Should we be nervous they will deny the children?? Has anyone else gone thru this?? Thanks everyone!!

Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for the congrats and advice, it's all much appreciated!!!!

Thank you.

For the touches - you would just log into the USCIS website, and anytime the date changed, that was a touch.

Oh ok, thanks for letting me know!!

hey Malrothien, so it seems like your 130 was approved few days after it was touched.

I am hoping the same stands true in my case. Keeping all 10 fingers crossed ..

That is so, but please don't take mine as the average case, because it isn't.

Wow, congrats on it going so quickly! We got our NOA1 on April 17, 2009 and just got our NOA2 back on our 2nd anniversary (Aug 11, 2009)!! Now waiting for the NVC contact. I was wondering, I see lots of people knowing their stuff was "touched", how do you find this out??? Thanks and best of luck on the rest of your journey!

My husband and I are SO excited! I received our NOA2 today, on our second wedding anniversary!! What a great present and how cool is that??

So another step down. We can't wait to be together again! Can anyone give an approx time frame as to how long the rest of this goes until he can move here to the US? Thanks! I wish everyone the best of luck!

Hugs,

Julie

Michigan

congrats!

Hello there! Im very very new here, Im Ukrainian, was ussualy at ukrainian and russian forum, but decided to look up here. Could you please help me with one thing...I see in your Time Line thing that your case was "touched' and not once..I also made an account at USCIS, and really have no idea WHERE i can look if my case was touched:( We got marriend August 7th, 2008, sent all paper for 130 November, then 129-f in December and got NOA1 for 130 and NOA1 for 129F. NAd thats it. All like frozen, Im so tired of waiting any updates, but I alsways go to USCIS and in my personal account where it sayd "last update" ubow my cases it still says the same first dates. But where I can look did they touch it or not. Or this is it "last updates' the same is 'touchded'. Pls. If you dont mind to help this silly desperaite girl:)

Thank you so much.

I don't think you're silly at all! I've been wondering the same thing. My message at the USCIS website says the same thing all the time too. And I've wondered how to know when we were "touched" as well. Thanks for asking, maybe someone will enlighten us! Best of luck!!

congrats!

Thanks so much! Best of luck to you!!

Moving this to: "K-3 Spousal Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports"

Consider sticking to the I-130 visa process, for the most part USCIS has been approving I-129F AND I-130 on the same date which essentially eliminates the whole reason that the K-3 was developed in the first place (LONG I-130 Processing time ate USCIS).

For the most part CR-1 tends to take a bit longer than K-3 to get if you prepare for NVC when they request I-864 fee, and Visa fee, as well as documents requested by NVC. In many cases the CR-1 petition reaches the consulate just before K-3 interview, which causes K-3 to get dropped and the interview becomes a CR-1 visa interview.

K-3:

I-130: $355

I-129F: NONE

Consulate: $131

Adjustment Of Status: $1010 I-485

($1496)

CR-1

I-130: $355

NVC I-864: $70

NVC Visa fee: $400 ($355+$45)

($825)

I see many posts from K-3 holders stating, "Wow this sucks, I am stuck at home because I don't have EAD, DL, etc, or I am having hard time getting added to bank accounts because of NO SSN." K-3 has a 90 day or longer period of limbo while waiting for EAD or Green-card.

K-3 was developed at a time when CR-1 was taking much longer that today, NVC has greatly streamlined the CR-1 process to the point where K-3 becomes irrelevant.

Thanks so much for the advice! I had been wondering about that myself, so I will seriously take it into consideration. Thanks a million and much luck to you!

Yes, he can visit you even when the case pending. I had visited my husband 4 times under this visa process, I used the Visa Waiver, and sometimes I stayed 3 months sometimes 2 weeks.

Take with you some good documents to show them, if they asking you. I had always bring with me a letter from my chief, that I work and have vacation, land to the house and apartment, housing contracts, bank statements and return tickets and and,,

But, if they don’t trust on you, they can send you back with the next flight. It’s not illegal to use the tourist visa when you case still pending.

Thank you so much for your input here! It's much appreciated and we feel better knowing others have made visits during this process as well!

Best of luck to you!!

It's not illegal- the UK is part of the visa waiver program so he wouldn't be trying for two visas at once. He can certainly try, he just has to prove he's not coming to stay for good. He'll have to give the immigration official he sees at the airport good reason to believe that he is just visiting and will be returning to England. This can be done by bringing proof of employment, a copy of a lease and so on, showing he still has ties to the country and can't abandon it.

My husband is also British. He has been over twice since we began the process and he's never had any problems or even needed to show any of that stuff. It's still definitely recommended though just in case.

Thanks both of you, for taking the time to respond. Yeah, he won't be coming here for good right now, as he will leave his kids with his mother, so he'd have to go back for them anyway, plus his work and all that jazz. It's just been a long 7 months since we seen each other, I found a house that we both want to look at together and he's never been to America before. We thought it'd be nice if he seen it a bit before he moved over. Thanks again!!

Can my husband visit me here in the US at all during the K-3 visa process? We were unclear whether this is allowed or not. Thanks so much everyone!

Okay, thanks everyone for the info! I signed up at the USCIS for what I think you were all talking about, but it won't let me check status until I get a receipt number. I called USCIS and they won't tell me the receipt number, said to call back in 30 days if we don't get a receipt. So I guess we wait. We're too impatient I guess LOL Thanks everyone, wishing you all the best of luck in your respective journies!!

I've seen in other posts people looking up to find out if their packet has been touched. How/where do I go to see if ours has been? And also we were a bit unclear when my husband will get approval to move to the US, is it when the I-130 or I-129F is approved? Or when the whole thing is over? Thanks!

Good Luck, I hope your process is smooth and painless

Thanks guys! We are hoping and praying it's quick and without glitches too!

One thing we are foggy about, at what point will he have clearance to move to the US? At the end of everything? Or once the I-130 or I-129F is approved? Thanks!!

Hugs,

Julie

Michigan