London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Hi all,


If you have been following me and my sob story the past month or so, you will know how the London Embassy is not letting me file my I-130 there DCF even though I live in the UK and have so for a year and have the Leave to Remain,etc.

You may also know that they have never once answered any of my questions as to why they are directing me to file in the United States even though I have repeatedly told them I do not live there and have no residence there.

I have written them a 2 page letter with lots of enquiries which they just sent a standard rejection letter (again) as a reply. None of the questions answered.

I emailed them (the USCIS address directly) and got back the same reply. I emailed them AGAIN and was told that it was rejected because I put the address my spouse and I intend to live at in the United States (a question on the I-130 form) as the same address I came from in the US. The address in question is my parents address. Yes,I used to live there, but not for over a year, and I put it down because I thought we had to show we had someplace to stay and my parents are willing to let us stay there initially (and it would only be less than a week or so) until we got our own apartment.

So, I emailed them AGAIN (fourth time trying to get a real answer) and was very blunt and explained the whole situation. This is the email I posted on this board before, asking if I could get in trouble for sending it.

They didnt respond. So i resent it 5 days later. Still no response. I resent this same email yesterday (almost two weeks after I first sent it) for the third time with a little note on how I have yet to recieve any answers to any of my questions and get a good reason while they still believe I have to file in Nebraska and this is what they finally emailed me back with today:

"Please see our webpage at www.usembassy.org.uk and click on
"Immigration"
for
specific information about filing with USCIS in London. If your
petition
has
been returned to you with instuctions to file in the United States,
then
please
follow the instructions by providing your US address on the front of
the
petition and including the fee in the appropriate form.

USCIS
American Embassy -London"

Isn't that funny? I really am laughing. Because they just tell me the same thing over and over and over and dont answer any of my questions.

I honestly just dont know what to do. I have also written a letter to the District Office in Rome but that has just been sent off so no reply yet.

I would like some advice on what to do next. Should I just re-send the I-130 and not put my parent's address down as a place to return to and not mention that it has been sent back once? Or should I include a cover letter explaining every detail of what has gone on so far?

If your advice is to just send it to America, I'm not to that stage yet BECAUSE they refuse to tell me just how I should do that. I have asked that if they indeed want me to file in the US if I should lie and put my parent's address as the address I live at, and if my parents will have to forward everything to me in Scotland, and how will I do my sponsoring I-864 sheets when it will show I'm in the UK and have lived here the past year plus. They haven't answered me on how I am supposed to do it if they want me to use my US address that I dont even have. So I cant do that just yet.

Also,I am worried about the sort of impact giving them so much trouble can actually have on our case. Its just a straightfoward spousal I-130 with no forseeable hitches from my husband's nor my background but i worry that by bugging them and resending it,etc, I will just end up making them do something nasty.

How much can I get away with with the USCIS in trying to make them treat me fairly?

This is just tearing me apart. Not knowing what to do and having our lives toyed with like this is just horrible. If anyone has any advice I would really, really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

I think I can see a problem.

You stated above that you have no residence in the US yet in your I-130 application you used the very same last US address as your intended residential address.

Can't you see that that is confusing, even if it is your parents address?





NC Penguin
Any info provided is solely as a lay person and should not be considered legal advice.

1/24/04: sent off I-751 application to Texas Svc. Ctr.
1/26/04: I-751 application received at Texas Svc Ctr.
2/6/04: NOA received from Texas Svc Ctr.
6/23/04: called CIS Info Line and updated change of address for I751 application
7/12/04: confirmation received from TSC of change of address for I751
12/4/04: I-797 NOA received notifiying of successful I-751 application

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Hey Lorien:

I am so sorry to hear about your problems with the embassy:(
Since you are getting "no replies" why don't you just go there and explain your situation?
Good luck!

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

[...]
    >
    > I am so sorry to hear about your problems with the embassy:(
    > Since you are getting "no replies" why don't you just go there and
    > explain your situation?
    > Good luck!
    >

It is possible that they may not accept "walk ins" for this kind of
thing but I don't know for sure

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Hi:

BTW, have you filed the stateside I-130 yet? And did you get the rejection for the stateside service center yet? All that I've seen is that you are complaining that LND says go stateside and you saying I don't have to. Now imagine if an SC says go DCF and you will be in a better position to ask for DCF.

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

You can only DCF through London if you have ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain). If you have FLR/LLR (Limited Leave to Remain--what you have for the first two years of being married to a UK citizen) you have to file via a US service centre. London's policy on this recently changed. Previously any UK resident could DCF.

You aren't going to get anywhere with them as this is their policy. You don't have ILR so you can't do DCF. End of story.

It's spelled out clearly on the US embassy webpage:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/ins/i130filing.htm

"U.S. Citizens whose principal residence is not in our jurisdiction, and/or who have entered the United Kingdom as a temporary visitor/student/or with limited leave to enter and remain in the United Kingdom, must file the petition with the appropriate USCIS Service Center in the United States."

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

kellwie wrote:

[...]
    > You can only DCF through London if you have ILR (Indefinite Leave to
    > Remain). If you have FLR/LLR (Limited Leave to Remain--what you have
    > for the first two years of being married to a UK citizen) you have to
    > file via a US service centre. London's policy on this recently changed.
    > Previously any UK resident could DCF.

