July Interview Dates Open for London

[shallot343 116]

9 minutes ago, Sarahbmalvin said:

K1 interview for August 7th cancelled. No dates available to reschedule as of now. 

I'm so sorry! This is not your first one cancelled is it? I am absolutely certain this is all political will and has nothing to do with "local conditions" like the State Department claims, because the UK is, for all intents and purposes, open now. I know there have been a few interviews here and there at London and other embassies but I do think that that "routine services" are cancelled via some political directive (maybe the travel ban EO, maybe something else).

 

I still haven't heard back from my Senator who I emailed about a week ago...tempted to start calling congressional representatives. There is no reason a salon and a restaurant can open (and UK residents receive vouchers to go to them!) and an embassy can't operate at at least half capacity with safety measures in place. This is absolutely an underhanded way to quell all immigration full stop. 

[ninetoes 3]

Same. August 14th interview cancelled. The process has made me numb to further delays. This sucks.

[remotercharm 31]

August 13th, cancelled.

[Sarahbmalvin 49]

3 hours ago, shallot343 said:

I'm so sorry! This is not your first one cancelled is it? I am absolutely certain this is all political will and has nothing to do with "local conditions" like the State Department claims, because the UK is, for all intents and purposes, open now. I know there have been a few interviews here and there at London and other embassies but I do think that that "routine services" are cancelled via some political directive (maybe the travel ban EO, maybe something else).

 

I still haven't heard back from my Senator who I emailed about a week ago...tempted to start calling congressional representatives. There is no reason a salon and a restaurant can open (and UK residents receive vouchers to go to them!) and an embassy can't operate at at least half capacity with safety measures in place. This is absolutely an underhanded way to quell all immigration full stop. 

Agreed with everything you said, I wish we knew the answer to all of these questions. I honestly feel like the silence from the DoS is the hardest part. 
 

This actually was our first cancellation 😕 we are thinking if things don't start moving by September or if we at least don’t have any news, we may start a UK visa for me and just settle in whichever country’s visa comes first. 

[Andrew@Michelle 19]

17 hours ago, Sarahbmalvin said:

K1 interview for August 7th cancelled. No dates available to reschedule as of now. 

Sorry to hear this Sarah. This is the reason I contacted the appointment call centre to get some clarification on this and a lady there told me there are no K1 interviews, (or others for that matter) at this point in time. As you pointed out, we are quite a long way behind you in the process but it will still have a big impact on us causing delays with the huge backlog that has built up, awaiting their interviews. The situation is ridiculous.

 

We have been considering other alternatives but decided to stay on this path. I don’t think that marrying on an ESTA then applying for AOS when you have had or have a K1 is a good idea. A good idea though if you never had a K1 in the first place.

[Sarahbmalvin 49]

7 minutes ago, Andrew@Michelle said:

Sorry to hear this Sarah. This is the reason I contacted the appointment call centre to get some clarification on this and a lady there told me there are no K1 interviews, (or others for that matter) at this point in time. As you pointed out, we are quite a long way behind you in the process but it will still have a big impact on us causing delays with the huge backlog that has built up, awaiting their interviews. The situation is ridiculous.

 

We have been considering other alternatives but decided to stay on this path. I don’t think that marrying on an ESTA then applying for AOS when you have had or have a K1 is a good idea. A good idea though if you never had a K1 in the first place.

It’s beyond frustrating 😕 even if they were to tell us they will open in a year, yeah it’s a long time, but at least there would be an end date instead of indefinite uncertainty. 
 

We are going to wait out the US K1 but also apply for a UK Fiancee for me, so we won’t be effectively voiding the US one if that happens to come through and then we will just settle In whichever country issues the visa first. At least this way, we can be together and then if we decide we want to move we can still be together while the other files for a spouse visa for the other country. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Sarahbmalvin

[Andrew@Michelle 19]

36 minutes ago, Sarahbmalvin said:

It’s beyond frustrating 😕 even if they were to tell us they will open in a year, yeah it’s a long time, but at least there would be an end date instead of indefinite uncertainty. 
 

We are going to wait out the US K1 but also apply for a UK Fiancee for me, so we won’t be effectively voiding the US one if that happens to come through and then we will just settle In whichever country issues the visa first. At least this way, we can be together and then if we decide we want to move we can still be together while the other files for a spouse visa for the other country. 

I have thought about that too. The U.K. route requires 6 months of payslips but is probably faster than the K1 at this point in time. Do check that the U.K. immigration office is open and staffed because the last time I looked it wasn’t. I should be now though. 
 

