scrosso

Hi Guys,

Hopefully some of the lucky ones that have completed the whole process can help me. I am leaving a week today to go to the states and will arrive in 2 weeks, but i want to know a few things.

1) SSN - do i have to apply for one as i ticked the box on the form in the application, or is it automatically sent too me. How long does it take?

2) Can i start work without the social security number?

3) Is there anything to expect from arrival, and when handing over the sealed brown envelope?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

I made all payments using my UK card. It really shouldn't matter where the card's address is

Apologies for the delay, a few beers were consumed last night in celebration!

after much waiting and nervous hanging around, today I had my interview at the London Embassy. The appointment was at 9, and I got there pretty early - 07:50 just to check location etc. They were already queuing to get inside so I joined the queue. As expected no electrical items allowed and quite a few people were turned away and directed to the local store.

On entry I was given number 14 for immigrant visas time stamp at 08:08. The room was quite large, and they have screens indicating which numbers are being called to which area. and immediately went straight for the coffee to try and relax the nerves. ON entry they were only on number 1, so I knew it would be wait. A rough estimate on timing was that every 20 mins the next immigrant number will be called (non-immigrant visa every minute - and the constant announcements of numbers got pretty frustrating).

As my number got closer, the nerves started to build up. I was called up at 10:20.

I got to the window and handed over my passport, interview letter, and photos. It was difficult to hear her through the screen but not that bad. She then asked for fingerprints, followed by the original and 1 photocopy of birth certificate, marriage certificate and police certificate. She also handed over a large envelope with my chest x-rays on a disc.

I was then asked for i-864, and mentioned I also had an i-864a to hand over. She didn't want that just yet. When she asked I handed over the tax returns for last 3 years, and she only took the most recent one. It was at this point she then asked for the i-864a, and the co-sponsors birth certificate (slight heart flutter here, as I only had a passport photocopy - luckily this was fine). She asked who the co-sponsor was and what she did, and that was that. I handed over the tax forms for my co-sponsor. (no domicile request at this point)

I could see her ticking off everything on the checklist - very similar to what we are provided with. She handed back all original documents and said I need to go the next counter to pay and then return to her to provide the receipt, I would then have to wait for the actual interview where my number would be called again. The cashier would take all forms of payment, I paid in UK sterling (£255), and then popped back to the original counter to hand back my receipt. The lady was already on the next person but she asked him to step aside and took my receipt.

I was back to waiting and this went a lot faster knowing the end was in sight, at around 10:45 my number was called up again, and I went to a different counter round the back. She had a copy of everything I had handed over and asked (from what I can remember in order)

1. How long have we been married? 5 months

2. Where Is my wife? returned to the US 4 weeks ago

3. Does she have a job? no

4. Do I have a job? no - but looking into transfer with current company just not confirmed

5. When do I plan to go across? 10th NOv. my wife will fly back over here and we will then go across on the Queen Mary.

At no point was I asked to prove domicile, and most of the stack of documents I went in with I came out with.

This lasted all of 2 minutes, and she said with a massive grin I am going to grant you your work permit, I signed the part 2 of DS-230 and was very relieved. She then showed me the bag my passport will come back in which I can open and then the brown envelope I cant open. I was then instructed to another counter to pay for the delivery.

There are lots of options of when you want it delivered etc. I paid for the basic 5 business days at £14.95. Word of advice on this part though, you cant pay in cash they would only take card, and on receipt of your passport photographic ID must be presented. I was planning to get this sent to my parents house, but as I wont see them for a few weeks they wouldn't have ID so had to change it to work address.

I was out by 11:00, and a very happy man - I just couldn’t phone anyone until I got into the office a bit later in the day.

That afternoon I looked into booking our transatlantic trip to NY, and then discovered that the prices had dropped - £370 one way for a cruise across the Atlantic lasting 6 days with all meals etc. and in the knowledge that we can take as much baggage as we want - as long as we can store it on our room - last count we were on 14 bags.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions I am happy to try and help. I have copies of all the forms and letters i used.

Hi Guys,

I have just been told that our interview is on Wednesday 6th October, and now starting to worry and feel not ready. Few questions:

1. We started to panic about a few forms the I-864a in particular so we have got my wife and her mother to redo it - would a scanned and printed copy of the signature do or does it need to be the original?

2. how long does the interview take roughly? do i book a whole day off work etc.

3. if anything was to go wrong, can we appeal?

i am extremely nervous now. all advice will be grateful.

Congrats Mcclapa. That is great news!

Out of interest, on your packet 3 did you put a date of intended travel? We sent our packet 3 a weeks after yours and are still yet to hear anything. We put our intended date of travel as 10th November, so there is no rush but was wondering if they take this into account.

I have to agree with Christi85, my other half had been over here for 6 years and we were still required to get a certificate of approval.

Congrats Npson.

Very happy for you both, if you get a chance it would be good to see your timeline, as i have seen a few others waiting to hear or wanting to know how long it is currently taken.

