ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
United Kingdome-mailing the consulate
Has anyone e-mailed the Londom consulate before? How long did it take to receive a response? I e-mailed them on the 2nd and haven't heard back yet. Should I expect to soon?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-09 09:51:00
United KingdomNew to the board
It's not really an offical playgroup as such. We're just a bunch of mums and dads with young kids we are/intend to homeschool. We get together at the Ballerup Community center and have a chat while the kids play with toys and socialise with each other.

2-3 weeks sounds better. Thanks for the info. I was wondering if Scotland would be faster. I think they process it at Stirling?

We'll be moving to Maine initially. It's right at the very North of Maine and it's awesome there. Wild Moose wandering past the window while you're eating dinner round the table etc. Very beautiful. Very snowy though.

And eventually settling, hopefully, in Iowa.

I can't wait to get started. I especially can't wait to be close to my brother again. He moved across there in August 2000 and I miss him so badly. He's been here every year to visit, but it'll be great to not have to say goodbye to him anymore.

You said you found someone who filed in July and has an interview in October?! That's awesome. Very encouraging. Where did you see that?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-08 17:59:00
United KingdomNew to the board
Excellent. We're in East Kilbride every Wednesday for a homeschooling playgroup thing we take the kids to. Not too far at all from here. :)

How long did it take you to get the police record through? Was it the full 40 days? I'm a bit nervous about that.

Yeah, we're not taking decoration things or plates etc, but for me, it's pieces of paper with sentimental value...I can't part with. Like songs we wrote when we were teenagers, love letters to each other etc. I'm such a sucker for that stuff. But it all piles up and it's heavy!

If you google moving overseas, or emmigrating moving complanies or something quite a lot comes up. We were looking into it for a while. We're going to go ahead and start shipping some boxes now, but like you, we're nervous about what if they don't get their visas...then our stuff will need to be sent back again! Storage is a good option, I've seen a bunch of signs up recently for a storage company. I can't remember the name, but they have big signs up at Cumbernauld, saying self storage from £5 or something.

As far as getting rid of stuff, we're going to be doing car boot sales probably and free cycle. Have you heard of it?
http://www.freecycle...=United Kingdom

We've used it a few times before, and it's amazing how fast things get grabbed up. It's nice to know your things have gone to someone who needed/wanted them, instead of just to the dump.

TN sounds wonderful. :) Yeah we're not too established with our plans for when we get there. We're trying to just get us over there first, then take things a step at a time. It's all good fun :) (stressful! But good fun)
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-08 05:37:00
United KingdomNew to the board
We're from the Falkirk area. Where in Scotland are you?

I'm the wife. I was born to US citizen parents, but was born here in Scotland and have lived here most of my life. In order for the kids to be eligible for citizenship, I have to have lived in the USA for 5 years since turning 14 I think it is. I've only lived there about 2 years total, and it was all during childhood. The kids will get citizenship as soon as they enter the US on their visas though, under the Child Citizenship Act 2000 section 320.

Yes I want to have the baby here. I read on the embassy FAQs that a baby born after the visas are issued, can travel with us as long as we bring the baby's full birth certificate and passport. If the baby is born before we get the visas, I think we need to apply for an I-130 for the baby, which will set us all back by months. I'm keen to get over there and get started with our new lives.

Regarding movers, we're just taking a very limited amount of stuff with us and will just be shipping most of it surface mail. The important stuff will be packed in our suitcases. And we'll just pretty much start from scratch as far as furniture etc goes. We're moving in with my dad and step mother initially, in Maine. They have a huge house and are soooo keen to see the kids, they feel they've missed out so much thus far and are looking forward to making up for lost time. It will help us to just get over the initiall immigration stuff, get settled in, build up some savings hopefully before we move on.

I really don't know about health insurance! We're both self-employed so I imagine it will cost us an arm and a leg. Haven't crossed that bridge yet though.

We haven't received approval of the I-130s yet either, but I don't expect it will be too much longer. We only filed shortly before you did so we don't have a case number or anything yet either. We're about finished with the I-864 and DS 230, just to be prepared, but I'm still gathering the supporting documentation and we haven't been able to get the forms for the police certificate yet. Then the police certificate can take up to 40 days to arrive, so if you haven't already, it might be a good idea to persue that just now, so as to avoid delays when the time comes.


Where in the US are you moving?

