Time frame for legally staying in the United Kingdom

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

wonderful news!

I think you may have experienced the fifth circle of visa hell.

[MARM 7]

wonderful news!

I think you may have experienced the fifth circle of visa hell.

I never thought I would be laughing about it, but here we are...moving forward FINALLY!

Thanks everyone for all your support and good wishes, really means ALOT to us!

I just hope no one has to refer this thread for a situation similar to ours ever...but I guess the most important thing is there ARE happy endings...even after a long stay in the fifth circle of visa hell

Edited June 10, 2009 by MARM

[msu17 0]

Wow, I just read this whole thread. That is absolute ####### what happened to you. Makes you want to just break into the office and steal your passport back!!! Congrats on finally getting somewhere in this ridiculous process and good luck for a smooth rest of the ride.

[MARM 7]

Wow, I just read this whole thread. That is absolute ####### what happened to you. Makes you want to just break into the office and steal your passport back!!! Congrats on finally getting somewhere in this ridiculous process and good luck for a smooth rest of the ride.

Thanks msu17!!!

[DisneyLovers 18]

Good news :dancing: !!!!!!!

We got the passport back from the UKHO today!!!

2 days from faxing letters of complaint to every UKHO post we knew, we GOT IT!!!

Now moving on to arranging courier service with the US Embassy...

:dance: :dance: :dance:

Woohoo Marm! so glad things are finally moving on for you both, I've been voodoo'ing the evil passport holders for you... my voodoo dolly can rest again for a while now hehe So happy for you both!

[Gemmie 142]

I'm so happy for you MARM, you deserve some good news!!

When are you planning to travel?

[MARM 7]

I'm so happy for you MARM, you deserve some good news!!

When are you planning to travel?

Thanks Gemmie! My fiance's POE will probably be in mid August...I will be traveling to the UK as soon as my fiance gets that text from SMS saying his passport will be delivered to him from the US Embassy. We both are planning on a pre-POE trip to Pakistan to attend two important weddings . These next two weeks are very critical for us as we are waiting on the printed visa from the US Embassy now as well as packaging my fiance's shipments from the UK to the USA and I will be arriving in the UK in the next couple of weeks to join my fiance so we can go to Pakistan!

Only 3 more days till your POE Gemmie! You must be over the moon! :dance:

Edited June 11, 2009 by MARM

[Gemmie 142]

Sounds like you have a lot planned. You will be together within the next couple of weeks! EEEEEEE I can't imagine how relieved you must feel after all of this time. Enjoy your trip to Pakistan, and know that the stress is over for a little while!

I am so excited (and so sad) to be leaving. I'm having a huge party starting from 12pm until early hours of the morning! Everyone is wearing red, white and blue and we're only allowed to listen to American music and drink American drinks!

[MARM 7]

Just something to add to our horrific passport journey that finally ended with the UKHO yesterday...

My fiance's student visa extension has been approved since March 18, 2009. They sent a cover letter along with his passport back to him, and the cover letter states he was approved on March 18, 2009 and that he should receive his new UK biometric resident ID card within 3 business days...which is ridiculous because he received his biometric ID card back on April 23, 2009 and the date of his student visa approval on his biometric card reads as April 21, 2009. And to top it all off, the UKHO included another letter with his passport apologizing that they did not get his passport back to him when he requested a withdrawal 13 days ago (the 10 business day max had passed and we still did not get the passport so we proceeded to fax complaint and warning to sue letters to all UKHO branches existing in the UK).

Frankly, the system the UKHO has implemented since Nov 2008 for biometric cards for all foreign nationals in the UK is a bunch of b.s and same goes with their system for applying for leave to remain...they can't get their dates right and have seriously important information (like the approval date discrepancy between the one on his ID card and the one they write about in the official letter) all messed up. He was approved on March 18, 2009!!! We could have kept our first, original interview date (March 30, 2009) and everything would have been wonderful.

But any way, we got the passport back yesterday and SMS courier service took it today safe and sound for the embassy...so we are looking forward to his visa in hand by the end of next week!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

That's a shame, because I always had decent experiences with the Home Office from visa renewals to becoming a citizen. It appears they are becoming as bureaucratic and slow as the USCIS.

Anyways, it least it's all over for you guys.

[MARM 7]

Well, here we are again, I would rather bump this thread than start another sorrowful topic

Since many of you are familiar with our VisaJourney epic so far, we thought to ask for your suggestions:

My fiance is STILL undergoing Administrative Processing at the US Embassy in London. He interviewed there on May 12, 2009 and as we all know, there is no set time limit for when this AP hell will be over.