However, I am only planning to be here in Scotland for just eight more weeks. Will this be a reasonable amount of time to get married and complete and file the I-130? I thought it would, but saw a mention earlier about a very long wait for approval for a non-uk citizen to marry here. Also, considering we have just gotten engaged and don't live together, I think we'd run into problems establishing our relationship for the I-130. From what I understand, as soon as I apply for the I-130 I am free to leave the country and return home?

Hi Andrea, I may have been the one to mention about non-UK citizens and time to get married. We had to apply for a certificate of approval to marry, which took 2 months - this is apparently the norm. It then takes another 14 days to register your intent to marry at your local registry office. I would therefore say you do not have time to do this.

However, 1 previous poster got married in the USA as there are no such rules - so if you could do that in the next couple of weeks, that should give you enough time for that side of things and then submit your I-130.

We were strangely not asked for an RFE after submitting I-130 but did expect one, we can only imagine because we have lived togther for 3 years previosuly it was fine. As this is not the case for you, i would expect one. The RFE does seem ok to prove, but might be worth if you do get married e.g. in the USA, get some family or friends there, i can only imagine that would help showing commitment from family etc.

Which leads me on to your final time line problem. I cannot say for sure, but i understand the petitioner can not leave the UK until the I-130 has been approved - not when you submit, and therefore you may be pushing it for time, if you cannot be flexible on when you leave.

Hope this helps.

We received our approval of petition (NOA2) on the 22nd. This was just a simple letter stating that our approval was successful and our details had been passed to the correct US immigration handler.

2 days later we then received a one page letter stating, that they had assigned us a case number, and this was our packet 3. We were advised to get the documents online and print them off.

I would say that if you have a case number, you are ready to print off and send packet 3. If not either wait, or contact them.

Hi Guys,

We received packet 3 this morning so are very excited (and it seemed to come through extremely quickly).

I have a couple of questions though.

1. Question 16 and question 39 (part 1 and part 2) ask for the address of my spouse. She is currently still with me in London, so our address is here.However by the time the interview comes about and we submit part 2 she will have moed across to the USA. Can i put different addresses or should they be the same?

2. Question 30 - Addresses i have lived in for the last 10 years. Will it be a problem if i dont know all of them (i.e. i cant remember the postcodes and numbers of houses i lived in as a student)

3. Question 35 - list dates of previous visits to US - are these all trips on a tourist visa? and can i go on to an extra page?

All help is appreciated.

Hi Christi,

I think everyone on here understands the panic and random thinking you can go through in this process.

I dont think you have anything to worry about, we got married in a different borough to where we live in the UK and as a result we were had to provide a different address (parents address) that was actually based in that area.

Also, I think a lot of people may have been married all over the place and in the time since they got married, may have moved and their address has since changed.

SCROSSO

Sorry for delay in response, been away for a few days. We had our RFE ready to go, and on the website we were told that our date was being processed so we were waiting for the letter to say they need further evidence, but we get a letter this morning saying we have been approved without an RFE. Very happy and very surprised - the only thing i can think of is that they saw we had been living together for 3 years at the same address, and decided that was enough. Now the long wait for packet 3 - and we have everything we need waiting and ready to go.

yeah i know...because we're not yet married our original thought was to apply for the k1 fiance visa...buut because i want to get home quicker i thought maybe if we were to just get married in england...and then apply DCF...it would be faster..wouldnt it?? but theres nothing i need to worry about because i would have only just been married or anything is there?? it would still work the same?? just quicker?

We were in a similar position and decided to get married over here and we are now mid way through our application (RFE sent). One thing to be careful of is the wait to get married in the UK - we thought we could get married over here and then apply for DCF quickly. However the certificate of approval (license for residents from overseas to get married in the UK) took over 2 and a months to come through, so that delayed us slightly.

We sent off our DCF application 1 week after getting married, and are hoping to have visa in hand on November 10th (the dream will be to enter the US via a transatlantic cruise - Nov 10th is the last one this year). We are right on schedule with our estimated dates so far but its close, and any delay will cause us problems.

So if goes to plan - from deciding to get married in March this year, married in May, and hopeful visa in November - we have estimated 8 months. 2 months - certificate of approval / marriage. 6 months - DCF

Hope that helps a little.

As this is already a post i just want to quickly hijack it, so apologies in advance.

We are waiting for the RFE anyday now - our processing date at the Lonodn embassy was on the 7th July, so we expect it soon. We have everything ready to go but want to clarify a couple of things:

1. Does it matter if the affidavits of a bonafide marriage are dated before they requested them (or are we just too eager to get it all sorted).

2. The affidavit they request from us - is it a singular or joint affidavit?

Thanks for your help.

sr

Hi Guys,

I am currently going through the DCF process, and have submitted the I-130, we are anticipating receiving an RFE at the end of July. However something has come up at work that could be an excellent opportunity in the long term.

The plan was once the visa came through (roughly we were thinking November / December) my current company would be able to offer me a position in their NY office. However things have changed slightly and they need someone sooner, and are looking at the possibility of using me on a temporary position on a UK contract but over in NY , until I can work permanently. Otherwise they will need to get someone else in jeopardizing my chance of employment at the end of the year / next year.