I have to say that I feel somewhat penalised for going about this process in the right way and within the law. 
 

Personally I don’t mind if we stay in the U.K and I know that Michelle prefers it here rather than Florida. That’s probably because we are in the Bath and Bristol area. She would think differently if we were in Luton or Stoke On Trent.

 

I can’t help but feel victimised by President Trump’s policies. While he may have done a great job economically, I feel that the likes of our community here are being used as pawns in the game of chess that is the election. By keeping us out his loyal public will think he has saved American lives. Right now though if 100 planes full of Brits came over we would statistically be lowering the infection rate if 100 planes full of Americans left. Therefore it’s all completely flawed. I think Biden will be good news for our community because he will be pro immigration but the institutional investors on NASDAQ won’t like it.

 

[Sarahbmalvin 49]

5 minutes ago, Andrew@Michelle said:

I have thought about that too. The U.K. route requires 6 months of payslips but is probably faster than the K1 at this point in time. Do check that the U.K. immigration office is open and staffed because the last time I looked it wasn’t. I should be now though. 
 

I have to say that I feel somewhat penalised for going about this process in the right way and within the law. 
 

Personally I don’t mind if we stay in the U.K and I know that Michelle prefers it here rather than Florida. That’s probably because we are in the Bath and Bristol area. She would think differently if we were in Luton or Stoke On Trent.

 

I can’t help but feel victimised by President Trump’s policies. While he may have done a great job economically, I feel that the likes of our community here are being used as pawns in the game of chess that is the election. By keeping us out his loyal public will think he has saved American lives. Right now though if 100 planes full of Brits came over we would statistically be lowering the infection rate if 100 planes full of Americans left. Therefore it’s all completely flawed. I think Biden will be good news for our community because he will be pro immigration but the institutional investors on NASDAQ won’t like it.

 

Since I am from the states, the only in person appointment I would need to have would be the biometric at USCIS, and from what I have seen on the UK visa subreddit they are taking appointments starting mid July. I am leaving here in September so hoping things may be back to somewhat closer to normal by then for when I would need to make an appointment. 
 

And yes, I feel you about feeling penalized for following the rules but I feel like we just need to remember even though it’s all doom and gloom now, this will come to a resolution at some point and when it does we will be happy we did it the right way. 
 

My fiancé is the Brit, I am from New Jersey and I certainly would not mind moving here! We are located in Brighton 😊

Edited July 9, 2020 by Sarahbmalvin

[Andrew@Michelle 19]

1 hour ago, Sarahbmalvin said:

Since I am from the states, the only in person appointment I would need to have would be the biometric at USCIS, and from what I have seen on the UK visa subreddit they are taking appointments starting mid July. I am leaving here in September so hoping things may be back to somewhat closer to normal by then for when I would need to make an appointment. 
 

And yes, I feel you about feeling penalized for following the rules but I feel like we just need to remember even though it’s all doom and gloom now, this will come to a resolution at some point and when it does we will be happy we did it the right way. 
 

My fiancé is the Brit, I am from New Jersey and I certainly would not mind moving here! We are located in Brighton 😊

Brighton is a great place to be. I used to have family in Kearny which is probably about 5 miles from Hoboken. I have been a few times. We are near Miami and Bristol. Michelle loves all the history and the buildings here. I am the Brit as you can tell from my spelling.

[remotercharm 31]

2 hours ago, Andrew@Michelle said:

I have thought about that too. The U.K. route requires 6 months of payslips but is probably faster than the K1 at this point in time. Do check that the U.K. immigration office is open and staffed because the last time I looked it wasn’t. I should be now though. 
 

I have to say that I feel somewhat penalised for going about this process in the right way and within the law. 
 

Personally I don’t mind if we stay in the U.K and I know that Michelle prefers it here rather than Florida. That’s probably because we are in the Bath and Bristol area. She would think differently if we were in Luton or Stoke On Trent.

 

I can’t help but feel victimised by President Trump’s policies. While he may have done a great job economically, I feel that the likes of our community here are being used as pawns in the game of chess that is the election. By keeping us out his loyal public will think he has saved American lives. Right now though if 100 planes full of Brits came over we would statistically be lowering the infection rate if 100 planes full of Americans left. Therefore it’s all completely flawed. I think Biden will be good news for our community because he will be pro immigration but the institutional investors on NASDAQ won’t like it.

