London 2012- K1s from NOA2 to interview thread

[Izu&Abbey 1]

I'm going for 4 weeks, leaving 14th Dec! By then it'll be 6 months since I last saw my fiance and I just can't wait to get off that plane and run to him at the airport Thanks for the link, I'm hoping being away isn't going to delay things too much :/

Hi, just to share a little tip to help things move quicker for you now you got your NOA2, I know what it feels like being away from our loved ones for sooo long! A week or two after your NOA2, you/your fiance can call NVC & get your case no., once you have that, call the medicals people immediately and book an appointment, they sometimes have immediate/quick appointments. Fill the forms from http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html and send out to the embassy in London. Get all that sorted then go have yourself a wonderful holiday (I do envy you -(in a lighthearted way), I have my interview 2nd January so I'm stuck here,unless they take pity & give me an earlier date as I've requested ). It takes about 3-4 weeks to log your forms after they receive it especially with the multiple hols in Nov & Dec, so you should be back just in time to be getting an interview date or won't wait much longer, and you can bring back all the supporting documents you need with you... You may get a letter from the embassy - the Packet 3 - with your case no. & further instructions etc or you may not, I never got any and after weeks of waiting I called them only to find out they were never planning to send me anything, and the guy I spoke to gave me same instructions as above on where to find and fill the forms, medicals etc. My fiance got my case number from NVC a week & half after we got our NOA2... So it may well be in your best interest to get the ball rolling & not religiously follow the flowchart. If you do get a letter from the embassy later, just keep it for records purposes,as it likely will not contain anything different from sending you to the link above to get the forms bla bla.

For your questions on the medicals, what Nich Nick wrote is correct,I believe you don't need all those others. Below is the link for UK-centric medicals information. Good luck with everything & have a wonderful holiday!

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/cons-visa/iv018a_medical.pdf

[lucy884 3]

Hi, just to share a little tip to help things move quicker for you now you got your NOA2, I know what it feels like being away from our loved ones for sooo long! A week or two after your NOA2, you/your fiance can call NVC & get your case no., once you have that, call the medicals people immediately and book an appointment, they sometimes have immediate/quick appointments. Fill the forms from http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html and send out to the embassy in London. Get all that sorted then go have yourself a wonderful holiday (I do envy you -(in a lighthearted way), I have my interview 2nd January so I'm stuck here,unless they take pity & give me an earlier date as I've requested ). It takes about 3-4 weeks to log your forms after they receive it especially with the multiple hols in Nov & Dec, so you should be back just in time to be getting an interview date or won't wait much longer, and you can bring back all the supporting documents you need with you... You may get a letter from the embassy - the Packet 3 - with your case no. & further instructions etc or you may not, I never got any and after weeks of waiting I called them only to find out they were never planning to send me anything, and the guy I spoke to gave me same instructions as above on where to find and fill the forms, medicals etc. My fiance got my case number from NVC a week & half after we got our NOA2... So it may well be in your best interest to get the ball rolling & not religiously follow the flowchart. If you do get a letter from the embassy later, just keep it for records purposes,as it likely will not contain anything different from sending you to the link above to get the forms bla bla.

For your questions on the medicals, what Nich Nick wrote is correct,I believe you don't need all those others. Below is the link for UK-centric medicals information. Good luck with everything & have a wonderful holiday!

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/cons-visa/iv018a_medical.pdf

Wow thank you, really kind of you to write such a long reply I knew to get the case number from the NVC in a week or two's time but I didn't know you could book the medical and send in the DS forms so soon! Are you sure you don't have to wait for the embassy to receive the package and then contact you first? It would be great to get all of that sorted out before I go! Having said that though, my cousin is going to be my co-sponsor and I'm going to have to wait for him to sort out the affidavit and the supporting documents to go with it, so I can't send back the readiness form until I have all that paperwork :/

Good luck with your interview! Even though you'll be here for Christmas, you'll get to be with your fiance so soon afterwards so it should make it a bit more bearable?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hi Nich-Nick, you were so great at answering an important question I had a while back about the MMR jab so was wondering if you (or anyone else here of course) could answer this one for me too. I'm really sorry if it's already been asked and answered before :/

I went to the nurse last week to ask about my immunisation history and took a printed copy of this page http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3384cc5222ff5210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6abe6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

She seemed confused at a couple of these requirements, mainly the pertussis one which she told me is whooping cough, and so I thought I would double check this thread. The ones you have listed are not the same as the ones from the link - pertussis and also Hep B aren't there - have the requirements changed?

