MaegZ0322

He has an approved ESTA that he got in August in preparation of his trip. I had read about pre clearance from Dublin but his ticket is non stop from UK to here and he bought them back in May with an upgrade. Don't want to risk losing more money but wished we had known about the pros of flying out of Dublin before that. Our children don't know that he is coming because I don't want them to be upset.

I think I have read this entire thread but looking for clarification. My husband (UK Citizen) is looking to vist myself and 3 of our children for 2 weeks at the beginning of December. However, we are on the fence about him coming. We have been married nearly 22 years and I moved over with 3 of our children 7 months ago and filed our I-130. It will be 9 months since he has seen our children. It would be very expensive for 4 of us to fly there than for him to fly here. Our concern is his background. When we got married 22 years ago, he came over on the VWP. We got married while he was here and then applied for his green card right after. We were asked about our intentions at the field office and we did tell the truth that we knew we were getting married when he visited. We were rightfully told off but after being in the UK the last 17 years, we had to start over and after what we did last time, we knew we would apply through the required channels/applications. Thing is, we are a close knit family and it's really affecting our youngest to the point he has gone very quiet so this 2 weeks is really needed for him. He has every intention of returning back home. He has full time job and return ticket. As the house has just been inherited, he would only be able to bring his dad's will and death certificate. He will put the house up for sale in the new year and has work to do on the house before. He is also having our oldest son and his auntie over for Christmas day. He has household bills in his name. I know it will be down to border control if he is granted entry but with his background and no mortgage in his name be a big red flag and most likely be denied entry? If he is denied entry, would that make our I130 take longer or delay it? If our I-130 is at any risk of being delayed longer than it already takes then he won't risk it. So just looking for opinions. It will be a financial loss but would do what we have to do. Sorry this was so long.

Looks like they are with Texas service center.

Oh my! So happy for you guys!!!!! Congratulations! Make sure to keep coming back to update on your progress.

I don't know where you are flying to in the states but Norse Airlines have super cheap tickets. They are no frills but I got tickets for myself and my 3 children for £1400 one way. I chose the middle price option as it included a carry on, a checked bag, underseat bag, and a meal. We then added more checked baggage for a total of 10 checked bags and priortiy boarding. That was from Gatwick to New City. Our final destination was Pennsylvania. If you only have one checked bag, you can book a flight from NY to your destination but as we had 10 checked bags, that would have been way too expensive. So I bought 4 Amtrak tickets and with all our baggage was about $200USD. We did have to stay in a hotel $311USD but we did choose a 4* only becuase it was right across the street from the train station. I forgot to add, I paid for a private driver mini bus service to our hotel. That was about $240USD. All in, we paid about £2100 and it was an adventure! Our train journey was 8 hours but we loved it! If I were to divide that up between 4 people, that is £600 each. We paid for all this from selling things that we couldn't bring with us so not a penny came out of our bank account. We did stay the night at The Bloc Hotel right in the airport and got the rooms that had the runway views. That was out of our account but a great last night treat in the UK. It also meant, we were already at the airport, you only had to take the lift down to check your bags in and then security. The Bloc Hotel gives all passengers fast track security passes as well. My husband is flying over for a visit in Dec. and his round trip ticket with BA is about £1000. I'm sure there are some good deals out there but thought I would share what we did to save. Norse doesn't have the best reputation but we were 100% happy with the service but it just depends on where you are flying to.

Yeah, I put applying in the states for that, I just didn't put AOS. I also find it funny that they are prioritised to "keep families together" but they are together, they are living as husband and wife and already have a life built in the US and do work so why the need to prioritise them, I don't understand. Calling it "keeping families together" is not the right title. And that's why I said what I said. So many of us going through the same process and not being able to stay together is the hardest part. Thank you for the input about the VJ timeline. I thought that it was better so that is a bit of relief. Hoping to get approved in March then! That gives me hope and even if we don't, I know it will only be a few more months after that till we get approved. Thank you for your words of encouragement as well.

