Question about Photos for Medicals (+ update on us)

[LauraDP 10]

Evening, VJers.

Anyone remember me? I appreciate it has been some time since I last posted on this forum (I've been manically busy with no time for an online life) but I am hoping someone will be kind enough to provide me with a shortcut to an answer to a question I have.

My query is about the shelf-life of visa photographs. Our four kids and I had our photos taken back in the Autumn and these were the photos I used for the I130 stage and then I used a UK passport photo for my police certificate. We are now (finally!) at a stage where we can schedule our medicals and I know we need photos for those appointments. Can we use the same US size photographs or are our ones from the Autumn now out of date? Do I need to get some new photos taken?

The update bit is that my husband (the USC) has been going through a long (as in epic saga) recruitment process for an international company and they are now putting together their offer. Of course it could all just fall flat on its face still if there is something in the offer we cannot accept but that seems unlikely. So - almost a year after deciding to try and relocate to the US - it seems like we might actually pull the plan off. The compromise is that we are not going to be based around Washington DC but will instead be around Philadelphia. It is also a private company rather than a Federal job as the whole fiscal cliff thing meant my husband all but gave up on applying for federal jobs.

So that is my question and my update.

I hope everyone else's immigration plans are moving forward. I will have to scan some posts and try and catch up on everyone's progress.

Best wishes

Laura

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

::raises hand:: I remember.

The London embassy website says:

Photographs: Three color photographs which meet Department of State specifications. These photographs must be full-face and taken within the last six (6) months. Note: Of the three photographs, two (2) are required for the visa and one (1) for your medical examination.

[LauraDP 10]

Thanks so much Nich-Nick.

I had vague recollections of the 6 months rule but could not find it on the Embassy website. Granted I am not the best person for navigating websites that are dense in information. I guess step one is for us all to go get our mug shots taken again.

Incidentally, how do they know when the photos were taken? I know in our case they know because the photos are the same as the ones we submitted over 6 months ago but in general is their a date stamp on them somewhere? Just asking out of curiosity.

Thanks again!

Laura

[LauraDP 10]

Medicals are now booked for 29 July. We finally have progress after months of treading water on the immigration front.

Laura

[lost_at_sea 995]

Medicals are now booked for 29 July. We finally have progress after months of treading water on the immigration front.

Laura

Hooray.

FWIW, there is no way they can know how long ago a photo was taken. They're not somehow stamped or anything. If the photos look exactly like you still, it's fine. What they really mean to say is "we want photos that are a true likeness of you" but it's easier to be really prescriptive with people and say "that means a photo no more than 6 months old" since our ability to necessarily know if we look like we do in a photo might be somewhat subjective.

[LauraDP 10]

Hooray.

FWIW, there is no way they can know how long ago a photo was taken. They're not somehow stamped or anything. If the photos look exactly like you still, it's fine. What they really mean to say is "we want photos that are a true likeness of you" but it's easier to be really prescriptive with people and say "that means a photo no more than 6 months old" since our ability to necessarily know if we look like we do in a photo might be somewhat subjective.

Thanks, lost_at_sea.

I submitted a photo from the same set with my I130 (I don't think we had to use them for the kids at that stage) so it would be clear to them that I was using a photo from over 6 months ago. None of us have changed appearance, even the 4 year old, but I will go ahead and get new photos anyway. It's not worth the risk of being delayed at this stage to argue the toss over the photos.

It feels weird to be actually moving forward with this whole process again having been treading water for months on end.

Cheers

Laura