Sm4598

I also got that email. By confirm “your appointment date and time,” I’m almost positive they mean “click here to make sure you know your appointment date and time.”

As in, go to their website to confirm the date and time of your appointment so that you arrive at the right time. 

The link just takes you to the website. It’s not like a “check in” situation. 

4 hours ago, Shal_Ohol said:

My interview is scheduled  for 8th March, haven't had any email yet but I will be sure to keep an eye on it. It's a shame they're moving appointments though. 

We’re scheduled for March 8 as well. Hopefully they’re not just cancelling appointments on a rolling basis. Makes me worried for next week if so. 

17 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

Does the certificate say “No Trace” or “No Live Trace”?

The certificate says No Trace. As I said, he doesn’t have a criminal record. 

3 hours ago, corntop said:

That's a very long delay, was it lost in the post at the time and then re-requested? My ACRO was created on 26/03/20 and printed on 31/03/20.  *Just seen Boiler's post after typing this, are you typing dates in US or UK format? 😅

 

I would take a guess (but I don't know for sure) that "date of creation" is the valid date since its at the top, as the certificate itself is only really valid until the day your history is checked (i.e. you could commit crime the month after and it wouldn't show I assume)

 

According to this blurb on the ACRO website, you can request additional copies up to 3 months after it was first printed, which I think could mean "date printed" can vary but the "date of creation" would stay the same?

 

 

 

Nope, three months apart. The dates are written in UK format on the police certificates, I just converted them into US for the post because that’s the way my American brain works. 

No idea why it happened that way. Our guess is that it was when COVID was kicking off in the UK and that caused delays, because my husband doesn’t have a criminal record or complicated residential history. 

Ah well. If it’s the date created that matters, looks like we’ll be submitting another application tonight and crossing our fingers that it arrives in time for the appointment. 

56 minutes ago, Jamie B said:

I had my medical last Thursday & my ACRO was issued 8 months ago and this was the rough process (appointment lasted 90 mins). Arrival, hand over required documents (all detailed in email when you book appt), complete medical form, photo taken in reception area, provide urine sample, waiting room, chest x-ray with doctor, waiting room, vaccinations with nurse (flu and MMR for me), waiting room, 2nd doctor to review medical history, basic medical Q&A,  height, weight, physical exam, blood sample. Passport returned at end and pay at reception. Provided me with vaccination certificates etc & informed if any issues identified by test results I'll be notified by phone in next few days for follow up, otherwise everything will be passed onto Embassy ahead of my 1st March interview. All very organised & professional in the visa medical venue itself. I had the same concern with the ACRO for interview so ordered a new one as a backup in case it's requested, which should arrive next week Won't submit to NVC unless requested at interview.

Thanks so much for this response! Can I ask how long the estimated wait between requesting the new certificate and receiving it was for you? We have our interview in two weeks and aren’t sure if there will be enough time (kicking myself for just noticing now). 

1 hour ago, KathB said:

Oh gosh, that is a weird one having the two dates three months apart. I just checked mine, and it was created and printed 7 days apart, back in March 2020. I honestly can't work out which date they would use either - but I really hope someone here can give you an answer. Might it be worth applying for another police cert now, just in case you need it? I think, from memory, mine took a couple of weeks from my application to it being delivered.

 

My friend is getting his US visa through Hong Kong now, and his HK police cert was out of date by the time he finally had his interview last week. They approved his visa at the interview, but won't issue it until he supplies a new, in date police cert which he is sorting out now.

 

And I saw that same 6 month validity on the US embassy webiste, but it's defo valid for 12 months. I had my interview in London in Janaury 2021, and my March 2020 police cert was accepted.

 

 

Thank you! We’re guessing that COVID kicking off in February 2020 had something to do with the delay between requesting it and receiving it? He doesn’t have a criminal record, so there wouldn’t have been much to organize on their end. I’ve posted in the general UK forum so hopefully someone there will have an answer. 

Hi all! My husband has his visa interview on March 8. We know police certificates are valid for 12 months, but the ACRO certificate includes two different dates. 

Date of Creation: 2/10/2020

Date Printed: 5/10/2020

Bizarrely, these dates are three months apart. We obviously didn’t receive the certificate until after 5/2020. My memory is hazy from that time, but I’m guessing COVID in February 2020 had something to do with the delay.

Does the certificate’s 12-month validity start from the creation date or the printed date? I’ve looked everywhere online and can’t find an answer, other than it’s valid from 12 months from “issuance.”

Our interview is in 2 weeks so we’re really panicking about whether or not to order a new certificate today in hopes that it will arrive by March 8. Can anyone give any clarity on this? 

Thanks so much. 

2 hours ago, Charlie87 said:

I’m sure that the 6 month rule applies to your NVC submission. Otherwise all documents will be out of date.

So what I’m reading from is this: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/medical-examination/

“At the time you attend the medical examination, you will be required to provide the following:

• For applicants aged 16 and over, a UK police certificate (known as an ACRO) issued within the past 6 months”

Could that be out of date somehow? They also ask for 4 photographs and the receptionist at the medical screening place said that they just take photographs there now and to disregard the advice to bring 4 photos. So idk. 

