GarethDouglas

Hi all
I am married to a US citizen, we have decided to move to the states as soon as i an get a visa.
my questions are
1- Since I live in N.Ireland can I use an Irish passport and therefore the Dublin embassy? Or does it have to be the London embassy as its a UK address?
2- How long does it take to get a spouse visa ? Ive read elsewhere its 18 months, as she was hoping to get a job teaching this fall(autumn) i was thinking there was not enough time. I am open to her traveling ahead by a month or two but as we have no idea of a time frame I dont know what plans to make.
O the i-130 has just been sent off this week.

Noorah101

I don't think Dublin does Immigrant Visas, I only ever hear of people going through London. But you can certainly double check that information. You can use an Irish passport.

If the USC lives in the UK, and the I-130 is sent directly to the USCIS field office in London, you're looking at about 4 - 6 months or so.

If the I-130 is filed in the USA, it takes around 8 - 10 months.

The process won't take as long as 18 months, but starting now (in March) may or may not get you to the USA by August, so no guarantees.

Oh! So, did you send it to London, Dublin, or the USA?

Don't forget about the I-864 Affidavit of Support. Make sure your USC spouse qualifies financially, or that you have enough in assets, or that you have a joint sponsor if necessary.

Rene

GarethDouglas

Sorry i forgot to mention it was sent to London, after a search in depth I found that London has the office and Dublin doesn't.
She lives with me and it was sent direct to London. Her parents are going to sponsor me on the I-864.
Thanks for the reply, actually been a massive help.

Noorah101

Slight correction. Your wife is still your sponsor and will still submit an I-864. One of her parents will be a joint sponsor, and will submit his/her own I-864. If that parent's income is not enough, and both parents live in the same household, the other parent can contribute his/her income to the joint sponsor's I-864 by doing an I-864A.

Rene

GarethDouglas

Fantastic, I've found out more in one hour than weeks of endless searching for answers. I can't thank you enough.

Noorah101

Glad to help!

Rene

Apfelkuchen

According to this thread from a few days ago, Dublin apparently does: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=790470

But I guess it doesn't matter now since the I-130 has been filed DCF in London. Even if it hadn't been, since the OP's address is in Northern Ireland he would presumably have ended up being interviewed in London anyway. (This ties in to my question in the thread here: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=790967)

How does one go about requesting an interview in a country where one is not resident (when the country of residence does have a consulate that processes immigrant visas)?

Noorah101

You can either indicate it on the I-130, or notify NVC if the case is at that stage, or notify the embassy (when you have a case number) that you wish to switch embassies and have them forward the case on.

Rene

Apfelkuchen

I see, thanks . Well then, based on what you said in the other thread about an applicant's home country always having the ability to interview them, it seems like the OP should be able to have his interview in Dublin after all, as an Irish citizen. Certainly a lot more convenient than having to go to London for the medical and interview.

Noorah101

In the OP's case, if Dublin really does Immigrant Visa interviews, they will have to contact the USCIS field office where the I-130 was filed, to make sure they know they need to forward the case to Dublin, rather than London.

Rene

Apfelkuchen

The Dublin website also indicates that it does process IV applications. It just doesn't accept I-130s anymore.

As an aside, I wonder if Dublin gets a lot of interview requests from people living in Northern Ireland who don't have Irish passports, due to the convenience factor. And I wonder what their policy on it is. I only have a British passport, but if I had still been living in NI when I went through my visa process I probably would have got an Irish one if it meant I could avoid multiple trips to London.

Apfelkuchen

If the OP does decide to interview in Dublin, he may want to check out the cost of the medical exam. According to the Visa Journey page for Dublin (which appears to be up to date) the panel physician there charges 395 Euro .

GarethDouglas

Cheers guys, I have checked the Dublin fees, all in all with he cost of the flights versus the cost of a new passport and higher medical fees it seems to balance out. Flights from Belfast to London are about 49 pounds return and 40 minutes long. No great difference to the fuel id use for a 100 mile journey and back in my car.
All in all I think to keep the process as quick as possible I'd stick with the London embassy.
Feel free to correct me on here as I'm no expert and hence I joined this forum for advice and help

Michael

London seems to have sped up lately. A recent poster in the following link got his visa in 4 months so changing to Dublin might delay the process. However London could possibly slow down again.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...763941&page=11

jeffreyhy

No consulates accept I-130s anymore. The term 'DCF' may remain in use, just as we still 'type' and telephones still 'ring', but direct consular filing of I-130 petitions no longer exists.

Regards, JEff