AJones

Can I ask... Do most people send back the checklist at the same time as the rest of the P3? And does that have an impact? I only ask because my fiance sent them back about a week apart so I wasn't sure if that made a difference. He sent the paperwork itself in first, then then checklist a week later after he got his medical scheduled. I'm assuming it won't make a huge difference, and we're in no rush for him to get his interview as he won't be coming over until after the holidays anyway, I just wanted to hear what people thought.

My fiance sent them back separately and it didn't turn out to be a problem. Although when he got to the embassy for the interview, the lady at window #1 claimed they DIDN'T HAVE HIS PAPERWORK and he'd have to fill it out all over again and get another interview date. He asked her nicely to check for it since I'd called the DoS and confirmed it was logged into their computer, and she did find it and all proceeded well.

I don't know if that had anything to do with the checklist and paperwork being sent back separately, though.

My fiance got his visa on Thursday! Well, got approved, we're waiting for it to actually arrive. We have his plane ticket here now and an actual wedding date and everything! OMGYAY!

My fiance's interview is on the 12th. Fingers crossed and drinking bourbon per elmcitymaven's prescription.

Hahaha Your suggestions are nice too, I'll consider them for sure. It's nice to see some humor Monday morning

That's good one too. Unfortunately, I believe UK has lots of Indian stuff than I've here in Charlotte. It would be actually other-way around (me bringing back some Indian stuff from there ).

Oo, if you're in Charlotte, NC, head south on I-77 just over the South Carolina state line and there's farm stands that sell things like peach chutneys that are fantastic. Also pick yourself up a jug of peach cider while you're at it, it's fabulous but probably won't travel well, being bulky!

I LOVE YOU ALL A LOT. They clearly did not lose the paperwork, I called DoS using Maven's number this morning and my fiance has been scheduled for an interview on August 12th! YAY! It is now time for celebratory bourbon vice soothing bourbon, I assume!

Andrea

Shhhhh. Drink more bourbon.

Sorry if I've missed something, but have they received it and just not entered it, or have they not received it at all?

That's the thing, I don't know. The guy I spoke to at the Embassy said it wasn't in the system. I asked should we resend it, then, because it had been about a month, and he said no, that it can take 4-8 weeks to get it in the system and until it's there they can't confirm whether or not they've received it. Which is why I am all "FINE I WILL JUST KEEP CALLING UNTIL THEY ADMIT THEY LOST IT" because you'd think they'd at least know they got it?

Did you say that you send P3 in to the embassy in two stages? If I read that correctly above. In that case they may have got confused with your paperwork because sending in the checklist is what they process to say that you're ready for your interview. If that wasn't included with all the paperwork at the first instance they may not have put you into the system until they received it. As someone else has suggested, you may want to send in your paperwork again if they've still not logged you as they do manage to lose things sometimes - particularly when there is paperwork missing.

The instructions my fiance got in the letter they sent said to fill out the DS-230-I part I, DS-156, and DS-156K and whatever else, and go ahead and send that in and schedule the medical, then send the checklist in when all the other docs had been gathered. So that's what we did.

This oven makes no buns. I am no one's mom. I am a horrible bossyboots big sister. RELAX!!!

When our P3 was sent in (Special Delivery, natch) I obsessed because it WAS NOT LOGGED IMMEDIATELY OMFGCRAPGAH!!!! And then all of a sudden it was. Huh.

If you have no movement after 3 weeks talking to DOS, send in the P3 paperwork again. It gets lost on random occasions (Nik+Heather, was that you?). But mostly it's just sitting. waiting, waiting, to get logged. They HATED us at DOS after a while; I was one of the biyotches that popularised the constant DOS calling. It is teh suck, I know (and I was a DCF b!tch as well, so hate me) but getting through all of this will seem nothing once your partner is here.

Maven's prescription: GIN. Much. Lots and lots of gin.

