Appying straight after Marriage

[scrosso 0]

Hello all,

My fiancée and I have been looking at all the options of how we can get married, and move from London to USA. She is an American Citizen who has been living in London for the past 6 years (and the past 3 years with me). We have been engaged for 5 months, and have decided to push up the wedding to April this year. Would then applying for a DCF so soon after the wedding be looked upon badly and affect our chances of application success.

I have also read that it is worth contacting the London US embassy pre-marriage for advice, has anyone had experience dealing with them, are they fairly receptive and helpful?

All help will be greatly appreciated.

SR

[milimelo 4,479]

Hello all,

My fiancée and I have been looking at all the options of how we can get married, and move from London to USA. She is an American Citizen who has been living in London for the past 6 years (and the past 3 years with me). We have been engaged for 5 months, and have decided to push up the wedding to April this year. Would then applying for a DCF so soon after the wedding be looked upon badly and affect our chances of application success.

I have also read that it is worth contacting the London US embassy pre-marriage for advice, has anyone had experience dealing with them, are they fairly receptive and helpful?

All help will be greatly appreciated.

SR

Not sure about London, but I can tell you that my husband and I applied for DCF maybe 3 weeks after the wedding - how long it took us to change my documents and get the photos as evidence. Questions asked were how long you have been together before marriage, how long was the engagement period (6 months) and that was it - approved on the spot, go pay the $190 (it was cheaper in 2006 than now). They asked husband what is he doing in Bosnia - deployment with US military and that was it.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

You won;t have any problems applying right after the wedding, especially as you have been together so long already.

I am not sure what advice you would be looking for from the embassy?

[scrosso 0]

I am not sure what advice you would be looking for from the embassy?

Thank you for the help.

There was a note on either the guidance notes or somewhere else, that mentioned some embassies can be very helpful prior to application and is worth trying. I think from further reading some embassies provide insight into what you can prepare and have done before applications are submitted e.g. Police check, Medical etc.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

We filed for DCF about 2 weeks after our wedding. Not an issue.

Unless you have a potentially complicating issue (police record, overstays in the US, for example) there really is no advantage in contacting London. It's a very straightforward consulate to process through. All the info you would get from them on when and what and how to prepare is available on their website -- and lots of info here on VJ, of course. You'll find it expensive and/or difficult to contact London on immigrant visa issues -- you have to call a premium rate number known on VJ as the "extortion line", and once connected you get precious little info from the operators. Emailing London will result in a bounceback "don't bother contacting us without prior approval" reply. Save your pennies on this one, trust me!

Feel free to ask your questions here instead -- and welcome to VJ.

[scrosso 0]

We filed for DCF about 2 weeks after our wedding. Not an issue.

Unless you have a potentially complicating issue (police record, overstays in the US, for example) there really is no advantage in contacting London. It's a very straightforward consulate to process through. All the info you would get from them on when and what and how to prepare is available on their website -- and lots of info here on VJ, of course. You'll find it expensive and/or difficult to contact London on immigrant visa issues -- you have to call a premium rate number known on VJ as the "extortion line", and once connected you get precious little info from the operators. Emailing London will result in a bounceback "don't bother contacting us without prior approval" reply. Save your pennies on this one, trust me!

Feel free to ask your questions here instead -- and welcome to VJ.

Thanks for your help, this time last week the whole visa stituation was looking extremely stressful but i must admit this site has been fantastic so far and we are very lucky to have somehting like this to help us with the whole process.

[jhphi 0]

Hi scrosso!

We applied about a month after our wedding date, and are in the early stages of the process (I've filed the I-130, but we're awaiting the NOA2 which we hope will come this week). I never read anything that suggested that filing so soon after marriage would be looked upon unfavorably.

I'm sure you're already doing this, but just do your research and make sure that you have a plan for getting all the items you'll need for the application process in advance (things like the long form of your birth certificate, your fiance's tax documents, police certificates, marriage certificate, etc.) Once you get started, you won't want things like this to trip you up and delay you.

Good luck!

[Darnell 8,478]

Would then applying for a DCF so soon after the wedding be looked upon badly and affect our chances of application success.

NO

[jhphi 0]

Hi SR.

Just wanted to jump in again and recommend that you two may want to get affidavits prepared in advance, in case you get a Request for Evidence. We just got a RFE, and we filed one month after our wedding. Luckily, I'd already gotten three affidavits from family/friends prepared in advance before I sent the I-130, so I could turn it around on the same day-- I just had to write the one from me (the USC) to submit with them.

Our RFE asked for these things:

1. Please provide a sworn affidavit that complies with 28 U.S.C. sec. 1746 explaining how and when you and your spouse met and the background leading up to your marriage on (DATE). (The affidavit must contain your full name and address, date and place of birth. The affiant may be required to testify before an immigration officer about the information contained in the affidavit.)

Include the following statement on your affidavit:

"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). (Signature)"

2. Please provide three (3) affidavits that comply with 28 U.S.C. sec. 1746 sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of your relationship with the beneficiary. (Each affidavit must contain the full name and address, date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; his or her relationship, if any, to the petitioner, beneficiary and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge. The affiant may be required to testify before an immigration officer about the information contained in the affidavit.)

The person submitting the affidavit must include the following statement on his/her affidavit:

"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). (Signature)"

You can find information on how these affidavits should be worded here on VJ; however, make sure you include those required statements above. Also, the embassy confirmed by email that they required original signatures, so it was not possible to send them a scanned copy or anything.

Edited February 5, 2010 by jhphi

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

How interesting. That is exactly the same wording they used on our RFE nearly three years ago. Hmmmm. I'm starting to think that London people who file shortly after their wedding and/or shortly after a divorce is finalised should be advised to supply these at the outset with the I-130 submission. It's a shame that their filing requirements STILL say don't send anything extra even though this is patently untrue for a sizeable number of petitioners.

Off to start another thread on this... with an aim to getting this pinned!

[jhphi 0]

elmcity,

I've read on other threads that they return these if you send them, with the checklist circled with a big red pen on the part that says "Only submit the documents on this checklist." ha, and then they turn around four weeks later and ask for the same affidavits you already sent! But good if everyone prepares them in advance, that way they have them if the RFE comes in...

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

elmcity,

I've read on other threads that they return these if you send them, with the checklist circled with a big red pen on the part that says "Only submit the documents on this checklist." ha, and then they turn around four weeks later and ask for the same affidavits you already sent! But good if everyone prepares them in advance, that way they have them if the RFE comes in...

Wow, that is just wrong. Understandable for a bureaucracy like the embassy, but still just a wee bit counterproductive of them, no?