    > You aren't going to get anywhere with them as this is their policy. You
    > don't have ILR so you can't do DCF. End of story.
    >
    > It's spelled out clearly on the US embassy webpage:
    >
    > http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/ins/i130filing.htm
    >
    > "U.S. Citizens whose principal residence is not in our jurisdiction,
    > and/or who have entered the United Kingdom as a temporary
    > visitor/student/or with limited leave to enter and remain in the United
    > Kingdom, must file the petition with the appropriate USCIS Service
    > Center in the United States."
    >

If they have changed their policy in my opinion they should also change
this web page and state specifically that ILR is required to file
directly and that nothing else is acceptable. The language used above
probably amounts to the same thing but it could be more clear.

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Are you sure about the ILR thing? I phoned the embassy this morning (I
have been married to my husband since August 2003 and have lived in the
UK since 2001), and they said a spousal visa (even if it had to be
renewed) was okay. Did you hear something different?

Also, I used my parents' address as where we'd intend on living in the
US, since I am going there next month for work and will be living
there. Will this be a problem?

Last thing - if it's rejected because it has to be filed in the states,
do they wait the full 3 months to tell you, and do you get your $185
back?

Thanks,

Eden

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #1 - Once you have their money, you never give it back!

Ian

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

The USC has to be resident in the UK in order to be eligible to file an I-130 by DCF at the US Embassy in London.

If you haven't already sent in any completed documentation to begin the I-130, it sounds like you'll be ineligible as soon as you return to the US and begin working and living there.

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Thats fine, if you think I have to file in the United States. However, even after me asking them a bunch of times they have not told me HOW to file with the US.

1) Should I lie and say I live in the US and put my parent's address as my address? Is this okay?

2) Will all corrospondence go to my parents and they will have to forward it to me in the UK?

3) When it comes to sponsorship, they will see I have lived in the UK the past year and am still living here. How will that work?

Also, according to their little visa info line I should be able to file in the UK, and they never state directly that the UK residency HAS to be ILR on the webpage.
How recently has this policy changed, as plenty of people in recent months have been doing DCF with LLR in the UK?

I'm not going to just let myself be treated unfairly. It isnt right for them to be allowed to accept some people and not others who are in the SAME circumstances. If Rome doesn't get back to me I am going to contact my MSP for advice. If I have to go down to London in person to get a straight answer I will also do that.

I'm sorry,but the only place I have heard you need ILR to DCF is on this message board so I'm not going to believe it, especially without any sources.

According to London Embassy themselves, it was because I did not show my only and primary residence was in the UK. They said they dont base it on the visa alone, but on your primary residence being in the UK, and that is straight from the horses mouth.

I will let you know if anything changes.

I just don't want

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

My life is also very full just now... I don't want either!

Ian

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

    > The USC has to be resident in the UK in order to be eligible to file
an
    > I-130 by DCF at the US Embassy in London.
    > If you haven't already sent in any completed documentation to begin
the
    > I-130, it sounds like you'll be ineligible as soon as you return to
the
    > US and begin working and living there.

We filed the I-130 in early Dec. (I got a notice that they received our
app. on Dec. 9) for this very reason!

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

Hi StarlaLorien

My Husband (US citizen) and I (UK citizen) have had the same problem. We tried to DCF in London in September and were rejected. He doesn't have a house in the USA anymore, but opened a PO Box, so we put that down as the address and applied to Nebraska SC. We thought we'd get rejected, but the NOA1 for the I-130 was sent to the PO Box, as was the NOA1 for the 129F. The PO Box forwards all our mail back here to our UK house. We've signed up for USCIS e-mail updates and have learned our I-130 was forwarded to California SC.
Just waiting now

Hi Meauxna
Thank you for your reply. We just joined the forum yesterday, after viewing it for the last four months, so we must be the forth person you've counted. We saw others were also having problems on
http://talk.uk-yankee.com
We got married in September and the following week the UK home office changed my husbands UK fiancé visa to marriage with "Limited Leave to Remain". We thought all was OK and posted our I-130 to London to DCF. 2 days later we got a letter back saying we had to apply at the USCIS of my husbands previous residence (exactly the same as StarlaLorien's letter}. We phoned USCIS in London and the person on the phone couldn't help. We also noticed that the web page had also changed saying Limited Leave to remain couldn't DCF. We didn't want to waste any more time and from surfing websites like this one, it appeared others were being reject from DCF too, so we raised the I-130 with Nebraska. All we can think of is that London changed their DCF procedures for people with "Limited Leave to Remain" around Aug/Sep as people prior to then are now well along with their applications and getting interview dates.

x743

Re: London Embassy is hilarious (not)
 

You are wrong and sadly this misinformation is posted so many times on these forums.

Its not clearly spelt out, that’s the problem, its open to misinterpretation. It clearly says:

'Embassy in London accepts I-130 petitions from U.S. Citizens who reside in our jurisdiction.'

RESIDE, that means you must show that you reside here, FLR shows that you CAN reside here, but further evidence such as NI number, P45, bank account details, Utility bills etc is needed to show you RESIDE. ILR is not a MUST.

As I understand it, FLR and LLR are two different stamps. Limited is not the same as Further and is normally assigned to students staying here for example.