Darren&Laura

Tis a bit sucky that the 'new procedure' for getting the UK certificate has gone up to £35 though.

They sure know how to make their money.

The price has gone up, but on the plus side the waiting time has been reduced - I believe it is now 10 days rather than 40. The processing has now been moved to a national department rather than more locally, and the form required is now available from here: http://www.acpo.police.uk/certificates.asp

Please note this new service is only applicable to people wishing to relocate to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.

I applied for my police certificate from my local department just on the cusp of the changeover, but during my wait I was told that the local offices would not be accepting further applications and that I was one of the last that would have to wait up to 40 days and deal locally.

Reading that was shocking! I am really glad that you both walked away from the wreck with only minor injuries. Best of luck!

Good luck toshtishtash!!!

I still have a week to wait, and I'm nervous already!

I can't wait until I can book my flight - I intend on booking the next available flight after I get the visa in my hands! (Is there any restrictions on this - assuming I get the visa on Wednesday next week, is there anything to stop my from flying on the Friday?)

Don't worry! You'll do fine!

The only thing that would possibly restrict your ability to travel on the Friday would be availability of flights, or the cost (if thats an issue for you!)

Good luck next week!

Great, and for the best wishes for next week!

I'll obviously wait to book until I'm positive the visa is despatched, (just in case I have any of the delays above, or worse and aren't approved), but it's good to know there's no restrictions once I have the visa.. with two young babies to help care for I'm anxious to get back asap. Thankfully, Laura has had her mom staying with her to help since the day before I returned to the UK, but her mom has to leave on the 8th March, so I'm anxious to get back asap to avoid Laura having to cope on her own for more than is totally unavoidable.

Good luck to all the March interviewees!

Good luck toshtishtash!!!

I still have a week to wait, and I'm nervous already!

I can't wait until I can book my flight - I intend on booking the next available flight after I get the visa in my hands! (Is there any restrictions on this - assuming I get the visa on Wednesday next week, is there anything to stop my from flying on the Friday?)

Oh yeah I am not concerned about the visa pending medical results - am I able to return packet 3 if I don't arrange a medical yet though as there is space on the form thing to say I have booked it?

You could still return the packet 3 using the IV15 form as this part is encompassed by "Step Two" of the process in the introductory paragraphs of the instruction and Step 3 is the medical. While there is a check box for the medical in Step 2, I just ticked it anyway, even though I hadn't had the medical at that point, (granted in my case it was already scheduled, but I just took it as an acceptance that I agreed to have one). "Step three" is the medical examination itself, so I'm sure you can complete Step 2 and return the Packet 3 right away.

I want to get my medical/interview around the same date so I am going to book the med for I think mid-April... does that sound about right? And is it possible to change either the medical or interview or both so they are closer if I need to? I can't believe I still haven't done it but then I have been pretty busy

Choosing a date for the medical should be no problem whatsoever, I called the number in the Packet 3 to make my appointment while in the USA and they allowed me to choose my own date! I wouldn't change the interview date if I were you though as any rescheduled appointment could well be many weeks or even more later than the original date and you would have limited input as to when it would be. Rather if I was in your position, I'd just wait until I got the Packet 4 from the Embassy containing the interview date and then make the medical for the same day. This shouldn't be an issue with regard to delaying the visa being issued unduly, although it will not be released to you until after the medical results are sent to the Embassy and processed, (typically around 3-4 days).

I was told by the Embassy to allow 2-8 weeks, but my interview date is a month to the day, (11th Feb - 11th Mar), since my medical.

Got my Packet 4 this morning - please add me to the list. The interview is in London on 11th March at 9:00am.

It can't come soon enough!!

What about http://www.megatrains.com ? I just looked up a pretend journey from Leeds to London and it was on average £1-£5 per seat. You could go the day before, get a hotel in London, go back the next day.

Blimey, that is cheap.... to be honest, I'd not even considered going via bus before, but I definitely will now. (the return trip is only £3.50 on top too!)

Because everything will be hectic around that time I might just do one of the flight and hotel deals off lastminute.com or Expedia though - I've seen some for little over £100 including flights and decent accommodation. I'd expect the hotel alone would be around £70 of this, so I might pay the small premium for an hours flight rather than a five hour bus ride.

You've definitely giving me food for thought though, thanks for taking the time to reply... I'll definitely consider this option.

I most definitely WILL NOT be paying the rail prices though, that is extortionate.

I've just received my Packet 4 and my interview is in under two weeks so I'm looking for the best way to get to London in time for my 9am appointment.

The train would have been my first option, BUT they want £220 from Leeds to Kings Cross in Economy class!!!!!! Ridiculous!

