Nikki71

Oh and I was never married to him either.

I phoned the State Department regarding this, (I was never married to my son's father) and they said he could just write a letter, didn't have to be witnessed by a lawyer.....Would love to hear other people's experiences...

You're probably not going to want to hear this, but I was never married to my son's father and the written letter from him wasn't enough. They wanted a notarised letter from him instead.

Additionally, I was told everything was okay during the interview and that the visa was being issued. Two days later I got a letter from them requesting the notarised letter.

I'd say this to anyone, if you still have contact with your child's biological father (and he is approachable to the idea), for the sake of 70 quid...just get a notarised letter done.

Can I ask if your Son is in contact with his father and how old he is? My Daughters 15 and she's has had sporadic contact with her biological father over the years for example once or twice a year, she hasn't seen him for a few years now and no-one knows his wearabouts, both his parents have passed away so there is no-way of me finding him through them. He has never paid a single penny towards her up keep. I have a sworn afidavit and I am hoping this will be sufficient for my visa interview.

Yeah, why won't they put Eastenders on?? even though that programme started to get on my nerves after a while, but I think it's much better than cheap and nasty Footballers Wives! I saw some episodes of Robin Hood on BBC America, but they're kinda #######, definitely need to put some decent programmes on that channel.

Hollyoaks coooooooooooooool but they will prolly show it from when it first started which would suck. Couldn't agree more "Footballers Wives" was a pile of pap imo

The Rain (bloody English weather )

Taffic Congestion

Petrol Prices

Clothes that never fit properly

I am sure there's alot more

The English presence there is a reminder of European colonialism. I'm all for any country doing whatever is necessary to send all the Brits in the Falklands back to Britain.

Don't be so petty minded and "grow up" it's there home for goodness sake, just because some greedy people want to hijak the island, it's all political nonsense.

According to your argument should all Americans of of British ancestry go back to the UK?????? and the same as all the Canadians and Australians????? maybe you should look back thru your family history and find out where you are from and we will send you paking too, now see how ridiculous that sounds

I immigrated to the Falklands Islands back in 87 and gave birth to my son over there.

And what I learned about peoples feelings about the Falklands War was that the people living there at the time of the war wanted nothing to do with Argentina. These people comprised of British, Chilean, Argentinean, Australian and New Zealand.

I knew some of these people personally and they told stories of how terrible they were treated by the Argentinean Soldiers.

If all the people that have lived there for the last few hundred years are happy and wish to remain with there ties to this country that should be the end of the matter.

My Fiance and those Cardinals

just got this one-thought I would share

DICTIONARY FOR DECODING WOMEN'S ENGLISH:

Ø Yes............................ .........No

Ø No............................. ........Yes

Ø Maybe........................ ..... ....No

Ø We need....................... ........I want

Ø I am sorry.................... .........You'll be sorry

Ø We need to talk......................You're in trouble

Ø Sure, go ahead.......................You better not

Ø Do what you want...................You will pay for this later

Ø I am not upset........................Of course, I am upset, you moron!

Ø You're attentive tonight............Is sex all you ever think about?

DICTIONARY FOR DECODING MEN'S ENGLISH:

Ø I am hungry...........................I am hungry

Ø I am sleepy...........................I am sleepy

Ø I am tired..............................I am tired

Ø Nice dress............................Nice cleavage!

Ø I love you..............................Let's have sex now

Ø I am bored............................Do you want to have sex?

Ø May I have this dance?............. .....I'd like to have sex with you.

Ø Can I call you sometime?..... .........I'd like to have sex with you.

Ø Do you want to go to a movie?... ...I'd like to have sex with you.

Ø Can I take you out to dinner?.... ....I'd like to have sex with you.

Ø I don't think those shoes go with that outfit..............I'm gay.

LOL so funny

I lost about 15 pounds due to all the stress and the travel 4 times to the Philippines.

