classicmds

Status Update:

Received Visa today!

[Previous dates:
Interview: 14th July
Invitation to Interview: 7th June
Medical: 26th May
Case number received: Saturday 7 May
I-130 Approval: 19 April 2011
I-130 Filed: 22nd November 2010]

So that's exactly eight months from initial submission to visa.

The interview went well apart from:
(a) finding I had an old camera memory card lurking in my wallet (only 3 pounds to check in at the pharmacy but annoying!)
(b) more seriously, not realizing that the petitioner has to file an Affadavit of Support even if you know there is no way they have the income/assets to be your sponsor. Looking at it now it seems obvious (and I'm sure they've added an extra bit to the website to make this clear) but this caught us out. The officer was pretty relaxed about this, though, and assured me it wouldn't cause extra delay (apart from the day to get it there). We had to arrange for the courier to pick up this form and my passport the next day from home (they won't keep your passport unless application is complete). I don't think it added much more to the process (and surprisingly, only ten pounds more to the courier charges)
(c) leaving a lot of change in a wallet in a phone box by the Embassy. Anyone who was at the embassy that day and found it there - let me know!

My experience of the Embassy was a relatively short wait to get in (I'd seen some people say there are different lines for immigrant and non-immigrant visa, but this didn't seem to be the case), followed by about a two hour wait to be seen initially, then twenty minutes to be seen for the interview. I was a bit worried by the first wait, as several people had said they only waited about 25 minutes first off. The document check took about 15 minutes, the interview no more than 5. Appointment was at 9, I was out just before 12.

ian-mstm

The USC spouse is always the sponsor and must always file an I-864 even if they don't qualify financially. Whether or not it's on the web site, it's in the instructions for the I-864.

Anyway, it sounds like things'll be fine! No worries.

Ian

chask

Interview day was today! All went well, and we hope to have the passport back within a week. We fly out to LA on 11th August!

My wife's interview time was 8am. We arrived at 7:30 and were in the embassy by about 8. Waited for about 45 minutes, had first interview which was mainly document collection and fingerprinting. Then waited for about 20 minutes and had second interview, which was taking the oath, sign DS-230 Part II and a couple easy questions. Then the officer said the application is approved and that was it! So we were out of the embassy by about 10am.

A few tips:

1. I attended the interview with my wife (because we got an RFE, for whatever reason, we felt it was best that I attend too). We had sent a request to the [email protected] address and got an email back saying that I could attend with her. When we arrived at the embassy the person first checking documents (interview letter and passports) asked if we had the email from the IV Unit stating that I could attend the interview with my wife. We hadn't printed that out. She made a statement to the effect of 'if I can't find your husband's name on the list then he can't go in with you.' Ugh! After going through about 20 sheets of the list my wife luckily saw my name on the list and all was ok. Tip: the list is huge, so print out that email confirmation and take it with you! Will save a bit of drama right away!

2. During the first interview, my wife was asked to provide a mailing address for the green card, which has to be valid in approximately 2 to 3 months time. When we fly to LA on 11th August we will be in a furnished apartment for first 2 months, but then will be in a new apartment after that. We ended up providing my parents address in Pennsylvania and we'll have to sort out getting the green card from them when it arrives at their address. Tip: you will have to provide an address in USA even if you don't know exactly where you will be living, so it's good to have either a family member or friend's address ready in advance.

3. We used assets only on our I-864. Tip: This is fine, but be sure to bring ample evidence of bank accounts and financial statements for at least the past year. And remember to bring those US federal tax returns for past 3 years too!

On the lighter side, our celebrity sighting was Ringo Starr. It was a bit cheeky that they let him cut the security queue outside... but in the embassy he was waiting in the waiting area with his number just like the rest of us


__________________

Received notice I-130 had been filed 22 Dec 2010. RFE request on 11 May 2011 (received in post on 15 May). Sent response to RFE 18 May. I-130 approval 7 June 2011 (received in post 11 June). Case number received 15th June. Medical on 24th June. Interview on 2nd August and visa approved. Currently waiting to get passport returned.

nancyo

Hi chask - thanks very much for posting this. Very useful tips! We're using assets only on our I-864, so would you mind giving more details what "ample evidence" they asked to see? For instance, did they want more than bank statements, i.e. something certified/notarised rather than printed online statements? And how many bank statements did they want to see (all 12 previous months?) & how far back (more than a year?)? Would really appreciate any more details you're willing to share. Thanks!

chask

hi nancyo, happy to help! To answer your questions quickly, the officer only saw and took the last month's bank statements (none were certified or notarised). Although we took with us a full year's worth of bank statements from each of the bank accounts we have. A bit more detail to follow...

The officer asked us how much in assets we had declared on our I-864, and when we told him, and after seeing that we had a lot of statements, he just asked for and took the last month's statements.

We did collect statements for the past year for all of our bank accounts, both here in UK and the ones in USA. A couple of the statements we only get every 3 months, so for those ones we had the last statement available and then did a screen shot printout of the account just a few days before the interview.

I'm obviously not an authority, but I think they would be fine with statements that you can download from your bank and print out at home. We do everything online, but we went through the pain and cost of getting the statements mailed direct from our banks, but they look no different to the ones we could have downloaded and printed at home for free. In hindsight, should have just printed them at home!

Certified / notarised statements, we didn't get any statements certified or notarised, and I haven't read anywhere that you need to get statements certified or notarised, so I'm rather confident you don't need to do that.

Remember that your or your spouse's pension can also be used as assets in Part 7, 26(c) and 28(c) of the I-864. Certainly bring along statements to show the value of your pension as well.

hope that helps, let me know if you need more info! and good luck!