I had the bun-making bits of my oven BURNED SHUT because, seriously, I don't even like puppies and kittens. They are tiny terrorists. Also, how can I relax when they have not yet ADMITTED they lost the paperwork?! Or admitted they have it?! MY GOD THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ALCOHOL FOR THIS PROCESS.

It has been 3 weeks, in fact it was 3 weeks exactly (looking at my calendar) from when it was mailed that I talked to dude at the Embassy. So maybe we should re-send if the DOS still knows nothing about it when I call this week? HELP ME MAVEN.

Gin is sort of nasty, unless you have tonic to go with it. I'm a bourbon girl, myself.

Andrea

So when i called the Embassy and they said "nope we aint got it" I was sitting there thinking LIES!! xD I then seemed to transform into some sort of FBI Agent and interrogate them on the phone. Diary in hand with my postal date..how long i had waited..The calls i had made to them..and a speech of how glorious our postal service is in this Country!

I was trying to make them crack. Mulder and Scully style and admit my packet 3 was now being used as a foot stool by a woman in the visa dept, who had hairy feet!

This is EXACTLY it. I am now all "They lost the paperwork, didn't they. I just have to KEEP CALLING until they admit they lost the paperwork and tell us to resend it. Which they will do, because I am going to badger them until they come clean!"

...really, they shouldn't have a contact phone number at all. I'd be able to be much more rational about this if I *couldn't* call. I didn't get nearly as neurotic about the USCIS part of things.

Peace, young ones. You will be on the other side of this soon. I promise.

I'm trying to be calm about this, Mom, but it's haaaaaard. MOOOOOOOM! Make the Embassy hurry up with my paaaaperwork!

And now, having called Maven "mom" I think I'd better run. *cough*

Andrea

Reading what you have said it sounds very similar to what i panicked about just a few week ago.

Mailed my packet and checklist in may i think it was around the 20th. One month later it was on the system..frantic month of panic and i would say now with hindsight wasted phone calls to the Embassy every week on my part

Approx 2 weeks later i got my interview letter for July 30th.

So with all that being said i would say it is taking approx 6 to 8 weeks from the day you post your packet 3 and checklist to standing in the embassy. Hope that helps.

I try to keep in mind now they dont just deal with K1

Thanks, Twinkles, it does kind of help. I may restrict myself to calling the DoS phone number elmcitymaven posted. Part of my problem is that I've worked for the US gov't in one capacity or another for 12 years now, so I am hyper-aware of how often paperwork gets lost and other weird random problems occur.

Andrea

The London Embassy just re-vamped their website, new links no longer work. Their "packet 3" is just a letter which in my fiance's case directed him to a bunch of web pages that weren't there anymore, woo.

Here's the page with the medical info, all you need is your LND case number to schedule (see the PDF, link is on the right hand side of the page): http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/medical-examination.html

Here's the page with the forms he'll need to fill out: http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html

Good luck!

I think you should take the advice of the person above and call the Department of State. We mailed our Packet 3 to London on July 14. Yesterday the Department of State confirmed that London had received it and are were logged as eliglible for an interview. Most timelines I have viewed that had interviews scheduled already received their Packet 4 in the mail within 2 weeks of sending in Packet 3. I am hoping our interview date will be set next week. Best of luck!

We mailed packet 3 (Well the DS-230-I, DS-156, and DS-156K) at the end of June; it was the guy at the London Embassy itself who told me that the packet wasn't even in their system but not to re-send it because it can take 4-8 weeks for them to put it in the system. Monday will have been 2 weeks since we sent the checklist in after I took him the I-134 and supporting documents when I went to visit the first week of July. Given your experience, I'm wondering if they lost our paperwork and just refuse to admit it until 2 months have gone by.