The problem we are facing (YET AGAIN) is that his student visa extension expires on November 30, 2009. He does not qualify to extend his stay in the UK any longer after that based on the fact that he will no longer be a student in the UK and it is way too expensive for him to try to get himself qualified for another extension (new UKHO laws and regulations require you to be filthy rich to study in the UK). We don't know how long the AP will take, but he cannot extend his stay after Nov 30, 2009 based on his status as a student either. So we were wondering what options we have if his AP is not over by mid-November. He will be leaving the UK back to his home country of Pakistan before his residency expires in the UK (Nov 30, 09), so I am not sure whether we can request for his case to be transferred over to the embassy in Islamabad? Or are we better of canceling the K-1, getting married in Pakistan and going the CR-1/IR-1 route? We just want to be prepared beforehand because he cannot stay in the UK after Nov 30, 2009, yet his case is under AP at the US Embassy in London since May 12, 2009.

We have notified the US Embassy in London about his residency expiring in Nov 2009, but I don't think they care, we got the standard response: Case is under AP without a set time frame and it cannot be expedited, we will contact you once the AP is over, blah blah blah...

We have also contacted both the senators and congressman, all have made more than one inquiry each, but they get the same standard response we do: he is in AP, there is no time-frame, he will be notified once it is over.

We don't know what options we are looking at...

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Any chance of getting a tourist visa as a way of extending his current visa?

If not...

You have three full months until he has to leave so the AP may be over by then. If I were you I would persist in trying to find out if final bit of the process - the visa printing - can be transferred from one Embassy to another.

Try emailing the London Embassy again with that question and then the Islamabad Embassy. Perhaps you should try to get a face to face with someone in the US - the Infopass thing to establish that question.

I think that would have to be the most logical way to proceed if the AP lasts longer than Nov. I really hope you don't have to start all over again with the CR1 route.

I know how hard it is getting info out of the London Embassy - any chance you will be in London over the next few months. Perhaps you could try going in and talking to someone there yourself about the possibility of transferring the case if necessary.

When you email London I would recommend not asking how long the AP will take as they will just give you the standard response but focus on the possibility of transfer after Nov. There's probably some ridiculous USCIS reason why they can't do it but you never know.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

There's probably some ridiculous USCIS reason why they can't do it but you never know.

This isn't a USCIS thing right now so an infopass won't help. Visas are granted through the Dept of State, a totally different piece of the US government. Maybe you could write Hillary Clinton...she's the head honcho as US Secretary of State.

Sorry you're still waiting Marm.

[MARM 7]

Thanks for the suggestions so far

I am researching here on VJ about how hard it is to get a pending case transferred from London to Islamabad...so far the information I received from a member here on VJ...it's not something we would look forward to as it takes about 2-4 months to get a case transferred from one embassy to another, and the fact that my fiance's K-1 is in AP (after the interview stage) probably makes it impossible to get transferred (as I was told by a DOS rep today). So I don't know what to do right now...except hope and pray that London finishes his AP well before we have to take action.

[MARM 7]

There's probably some ridiculous USCIS reason why they can't do it but you never know.

This isn't a USCIS thing right now so an infopass won't help. Visas are granted through the Dept of State, a totally different piece of the US government. Maybe you could write Hillary Clinton...she's the head honcho as US Secretary of State.

Sorry you're still waiting Marm.

And I did exactly that...maybe I am crazy but I would rather do it than regret that I did not, I wrote to:

Hilary Clinton, the Assistant Secretary, and the Deputy Secretary as well (all Washington, DC)

Helen Rice, and J. Steaberg: Consul Generals at the US Embassy in London (London, UK)

And just as a last thought: VP Biden and First Lady as well.

We are the point of desperation now...my fiance no longer can continue his job as his contract has expired and he needs to show a valid UK resident/student visa that is valid from 6 months beyond today's date in order to renew his contract or look for another place to work while he waits it out until November in the UK or gets the K-1 visa, whichever comes first. We are stuck in quite a difficult situation as basically now my fiance is literally just waiting to hear about his visa and no one, neither DOS, nor the US Embassy in London understand that he MUST leave within a month so he needs his passport back and he needs to know what will happen to the K-1. It's all horribly hopeless to contact any of these people in the ways we have: emails to London, calling DOS, asking the senators and congressman to help...nothing is working so I hope that me writing these letters has some effect (although I doubt it very much). We are just praying hard and calling DOS everyday...