I'm also not sure where we'll live in the Uk if/when we sell our house. We'll have our two daughters and a baby, so it won't be easy squeezing us in to our parents. If it's only for a few weeks I guess we'll stay with parents, but if we sell months in advance we'll probably look into renting for a short while.


Phew, this was a long winded post. Sorry. It's good to "talk" with someone else at the same stage in the process as me. I hope we can keep each other posted with how it all goes.


Fatty (Denise)


Scotland too?!?! Where?

Are you the husband or wife? If you're the wife, just wondering why your kids aren't able to get citizenship?

Please let me know as soon as you get approval to give me hope!!! Do you have a case number yet? What type of notification have you already received so far?

So you want to have the baby here then? When the baby is born won't you then need to file for the baby before you can go?

Where are you going to live in the states? What are you going to do about health insurance? Have you researched movers already? DId you file the ds230 at the same time?

Michele


FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-07 18:21:00
United KingdomNew to the board
Also, we're in Scotland too. :)
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-07 15:52:00
United KingdomNew to the board
Hi Michelle,

We're in a similar situation to you.

I'm the US citizen, but I've lived here most of my life (my kids don't have US citizenship, so I'm applying for visas for them too).

It sounds like you are applying via Direct Consular Filing, through London. Which is the fastest way to get a visa. That's the route we're going too.

From my understanding of it all, getting the I-130 approval usually takes about 3 months. Then we get sent the visa application package, including the affidavit of support form. I suggest you read up on that at the embassy website and start filling it out now, and gathering documents etc to speed up the process.
Then when you file your notification of readiness for visa interview, I think it takes them a further 3-4 months to process and provide an interview date.

We sent our I-130 off end of july, and I think they started processing it August 1st. We're still awaiting approval. We're hoping (all fingers crossed, and seriously praying every night...) to have the visas by Feb, because we are expecting another baby, and we really want the visas first, so the baby can travel with us without needing a seperate I-130 filed.

We're fixing up the house ready to put it on the market in 2-3 months or so.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-07 13:14:00
United KingdomPolice reports in Scotland
We already sent it in, but I was suddenly worried we might need to change it. They said it's much faster if you only check in Scotland. So we just did that. Then I worried...cause that's what I do.
Hopefully the Scotland one will be ok though...
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-11 12:20:00
United KingdomPolice reports in Scotland
The form we sent in asked us to check if we want reports from just Scotland, or from England too. We just checked Scotland. He has never lived in England. Do you think that's ok, or do we need the English ones too?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-11 10:48:00
United Kingdomjust a quickie....
If your wife has a stamp in her US passport saying she has the right to enter and leave the United Kingdom, then you can do direct consular filing through the London Embassy, which is the fastest way to get a visa.

Check out the link
http://www.usembassy...i130filing.html

ops sorry I didn't see that michele had already given you the link :)

Edited by Fatty, 12 October 2006 - 05:51 AM.

FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-12 05:51:00
United KingdomProof of Domicile??
We are definitely going to be living with them for the first wee while. Probably a few months, but my step mother is keen for us to live there for the first few YEARS! lol. She's desperate to spend time with the kids, and she's redecorating the whole upstairs for us and buying furniture etc. I suppose we could submit her reciepts as prrof of intended domicile! :lol:
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-16 14:08:00
United KingdomProof of Domicile??
I live in the UK, pretty much always have, and am wondering what should work as proof of intended domicile in the US?

I'm DCF in London. I've heard that different embassies have different rules or definitions of domicile, some are stricted than others. Does anyone know what sorts of things London looks for?

I'm thinking of setting up a US bank account, and maybe having my step mother and dad write up a letter saying we'll be living with them? Would that suffice??
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-16 08:50:00
United KingdomINTERVIEW!!! 24th October
YAY!
Well done in getting thus far.
Not long to go now and this will be all in the past. Congrats.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-16 11:10:00
United KingdomPolice Certificate???
I might be wrong...but I don't think it's the same thing. I think the police certificate is the subject access form, related to data protection act. I don't claim to fully understand it though...so hopefully someone else can help you better
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-18 07:05:00
United KingdomI-864 and Interview
There was an old version of the I-864 which needed to be notorized. And there's a new version, which is easier, and you don't need it notorized, you just to sign it. The newer version also only requires the tax return from the most recent year, wheras the old one requires tax returns from the last three years.

Here's a link to the newest one
http://www.uscis.gov...forms/i-864.htm

As far as I#'m aware, this one should be signed already. I certainly hope it's not to be signed at the interview because my dad is a joint sponsor and won't be able to fly over from the USA for the interview to sign it in front of someone!

