Greg

Eek! I thought I had this I-130 application figured out, but after
reading some postings today I'm all confused again.

My sitation -

I'm English,
My wife is American
We've lived in the UK (Coventry) together for over a year and a half
(shes a permanent resident now).
We want to move to the States (preferbly before the house prices drop
too badly. I'm going to need the equity from selling the house to set
up over there).

I applied today with the London Embassy, for what I thought was a "K3
visa". But some of the posts I've read tell me I need this mysterious
"Direct Consular Filing" because it is quicker.

On top of that, I've read conflicting posts. In some posts I've got
the impression people in my situation have got to the states on a K3,
but in another post I read that the K3 only applies to couples that
are separate, and are using the visa together quicker.

But on the other hand I can't find squat on the London Embassy site on
"Direct Consular Filing".

Still, I have sent off an I-130, complete with G-325As and other bits
(under the impression I'm filing a K3). Will that be treated like a
DCF?

One last thing. If the DFC is a different process to the K3, what is
the process? I've found plenty of K3 process outlines, but nothing on
the DFC processes...

beershake

Hi there,

From what I know, you have done the correct thing. What you filed IS 'Direct Consular FIling' and it is the correct thing for a couple in your situation. As far as I know, the K3 is for couples where the U.S. citizen is in the U.S. and is trying to bring the foreign person into the U.S. Direct Consular Filing is a better way since you get to enter the U.S. as a 'permanent resident', whereas when you enter with a K3 visa, you have to go through a whole another process called "Adjustment of Status".

My husband and I are in a similar situation (though not in England) and we did the same thing. From most of the posts that I have read, London seems to be pretty quick/timely in processing these applications compared to some other consulates. You are on the right track for now.

Good luck.

L D Jones

Greg wrote:
    >
    > Eek! I thought I had this I-130 application figured out, but after
    > reading some postings today I'm all confused again.
    >
    > My sitation -
    >
    > I'm English,
    > My wife is American
    > We've lived in the UK (Coventry) together for over a year and a half
    > (shes a permanent resident now).
    > We want to move to the States (preferbly before the house prices drop
    > too badly. I'm going to need the equity from selling the house to set
    > up over there).
    >
    > I applied today with the London Embassy, for what I thought was a "K3
    > visa". But some of the posts I've read tell me I need this mysterious
    > "Direct Consular Filing" because it is quicker.

Though it may be somewhat out of date now my wife and I used the
following website as a guide to DCF in the UK

(and this newsgroup of course)

The reason you can't find information about this on the consulate's
website is because the consulates don't use the term "DCF." Forget the
K-3, it's not necessary.

The consulate's statement is here:



Read under the heading "where do I file the petition." This is the
description of DCF, they just don't call it that. In fact, that page has
been improved since I first read it a couple of years ago and now they
define the categories of proof they will accept. This appears to include
almost any status except tourist.

Apply for your "police cerificate" now and get your imminusation records
together. Particularly waiting for the former can slow the process down

Are house prices dropping in the UK? Last I heard they were still going
up

Greg

    > From what I know, you have done the correct thing. What you filed IS
    > 'Direct Consular FIling' and it is the correct thing for a couple in
    > your situation. As far as I know, the K3 is for couples where the U.S.
    > citizen is in the U.S. and is trying to bring the foreign person into
    > the U.S. Direct Consular Filing is a better way since you get to enter
    > the U.S. as a 'permanent resident', whereas when you enter with a K3
    > visa, you have to go through a whole another process called "Adjustment
    > of Status".

Thanks for setting my mind at ease!

Just hope the embassy ignores my "K3" references in my petition.
Still, I've emailed them to try and clear confusion on that issue. I
think I've also sent them too much money (its says 130 dollars on
form, and 96 dollars on website), but then its better to overpay than
underpay in this sitation...

pondhopper

Read under the heading "where do I file the petition." This is the
description of DCF,

Hi
Do you have the link to that list of requirements? I have looked at the consular site and can't find it.

Thanks

Rete

There was a change in fees recently. They had been lowered but Congress is working to rectify that situation so that they will be raised again to their former price.

Supposedly you were to be given a refund if you overpaid during the lower price timeframe. Here's hoping.

The US Consulate in London will either ignore your references or send the paperwork back to you. What exactly did you send them? A K-3 cannot be applied for out of the US. The I-129F must be filed in the US at the Chicago/Missouri Service Center. So I am assuming your wife (since you are not eligible to file anything at the US Consulate for your migration at this point) filed the I-130 for you.

