h_and_m

Hi everybody,

I'm really confused, quite frustrated and could really use some help.

I'm a French citizen, living in England and married to my American wife since last year in June. She got her British residency towards the end of 2005 and in January 2006 we applied for my Green Card throuht the London Embassy. However since she wasn't a resident for long enough, they forwarded our files to the US. (we had to file through the USA) We then decided to apply for a K3 visa, so we could both move to the US asap.

The whole process took forever and since we were expecting to move soon, we started travelling and went to France for a while.

On June 6, 2006, an approval notice was mailed for: Application Type: I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

We provided them with the affidavit of support and paid $380 (we are expecting a packet in the next few days)

In the mean time, on August 9, 2006, an approval notice was mailed for Application Type: I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E).

We were told on the phone that the Visa will be denied since the I-130 was already approved but apparently that was wrong!

Checking on the timelines published on this site, it seems like for the k3 visa, it would take us at least 80 more days

What about the Green Card application then? Since we already paid and sent some more paperwok will the interview and medical be schedule in the next few weeks/days? before the K3 interview?

We don't have a house anymore since we were planning on leaving sooner and we are between France and the UK, and we are getting really confused about what we should do and when things will happen.
Mail is forwarded to us, so everything is fine regarding the Embassy contacting us but we would like to plan our trip(s) and make some moving arrangements.

Thanks for your help,

H&M

Rete

With the approval of the I-130 your I-129 for purpose of the K-3 is indeed void. The I-129 approval is only one step and that step allows you to then petition the US Consulate for the K-3. Since the I-130 is approved and the financial info already sent to the NVC for approval, you will be going that way. In fact that is the better way to go in either case. The paperwork needed for the I-130 interview at the US Consulate is the very same paperwork that you would have needed for the K-3 and with an approved I-130 visa from the US Consulate you under the US as a permanent resident and will not have to deal with the USCIS over here. If you had gone the K-3 route, you would have had to apply in the US for residency and that is a pain in the butt and a long and tedious chore.

Get your paperwork for the interview in order, ie your police clearances from France and the UK, your long form birth certificate, your marriage certificate, any divorce decrees, any military records, etc. There is a list of things on the US Consulate website that you need. You will also need a medical by an approved USCIS panel doctor.

Noorah101

Hi H&M,

Just wanted to backup Rete's idea. Never mind the approved I-129F petition (for the K-3) now. Just continue on with the approved I-130. You've sent the required documents and payment to NVC, so now you're just waiting for them to send the next set of documents. Be aware that it may still be a few months before you get your interview, and if you miss something by traveling, you'll mess it up....so if I were you, I'd stay put in the UK until you know for sure what is happening and when. As Rete said, you still need to gather some documents, if you haven't done so already.

Once you have everything, and send back a checklist to the consulate, they will schedule you for your interview (and perhaps your medical...not sure if the consulate sends you an appointment or if you make your own nowadays). You'll go to your interview, and if you get approved, they'll keep your passport for a couple of days and send it back via courier with the immigrant visa inside. Once you enter the USA, you'll get an I-551 stamp in your passport (showing permanent residency), and your green card will come in the mail after that.

Hope that helps on which path to follow.

Best Wishes,
Rene

h_and_m

Thanks a lot Rete! We already have the police clearances from France and the UK as well as all other birth/marriage certificates. I understood that I should receive a packet (aka packet 3) with more info about my medical. Do I need to wait for the packet to make my appointment?

When will my appointment scheduled? in the next days, weeks, months?
I found that timeline that really got both my wife and I really worried:
http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/irstats.php

It mentions:
Avg. Days
btw NOA2
United Kingdom: 346
and Interview

and for a K3 visa:

Avg. Days between Consulate
Receiving Information from NVC
and Actual Interview
United Kingdom: 80

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/stats.php

I have a hard time believing that we would still have to wait 350 days before an appoitment, I probably misunderstood. But are we looking at 3 months, few weeks, or a year?

Once again, thanks a lot!

H&M

h_and_m

I guess Noorah answered all my questions and we'll focus on the I-130

Having to wait few more months isn't a great news but I guess we don't have the choice, are we looking at 80 days as for a K3 visa?

Between the two of you, you have been more efficient than the many people we called to get more information on the due process, thanks A LOT!

H&M

nai_in_av

You have to schedule the medical yourself, you need to wait until your case is sent from the NVC to the London embassy. They then send you out the packet with medical details (where it is, how to schedule appointment etc). You can try and arrange a medical before your case is in London, but its no guarantee that you will get an appoinment before London have your case.

We called to schedule while our case was in transit from the NVC to the London embassy (figured we had nothing to lose by attempting to schedule the medical before London sent us the packet) and were asked for our case number and then given an appointment. Things might be different now though as when we had our medical they had only just changed from scheduling for you at the doctors in London to using the 3 Bupa hospitals.