The DS-230 part II though, that's the bit that gets signed at the interview. I think.

I'm not 100% certain about this though...but that's the way I understand it.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-24 04:59:00
United KingdomKids don't have Hepatitis B - can't get it in time...
Yes they gain citizenship on entry as LPR under the Child Citizenship Act 2000. Which helps in that they don't need I-864s, so that's simplified things. I don't know if it will help with the vac requirements though...

Ok I'll e-mail the embassy. I have e-mailed them about a few other things before, and they weren't entirely helpful..and I hope they don't hate me already!

Thanks so much for the information and advice. I really appreciate it.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-26 13:07:00
United KingdomKids don't have Hepatitis B - can't get it in time...
No, it was my husband who phoned, and he doesn't even understand this whole visa thing, so I doubt he explained it properly. Darn it.
He made out like I was freaking out unecessarily when I asked him afterwards, if he had made it clear that it wasn't a K visa. He was like "they don't know the visa details, they just know this is what they have to tick off" bla bla bla.

So what should we do now? Should we phone them again, and be really annoying and say we're double checking etc? Or should we contact the consulate? What wuold you advise? (I don't trust my own judgment anymore...I'm being driven rather insane by this whole visa stuff)
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-26 03:56:00
United KingdomKids don't have Hepatitis B - can't get it in time...
Ok we were able to get through to the knightsbridge doctors.

They said they only require evidence that we've started the vaccines for the visas. So hopefully that's true.

So we've ordered them from our GP and they're going to give us as many as we have time to get. But they said it's definately one every 3 months. So that's weird, when I've heard one a month for three months elsewhere. Either way, as long as we can get the visas I'm happy.

Thanks for the advice all.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-25 17:31:00
United KingdomKids don't have Hepatitis B - can't get it in time...
Thanks. I saw that too. It seems you can get a Hep B vaccine at the time of the medical for £35. I wonder why though our doctor is so insistant that you can't be vaccinated against Hep B in a single vaccine, and that it takes 3, over the course of 7 months.

Just another bump in the road I guess. We'll call again in the morning and hopefully will get some answers.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-23 11:12:00
United KingdomKids don't have Hepatitis B - can't get it in time...
It seems kids aren't vaccinated against Hepatitis B under the NHS. We just got their vaccination records, and found out they don't have the vaccination. Our doctors tell us it will take at least 7 months for them to get the full set of 3 jags. We don't have 7 months! We're DCF and need the visas before the middle of Feb.

We tried phoning Kightbridge, I don't even know if that's the right place, is it? We tried phoning and they said they're closed. Meanwhile I'm freaking out now that we won't be able to get their visas in time.

Does anyone know what they do in this situation? Would they accept them just having one of the series of vaccinations for example?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-23 11:04:00
United KingdomObtaining Immunization Records
My husband had to get some immunizations which he knew he already had. But they didn't have a record of them. He got his for free on NHS...(we have exemption because we get tax credits).
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-31 04:45:00
United KingdomNew Interview date
Awesome!
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-10-26 13:08:00
United KingdomFINALLY
Congratulations!!!
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-08 16:39:00
United KingdomThe Idiots Guide to London 1
Thanks KaiserD I appreciate the info!
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-08 08:58:00
United KingdomThe Idiots Guide to London 1
This is really helpful, thank you.

My husband and kids have their medicals scheduled for 20th November. I'm coming too, because there's no way my husband could cope with the kids on his own.

I'm rather worried though about me all pregnant, and my husband and I trying to get around busy London with a 4 year old and a 2 year old! I sure wish they did medicals in Scotland.

We'll be staying over the night before, because our appointment is in the morning. Then we'll get flights home in the evening.

Hopefully we'll survive to tell the tale :)

I also have a dreadful sense of direction, so I appreciate all these threads where kind people such as yourself have gone into details about how to get there. Thank you.

Oh and about the depression...what sort of thing would need to go down in the letter? My husband has been on anti-depressants for a good 3 or so years now. He's been off them now for a few weeks and has an appointment to get officially signed off them by the doc or whatever next week. What should he ask for in the letter? Just to detail that he wasn't phsycotic or something? Or to mention the dosage he was on or the circumstances?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-07 05:02:00
United KingdomKeeping UK Job
My husband is self-employed too and intends to continue working for the same UK companies after he moves there on his IR-1 visa. But unfortunately we haven't looked very much into it yet so I don't know the answers to any of the paperwork questions.

