Here we are again.
 

Its been 8 years since I first posted on this forum and what a weird experience it was looking back on my 20 year old self discussing visas and moving possibilities for me and my girlfriend in a couple of years.

Well, life is very different now and my now wife and I have been happily married for the last 5 years and we live in rural south east england. We lived in central London for 3 years when my wife moved to the UK, built good careers and decided to move further out and buy a house. But the last 18 months, the idea of moving back to be with her family has been gaining traction. We don't have children yet and I think a big reason for that is my wife just haven't settled here, she says she is happy, but I know deep down that she isn't and like wise i think i'm not either.

So with the support and help from our friends and family we have decided to pick up sticks and do what we discussed all those years ago and go stateside.

As a refresh and update for people, Wife is a USC and now also a UKC (Greedy I know). We have no dependants but have a lovely good size family home here to sort out either rent or sell. We will be moving to be with her family in Orlando, FL ideally around summer time.

I wanted to come back here for help as everyone here was so helpful and kind before. I'm the one across all visas and research at the moment and understand the UK system pretty well as we went through it all here right upto Citizenship for my wife this year.

Just to clarify Process = File I130 here DCF in London (No supporting docs?), await approval then file DS260 here in London with Affidavit of Support from family member in US with minimum income requirements + all supporting docs.
P.s Anyone got a an up to date processing time for the entire process, I know it can be how long is a piece of string.

I'm sure there will be a few more questions and doubts and worries along the way but I wanted to keep my journey in one place going forward.

I really appreciate everyones help and advice as usual and look forward to your replies

Kindest

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

I'm not too familiar with DCF so can't help much, but just want to say congrats on the happy marriage so far and good luck!

I'm glad she managed to get her British citizenship in that time. It will set you both up for life.

Re: Here we are again.
 

Typical DCF is taking about 4 to 6 months. The immigrant visa is valid for 6 months from the date of the medical exam. The USC must be up to date on US tax returns and must still provide an I-864 Affidavit of Support. If she doesn't qualify financially with income or assets, a joint sponsor can be used.

Rene

Re: Here we are again.
 

Rene,

Will we need to sort the tax returns before we apply? my wife has been here in the UK for the last 5 years and was un aware she needed to file returns if she was paying her tax here as a resident. having done some quick research, she hasn't earnt over the $100k limit so shouldn't have to pay any US tax liability but I know she needs to sort it asap.

Should we wait to apply until this is sorted? We wanted to send the forms off tomorrow.

She won't be the sponsor as we are both living here in the UK so i assume we will need to use either her parents or sister who both qualify under the income rules?

Many thanks

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Your wife MUST be your sponsor, even if she doesn't have the required income. In this case, a joint-sponsor would be needed.

As for the tax returns, if she has lived and worked (and been taxed) in the UK, there will most likely be nothing to pay, but the filings must be made. It is possible to file retrospectively and I suggest you do that asap. I'm sure there is information on how to proceed on the IRS website.

Re: Here we are again.
 

She must file at least the last 3 years' worth of returns and have proof that prior to your interview.


By law, all USCs must file an annual tax return regardless of where they live/work in the world. The only exception to filing is if their income is below the IRS threshold.


Correct. The US/UK tax treaty helps her avoid double taxation so long as her income is under $100,800. However, she is still obligated to file a US tax return. She must include her UK income, but she won't likely have any US tax obligation.


If she's filing the I-130 directly to London, she can do so now. You'll have about 4 months or so to fix the tax issue. It must be sorted by the time you have your immigrant visa interview.


She is the USC spouse. She must be the sponsor. There is no option for her not to be the sponsor.


One of them (but not all) will be a joint sponsor.

Ian

Re: Here we are again.
 

Thanks for the reply everyone. I understand what you're saying about the sponsor, apologies as I had not explained it in the right way there.

With regard to the filing fees now not being made by card, can I just go into my local bank and get an international bankers draft? Do I just make it payable to the US Department of Homeland Security, i've not done an international bankers draft before.

Many thanks

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Update 1:

I-130 Sent Special Delivery to DCF London Embassy on Friday 13th January (I'm not superstitious)

Docs Sent:

Copy of USC Passport, Copy of UKC Passport, Copy of USC UK Passport to prove residence in UK, Marriage Cert, G1145 E-Notification Form, G325a for both of us, International Bankers Draft in USD for $535 made payable to US Department of Homeland Security, fully filled out I-130 with section E Signed my wife USC.

