stocks

Hello

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Myself (GB citizen) and my wife (American citizen) have been married since July 2005. We both reside in the UK for almost a year now and were married in the UK also.

We are wanting to travel back to US in next few months on a permanent basis.

Is the CR1 visa the best visa for me to apply for?
What is the process to apply for the CR1?
Has anyone applied for the CR1?
How long before I recieve the CR1?
Do I have to have an interview at the US embassy in London?
Am I free to work as soon as I get to the States, as long as I have my SSN?
How long before the Green Card is issued to me?

Thanks

Paul S

stocks

Can anyone help ?

ian-mstm

The word "best" is a highly subjective term. What's best for you is not necessarily what's best for someone else. Usually, "best" means "fastest" but, very often, that isn't true either. Anyway, if your wife has Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, then this is definitely the least complicated route to go! She can file at the US embassy in London and, when all is said and done, you become a permanent resident (PR, ie. green card) the moment your feet touch US soil. I'm not savvy on the application process for this, but I'm sure others will chime in.

If your wife does not have ILR, then I believe the only other option is a regular spousal visa (K-3). This will take quite a bit longer because the paperwork must go to the US for processing. If the application is approved, you have an interview and, if successful, get a visa to travel to the US. In the US, there is more paperwork to file as you adjust status from a K-3 recipient to a PR. This can take anywhere from several months to a year or more... but you're in the US and you can work as long as you file the requisite paperwork.

Anyway, this should get you started. Remember... google is your friend.

Ian

Elvira

Ian has answered your question comprehenisvely.

I just wanted to add that it might be a good idea for your wife to become a UK citizen before you leave, if she meets the criteria.

Noorah101

They can still go for a CR-1 visa, they just can't do it via DCF in London if she doesn't have ILR. They don't HAVE to go for a K-3, it's just the backup plan to the CR-1 route filed in the USA.

Rene

meauxna

Paul,
The 'best' visa, IMO is the Immigrant Visa (CR/IR). When you arrive in the US, you are 'done' for work, travel and living here permissions.

The process is detailed at uscis.gov in the How Do I section. You can check this out, but I don't know if your wife will be eligible to file in London. She can contact them and ask (not the Consulate, she needs the DHS office in London): http://www.visajourney.com/forums/in...ustom&page=dcf

My husband applied for one.

There's no predicting how long it will take, but a safe guesstimate is 5-11 months. I suspect this is the key piece of information for you. DCF will cut several months off of that process.

Yes, you must interview in London for the visa.

Yes, you are legal to work from the moment you're admitted with an Immigrant Visa.

Your Green Card is mailed to you after you are admitted. You will have a temporary evidence in your passport until it arrives.

Currently, K-3s have a question mark due to the IMBRA/I-129f form re-do. If your wife is required to file her I-130 in the US, she can still file toward the K-3, but no one knows what will be happening with them in the immediate future.

Follow up questions?

Lansbury

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 19:28:02 +0000, stocks <member52018@british_expats.com>
wrote:

    >How long before I recieve the CR1?

I have just started the process by sending the I-130 to the US Embassy on the
9th June. My best guess is that I should hopefully get the interview and the
visa issued October/November time.


--
Lansbury
www.uk-air.net
FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup

stocks

My wife does have a 2 yr conditional residency to remain in th UK. I lived in Ireland when my wife came over to me from the US, she was granted a 2 yr visa (at the British emabassy in Dublin) to enter the UK last October.

Does this mean she has indefinate leave to remain?

We are looking at hiring an attorney in the US to do all the paperwork for us and the charge is around $1990, is this acceptable?

your comments would be much appreciated, thanks.

Lansbury

On Wed, 14 Jun 2006 10:30:05 +0000, stocks <member52018@british_expats.com>
wrote:

    >My wife does have a 2 yr conditional residency to remain in th UK. I
    >lived in Ireland when my wife came over to me from the US, she was
    >granted a 2 yr visa (at the British emabassy in Dublin) to enter the UK
    >last October.
    >Does this mean she has indefinate leave to remain?

Things have changed slightly since my wife came to the UK in 1996, but a 2
year visa granted at an Embassy is not Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). My
wife came on a one year visa and when that was close to expiring we applied
for her ILR. You would need to find out when she qualifies to apply for ILR,
ie how long she has to live her to qualify.

The US Embassy in London has a condition that it will only handle
applications from people who have ILR, I believe they actually say
unconditional leave to remain, although it has on occasion waived that
requirement I believe. In the case of my wife she has a separate visa in her
US passport which clearly states on it "Given leave to remain in the United
Kingdom for an indefinite period". When we sent in our I-130 we had to send a
photocopy of that visa to prove we could apply at the Embassy.


    >We are looking at hiring an attorney in the US to do all the paperwork
    >for us and the charge is around $1990, is this acceptable?
    >your comments would be much appreciated, thanks.

