teamrandb

Hi all,

My husband (UKC) and I (USC) are waiting on receiving our approval from London on the 1-130 we submitted (on May 6th). We are hoping to have everything sorted by the end of the year and we are starting to look at flights home.

We read online that after his application is approved (after his interview in London), all of his paperwork including his passport will be sealed in an envelope that only a immigration officer in US can open on arrival.

My husband is really concerned that his passport will be sealed in an envelope that can not be opened until we arrive in the US. Our question is, how does that work. When he checks in to fly from the UK, what does he use as ID if his passport is in this envelope??

Also do we need to buy a direct flight to the US or can we have a lay over (we are finding the cheapest flight through Iceland).

Thanks for your help!

fatbrit

Once you realize the passport isn't sealed in the envelope, many of your worries disappear.

thephionex

His passport will be left outside the brown envelope. with his visa printed inside it.

and it does not mater how many flights you take to get to your destination you will be processed at your first point of entry to the USA

teamrandb

HAHA yes that does help. So what does happen after approval at the interview?? Or even better when he first arrives in America after receiving approval? THANKS!

LadyElysium

Okay, I am pretty sure I've got this all right, but I've yet to do it myself so hopefully someone can confirm I've got it all correct. Basically, on arrival, he will hand over the brown envelope and have his fingerprint taken at POE (point of entry).

What happens next depends on the date he lands...

If your husband arrives before your 2 year wedding anniversary he will get a 2 year conditional greencard. 90 days before this expires you need to apply for ROC (removal of conditions).

If he arrives after your 2 year wedding anniversary, he will get a ten year greencard rather than a 2 year conditional one.

Once he arrives in the USA, his SSN and greencard will be sent to in a few weeks. There is nothing visa related you need to do immediately after POE so you can relax. It'll either be a 2yr wait or a 10yr wait before you need to do anything else.

lansbury

CBP will open the envelope, after checking to see it is still sealed, photograph, fingerprint husband and stamp the visa in his passport.

About 4 weeks later his green card will arrive in the post. Even if you ticked the box to have the Social Security number and card issued, go to the SS office 2 weeks after you arrive to make sure he is in the system. Make sure you know how long you have to obtain driving licenses once you arrive.

One thing not to do. DO NOT purchase airline tickets until you have the visa in your hand, unless you can change the travel dates. Sometimes things get delayed last minute and visas have been known to take up to 3 weeks to arrive after the interview in straight forward cases. In complicated cases sometimes much longer. Having said that the bulk arrive in a couple of days after the interview.

teamrandb

Thank you for all your information. My spousal visa expires on 16th December, so I am hoping we have this all sorted by then. I am feeling good about the process dates on the website as they seem to be moving quite quickly. We received our I-130 petition was filed on 6th May, so just watching the clock.

My dream timeline would be

I-130 filed 6th May
I-130 approval received around 1st Oct (or before)
Medical beginning of Oct
Interview sometime in Nov
Leave together in Dec

I know that this is just a dream right now, but keeping our fingers crossed that because we are a pretty simple case, and have everything in order, it should run pretty smooth!!!

meauxna

Why, here's an article that explains it in painful detail!

Immigrant Visa Arrival

Read the links from the bottom of the page too. Good stuff.

teamrandb

Thank you for this information !!!!