Hope that all makes sense. Hopefully we didn't miss anything! What a pain that the only way a UK based applicant can pay for the I-130 is an old fashioned, time consuming International Bankers Draft! I looked online prior to getting one drawn up but this was the only option they offered that I could see we qualified for. Was I wrong?

Thanks again guys

Chris

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I believe you are correct, since they recently did away with credit card payment.

Rene

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It seems like a crazy idea as its a real pain to obtain one!


One question if anyone who has filed DCF or who knows the process, how long will they actually need to have mine (UKC) or my wifes (USC) passports? Will they need them for an extended period like they do here in the UK system?

Many thanks

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Good luck! I am planning to do the same in a couple of months, so I will be curious to see how your process goes!

Also interesting to know that they did away with the credit card payments, will have to take that into account...

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Your wife's US passport will not be required. They will keep your passport only long enough to create and insert the visa and it'll then be returned to you via courier. Plan on not having it for about a week.

Ian

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I hope it all goes to plan. My wife and I are close to doing the exact same thing so I will watch your progress with great interest. And yes the international bankers draft is just a pain. Good Luck

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"Might be needed" - depending on Chris and his wife's savings and realizable assets. The US is more generous than the UK and anything that could be readily sold to realize cash can be used as an asset, together with unearned income, but note that you can use the capital value of an investment OR its income, but not both. So you can add up all cash savings, in both spouses names, investments in shares or OEICs/unit trusts/funds, saleable real estate, impressionist paintings, etc. (but not pension investments because they're not realizable, unless you are close to retirement age) to come to an asset value.

IIRC the current threshold is just over $60k, and I would aim for a bit more than that to allow for market and currency volatility, and an additional margin if using assets such as property or works of art to allow for the cost of sale or uncertainty in the value. E.g. If your home is worth £200,000 I'd take off say £6,000 to allow for selling costs, deduct the current mortgage, say £130,000, then deduct another 10% (£20,000) to allow for volatility/uncertainty. So that would leave a net £44,000, equivalent to about $52,000. Trying to rely on more than that in this case may be pushing your luck, but there's, not much harm in trying.

Re: Here we are again.
 

Thanks for the information! After using your calculations and taking out a few bits for paying of various bits here we would have about £90,000 left over once we sell the house and take care of everything else!

Would this be sufficient on the I864 form? Or is it better to get a family member to submit support.

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Thanks for that update Ian, glad to hear that as I may need it for work not to far away from the Visa potentially being granted.

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£90,000 is almost twice what you need at the current exchange rate, so I am certain you won't have a problem with the "assets basis" using your home for the value. If you have realizable investments you could throw them down on the form too, but the house is going to be sufficient on its own.

Re: Here we are again.
 

Update 2:

Medical Records Requested - 17th January 2017

Police ACRO Report Requested - 17th January 2017


We had PSS round today to give us a quote for moving and shipping costs. We also have Pickfords and Britannia coming next week so will see what variation we get.

If anyone has experience with any of the companies above then it would be great to hear from you guys!

Chris

p.s Application Delivered, Signed for 17th January 2017

Re: Here we are again.
 

When it comes to information about actually moving, your questions should probably go in the general USA forum. At that point, it's not actually an immigration issue - but a logistics issue.

Ian

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Will do thanks Ian

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Does anyone have an idea of how the hell we fill the form I864 Support if we are using the equity in our house which we are selling to use instead of a person financially supporting us in the US.

The form seems long and complicated and I just wanted to see if anyone had done it this way and may have more info or advice on it.

Cheers

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Yes, many have. List the dollar amount of the equity in the part of the I-864 asking about assets. Include paper evidence of that value as well.

If the house sells prior to submitting the.I-864, then list the dollar amount under assets, plus proof of the sale and bank statement showing the deposit.

Rene

Re: Here we are again.
 

You don't have to sell it, you just have to show what it's worth and what you could sell it for. ..... Of course there are plenty of good reasons, especially related to tax, to sell it, but to meet visa requirements isn't one of them.

