Susan Taylor

Okay, I am in a bit of a urgent situation here and am doing my best to research the #### out it today. My husband is in the USAF and we were originally going to be returning to the USA in March 2011 (we're in England)... Now it looks like it's going to be June or September THIS YEAR! We are a bit silly and originally thought we'd have enough time over the next year to save enough money to bring our two large dogs with us back to the USA. I was quoted $4,000 by a company to fly the dogs back.. But I was recently told that if I go direct to an airline, for example Delta, that we can have the dogs checked as cargo for only $550 per dog - Which would be a lot better than $4,000 I can tell you! All it'd mean is we'd have to pick up airline approved crates, but even then that's no problem.

I got my info from here and here. Now the airline we fly back with might not be Delta, we don't decide it, the military do and they wont tell us who we're flying with until the last bloody minute. It looks like Delta will fly dogs as cargo (meaning, without a passenger present) which is a bonus. It does say that they wont fly dogs from May - Sept, which does put a damper on our plans a bit, but I have my parents and siblings here in England who would have no problems keeping hold of our dogs until September if we were to leave in June.

Basically I'm wanting to know if anyone here can tell me if the $550 quote on that website is correct? I don't want to get my hopes up only for them to be dashed

to be outside that Embassy at 7.30 instead of 8.30

San Antonio will be the final destination for me! :]

YAY!! A possible friend in the area! If Brett and I end up moving there, we'll have to meet up and compare notes on the best places to find HP sauce and PG Tips, lol.

I've learnt how to make Yorkshire Puddings / Toad in the Hole from scratch so we're sorted on that front! We just now need to learn how to make REAL fish 'n chips and we might be able to survive this transition ;]

I know PG Tips are readily sold in the US, but HP sauce might be another thing entirely I'm lucky enough to be married to a US military member so I have access to a huge supermarket on Lakenheath base which sells nothing BUT American food so I've been slowly getting used to eating nothing but US food - Their sausages will never be the same and they don't "do" baked beans whatsoever. Sigh!

Q. How can I expedite my Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) to bring my spouse to the United States? Is there any way she/he can enter the United States while the petition is being processed?

A. Citizens of the United States, who are serving in the military and have a pending Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) on behalf of their spouse, may e-mail or telephone the USCIS military assistance team and ask for expedited processing of that petition. During that time, your spouse may enter the United States on a K-3 nonimmigrant visa. To get a K-3 visa, you must file a Petition for Alien Fiancé(é) (Form I-129F) on behalf of your spouse. An approved Form I-129F will allow your spouse to enter the United States. If USCIS approves the I-130 petition while your spouse is in the United States on a K-3 visa, she/he can file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485) to become a legal permanent resident.

If I read the above right... I CAN go with him this September?!? It does say a K-3 visa, but we are already married?

My husband is speaking to the military passport office tomorrow about this. I was wondering if someone here could have a look at our completed I-130 form tomorrow once we've finished it? I really want to make sure I get this right as I really can't risk screwing something up

Where about on the USCIS website would the list be?

Where is everyone moving to when they finally get through this? We're still sorting out Brett's job offers, but it looks like San Antonio, TX or Tampa, FL for us I've had enough of crappy English weather and have demanded a few years of sun!

San Antonio will be the final destination for me! :]

I also have another question - A process I had to go through when getting permission from the US Military to marry my husband meant I had to have a full medical. Blood work, TB test, full medical and mental exam too. I passed and someone mentioned that this means I will not have to do this process for my visa as all I need to do is bring my new medical notes with me (or include them in a pack or however it works?) so I wont have to have the required medical (or pay for it either) that is needed for this.

So how long would this shorten the process by? A lot? A little? I imagine getting the appointment and the results would take a while?

Susan,

what could happen is that you get the visa and he does not PCS. In which case, go activate the visa stay for two weeks, then return to Britain. He should be able to put you on his orders which would legally still have you as residing in the US. Then if he is still deployed overseas you could even do the quick naturalization...

Just a thought...

I'm not fully read up on the whole "Once you've got the visa and enter the US" process just yet. Surely it'd be breaking the rules if I stay there for two weeks & have him put me on his orders as residing in the US if I'm.. not?

This is all one big nightmare, but thank you for really trying to help, I do appreciate it.

isnt this a no brainer? sooner or later you will need the visa right? why not just go ahead and get it and whether he is PCSing or not, or whenever he does- cuz eventually he will- you will have it. why wait again til you only have 2 months to scramble to get it and then have to stay behind without your man? hate to say it but ...."Duh"

Duh? Really? Was that neccesary?

This is not a "no brainer" as there is a time limit of 6 months on the visa if we do go ahead with this. So if we get it now I've got 6 months to move to America, in which case he'd still be over here for another year and a bit =/

And FYI as he is in the military, only needs 100% of poverty level to prove, not the usual 125%. You can get all sorted out rather easily, especially since you can do DCF. Maybe even his possible PCSing could speed things along.

I didn't know about the poverty level being decreased for military members, thank you :]

And he is going to the passport office on base tomorrow morning to see if they can help at all with this.

Oh no, no trouble at all I reckon.

I've heard London is really, really damn fast. Do you have everything ready? Like all the papers you will need?

I've checked out what we need and we ticked 99% on the list. We need to get new passport photos to send with the application.

I've read the guidelines, just looking for advice as to whether or not I'd get "in trouble" if we start the visa process and then cancel it. Or if it'd result in us being hassled next time we do it y'know?

I am going to start this process ASAP, but I still doubt we'd get the visa in time IF he does PCS to SC

Hey all, long-time lurker, first time poster.

I'm from England and my husband is an American in the US airforce. He's based in England and that's how we met. We married on the 27th June and were originally told his time in England was going to be extended until April 2011.. But we were told today there's only a 50% chance that this'll happen. The other 50% means he'll be PCSing (Permanent Change of Station) to South Carolina THIS SEPTEMBER! The frustrating thing is we will not be 100% sure about this until it's time for him to go

So you can imagine the knot that formed in my stomach the second he told me this today. It's the middle of July, if he *is* PCSing that means I've got LESS than two months to get a visa sorted. This, as you will all know, is bloody impossible. The only other thing is, what if I start the process and he DOES get extended? Can I just get the visa process.. cancelled/postponed until we do need it?

*sigh*

I need a hug, alcohol and some chocolate. I do not want to be stuck in England without my husband and he doesn't want to be stuck in South Carolina without me

So please, what should I do? Shall I at least start the process now? Can I cancel it if he does get extended here?