UK to US Process Advice Needed

[MEClarke 0]

Just starting the process of getting a visa for my British husband. We were married in the US 10 years ago and moved to the UK shortly after. I have dual citizenship as do both of our children. We're hoping to move summer 2022. Is it possible for us to all stay together in the UK until my husband has his visa? If so, what's the best path to do this? 

 

I thought it was filling the i-130 with the UK Embassy but now I see they stopped that option last year. We don't want to apply too early as my husband can't leave his job until April 2022, but we also don't want to wait too long and have to delay our move - I'm a teacher so hoping to secure a job in early spring 2022 and then move before the start of the school year. 

 

Any advice/info greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, MEClarke said:

Is it possible for us to all stay together in the UK until my husband has his visa? If so, what's the best path to do this?

Later in the process the requirement of US domicile comes up. Do you still have US bank accounts? Do you file US taxes as required? Have you still voted in US elections? Etc. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html "To qualify as a financial sponsor, a petitioner must be domiciled in any of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States."

[MEClarke 0]

5 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Later in the process the requirement of US domicile comes up. Do you still have US bank accounts? Do you file US taxes as required? Have you still voted in US elections? Etc. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html "To qualify as a financial sponsor, a petitioner must be domiciled in any of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States."

We both have US bank accounts and credit cards (my husband worked at the UK Embassy in DC for 2 years which is how we met and he's maintained his US bank account since then; he was on a diplomatic A-2 visa then). I have a small amount of annual US income and have filed taxes every year (married filing separately). I still hold a valid US drivers licence and have voted in most elections over the past decade. My brother (and likely also my sister if needed) is willing to be a joint financial sponsor with me. For these purposes, our US residence is considered to be my parents home in MA and they would let us live with them if needed.

 

Fingers crossed in the last few months of the process I'll also have a job lined up and we will be looking to buy a house. My husband will also be retiring from the British military and will get a lump sum payment just before we move and have a monthly pension. 

[Southernboy123 21]

My wife (US Citizen) and I were in the same position, she has been living here with me on a spouse visa since 2017 so that we can be together whilst I complete my military service. We filed our I-130 back in March with the aim to move early in 2022, back then things were taking a lot longer to get approved than they are now. The longest wait now seems to be after NVC approval to interview in London!

[Boiler 45,941]

You should file now, hopefully his Visa will come through in that timeline.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

3 hours ago, MEClarke said:

Just starting the process of getting a visa for my British husband. We were married in the US 10 years ago and moved to the UK shortly after. I have dual citizenship as do both of our children. We're hoping to move summer 2022. Is it possible for us to all stay together in the UK until my husband has his visa? If so, what's the best path to do this? 

 

I thought it was filling the i-130 with the UK Embassy but now I see they stopped that option last year. We don't want to apply too early as my husband can't leave his job until April 2022, but we also don't want to wait too long and have to delay our move - I'm a teacher so hoping to secure a job in early spring 2022 and then move before the start of the school year. 

 

Any advice/info greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

You file your I-130 petition to the US address. Stay in the UK. Times are so hard to predict with Covid slow downs and shut downs. There are people interviewing in London in March who filed their  petition anywhere from late 2019 to maybe April 2020. TheLondon embassy appears to be doing interviews just a few days a week with reduced staff. If/when things open up more, yours could go faster or get bogged down when London starts interviewing fiancés and tourist visas again. There is a huge pile of those who got paused almost a year ago. 
 

if you start now, you can always delay and reschedule once your file makes it to London and you’ve been assigned an interview date. You let that date pass and request a new one (as explained on the embassy website.) You can also be slow sending things to NVC if it appears you got there way too soon. 
 

i wouldn’t worry about domicile. London is very easy on that one. 

[JFH 12,191]

I would file ASAP. A year is a good estimate without all things COVID going on. If things speed up dramatically then you can always pause it at the NVC but I really don’t see that happening with the huge backlogs at the embassies. Most visa categories have been suspended during COVID so when things open up the embassy has a huge backlog of cases to get through plus the usual workload. 

[Sm4598 37]

Absolutely file as soon as possible. There is a MASSIVE backlog due to the embassy shutting down for months for COVID, and things have slowed yet again with the lockdown. We first applied 13 months ago and have our interview next month. People applying now will likely face an even longer wait with the backlog and reduced processing power. 

 

You can always wait to submit your docs to the NVC at that stage. Also, the visa is good for 6 months from issuance. So worst case scenario, you get the visa and then stick around the UK for another six months (though I would enter the US sometime during that time just in case). 

 

Also, I’m from MA with a UK husband too! Maybe we’ll see you around!

[StrawberryKiss 170]

4 hours ago, Sm4598 said:

Also, the visa is good for 6 months from issuance

It's actually good for 6 months after your medical exam