The requirements have not changed since 2009, except for the added ages who get flu jabs. The p in Tdap is for pertussis. In the UK people think its for polio sometimes. Anyway, if you had a pertussis jab as a child, then the Td is acceptable leaving out the pertussis part. If you didn't have pertussis then the Tdap version is for adults. Lower case letters mean a smaller dose. My husband's doctor didn't have Tdap so he got the baby version DTP, still covering diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and that is also acceptable. There has been an unusual outbreak of whooping cough in the US which was previously almost eradicated. Now they seem to be pushing it for teens and also for grandparents who may be around infants. It is a new school requirement in my state for middle school or high school. Hep B requirement ends at age 18. The chart http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/exams/ti/civil/vaccination-civil-technical-instructions.html#tbl1

Off topic slightly--I got my own Td shot Wednesday evening at the emergency room. I sliced my finger badly and had to go to the ER. I got stitches and a splint but will need to see a hand specialist surgeon, hopefully Monday, since they were closed for the holidays already. Yep, it was really bad and I've cut more than skin. But the Td jab was nothing to complain about.

[lucy884 3]

The requirements have not changed since 2009, except for the added ages who get flu jabs. The p in Tdap is for pertussis. In the UK people think its for polio sometimes. Anyway, if you had a pertussis jab as a child, then the Td is acceptable leaving out the pertussis part. If you didn't have pertussis then the Tdap version is for adults. Lower case letters mean a smaller dose. My husband's doctor didn't have Tdap so he got the baby version DTP, still covering diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and that is also acceptable. There has been an unusual outbreak of whooping cough in the US which was previously almost eradicated. Now they seem to be pushing it for teens and also for grandparents who may be around infants. It is a new school requirement in my state for middle school or high school. Hep B requirement ends at age 18. The chart http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/exams/ti/civil/vaccination-civil-technical-instructions.html#tbl1

Off topic slightly--I got my own Td shot Wednesday evening at the emergency room. I sliced my finger badly and had to go to the ER. I got stitches and a splint but will need to see a hand specialist surgeon, hopefully Monday, since they were closed for the holidays already. Yep, it was really bad and I've cut more than skin. But the Td jab was nothing to complain about.

Thank you!! I think most of my confusion has stemmed from the fact that it's all age dependent, those under 18 would have to have a whole lot more - something finally clicked when I looked at the charts! I feel silly now :/ but I guess it's just me just overthinking things. I'll go back to the nurse and probably have to have the Tdap since the pertussis vaccination I had as a child was listed as 'homeopathic' in my records, so probably wouldn't count.

I really hope your appointment with the hand specialist surgeon goes ok! How did you do cut your hand that badly??

[Novembro 1,763]

My head is spinning after reading all this. So much to do and organize!

Such a great thread though. Thanks for all the info! Hopefully we'll receive an NOA2 in the near-ish future and be on our way with all of this. Wheee!

[LouisePaul 0]

WE GOT IT!! Visa Approved! Paul just got home and told me what happened! YAY We self-sponsored too!

The first lady/person he had go up to was mean though but that's okay doesn't matter we got it!!

I'll post a review later

Louise

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

WE GOT IT!! Visa Approved! Paul just got home and told me what happened! YAY We self-sponsored too!

The first lady/person he had go up to was mean though but that's okay doesn't matter we got it!!

I'll post a review later

Louise

The first lady doesn't count because she's just a document collector and file organizer. Yay for Paul! Can you give some details about the self-sponsor part because nobody ever does. What kind of documents did he take for his proof? Is it too cheeky to ask how much in dollars they found acceptable because that's what everybody always asks and there is no set number. I remember personally only two reports. One had around $53K and the other had about $40k. Just curious if he was approved with less than that.

[LouisePaul 0]

Paul doesn't have a drivers licens or a photo ID, His only form of ID has always been his pasport - How should we go about accepting the visa when it arrives if he doesn't have photo ID? I was thinking maybe he could use his Police certificate since it has a passport style photo and his name on it - what do you guys think?

