sharo

What the PP's said. Gould's is literally 2 minute walk away (maybe less) and it only cost me £3 when I was there a couple of weeks ago.

My appointment was for 9am Nov 30th. I arrived at the Embassy at 8.10am and they let me wait. It took a good 30 mins to get thru the line outside and then another 5 to get thru security. It was of course freezing outside and pouring with rain and as much as I didn't want to wait outside in it there were few other places I felt like going at that point and would still have had to wait outside for probably the same amount of time if I'd arrived at 8.30 or 8.45am.

Ok here's my 2 cents worth on this topic. Although I'm currently living in the UK I have previously moved to the US (NC at that). Insurance works completely differently in the US than it does in the UK. In the US for the most part people have something on their insurance which allows other people to drive their vehicle and be covered by the vehicle owners insurance. When we were visiting the States this summer I drove MIL's car and since I have a valid NC license then I am covered by HER insurance policy.

I would suggest a quick trip to your local DMV in Charlotte. They will be able to tell you exactly what documentation you will require to be able to apply for a license and you can also get a drivers manual while you're there to start looking over for when you want to take your test. Which I'll also add is nothing like UK tests. When I went for my US license I just showed up on the day with relevent paperwork, no appointment. Went and sat the theory (in the DMV) passed that then went out with a trooper and did my test. If you can drive in the UK then you should have no problems whatsoever passing the test. For the most part it is ridiculously easy and I'm not sure mine lasted as long as 10 minutes..... Then for something like $20 I had license in hand the same day.

Ok now I seem to have completely forgotten the question at hand. But in my humble opinion provided you have the paperwork required, then 1 getting a license should be easy and is really cheap to get so I would just go on and get it sorted ASAP. That way you're set for 5 years or so and don't have to worry about it at a later date.

My interview was Mon (Nov 30) and I got my passport complete with visa back today (Dec 4)

So exciting to see so many others getting their visas at the same time.

I don't even want to think about shipping. When we move the majority of our stuff is going to get boxed up in my parent's attic. Luckily for us since we've only been back in the UK for 2 years we don't have too much stuff to worry about taking over. Or perhaps that's just what I'm leading myself to believe.....

We sent our DS-230 and the checklist in seperately so I don't know if that had any effect on how long it took to get our interview date back. In any case I sent DS-230 Sept 7th and mailed the checklist Oct 12th (medical was Oct 5th) We got our interview letter through Nov 6th.

I mailed our DS-230 before I mailed in our checklist so I'm not sure if that sped things up any. I sent the DS-230 early Sept 7th and then sent in the checklist Oct 12th. We recieved our interview letter Nov 6th so for us it took around 3.5wks to get the interview letter back. But like I said I don't know if that time was affected by having sent the DS-230 in so much earlier.

Good luck with the waiting it is tough.

Congrats on getting the interview date. Good luck with it!

Ours is a week after yours so I'll be looking to read about your interview experience!

So the one day that I'm not home when the mail comes is the day that of course my Packet 4/interview appointment letter comes!! Heck I would have gone out a couple of weeks ago had I known....

Anyway our big day is Nov 30th @9am (25days from mailing the checklist and with an "Unknown travel date")

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that everyone else gets their letters soon too!!

We submitted Packet 3 info around 22 Oct and received Packet 4 with the interview date in the mail on Wed I believe. Our interview date is 18 Nov 09.

Cool - it seems to have been really quiet on the Embassy side recently. I'm hoping that we'll hear something from them soon to as it's been almost 3 weeks since we mailed the checklist now.

SunnyLee Out of curiosity what travel date did you put on your DS-2001? Nov 18th is our daughters birthday so I hope that it'll be a day of celebration for you and your other half too!!

So since I'm currently not so patiently awaiting on our "Packet 4" to arrive from London I was just wondering where they might be at calendar-wise as far as interview dates go.

Anyone with upcoming interviews what dates are they giving out?

I know the whole process can be compared to "how long is a ball of string" but it helps pass the time trying to work out when the big day might arrive - if that makes any sense.

