UK to USA immigration experiences ...?

[Welsh_girl 0]

Hi there

I am a British citizen living in the UK and I have recently married my boyfriend of 4 years who is an American Citizen living and working in La, California.

We have hired an immigration lawyer in LA to process our visa application for me to move to LA with him and become a permanent resident.

Neither of us have been married before, we have no children, no convictions or criminal records and he has a well paid job earning way over the required amount to support me. We have solid evidence of our relationship and over 16 plane tickets from previous visits over four years of being together.

We married in my home town in Wales 2 weeks ago with all our friends and family and he has since returned to work in the US and I am here in the UK working and waiting for our application to process.

Our lawyer previously advised us that this process could take up to a year however our situation is quite straight forward and hopefully the US embassy in London isn't too backed up so it could be sooner.

It's so hard still living opposite ends of the world now that we are married especially hearing this process is so time consuming. I wondered if there is anyone else in a similar position or who has experienced this exact process (UK to USA) and could advice me or give me more information on their experience and how long it took until they could be together in the same country? I know we can still visit each other however my lawyer has advised he visits me in the UK as I could be refused entry at the US boarder while this visa process is taking place.

I would be so interested and grateful to hear of any previous experiences with a similar situation??

Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from anyone

Jo x

[Boiler 46,016]

Most people on this site diy rather than use a Lawyer.

Timeline sounds about right.

Anybody who is not a USC can be refused admission to the US, anybody who is not a UKC can be refused admission to the UK.

[aleigh36 1]

Hello -

Ours was also straight forward and it took 10 months from start to finish. I'm the US citizen and he was living/working in London after our wedding during the visa process. Good news is you can visit as much as you want during the application process.

It isn't the London embassy that creates the wait...it is the entire process state-side.

Good luck!

[Anna Grant 169]

My lawyer also advised me not to visit my fiance in the US but it is possible and loads of people do it - see here - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/67796-yes-you-can-visit/ - it's for K1s but the situation regarding travel is similar for you.

Check the guides regarding the particular route you've chosen for more infro - http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

We took the K1 route, which is supposed to be quicker than the CR1 route. However, we got our NOA1 on 24 July 2012 and our paperwork was only received by the London Embassy last week. We will be lucky if I am in the US by the anniversary of our NOA2. The delay is in the initla stages in the US, not in the UK. Whether your application is straight-forward or not will have little impact on the US side.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Anna Grant

[cathy2904 97]

Congratulations on your marriage and good luck with your journey; I hope it goes swiftly for you. We were lucky and managed to get through in just under 8 months but we had everything ready to go as soon as it was needed. Also, we were in the process two years ago now - how time flies! - and timescales do change at every stage. I have been here about 18 months now and we are now preparing for ROC. Like most people on here, we did the whole process without a lawyer.

I did not try to visit because on my last entry into the US as a visitor I was taken into secondary and, after a long wait, I was questioned and told that I would be allowed in this time but that I would not be allowed in again without a proper visa. We got married on that trip and filed for the I-130 before I went home and I did not risk another visit. Trevor came to see me instead.

[Welsh_girl 0]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your replies.

If anything we hired the Lawyer for piece of mind that we are filing and providing all the information required correctly the first time so the process is as smooth as possible.

I was hoping to be out there with him by the end of this year but by the sound of things that is unlikely then.

Good to know we can still visit each other though. I'm assuming as long as I can prove I will be returning to the UK upon visiting him , like with a letter from my employer or something I should be approved entry.

I have a feeling this year is going to go by very slowly .... x

[lost_at_sea 995]

Good to know we can still visit each other though. I'm assuming as long as I can prove I will be returning to the UK upon visiting him , like with a letter from my employer or something I should be approved entry.

Yeah, for sure. Being British means it's relatively easy, since we don't even need special visas for tourism, due to the VWP/ESTA. Just make sure you travel with a return ticket and a couple of bits of evidence to ties back home (as you suggest) and you'll be all good!

Some folks like to travel with copies of their petition application paperwork, also, in case you are pressed for more explicit details - you can show you're doing all the correct and legitimate steps - but I wouldn't volunteer any information unless explicitly asked for it.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Sometimes a lawyer can even slow you down a little. You have to provide all the information for them to fill out your forms for you. Then back to you you to sign. Then return to them so they can mail them. So you could be waiting also on them to get around to doing your stuff. Would be faster to fill out and mail your own forms. Same thing again with things going to NVC. There is an extra party between you and submitting your things. Once you get to London, you're usually on your own to deal with the medical and attending the interview.