Hi, bit of a panic here. 

The ACRO police certificates list “date of creation” and “date printed.” Which is the date used to calculate the beginning of the valid period for the police certificate? I know they’re only valid for 12 months, but the “creation” and “printed” dates are three months apart.

The first one is 2/2020 and the second is 5/2020, so ours would be valid for our 3/2021 interview only if the second date is the start of the validity.

Also, weirdly, the US Embassy site for the UK states that the ACRO certificate needs to be issued within the past *six months*, even though the actual visa requirements state that they’re valid for 12 months.

We’ve been waiting for an appointment for five months and the police certificate took three months to arrive after requested (as evidenced by the three month gap between the dates above), so how on earth could anyone’s be issued six months before their medical? 

8 minutes ago, more00 said:

Ooh okay what about she stay in US and I live in Ghana if they ask me what do I tell them

I’m confused. You’re applying for a visa to enter the US but you don’t plan on entering the US?

Or you are sponsoring your partner for a visa but you don’t plan on living together in the US after the visa is granted? 
 

The second situation would be a massive red flag to immigration and not strictly legal, as the whole idea of the visa is that you’re both the financial sponsor AND the visa is needed so that two family members/partners can be physically together. You also need to prove US domicile to be the sponsor for visa, which means you need to affirm and prove that the US is your primary residence. Generally, your partner won’t be granted a visa if you don’t intend to live in the US. 
 

The visa is valid for six months from the medical screening. Do you mean what should you say if they ask why you won’t be immediately flying over? Because in that case I would say whatever the real reason is. 

9 minutes ago, txdoc said:

Hello guys!

 

I have a quick question. Wife’s interview is scheduled for March 23rd. Her passport is expiring in June 2021. As per the interview instructions, passport needs to have validity beyond 6 months. She’s about to register for her medical. Should she also go ahead and get the passport renewed? can she use the current passport for the medical? A renewal passport takes 3 weeks, it should be here before the interview. What do y’all think? 

So if you send her passport away to get renewed, presumably you won’t have it at her medical appointment unless the medical is scheduled for right before the interview, which would be cutting it close for other reasons.

I would imagine that a currently valid passport would be okay for the medical (they’re doctors filling out forms, not immigration officials) but I would call to confirm your situation.

Also, it’s good to realize that 3 weeks is an estimate and that you need to build in time for delays. 
 

Can I ask why you’ve waited this long to renew? Don’t mean that to be judgmental, just curious. 

Thanks for your response!! @Wuozopo

To be clear, my 2019 income was sufficient. I didn’t take any deductions. That $1 income is an error based on the fact that the IRS incorrectly categorized me as a non-filer with no income for 2019. It’s not based on any tax return I filed. It’s just a mistake on their part which won’t be officially corrected until they process my real tax return.

I have an incorrect transcript because the IRS does actually generate a transcript for for people who report no income, with a placeholder income of $1. No idea why, but that’s what they’ve told me. When I request a transcript, I get that transcript with the reported $1.

They know about the mistake, but can’t get me a correct transcript until they process my actual return. The IRS confirmed that when my return is amended, we will actually get an amended transcript.

I have the correct return that I filed, which shows my real income and is supported by my 1099s, etc. Plus a letter of explanation, bank statements showing income, past tax transcripts, a letter from one client affirming our ongoing relationship, etc. 

As I noted in my original post, I can’t file my 2020 taxes because that pending 2019 return also included an ITIN application for my UK husband. Because it hasn’t been processed, he still doesn’t have an ITIN. Which means I can’t e-file as married/joint or married/separate, because that requires either an ITIN or an SSN for the foreign spouse. And I obviously can’t file as single lol. 

Normally when a spouse doesn’t have an ITIN/SSN but you need to file, you just include the ITIN application with your paper return. Which is what we did last year. BUT the IRS has said that because we have an ITIN application for him currently pending, we can’t submit a second ITIN application. Which means we can’t e-file OR paper file until the 2019 is processed…….or he gets a green card and SSN. 

It’s utterly bananas. 

7 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Why did you correct your 2019 return? Was your income sufficient as shown?

2000 returns are not expected to be filed and presented at this time so you’re good with a 2019 return +plus W2 or 1099 income statement. Or a 2019 transcript. The issue some have experienced is the officer saying they could not see the W2 and it had to be uploaded again. You might want to upload a 2019 W2 the day before your interview.

My income was sufficient in reality, but not as shown in my currently available 2019 tax transcript. 

The issue was that I filed a paper 2019 return in May 2020 (with extension). Obviously with COVID, the IRS ground to a halt and they estimated it would take 3-4 months to get that processed (the woman on the phone literally said paper tax returns were sitting in piles in a warehouse). Meanwhile, because I used a tax preparation company to file my 2019 taxes, I had to submit my information online to get the first stimulus payment.

