I got a notification to say my documents will be ready for collection tomorrow at the chosen courier. I remember reading something about a white envelope that you do not open, when and how do you get this?

You'll receive a large grey envelope. Inside it will be your passport and slightly smaller white envelope. Obviously, you can open the outer grey envelope, but you should not open the white envelope, as this needs to be opened by the Border Patrol Officer on entry into the US.

Yes, the outer grey was a plastic/polythene (did I just show my age😂😂😂)

So I have a great update. My wife and I received our interview date. Its on the 12/01/2021. We were DQ'ed on 6/9/2020 and we weren't expecting this at all as we had seen from many posts that it was 4-6 months. So we are almost at an end of this process. Any tips on what to expect next or advice would be greatly welcomed.

Congratilations.

I cant give any tips or advice apart from make sure you have all the correct papers. Perhaps look at Health Insurance too.
Thats about it.

What I would say is think ahead to when you eventually get your visa and arrive in US. Things like, US Bank Account. Give consideration to opening an account with a UK bank which has a US presence, (Barclays perhaps?). This was an issue I had since arriving. These pages offerrd a solution (Wells Fargo). Another BIG issue was the lack of a US Credit Score! My excellent UK Score meant nothing. As a result, getting a rental home wasnt easy. What about transport, will you need a car? Leasing is what we wanted to do but no US Credit Score meant no deal. After borrowing a family members car, we eventually bought a used car.

Both a home and a lease deal were very problematic. We solved the home issue but a lease agreement wasnt possible. That was the case even when we were prepared to offer the max cash (and more) as a down payment.

Just some things to ponder.

Once again, congratulations on getting your interview date🙂

.......and another really important thing (at least, it is for me) how long will your UK Driving Licence allow you to drive in USA? For example, as far as I can ascertain, in Florida my UK licence was good for 12 months - I was classed as a non resident - until I undertook a Tenancy agreement. At that point I became an official resident and my UK licence immeduately became void for driving in the State.

If this scenario applies to you at immigration, take the time to at least study for any theory test you may need to take.

This thread has been really helpful. Thank you stuwoolf, I appreciate your thoroughness!

I am a uk citizen spouse of a US citizen, we live in the UK. I just got the approval (18/12) of all my documents submitted to the NVC (I-864, civil doc's, financial doc's, etc). I received an email saying they'd been approved.

1. At this point do I need to just wait for them to email me an appointment time and date? Or do I need to go somewhere and book it? I have a case ID # (which begins with LND), it's how I've been logging in to the NVC website where I uploaded all of my doc's..

2. What's the timeframe between my NVC approval and receiving an appointment?

Thanks for any insight!

Hi All

I'm planning to head to USA from UK to activate my IR1 Visa. I have the large white envelope, does any one have details of the process at border control? I'm travelling with three young children and would like an idea of typically how long the process takes?

Thanks
Jon

If my last two recent trips to Newark are anything to go by the longest part would normally be getting to see an officer. Both times it’s been straight to see them. (Expired GC so need to show I751) when I activated my IR1 a few years ago it was no more than 5 minutes. I think my last flight over had United employees taking up most of Business class and outnumbering paying passengers.

The actual process of checking the contents of the envelope and stamping your passport, takes 10 - 20 minutes. Depends on the officer if they check everything and are chatty or not. The unknown is how many people are inline before you waiting for the secondary examination. Best advice given if you are taking a connecting flight is don't book a tight connection, allow a couple of hours at least. That is in normal times, what the situation is at the moment your guess is as good as ours.

Hi All

Does anyone see any legal issues with activating the visa at the moment going from UK to USA and returning a few weeks later? I think I read someone suggesting that travel for visa reasons was allowed even with the existing travel restrictions.

Do you think I would need more than my visa in my passport as proof?

Thanks
Jon

Today I received my Green Card. It went to my Mother in Laws address and she brought it round today

😊😊😊

All in all, from arrival on Nov 4th it has taken 10 weeks to receive.

A big Thank You to OS306 for reminding me, a day or 2 after I arrived, to make the payment😂

Thank you to everyone on this site for the assistance they have given.

Good luck everyone🙂

Thats good to hear... myK1 has expired in lockdown, so i am waiting for the embassy to start those again and understand what I will need to do to get a reissue and how long that will take and the whole GC thing was another headache... I had a fear that there would be a huge backlog and I would have to wait months and months all over again to start work once i landed and got married.

What payment are you referring too exactly?

Our plan is to get married "on paper" at city hall as soon as possible after i land, so i can apply for the GC quickly... then we have a proper thought out wedding for all family and friends when things get back to "normal" for all... fingers crossed!!!

Paid for initial Visa Application. Paid for Medical. Paid at Embassy Interview. Once I arrived in US I paid for GC. I think the GC payment can be made as soon as the visa is in hand.

Not sure if this is applicable to all visa routes. Mine was a IR1 - Spouse Visa submitted to US Embassy London (sadlly this route (DCF) is no longer available via London)

Good luck🙂

Thanks Hopefully things start to move again and we can get on with our life together!