July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Jan 27th 2011, 12:47 pm
#316
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 38,865
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Jan 27th 2011, 12:50 pm
#317
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 67
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Unfortunately this isn't the only fee in the whole process.
The $420 fee was just to cover processing of the I-130 package.
Assuming that your I-130 is approved (and it should - the vast majority are), then the intending immigrant will subsequently have to pay:
-£200 for a medical at Knitsbridge Doctors in London
-$404 for the processing of the immigrant visa on the day of their interview (they accept $$ or ££ currency)
-the fee for the Embassy courier who will return their passport with the visa (standard service starts at £14.50).
The $420 fee was just to cover processing of the I-130 package.
Assuming that your I-130 is approved (and it should - the vast majority are), then the intending immigrant will subsequently have to pay:
-£200 for a medical at Knitsbridge Doctors in London
-$404 for the processing of the immigrant visa on the day of their interview (they accept $$ or ££ currency)
-the fee for the Embassy courier who will return their passport with the visa (standard service starts at £14.50).
- Police cert fee
- any vaccinations if you don't have them
- fee for long form birth cert
Jan 27th 2011, 1:33 pm
#318
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Unfortunately this isn't the only fee in the whole process.
The $420 fee was just to cover processing of the I-130 package.
Assuming that your I-130 is approved (and it should - the vast majority are), then the intending immigrant will subsequently have to pay:
-£200 for a medical at Knitsbridge Doctors in London
-$404 for the processing of the immigrant visa on the day of their interview (they accept $$ or ££ currency)
-the fee for the Embassy courier who will return their passport with the visa (standard service starts at £14.50).
The $420 fee was just to cover processing of the I-130 package.
Assuming that your I-130 is approved (and it should - the vast majority are), then the intending immigrant will subsequently have to pay:
-£200 for a medical at Knitsbridge Doctors in London
-$404 for the processing of the immigrant visa on the day of their interview (they accept $$ or ££ currency)
-the fee for the Embassy courier who will return their passport with the visa (standard service starts at £14.50).
. Thanks so much for letting me know, better start saving!
Jan 27th 2011, 1:47 pm
#320
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: Washington state
Posts: 120
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
So on that note, here's your next wiki entry: Immigrant Visa Arrival. It covers packing, travel, Customs forms and what happens when you arrive.
DH got his interview letter on Sat 22 Jan. Yay!! His interview is scheduled for 16 Feb. HOORAY!! That's one week before my FLR expires and I'll be flying back to the US. I'm so glad it's happening before I go, he gets hopelessly lost in London. Bless him.
I'm not really nervous about it. We've met all the requirements, crossed all the t's and dotted the i's. Am I crazy? should I be worrying?
Jan 27th 2011, 3:27 pm
#321
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Yippee Skipee, everyone's on a roll! 
AyePod (omg, I just got it.. lol)... have you read the wiki on DCF yet? Link in my sig. That should help you make your budget of fees. Sorry you didn't know about that but to help others... how did you miss it? How did you learn about doing this to start with?
AyePod (omg, I just got it.. lol)... have you read the wiki on DCF yet? Link in my sig. That should help you make your budget of fees. Sorry you didn't know about that but to help others... how did you miss it? How did you learn about doing this to start with?
Jan 28th 2011, 2:06 pm
#322
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Glendale, CA
Posts: 285
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
USAalltheway - let us know how your interview went today.
Hope you have good news to report
Hope you have good news to report
Jan 30th 2011, 2:31 pm
#323
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 44
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Jan 30th 2011, 5:42 pm
#324
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Glendale, CA
Posts: 285
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Less than two days to my interview and I'm getting very nervous and excited!
We've over-prepared and we spent a good chunk of the weekend going through all the paperwork and everything else needed!!
Jan 30th 2011, 5:45 pm
#325
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Oh that's great news!!! Congrats and we're looking forward to the full report
Less than two days to my interview and I'm getting very nervous and excited!We've over-prepared and we spent a good chunk of the weekend going through all the paperwork and everything else needed!!