Sorry to be a party pooper, but immigration is a privilege, not a right. Yes, it stinks, but believe it or not going through London is one of the easiest journeys people on this site take. No one country is given preference over another, something we as USCs should be proud of. Be happy that your loved one is not going through Casablanca or Lagos, every time you feel frustrated. Our journeys are faster and less fraught in general. Every one of us who has completed this process has been where you are now -- we have all felt the anger and frustration. But know this: it will soon be over. Really. And in six months you will be on VJ telling people to calm down. I promise!

Pro tip for those who want to feed their obsession with updated info: MUCH cheaper to call the DOS than the Embassy Extortion Line, and 9 times out of 10 the info is exactly the same on the computers. Call (202) 663 1225; press 1 then 0 to speak to an operator. Have your LND number ready.

I'm not really angry and frustrated, at the moment I'm just crushed and defeated. We were so sure we were getting to the end of this thing, only to find out that the Embassy is going to theoretically sit on the packet longer than the Vermont Service Center did. We got out of THERE in 3 months or so.

I realize we have it easy, I don't mean to imply that everyone else doesn't have it hard. Except those bastards with their US Citizen SOs who can just up and move in together and get married and never have to prove to anyone, let alone two different departments of the government, that their relationship is "real".

Thanks for the DOS number, I intend to put it on speed dial.

OK wait...I am confused now.

Are you saying, after you mailed in all of the paperwork for the visa it and everything is finished on that side of things, it can still take another 3 months or so to get the interview?

I am fairly certain that just ruined my day. HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU TOO!!!!!!!!!

I realize Maven is being all calm and rational down there, but I just spent most of the day with my office door shut at work crying, too. Yes, according to what the guy at the embassy told me, once they RECEIVE packet 3 from your fiance, it will take them 4-8 weeks to bother to put it in the system, and his interview date will be 4-8 weeks after that, so you're looking at 2-4 months after he sends in packet three.

At this rate, the London Embassy is going to wind up sitting on our packet longer than the fabled Vermont Service Center did.

The timeline that he gave you is extremely conservative. When I was waiting some people were getting their interviews within 30 days of sending in packet 3. I think it depends on the time of year. Once you've got your interview day the time will seem to speed by! Just try not to stress too much, at least you know that they have your information.

Actually, I don't. They can't confirm that they actually received packet 3 and didn't lose it until it goes in their system, 4-8 weeks after they receive it. The guy also couldn't tell me whether or not the medical got there, although it should have yesterday.

I think the code changes weekly so better get all your pestering in soon.

They do take all the fun out of it, don't they? I plan to call them weekly until they either tell me his paperwork is in the system or admit to having lost it and we have to re-send. My fiance is flabbergasted that they didn't update his address off the checklist; I've worked for the gov't in one capacity or another for 12 years now and KNEW they probably wouldn't.

I have such a deep, deep hate for the immigration process by this point, and for that matter I pretty much loathe every USC I know with a USC SO. I've informed friends they can find someone else to whine to about their relationship until they've had to beg, plead, bribe pay fees to, and prove the legitimacy of their relationship multiple times to two different gov't departments and god only knows how many faceless bureaucrats in those departments.

So I forked over the $16 at 0415 this morning local time to call the London Embassy, as my fiance had sent his checklist off two weeks ago and we hadn't heard anything from them, and I didn't want to come here and franticly ask how long it should take.

The nice gentleman I spoke to said that yes, they had received his checklist, but not his medical (completed last Thursday, so the Embassy should have it today as they claim 5 working days are needed to get the medical to them, while Knightsbridge says 4 working days, lolwut?), and not the DS-230-I part 1, I-156, and I-156K that he mailed off a month ago. I asked if he should re-send that packet, and the nice gentleman said no, that it can take four weeks for the Embassy to put that paperwork into the system when they get it. And then another 4-8 weeks after that, they will think about making him an appointment. Or possibly it was 4-8 weeks to get the paperwork into the system, and then they'll think about making him an appointment, maybe. I'm not quite clear because it was freakin 0415, so please excuse.