As I could get a return FLIGHT from Leeds to London the day before and get a night in a hotel within walking distance of the US Embassy cheaper than this all inclusivel, (£217 for a four star hotel and return flight), I was wondering is anyone has any experience of any hotels in the area?

Why is the rail service in the country such a rip off at times? I booked a return trip to London for my medical a few weeks ago (about the same distance between booking and travelling, and it was £57 then, so why is it well over £200 this time round).

Environmental concerns aside, is it any wonder people are flying domestically in such a small country when the trains are so overpriced?

I got my Packet four today!!!!!!!!!

My interview is scheduled for 11th March at 9:00am.

FANTASTIC!!!

Thanks to all on Visa Journey that has provided me with not only assistance to my dumb questions, but a great sense of community and camaraderie during the many months since we decided to start this process. Knowing there are so many people on here feeling the same emotions as me during this whole process really has been a fabulous help.

I'll be back home with my love and my two girls very soon! I can't wait!

I'm almost sure this is nothing to worry about, but thought I'd ask just to make sure, plus I wanted to complete the gaps in my timeline and currently can't.

My fiance is the petitioner and US citizen, she received the NOA2 in November 2007 stating that the case was approved and being now handled by the NVC. It said that the NVC would take 2-4 weeks to process the case prior to sending the case on to the US Embassy in the UK.

Now I received the packet 3 instructions at the end of November from the US Embassy in the UK, so I guess the NVC sent the case on without delay, but my fiance never actually received a letter by mail from the NVC as the NOA2 suggests she should have. Is the case number the that the NVC will have generated same as the one on the Packet 3 from the UK Embassy, and if not, will I ever actually be required to give this or can I just forget about it?

Thanks for reading.

Darren

As of today, I'm still waiting to hear from the UK Embassy with an interview date, (hopefully this will come soon - I posted the Packet 3 back on the 8th Feb, and had my medical a few days after). I'm missing my babies and fiance enormously and can't wait to get back home!

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the "expert" designation being given to lawyers. I've read more instances of an immigration lawyer screwing up the process with disastrous results than I have the USC doing so by filing him/herself.

Was thinking the very same thing myself as I replied earlier to this thread!

I would never recommend a lawyer as the first port of call in applying for a K1 visa. Sure, some people may have problems in their past, whether civil or criminal, that would perhaps dictate that legal advice is perhaps necessary, but for that vast majority of us a lawyer would be an expensive waste of time and a needless extra link in the chain.

When myself and my partner were initially discussing applying for a K1, we mistakenly thought that a lawyer might be able to pull strings unavailable to us to speed the process up. A quick scan of the web showed that this wasn't the case and so long as we were thorough in our application there was no need to hire a lawyer.

Then we found Visa Journey and the fabulous community of people on here and any remaining thoughts of hiring a lawyer were forgotten.

I'd rather take advice from people that have gone through the process and solved their own issues than someone with a law book.

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on good immigration lawyers based in the UK (preferably in London) who specialise in fiance or spouse visas to the USA.

Weighing up which visa is the best to apply for, work complications and other things seems to be a bit of a minefield and it would be good to sit down and speak to an expert. I have tried seeing if there are any fee helplines and came up blank and phoned one law firm picked from google who sounded competent but as they wanted to charge £300 for a consultation (and not actually processing anything), wanted to make sure that if it really does cost this much to get good legal advice I go to a receommended law firm.

Many Thanks

This site has everything we needed to ensure our application was approved without any problems or delays without the need for a lawyer. We were as daunted as you when we started but reading the guides on this site should start to clear the minefield for you. Specifically, if you are and your significant other are unmarried and legally free to marry each other, then look at the K1 guide on this site here : http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1guide It proved invaluable to us in our application and I hope it will for you too.

If you are unsure about what visa you need and require, please ask specific questions in the forums as there are some really friendly and knowledgeable people on here that will strive to assist you - for free! Ensuring things are done properly and thoroughly isn't anywhere near as hard as you think - most of the time is spent waiting!

Best of luck!

We started the K1 process in August while I was on a trip to the USA, and I visited the USA again for a further three months after I had received the NOA1. I got my NOA2 the same day I flew to the USA and returned to the UK a few days before my scheduled medical in London.

I had little problems getting in to the USA - I flew direct from Heathrow to Colorado, (after flying down from Manchester), and was just questioned at the standard desk for five minutes. I told the person questioning me that we had filed a K1 and that we were willing to go through the due process before I stayed permanently and that I would definitely be flying back in February to the UK. (Granted I told her that my fiancé was due to give birth during my stay and this may have swayed her a little.) She told me to ensure I did not marry while in the USA as this would lead to me being banned, (obviously I had no intention of doing so), and let me through with no further problems, (which I was grateful for after travelling for upwards of 20 hours).