Re: Here we are again.
 

Update 3:

i130 Petition Sent - 13/1/17
Medical Records Requested - 17/1/17
Police ACRO Report Requested - 17/1/17
i130 Petition Received (Post Office Tracked) - 17/1/17
USCIS Email Confirming Receipt - 20/1/17


Hopefully they move swiftly as they have said on the email they should be processing within 45-60days which is encouraging.

Fingers crossed

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Glad everything is going to plan but I just had a few questions,

Did you have your medical records and ACRO all done before you sent off your i130?
When you say they have been requested do they want them immediately as it can take 2 weeks to get an ACRO check and not sure about the timeline with regards to obtaining the medical records.

Andy

Re: Here we are again.
 

Hi Andy,

You don't need them for the i130 filing, you don't need them done until your interview. I didn't have the Medical Records or Police ACRO before I filed but I ran out of things to prep once I posted the i130 so felt the urge to get started on the stuff I would need for the interview which is the Medical Records and Police ACRO report. I'm going to fill out the i864 Affidavit of Support this week so i'm all prepped.

The ACRO Report takes about 10 days on standard service but its valid for 6 months from issue for the purpose of visa application and the medical records should take about 2 weeks, I went down to my local GP and ordered them up, it cost £50 and they will call me to collect it when its ready, it will all come on one CD which i'll take with me to the interview.

So timings wise its going along.

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Unless things have changed recently, only the medical requires that the certificate be no more than 6 month's old. The ACRO certificate is valid for one year for all other US immigration purposes... including the visa application.

Ian

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Thanks for clarifying that Ian. :thumbup:

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Thanks Chris and Ian for the info.

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Update 4:

i130 Petition Sent - 13/1/17
Medical Records Requested - 17/1/17
Police ACRO Report Requested - 17/1/17
i130 Petition Received (Post Office Tracked) - 17/1/17
USCIS Email Confirming Receipt - 20/1/17
Medical Records CD Collected from GP - 23/1/17

It was a very interesting read and went all the way back to birth which will help with showing vaccinations etc.

Also, it says on there I had Asthma as a child but I haven't had an inhaler for years and can't remember the last time I had any problem with it.

Will this be an issue on getting health insurance out in the states?

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No. Full stop.

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I still have asthma and still use an inhaler occasionally. It wasn't an issue at the medical (the chest X-ray is what they're going to be looking at). Neither is it an issue here in the US for the insurance. Don't worry about it.

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Thanks everyone thats reassuring to hear, it's the only thing that was shown up on my notes summary as notable.

Chris

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How odd, considering it's completely un-noteworthy! :)

Ian

Re: Here we are again.
 

Update 5:

i130 Petition Sent - 13/1/17
Medical Records Requested - 17/1/17
Police ACRO Report Requested - 17/1/17
i130 Petition Received (Post Office Tracked) - 17/1/17
USCIS Email Confirming Receipt - 20/1/17
Medical Records CD Collected from GP - 23/1/17
Police ACRO Certificate Arrived - 26/1/17

Thanks all for the replies on the health insurance question, much appreciated.

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Wow very fancy I got a thick wedge of scanned paperwork! Certainly did make interesting reading, I never realized I got in so many scrapes, and sustained injuries, but then the haze of alcohol numbed them away at the time!

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You might want to start getting into the habit of using US format for dates.

Ian

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Haha, none of those for me, just a broken ankle from athletics when I was about 13.

I have a question about the I864 for people who know it well.

We are going to use the asset of the equity in our house. The form seems to cater to having another person support so i'm finding it difficult to navigate the form and fill out the relevant sections without leaving anything out.

Has anyone filled it out specifically just with assets, do you have any advice or tips.

Thanks as always

Chris

Re: Here we are again.
 

Unless you're the USC, you shouldn't be filling it out at all.


Can you be more specific about the sections you're having difficulty with? The form seems pretty straight forward. If you're using income, provide income information. If you're using assets, provide asset information.

Ian

Re: Here we are again.
 

I think its more the confusion maybe that no one is sponsoring me to go there as my wife doesnt live there or earn money there.

Is she technically the sponsor and when they ask all the questions about employer and income etc just leave that blank and only fill in the bit about assets?