__________________

Received notice I-130 had been filed 22 Dec 2010. RFE request on 11 May 2011 (received in post on 15 May). Sent response to RFE 18 May. I-130 approval 7 June 2011 (received in post 11 June). Case number received 15th June. Medical on 24th June. Interview on 2nd August and visa approved. Currently waiting to get passport returned.

chask

Passport arrived this morning!!!! Very, very, VERY happy to get it and bring an end to our visa adventure! Nothing like a glass of champers at 11 in the morning!

All of our dates are shown below, hope it helps. It appears some people now are getting processed much quicker. Best of luck to all of you!

__________________

Received notice I-130 had been filed 22 Dec 2010. RFE request on 11 May 2011 (received in post on 15 May). Sent response to RFE 18 May. I-130 approval 7 June 2011 (received in post 11 June). Case number received 15th June. Medical on 24th June. Interview on 2nd August and visa approved. Passport, with visa stamped inside, received on 4th August. We're now all set to go!!!

britishspouse

congrats chask yeah I had a cheeky drink at 11am too lol

shadowmeister

Received Visa today at approx 930am! Woo Hoo!

shadowmeister

Yay! Congrats Chask !!

We really did have near exact timelines!

Good Luck in future to you both!!!!!

LuccaGirl

Thanks for posing all of that information!
Did you need to also prove your Domicile to the US? I (the USC) still have my US bank account, drivers license, voters registration, retirement fund....stuff like that. I was just thinking of sending the original drivers license which is proof of my address, and corresponds to my banking & voting information.

any help on this, cause I am trying to fill out the I-864 for our interview on the 19th. yippee almost there....

derick643

Hi Guys,

First off, a quick apology. I've been a member of the forum for the past few months but haven't contributed very much. The truth is I didn't have a lot to add and my wife (Cassia) has been more vocal on here about our visa process. I've been very grateful for all the advice we've gathered here though and the result was, today I got my visa approved!!

Now that our process is pretty much complete I thought I'd add my experience of the trip to the embassy and hopefully it'll be some use to others.

On the morning of the interview I got there over an hour beforehand. That gave me time to go to Gould's, the pharmacy where I was able to check in my possessions. I had my overnight bag and a couple of electronic devices. You can't take the electronics into the embassy and you're advised to carry as little as possible, ideally just your paperwork. I knew I'd be charged £3 for Goulds to store my bag but I found out they have to put electronics in the safe for insurance purposes and that's an extra £3.

With the spare time I was able to get some breakfast and work out exactly where I was going. That was quite handy as the google maps printout I had took me to the back of the building.

Going in is basically like an airport, putting your possessions through a scanner and walking through a metal detector. Inside the woman at the desk gave me a number and told me to take a seat. Ideally you want one near the TV screens so you can see the numbers being called easily. It's again like an airport with the departures being flashed up on the screen. Your number either starts with an 'I' or an 'N' (I guess Immigrant or Non-Immigrant) and obviously mine was an 'I' number. There's far fewer of them and they don't necessarily come up in order so you need to keep your wits about you. Like a lot of people I took a book to read, but you need to pay attention to the numbers so don't bring anything too engrossing!

It took about an hour for my number to be called and I went to the window they said. The guy took all the relevant paperwork (remember to make photocopies of pretty much everything) and compiled my folder. He gave me my medical results and told me to make sure I travel with them as Immigration would ask for them. He sent me to another window where I paid with credit card and went back. He asked for my appointment letter and I got a bit flustered when I couldn't find it. He got impatient too and then realised he had it all along.

Then it was a case of going back to the waiting room. I was given a form to fill in with details where they could send my documents. A good tip is to bring a pen for that or borrow one from the front desk.

Again, I waited for about an hour before I was recalled, this time to a different window. The woman there was nice, looked at my wife's tax records and asked me a couple of questions about her job, nothing too difficult. And that was it, she simply said I was approved. I was told they would keep my passport and post it back to me, along with the document I would present to Immigration. There was then a desk where I could go to pay for that courier service (about £36 I think).

One final piece of advice - I was flying back to Glasgow that evening and needed photo ID to board the plane. I had forgotten they would keep my passport at the embassy so if you're in the same boat (or plane) make sure you take your driving license. Luckily I had mine.

Thanks again for all the advice on here, and of course a big thank you to my wife who's kept me right and organised everything. It's a long process, but worth it when they say you're approved. Good luck everyone!

Apfelkuchen

This reminds me of a friend of my fiance's (a USC) who had to go to the London Embassy for something while he was living here a few years ago. He got there and realised he wasn't allowed to take any electronics in, so he decided to leave his bag (with his computer etc.) in a bush outside. Needless to say, this later triggered a massive security alert (and possibly even an evacuation - I can't remember all the details). The guy's dad happened to be some kind of big cheese in the DHS and wasn't best pleased with him when he heard about it !

chask

Hi Nancyo, so sorry for not replying sooner. Moving was a very busy time, but we now in LA and getting life setup is keeping us busy!

Looks like you had your interview already and hope it went well. I'm sure you got some good advice that it's always a good idea to bring the little things, such as your US driver's license, voter reg, proof of US bank account statements, etc with you. It never hurts to have it ready in case you are asked to demonstrate your intent to move.

Sorry again for delay, but hope you're now all sorted and ready to move!

chask

Thank you! And cheeky drinks at 11am are always a good thing!!!

We now moved into our new place in LA. It's going ok so far, a bit surreal in some ways. Such a different lifestyle to London. I have to admit that I miss my Oyster card already! But the sunshine and beach on Saturday helped make up for it a bit!

chask

And best of luck to you as well!!!