little-evo

Hi guys and girls, been lurking around for quite some time reading, digesting and taking in as much as possible.
The time has come for my husband (UKC) and myself (USC) to file for us to move back to the US...

I won't bog down the threads by asking silly questions, but will need some advice and help along the way and would appreciate any input.

We plan to file this weekend 2nd July, just as a starter what are peoples experiences and how long are peoples filing journeys taking at the moment?

Thanks for reading

Noorah101

Hi and Welcome to BE.

After doing your reading on this forum, I'm sure you know the name of your process is "Direct Consular Filing" or "DCF". There are several people doing the DCF process through London here on the forum, and they have a few timeline threads going on. Have a read through those to see what current timelines are looking like. The London website is currently saying 10 months, and it seems it has indeed slowed down quite a bit from several months ago...so I'd figure 8 - 10 months for the process to happen, and if yours goes more quickly, that would be a bonus for you.

Rene

rpjs

It took us (me UKC, wife USC who'd lived with me in the UK for ten years) about six months from first filing ("DCF" to the DHS unit at the London Embassy) to visa in hand last year. More recent folks seem to be taking a bit longer at around 8-10 months start to finish.

The process is tedious, with lots of form filing and waiting, but not terribly difficult. My advice to you starting out is to get everything you need prepared well ahead of time. Particular things I'd suggest you look out for are:

* Make sure your husband's birth certificate is the "long form" with his parents names - you'll need that form for the interview.

* Check out the vaccination requirements on the Embassy web site and get your GP to update any your husband requires. This will save him having to pay for them at the medical.

* If you haven't been doing so, get your US tax returns up to date - you will need the last three years' for your husband's interview. Unless you're Madonna or an investment banker you'll almost certainly owe no tax to the US but you do need to file. There is a useful wiki entry on this site that we used successfully.

* Check out the requirements for a police certificate for your husband and start the ball rolling on that, as the Embassy accepts them for up to a year after issue.

* As you're a US citizen not currently resident in the US, you need to show at the time of interview that you're taking steps to re-establish your domicile in the US. In our case this wasn't a biggie - US bank and student loan statements and evidence of job applications to the US by my wife sufficed. NB if you're planning on you going ahead to the US to set up a home / find a job before your husband has his interview, this won't be an issue for you at all as you'll have re-established domicile by returning there.

* The biggie for most couples is the I-864 affidavit of support. If you don't have savings or other assets or a current income that will continue after you move to the US then you'll most likely need a relative or close friend in the US to be a joint sponsor for this. If you think this may be necessary, you can start looking for a joint sponsor now.

Good luck! It's really not too difficult a process, and as is often said here, remember that "immigration is an adventure".

little-evo

Hi Guys, thanks for the rapid replies! We understand it will be quite an adventure, we think we have the paperwork covered and have recently found my husbands long birth certificate. We don't have a lot of savings, but we have a few small assets, not enough to live on, so will be asking a relative to support us, my husband has been offered a job within the family business, so hopefully that will go some ways.
My husband has read lots of various timelines some as long as 10-11 months some as short as 4-5 months! We really want to be back in the US before Easter, (But closer to Christmas would be ideal as we have 2 small children).
How soon do they take the funds out of a bank account for the initial filing fees?

Certainly an adventure we are looking forward too

Noorah101

The key words are "will be asking a relative to be a joint sponsor". The joint sponsor has to fill out an I-864 and provide all the backup information such as tax returns and proof of income. Make sure they know this.

That can help with the intent to domicile issue, but the future income can't be used on the I-864.

Most likely within a couple to few weeks after submitting the I-130.

Rene

ljaw2002uk

That is the (only) part that they don't drag their feet over! I think they cashed our check within 10 days..

britishspouse

Yeah they do this bit quickly haha.

We are CR1 filers, no K1 but I assume its still the same payment process. We paid via hubbys checking account and the money was taken out within 2 days :P

And by the way WELCOME to the forum. Its a long, learning process of a journey but everyone is here to help, so you dont worry about asking silly questions, people just like for you to do a bit of your own homework first Thats what I learnt. There is so much info out there though so it can all get a bit overwhelming hehe.

Timelines vary alot. DCF is normally faster but recent timelines ive seen have put it close to if not on par with filing in the USA. When I joined people doing DCF often had their VISA's in 6 months, but recent filers have been aroun dthe 7 or 8 month mark it seems which is similar to American. We are doing CR1 and filed in America, and from the day we sent it off to the day we have our interview will be 7 months 20 days, so we are on par to be about 8 months total from filing to visa in hand

Tito23

We (me USC, hubby UKC) filed our I-130 on 2 February and have heard nothing from them since the initial letter. Does someone have an email address to contact USCIS to check on the status of the application? We'll continue to worry until we have heard from them!!! Thanks

shadowmeister

We filed in December and did not hear anything until end of May which is approx 5months so you are still within that (also as of Jan or Feb the USCIS website stated that it would be 8-10 months for processing) so you really don't need to worry. [email protected] is the email.

meauxna

Where was the I-130 filed? If in the US, you can sign up on uscis.gov for updates. You should not expect (or hope) to hear from them before 5 months.

Tito23

Thanks for the email address, as luck would have it, after I posted the message yesterday, our post turned up and approval letter from the US embassy turned up! Next step is getting my husband his medical exam and our paperwork in order. We are looking forward to our big move in November!!!!

little-evo

Many congrats Tito on receiving the approval letter.

This weekend is going to be a busy weekend filling in and re-reading our application to make sure everything is in order.