UK VJers Progress Update Thread

[JFH 12,190]

I picked up my visa yesterday. I've read on here that it should have a tear in the envelope, mine doesn't. Does anyone know if that's a problem?

Some embassies (definitely Manila, but there are others too) use envelopes that are made with a corner missing. This is because the airport that the immigrants are leaving from (e.g Manila) wants to inspect that it really does contain just the visa documents and not a letter bomb or drugs. Obviously they cannot open the envelope to inspect it so it has a corner missing so that the security officials can inspect the contents without opening it. London doesn't use these envelopes. It will go through the X-ray along with the rest of your hand luggage at the airport.

The cut envelopes look like this

http://i0.wp.com/www.mrspresson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/05-How-To-Track-Your-Visa-Package-Through-2Go-www.mrspresson.com_.jpg

[Shalvee 0]

Some embassies (definitely Manila, but there are others too) use envelopes that are made with a corner missing. This is because the airport that the immigrants are leaving from (e.g Manila) wants to inspect that it really does contain just the visa documents and not a letter bomb or drugs. Obviously they cannot open the envelope to inspect it so it has a corner missing so that the security officials can inspect the contents without opening it. London doesn't use these envelopes. It will go through the X-ray along with the rest of your hand luggage at the airport.

The cut envelopes look like this

http://i0.wp.com/www.mrspresson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/05-How-To-Track-Your-Visa-Package-Through-2Go-www.mrspresson.com_.jpg

Oh I see, that's good to know! Thanks for your informative reply.

[Whimplet 2]

I'm the USC living in the UK, filed the I-130 with London embassy with priority date of 25 April.

The USCIS UK Embassy website says they're working on dates beyond 25 April as of last week.

How long should I wait to have confirmation?

Is there still a phone number to call the Embassy and inquire? or is it only the online contact form?

I'm not too worried about the NOA2 confirmation (unless I'm missing an RFE), but want to get the NOA3/LND case number asap so I can get my interview scheduled.

I know of at least 2 other VJr's in the UK with similar timelines waiting for updates.

[AndyR82 8]

Got my biometrics appointment through a 3 hour + journey to Des Moines for about 5 minutes by the sounds of it, fun times!

[JFH 12,190]

I'm the USC living in the UK, filed the I-130 with London embassy with priority date of 25 April.

The USCIS UK Embassy website says they're working on dates beyond 25 April as of last week.

How long should I wait to have confirmation?

Is there still a phone number to call the Embassy and inquire? or is it only the online contact form?

I'm not too worried about the NOA2 confirmation (unless I'm missing an RFE), but want to get the NOA3/LND case number asap so I can get my interview scheduled.

I know of at least 2 other VJr's in the UK with similar timelines waiting for updates.

I think, for spouse visas, there's only the online form to contact the London embassy. No phone number. I'm not sure though because I'm not doing DCF. Wish I could help more.

You'll find the UK forum is predominantly fiances - very few doing spousal visas - and questions get buried or go unanswered in amongst all the K-1 questions. Have you posted on the DCF forum? You might get better answers there. Im sure there is someone there who has had reason to contact the embassy who can help you with the best way to contact them.

Good luck with your visa journey.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I'm the USC living in the UK, filed the I-130 with London embassy with priority date of 25 April.

The USCIS UK Embassy website says they're working on dates beyond 25 April as of last week.

How long should I wait to have confirmation?

Is there still a phone number to call the Embassy and inquire? or is it only the online contact form?

I'm not too worried about the NOA2 confirmation (unless I'm missing an RFE), but want to get the NOA3/LND case number asap so I can get my interview scheduled.

I know of at least 2 other VJr's in the UK with similar timelines waiting for updates.

First off, understand there's two different agencies and neither can help you with the other's part. Right now you are with USCIS London office, so you aren't contacting "the embassy". The USCIS office has a contact form posted on the embassy website, but no phone number.

After the petition is approved, you get transferred to the Dept of State and the Immigrant Visa Unit specifically. They have a different contact form but for visas. They can't help you with petition questions.

[trudi 1,317]

Got my biometrics appointment through a 3 hour + journey to Des Moines for about 5 minutes by the sounds of it, fun times!

It's all part of the fun

[Whimplet 2]

First off, understand there's two different agencies and neither can help you with the other's part. Right now you are with USCIS London office, so you aren't contacting "the embassy". The USCIS office has a contact form posted on the embassy website, but no phone number.

After the petition is approved, you get transferred to the Dept of State and the Immigrant Visa Unit specifically. They have a different contact form but for visas. They can't help you with petition questions.

Thanks both for your replies.

We actually received our NOA2 on Saturday - approved as of 10 June.

I've submitted the online Visa Immigrant Webform to the DOS Visa Unit at the embassy to try to get an update on the case number this week.

I have created a thread for our IR-1 journey here http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/593072-dcf-london-i-130-mailed-7-april/ and will continue to post updates there.

I guess I'm starting to understand that the 'special relaitonship' extends further than just the governments with so many K-visa applications!