By submitting my info online, the IRS system incorrectly marked me as non-filer for 2019. Even though I had already submitted my 2019 tax return. So the 2019 tax transcript I can access online has my 2019 income as $1. My actual return has still not been processed. I got the IRS on the phone and they said it would now be processed as an amended return, adding even more processing time. 

To further complicate stuff, I’m a contractor and so only have 1099 income, not W2. I have plenty of evidence of my income, but no accepted 2019 tax return that lists my actual income. Just the one that says I made $1 in 2019 🙄

11 hours ago, R1CH1991 said:

Well done everyone just getting your interview dates. I love reading people’s updates and partly the reason I restarted the thread after the original was closed.

My wife and I had our case in London December 1st and immigrated December 16th.

 

I’ve now got my drivers licence and SS card and started my first week working in admin for the Sheriffs office. Life is good!  

Amazing! So glad things have worked out for you two

Could I ask you a quick question? When you had your interview, did they ask you for financial documents?

The travel.state.gov actually says “you do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to the NVC,” and we have a slightly weird tax return situation that’s been giving me major stress, just in case they bring it up at the interview and it delays things. 

Did they ask to see your financial stuff/proof of income? (We’re going to bring everything of course, but just trying to figure out how worried I should be)

Absolutely file as soon as possible. There is a MASSIVE backlog due to the embassy shutting down for months for COVID, and things have slowed yet again with the lockdown. We first applied 13 months ago and have our interview next month. People applying now will likely face an even longer wait with the backlog and reduced processing power. 

You can always wait to submit your docs to the NVC at that stage. Also, the visa is good for 6 months from issuance. So worst case scenario, you get the visa and then stick around the UK for another six months (though I would enter the US sometime during that time just in case). 

Also, I’m from MA with a UK husband too! Maybe we’ll see you around!

Hi all! We have our interview on March 8 and just noticed that the travel.state.gov site includes the following in their instructions for interview preparation:

“Every visa applicant, no matter their age, must bring certain documents to the interview, including photographs, the original or certified copy version of all civil documents submitted to NVC. You do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC.”

My husband (UK citizen) and I are in an annoying situation where the IRS has STILL not processed my corrected 2019 tax return, and we can’t file my 2020 taxes before he gets a SSN/ITIN. Given that our interview is three weeks, there’s no way the IRS would be able to process my tax return by then, even if we could somehow conjure an ITIN for him out of thin air today (we’ve applied).

I provided the NVC with three years of prior tax returns and a letter explaining the situation, and everything was accepted obviously but we’re still nervous about it being an issue last minute. 

My question is: did the officer at your interview ask for any financial documents/proof of income despite the above instructions? We’ll obviously be bringing EVERYTHING, but just trying to figure out how stressed I should be regarding our weird tax return situation coming up at the interview. If you make it to the interview and the NVC accepts your docs, does that mean the financial bit is basically sorted?

3 minutes ago, Shal_Ohol said:

 

Where are you trying to register?  

The instructions they link to in the email say to register a delivery address for your passport’s return with the embassy’s online service. I created an account, but registering the appointment doesn’t seem to be working (yet?)

Anyone else seeing  “The Immigrant Visa case number provided is not ready to schedule an appointment” when they try to register on the appointment service site?

We DQ’d on October 21 and weren’t in the last batch of appointments. Hoping for this round. Just posting to give people a better sense of where certain dates are in the queue. (Sorry for any notifications that make people think someone’s gotten their date!)

38 minutes ago, D_Squared said:

First off, I'd like to thank everyone here for sharing their stories. It's been a huge psychological burden lifted off my shoulders knowing things are progressing along with everyone's applications.

 

I'm wondering if anyone here has informaiton on if the London Embassy will remain open and continue to process CR1 visa's once London goes under Tier 3 lockdown? 

 

News announced today -  https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/dec/14/brexit-covid-coronavirus-boris-johnson-uk-news-live-updates

 

Thanks! 

I mean, with the news being so recent and the embassy being such a closed box, I feel like concrete information isn’t likely on the forum. 

The embassy did release a short statement right after the last tier change saying that they’d continue to process “mission critical” visas, so I think the best we can hope for is that they release a similar statement soon. 

It’s actually crazy that they don’t give any kind of current estimated waiting time.

Like, why not do what the NVC does and say which dates are currently being reviewed? Or at least give some sort of updated wait time once per month.

What harm could that possibly do??? Especially if they included some language like “we won’t respond to wait time queries sent before X date” so they’re not flooded with emails if someone is a day past their estimated wait period. 

Honestly, this process if far more opaque than it needs to be. 

@dwheels76

Is there possibly any way to mark expedited cases on your wonderful DQ to Interview spreadsheet?

I feel like the information there isn’t super representative when you see cases getting interviews 6 to 30 days after DQ but have no way to tell whether those were expedited or not. Like, it’s hard to actually use the spreadsheet to track the pace of things in your country when you can’t tell what’s a “normal” case and what’s expedited.