We're going to contact an American accountant to ask about taxes etc, and which would be the best way to go. We're also going to investigate health insurance, since we'll have to pay that up front too.

Sorry I couldn't be much more helpful...
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-11 19:50:00
United KingdomLondon Hotels
Yes we got our interview date today! I wasn't expecting it so soon, but that's an awesome surprise. It's on the 14th December. Exciting!
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-15 20:21:00
United KingdomLondon Hotels
YAY! Congratulations! That's awesome.

We've booked the holiday Inn at Kings cross for our medicals. Not exactly close to the embassy or the bond st medical place, but we'll take the tube and then probably a cab or something to get there. Because the hotel is nice and cheap and seems child friendly and has good reviews at tripadvisor (and NOTHING gets good reviews there! lol) and has a pool! With a 4 year old and a 2 year old a pool is a MUST have to keep them entertained and amused.

Congrats again on the approval! How exciting!
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-15 16:34:00
United KingdomIRN BRU
I saw some in walmart once! In orlando Florida. I guess cause they get a lot of brits on vacation there. It was in the international foods section.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-15 14:47:00
United KingdomI levaving on aturday!
Congratulations! That's awesome. Enjoy your new life across the pond :)
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-15 14:45:00
United KingdomThe wondeful moment has arrived
woohoooo
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-11-21 06:38:00
United KingdomSo basically, it's "Don't call us, we'll call you....maybe"
I've had that e-mail too, I think it's automated. And then the actual response came a few days later.
Hopefully you'll hear soemthing soon. It is so difficult to get a hold of them to get the information you need.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-06 06:58:00
United KingdomAnother "is this police report ok" question
Ok, our interview on on the 14th of December. I ticked the thing saying we had the police report, because we had one from Central Scotland police (he's lived in Scotland all his life). But then on here some people have been saying we'd need one from New Scotland Yard too.

So we went ahead and ordered one to be on the safe side. And thankfully it came through today. (they received our application on Nov 8th, so that was less than 40 days)

It has come from New Scotland Yard in London. In the subject acess form we filled out, there were two boxes to tick, one for Scotland and one for England and wales. First time we ticked the one for Scotland, and got a response within a week from the Scottish headquarters saying there's nothing on the Scottish computers about him. Second time we only ticked the england and wales one and it was sent to New Scotland Yard....and we got this one back.

Only thing I'm worried about is it says "In reply to your request for information held about you by the central scotland police" bla bla bla

Now later on it does say "there is no information help about you in the personal record category of the police national computer. That surely means they looked at the national computers and not just Scotland right?

What do you think?
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-06 06:49:00
United KingdomWhere to buy USA letter size paper in the UK?
I know A4 size is fine, and we have used that for our own documents. But my dad sent his joint sponsor form in US letter size and there was a typo, and wouldn't have been enough time for him to send a page over from the states again, so it was easier to print another one off from here, since it's not a page with his signature in it or anything. The paper is a brighter shade of white than the rest of the docs, but I hope that will be ok.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-11 16:46:00
United KingdomWhere to buy USA letter size paper in the UK?
Thank you so much!

We phoned kinkos and the guy there was so kind he offered to send us a few sheets for free! But since we're in Scotland and they're in London he suggested we phone a local printers as they just crop it down from A3 size themselves.

So we phoned a place locally and the guy came round and personally delivered us a few sheets to our door within a couple of hours, and only took £2 for it. (he wasn't bothered about payment at all, but I thought since he'd made the effort to come round and everything)

So that was awesome thank you. We had spent hours on the internet trying to find a place to order it.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-06 06:52:00
United KingdomWhere to buy USA letter size paper in the UK?
Does anyone know where I can buy 8.5x11 size printer paper in the UK?

I'm searching all over and can only find the joined up listing paper stuff.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-04 16:56:00
United KingdomApproved in London
Congratulations! Must be a wonderful feeling.
Enjoy your new life :)
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-12 06:56:00
United KingdomI'm sooooooo scared and overwhelmed
Thanks, it's the little things like the documents and how to present them that freak me out. So I appreciate those little bits of advice very much.

Yes we're leaving the luggage in the hotel, but it's getting to and from the hotel that we end up carting around luggage and kids. We travel from our house to the car park (in a car so that's not bad) for an hour, then onto the shuttle to the airport, then on the plane, then on the stansted express, then on an underground, then onto the taxi, then arrive in the hotel. Which is a lot when the kids get to whining etc.

