Rito

When they say "report" I would assume this means more than a simple letter or am I missing something?

I'm asking because the psychiatric reports I deal with and request in my line of work are quite in depth documents.

We won't know until the beneficiary's GP responds (or unless someone else has been through this). We're really hoping it will be a simple "it's not a problem" fax back rather than a "we haven't seen the patient for this disorder for years, so a full psychiatric evaluation is needed."

If the beneficiary in your case has ever had a psychiatric disorder (bipolar, depression, etc), then you'll want to bring a note from your GP to your Knightsbridge medical appointment which states that the beneficiary is not a harm to him/herself or others.

Unfortunately, if you just ask your GP for such a note, you might not get it. We did this and were told by the GP that without context, a request, and more information, he didn't want to give us such a note. This led to a delay for us, because the Knightsbridge doctors sent a form letter to the GP asking for the information after the beneficiary's appointment.

To avoid this, get the note from your GP ahead of time. Below is the form letter that the Knightsbridge doctors fax. If your GP is groovy with it, showing them the form letter before your appointment could mean convincing them to give you a note and thus avoiding a delay.

My fiance's medical appointment was today. Unfortunately, we hit a medical over bipolar disorder that hopefully people can avoid based on our experience.

My fiance has bipolar, but it's relatively minor and has been mostly inactive for a long time. He's never been a threat to himself or anyone else, and he hasn't seen a doctor about bipolar for years. However, we knew the Knightsbridge doctors might want verification that he doesn't pose a threat to himself or others, so we called his GP and asked for a letter he could take to the Knighstbridge doctors. His GP was very reluctant to give us anything - he said he didn't know what the Knightsbridge doctors wanted and didn't want to just give a statement without knowing the full story. As a result, my fiance went to the Knightsbridge doctors without a note and - lo and behold - the Knightsbridge doctors said they wouldn't move forward without verification from the GP about bipolar. They faxed the GP a form letter asking for information, which hopefully the GP will answer quickly.

If I were doing this again, I would call the Knightsbridge doctors ahead of time and ask for that form letter so that we could get the GP's response before the medical appointment.

I have my contingency plan in the form of a Megabus ticket that I really hope I don't have to use...the Megabus smells.

Harsh! When I studied in London, I took the Megabus almost every other weekend to visit my boyfriend (now fiance) in Manchester... I gotta say it grew on me a little. It's not the sweetest smelling, but it has character. Also, UK train prices are outrageous!

Okay so suppose we get all of the I-129F sent in, get no RFE's, get NOA1 NOA2, get the notice from the Embassy with packet 3(?) and it's time for his interview.... How is he suppose to have all of the evidence of meeting if part of said evidence, is my passport unless I am present? Do I need to be there? Would it look bad if I were not? Would it help if I were?

You don't need to be at the interview and aren't expected to be. My sense reading people's experiences is that having both people at the embassy doesn't make a visa more likely.

Oh damn...we do love a good strike or three in the UK. BA, Civil Service, Railways...i'm surprised any of us are working at all!

The rail strikes begin on our interview date - April 6 - and my fiance's traveling to London from Northern Ireland. :-/ We're altering plans now, trying to get him staying as close to the embassy as possible and praying the tubes run.

Hello -

My fiance, who is getting a K1 visa, and myself want to get married as fast as possible when he gets to the US, since we can't file AOS with EAD until we're married and he can't work until he gets EAD. A certified marriage certificate, which I believe you must get from a county recorder, is required in the AOS application.

We want to get married in Vegas, over the weekend. I'm wondering if it's possible to persuade a marriage officiant to let you take the marriage certificate to the recorder's office yourself (as mentioned here) and get a copy of it that's good for AOS the same day? Do you first have to take it to the county (clerk's?) office to get an actual marriage license, and then to the recorder's office or something?

I see the Vegas recorder's office is open Monday-Friday, which kind of wrecks our plans for a weekend, but if we can leave with the AOS-ready certified copy, it's worth it.

Does anyone have any experience doing this in Vegas or elsewhere?

(This thread is about Vegas but didn't answer this question).

Thank you!

- Rito

For awhile the questions I was asked when entering England got more and more personal. This took the cake.

Officer: "Why are you entering the United Kingdom?"

Me: "To visit my boyfriend."

Officer: "Is he British?"

Me: "Yes."

Officer: (looks at my passport) "You've visited him in England a lot."

Me: "Yes, we've been dating since 2005."

Officer: "Are you going to get pregnant and then just not leave England this time?"

Me: ...

I bet a beautiful lady broke his little heart.

Oh gosh, I know what you mean - thats why Ive been worried. I have done evvvveryyyything.

Hehe - same here and my fiance's going alone. I can't imagine one partner handling all the paperwork is unusual for them... not too many people have failed for not knowing what a NOA2 is, I imagine.

My fiance and I are doing a practice interview this weekend over the phone, where I shall play the stern, disapproving immigration officer. I've been reading the kinds of questions people trip up on, and want to make sure the boy's equipped. Maybe doing something similar would calm the nerves of those of you waiting for the interview... it's going to calm ours a bit.

And after we practice the interview, we'll switch gears and I'll play the sexy, naughty immigration officer who wants to punish you for not certifying that document.