I had to move over here while my husband stayed back in the UK so we are consular applicants. I have put my details in on this website and every few weeks, I get an email with my estimated i130 timeline. When I applied back in March, it gave me an estimate of end of March for approval. Every update just gets longer and longer and now it says 30 May 2025. I know it’s an estimate but I can’t help but wonder why it’s getting longer. At the same time I see applicants apply from within the states getting very fast approvals and then there is Biden’s new ‘keeping families together’ scheme. Just seems the more posts you see like that the more my family is kept apart. I do understand that some need to take priority. I try not to sound bitter as I am genuinely happy for those who get approved quickly but being away from my husband and him away from our three children is heartbreaking. He is my life and my world. There are times we just want to throw in the towel and we are only 6 months in but then again, we are 6 months in, nearly halfway through the first big step. On the plus side, my children love it here and have settled in so well and my family is here and that keeps me going.

My timeline has been bouncing between 15 and 16 months since I last updated. My visa journey estimate from here though seems to be getting longer each time I get an update. It was originally end of March 2025 and it is now mid May 2025. Still well within the estimated time but just hard. I know many others have longer waits so I'm still thankful.

We stay at the Travelodge for embassy visits and get the breakfast option. We found a private parking space in a small gated garage for £20 last year. Was only a few minutes walk. Plus the ULEZ charge.

We looked at the best options out there to transfer our money safely and securely. Currencies Direct came out at the top. They don't always have the best rates but I know every single time I send money, it's going to get there. Their customer service is very good if needed. My mom signed up as well and for her first transfer, they gave her a better rate. I would say they are comparable rate wise with TransferWise but reading the reviews with transfer wise, we didn't feel secure enough to use them. You will have a bank fee on the recieving end unless your account is above a certain amount. My US bank charges $15. We have been using Currencies Direct for about 6 months now and very happy.

Did you apply with both of you in the states or is your spouse overseas? We can't see when you applied. Most in this topic have applied where there is one of the coupld overseas. What I'm saying is that your comment isn't very helpful without more information.

Mine is at 16 months again but I only applied in March 24 so I know I wont have any movement till March/April next year. I just feel if something is useless, either make it useful or just get rid of the non feature.

That’s a great analogy! I started this thread to show how much timelines jump around. For my family, we follow the government’s timeline and here on visa journey. That has changed slightly but well within the range and usually only a week or so difference. I like that timeline.

I do find it interesting too. Looking at the other timelines shared here, they are all over the place and some change more frequently than others. Then you have some timelines that don’t move at all. I would love to know what makes it change when it does and why? It’s the curiosity in me, lol.

USCIS MyProgress: March 18, 2024--2 Months April 12, 2024--2 Weeks April 15, 2024--3 Weeks April 22, 2024--2 Months May 3, 2024--16 months May 7, 2024--15 months June 19, 2024—16 months

I moved over to the stars a few months ago to get a job and sponsor my husband moving from the UK. I only earn about $30,000 but total household is 6. My plan was to be able to combine my income with my mums. That is the only way I will meet the requirements. She is retired and has a decent amount of savings. Her retirement is about 25,000 a year. What would be the best route to making sure we can meet the requirement in our situation? We do not have anyone else we can ask. We own half a house in the UK which will be sold one my husband gets approved. That will get us about 100,000 usd. scenario 1 is we go in as co sponsors to combine income. scenario 2 my mum fully sponsors him, meaning she would use her earnings and savings. Can’t remember if we would need 3x or 5x the difference so that would be $75,000 or 125,000? Or about there. She would meet either amount. I know I have asked questions before but I’m trying to be more specific. I don’t want to spend over a year away from my husband if our financial situation isn’t acceptable. Last time he came over, we used scenario 1 and that was accepted but that was 17 years ago.

Seeing there are lots questioning the USCIS website timeline and the times being all over the place, some long, some very short....I thought I would make this post to follow along with any updates on what I'm getting in 'myprogress' tab. The advice given here was that it currently takes about a year for the I130 process. I'm posting this in hopes that it will help others who were given very short timelines see that it's not always accurate. I have seen others say that sometimes they can be processed sooner but that doesn't seem to be the usual case. There's always hope though, right? Anyway, as I go along with my application, I will update my data here to keep it current until my I130 is completed. As you can see, my dates are all over the place. My visa journey website estimate for I130 March 9-28 2025 US citizen moved back from the UK to apply for the I130 online Married 21 years as of 2024 I-130 March 18, 2024 Application submitted online I-130 March 18, 2024 NOA1, PD USCIS MyProgress: March 18, 2024--2 Months April 12, 2024--2 Weeks April 15, 2024--3 Weeks April 22, 2024--2 Months