Less than two days to my interview and I'm getting very nervous and excited!
We've over-prepared and we spent a good chunk of the weekend going through all the paperwork and everything else needed!! 
Best wishes, C_C.. just relax. It will be fun and exciting!
Jan 30th 2011, 5:51 pm
#327
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Woohoo! Looking forward to the interview report. Won't it be great when we can abandon this thread forever!
Feb 1st 2011, 11:04 am
#328
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Glendale, CA
Posts: 285
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Hello all,
Well, I had my visa interview today and I'm all done and...APPROVED!!!
Full report follows for those who care to read it:
So we got there at 7.30 am for an 8.00 am appointment and there were around 15 people in front of us in the queue. My husband accompanied me, and as soon as we got a place in the queue he ran to Gould Pharmacy across the street to leave our cell phones for storage.
The line started moving earlier than I thought (just after 7.40 am) and we were in and past Security at 7.50. I got the second immigrant visa number of the day (I901) - numbers started from I900. While waiting to be called, my husband and I decided that he would stay at the waiting area and I would go to the window by myself, and I'd only call him to join me if the ConOff specifically asked me to.
I was called to the first window at 8.10. The ConOff was a very nice British lady in her mid-20s who made me feel at ease immediately. We started off with all the usual stuff - she gave me back the CD with my X-ray, took my DS-230 Part II, passport, birth certificate, police certificates, marriage certificate and copies, and my 2 photos which she scanned in her computer. She had a checklist in front of her and was ticking each box for the respective document. She then sent me to the next window to pay for the visa processing, and I was back with her within 2 minutes with the payment receipt.
She then proceeded to ask about the affidavit of support, and that's where we had a minor hiccup. She asked if my husband was employed in the US and I said "no, he's still in the UK and employed here, but we're claiming assets". At that point she frowned a little bit and told me that the ConOff might not like that, as the sponsor is required to be in the US. I told her I had a letter outlining all the steps he'd taken towards re-establishing domicile and proof of those steps, but she didn't seem to think this was good enough. She then said that the ConOff could ask me to get a joint sponsor in the US to make up for my husband's current UK domicile. Luckily my mother in law had signed joint sponsorship papers, so the Officer seemed very pleased when I told her, and took everything related to our joint sponsorship -the MIL's signed I-864, her latest tax return, W2, latest paychecks to show continuing income (because the tax return and W2 were from 2009) and copy of her passport. She also took the letter where we had outlined our savings, and the two most recent (original) bank statements from each of our bank accounts. She took nothing from the proof or re-establishing domicile we had brought with us.
Finally, she took my fingerprints, and asked two questions "how long have you been married" and "where did you meet".
After that she told me I should have no problem as I had everything, and gave me the pink courier slip to fill out while I was waiting to be called back.
That part took longer than I thought (about 25-30 minutes), mainly because of the whole affidavit discussion I had with her and all the paperwork I had to present. She also was in no rush and was filing everything quite slowly (and was chit-chatting with me a bit). But it was done and I returned to the waiting area and my husband at around 8.40. I filled out the courier slip and waited to be called back. I was feeling a little edgy because of what she had said about domicile, and was half-expecting the second ConOff to grill me a little bit about that or maybe ask for the domicile proof his colleague didn't take. But luckily I was wrong! I was called back at 9.10 (just half an hour after the first bit was over) and this time I had a really friendly American guy in his early to mid 40s. He verified my fingerprints, made me swear the oath that all the statements in my application were true to the best of my knowledge, and asked a couple questions - "when are you moving", "where are you moving", "have you visited", "did you study at X UK University" (funny question, huh!), and "what profession are you going to work in once in the US". And that was it. He said my documents were very organised, that my visa was approved, I should have it in the next 7-10 working days, and briefly explained about the envelope that shouldn't be opened etc.