When we went for the medicals, we had to take the luggage with us, because we had to check out of the hotel first. So that was the worst, trapsing along oxford street afterwards, getting lost and trying to find the underground and a place to eat, with the wee yins and the bags. So at lease we have a whole day in between this time and won't be taking the bags to the interview, that will make it much easier.

I'm sure we'll survive. I just can't wait to get back home and for this all to be over. I know I'm just hormonal and overreacting to this. I do usually cope quite well, honestly. It just all gets a bit overwhelming sometimes. Seems like a mountain impossible to climb just now, but hopefully when I'm at the other side I'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-12 20:08:00
United KingdomI'm sooooooo scared and overwhelmed

Maybe avoid ice cream this time.

lol darn right we will!
It was my daughter's ice cream, so it was all melty. I didn't notice she still had it until we were already in the underground and there was no trash cans there. so we had no choice but to take it on with us. I was about to drop her, because I couldn't hold on to the pole, and her, and the luggage, especially with my carpol tunnel synderom. My husband had nothing to carry, so I asked him to hold it. Obviously that was asking a bit too much! Argh. Well it's a story to tell and one day I'll find it hillarious I'm sure!

Thansk all for the support. It means a lot.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-12 09:15:00
United KingdomI'm sooooooo scared and overwhelmed
We braved London on the 19th-20th November for the medicals and are back tomorrow for the interview on the Thursday.

I feel like there has been such a build up to this moment and I am absolutely crapping myself. I'm the US citizen, am I even allowed to be with my DH and kids for the interview? It's an IR-1 and IR-2 visas, DCF. My husband hasn't taken much to do with filling out the forms etc, and I'm scared they'll ask him for something and he'll be like "what?". I keep telling him he has to pay attention and figure out what everything is so he can explain it all.

I'm sooooo terrified we'll be refused the visas. I don't know why, I can't see any reason to be refused. We have all the documents, the police certificate, I-864s etc. I'm just scared I'll have filled out something wrong or something. Or my evidence of domicile won't suffice or something.

I don't know if I've ever had so much dread in my whole life. Plus we're travelling again with our 4 year old and 2 year old, which was really difficult last time. On the undergrounds, and with luggage etc. Stressful. But now it's the height of Christmas rush too, and we'll be on the underground at 8am on a weekday, oh and I have a big fear of trains, and I'm 7 months pregnant and have carpol tunnel syndrom (sore hands and wrists, dropping things etc) and symphysis pubis dysfunction (pubic bone separating and makes it AGONY to walk). How on earth am I going to cope with all this?

Last time I broke down in tears on the underground when my 4 year old kept falling over on everyone's feet, no one gave us a seat, I was breaking my arm carrying the 2 year old and luggage and my husband spilled strawberry ice cream all over a big black guy and his posh business atire and laptop! Then husband proceeds to have an argument with me in front of everyone because he's feeling embarassed, while passengers keep giving the big guy tissues and pointing out another spot he missed!

But there's no way I could let my husband go by himself with the kids. He is rather clumsy and doesn't pay enough attention, and the kids would be sure to get lost or hurt or something. He couldn't cope and I'd be so worried the whole time. It's just sooo not an option.

I can't wait until this is over. I'm so scared about it and can't see past the next few days. I feel like giving up just now to be honest. I'm so tired, we haven't been able to think about Christmas. We're spending every spare minute working to try to make enough money for these visas and the trip to London. 3 visas, at $380 each so it's pricey. And the hotel (2 nights) is £260, then there's feeding us, there's the flights at £200 to London, and the stansted express £50, and then cabs and undergrounds etc. Haven't a penny for Christmas. And meanwhile we're fixing up the house to sell it. Big DIY jobs, fitting double glazed doors and interior doors, converting garages etc. I'm getting about 4 hours sleep a night and I'm exhausted and hormonal.

Starting to wonder if we should have just stayed in the UK and never bothered with all this. It's me who was desperate to go back. To be with my family. Scotland depresses me. But I think I've bitten off more than I can chew.


Moan moan moan moan. Phew, glad to have gotten that off my chest.
I soooooo hope I'll be posting a happy thread here in a few days saying we've been approved.
Thanks for listening
Fat and feduppy
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-12 07:18:00
United KingdomWhere is fatty
lol, no thankfully I'm not still on the underground. Just got home and i'm abotu to post a BIG update!
Thanks for thinking of me.
FattyNot TellingUnited Kingdom2006-12-15 18:47:00