glue

I am a grad student in a phd program. my husband was recently approved for a CR1 visa and I filed an I846 for him. My dad was a joint sponsor.

I basically receive a tiny tiny stipend and live in an insanely expensive city. However I know that on the I-846 says somewhere that I am ineligible for means tested federal benefits. I just returned to the US and my husbadn will make his first trip in October, triggering his green card, and will move in with me permanently in January after he wraps things up at home.

Meanwhile, I am finding it increasingly difficult to buy groceries after paying my rent. Has anyone who sponsored a relative also received food stamps? I don't know if I am allowed to apply for them. If anyone knows whether or not I am ineligible to receive food stamps, please let me know.

woohoo! my husband got his passport back this morning with an entry visa valid till feb 2010. he says he can't remember whether or not he signed anything, but i'm guessing everything is fine since we have the visa in hand

i'm so excited this is finally over!

Also weirdly enough he said he didn't have to sign part 2 of the ds 230 there.... ??? just had to swear that all things were correct and true. i'm concerned because he checked the apply for SSN number on that form, so i hope that doesn't cause a problem.

yay! my husband just let me know that he's all set and he should have his passport back in 5-8 days. he has to show his chest xray at the border but he said he's all set.

phew! and woohoo!

thanks to all of you for all your help, good luck to those who are waiting!!!

Also weirdly enough he said he didn't have to sign part 2 of the ds 230 at the interview??? just had to swear that all things were correct and true. i guess that's good enough.... i'm concerned because he checked the apply for SSN number on that form, so i hope that doesn't cause a problem.

yay! my husband just let me know that he's all set and he should have his passport back in 5-8 days. he has to show his chest xray at the border but he said he's all set.

phew! and woohoo!

thanks to all of you for all your help, good luck to those who are waiting!!!

yay! my husband just let me know that he's all set and he should have his passport back in 5-8 days. he has to show his chest xray at the border but he said he's all set.

phew! and woohoo!

thanks to all of you for all your help, good luck to those who are waiting!!!

congrats, yvie. that's great news - you are almost done!

just a few quick questions to those of you who have had their interviews already/gotten their visas.

- my husband is the beneficiary - do i need to accompany him to the interview? if not, am i even allowed to?

- i have all the items on the ds 2001 checklist including- husband's passport, medical receipt from knightsbridge doctors, birth certificate, 2 police certs, 2x affidavit of support - mine and my father as joint sponsor, marriage certificate, and 2x photographs of my husband. I also have all the official translations for his Polish documents. I don't know why I was under the impression that I needed to bring in 5 copies of each document, as I read on the website that I only need 1 copy of each. I'm going to make more to be on the safe side as I also want to keep originals. Is there anything else he should take with him? I've already provided USCIS with an RFE early on about our relationship with supporting letters from family and a statement from myself, proof of joint assets, etc. I just want to be absolutely certain because I really want to get this done on the first visit without further hassle.

last but not least - we are hoping that once he gets the visa he can visit me a few times in the US before moving in feb. he has a few things to wrap up with work as they are paying for him to get a professional qualification etc etc. is this going to be a problem? will he be able to re-enter the US without a greencard if he doesn't get it soon enough? i'm assuming his first visit will be in sept for just a few days, which wouldn't be enough time for the greencard to get mailed to our address. does anyone know what the deal with re-entry is?

thanks so much for all your help. this forum has been soooo helpful! and the visa process so confusing

WOOHOOO we got an interview for July 31! thanks for the number and the tip posted above. I called the DOS and some guy gave us the interview date and time. still no official notification, though. have people gotten this through email or through the post?

what does the interview entail? i'll be busy completing my affidavit of support (my dad's already done a joint sponsorship one) and making 5x copies of everything. hope it's not too intimidating. my poor hubs is already sick of the us embassy staff, they've denied him a tourist visa twice and they're always really mean as well

good luck! someone posted a US based number on another thread where you can call and ask about the status of your case giving them your case number, i might try that too. it took a month after i sent back our RFE that our I-130 petition was approved. i bet you will get a letter very soon.

we are still waiting for the interview letter. i'm getting more and more anxious!

i hope it doesn't affect my processing time that I sent my packet 3 about 2-3 weeks after receiving it. (dated june 9, recd june 12, returned june 30). as it stands i have to move back to the US alone to start school and wait for my husband who will join me in a few months after wrapping up work here - he's been denied a tourist visa before and i just want him to be able to visit me in the meantime, but we need the visa for that... here's hoping i get an interview letter fast! it's been 13 days and i'm already impatient

I'm posting because maybe my timeline will provide others with some information, as many have helped me, and that someone will be able to tell me how long I might have to wait for an interview letter/date. I'm a USC married to a Polish citizen, we both live in the UK.

after an insane amount of haggling with the London office whether or not I did have residency here, I finally was allowed to file my I-130 via DCF - but only after I sent a really angry letter about how they needed to honor my human rights (right to family and private life, holla!) and process that ###### tout de suite and a copy of like every single page of my passport. Of course this is only after I waited forever for the Home Office to process my EEA 5 yr family permit, but that's another story.

My USCIS petition was received on April 28, 2009, after I mailed it in on the 17th, received a letter about proof of residence and mailed that on the 24th.

Around the 22nd of May I got an RFE requesting proof of conmingling of assets (I sent joint bank statements, utility bills, and rental agreements), a personal affidavit about my relationship with my husband, and 3 additional sworn affidavits from people who knew of our relationship, i.e. could basically vouch for its validity.

On June 9 we received a letter (dated June 5) stating that our petition had been approved and sent to the immigrant visa unit at the US embassy in London. I think this is the NOA?

On June 12 we received Packet 3 (dated June 9).

We had requested our UK police certificate as soon as we got packet 3 and we assembled all relevant docs, his mom helped us get the polish docs + translations. My husband had his medical on the 25th of June (260 quid, for medical + 2 jabs - I recommend that you get all your vaccines at the GP for free beforehand, he had most of his and didn't have time). I sent in the DS 230 part 1 and 2 and the DS 2001 notification of readiness+checklist on June 29 and it was received on June 30.

Has anyone gone through the entire process? How long should we have to wait for the interview letter? I'm less concerned about when the interview date will be, but i'm so over not knowing a timeframe. so far everything has been pretty quick... but my husband has been denied non-immigrant visas 3 times before (when we were dating and he wanted to visit, and once when we were already married and wanted to go to the states for a family reunion - ridiculous) and we just really want to be together as I have to go back in the fall for a phd program.