eddfsf

Hello to you all!

So my Journey is set to begin towards the end of July. We have the rings, the wedding is booked in Houston - all I have to do is fly over there, get the marriage license....and then the real journey begins!

I am here to gain a bit of help, and also share my experience post marriage - so I can hopefully be of help to someone else further down the line.

Now, I wanted to check I am thinking things through properly (no not the marriage, of that I am certain!!)

1. I-130 - Once we are married, and I have my marriage certificate "by Apostille" my wife then fills out the form I-130 and we pay the $420. I presume we file to the lockbox facility in Chicago as my wife is from Texas?

2. Does the G-325a (one for each party)
Recent PP photo (one for each party)
Proof of US Citizenship (photocopy of PPPP, NC, BC) have to be filed at the same time?

3. At what point do I need to look at criminal reports, is this something I can get rolling now? (naturally it is 100% clean)

4. At what point do I need the doctors examination - can I pre-empt this by going now or do I have to do it in a certain time frame?

5. At what point do the forms DS-230 (Part I), DS-230 (Part II), I-864 come into play?

Thanks! I am sure there will be more to come....counting the days to July 16th

MrsWaring

HI Ed and welcome to the fun journey of immigration

I imagine the first thing to ask is where do you live? Are you in the UK or the US?

Noorah101

You don't need anything "by Apostille", to my knowledge. You will receive a certified copy of the marriage certificate, and your USC wife includes a photocopy of that with the I-130 package. The package gets sent to the address listed on www.uscis.gov, Forms, I-130 cover page.

Read the I-130 instructoins found at www.uscis.gov, Forms, I-130. The answer to this question is in there.

You will need a police report by the time you're ready to book your medical overseas. The police report is good for 1 year. You can start getting the police report after the I-130 gets filed, maybe 3 or 4 months into the process.

You have to do the medical during a certain time frame. You will need your LND case number in order to book the medical, which you won't have until after the I-130 gets approved (NVC will assign the LND case number).

Just prior to your visa interview overseas.

Rene

Noorah101

I can't say for sure, but since he's going to "fly over there" to get married, I would assume he's in the UK right now.

Rene

jeffreyhy

When the I-130 has been approved, and the National Visa Center has received the approved I-130 from USCIS.

See the NVC Immigrant Visa Processing web pages at travel.state.gov

Regards, JEff

eddfsf

Hi Mrs Waring! indeed I am a Brit looking to take his place in good ol' Texas

eddfsf

Hi Rene, Thanks for all that! more reading to be done. It was when speaking to the court offices in Houston that they made mention of "Apostille" - perhaps just an added sales point which they do automatically?

eddfsf

You got it!!

eddfsf

Appreciated Jeff, well now I know which direction to point myself in - I will start working on the police report - as it lasts for a year it makes sense getting it now as we are to be married soon.

Wow, I know it's going to be a tough journey - but to think I could be in Texas next year.....can you tell I'm excited?

Noorah101

Personally, I'd wait on the police report until you're a few months into the I-130 waiting period. You aren't getting married for a couple of more months, and the Immigrant Visa process itself can take up to 10 months, so you don't want to risk having your police report expire before you're actually done with the process.

Rene

eddfsf

I see the sense in that, thanks again Rene

civilservant

As someone who is in exactly the same boat (filing at the end of the month) I can understnad all the questions - however check out the wiki here, it's an excellent source of informaition.

eddfsf

Appreciate the heads up, in fact this is where my head has been buried for the past couple of hours...Good luck to you!

eddfsf

Morning all, I have just read the section relating to documentation required for the G-325a and in particular the affidavits.

Now I am no lawyer, and words like that are a tad scary.

Am I right in thinking statements from family/friends would be ok? or do I have to obtain something which has an official stamp?

Thanks!

civilservant

As long as you use the 'magic language' at the end of the document, it does not have to be witnessed:

"I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date]"