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Over a week after my fiance's POE and things have been going smoothly. Getting his social security card ordered was a breeze and took less than 10 minutes. Adding him to my bank account also went well.

He is sorta kicking himself for not withdrawing more cash and taking it with him since he (as well as everyone else I suppose) lost quite a bit through the exchange rates thanks to brexit.. Looking at something like only $1.20 per pound after the fees are applied?

If anyone has any better suggestions for how to get his money over here without losing hundreds of dollars we are all ears!

[vpalermo85 62]

We used Transferwise when James came over as it was only a one time fee to transfer everything over which is a mid-market spot rate. They charged about 30 pounds to transfer over about 10,000 American Dollars. They may or may not be dealing in British Currency though at this time due to Brexit--haven't checked since the referendum. When I did they pulled it off the site to try and help stabilize the problem. It takes about two to three days for the money to enter the accounts. Also keep in mind some bank accounts, depending on what you have will charge fees for incoming funds so you might want to verify your banks perks before you decide to go this route.

At the moment there's really no guarantee that the pound itself will rise above it's current trading level or return to where it was before the referendum. It might be beneficial to see what happens over the next month after all the smoke clears. There may be more options, but you might find that you'll be charged more now because of the situation to transfer pounds into dollars.

Edited June 29, 2016 by vpalermo85

[simonschus 58]

Re currency exchange:

For small day-to-day purchase spending prior to getting a US account. I'd been using Supercard and Curve for a couple of months prior to fully moving over and opening my US bank accounts. I also had Halifax's Clarity forex fee-free credit card. I recommend each of those products as I had good experiences with them (though others haven't).

For larger conversions, the Curve and Supercards had the benefits of being treated as debit cards for the purpose of TransferWise conversions - as such they are hit with a lower transfer fee (I think it was £2 for less than £1000) on the mid market exchange rate.

Those are just my suggestions and I'm sure things been covered by others before.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

If anyone has any better suggestions for how to get his money over here without losing hundreds of dollars we are all ears!

Wait until things settle down and see if the pound rises some. You support him in the meantime.

[prenouveau 46]

Hey guys, question about the medical. I found this pinned thread http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582075-i-693-if-already-have-ds-3025/ but it did not answer my question.

My fiance had his medical today and they confirmed he met all the vaccination requirements but they would not check the box that says "US vaccination requirements complete" because they said that box is only for immigrant visas. So, assuming this happens to everyone at Knightsbridge, what does this mean for the DS-3025? Are we going to have to see a Civil Surgeon in the US still?

[-Shana- 152]

Hey guys, question about the medical. I found this pinned thread http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582075-i-693-if-already-have-ds-3025/ but it did not answer my question.

My fiance had his medical today and they confirmed he met all the vaccination requirements but they would not check the box that says "US vaccination requirements complete" because they said that box is only for immigrant visas. So, assuming this happens to everyone at Knightsbridge, what does this mean for the DS-3025? Are we going to have to see a Civil Surgeon in the US still?

I remember asking the nurse about this, she said something along the lines of that this would be checked once I applied for the green card. I sent off the DS-3025 with my AOS packet, with the box unchecked, and everything went fine.

[yuna628 9,676]

RE: pound loss, we also have suffered exchange rate loss with his overseas holdings. Nothing we can really do for the moment. We're being very cautious for now, unless we see something further dramatic happen (a run on banks or bank collapse would be one of those emergency scenarios).

Hey guys, question about the medical. I found this pinned thread http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582075-i-693-if-already-have-ds-3025/ but it did not answer my question.

My fiance had his medical today and they confirmed he met all the vaccination requirements but they would not check the box that says "US vaccination requirements complete" because they said that box is only for immigrant visas. So, assuming this happens to everyone at Knightsbridge, what does this mean for the DS-3025? Are we going to have to see a Civil Surgeon in the US still?

Did you receive 2 pages from Knightsbridge, or was it just 1? Knightsbridge has refused to tick that box, but later on in this year they started giving people a second page with wording to the effect of ''vaccinations complete for immigration".. I'm paraphrasing there. I don't know who has managed to get through AOS by sending along a 2 page instead of a 1, but I can tell you from experience a lot recently have been getting the 1 page DS3025 with no tickbox checked rejected by the USCIS when they do AOS, myself included. Some are being asked for full medical (against policy..) or for the vaccination sheet redo. In our case, the officer handling it was clear in that they just wanted the vaccination sheet redo, even though it was completely unneeded.

So will you need to see a US CS? Hard to say. It will all depend on if you have an AOS officer that knows the rules and how to interpret the document. We drove extremely far to find a CS that would just handle the vaccination sheet. It took $30 and ten minutes, and we were approved a few days after sending it.

At AOS time, as long as you know you have all the pages of your DS3025 (some have asked Knightsbridge to send the 2nd page via email if the office never gave it), and you've sent along a copy, it's a wait and see type of thing of pure luck whether you'll have to redo or not.