Can I travel to and work in the US whilst I am applying for DCF? (my company would arrange all temporary working permits in the short term or what ever is necessary), but I do not want this to be a problem for my DCF procedure - as I still need / want to go through this properly as this is my only option for a long term green card.

All help and answers as always are greatly received.

Thank you.

Hi Stacey,

Congratulations on the move and getting everything sorted. What is the exact process for you now? are you eligible to work straight away, or do you still need to wait for things to come through such as the social security / green card.

I am a bit unsure on when i will be able to work - but have just found out that if successful my company here in London will arrange an internal transfer to the new York office (dependent on me getting the visa). If the time lines stay correct, i am hoping to move middle of November, so was concerned whether i could start straight away or would have to wait until what could be after Xmas.

After months of trying to get sorted our I-130 went off today to the London embassy. I will keep everyone updated on timelines, but we now wait eagerly for the RFE's.

Hi Guys,

Congrats to everyone who is progressing. I have a quick question on the interview front. Do both of you have to be there? I thought it would just be me needed as my wife will be in the US already, but a previous poster has got me thinking do we both need to be there for her to talk about proving domicile, and ability to cover financially.

Also at what point can she head home, is it after the I-130 has been approved?

And finally, if we change address during the process is that going to complicate things? Our lease runs out in August, and so i was hoping to stay with friends in a different address but will this cause problems with correspondence from the embassy.

Many thanks

Simon

I hope you get your certificate of approval soon! I saw another post on britishexpats.com where someone was delayed becasue they were waiting forever for their COA! I'm sure it will come through soon! My husband and I are going to do seperate moving dates too :-( Keep us updated on when you start the process. I'm going to fill in my timeline link faithfully so everyone can see how long it takes ...lol Good luck!

It's here. 1 day after venting and we get our certificate of approval, so we are getting married on the 8th May, and then plan to file the week after. Nervous times ahead.

We were hoping to file this month as soon as we got married, but we are still waiting for our certificate of approval for marriage (so far been 2 months). We are now realistically looking at the end of May for our filing, so although this isn’t helpful to this post, we are keeping a close eye on all the current timings and issues being faced.

We believe we are ready to go and are itching to start the processing. We are aiming to move at 2 different times, my other half in August (as long as the I-130 has been filed) and then fingers crossed me in November.

Hi all,

I have never been arrested, or had any problems with the law from a police point of view. But a number of years ago i did get a CCj (county court junction) after defaulting on a small payment that has now been settled. Would this still require me to get a copy "memorandum of conviction" from the issuing court.

Cheers

si

To clarify do you mean 6 months of having the appropriate status or 6months total stay and currently having the appropriate status?

I believe you must have been in the UK for 6 months on the appropriate status. My partner has been here for 6 years. 4 years on a student visa (which would not count as being a resident) and 2 years on a tier 1 working visa (which is what we are hoping, will count). She also has over 6 months left on this visa (I think the prerequisite is you have at least 3 months left).

I think i am having stress attacks and only am still only in the researching stage.

The more i read the more questions i keep on coming up with, and this one seems to be the biggest problem of them all.

My Wife to be (the US citizen) has been in the UK for 6 years, 4 of which were studying and on a study visa, and the last 2 have been on a Tier 1 post graduate visa that will expire at the end of 2010. Although she has worked and lived here for all this time, will this be enough to even file the I-130? I have not seen anywhere of anyone similarly on a Tier type visa, and a few posts have hinted at the need for indefinite leave to remain which is not the case in this situation.

All help is appreciated, as I try to stay away from an early heart attack.

sr

I have been able to anser my own question.

For future reference for anyone.

If you are interested in DCF in London, you must have been resident in the UK for at least 6 months with an appropriate status (LLR/ILR/spousal/long-term student/work, etc.) Tourist visas and the VWP are not acceptable for establishing residence in the UK.

I think i am having stress attacks and only am still only in the researching stage.

The more i read the more questions i keep on coming up with, and this one seems to be the biggest problem of them all.

My Wife to be (the US citizen) has been in the UK for 6 years, 4 of which were studying and on a study visa, and the last 2 have been on a Tier 1 post graduate visa that will expire at the end of 2010. Although she has worked and lived here for all this time, will this be enough to even file the I-130? I have not seen anywhere of anyone similarly on a Tier type visa, and a few posts have hinted at the need for indefinite leave to remain which is not the case in this situation.

All help is appreciated, as I try to stay away from an early heart attack.

sr

Sorry to pester with another question - this seems the roughly the right topic though.

The Police check - I will process the UK one as this is the mandatory one but I also spent time from February 04 to May 05 travelling, in which I had a working holiday visa in Australia. I spent initially 6 months in Australia, and then returned for another 4 and a half months. I undertook work in both trips (all legal), but was wondering if this requires me to get a police check for my time in Australia.

So far I have seen 2 different sources stating need for police checks when overseas, 1 saying any time spent in a country over 6 months, and another one over 12 months. I was never permanently there so I am slightly confused if I should just get one anyway.

Any advice, greatly appreciated.