Rob

LOL i've lost a little weight and I am so thin anyway I can't afford to loose it. I guess It's all down to STRESS, my appetite sucks big time. I've never felt like this in my life and really there is no need for it because the happiest days of my life are just around the corner. Any tips on how to gain a few pounds would be great but I am not into eating take-outs, I don't want my skin to suffer anymore than it has already.

Chole, I was wondering how you were doing and what became of your visa's, I am so glad that everything worked out in the end, hope you and your SO are together very soon.

Best wishes

Janice and Jon

Congratulations I am glad it worked out for you My interview is on the 13th April, so i am getting excited and hope I get my visa's too

IT IS NOT A RIGHT! GET IT STRAIGHT! NO FOREIGNER IS ENTITLED TO ENTRY TO THE US.

open house time, gotta go. If it's slow I'll be lurkin on my phone

LOL someones alittle officious. Why stress yourself out forcing your opinion? This thread could probably carry on and on with no end. Some agree and some don't, it's a pointless argument and thrashing out on here isn't going to change anyones opinions.

SteveUK read the posts and decide for yourself if you think its worth it!

1. If i had a partner in America (which i do) for one it would be a serious relationship for me.

2. To be having this kind of relationship I would be serious about a future marriage. Travelling back and forth and being separated for so long is too stressful.

3. If my American partner invited me over to stay for a few weeks and un be-known to me his plan was to whisk me away and marry me would I? Indeed I would! [Dans] Quote: If it was not legal people would never be able to adjust status afterwards.

Hey Dan & Nikki - I have also got friday 13th ! Not too long - and good luck - I waited to send my checklist and forms in together - so not sure it makes any difference -

Wow!!! Apart from the date which I am not superstitious I'm sure it's going to be fine, depending on what time your interview is, we might even bump into each other!

Hi all, I've been offline for a bit, so if I missed any Congratulations, well Congratulations!!!!!!!

Thought I'd post this info, for anyone with children, so you can prepare for the interview.

As a few of you know, at my interview, I was asked to provide a solicitors letter stating that I am the only parent with Parental Responsibility and that my daughter's father doesnt have it, even though his name is on the birth cert, ( we were unmarried).

I researched a bit, and found that all records of Parental Responsiblity agreements are held at the following place :

Principal Registry of the Family Division

First Avenue House

42 - 49 High Holborn

London

WC1V 6NP

020 7947 6214

For a fee of £25.00, they check on the central index and provide you with a letter stating what records (if any) are held for your child.

I waited approx 5 minutes to get this letter, no appointment necessary.

You can also send a cheque, and the letter is sent to you within 3 days.

Once I provided my solicitor with this, he was happy to write the letter, (for £200!!!)

soooo...hopefully things will start moving.

Apparently, I have to send the documents with my passports, via SMS, so fingers crossed, this means (hopefully), they will issues us the visas.

Just thought I post this, so maybe others coming up to their interviews can be prepared.

Good luck to everyone!!!!!!

xchloe

I contacted the Embassy last week and spoke to a lady who said that an affidavit would be sufficient as long as it had the following information:

1) That I was not married to the father & when the relationship ended

2) The fathers name D.O.B

3) My Daughter's name D.O.B

4) And level of contact the father has had over the years.

She also told me to email the embassy if i still needed further reasurance in the matter, which i did , so hopefully if they send me a reply I hope its in time for the visa interview so I can take a copy of there response

Thank You for that info, if i get any problems I will use it

When I leave the UK I will miss the channel 4 programme "Hollyoaks" I am hoping some how I can watch it on-line as I think Channel 4 are adding some new features to watch episodes on the internet...Whoo who wouldn't that just be great! Ill feel right at home

Same here, all I got was a printout like you did. It was fine.

Today I was given a print out of my Vaccination record; it looked more like a photocopy. It was printed out by the nurse in the reception area, straight of their computer database. I was told it wasn't necessary for my Dr to do it! It didn't appear to have any Dr's signature on it either will this be ok? Has anybody else got a copy with no signature? Or will I have to get a Dr to sign it?