 

Beware of the costs of becoming a UK citizen.  It is quicker to get your visa (especially now, im sure) but total cost from fiance to citizen was a lot more than the US.  I think i calculated it being somewhere around £10,000 (or was it dollars?  can't remember) in the UK.  It's the most expensive in the world, I believe. The home office makes huge profits for their fees each step of the way. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49485612

Edited July 9, 2020 by remotercharm

[shallot343 116]

7 minutes ago, remotercharm said:

Beware of the costs of becoming a UK citizen.  It is quicker to get your visa (especially now, im sure) but total cost from fiance to citizen was a lot more than the US.  I think i calculated it being somewhere around £10,000 (or was it dollars?  can't remember) in the UK.  It's the most expensive in the world, I believe. The home office makes huge profits for their fees each step of the way. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49485612

I was going to mention something similar! I lived in the UK for 5 years on a Tier 4 Student and then Tier 2 work visa and every time I had to renew the cost kept going up. One major expense is the NHS surcharge- I believe right now it is  400 GBP per year based on the length of your stay, so that would be 400 for the first 6 months on the fiance visa (after which you need to marry and apply for a spousal visa), and then another 1200 for the 3-year spouse visa following marriage. That is on top of the application fee itself which might be between 1500-2k. You also won't be able  to apply from inside the UK to switch to a fiance or spouse visa if you are there currently as a tourist or visitor (unlike the not legal but theoretically possible AOS option here), so factor flights into that. 

 

It is not insurmountable by any means but something to keep in mind--its a huge amount of money up front! 

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

12 minutes ago, remotercharm said:

Beware of the costs of becoming a UK citizen.  It is quicker to get your permanent residence but total cost from fiance to citizen was a lot more than the US.  I think i calculated it being somewhere around £10,000 (or was it dollars?  can't remember) in the UK.  It's the most expensive in the world, I believe. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49485612

This is very true. I just came over on the UK spouse visa last year. Hubby and I added up what it would cost us to get me all the way to citizenship and it was extremely expensive. Where as, the other way, it is much cheaper. Sadly, if we had known we were going to want to move back to the US, hubby would have done his citizenship a few years back or we would have requested an extension to be out of the country longer than 6 months. Ahh the things we figure out after the fact.

[Sarahbmalvin 49]

12 minutes ago, shallot343 said:

I was going to mention something similar! I lived in the UK for 5 years on a Tier 4 Student and then Tier 2 work visa and every time I had to renew the cost kept going up. One major expense is the NHS surcharge- I believe right now it is  400 GBP per year based on the length of your stay, so that would be 400 for the first 6 months on the fiance visa (after which you need to marry and apply for a spousal visa), and then another 1200 for the 3-year spouse visa following marriage. That is on top of the application fee itself which might be between 1500-2k. You also won't be able  to apply from inside the UK to switch to a fiance or spouse visa if you are there currently as a tourist or visitor (unlike the not legal but theoretically possible AOS option here), so factor flights into that. 

 

It is not insurmountable by any means but something to keep in mind--its a huge amount of money up front! 

Appreciate the info! And yes, I would apply after leaving the UK in September when my leave to remain is up. Cost is not really a factor here, we have  a ton of money saved for this whole process. At this point our biggest focus is getting to be together as soon as possible since it’s been almost a year since we originally applied for the K1 😕

Edited July 9, 2020 by Sarahbmalvin

[AJC12B 15]

Hey there... 

 

I guess this is kind of good news even if is not 100% an action taken: Updated today London Embassy. Fingers crossed

 

Specific Information for Fiancé(e) Visa (K-1) Applicants and Fiancé(e) Visa Holders

 

Will my fiancé(e) visa case expire?/Can I continue with the application process?

In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State has temporarily suspended routine visa services at all U.S. embassies and consulates. Therefore, all routine visa processing at U.S. Embassy London is currently suspended.  We are only able to process visas for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens (IR-1, CR-1, IR-2 or CR-2).  Therefore we are unable to proceed with fiancé(e) visa applications (K-1) at this time. We are taking the issue of fiancé(e) visas seriously and we will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time.

 

 

https://uk.usembassy.gov/information-for-nonimmigrant-visa-applicants-following-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/

 

[Sarahbmalvin 49]

US Department of State posted on their Facebook story that they are beginning a phased resumption of routine visa services as conditions evolve and that each consulate will resume services at different times based on local conditions. They list the conditions that will affect resumption as: medical infrastructure, COVID cases, emergency response capabilities and restrictions on leaving home. 
 

This seems like the first true glimmer of hope!