DCF London - I-130 & Beyond

[meganf0412 0]

Hello everyone,

I'm brand new to this forum so apologies if there are threads answering ALL of my questions below (feel free to point me to a thread!).

A little about my situation. I am an American citizen by birth, living in the UK since October 2014 with my British husband (we have been married since January 2014). We have decided to move back to the US and are trying to sift through information, as we can not afford a lawyer at this time.

With all that in mind we have decided to file via the US Embassy here in London as we have been told it is a quicker process. I have been researching for the past few days and want to file the I-130 soon, but am nervous of the timing of everything. All that being said my questions are:

1) Does anyone know threads with London timelines for 2016? All of the ones I have seen are a few years old and I've heard to expect timelines from 3 months to 14 so feeling a bit unsure of what's more likely.

2) The instructions for the I-130 seem deceptively easy. Just to make sure, the checklist I have is:

(All forms in english, and neither of us has been previously married)

• I-130 Checklist
• G-28 (Not applicable as we do not have an attorney, correct?)
• Completed & Signed I-130 (All forms in black ink, block capitals)
• Completed G-1145
• G-325A Petitioner (2" x 2" photo stapled)
• G-325A Beneficiary (2" x 2" photo stapled)
• Completed Credit Card Form for the $420 fee (I assume it is okay to use a UK credit card? Also it would be a family member's credit card as we only have debit cards - is this going to hold anything up?)
• Petitioner - Photocopy of US Passport Photo Page
• Petitioner - Photocopy of UK Visa
• Photocopy of Marriage Certificate
• Beneficiary - Photocopy of UK Passport Photo Page
• Self Addressed 1st Class Stamped Envelope (We are moving soon, are we able to 'self address' to my husband's work address instead?)​

Am I missing anything?

​

3) I am concerned about meeting the financial requirement further down the road. I will be moving back in to my Mom & Step Father's house initially after receiving the NOA1 and expect to find a job with an absolute minimum income of $25,000 a year (but looking for closer to $30,000). Assuming the household size is 2 for my husband and I, should I worry about refusal with this estimate at all?

4) My Mom & Step-Father will be renting me an apartment within their owned home. (A whole floor with a separate entrance. We plan on having a contract drawn up and I will be paying rent just as I would anywhere else. Does the fact that it is from family implicate my household size to include them?)

5) Visa costs: I'm having a hard time budgeting the full cost of this visa process. Does anyone have any links (other than the official website which I've already seen) which lays out all the visa costs throughout the timeline?

Phew. Sorry to be so long winded and again, feel free to answer with links to the answers if I've missed them somewhere else.

Thank you all so much in advance for the help!

Edited June 27, 2016 by meganf0412

[MrsBurgz 104]

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/DCF_London

[meganf0412 0]

Thanks MrsBurgz!

Does anyone have any insight to the questions in red? We're aiming to send off the I-130 by July 4th (seemed appropriate and we have most everything ready to go) and those are the things I am unsure about for the immediate future.

Cheers!

[TBoneTX 45,835]

Welcome to the forum. Your thread is moved from the CR-1 Process forum to the Direct Consular Filing (DCF) forum, to be among similar threads.

[Whimplet 2]

I've found 4-5 couples that have submitted I-130 for IR-1 since March 2016. You should be able to find them using the timeline feature and searching on DCF/London.

I've created a thread here for our journey http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/593072-dcf-london-i-130-mailed-7-april/

I'd be uncomfortable submitting a credit card in someone else's name. Maybe someone that has experience doing so could confirm if it will work. If you don't have access to a credit card in your name it might be worth the hassle to get a money order or cheque. Isn't there something like a pre-loaded credit card you can get? UK card is fine to use.

I guess the self addressed envelope will be fine to your husband's work address. I think you need to notify the embassy of your new address if you move during the application process. Are you able to use the new address from the start?

These are the fees I'm expecting.

· $420 I-130 Alien Spouse Petition for Immigrant visa

· £235 Medical exam for Immigrant visa

· $325 Immigration Visa for 1 time entry to USA

· $165 USCIS fee for green card (permanent residence)

· You might have incidentals for passport photos, photocopies, and vaccinations if required.

[Reader111 0]

Hi My I130 was received 27th April, Ive was approved last week but Im waiting for my number to proceed. Im hoping Im not much longer than 6 weeks to get my passport stamped ...

[meganf0412 0]

Welcome to the forum. Your thread is moved from the CR-1 Process forum to the Direct Consular Filing (DCF) forum, to be among similar threads.

Thank you for the welcome and pointing me in the right direction!

[meganf0412 0]

I've found 4-5 couples that have submitted I-130 for IR-1 since March 2016. You should be able to find them using the timeline feature and searching on DCF/London.

I've created a thread here for our journey http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/593072-dcf-london-i-130-mailed-7-april/

I'd be uncomfortable submitting a credit card in someone else's name. Maybe someone that has experience doing so could confirm if it will work. If you don't have access to a credit card in your name it might be worth the hassle to get a money order or cheque. Isn't there something like a pre-loaded credit card you can get? UK card is fine to use.

I guess the self addressed envelope will be fine to your husband's work address. I think you need to notify the embassy of your new address if you move during the application process. Are you able to use the new address from the start?

These are the fees I'm expecting.

· $420 I-130 Alien Spouse Petition for Immigrant visa

· £235 Medical exam for Immigrant visa

· $325 Immigration Visa for 1 time entry to USA

· $165 USCIS fee for green card (permanent residence)

· You might have incidentals for passport photos, photocopies, and vaccinations if required.

Thanks for the info regarding timelines, and the fees!

In regards to the credit card, we've decided to go with a Bank Draft instead (one of the other options) just for peace of mind.

The problem with the address is that we are currently living in a 1 bed flat in London, however in a month or two I plan to move back to the US and my husband is going to move into a cheaper shared flat to help us save. But we don't know the timing of it all yet so I don't know exactly when the move would take place (probably September). Most likely before we get the NOA2 back. Going to call the embassy tomorrow to see if we can get a human to answer there.

Hi My I130 was received 27th April, Ive was approved last week but Im waiting for my number to proceed. Im hoping Im not much longer than 6 weeks to get my passport stamped ...

Thank you for that timeline, that seems really quick and makes me feel better than some of the the year+ timelines I've seen. Crossing my fingers!