That was it! I was out at 9.15, paid the courier and we were out of the building at 9.20.
I feel so excited and relieved!!
One thing that I thought was interesting in our case was the approach they took re domicile. Having a joint sponsor seemed to override all domicile requirements for the principal sponsor (my husband) and they didn't care to see any other domicile-related evidence from him. I thought that was interesting!!
Now off for some nice lunch out with hubby to celebrate!!!
Well, I had my visa interview today and I'm all done and...APPROVED!!!
Full report follows for those who care to read it:
So we got there at 7.30 am for an 8.00 am appointment and there were around 15 people in front of us in the queue. My husband accompanied me, and as soon as we got a place in the queue he ran to Gould Pharmacy across the street to leave our cell phones for storage.
The line started moving earlier than I thought (just after 7.40 am) and we were in and past Security at 7.50. I got the second immigrant visa number of the day (I901) - numbers started from I900. While waiting to be called, my husband and I decided that he would stay at the waiting area and I would go to the window by myself, and I'd only call him to join me if the ConOff specifically asked me to.
I was called to the first window at 8.10. The ConOff was a very nice British lady in her mid-20s who made me feel at ease immediately. We started off with all the usual stuff - she gave me back the CD with my X-ray, took my DS-230 Part II, passport, birth certificate, police certificates, marriage certificate and copies, and my 2 photos which she scanned in her computer. She had a checklist in front of her and was ticking each box for the respective document. She then sent me to the next window to pay for the visa processing, and I was back with her within 2 minutes with the payment receipt.
She then proceeded to ask about the affidavit of support, and that's where we had a minor hiccup. She asked if my husband was employed in the US and I said "no, he's still in the UK and employed here, but we're claiming assets". At that point she frowned a little bit and told me that the ConOff might not like that, as the sponsor is required to be in the US. I told her I had a letter outlining all the steps he'd taken towards re-establishing domicile and proof of those steps, but she didn't seem to think this was good enough. She then said that the ConOff could ask me to get a joint sponsor in the US to make up for my husband's current UK domicile. Luckily my mother in law had signed joint sponsorship papers, so the Officer seemed very pleased when I told her, and took everything related to our joint sponsorship -the MIL's signed I-864, her latest tax return, W2, latest paychecks to show continuing income (because the tax return and W2 were from 2009) and copy of her passport. She also took the letter where we had outlined our savings, and the two most recent (original) bank statements from each of our bank accounts. She took nothing from the proof or re-establishing domicile we had brought with us.
Finally, she took my fingerprints, and asked two questions "how long have you been married" and "where did you meet".
After that she told me I should have no problem as I had everything, and gave me the pink courier slip to fill out while I was waiting to be called back.
That part took longer than I thought (about 25-30 minutes), mainly because of the whole affidavit discussion I had with her and all the paperwork I had to present. She also was in no rush and was filing everything quite slowly (and was chit-chatting with me a bit). But it was done and I returned to the waiting area and my husband at around 8.40. I filled out the courier slip and waited to be called back. I was feeling a little edgy because of what she had said about domicile, and was half-expecting the second ConOff to grill me a little bit about that or maybe ask for the domicile proof his colleague didn't take. But luckily I was wrong! I was called back at 9.10 (just half an hour after the first bit was over) and this time I had a really friendly American guy in his early to mid 40s. He verified my fingerprints, made me swear the oath that all the statements in my application were true to the best of my knowledge, and asked a couple questions - "when are you moving", "where are you moving", "have you visited", "did you study at X UK University" (funny question, huh!), and "what profession are you going to work in once in the US". And that was it. He said my documents were very organised, that my visa was approved, I should have it in the next 7-10 working days, and briefly explained about the envelope that shouldn't be opened etc.
That was it! I was out at 9.15, paid the courier and we were out of the building at 9.20.
I feel so excited and relieved!!