Personally unless there are complications in your case, I wouldn't pay a
lawyer. The forms are quite easy to understand and there are plenty of helpful
and knowledgeable people here and on www.visajourney.com who can answer
questions if you get stuck.
--
Lansbury
www.uk-air.net
FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup

ian-mstm

Is there a date on which she must leave the UK? If so, it's not ILR.


Do you really mean "acceptable" or do you actually mean "reasonable"? There's a big difference. Would *I* spend this much? Probably not. Would someone else? Probably, yes. Would you spend this much? If you do, then it's both reasonable and acceptable!

Do you have any particularly difficult issues here that might affect your being approved immediately? Visa overstays? Criminal background? Crazy ex-wife wanting to screw you over? If not, then perhaps a consultation with an attorney would be better than hiring one for the long term. An attorney should be able to help you avoid costly (and timely) common pitfalls that the casual DIY'er might make... but an attorney can not guarantee success nor can one get the application approved any quicker! Still, if an attorney will help you sleep better at night, then by all means get one.

Ian

Bretsuki

Hello stocks,

Your wife will probably have residency for the U.K. sufficient for the
U.S. Embassy to grant her permission to apply for you to be processed
via the I-130 Alien relative route.

My wife (USC) applied for me via an I-130 begining October 2005 and
after a slow start I was interviewed in London the first week in April
this year.

We are now in the U.S. and it will be our second wedding anniversary in
two weeks so I am CR-1. If we had travelled after 27th June I could
have been granted permanent residency immediately, but for us we took
into consideration other aspects, my wife is a school teacher and they
begin hiring here after Easter and the schools begin the new year from
early August so we felt coming over early was an acceptable
complication, it just means filing more paperwork 21months after my
arrival and more interviews and added costs.

We were told by the Embassy that the visa is the same whether you come
before or after your anniversary, it is valid for 6 months anyway. They
suggested we take into account our circumstances and choose the most
acceptable for us.

I was able to work as soon as we arrived, my social security card
arrived within 10 days, my "Green card" within three weeks, the visa
stamp acts as a temporary green card until you receive your permant
card. The most useful thing my social security card has so far been
useful for is getting a driving licence, you need a social security
number to apply in California where we are, without that one little
card, you can meet a dead end in many areas of officialdom.

A few suggestions would be that if you do decide to apply, you can
begin the process on your own part whilest you wait for the application
to be accepted by applying for items such as your Police report, which
takes time to come through from Scotland Yard, about 40 days or so.
Have your wife prepare her tax returns, make several copies of
everything. Check every piece of paperwork you receive from the Embassy
and prepare a file just for your application, If you are both moving
and will be unemployed, get copies of bank accounts and convertable
assets to prove you will have sufficient funds, my wife and I needed
about $90,000 of liquid assets to pass their screening. Send any
written material to the Embassy via Special Delivery, a couple of times
they told me they didn't have a piece of paper I'd sent I just tracked
it online and they did have them. So well worth the extra cost to my
nerves. Finally a money saver tip, don't call the premium rate number
on the website, it is a call centre in Scotland, they will take five
minutes to tell you to look things up on the website, they are no use
at all.

It might get a little frustrating in the next few months, don't worry,
when the momentum builds, the Embassy works fast, if you have all your
papers prepared there is no need for a lawyer.

I hope at least some of this has been helpful

All the best

William

Lansbury

On 14 Jun 2006 06:57:23 -0700, "bretsuki" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Your wife will probably have residency for the U.K. sufficient for the
    >U.S. Embassy to grant her permission to apply for you to be processed
    >via the I-130 Alien relative route.

That may not now be the case, the Embassy has got stricter of late in
enforcing the ILR requirement. This was done in order to reduce the amount of
applications they were getting and to reduce the waiting time for those that
could apply.

Got to worth asking them, try sending an e-mail and see what they say.

    >A few suggestions would be that if you do decide to apply, you can
    >begin the process on your own part whilest you wait for the application
    >to be accepted by applying for items such as your Police report, which
    >takes time to come through from Scotland Yard, about 40 days or so.

The Police Certificate needs to obtained from the force area in which the
applicant lives. It is only the Met Police if you live in London and it isn't
processed at NSY anymore but at Empress State in SW6.
--
Lansbury
www.uk-air.net
FAQs for the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup

stocks

ok

So what is the actual process to apply for the CR1?

Does my US citizen wife just fill out the I-130 and send it in to the US Embassy in London with the appropriate fee?

Is that all?

An attorney in the US has told me that hiring a lawyer speeds up the process and they can get the CR1 to me within 3 months?

Realistic or not?

meauxna

Totally unrealistic. Borderline lie (if that is actually what the lawyer said- you may have paraphrased it incorrectly).

I gave you the link for the process already.

stocks

ok

So my wife fills out the i-130, sends it to the DHS in London with the $190 fee. Is there any other charges after the initial $190?

Then the DHS sends a pack with all the information to continue with the process and what is needed from us (relevant documents) then all that is sent in, the I apply for my interview, have the interview then hopefully be approved and get my CR-1.

With my wife not having ILR, does that definately mean we cant file for the CR-1?