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cheekyerica

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Posts posted by cheekyerica

    POE what do we do?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    I hope I'm posting this in the right place :blush: I've read some different threads but I've just come away more confused than before. My husband and I will be flying into Newark next month :dance: So I'm the USC he's the UKC (with the special packet and x-ray CD he's supposed to have). He'll be entering on an IR-1. Can we stand in line together? In the same line? Or will he (or I have to stand in a separate line?) Do they make any of this clear at the airport?

    If I stand in a separate line/same line and they need to hold onto him for a while can I go and collect our luggage rather than leaving it to wander over and over around the baggage carousels?

    I'm curious about what to expect and what to do since directly after he clears we have to go pick up the cats from cargo etc.

    Anybody else filed in London?

    in United Kingdom

    Posted

    Thanks for the replies :)

    Wow cheekyerica, that process went quite quick! I was expecting it to take longer than that. Did you get the I-864 ready before you got the NOA2? My father in law will be filling one in and i expect it will take a couple of weeks to get done so i was thinking to do it once i know theyre processing ones received about now (sent it yesterday and it arrived this morning).

    Also, can anybody please enlighten me as to what DCF means? :bonk:

    DCF = Direct Consular Filing ;)

    Yes, in total our whole process from beginning to yesterday's interview took 5.6 months.

    I had a co-sponsor on "stand-by". (becauseI don't earn enough & wasn't certain they'd consider just my husband's money (*our house sold in October & the money from the sale was put in an account in his name only* ) but we didn't end up needing the co-sponsor.

    I did have the would-be co-sponsor fill out the I-864 in February so that we'd be ready to roll forward in case the process went faster than expected after the medical. Better to be safe than sorry and he emailed me pdfs of his most recent pay stubs so that I could take them with us with his I-864 (that we didn't end up using LOL)

    We didn't get the case # until mid March, and we made the medical appt for the following week.

    I filled out my I-864 the week before the interview.

    Hope that helps a little?

    Anybody else filed in London?

    in United Kingdom

    Posted

    So has anybody filed for visas at the Embassy in London?

    How smooth was the process or where are you in your journey?

    I would be good to talk with people who have done in through an Embassy :)

    I sent my I-130 to them today!

    Ours was ok for the most part.

    Like it's been said previously the worst part of it all is the paperwork & the waiting! :bonk: of course that probably would have been easier to deal with it I were a patient person....but I'm not. I want it, and I want it yesterday! LOL.

    My husband(UKC) and I (USC) started the DCF through London -- November 9th.

    We went for our interview at the London embassy yesterday and were approved -- May 9th.

    If you have specific questions please ask (although I don't guarantee any satisfying answers....only what I can remember from the process!)

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    Hum ok that is great, did they ask you for pics? if yes, how many you gave them?

    What other evidence did you show them as bonafide relationship

    We'd brought 4 photos with us (long story, don't ask) but she *the Famous Dragonlady of the London Consulate* only wanted one. She had My husband print his name on the back of it.

    Re: Bona Fide Relationship:

    We didn't show any evidence other than our marriage certificate (although we've been married for 5 years (almost 6 now). But when I first filed the I-130 I sent them copies for my packet with myUK IRL visa inside).

    At the embassy I did offer to show some joint bills and our joint bank account statements but the woman wasn't at all interested. She only wanted our forms, ID, and the all-important-I-864. She took my 2011 tax return, gave me the others back and took the bank statements from our savings account (*the one with the money from the sale of our house in October*) and seemed pleased with those. She hole punched them and said we wouldn't be getting those back, which was fine with us.

    To be honest she (the woman who took all our stuff) was much scarier than the actual guy interviewing us. :hehe:

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted

    Congratulations, i am so happy for you. How was it? you wanna share that experience with us?

    Thanks! :)

    Overall it wasn't as bad as we were expecting--it took much, much less time at the embassy than we'd expected. There were a few little snags (like I forgot a spare copy of the DS-230 (just in case) and some photo copy issues, but overall the people at the consulate were nice enough and not at all difficult. The only person we had an issue with was our initial person because she spoke softly and the consulate was pretty noisy!

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    Visa Approved!!! :dance: It is just pending medical results which the London embassy seem to have miss-placed, hoping it'll all be sorted by end of week though as the medical centre are also sending another copy of them to the embassy.

    Thanks Erica

    Thanks to everyone on here, Visa Journey has been so much help through this process.

    Congrats to everyone who has been approved and good luck to everyone who has interviews coming up!

    Yay! Congrats Peter! :dance:

    I'm sure the embassy/ med will come through with your results--they obviously have them(and they were good to go) or else you'd not have gotten the interview, right? :)

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted

    Ya know, I thought I remembered reading that somewhere but I went to there profile and it wasn't updated yet. Congrats dimples!! And good luck to everyone with interviews coming up!

    Amanda&Elvio: April 30 (APPROVED!)

    ayomide1: May 2

    dimples: May 3 (APPROVED!)

    DanHill13: May 4 (APPROVED!)

    StephanieM: May 4 (APPROVED!)

    Matt & Rocio: May 7

    Peter D: May 8

    cheekyerica: May 9

    Divs: May 9

    July15: May 9

    BerryNRocco: May 10

    Peaksy: May 11

    trojam227: May 15

    Alaska2012: May 16

    RiaB: May 17

    nica: May 21

    Amrita&Terry: May 21

    Trav&Shell: May 22

    Chrissy&Mark: May 22

    diani0626: May 23

    GoingCrazy2012: May 30

    mrsbinns: May 30

    COngratulations everyone!!!

