HJP

Having seen plenty of posts in the July/August and the Sept/Oct I-130 DCF filing thread it peppered me into setting up a thread specifically for those who are filing their I-130 through the US route (thereafter the approved I-130 will be forwarded to the UK embassy for the next stage of the process)

Reason i am filing through the US (specifically our I-130 was filed w/ the Vermont Service Center) is because my USC wife lives and works in the NY, USA whilst i (UKC) live and work in London, UK.

We received our I-797C Notice of Action on September 16 2010. Obviously no updates as yet (and am mindful from feedback here and on the USCIC website itself that the turnaround time is c. 5 months) so we are still relatively early stages.

Anyone else submitted at this time?- lets share our experiences on how to wish away the days!

clemato

Would love information as well. We are in the exact same time frame as you.

meauxna

Welcome aboard, all!

Maybe you all will be the ones to detail the NVC process for future filers as well... I have an idea, but the details and shortcuts would be appreciated by others, I'm sure!

My advice to you would be to use this time (while the petition is pending) to prepare for the NVC stage. That's where you'll really be able to impact your timeline and make things happen.

clemato

Our status:

US born citizen filing for UK born citizen spouse

• I am the American and am in the USA
• My spouse is in the UK right now awaiting permission to enter the US
• I filed the I-130 with USCIS and they received it on August 26
• I filed the I-129F (after the 797 receipt was sent to us) and they received it on September 20
• Our case was in the California Service at this time
• We got notice today that our Forms I-130 and I-129F have been transferred to the Texas Service Center on Nov 2

That's it so far. Wondering how long this will take!

Noorah101

If NVC receives an approved I-130 before or at the same time as an approved I-129F, they will automatically toss out the I-129F and just continue on with the Immigrant Visa process. I'm not sure if you were aware of that.

Figure 8 - 10 months from filing the I-130 to getting visa interview. So, figure roughly April - June 2011 or so.

Rene

clemato

Right, we are now aware of that, but were not at the time of filing.

It's always possible we'll get lucky and they'll not toss it out. (Let me dream!) I cannot go another 5+ months separated from him, my heart will break!

I've already decided that if nothing happens by 12/31, then in the New Year I will fly out to see him again for a week or even two and use up all of my vacation time for the year 2011. Hopefully my boss will give me a bonus that I can use for this expense!

clemato

Just got another update

Noorah101

To be honest, you should actually hope the Immigrant Visa is the one that gets processed. The time frame is the same for both the Immigrant Visa and the K-3, and the Immigrant Visa is a far better visa to enter the USA with...no adjustment of status required, he becomes a permanent resident from day one, work authorized from day 1, etc. The Immigrant Visa is far superior to the K-3.

NVC throwing out the I-129F does not add 5+ months to your processing time, not sure where you got that idea, but it's not true.

Rene

clemato

No, no, sorry.

We spent 6 months apart earlier this year. We just spent 3 glorious months together every day after the wedding. He returned to the UK at the end of October.

So if it's April, May, or June before he can get his Visa Interview, that means we'd be looking at another long stretch of being separated (from November to June = 7 more months apart).

We naively thought he would be back by the New Year - to stay.

We are happy to adjust his status, have already budgeted that expense and the time to get a work permit; for us, we care more about being together and will sacrifice the money to do it and the exhaustive paperwork.

We are family and care more about eachother than other things.

britishspouse

maybe I should of posted here too. I assumed the sept/oct filers were for both us and UK.

I am UK citizen hubby is US citizen and currently living and working in USA still. So he filed the paperwork in america.

I had no idea it was a totally different timeline. Is it longer filing in the USA then??

meauxna

It's just a different process. It takes a little longer filing through the US because the queue is longer.

The biggest difference is going to be the NVC part (after petition approval).. be sure to read up on those steps.

britishspouse

Ahh ok. do you have a link for those steps? Trying to find them now, and what NVC stands for

edit. just found out from the wiki thread. National visa center

meauxna

Sure, start with the link at the top of the forum that says CR-1 Info (must change that title, really)
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/CR-1_

That links you to each step's webpage and will help you get started.

HJP

The update from me is.... no update. predictably little progress as only 2 months into what is ordinarily a 5 month process for the I-130 part of the CR-1. For the NVC part it still appears to be 3 months(ish) based on the processing times i am seeing on various websites so with a prevailing wind i might be able to get my visa in hand by May/June although realistically looking at mid/late summer of 2011.

Nonetheless going to start getting round to having my medical records upto date and the police record check done over the next month or two just so i am fully ready for when the approval comes....next year

hockeysarah

This is exactly where im at. Im hoping to be able to move out in June.Lets hope it all goes to plan!
It quite nice to know that others are in the same boat, im just willing the days to go by at the moment!