So, yeah, you think the waiting is over and things are going to move quickly once they get to the state department? HAHAHAHAHA no. They're not. We spent 3 months with the packet at USCIS and it looks like it's going to be another 3 months or more after the packet got to the Embassy, because of the whole "it will take us 1-2 months to enter the packet into the system" thing. We were getting excited thinking we were nearly done and would be receiving that appointment letter any minute now, but no. Another month or so to wait, possibly, for them to bother putting his paperwork in the system, and then I guess the appointment will be 4-6 weeks after THAT? So another 8-12 weeks to wait for him to even have the visa, and another month after that probably until he can finish tying things up and get over here since obvs he doesn't want to quit his job without knowing how long, exactly, he'll be unemployed.

Oh, and even though he had listed a DIFFERENT address on the checklist than the one on the I-129F packet, the London Embassy hadn't bothered to enter that new address into their system. You know, the part on the checklist that says "Where do you want the appointment letter sent?" Yeah. They evidently ignore that. The gentleman I spoke to this morning said he'd change it in their system, but then also had me e-mail to "emphasize" the address change, and whoever answers the e-mail said it got changed so fingers crossed.

TL;DR summary: According to the London Embassy it takes 4-8 weeks to get your paperwork into the system, and also they ignore their own checklist when it comes to changing addresses, so if your fiance(e)'s address has changed since submitting the I-129F, CALL THE EMBASSY.

On the plus side, I have the e-mail address for them and a code to keep my e-mail from getting deleted, so I intend to pester them righteously on a regular basis now.

I this post.

Just got back from a week in London with my fiance; we are now just waiting for his appointment letter from the embassy.

Luckily(?!) to keep me distracted, one of my semi-feral outdoor kitties has moved her four kittens in under my front porch. The Great Kitten Trapping Escapade starts tomorrow. Can I interest anyone in a small fuzzy semi-feral kitten?

(If you need kittens to look at to help you out during your own downtime, here you go: http://manorofmixedblessings.com/2010/07/13/are-you-ready-for-the-cute-well-are-you/)

Andrea

My fiance had his medical today at Knightsbridge Doctors (woo!). I don't think they gave him a copy of the exam, though, and he's busy moving out of his flat so I can't ask. Is there a way for him to get a copy of the exam so that we don't have to have ANOTHER one done over here when we apply for his AOS? We're already going to have to get his vax record transferred, since he didn't have all the ones he needed and did he listen when I told him GET THEM AT KNIGHTSBRIDGE? No he did not. So instead of paying GBP60 ($90) for 2 shots, he intends to get his tetanus booster on the NHS and then he'll probably have to get MMR here, which we will have to pay out of pocket unless my insurance is stunningly swift so it's going to be $200ish all said and done and...

I digress. I love him, I really do, but he occasionally drives me UP A WALL.

A copy of his medical, is there a way to get one?

Thanks,

Andrea

Red Heart

I've dyed my own yarn before -- much fun and I love how it turns out. One of my friends has learned how to spin recently and I am looking forward to learning too.

What did you use to do your dyeing? I've played with both "natural" dyes that require a lot of work and are kind of chancey, and synthetic dyes. Food coloring is nice and easy if you want something bright and simple.

Spinning is loads of fun but does get kind of messy. I collect up all the stray bits of wool afterward and needlefelt them into little wool balls for my cats to play with. It's hard to get a good even strand of yarn for a while, though!

Me too. It's comforting to know you're not alone in all of this, especially when it seems so hard for other people NOT in this process to understand. I've started thinking of my friends as "civilians"!

Seriously, the average person in the US has NO CLUE what legal immigration takes. When I first announced my engagement, everyone was askign "So when's he coming over? When's the wedding?" and I would have to explain again and again and again that we had no clue because it all depended on USCIS and the State Department. People were shocked. They were even more shocked when I told them what it cost.

Andrea

It's a totally zen activity once you learn how to do it.

