meauxna

Congratulations!
Do you think you did anything that 'slowed' your case to just +7months, or did you respond in a timely fashion to all prompts from the Embassy?

For others coming along behind you, would be good to know if 4-6 months is no longer accurate.

ian1976

No, in fact I-130 and DS230-I were submitted in parallel and we took the first interview slot that was offered.

We did file the petition just before the price rise in July so that is the only thing I can think that may have slowed things down? That does make the whole thing closer to 6 months though.

JAJ

Congratulations. Were you born in the U.S.? If so, and you're planning to have children in the U.S. you need to work out if your wife is also British "by descent".

How and when did she get her British citizenship?

ian1976

Yes I was born in the USA to a British father so I am a dual national. My wife naturalised as a British citizen a couple of years ago.

meauxna

Actually it looks like you were basically on schedule, factoring in summer holiday and August post switching.

Would you expand a little on your concurrent (in parallel) filing? I'd heard that this wasn't allowed anymore, but someone was just asking about it recently.. did you send the DS-230 with the I-130 to USCIS or did you send I-130 in per the website instructions and then send the DS-230 to the Consulate?
I'd appreciate anything you can add...

ian1976

We engaged a lawyer to do it all for us. We were told that the forms were submitted concurrently (of course I only have their word!). I have no futher details unfortunately.

JAJ

If your wife is naturalised British (and by this I mean she has a certificate of naturalisation and not a certificate of registration) then she is British "otherwise than by descent."

Any children you have born in the U.S. will automatically be British by descent not because of you (because you are British by descent) but because of your wife. Don't be surprised if Embassy officials don't understand the situation with naturalised British citizens, however.

The way to prove the British citizenship of any U.S. born child you have will be to get a consular birth certificate and British passport, both from the embassy.

Presumably your wife became naturalised British after 4 April 2002, otherwise she lost her Australian citizenship at the time.

exexpat

The embassy in London is pretty lax on domicile. I had lived in the UK for years prior to sponsoring my now-ex and we didn't have any trouble whatsoever. The visa was issued in late 2006, though it was never used.