Thanks

Louise

[LouisePaul 0]

The first lady doesn't count because she's just a document collector and file organizer. Yay for Paul! Can you give some details about the self-sponsor part because nobody ever does. What kind of documents did he take for his proof? Is it too cheeky to ask how much in dollars they found acceptable because that's what everybody always asks and there is no set number. I remember personally only two reports. One had around $53K and the other had about $40k. Just curious if he was approved with less than that.

He took only 12 months of bank statements as proof of income (along with the other documents the embassy usually requires, passport, birth cert, etc) and the interviewer asked a few questions about his business, he only had $8,500 and they accepted that, but I think the reason they did was because his income will continue in the US without working (he makes roughly 1-2K a month) because he makes smartphone apps. Plus I have a job now too so that might have helped. Other than that our situation was pretty normal and easy, no past marriages, a 6 year relationship, no kids yet, we both have jobs, and we want to rent a place when he comes out here.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Paul doesn't have a drivers licens or a photo ID, His only form of ID has always been his pasport - How should we go about accepting the visa when it arrives if he doesn't have photo ID? I was thinking maybe he could use his Police certificate since it has a passport style photo and his name on it - what do you guys think?

Thanks

Louise

I know a bazillion who were never asked for any ID by the driver. Police certificate would work. Credit card with his name on it or mail with his name on it was mentioned by the courier previously as a way to show ID if the person wouldn't be there personally. My fiancé was at work and I had one of his credit cards to show, but the driver just handed me the package and walked away.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

He took only 12 months of bank statements as proof of income (along with the other documents the embassy usually requires, passport, birth cert, etc) and the interviewer asked a few questions about his business, he only had $8,500 and they accepted that, but I think the reason they did was because his income will continue in the US without working (he makes roughly 1-2K a month) because he makes smartphone apps. Plus I have a job now too so that might have helped. Other than that our situation was pretty normal and easy, no past marriages, a 6 year relationship, no kids yet, we both have jobs, and we want to rent a place when he comes out here.

Thanks for that. It shows that people are wrong who insist 3x poverty level in cash is required to self sponsor. A combination of continuing income, some cash, and your job was enough to convince the officer without major documentation...just some bank statements.

[Novembro 1,763]

My fiance's mother went today and got all of his shot records and ordered his police certificate priority so that we should have everything by the time he gets home from Korea. She is such an amazing woman.

[Myke + Kerry 0]

Less than 2 weeks until my interview, so I am getting the last minute nerves.

1) In regards to the photographs you have to submit to the Embassy, how strict are they with these? In the ones I have the "top of my hair to the bottom of the chin" is out by 3mm - It's 38mm and the limit is 28-35mm.

2) Kerry (the American in this relationship) is sponsoring me on the I-134. We have no qualms in stating here that on our I-134 form we stated that her annual income is $26,500, and savings of $3,400. There is something in the back of my mind that is telling me this is not enough to be accepted. We have 3 types of proof - 3 months pay slips, letter of employment from her General Manager, and her 2011 tax return.

Can someone with recent experience ease my doubt please?!

[LeftCoastLady 441]

Less than 2 weeks until my interview, so I am getting the last minute nerves.

1) In regards to the photographs you have to submit to the Embassy, how strict are they with these? In the ones I have the "top of my hair to the bottom of the chin" is out by 3mm - It's 38mm and the limit is 28-35mm.

I would err on the side of meeting the requirements noted on the embassy site. It may not be an issue, but why go into the interview with a question mark over your head about a few mm?

2) Kerry (the American in this relationship) is sponsoring me on the I-134. We have no qualms in stating here that on our I-134 form we stated that her annual income is $26,500, and savings of $3,400. There is something in the back of my mind that is telling me this is not enough to be accepted. We have 3 types of proof - 3 months pay slips, letter of employment from her General Manager, and her 2011 tax return.

Can someone with recent experience ease my doubt please?!

For the I-134, I sent my fiancé two recent paystubs, a letter noting my employment and the 2011 tax return transcript. He's been in the US for just over a week and we're getting married on Saturday.

[Myke + Kerry 0]

I would err on the side of meeting the requirements noted on the embassy site. It may not be an issue, but why go into the interview with a question mark over your head about a few mm?

For the I-134, I sent my fiancé two recent paystubs, a letter noting my employment and the 2011 tax return transcript. He's been in the US for just over a week and we're getting married on Saturday.

And you believe the yearly salary to be sufficient?