Lammy123

I am English and my wife American. She came to the UK to live with me on 15 October this year (on a tourist visa) and we have just found out she is pregnant. She wants to be back in the USA to be around her family and friends, so we need to get back ASAP.

She is dependent on me, so I need to get out there to look after. The application for a visa seems to take about 8 months, but we need to get back and have her settled somewhere in the next two to three months.

Is there anyway to get the visa process sped up for an emergency like this?

If we submit the papers, can I go out there on the visa waiver whilst the application is processed? If so will I have to come back to the UK to get a K3 Visa or can it all be done in the US?

If anyone has any info it would be much appreciated.

fatbrit

Your needs are of no interest to US bureaucracy, I'm afraid.

There's no clear solution to your dilemma.

lorenei

It seems that at the moment the process takes 4-5 months from start to finish for most people (of course this is not definite information as it might take longer for some reason). My hubby and I applied for my CR-1 at the very end of June and I got my visa last week.

Don't think so.

K-3 takes the same time (and sometimes longer) to process as CR-1, so I wouldn't recommend applying for it as it will probably be a waste of time and money. If you are eligible for Visa Waiver you can go to USA on it while you wait for your CR-1, just make sure not to overstay the 90 days.

Lammy123

Lorenei , thanks thats very useful. Congrats for getting the CR1.

How does it work with the CR1? My wife sends the petition and then when it is approved do you need to visit the embassy in the UK for interview medical etc?

Also, what supporting documents did you submit with the petition?

md95065

While I understand your wife's desire to be close to her family when she gives birth will she have any kind of insurance that will cover the cost of giving birth in the US. You say that she is "dependent on you" - if that includes being financially dependent make sure that you know what you are letting yourself in for before you decide that she should have the baby in the US.

lorenei

Thank you

Does your wife live in the UK on a tourist visa or does she have any sort of permanent resident status here? If she doesn't then she should submit an I-130 petition to the USCIS in USA, not to the Embassy in London, only American citizens who have a resident status in the UK can do it through the Embassy.

You can read about the details of how to do it here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...0045f3d6a1RCRD

Once your I-130 is approved you will get a written notice of the approval. Some time after that (can be a few days or a few weeks) you will get your case number. Once you have that you can schedule your medical, info on the medical here:

http://london.usembassy.gov/immigran...amination.html

You will also need to mail in a DS-230-Part 1 form to the Embassy and a DS 2001 form once you have all the documents from their checklist ready. I mailed in both of those forms together a day before my medical.

Checklist can be found here:

http://london.usembassy.gov/interview_documents.html

DS forms here:

http://london.usembassy.gov/ds2001.html

Once the Embassy has both of those forms and the results of your medical they will schedule you in for the interview, you will get a written notice of that.

Hope this helps Best of luck!

S Folinsky

When I was in practice, I dealt with the situation several times -- with mixed results. It is heavily fact dependent. And you do indicate the existence of facts which militate against having the case expedited.

sir_eccles

I think your first question should be about health care for your pregnant wife, followed by questions about her status in the UK and eligibility for NHS coverage. If she is a tourist in the UK, it isn't so clear cut that she is covered by the NHS for free. If you move back to the US, you being the one working would need health coverage immediately that would also cover her pregnancy. If she is not fully eligible for NHS she may not have continuous coverage, an insurance company in the US may then consider the pregnancy a pre-existing condition. How much spare cash have you got?

Lammy123

thanks for all responses.

md95065 - didn't fully understand? What circumstances are you thinking of?

We know it will be expensive for a birth in the US, but she is not entitled to NHS treatment in the UK as a foreigner. Would probably have to go private here... Anyway, she needs to go back so we'll have to just stomach it.

sir_eccles

Be very careful with your use of language. If she is here on a tourist visa, she is not living with you she is visiting.

Unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, I think it would be better to get her leave to remain in the UK so she is entitled to NHS coverage. The UK immigration processing times are a lot shorter than the US ones.

ian-mstm

She can leave the UK at any time. You, however, can not move to the US until you have a visa.


Your situation is not an emergency - at least, not as far as US immigration is concerned.


You can visit the US for up to 90 days on the VWP, but then you must leave the US. Indeed, there is no guarantee that you'll be allowed to enter the US with a pregnant wife who is a USC... some border officer might see your situation as being ripe for VWP abuse.


You don't want a K-3 visa. But, that aside, it is illegal to enter the US as a visitor with the intent to stay to adjust status.

By the way, it'll take between 8-10 months to process your visa. It will take 4-5 months just to process the I-130 petition, but that is only the first step of a 2-step process. Once the I-130 petition is approved, you must then apply for the actual visa... and that takes an addition 4-5 months. Further, your wife, must submit an I-864 in support of your visa application - and that means she (or someone else who will act as a joint sponsor) must have sufficient income and/or assets to demonstrate they can support you financially.

All the info you need is in our Wiki - in the blue bar at the top of the page. You want the info for a CR-1 visa.

The US visa process is not a quick one... but, if you plan a visit properly, you might be in the US for the birth of your child - but, of course, you'll be on the VWP and must leave within 90 days. You will likely not have your visa by then.

Ian

fatbrit

Unless you believe that you can sail into a job with excellent health benefits in the US, your cheapest and easiest option is to get her the right visa for the UK. This will involve her leaving, getting the visa, then returning.

Bob

This.

She can head back to the US for a few months and be with family if she wants and while she gets her UK visa sorted, it would be a lot quicker and cheaper.

Though you don't say where in the US she wants to go to, so there might be some state help available if lucky. Still, not a great situation to be in.

Good luck.

avanutria

The circumstances of birth without health insurance. Even a textbook-perfect hospital birth will run in the region of $16,000, and that could be a low estimate. Add in ANY sort of complication and that goes up exponentially. A single ultrasound scan costs hundreds of dollars.

You could, of course, go for a homebirth with a licensed midwife which will only cost about $3,000 or $4,000...but you shouldn't do that unless the birth is low risk and you can't determine if it's low risk or not without adequate prenatal care, including scans. And a homebirth which transfers to hospital usually means an emergency which probably means bankruptcy by the end of it....not a great way to welcome a baby.

I second (third?) the suggestion that she go to the US and get her UK visa. Have the baby in the UK, and contemplate a move to the US when you haven't got a time limit hanging over your heads.

(And if your wife's family isn't willing to help support her during the relatively short time that she'd be in the US without you, while getting her visa, are they going to be supportive enough to help you if you become financially ruined?)

CAProgrammer

I remember raising similar concerns about someone else who was planning to move to the US and have their baby over there, but the poster said that she (USC) would be applying for Medicaid and all pregnant women with low incomes qualify for it.

Since the OP's wife isn't working she will probably qualify for the Medicaid too which wouldn't make the birth that expensive?

Edit:
I found the series of posts I was talking about see posts #921 - #925 in this thread.