I've seen something called Tetleys British Blend. Well, I've bought it... it wasn't great, but was better than the (alleged) Twinings English Breakfast tea that would have needed about 6 bags to make one cup, it was soooo weak. I got both of those in the supermarket.... but it was Giant Eagle, which I suspect is an Ohio-and-thereabouts-only supermarket! But if they have Tetleys & Twinings tea there... there must surely be some available somewhere near you!

Hope you find some quick... I'd never be able to go without my tea! I think I'll end up bringing a case just filled with teabags & Marmite.

So, I brought 200 teabags with me, and I've almost run out.. I've heard that you can get something like PG Tips, British Blend, but I've neve seen them..

I need tea!

LOL about the Twinings Breakfast Tea, it's so true, although weak in appearance & lacking in that "tea" taste it was only slightly better than the "black tea" they had! I did however discover PG Tips in the CUB Food supermarket when I was visiting MN last year and it tasted exactly like ours

Applogies in advance if I have offended anyone on here about the American Tea! I'm just too fussy when it comes to me Tea

Hey all,

This question may have been asked before, but I couldn't find anything on it when I searched... I am wondering what you need if you are from the UK wishing to drive in the US on a visa waiver? Do you have to get an international drivers license or is the normal UK drivers permit allowed with a passport? I am asking for the sake of my fiance's family who will be coming over for the wedding and want to rent a car while they're here, for obvious reasons. I just want to make sure they don't get here and have an unpleasant surprise to find out they need an international drivers license or something.

If your not entirly sure what you need, maybe contacting DVLA might help

Thanks everyone for the well wishes..

I was never married to my childs father, Nikki, so Im not sure about that one.

It looks like that it basically comes down to the consular officer on the day, their judgement etc.

Basically, I was grilled, Im not sure why, but I guess child abduction cases are not something the embassy wants hanging over their heads, so I can see their point.

Its going to take some time, as the problem is that no solicitor will sign a statement that they dont know to be factually true.

So on Monday, I will be contacting the Principle Registry of the Family Division, who basically hold all details of Parental Responsiblity agreements and ask for confirmation that no such agreement exists for my daughter.

This teamed with a letters stating the law regarding Parental Responsibility for children born out of wedlock, should hopefully be enough.

Thanks Muuuah for the advice, I think it helped as it showed that I wasnt just planning on leaving without so much as a thought to the situation.

I wish they would have guidance on the website for these situations, so we at least know officially it is they want, but I guess every case is different, etc

Sooooo, I think Im going to go and buy the largest bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk known to man,

along with a bottle of plonk and watch Nanny 911, that'll cheer me up!!

Will keep you posted, thanks again x

xchloe

Hi Chloe I am sorry to hear of your situation, I am sure once you get the solicitors letter you will be sorted

I have a Affidavit saying that I was never married the Childs father which basically states that he has no parental responsibility, also stating the level of contact (for example spread out 2 times a year since 1995). I am hoping this will be sufficient. My daughter will be 15 soon, I hoping that they will feel she is of an age to make more of an adult decision to move out to the USA. Hope you don't mind but how old is your child(ren)? I was wondering if the age of a child plays any part in the embassy's decision.

Sounds very similar to what happened to me. I provided a letter with my documents saying my son's father doesn't have parental responsibility and, at the interview, that was sufficient. I was told they would issue the visa, they kept both our passports and I went home very happy.

Two days later I received a letter from them saying they needed a notarized letter from my son's father stating that he gives his permission for my son to immigrate to, and live permanently in, the United States. It HAD to have that specific wording in it.

So, after a major panic, I got my son's father to go to a notary with a letter I had typed up, got two copies done (one for the embassy, one for my records) and posted off the letter to the Embassy.

It took them a whole month to get the passports sent out to me, but I DID get them.

Here is a web site with all the notaries of the UK.

http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

My suggestion is, get a letter done and make an appointment for your ex to sign it ASAP. A standard notary appointment to sign a letter such as this costs around 70 quid.