One thing that I thought was interesting in our case was the approach they took re domicile. Having a joint sponsor seemed to override all domicile requirements for the principal sponsor (my husband) and they didn't care to see any other domicile-related evidence from him. I thought that was interesting!!
Now off for some nice lunch out with hubby to celebrate!!!
Feb 1st 2011, 1:23 pm
#329
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 225
Feb 1st 2011, 7:12 pm
#330
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 80
Re: July/August I-130 DCF filers come here!
Hello all,
Well, I had my visa interview today and I'm all done and...APPROVED!!!
Full report follows for those who care to read it:
So we got there at 7.30 am for an 8.00 am appointment and there were around 15 people in front of us in the queue. My husband accompanied me, and as soon as we got a place in the queue he ran to Gould Pharmacy across the street to leave our cell phones for storage.
The line started moving earlier than I thought (just after 7.40 am) and we were in and past Security at 7.50. I got the second immigrant visa number of the day (I901) - numbers started from I900. While waiting to be called, my husband and I decided that he would stay at the waiting area and I would go to the window by myself, and I'd only call him to join me if the ConOff specifically asked me to.
I was called to the first window at 8.10. The ConOff was a very nice British lady in her mid-20s who made me feel at ease immediately. We started off with all the usual stuff - she gave me back the CD with my X-ray, took my DS-230 Part II, passport, birth certificate, police certificates, marriage certificate and copies, and my 2 photos which she scanned in her computer. She had a checklist in front of her and was ticking each box for the respective document. She then sent me to the next window to pay for the visa processing, and I was back with her within 2 minutes with the payment receipt.
She then proceeded to ask about the affidavit of support, and that's where we had a minor hiccup. She asked if my husband was employed in the US and I said "no, he's still in the UK and employed here, but we're claiming assets". At that point she frowned a little bit and told me that the ConOff might not like that, as the sponsor is required to be in the US. I told her I had a letter outlining all the steps he'd taken towards re-establishing domicile and proof of those steps, but she didn't seem to think this was good enough. She then said that the ConOff could ask me to get a joint sponsor in the US to make up for my husband's current UK domicile. Luckily my mother in law had signed joint sponsorship papers, so the Officer seemed very pleased when I told her, and took everything related to our joint sponsorship -the MIL's signed I-864, her latest tax return, W2, latest paychecks to show continuing income (because the tax return and W2 were from 2009) and copy of her passport. She also took the letter where we had outlined our savings, and the two most recent (original) bank statements from each of our bank accounts. She took nothing from the proof or re-establishing domicile we had brought with us.
Finally, she took my fingerprints, and asked two questions "how long have you been married" and "where did you meet".
After that she told me I should have no problem as I had everything, and gave me the pink courier slip to fill out while I was waiting to be called back.
That part took longer than I thought (about 25-30 minutes), mainly because of the whole affidavit discussion I had with her and all the paperwork I had to present. She also was in no rush and was filing everything quite slowly (and was chit-chatting with me a bit). But it was done and I returned to the waiting area and my husband at around 8.40. I filled out the courier slip and waited to be called back. I was feeling a little edgy because of what she had said about domicile, and was half-expecting the second ConOff to grill me a little bit about that or maybe ask for the domicile proof his colleague didn't take. But luckily I was wrong! I was called back at 9.10 (just half an hour after the first bit was over) and this time I had a really friendly American guy in his early to mid 40s. He verified my fingerprints, made me swear the oath that all the statements in my application were true to the best of my knowledge, and asked a couple questions - "when are you moving", "where are you moving", "have you visited", "did you study at X UK University" (funny question, huh!), and "what profession are you going to work in once in the US". And that was it. He said my documents were very organised, that my visa was approved, I should have it in the next 7-10 working days, and briefly explained about the envelope that shouldn't be opened etc.
That was it! I was out at 9.15, paid the courier and we were out of the building at 9.20.
I feel so excited and relieved!!
