UK DCF -- the ins and outs and ups and downs

[Hellojulie 0]

Well, we got my husbands police certificate a few weeks ago. That said, I paid the extra for expedited service since I had already sent in out checklist. We got it back in 3 working days as it said we would... I am not sure if others are taking longer - it says around 10 days for normal processing if I recall correctly. They are supposed to be valid for 2 months for immigration purposes.

[mcclapa 0]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post but I have done a lot of reading around the site. It is reassuring to know there are so many in the same boat as us and thanks to everyone for giving your experiences. It has been helpful to read them and know a bit more about what to expect!

We received our NOA2 on 19 Feb. and are waiting for Packet 3 with our fingers crossed! I hope I am right in assuming that 2 weeks is standard waiting time and that Royal Mail haven't lost it!

[Hellojulie 0]

OOPS sorry - that should be 12 months they are valid (from above re: police certificates) I couldnt figure out how to edit it.

[jhphi 0]

On a seperate note is there a general issue with police certificates being delayed (I haven't applied yet) or is it normally a long wait? Should I apply now, I guess they don't need specifics from the next part of the process?

I would send off for the police certificates now, just in case there's any hold up. My husbands didn't take that long to come in from the UK-- less than a month. You won't need to show it until the interview, but will need to check it off on the checklist you send back.

[londonhornet 0]

Jhphi is right get the Police Certificates as early as you can, mine took about 3 weeks to come through and the UK Police Certificate is valid for 12 months.

On a side note, Joanna I don't know if Mark has had his medical, I know you said it was early March...?! I had mine on the 24th, last week, it all went smoothly. I phoned yesterday for confirmation there were no 'issues' as you have to wait for the blood and chest xray results... I PASSED! Now the waiting for the interview... THE FINAL STEP!!

[uk2usa2010 2]

On a seperate note is there a general issue with police certificates being delayed (I haven't applied yet) or is it normally a long wait? Should I apply now, I guess they don't need specifics from the next part of the process?

I posted mine on 8 February (standard service - 10 WORKING days) and recieved it back on 25 February. You can of course pay more for the 3 working day service and it appears that this has been pretty reliable. The notes on the form say you should allow up to 3 working days each side for postage and should not count day of posting or day of reciept their end! In short, get it now. It is valid for 12 months.

[jhphi 0]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post but I have done a lot of reading around the site. It is reassuring to know there are so many in the same boat as us and thanks to everyone for giving your experiences. It has been helpful to read them and know a bit more about what to expect!

We received our NOA2 on 19 Feb. and are waiting for Packet 3 with our fingers crossed! I hope I am right in assuming that 2 weeks is standard waiting time and that Royal Mail haven't lost it!

Hi mcclapa, Welcome to the UK DCF thread!

2 weeks sounds standard compared to the timelines I've seen-- I received mine in one week from the NOA2 date (NOA2 Feb 12th, Packet 3 Feb 19th), and it took about 2 weeks for londonhornet's to arrive, but I'm not sure of some of the other recent filers. Hopefully it will arrive today or tomorrow! If not, I'd probably only give it one more full week before calling to see what's up. I'm all for being patient, but the mail service can be unreliable (my timeline is definite evidence of this), and you don't want to lose time for the sake of being patient. Do you have your DS-230 and DS-2001 all ready to go?

[jhphi 0]

hiya - I am relatively new here -

We are filing DCF through london for my English spouse. I am the american half. We want to move the last week of May.

I sent in our DS2001 checklist first week of February. I have looked at other peoples timelines and it appears to be the case it takes about a month to get the interview letter back - so hopefully any day now? I have also heard it is taking longer recently (that they are behind) and others getting interviews in July?

This is rather troubling and stressful. Any others that sent in their checklist around the same time as us that could let me know how long it took for them?

Many thanks

Hi Hellojulie!

We sent our checklist two-three weeks after you, and we hope to move a few weeks before you... so it looks like we both need some good luck dust sprinkled on us!

I think there are about 5 of us on this thread now awaiting Packet 4-- hopefully as the interview letters start to roll in, we will keep each other updated. One recent London DCFer, nc73, waited 4 weeks for the interview letter, but the interview was set for only 10 days after the letter was received, so that's great news, timing-wise.