To help you out a little, you might want to read:

http://k1.exit.com/dcf.html

It is informative and instructive.

Rete

Rete

PS Read this URL:

http://www.ameriscot.com/i130


Joyce and her husband were a US/UK couple, as you are, and living in the UK. This is there very explicit website dealing with everything, right down to taxes, on the DCF process from the UK to the US.

Rete

darrenb

Greg,

Ive just been through this whole process. My wife is a USC and has been living in the UK since 2000. We have just completed the DCF process so that we can move to the US. Email me at: [email protected] if you want me to give you all the info I have.

Thanks

D

northspoon

Hiya Greg
relax..the I-130 direct consular filing is the right and quickest route for you.. the K3 is in place for couples who are apart to minimise thier separation... its actually the K1 fiance visa that you have to fill in for a K3 application aswell as the I-130 but as you are together it wont apply. I dont think your reference to the K3 will hinder your application providing you have filled it in correctly...i must say however...that some people who have sent their applications in with the 130 dollars fee have had thier applications returned and they have had to re-apply with the 96 dollars
good luck

northspoon

Hi there Rete
I would just like to point out that although this site is really informative about what to expect, a lot of the information on this site is out of date eg...the fees have changed at least twice

Rete

Noted Northspoon. However, since it is DCF, the users will get the actual fee from the US Consulate in London before they file their I-130 won't they? What other information is out of date? These people only migrated about 1-1/2 years ago. I don't think the processing has changed. But if there are inadequacies I would certainly want to know of them so that the site is no longer referenced.

Thanks.

Rete

Greg

    > There was a change in fees recently. They had been lowered but Congress
    > is working to rectify that situation so that they will be raised again
    > to their former price.
    >
    > Supposedly you were to be given a refund if you overpaid during the
    > lower price timeframe. Here's hoping.
    > The US Consulate in London will either ignore your references or send
    > the paperwork back to you.

Yeah, the embassy sent our papers back on account of the overpayment,
but also because we failed to send proof of Faye's residency in
England. Still, all fixed and sent off again...

    > What exactly did you send them? A K-3
    > cannot be applied for out of the US. The I-129F must be filed in the US
    > at the Chicago/Missouri Service Center. So I am assuming your wife
    > (since you are not eligible to file anything at the US Consulate for
    > your migration at this point) filed the I-130 for you.

Well, we sent them all the bits (minus the proof of residency) that
are required for I-130, that is, the I-130, plus G325As, photos, money
and photocopied evidence. I mentioned K-3 on the covering letter and
somewhere on the G325As as I'd got the wrong end of the stick, and
thought that was what the application was for, but as they've sent all
the paperwork back to us, we're corrected it (with notes explaining
the corrections, plus a new covering letter).

    > To help you out a little, you might want to read:
    >
    > http://k1.exit.com/dcf.html

Thanks, t'is a useful page...

Greg

    > The consulate's statement is here:
    >
    >
    >
    > Read under the heading "where do I file the petition." This is the
    > description of DCF, they just don't call it that. In fact, that page has
    > been improved since I first read it a couple of years ago and now they
    > define the categories of proof they will accept. This appears to include
    > almost any status except tourist.

Cheers

    > Apply for your "police cerificate" now and get your imminusation records
    > together. Particularly waiting for the former can slow the process down

I sent off the police application today. Hopefully its not too late
yet...
I haven't sorted out the immunisation records yet, so that's next...


    > Are house prices dropping in the UK? Last I heard they were still going
    > up

House prices over here are just starting to droop in some parts of the
country. Shouldn't be a major problem, but I get the impression a lot
of people (me included) want to sell up now whilst they can still make
a profit... :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2793061.stm

L D Jones

Greg wrote:
    >
[...]
    > Well, we sent them all the bits (minus the proof of residency) that
    > are required for I-130, that is, the I-130, plus G325As, photos, money
    > and photocopied evidence. I mentioned K-3 on the covering letter and
    > somewhere on the G325As as I'd got the wrong end of the stick, and
    > thought that was what the application was for, but as they've sent all
    > the paperwork back to us, we're corrected it (with notes explaining
    > the corrections, plus a new covering letter).

I may be mistaken (and I doubt it) but if you're doing DCF then you
won't have anything to do with K-3 (at least I didn't when i did DCF in
the UK). I suppose this is one of the 'corrections' you made

meauxna

Hey Greg, glad you're on track! Just a quick reminder to not self-diagnose vaccines, unless you don't mind getting extra jabs. Depending on your circumstances, you may not need all that you think you need. The chart can be misleading.