Oh yay, other knitters! Although I am totally a short-attention-span knitter myself, but it is very zen. Especially if you're doing something like a simple hat on circs, you just zone out and knit and knit and knit and knit and voila, hat!

I also spin my own yarn and dye it... Spinning gets to be even more zen cause you get to stare at the wheel going roundy-roundy-roundy and the next thing you know you're out of fiber or bobbin space. Dyeing is mostly just boiling yarn a lot.

The waiting has been driving me up a wall, and we've got an easy case (I'm the USC). So far I've remodeled two rooms, laying down new flooring, painting, and generally straightening them up, as well as building myself a work table in the one that's "mine" so that my crafty stuff is no longer spread out all over the house. I stepped up dog training (my dogs wish I would find another hobby), went back to school full time while working full time, have been spending weekends with friends, got involved with cat rescue and have placed 3 homeless kitties, and this weekend I'm building a 10' x 10' habitat outside for a box turtle someone dropped on me.

In short, I am busy as heck and wearing myself out and I STILL find the time and energy to fret about the visa process (we're gathering docs for his interview at the London Embassy now). I can't imagine how y'all who have been waiting years do it... you have my thoughts & prayers, for whatever the thoughts & prayers of a VJ n00b are worth!

Thanks, Justine+David and Nich-Nick. Half of my brain realizes that I am making myself absolutely nuts with this and could, y'know, just provide what they ask for and call it good. The other half of my brain is all "DROWN THEM IN PAPERWORK, STAT!"

It doesn't help that the packet 3 link they sent my fiance was to a page that no longer exists, so we had to track down the actual page with the actual packet 3 instructions and form downloads for him. I am not filled with confidence by the London Embassy at this point!

ETA: Oh and at least the US lost to Ghana, so I don't have to worry about potential relationship conflict generated by football!

The letter my fiance (he's the Brit, I'm the USC) got this month from the London Embassy gave outdated links to information for Packet 3.

For the record, if you're going through the London Embassy and have the same "404 Not Found" problem, the actual link to the K visa information is here: http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html There's a box in the sidebar, upper right, where you can download all the forms you'll need.

Andrea

Hi all! I've been lurking here on VJ since January, this is the most incredibly helpful place ever. My fiance (the Brit) and I filed with USCIS in early March, we've gotten NOA2, we're now assembling the paperwork that goes with packet 3 and I am making myself neurotic over the I-134. I make well over the income requirement (~$56K/yr pre-tax) so *that's* all right, but am all wibbly because they list a "notarized copy of the last year's tax return" and that will take 2 months for me to get from the IRS (I E-File, so don't have an original hard copy around at home).

So what I've stuck in there is:

Letter from Employer (on the list of docs from the London Embassy)

Letters from both banks at which I have accounts (on the list of docs from the Embassy)

My W-2, an original printout of my 1040, and a tax transcript from the IRS for 2009.

My W-2, an original printout of my 1040, and a tax transcript from the IRS for 2008.

My W-2 and a tax transcript for 2007.

The official letter from my county giving the value of my home for tax purposes, plus the 2009 end of year statement from my mortgage holder, to corroborate those lines on the I-134.

My two most recent paystubs.

Starting in August I'll be getting $1446/mo in education benefits from the VA; I can print off various documents to prove the amount and that I will be getting it, should I stick those in there? Have I gotten into total overkill here? Is the lack of a notarized copy of my tax return going to just kill the whole thing anyway?

Can any of you helpful people make soothing noises at me if I'm just making myself neurotic for no good reason and the docs I've assembled are likely to be fine?

Also, how am I supposed to maintain my relationship if the US wins against Ghana in the World Cup but England is knocked out by Germany?

I've been lurking here a while but had to poke my head in to say zomg! We got approved today, I got the text message & e-mail at 0645 this morning. Vermont must open early. NOA1 was March 8, so that puts us at 80-some-odd days to approval. Now I'll just wait to bug the NVC...