I have no idea why I did it especially since DH doesn't have ILR and his visa (and the kids for that matter) expires at the end of January Hopefully it won't take too long to hear back from them!!

Sharo,

Have you sent DS 230 and DS 2001 back yet? Do you have an interview date yet? Just wondering how long from when you send these two docs until they send you and interview date?

I think it was just over 3 weeks from sending packet 3 back to getting our interview date. I ended up calling Department of State because I hadn't heard from the Embassy and then two days later the letter arrived in the post!

I think that the interview date is dependent on the leaving date you put on the checklist. I sent packet 3 in around mid August and our leaving (moving) date was October 5th (however we are still in the UK - very frustrating and long story). Anyway, my point is that my interview might have been set for when it was (September 14th) because I was due to move at the beginning of Oct. Does that make sense?

Haha guess that we could be in for a long wait then since I put down TBD for out travel date. Now why would I do something as crazy as that is my question of the day. D'oh!!

Yep just send the form back and keep all the docs to be presented at the interview.

No you husband didn't fail the medical - the doc just wants more info. I wouldn't think the either HBP or a high BMI would be things to prevent him from passing.

I found out I had a heart murmur at my medical and am still trying to get an ECG done the results of which I need to have sent to the Knightsbridge doctors.

I didn't send any passport pics in with my DS-230 and haven't had an RFE requesting any. I sent it in about 4-6 weeks ago.

I thought I had our I-864s sorted out and everyone involved knew what was going on. Then I posted a question on a different forum and am now completely confused and unable to get to sleep for thinking about it. So here's the deal (sorry if this gets a little long)

I am a UKC my husband and 2 kids are all USC's. Being my petitioner DH automatically fills out a I-864 for me right? Since his employment will not continue after we move to the US we will then need a co-sponsor.

My FIL has agreed to this and my MIL has agreed to add her income to my FIL's I-864 using the form I-864A for household member.

I'm trying to help my FIL fill out his form so these questions are on his behalf.

Help me work out the household size.

There is MIL & FIL and me as the intending immigrant = 3. Then since my in-laws claimed my SIL's 5 kids as dependents on there most recent tax return they have to include the 5 kids as independent kids on line d right? =8

Since we are planning on living with my in-laws starting out, am I right in assuming that my husband and 2 kids get added to the number of household members? If this is the case do the kids also get added to line d and my husband added to line e?

TIA

If you had your mother fill out a I-864 if she makes enough to support herself, her husband and the intending immigrant(s) then she wouldn't have to have her husband fill out the I-864A. Of course she would have to include copies of their tax returns which would be joint tax returns.

Firstly, stupid question but I am confused about whether or not we have received NOA1 or NOA2- We received a letter from the London Embassy to say that our I130 form had been approved and they would send it to the visa processing unit at the Embassy. On the same day we received a letter from the visa processing unit to say that they had received our approved application and the next steps to follow. Is that NOA1 or NOA2? Also if it's NOA2 then what was NOA1?

The approval notice is usually referred to as NOA2. Usually with I-130 they don't send a NOA1 - if you got an email from them then that or when they charge you the fee for filing the petition is considered to be your NOA1.

Secondly, I am also confused as to packet I, II, III, and IV. What forms are in what packets? I think we are working on packet III as we are getting ready to send our DS2001 and DS 230 part I (I'm guessing you don't send DS 230 part II with the other two forms I have just mentioned.)

You are currently working on "Packet 3". It now just contains the links of where to find the forms online (DS-230 & DS-2001). "Packet 4" is the letter you get from the Embassy notifying you of your interview date.

We are DCFing. Just got NOA1(I think) approval on 5/10/09. We are now in the process of collecting forms to send DS2001 and DS 230part 1. I'm a bit confused because in the information I have read the NVC should send us form I864 when it is time to fill this form in. I have read conflicting information as to whether or not the NVC is even involved in our case as we are filing directly with the US Embassy in London. I think we just print of the forms we need on the internet and fill them in that way.

