Tawn26

Hello everyone!

I am new to the forum as I have spent the last two years immersed with my immigration from the US to the UK to be with my UKC husband and stepson. Now we have decided we would prefer to settle in the US, and I have started researching how to go about that and would be so appreciative if you could answer some questions for me!

1) As I am currently resident in the UK, I will file the I-130 for my husband and 10 year old stepson through the London Embassy. However, is there any way to combine those applications or are they completely separate? If separate, is there a way to get them processed concurrently as I would think it might scare my stepson to have to be interviewed on his own, since he is so young and has ADHD and is on the autism spectrum.

2) My husband's name is not on my stepson's original birth certificate since him and his ex were not on good terms then. But since he has gotten court agreed Parental Responsibility Forms and a Residency Order (as we have taken up full custody of my stepson this year). Will these be sufficient with an explanation or do we have to try and adjust/re-register the birth certificate before moving forward with the I-130?

3) I see that the current fee is $230 and attached to the I-130 is a credit card payment form to pay this fee. Is this the fee for the entire process from start to finish, or is there an addition fee at the time of the interview/visa? (sorry if this is a stupid question!)

4) My husband and I will have been married 2 years on December 3rd of this year (so just over a month away). I know when I immigrated to the UK there was a special path spouses who were married over 2 years could take to get "Indefinite Leave to Remain" status straight away. Is there an equivalent when taking my UKC to the US? And if so, how does this affect my stepson's application--ie will he get permanent status as well or have a probationary period?

5) My father has agreed to co-sponsor my husband and son since I will obviously not be in the US and working full-time at the time of the application (plus I will recently have given birth to our child). Is there a threshold or set amount that he has to earn to declare financial support for both my husband and stepson? I know coming to the UK it was very specific about maintenance and the sponsor's earnings had to be above a certain amount to be considered sufficient. Is it the same going to the US?

Thank you so much in advance for helping us out with these questions! I can't tell you how grateful we are of any help or advice you can offer us to help us get back to the US!

Noorah101

They are separate. Two I-130's need to be filed...one for each person immigrating.

Yes, USCIS should recognize them as family and process them concurrently...you can point this out in each other cover letters also. Even if, for some reason, your stepson gets a separate interview...you can accompany him. He won't need to go alone.

That is only the fee for filing the I-130 petition. There will be a fee for each visa, as well as a fee for each medical exam. There will be a fee for your husband's police report.

Anyone entering on an Immigrant Visa to the USA becomes a US Permanent Resident upon entry. Since your marriage will be more than 2 years old at the time of entry to the USA, your husband will get a 10 year green card (as opposed to a 2-year one, if the marriage was less than 2 years old).

Yes. He will be a "joint sponsor" (not co-sponsor). Go to www.uscis.gov and look at Form I-864P. Look at the 125% column. Your father needs to earn enough for his own household size plus 2 immigrants. So, for example, if it's your father and mother in the household, plus the 2 immigrants, he will look at the household size of 4 on the I-864P. Keep in mind these figures go up a bit each year around April, so double check the figures before the visa interview.

Yes.

Rene

Tawn26

Wow, thank you so much Rene for your quick and very detailed answer! Amazing!

As a follow-up, do you by any chance know the fees for the visas, the medical exams, and the police reports? Or is there somewhere I can find this information online?

Noorah101

The following links are the ones you should be using to do your research...the information you are asking about is on these sites:

www.uscis.gov
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London
http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas.html
http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

Keep in mind that you'll be filing the I-130 directly to London, so if you read information about NVC, that does NOT apply to your process. Filing in London skips the NVC portion of the process.

For the cost of the medical exam, you'll probably have to read some past DCF posts on here, where people have listed their medical exam experiences in London.

Rene

ian-mstm

I'm not up on the subtleties of the language, but does this mean that the boy's mother has no parental responsibilities at all? If she does, your husband may need to seek permission to remove the boy from UK jurisdiction... either a court order, or the mother's written permission. If this is something he already has, then he's covered.

Ian

jeffreyhy

You will file the I-130s with the USCIS field office in London. The USCIS field office is located in the embassy compound, and the offices web pages are hosted on the embassy's web site, but do not confuse the two. Separate. Submit the two petitions in the same mailing envelope/ The interview is not associated with the I-130 petitions. The interview will come later, after the petitions have been approved and your husband and stepson have submitted their visa applications to the consular section of the embassy. Your husband and stepson will become Permanent Residents on entry to the USA. Because your marriage will be more than 2 years old at that time there will be no conditions attached to their status. They will be [no adjectives required] Permanent Residents. Yes. Recognize that the term "co-sponsor" is inappropriate and potentially confusing. Your father could either be your household member, if your family will be living in his household when you return to the USA, or he could be your joint sponsor if your family will be living apart from him. Read the instructions for I-864 and I-864A to learn the differences and the requirements for each. Regards, JEff

snufkinette

Don't worry about sounding stupid. We are in a similar position to you: I am a USC, and my husband is a UKC. We sent off his I-130 recently, and I still haven't found one comprehensive page listing all the fees, so it's can be confusing.

You may have already figured this out, but the fee for the I-130 is actually $420, so I think that means you'll need to pay $840 for the two petitions. Whether or not you can use one credit card payment form for them both, I don't know.

I've seen the $230 fee as well, but in relation to DS-230, which is the second part of the process. Once you've had the I-130 approved, you'll proceed with this step.

Other fees:

I-864 (affidavit of support): $88
Police certificate: £45
Medical examination: £227

I'm sure they're all subject to change, though! Good luck.

civilservant

Don't forget the courier fee for return of passprt with attached visa...

snufkinette

Yep. Plus the extortionate cost of US sized passport photos for all three (sponsor, husband and stepson). Anyone ever taken their own, by the way? I was tempted so that I could avoid spending £15 on a set of four photos at Snappy Snaps, but didn't have the guts in case I got them 'wrong'.

Noorah101

Yes, people do their own and they are acceptable as long as they fit the USCIS guidelines and specs for passport photos.

Rene

jeffreyhy

There is no Affidavit of Support processing fee when the I-130 is filed outside the USA.

Regards, JEff

ian-mstm

I've done all my own passport photos... it's never been an issue as long as it conforms to the specs.

Ian

snufkinette

Oh, excellent! Didn't mean to misinform; that is good news for me, too.

chris197337

Do you have to pay for the DS-230 though?

ian-mstm

Yes.

Ian