    And here's wishing Good Luck all of you (like us) who're waiting!! :)

    My nerves are totally shot!

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted

    Most of what I've read suggests you'll get it back within 3-4 days, but I would give yourself at *least* two full weeks.

    If you can, see if you can find tickets that are cheap to exchange so that if something goes wrong (if they need some additional piece of paperwork at the embassy and that delays things), you don't feel as frantic.

    Ultimately, though, you have to figure that buying a plane ticket now and being forced to exchange it for a fee may be cheaper than buying a plane ticket at the last minute!

    I was thinking of booking tickets for the week of June 11th (so that's 4 weeks after the interview) does that sound reasonable inso far as leaving time? Or would I be better off making it the week after (the week starting the 18th)?

    And you're totally correct about the tickets--I priced them earlier last month and in the time since--for the same range of travel rates they've gone up by another 200gbp :(

    May 2012 Interviews

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports

    Posted

    My husband's interview at the London Embassy is May 9th...

    If he's approved (hope so!) how long *maximum* do you think it will take to get his passport (with the visa and the "brown envelope" of forms) back from the embassy in London?

    I'm trying to book our tickets to the US (and book space for cats) and I don't want to risk scheduling them too soon (but if I wait much longer the prices are going to hike through the roof!)

    Ideas?

    I'm so stressed!!!:bonk:

    How long from Visa interview to Visa delivered? (London DCF)

    in United Kingdom

    Posted

    Anyone know what forms of ID you need to present at the Embassy to get in? (It is very likely that my passport will be in processing at that time and not in my possession...which leaves me with my NY drivers license and a birth certificate as the only forms of id I have.)

    Just in case anyone else needs to know, I just got off the phone with the embassy in London (that expensive number) and was told that my NY Drivers license would be acceptable as it is 1) photographic id, and 2) current and not expired.

    So fingers crossed they'll still say that when I get there with my husband! :thumbs:

    How long from Visa interview to Visa delivered? (London DCF)

    in United Kingdom

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    Hope you all don't mind me asking and picking brains here!

    I'm trying to find out (at least on the average) for folks who filed DCF at London, how long it took from the date of your interview to get your Visa (back, in your passport/delivered to you). Not sure if it makes a difference but we're filing an IR-1.

    My OH and I are trying to figure out a timeline (we need to book our plane tickets, and space for the cats, as well as figuring out if I'll have time to renew my US passport before then, or if we would be better off trying to make it back ot the US before it expires on Jun 8th.) or if we're just better off trying to renew my passport now and leave later like the 20th of June.

    Anyone know what forms of ID you need to present at the Embassy to get in? (It is very likely that my passport will be in processing at that time and not in my possession...which leaves me with my NY drivers license and a birth certificate as the only forms of id I have.)

    I just wish I'd realized I needed to renew it sooner................:bonk:

    HELP! Waiting for interview UK embassy

    in United Kingdom

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    Not sure about how it's working out time-wise for other folks, but we had our medical on the 21st, and today (the 30th) we got the letter with the interview date in it. (which is in the 2nd week of May).

    *btw we mailed our DS 2001/ 230s on the 16th of March*

    Re-establishing USA Domicile?

    in Direct Consular Filing (DCF) General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by cheekyerica

    We're in the process of filing our DCF with the London Embassy.

    They've accepted our petition (and are processing it.) and I've been reading over the forms that we'll need to send in for the next round of paperwork etc. but the thing that I can't seem to take care of is the part where it says I (as the USC) need to prove my intent to re-establish USA Domicile...

    Does anyone have any suggestions on methods I can use to do that?

    What I don't have:

    • I don't (currently) have any bank accounts in the US
    • A permanent / fixed US address.(we'll be staying with friends when we get there until we find a place to live permanently)
    • Voting records
    • Children (so I can't enroll them in school to show Intent to domicile)

    What I do have:

    • I have been in touch with a couple of realtors and we (both my husband and I jointly) hired one to be our agent so would that contract help at all (we're hiring the agent to help us locate a house to buy.)
    • My tax returns from the last 6 years (the time I have been in the UK) *and a co-sponsor who is in the US*
    • My New York State drivers license (renewed in 2009 and good for another couple of years)
    • I have been in contact with airline cargo companies to find out costs and process for shipping our cats over when we leave.

    I know it doesn't seem like much but I'd really appreciate hearing what my options are (and financially, a trip home now isn't feasible) and any suggestions!

    Passport photo size snafu--what can I do?

    in Direct Consular Filing (DCF) General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi all, :blush:

    I've been a lurker on the forum but I've just found out I made a mistake and I'm wondering if anyone can let me know what I can do to fix it.

    In November we mailed in our I-130(including the G-325a) for my husband (UKC) to the London Embassy (we're doing a DCF).

    I only had it brought to my attention today that we used the wrong size passport photos (we used English instead of US).

    I didn't realize that they were supposed to be 2x2 and so they are the default UK size (which is smaller and not a square--its rectangular). I feel like a total moron. :wacko:

    So Now we're both worrying what that means for us...does anyone know:

    1) How strict they are on the photos being the exact size?

    2) If there is a way I can send in replacements?

    (*we haven't gotten our approval or a case # yet so I'm not sure how they'd know what it was for unless they do it by surname)

    3) Any idea what this snag might mean in the terms of time for things to be processed?

    Will we be put back at the beginning and wait another 3 months for it to be processed again?

    (I wouldn't ask except that we're trying to figure how this affects our timeline for moving & shipping our things out of the country etc.)

    I'd be very grateful for anyone else's experience and information.

    E

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