Before sending form DS2001 and form DS 230 part 1 we need to gather loads of documents, one of which is the I 864 form. I'm assuming in our case since we are DCF we don't need to wait for the NVC to send us anything?!

The NVC are not involved if you are DCFing. Print the I-864 off and start working on it.

I also need some help filling in form I864 and wanted to see if anyone could help us before I spend the money to call the 0900 wallet gouging number for info.

We are married(4 1/2 years), living in England (filing at the London Embassy). I am the USC, my husband is British. I have a son from a previous marriage who lives with us full-time. We also have a son born just 3 months ago. Both sons are USCs. We will all be moving back to The States together, although my husband is the only non-USC.

On part 3, Do I have to answer question 8 or is this just when you have 2 joint sponsors? I think I should tick 'yes'.

On part 3, question 9, Do I have to answer this, and do I only list my husband as he is the only person who is immigrating who is a non-USC. Do I need to list my sons here even though they are USCs?

On part 3, question 10, answer is just 1, yes?

On part 4, We live together in England, although I own a home in The States which we will be moving back to when my husband gets his approved visa. Question 12 mailing address is obviously our home together in England, but what about place of residence-Question 13? I have indefinite leave to remain in the UK but as I said I do own a home in The States. Where does that leave us with Question 15 then?

On part 5, I need to put'1' in a, what about the others? I'm guessing I skip c, even though I am married but I will have already accounted for my spouse in question a? And our children, I need to put '2' in d?

We will be using my husband 'the immigrant's' income to help us meet the poverty guideline. On question 24, I should tick 'e' even though my husband does have accompanying dependents. Is this right?

Even though I have lived and worked in the UK for the past 5 years I have still filed US tax returns, but obviously these are based on income I have made from a UK company. This employment will not continue once we move to The US. This is still the income I need to be showing on these forms?

My husband and I are both self-employed. I will not continue my business once we arrive in The US but my husband will. What documents should we collect in order to show that my husband's business will continue to support us in the US? He is a self-employed IT consultant but he contracts solely to a UK company and will continue to do so once we get to the US.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

I'm still working out the I-864 myself but one thing I do not is that on Q15 the answer is USA as it is asking where you're intending your country of domicile to be.

Hope that was of some help to you. Congrats on your newborn too - such an adorable age!!

I believe that if you filed I-129F (fiance(e)) then you use the I-134, and if you filed I-130 (spouse) then you use I-864.

In the first instance your joint sponsor should be filling out the I-864 NOT I-864A.

I-864A is to be used by somebody who lives in the same household as your sponsor. Like in our case my father in law is filling out the I-864 but he is going to be using the income that my mother in law makes, therefore she is filling out the I-864A.

Not sure if that helps you any.

When we got our petition approval I wasn't ready for the immigrant visa part of the process. So I mailed in DS-230I and was waiting on sending in the DS-2001 until I was near enough ready. I needed to have my medical and get the support forms sorted out. Well the support forms are more or less ready to go now and I had my medical yesterday. I was planning on mailing out my DS-2001 today. However, as a result of my medical I have to go get an ECG done and have the results of that faxed to the Knightsbridge doctors. So now my question is do I wait on finding out when I'll get an appointment for an ECG or just mail in the DS-2001 now? I mean in theory they can approve my visa pending medical results right?

What would you do?

Does the birth cert from the US co-sponsor have to be certified or will they accept a regular photocopy?

Sorry if the answer to this is obvious or not. Seems I've been caught off guard a lot this week.

I received my packet 3 today. I know from here the steps are to fill out the ds-230 and ds-2001. Do you send back the ds-230 as soon as you fill it out or wait until you are ready and send both forms in at the same time?

I haven't applied for my police cert yet or done the i-864 so needless to say I am not ready yet.

TIA

YAY we got our petition approval notice in the post today I am so happy. I know it's only the first step but it's nice to know that things are prgressing some.

Now I have to go fill out a I-407 to abandon my former LPR status. It seems odd to be abandoning status in the middle of trying to get a visa to go back but that's what the approval letter says our next step is so that's what I'm doing. I hope it won't slow things down too much for us.