ghstppl

Hi everyone, I wonder if any of you can offer some advice. I have been married to a US citizen for 10 years, and after marrying in the US and spending a few months with her family, we moved to the UK where we have been ever since. We are planning on moving to West Virginia within the next 18 months but we have to sell our UK property first which is why we intended on 18 months to give us time to do as much to the house so we can get the best price possible.

I have a couple of questions and I wonder if any of you can help.

1/ We have printed off the I-130 application, and I understand I have to get a police check from over here, are there any other forms I need to complete?

2/ We are planning on taking over our two dogs and our cat, generally any advice as for the timing on apply for the Pets passport?

3/ Also on the timing of things, at what point would you advise on when we should start on applying for the visa, and once it is approved is there a time frame of when we must move there. For example if we applied now and it took 8 months for the visa to be approved, would we still be able to move there a year after that or would I have to re-apply for the visa at that stage?

4/ Is there anything else I need to be aware of when applying?

5/ Would you recommend the wife and I meeting with a Immigration lawyer before we start this process?

Any advice would be extremely grateful
Thanks

ian-mstm

Not right now, no. Eventually, you'll need an I-864 and be able to demonstrate "domicile" in the US. Hint = Google is your friend.


Check out the general USA forum on here... there's lots of folks moving pets across the pond.


If your USC spouse is eligible to file the I-130 directly to London, it'll take about 4-5 months to get the visa. The visa is valid for 6 months after issue... so, you have 6 months to enter the US. However, you can enter the US to activate the visa (and thereby immediately become a US permanent resident) and then return to the UK to finish up your preparations. You don't need to move within 6 months, but you must at least enter the US once within that 6 month period.


The biggest hurdles for your USC spouse are the I-864 and domicile.


If it will help you sleep better at night, yes... otherwise, unless you have a criminal history or previous issues with overstaying in the US, then it's entirely doable on your own.

Ian

ghstppl

Thanks for the advice Ian, I really appreciate it.

Noorah101

See this Wiki guide for help, then come back with any quesitons:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London

Rene

jeffreyhy

And, eventually, he'll need to make a visa application!

Yeah, that guy Google is fantastic.

Regards, JEff

celticgrid

My wife and I did the exact same approach, married in the US, spent 11 years in the UK, moved across without the help of a lawyer. Lots of paperwork, but simply a matter of plodding through it.

Though as Ian says....."unless".

So, exactly on what basis did you enter the US, get married and spend a "few months" there? That might be a point you want to get a little bit of advice on, depending on the answer.

meauxna

Mine would be: read the DCF wiki entry and come back with your next set of questions!
Welcome aboard; hope you're in for a smooth visa application.

ghstppl

Thanks for the advice. I will look at all the links you recommended. I went over the states on a normal tourist visa because at the time the wife and I knew we where coming back to the UK to live. We were married in the US by a Judge, then applied for the wife's UK residence at the British Embassy and that came back about 4 weeks later, and at that time we moved back to the UK.

The other issue we may have from reading about domicile is that since she has been here my wife has worked part time but earning less than £5000 per year. She filed taxes to the US the first year she arrived because they were relating to the last year she lived in the US, but since then has not filed anything because we didn't realise she had to.

We have all her pay slips since she started working here, but is it worth submitting back-dated tax returns?

We intend to live with her parents short term when we move back, would this cause any problems with the issues of domicile as there is no way the wife could travel ahead of me for a short period of time.

ghstppl

Sorry, forgot to give any detail about the marriage and visa in US. I travelled over the US in November 2000 on a six-month tourist visa, we married 3 days later, the day before thanksgiving. We applied for the UK residential the Monday after thanksgiving, and that came through between Christmas and New Years day. We came back to the UK on January 2001. In total I spent just under 2 months there.

Ginblossom

I still kinda like my Domicile guide that exists there.

Ginblossom

Yes, no, maybe. What would be much better is if you did have a place of your own with a lease.

I will never ever forget the words of the interviewing officer who said to me, anyone's dad can write a letter saying they can stay. In other words, that wasn't enough evidence of domicile in that category.

However, my own circumstances aside, tt really depends on the assessment of your application. Lots of people have stayed with parents' when they arrive, and immigration are fine with that. In other cases, they are not happy with that at all. Sorry, but every case is different, and stands on its own merits. What I will say is though, the stronger the overall case, the weaker parts of it will tend to be smoother.

A weak overall case will be judged more hashly IMHO.

ian-mstm

Not only is it worth it, it's mandatory for the I-864.


Only in the sense that living with her parents neither helps nor hurts her claim to domicile.


Is she unable to travel without you?

Ian

ghstppl

It's not that she is physically unable to travel without me, the wife and I agreed that because of all the co-ordination required over here, as well as getting the house ready to sell etc we thought it would be better suited to us to travel together when the time is ready.

We have planned out what we need to get sorted right now while we are preparing the house for sale, which for us to move to the US is essential.

We looked at what we can do right away, so the early plan is for me to get my relevant medical shots from my local GP, and get the animals their rabies shots and chipped, then discuss the Pet passport with the Vet at the same time.

The plan is to hopefully have the house ready for sale as early as possible and at the time the house goes up for sale we will start the visa in motion.

My own experience over here with the sale of a house is that even once a buyer is found it takes at least 2 months to go through, and if by a miracle we find a buyer straight away and sell the house before the application is approved we will rent somewhere which maybe will help our case proving the wife had no intention of perminently settling in the UK

rebeccajo

There's no reason to worry about pleading a case of your wife having no intention to permanently settle in the UK. She's a US citizen. She can come home any time she likes.

Ginblossom

Technically yes of course. But if she wants her husband with her, she will have to prove domicile or intent of (re) establishing. It may be mere semantics, but crucial.

She has been out of the US a long time. Plus we don't know what supporting documentation she has. No recent tax returns by the sound of. A voting record? An up to date drivers licence? To think of just 3 things....

Having been in this very situation, it can be difficult.