But if you don't have time to read procedures and fill out your own forms, a lawyer is a good way to go.

[Ryan H 3,828]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to UK regional forum.

[Welsh_girl 0]

Sometimes a lawyer can even slow you down a little. You have to provide all the information for them to fill out your forms for you. Then back to you you to sign. Then return to them so they can mail them. So you could be waiting also on them to get around to doing your stuff. Would be faster to fill out and mail your own forms. Same thing again with things going to NVC. There is an extra party between you and submitting your things. Once you get to London, you're usually on your own to deal with the medical and attending the interview.

But if you don't have time to read procedures and fill out your own forms, a lawyer is a good way to go.

I signed forms before the wedding for our lawyer to act on my behalf and when my husband returned to the US he took all the documents required from me for the whole visa process so I'm hoping that wont be a problem. The lawyers office is 5 mins from where my husband lives and with the eight hour time difference and our hectic work schedules the last thing I wanted was for me and him to be stressing out over late night phone calls as to filing the correct forms and providing the right information.

Hopefully this won't slow things down, I understand our lawyer obviously can't speed things up its more for piece of mind

Yes I understand once I reach the interview stage I will have to organise my medical but isn't the interview pretty much the final stage of the process? x

[Ms Hogan 295]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your replies.

If anything we hired the Lawyer for piece of mind that we are filing and providing all the information required correctly the first time so the process is as smooth as possible.

I was hoping to be out there with him by the end of this year but by the sound of things that is unlikely then.

Good to know we can still visit each other though. I'm assuming as long as I can prove I will be returning to the UK upon visiting him , like with a letter from my employer or something I should be approved entry.

I have a feeling this year is going to go by very slowly .... x

Many people on the site would agree with me when I say that hiring a lawyer is not necessary and is also likely to slow down your case. IF you have as straight-forward case as you seem to have. AND if you are fully comfortable filling out your own blanks in paperwork and keeping organized it will likely be a quicker, smoother process for you without a lawyer. If you have reasons to need a lawyer, that is different. But it doesn't read as if you do.

A lawyer gets paid by you no matter what. They have no sense of urgency in this process though and it matters not to them how long it takes you. However YOU and your spouse would like to be reunited as soon as possible. In order to do that it means staying on top of your case and preparing items ahead of time so that they can be submitted as soon as they are requested. It means taking proactive steps along the way which you can do to help move things along more quickly. A lawyer will only ask for items after they've been asked for them. They are likely not going to be proactive and have everything standing by ready to go like you would. The paperwork is not complicated for most people. The lawyer doesn't know all the answers to the questions because they aren't you and you will have to be feeding them information constantly and waiting to communicate back and forth. For that reason, many people do find it faster to do this without a lawyer.

It is a personal choice and yours alone to make.

Your original post was about fees.

The filing fees are:

I-130 $420

AOS $88

DS-230 $230

New Immigrant Fee $165

You will also have fees for your medical and of course other expenses for things like passport photos, couriers etc etc but those are more individualized depending on where you are and what you need to have completed.

I hope this helps some.

[Anna Grant 169]

Good to know we can still visit each other though. I'm assuming as long as I can prove I will be returning to the UK upon visiting him , like with a letter from my employer or something I should be approved entry.

Check the list here of useful stuff to take with you to prove your intent to return to the UK after your trips to the US:

http://www.visajourn...content/k1visit

[BaBamSam 239]

My fiance is a UK citizen (born, raised and living in London) and I'm American living in working in Los Angeles. While it's pretty straightforward for us too (for all the reasons you listed), we are still on the same timeline as everyone else really. We started the application in December and, as of now, it looks like we'll have him over here in September.

As others have said, you can visit while the visa is processing. Just bring evidence. My fiance plans on coming over here (well, meeting up in Florida) in August and hopefully that won't be an issue.

Los Angeles - particularly the Westside (Santa Monica and such) has a huge British ex-pat community, if that's something you're curious about. I don't know which part of LA you'll be in or if you'll be in the dominant industry (film/tv), but it definitely has a strong UK presence.

[markonline1 11]

It's probably too late now, but as others have said, a lawyer really is a waste of money. I entered the US on a K1 fiancé visa, slightly different to yours, but it really is a straightforward process. The hardest part, as you say is living on the other side of the world. By the time I entered the US, our whatsapp count was up to 50,000 messages LOL

[civilservant 42]

I told her exactly the same on BritishExpats