I think the July interview that you are talking about above is the member "ohlpomr" over in the UK Regional board, right? It sounds like there may have been some confusion since ohlpomr put that he/she needed a visa valid until August on the DS-2001 form, which London may have interpreted as them not wanting to move until then. I'm eager to hear the response from the email line about that one, though, to see if ohlpomr gets the interveiw moved. It sounds like London is accommodating of date requests, according to elmcitymaven.

[mcclapa 0]

Hi mcclapa, Welcome to the UK DCF thread!

2 weeks sounds standard compared to the timelines I've seen-- I received mine in one week from the NOA2 date (NOA2 Feb 12th, Packet 3 Feb 19th), and it took about 2 weeks for londonhornet's to arrive, but I'm not sure of some of the other recent filers. Hopefully it will arrive today or tomorrow! If not, I'd probably only give it one more full week before calling to see what's up. I'm all for being patient, but the mail service can be unreliable (my timeline is definite evidence of this), and you don't want to lose time for the sake of being patient. Do you have your DS-230 and DS-2001 all ready to go?

Thanks for that reassurance jhphi. DS-230 is pretty much ready to send off and I am working on getting the other documents together. If Package 3 doesn't come in the next week or so, how do I contact the embassy? I have tried to read around but it seems quite confusing.

[sveta & jeff 0]

Hi Reow-- congrats on the NOA2! Very exciting!! Our I-130 approval date was Feb 12th, and we got Packet 3 in the mail on Feb 19th-- hopefully that step will be as speedy for you as it was for us. We called on the 19th to book the medical, and were given the first available date of March 4th.

Hi everyone! Mine timeline looks pretty much the same. We got a letter on Feb 19th that our I-130 approved Feb 12th. And today we got other letter with my case number. Going to send our DS-230 and DS-2001 before the week is out and book the medical as soon as possible.

[jhphi 0]

Thanks for that reassurance jhphi. DS-230 is pretty much ready to send off and I am working on getting the other documents together. If Package 3 doesn't come in the next week or so, how do I contact the embassy? I have tried to read around but it seems quite confusing.

The embassy has an expensive helpline (120p per minute) at 09042-450-100. They either answer your question on the phone, or give you a code to write in over email. But yours will hopefully come soon, though! See above post from sveta & jeff-- their I-130 was approved Feb 12th, and they got Packet 3 today. Woo hoo!

Edited March 3, 2010 by jhphi

[Taavy 0]

The embassy has an expensive helpline (120p per minute) at 09042-450-100. They either answer your question on the phone, or give you a code to write in over email. But yours will hopefully come soon, though! See above post from sveta & jeff-- their I-130 was approved Feb 12th, and they got Packet 3 today. Woo hoo!

Hi mcclapa,

You can send an email to USCIS.London@dhs.gov in case you do not want to call the extortion line. I do not know how soon you will get a reply, perphaps you should call and send an email.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I think the July interview that you are talking about above is the member "ohlpomr" over in the UK Regional board, right? It sounds like there may have been some confusion since ohlpomr put that he/she needed a visa valid until August on the DS-2001 form, which London may have interpreted as them not wanting to move until then. I'm eager to hear the response from the email line about that one, though, to see if ohlpomr gets the interveiw moved. It sounds like London is accommodating of date requests, according to elmcitymaven.

Update from ohlpomr! They got their date moved to the first week of April. Hooray!

[Hellojulie 0]

Hi jhphi

I will definitely update the thread when I get our letter. Is it possible you will get yours first since you want to move sooner?

I'm getting more impatient by the day. I know there is nothing I can do but wait though.

[Hellojulie 0]

We got our appointment letter today! (yay)

so, I can't recall the exact day I sent off the ds2001 however I think it was Feb 4 or 5th.

Since today is the 6th, about exactly 1 month to recieve our appointment letter.

Our interview is scheduled for April 6. Two months from sending ds2001 to interview.

So good news! It appears that the date from the letter to the date of the interview is slightly longer than it used to be -I think it was averaging about 10 days before and ours is a month out. However I did say that we planned to leave end of may so it's possible that it may be sooner for others.

Yay! I'll finally be able to do something with this massive stack of documents instead of staring at it and randomly checking through it to be sure we've not forgotten anything.