Packet 3 DOES only say it requires a letter if the couple have been married but I have read (and received PM's) from people in similar circumstances who have encountered problems regarding parental responsibility, even though he father has none in the UK. The laws are different in the USA and I can only assume that the Embassy follows them instead sometimes.

Good luck!

Would this be the case if you were never married? I was never married to my Daughters father, I went to see my solicitor and got an affidavit stating that, and also he never paid any money towards her up-keep or had anything to do with her growing up. If I still need a written statement from him it might be a problem for me seeing as I don't know where he is

I guess I misunderstood your fiance's original post, not to mention the ensuing conversation. He said that your marriage certificate was 'taken' from you after receiving the absolute divorce decree. Then we discussed if its ever asked for at the interview, whether or not you could get your hands on a copy of it, etc.

So when the solicitor said 'your marriage certificate is never returned to you', I assumed he had asked the solicitor "Would they return the marriage certificate to her?" I guess maybe he just asked a general question, but I didn't glean that from his post.

Sorry I offended.

NP no offence taken

I didn't think the question was ever if the marriage certificate would be 'returned' to you (why would it be?) but rather, can you get a copy of a marriage certificate that is 20 plus years old?

Obviously the registry office could sort you out. How a solicitor didn't know whether or not you could get a copy of it is beyond me.

That wasn't what the question was! The question was, how I understood it, was when I got divorced 17 years ago my marriage certificate was taken from me and was never returned, and when my divorce was finale I received my copy of the Decree Absolute, now this is the only document I thought would be needed for info regarding packet 3. My partner has since learned that a marriage certificate might be needed also and seeing that I didn't have it, I wanted to find out why, and so I did just to be sure!

I never stated that my solicitor didn't know that I could obtain a duplicate copy of my marriage certificate because I never asked her; I just read the previous threads on here about obtaining a copy and with that knowledge contacted the registry office where I got married, problem solved

They're not kept at Somerset House anymore... or at least, if they're kept there (and I don't think they are - I'm pretty sure they're kept on microfilm in Wales somewhere), the public are no longer allowed in! If you go into Somerset House and ask at the reception desk they'll just tell you to go to the Family Records Centre in Islington/Clerkenwell instead. As I discovered a while back when some friends-of-friends who live in the US had asked me to get copies of their birth certificates... I work just over the road from Somerset House so went out in my lunch break, only to be told that stuff isn't there anymore. I think the old births/deaths/marriages bit is now used by the Inland Revenue instead. At least I knew where to go to get my long-form birth certificate...

Anyway, after all that rambling - here's a link to the Family Records Centre. Ignore all the stuff about tracing family trees - a lot of people go there for that (because you can look through all the birth/death/marriage records) but the certificates you get from them are definitely certified copies from the original records.

I just rang the Solicitors who dealt with my divorce to enquire about the marriage certificate and this is what she said “Your marriage certificate is taken away from you and sent to the County Court Offices where it remains when you file for divorce papers. The Decree Absolute terminates the marriage. The marriage certificate is never returned to you.” I have however contacted the registry office where I was married and they are sending me a duplicate copy of my marriage certificate for around £7 so ill see what happens from there.

I'm making plans to move to the USA and whilst waiting for pkt 3 I have been getting my Vaccinations done at my local Dr's surgery. So far my daughter and I have had Tetanus/Polio/Diphtheria. My Daughter goes for her first out of 3 Hepatitis B jabs tomorrow which is fine, but my query is the "Varicella" (Chicken Pox Jab). We have both had Chicken Pox so I am not sure whether we would need the Varicella Jab?

You can change it by going to your profile. Look toward the top left of your screen where it says "Logged in as: yourname". Click on your username and you can change your gender, birthdate, etc. on the left column.

I have made the changes Thank you for your speedy response

Probably a daft question but in the the personal Info section of my profile it say's "Gender not set". I have looked everywhere and I don't know how to set it to female. I would be most greatful if someone could tell me how

Many thanks

Was wondering how long is the police check good for, 3 month,or a year? And how do you go about getting one .

Thanks.

Tonyt.

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