cher11

Hello,

I'm Cheryl and I hope this is the right place to ask some questions. I tried doing a search first but haven't come up with just the right answers.
I am a US citizen, and my husband a British citizen. We dated long distance for about 5 years, with me visiting him in England. He came here to California last May, 2017, for 3 weeks and we officially married near San Francisco. I went back with him for 6 months and now I'm back in California alone and working.
For the longest time, I had wanted to live with him in England, and now we have changed our minds and have decided to live here near my family.
If this was a forum about what it takes to get a UK Spousal Visa, I could give lots of advice because of all the research I did. Now that he wants to move here, we have no clue what it's going to take.
I've done a little research on the US government and state sites but I'm a bit confused.
I know for me to move to the UK, my husband had to make around £21,000 or more, which he did. Is the reverse now true for me? Do I have to make a certain amount for him to move here? I'm wondering if anyone has some information on this?
Right now, we are both living and working separately and were wondering if anyone has a ballpark figure of how much this will potentially cost?
We knew what it would cost for me to move there and were planning on saving about £10,000 for the whole process.
Just wondering what other people, who've been thru the whole process, from beginning to end, have experienced and what the process was like?
Any advice would be so appreciated right now as we truly want to know what we need to aim for.
Thank you,
Cheryl Judge

Nutmegger

Welcome to BE! Lots of folks will be along to help you. In the meantime, you might want to read the CR-1 visa wiki at the top of the marriage forum page. Good luck!

cher11

Thank you so much! I can't wait for my husband to be able to live here and also, to be able to tell friends and family about how long it might take. I don't see the Wiki you mention but I will search for it. Thanks again! 😊

Rete

Hi again. I see you found the proper forum for your questions on how to obtain a visa for your husband to live and work in the US.

The WIKI is on the blue bar above. You will look for the US section and then the CR-1 visa

Since he is in the UK and you are in the US, you will need to have him obtain and immediate relative visa. You will start the ball rolling by going to the USCIS website and d/l the I-130 and filing it on his behalf.

You are concerned about the monetary requirement of sponsoring him. The USCIS requires that you be his financial sponsor and that means that you must have income of 125% of the US Poverty Guides for a family your size. In your case that appears to be 2 people ... you and him. The Poverty Guidelines can also be found on the USCIS website.

The process is lengthy and will take 10 to 12 months for him to get his Conditional Immediate Relative Visa (CR-1) since you are married or will be married less than 2 years when the visa is issued.

As I said you start by filing the I-130, after approval, the USCIS sends it to the National Visa Center (NVC) where you will submit other paperwork and the affidavit of support (I-864) which will show you income and assets. If you can't fulfill the financial requirement, you are allowed to have a joint sponsor.

After the affidavit of support is approved, the I-130 and I-864 will be forwarded to the US Embassy in London where your husband must continue the process to obtain the visa. This will include getting a police clearance certificate, have a medical at the designated medical office in Knightsbridge, then attend an interview at the Embassy and if all is good, he will be given the visa.

The above is only a brief outline and others who have been through this process will be along to embellish the process for you. It seems daunting and yes, it can be.

The fees for everything will range from 2-3 thousand.

Rete

There is also a link to the wiki information at the start of this forum on the opening page, left side. It clearly says CR-1 Info.

tom169

Hi Cheryl. Are we right in assuming you both:

Don't have children
Don't have prior spouses
Don't have a criminal record
Have only lived in the respective birth countries

celticgrid

If they married around May 2017 and the process is currently taking up to a year, perhaps consider timing things so that an IR-1 is obtained - avoid the stage of removing conditions?

Rete

Most definitely a possible way to go to avoid removing of conditions. Depends on whether they are a patient couple and don't mind living apart for two years. Removing conditions is such a minor process that it shouldn't really be viewed as something that should be avoided.

Twinkle0927

Hi Cheryl

I went through the process in 2016 and moved here (Washington state) in December 2016.

The first thing you need to do is read through the instructions for the I-130 and I-130A. You will need to submit both forms along with your proof of US citizenship (copy of your birth certificate or your passport will suffice), copy of your marriage certificate, copies of divorce decrees or death certificates of previous spouses (if applicable to either of you), two passport photos of you and there is also a list of items on the instructions that you are also recommended to send to convince the adjudicator that the marriage is bona fide (form says "you should send" - it doesn't say "must send" but to me "should" is strong enough).

The fee for the form is $535 paid by money order, check or credit card.

After about 6 months you will have a decision on the petition. Hopefully an approval!

Then your file is sent to the NVC in New Hampshire for the next round of paperwork.

You pay two more fees ($120 affidavit of support fee, $325 visa fee)

Your husband completes an online application for the visa itself.

Then your husband needs to gather:

- his birth certificate
- copy of his passport
- marriage certificate (again!)
- divorce decrees or death certificates of previous spouse (again - if applicable)
- police certificate for any country he has lived in beyond the age of 16 or any country where he has citizenship even if he's never lived or even been there
- military records if he ever served in the military anywhere in the world
- court or prison records if applicable

At the same time you will complete form I-864 and provide copies of your tax transcripts to show you earn above the required amount for your household size. If you don't, you must still complete this form and find someone else who can be a joint sponsor who does earn enough for their household size plus your husband.

All of this is bundled together and sent to the NVC and some weeks later (currently about 5 but has been as long as 13 depending on workload) the case will be marked "complete" and your husband will be sent an appointment letter for an interview in London.

Before the interview rolls around he will need to have a medical in London at Knightsbridge Doctors. This costs £300. He will also need to make sure he has had the MMR booster, Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) booster and a flu shot if by then it's flu season. If his GP can't give him the pertussis shot it's not a problem. It happens often with U.K. applicants because the supplies of pertussis shots in the U.K. are ear-marked for pregnant women and other "at risk" groups. I couldn't get a pertussis shot, even from a private doctor, and Knightsbridge also didn't have it. Visa was still approved with an annotation on it. He should have no problem getting tetanus and diphtheria from the GP though.

He then goes to the interview in London, hopefully is approved on the spot, they keep his passport, a week later the passport comes back with the visa in it and a bill for $220 for his green card production. He buys a plane ticket, lands at whichever airport and when he goes through the immigration hall his passport will be stamped to show that he is now a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) and he will be good to go. He can work immediately. He will get an SSN about 2 weeks after arriving and the plastic green card will arrive between 3 and 12 weeks after he arrives (mine took 63 days).

Total cost $1200 plus £300 medical

U.K. police certificate costs £45.00

Keoman

All good info for you so far, but I’ll add that as you’ve been married almost a year already, you can expect to this process to take 12-14 months. I’m 11 months in so far but it will mean by the time your visa is processed you would have been married for 2 years, so you can then get the IR-1 visa. Which will save the removal of conditions from the CR-1.

Twinkle0927

Yes, it’s almost a certainty that they will have been married more than 2 years by the time the husband enters the country so that means they will avoid the circus that is currently going on with Removal Of Conditions. And the added fees.

BigT103

That is the only silver lining in my case as I have been stuck in the UK since January 2017, I'm finally at the NVC stage now and wont be back before my 2 yr anniversary so I will get an IR1 visa and not have to worry for ten years!

My advice for the OP would be to get the ball rolling ASAP as if you get any problems like my case it could take longer than May 2019!