One thing that I thought was interesting in our case was the approach they took re domicile. Having a joint sponsor seemed to override all domicile requirements for the principal sponsor (my husband) and they didn't care to see any other domicile-related evidence from him. I thought that was interesting!!
Now off for some nice lunch out with hubby to celebrate!!!
Well, I had my visa interview today and I'm all done and...APPROVED!!!
Full report follows for those who care to read it:
So we got there at 7.30 am for an 8.00 am appointment and there were around 15 people in front of us in the queue. My husband accompanied me, and as soon as we got a place in the queue he ran to Gould Pharmacy across the street to leave our cell phones for storage.
The line started moving earlier than I thought (just after 7.40 am) and we were in and past Security at 7.50. I got the second immigrant visa number of the day (I901) - numbers started from I900. While waiting to be called, my husband and I decided that he would stay at the waiting area and I would go to the window by myself, and I'd only call him to join me if the ConOff specifically asked me to.
I was called to the first window at 8.10. The ConOff was a very nice British lady in her mid-20s who made me feel at ease immediately. We started off with all the usual stuff - she gave me back the CD with my X-ray, took my DS-230 Part II, passport, birth certificate, police certificates, marriage certificate and copies, and my 2 photos which she scanned in her computer. She had a checklist in front of her and was ticking each box for the respective document. She then sent me to the next window to pay for the visa processing, and I was back with her within 2 minutes with the payment receipt.
She then proceeded to ask about the affidavit of support, and that's where we had a minor hiccup. She asked if my husband was employed in the US and I said "no, he's still in the UK and employed here, but we're claiming assets". At that point she frowned a little bit and told me that the ConOff might not like that, as the sponsor is required to be in the US. I told her I had a letter outlining all the steps he'd taken towards re-establishing domicile and proof of those steps, but she didn't seem to think this was good enough. She then said that the ConOff could ask me to get a joint sponsor in the US to make up for my husband's current UK domicile. Luckily my mother in law had signed joint sponsorship papers, so the Officer seemed very pleased when I told her, and took everything related to our joint sponsorship -the MIL's signed I-864, her latest tax return, W2, latest paychecks to show continuing income (because the tax return and W2 were from 2009) and copy of her passport. She also took the letter where we had outlined our savings, and the two most recent (original) bank statements from each of our bank accounts. She took nothing from the proof or re-establishing domicile we had brought with us.
Finally, she took my fingerprints, and asked two questions "how long have you been married" and "where did you meet".
After that she told me I should have no problem as I had everything, and gave me the pink courier slip to fill out while I was waiting to be called back.
That part took longer than I thought (about 25-30 minutes), mainly because of the whole affidavit discussion I had with her and all the paperwork I had to present. She also was in no rush and was filing everything quite slowly (and was chit-chatting with me a bit). But it was done and I returned to the waiting area and my husband at around 8.40. I filled out the courier slip and waited to be called back. I was feeling a little edgy because of what she had said about domicile, and was half-expecting the second ConOff to grill me a little bit about that or maybe ask for the domicile proof his colleague didn't take. But luckily I was wrong! I was called back at 9.10 (just half an hour after the first bit was over) and this time I had a really friendly American guy in his early to mid 40s. He verified my fingerprints, made me swear the oath that all the statements in my application were true to the best of my knowledge, and asked a couple questions - "when are you moving", "where are you moving", "have you visited", "did you study at X UK University" (funny question, huh!), and "what profession are you going to work in once in the US". And that was it. He said my documents were very organised, that my visa was approved, I should have it in the next 7-10 working days, and briefly explained about the envelope that shouldn't be opened etc.
That was it! I was out at 9.15, paid the courier and we were out of the building at 9.20.
I feel so excited and relieved!!
One thing that I thought was interesting in our case was the approach they took re domicile. Having a joint sponsor seemed to override all domicile requirements for the principal sponsor (my husband) and they didn't care to see any other domicile-related evidence from him. I thought that was interesting!!
Now off for some nice lunch out with hubby to celebrate!!!