Donjamin

Hello Everyone

I've signed up to this thread as am quite intrigued to both read others experiences and perhaps see if anyone else here has had a similar journey to us.

For a background, my wife (UKC) and I (USC) were married in the US in 2006. At the time we didn't really approach the visa process appropriately (more naivety than trying to flog the system) as we got married in the US when she was over on a visitor visa and then began the filing process whilst she was visiting. With her visitor visa nearing expiry, and still no word from the USCIS we booked an appointment with the nearest field office to confirm the next course of action. Fortunately, the advice was that she remain in the US whilst her petition was being reviewed. With a little slap on the wrist for not following the appropriate process, she was granted her green card and we settled into life together in the US.

Fast forward to 2011, we opted to immigrate to the UK due to the poor health of her mother and wanting a new life experience. With this move, came the surrendering of her green card at which point we made it clear that we would one day return to the US.

Fast forward to yesterday, and we've now submitted our i-130 to the London USCIS field office. As part of our documentation, we noted prior approval number, alien number, copy of her green card and included a copy of her returned i-407 (surrendering green card) and are hopeful that having had a history within the US and of going through this process before will facilitate an expedited review of our application.

Might anyone be able to kindly share their timeline of events if having experienced something similar? It'd also be nice to know who on these forums has also recently submitted as good to share our response times

Rete

Welcome to BE. When you have a moment, please have a read of the forum rules for posting. http://britishexpats.com/site-rules/

Terminology is everything when discussing immigration. For example, your wife is a UKC and as such did not require a visa to enter the US unless she had say a criminal history. She was free to use the Visa Waiver Program to enter the US and visit for 90 days. So you married while she was visiting, she remained and you filed an I-130 and she filed the I-485 for her adjustment of status while she remained in the US rather than returning to the UK. Apparently, she did not file the I-765 for the employment authorization document or the I-131 for advance parole. The EAD would have been proof that she was in the US legally, under color of law, while the adjustment paperwork was pending. She eventually succeeded in getting a green card, not a visa. A visa is only obtainable outside of the US.

Unfortunately, her petition will not be expedited. There are no grounds for it, i.e. medical emergency, etc. She had residency status in the US, gave it up, and is now starting from step one.

This means a new affidavit of support by you (form I-864), a medical at Knightsbridge for her, a police compliance certificate for her, etc. It is going to take from 5 to 7 months at the earliest for adjudication.

Visit the US Embassy's London website for search for the immediate relative visa. It has an excellent listing of all the steps needed for her adjudication of the IR-1 visa.

Donjamin

Thanks Rete for the welcome and the information.

We fully expect the process will take the time you've mentioned and can only hope that having had the history in the US will put us in better stead and thereby affirming our application a little bit more quickly.

Noorah101

As Rete said, that is not going to happen. They will treat her application as any other. Her prior history in the USA does not put her in better stead nor will expedite the application any more quickly.

Rene

Rete

You're welcome.

Please search for the term DCF (direct consular filing) on this particular forum. DCF is what your wife is doing. There are so many posts and threads here about DCF. In fact there is a long long thread of timelines only on DCF. Unfortunately, we've entered the somewhat slow period for those filing for CR-1/IR-1 visas, whether through DCF or stateside.

There is a wealth of information available to you and many experienced members here who have walked this path and are hanging around just to help you jump through the loops.

lizzyq

If you are able to have you applied for UK citizenship? This would make life easier if you ever decide to move back to the UK again. Just because at the moment you don't think you will doesn't mean you won't change your mind. If your wife had naturalized as a US citizen before the move back to the UK she would not be going through the visa process now.