Ray

Same as Florida then ..thats will be good .

Hairball

Hi,

Yeah, there's no impetus for her to leave the UK any time soon other than the desire to have a change. We have a house and work in London so things are settled.

We are aiming to get residency of each other's countries to ensure that wherever we choose to live we can.

thanks again

Hairball

Hi, All

Thanks again for your answers. I feel things are becoming a little clearer, but I'm still struggling with some questions.

So the route I could/would take is something like

1. Get married in Maine
2. Come back to the UK and file an I130 with the US embassy in the UK
3. Wait on that approval
4. This is where I start to struggle. What happens here and roughly how long would it take? I know that's a hard question.

Many thanks again

Noorah101

You got the process correct. After filing the I-130, it hopefully gets approved. Then the UKC is sent a packet of visa forms to fill out. You also need to get a police report from any country you've lived in for more than 6 months after the age of 16. When you have these forms and police report ready, you send in a checklist to the embassy, and they notify you of your interview date and instructions on getting your medical done. You attend the interview in London and hopefully receive approval of your Immigrant Visa, which is valid for 6 months.

DCF is *the* quickest method for getting an Immigrant Visa, and the whole process from filing I-130 to getting visa in hand is only about 4 to 6 months. The visa itself is good for 6 months after that. So you don't want to get the visa too early if you're not planning to move within the next 10 - 12 months.

Rene

Hairball

Hi, thanks for that.

I have lived in australia and new zealand for more than six months. That means i have to get a report from there? That's a pain. I wonder how I do it.

I think I have an unpaid speeding fine in NZ. That might come along and bite me.

Cheers

Noorah101

Yes, if you lived in Australia and NZ for 6 months or more, over the age of 16, you will need police certificates from those countries.

Go to this site: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/re...city_3272.html and use the pull-down menu to find Australia and NZ. Scroll down for each one to see how to go about getting police certificates from those countries.

I honestly don't know how the unpaid speeding fine from NZ will affect you...perhaps someone else will chime in on that one.

Rene

kstoss9

Maine allows their Notary to do marriage licenses. My hubby and I went to the town office and she did it right there in less then 1 min (we asked for the short, short version, basically, do you? do you? good your married kiss her and sign here.) It cost $30 for the certificate and they give it to you right there at the town office. We got married before the wedding, so the wedding was really for show. The only thing you DO need is an address in Maine that shows your residency. So you might have to go through the church like Ray said but check in the town. We live in Oxford County and got married in Paris, and I know Mexico, China and Peru all have similar rules, but if your down south near Portland or LA (Lewiston Auburn) things might be different as there is a much larger immigrant population.

~Kate

Hairball

I won't worry about it too much. I only registered the car there and lived for the most part in different places.

First i have to find a way to ask for one of these certificates.

Cheers

Ray

I do weddings in Florida as a notary ...licence is $93 here

Hairball

Hi, I am just looking at this page on Police reports (http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigra...95.html#police)

and it says I need a police certificate if "the applicant is living in their country of nationality at their current residence for more than 6 months" so i would need a UK one for sure...

However, my time in OZ and NZ were less than 12 months and reading this statement "if the applicant lived in a different country for more than 12 months" makes me think I only need a UK one.

I was in Oz for 364 days, but it's still less than 12 months.

I hope i've got my head around it correctly, as the hassle of getting three police reports and submitting fingerprints is going to be considerable.

Cheers

sime303

Yeah I am pretty sure you can do that in Rumford too but we got a licence and then did the whole church thing. So we had to pay for the licence and then the marriage certificate a couple of days later. Then a few months later we had to get another copy of the cert. for immigration purposes.

Noorah101

According to USCIS, you will need a police report from your own country, and also any country you lived in for 6 months or more, after the age of 16. I'll see if I can find that link.

Rene

Hairball

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. We arent' residents in Maine, or the US. My girlfriend has family there, but we reside in London, England.

There must be a way to work it, we can't be the first.

Noorah101

Does your girlfriend still have any ID with a Maine address on it? Drivers License, State ID, votor registration card?

sime303

I think Bob already posted this link but it will tell you everything you need to get married in Maine.

http://www.maine.gov/portal/family/marriage.html