No, not really.

Ugh. I've been looking into the AOS process lately. I can't believe you can't work until you get the EAD, which takes 60-90 days after filing! That's a lot of time to just support someone in a new country... kind of feels like "Welcome to America, now here's some unemployment to help you get adjusted."

I guess there's nothing to be done about it. I just find it very frustrating. Throughout this process I've been supporting my fiance financially because finding a job for only a few months is difficult. Seems I'll have to do it a few months more.

Yeah, I know, grumble grumble. It'll be so good to have my love back, I'm sure we can deal with a few more bumps courtesy o' the US Government.

That information is OLD. About a year ago they rewrote the rules about authorization for work and the K1 and stamp does not qualify. You need an EAD document if you enter on a K1. However one on a K1 cost $340 and take 60 days so at most you get 30 days work for $340. Not worth it. If working is an issue marry quickly and file AOS as the EAD is free then. As far as telling about the filing NEVER lie to an immigration official. They may already know from their computers and lying can cause you trouble for misrespresentation

Just wanted to thank you for this comment, which helped me out also. I didn't know this information was out of date and that work authorization only costs money if not with AOS. AP, apparently, is the same deal.

Is anyone interested in this thread? If so, I can start updating. Anything I saw through today I tried to update. If you would like me to add/change/delete, just reply to this thread. I am using this format:

vj name: Names of couple if want with (USC or UK location) - where they live in the US

If you want to make my entry a bit more homogeneous:

Rito: Ben (UKC - London, Belfast) & Jennifer (USC) - San Francisco, CA

Thanks!

Also, when the embassy needs the these, can they be a copy or do they need the original one he gets from the website or however he gets it? For instance, can he get it n then jus fax it to me?

Thanks

I'm wondering the same... I got my 2008 tax transcript and was hoping to just scan it and have my fiance print it on his computer... hopefully someone knows if an original is required.

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 enables some criminal convictions to become 'spent', or ignored, after a set length of time from the date of conviction. After this period, with certain exceptions, an ex-offender is not normally obliged to mention their conviction when applying for a job or obtaining insurance, or when involved in criminal or civil proceedings. The “No Live Trace” indicates that information may be available relating to a ‘spent’ conviction. “No Trace” indicates a clean police record.

Thanks, Claire. For anyone else who may have the "No Live Trace," it may be worth spending £10 and 40 days getting "Subject Access." See this thread.

If your police cert says "No Live Trace" You need to obtain your subject access records.

Could you expand on this, Nik+Heather? Our police cert says "no trace," but we figured that just means he has no criminal record.

buy one of those fingerprint id card things they act like a passport dont they? Also on internal flights cant you just use your ID???

Ryanair only allows passports and National ID Cards. However, National ID Cards aren't available in Northern Ireland yet, so my fiance couldn't get one if he wanted.

Many carriers, like Easyjet, allow other forms of ID like a driver's license. So my advice to anyone booking a flight for the interview is check the airline's website to see what identification documents they accept.

Tired of dealing yet again with Ryanair's horrible policies, my boyfriend went ahead and booked an additional flight home on Easyjet. Free money for Ryanair, those leeches. If people have answers to my question, though, I'd be appreciative if you post anyway since someone else may have the same question.

Well, we had another "oh no" moment today.

My fiance booked a trip from Belfast to London with Ryanair for his K1 interview, and he flies home the day after the interview.

If you pass the interview, is your visa taken away from you and mailed later (via courier) with the visa inside? This is a big problem for us, because Ryanair *only* accepts a passport as identification to fly home. If the embassy takes my fiance's passport, his return ticket is useless.

Thank you!

Thanks

I posted my embassy review if anyone's interested in reading it. The morning was totally straightforward except for when the guy dealing with me let slip that the reason for our crazy three-month hold-up last year was that the NVC LOST our i-129f! At the time, nobody would tell us what was going on, and eventually we were told we were in AP. Now I know the truth!! I don't know whether to be mad that nobody was straight with us, or just relieved that it's finally over...

That's ridiculous! It's not like you can take your business elsewhere - why not be honest? Ah well, I'm so glad you got the visa and are rapidly approaching the point in your life when the pointlessness of this process will all seem funny.

Wow, they've sure made a lot of videos... how about less videos and shorter wait times, mm?

(sorry, not bitter or anything)

Im getting so ichy to keep things moving.

You know, even though we've done long distance for five years now, I think these last few months are the hardest. Go go embassy go!

Ok, and how long does it stay @ the NVC?

For me, only one day.

Our K1 application was approved last week. What happens next?

What is the Packet 3 and Packet 4?

How long does it take from now till an interview @ Montreal?

Thanks

What happens next is your application is sent to the National Visa Center, and from there it will be forwarded to your embassy in Canada.

Packet 3 will tell you about what forms you need for the interview, and Packet 4 will tell you when the interview is.

You can find out more about the process on this flowchart.

What about poor people on say the Outer Hebrides and in NI!

Yes, what about us poor Belfasters! Actually, as the petitioner, I seem to be more annoyed about than my dutiful beneficiary. The boy says he's happy to take a £35 flight to London every now and then. I bet he wouldn't say that if he had a 9-5 job in NI, though!