LHK

Don't worry about missing the 13:00 time. I didn't have my medical until 11:30 and wasn't able to get to the embassy until 13:45. It was no issue, just as long as you have the pink form from the medical, you'll be allowed in. As I was leaving, someone else who was at the medical was arriving and that was gone 14:00! Get there as soon as you can, but don't panic over it, the embassy was very relaxed.

I'm going through London Embassy too. If it helps, I was DQ'd on 16 April and received my interview date confirmation on 23 April. The actual interview at the embassy is set for 16 June. Also, a heads up regarding a change to the process in London, so you can prepare - you'll get notification of this once you have booked your medical appointment. You now have your medical, then immediately head over to the embassy for fingerprinting and a review of all your documents. You then go back two weeks later for your interview.

Update: I just wanted to wrap this up, in case others may find it useful. I can confirm we've signed a lease on the house we mentioned above. The private landlord asked us to complete the application process using Zillow as they prefer to use that to draw up contracts and handle payments. I was able to complete this application process without any issue and surprisingly (at least to me, anyway), I had no issue passing a US credit check. We signed the lease documents at the weekend. We were very lucky in that we had that introduction and my wife's family knew the family renting the house. In our case, it worked out just perfect. Now we just have the medical on 2 June and my embassy interview on 16 June and we can move to America! Eeeeek!

Of course, I just didn't want to get the cart before the horse, so to speak. But regardless of our outcome, it may help others. We were fortunate enough to learn of a house up for private rental through a member of my fathers-in-law local church. The personal connection meant we could get an introduction from someone they trusted and the opportunity to then have a conversation with the landlord before formally applying. What I also learned last night was that I could pass a US credit check. I was not aware this would be possible but in doing so, it meant I passed the credit check during filling out of Zillow's application process for the house in question. Having spoken some bit with the landlord, I came to realise that private landlords like services provided by Zillow because they handle all the contract drawing up, and also the payment element as well. We're still awaiting an outcome from our application but at least we know that should we need to, we have 30-days to also use the results of our application with any other letting on Zillow where offered by a private landlord.

Thank you for your feedback, everyone, it is really appreciated. We're digesting it and having a good look around. Also exploring a couple of options that have opened up. I believe we could get family assistance but we're keen to avoid this unless absolutely necessary. Turns out I can pass a credit check and considering I don't have a US income, have a surprisingly good credit rating. Go figure! Thank you once again everyone.

Thanks for the feedback. The issue is more that she can't meet the 3x monthly rent minimum for the houses we are looking at without my income as well. Which understandably won't count if I am not eligible. Quite the conundrum. My salary can comfortably meet that requirement, but it is of course British. And while I will likely continue my UK job working remotely to begin with, I'm not sure if I could use any of it if I can't be on the lease. Presumably others have met this requirement by doing exactly as you said -- just applying themselves, but I guess I was hoping there may be alternatives that I hadn't considered that meant both our income could be considered.

My wife (US Citizen) has to leave the UK on 24 June, otherwise she risks overstaying on her UK visa. She has a job offer as part of a transfer within her employer's wider group, so we can provide income now, and the job offer to support a house lease application. I'm a UK Citizen, following the consular processing route and have my visa interview on 16 June. I plan to continue working for my current employer, at least initially. We plan to arrive in the US on July 1, and understandably would like to secure a lease on a home ahead of arriving, so we're not having to stay with family. Combined, we meet the income threshold, but my wife does not if we exclude my income. And therein lies the issue. We were just refused on our house rental application because I couldn't meet the visa requirements. I understand their decision as it must be fair and applied the same to everyone, but it's frustrating as I could have provided them proof of my visa once stamped in my passport well before we collected the keys. How did everyone else navigate this? From what I understand, they require proof of my valid visa issuance, including my I-94 and Social Security Card. They said I had to meet the ID requirements of the I-9 form. All of these I could provide in future, but clearly will not be able to provide them for at least a few weeks after arrival. We can stay with family initially, but I feel that opens up other issues. Both in terms of privacy, and we wouldn't have anywhere to work, as we will both be working remote roles. There's also the concern that my wife starting her new job, and me finding and starting one for a US employer would then mean we haven't been working for our new employers for long enough to qualify.

NVC seems to be speeding along following our I-130 approval. I've already received the Case Creation email with our access details for CEAC, and I submitted both payments this morning. It is honestly such a relief that we now have more frequent updates and much shorter waits. Hopefully that continues through to interview and getting our passport back!

LOL. 7 months! Lawfully still hasn't updated. Glad looking at that app and waiting is now behind me. But of course, sudden realisation that the NVC stage is now up! Exciting though!

Finally made it! We got our approval today! PD 11 December 2023. Approved 24 March 2025. Texas Service Center. I cannot even express in words how relieved we are! Hang in there December filers, yours is right around the corner! P.S. For what it's worth, I got an email to say an action had been taken, but Lawfully still hasn't updated. It currently suggests I'm 143rd in a queue of 332 awaiting a case decision. I signed into USCIS and sure enough, in the Documents tab is my approval document (dated today).

PD 11 Dec 2023 here. Hoping we get an answer in the next month or so as I see they are on Nov 2023 filings now. Crazy to think the wait was typically 11 months when we filed. Looking more like 15.5-16.0 months at this point. Utterly crazy, but will be glad when it's done and we can move onto the next step.