Wow that is amazing!!

I'm stuck back in the UK now awaiting the US Embassy to contact me. Everything is ready and I've had the medical, so fingers crossed.

Best of luck to you both.

Thank you guys!

I just had my ultrasound.. it's a Boy!

Congratulations!!!

We had twins recently, but things were simpler from the visa point of view as it was the petitioner that was pregnant during the K1 process. I hope your family is together long before the birth as it broke my heart having to leave my twins and fiance and have to return to the UK. I'm had my medical now and am just awaiting the Embassy to contact me with an interview date. I don't think I haven't watched the postman with anticipation a single morning since I returned my Packet 3! Hopefully I'll be home soon.

Thankfully, my partners mother has flown up from Arizona to assist Laura during my absence. I just hope I'm not gone long.

Darren.

You can also get US $ (and UK £) changed at the Post Office, they don't charge a fee either.

The Post Office don't charge a fee but their exchange rate is naff so they cream excessive profit from you there. I exchanged some money last week and got an exchange from £ to $ of 1.942 from my bank, (First Direct). At the same time the post office was offering 1.885. That's nearly an extra $60 just per £1000 that I received by NOT using the Post Office, (I think the quoted middle rate was 1.952 at the time, but obviously NO-ONE can buy at this rate.)

If you are transferring large amounts, the best place I've found is www.xe.com.... they offer an exchange rate as close to the middle rate that I've found. Just beware of receiver charges at the other end. It takes about a week to get an account set up but if you have proceeds from the sale of your UK property or any other fairly large amount of money to transfer to USD then it's well worth the hassle. I saved literally thousands over what all the high street banks were offering at the time.

All the best,

Darren.

Had my medical at Bentnick Street on Monday after flying back to the UK on Thrusday last week after spending the past three months with my fiancé in the USA.

I caught the train from Leeds to Kings Cross, (cost £57 return), then bought a Tube day pass, (£5.60 I think). I caught the tube over to Bond Street and walked up to the surgery. I was over an hour early so bought a newspaper and sat with a glass of lemonade in the pub just across the road from the surgery and relaxed. The medical itself was a snip - I had the chest XRay, my height and weight confirmed, my blood pressure taken, and then a brief examination of my body and dangly bits. The doctor then handed me over to a nurse who gave me an MMR jab, but I didn't require the tetanus as I had one in the USA last month when I had to have some stitches after slipping and cutting my foot. I then had to give a blood sample and everything was done to my surprise already.

The medical cost £205 including the MMR jab and they promised my results would be at the Embassy by thursday, (tomorrow).

My appointment was at 2:10pm and I left there just after 3pm, so as my train back north wasn't until 7pm I decided to make use of my tube day pass and went sightseeing.

All in all, it was a pleasant day out in London and the medical was nothing at all to be nervous about. I hope this allays some fears.

Hopefully my Embassy appointment will be scheduled shortly and I can get back home to the USA to be with my future wife and our two gorgeous baby twin girls, (born December 2007 during my last three month trip.)

Darren.

We got our NOA2 !

Oh wow, that was FAST! Congrats!!!

Thanks for the congrats!! 76 days from sending in the I-129F until the NOA2.... despite it taking ages before the NOA1 is a great result.

We got our NOA2 !

Many thanks guys.

Hi,

I am currently the Managing Director of a business here in the UK and was planning to resign my directorship and appoint a current non-director as MD once my K1 approval is imminent and leave the business.

However, this presents a problem as the current Company Secretary can no longer operate in this capacity and so my colleague who I intended to become MD is now going to take this directoral role meaning I need to remain MD.

Will this pose a problem once I emmigrate? Can I remain the director of a UK based company once I move to the USA, (even if I draw no income)?

Thanks.

Just wanted to let you know of our "progress".

We sent the I-129F to the NSC on 11th Aug while I was in the USA with Laura, it received and signed for on 13th Aug. Laura was told upon calling after six weeks without hearing anything that the Nebraska Service Center has a big back log and so our application was re-sent from there to the California Service Center for processing whereupon it could take up to 90 days for the NOA1 thereafter to be processed. We were told not to call again until 90 days had passed. California has informed us they are currently processing MARCH applications, but less than a week later our cheque was cashed, (27th Sept). Finally we feel as if the ball has started rolling.

I've just updated my signature below with this years developments.

Cheers,

Darren.