You have the choice of Birmingham, London or Edinburgh for the medical. We went with Birmingham as it was the first place with an available appointment. The medical itself is fairly straightforward, it just takes a while. You go in and see a nurse who takes blood, performs a few simple tests (eye test, blood pressure) and then wait a bit longer before going to see the Dr. Then lastly we had our xray taken before we could leave.

Medical results are posted to you within about a week.

Once your medical is all out of the way its just a case of waiting for an interview date. There was a number over at Visajourney that you could call to get pretty good up to date information by speaking to a person (not the NVC automated info line) when we called to find out if our case had arrived in London we were told it had and given our interview date. See if you can find the number at VJ as it was very helpful, and nice knowing we had an interview before London had even mailed us the documents.

The 346 average days on a timeline from NOA2 is nothing to worry about. It's average days, not standard days. I think in total our case took 9 months (from submitting the I-130 to Vermont service center to interview date).

The I-130 will lead towards CR-1 (Conditional Residence) which is good for 2 years. It may take a bit longer than the K3 route but you will appreciate it when you get to the US and don't need to apply for work permits, adjust status etc.

The interview at the London embassy is far less daunting than it appears, get there early (the line gets long very quickly) and when you go in and up the stairs to the left take a ticket for an immigrant visa (make sure you get the immigrant visa ticket!!) you then sit in a main waiting area, are called to a first desk where your documents are checked, then you sit back down and wait a bit longer before being called up a 2nd time (to a different window around the corner) where the actual interview takes place. Ours consisted of the consular officer saying "Welcome to the United States" and letting me know my passport would be returned in a day or two with the visa stamp inside. Hardly an interview at all.

My passport was then returned a day later and we flew to the US the following week. Finger printed at POE after handing over the sealed (do not open!!) envelope and green card arrived a couple weeks later.

Good luck.

Rete

YOu will not have to wait 365 days for an interview date at the US Consulate. Since you are in the UK, you might want to look here for datelines on the appointment wait time. Summer is always a longer wait. Not sure if you need the letter from the US Consulate in order to get your appointment for the medical. Have you done a search of this site for other experiences.

Ray

I think that info is out of date now...... All done in london now i believe ...

h_and_m

Thank you all for your support, we really appreciate it. Quick question, is it ok to get a medical in another country? We are in France right now and it would be easier for us to just take care of the Medical while still here. We don't have to, but I was wondering if the London Embassy would accept a Medical from an USCIS certified doctor in France.

We'll probably send an email to the London Embassy just to make sure we can, but maybe one of you has an answer.

Thanks again.

H&M

nai_in_av

I don't think so, you are dealing with the London embassy and they would expect (and will instruct you) in the packet to use one of the medical centers in the UK. It can't hurt to ask though, but I would be surprised if they are Ok with it.

To be honest (and I think Noorah101 already posted this) I would head back to the UK and stay in the UK. If you are at the point of planning the medical then you are getting pretty close to being given an interview date, you really don't want to miss something by being in France. For example our interview date was scheduled really quickly after the case leaving NVC (I think it was only about 19 days from the case leaving NVC to interview date).

Head back to the UK, it will be a lot less hassle.

h_and_m

Thanks for the advice, as soon as the case leaves the NVC, we'll more than likely head back to the UK.

Noorah101

I'm guessing not, but that's just a guess. The London embassy will send you instructions for arranging your medical, and I think you have to present that letter when you go for your medical in the UK.

In Turkey, my husband could go to a USCIS approved doctor either in Istanbul or Ankara, different cities, but both within Turkey.

Please let us know what they say about doing the medical in another country, I'm curious.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Just to be pedantic -- he did not go to a "USCIS approved" doctor in Turkey. He went to the Doctor who had a contract with the Consulate in Turkey.

BTW, a long time ago, the Consulates allowed for examination at INS approved docs in the United States to be used at Consular IV interviews -- but that has not been the rule for some time.

I wonder why the poster doesn't shift the case to Paris.

Ray

Or to be a real pedant he went to the Designated Civil Surgeon

h_and_m

Well, we didn't shift the case to Paris for many reasons (after all, maybe we should reconsider):

- France - UK = 150 euros round trip. More or less the same price for us to go to Paris from where we are right now by train.
- We started everything from the UK and we thought that shifting the case to Paris would slow down the procedure. (well, we ended up filling in the US, so that might not be a good argument)
- We can be in London in 24 hours

Our case hasn't been sent to London yet since we didn't return the DS-230.

Do you think we should switch the case and it won't slow down the process?

Once again, thank you so much for your help, it's more that what we were expecting! It's so nice of you.

H&M