biggish data

Where 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.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-15 18:47:00

London medical experiences

It is nothing at all to worry about. My husband is terrified of needles, but he survived the blood test and vaccination he required. He actually handled it better than usual. He usually faints or whites out etc, but he took it like a man this time. hehe

For the kids it was mostly paperwork. The x-ray guy is soooo friendly. He was sitting next to us in the waiting room, telling us stories and showing us his pics on the mobile phone.

The environment in there was so relaxed and friendly and warm, it doesn't feel surgical or anything. Don't worry about it at all. It's probably nothing like you're imagining it.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 05:14:00

Wow got the visas delivered already!

Thanks. No, because I've lived in the UK all my life (bar like a year when I was a kid) my children are not entitled to US citizenship. Which is why my two current children required visas too. I think you have to have lived in the US for 5 or maybe 10 years since being 14 years old, in order for your children born abroad to be entitled to US citizenship. Unfortunately.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 19:06:00

Wow got the visas delivered already!

Wow this is really happening!

It came with a letter which says a baby born after issuance of visa can travel with the parents with a passport and long form birth certificate as long as they travel while the visa is valid. But they did tell us at the embassy that we couldn't, that it only applies if the mother was the one with the visa, not the father. It's really misleading though. I feel like I want to just phone and double check that before we proceed with plans to emmigrate to quickly. But I guess they know what they're talking about and I should just believe that.

Wow we really have the visas!

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 05:21:00

Nope, the baby is not entitled to citizenship, as I don't meet the residency requirement.

The house is soooo not ready for viewing/surveying yet. We've been fixing it up like crazy and still have a lot to do in these next couple of weeks. Been painting today, and we have plastering to do, and fixing and gutting and cleaning etc, in order to get the full value out of it. It's going to be a push to just have it done in 2 weeks. It is in a good location, and hopefully won't take too long to sell. Houses out here tend to sell quickly, but I guress you can never be certain of these things, and you never know which way it could go. I just have to hope and pray.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 19:12:00

Nope we don't have a purchaser for the house. It was going on the market Jan 2nd anyway (provided we got the visas, which we did), and that's still in place. It's not going to sell in time now, so I guess we'll be paying our mortgage from the states for the first few months. Which really sucks.

We discussed my husband staying back while I go on, but I really want him to be there when I have the baby, and to spend the time with us. We lost a 3 months old baby in 2001 and those first few days/weeks/months are really precious and nervous for us, and I really need him to be there. So we're sticking together, wherever that may be. And just have to hope our family are going to be understanding of it all.

I dreamt all night last night about telling people how soon we're going and people getting cross with me. I hate to be the one breaking hearts. But I have to do what's right for us, right?

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 04:44:00

Oh and also, I wanted to note, on a positive note, how friendly the guy at the embassy was. In fact, veryone was really friendly, at security and everything. We expected it to be a bit sterile and strict, but people were joking with us and laughing, and the guy was so compassionate about the dilema with the baby being born and needing a visa etc. He gave us his name and a contact number for him incase we need more help with anything. I was very pleasantly surprised by that.

Oh and also, in the actual interview question bit, my husband got our wedding date wrong! Argh. The guy just laughed at him and corrected him.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-15 19:15:00

Thanks again everyone for the support in my last post.

We'll we went to London. Got to the hotel ok. The underground was a nightmare again, but we coped this time and no one had ice cream!

Got to our interview the next day. Kids were really hyper but otherwise things were going smoothly.
We were at the inteview bit, handing over our documents etc, when he asked us if we had a travel date. We told him probably April May time, but that we needed the visas beofre our baby is born in Feb, so the baby can travel with us. It says on the embassy website the baby can travel if it has a passport and long form birth certificate, provided the baby is born after the visas has been issued.

Well turns out that's not entirely true. That would have worked out if it was ME applying for the visa, not the father. But since I'm a US citizen and my husband is the one getting the visa, the baby can't derive status from his visa or whatever.

So our only options were, to hold off the whole process and go through it all again when the baby is born....which would drive me nuts after the expenses time and energy we've poured into this. To leave that place without a yes or a no would drive me crazy. Or to go ahead with this and then have the baby in America.

So we had two minutes to make the decision while he went to the bathroom! I was almost crying, my kids were literally rolling around on the floor meowing like cats, and totally misbehaving, and I could not think straight.

But we decided to go ahead with it and have the baby in the states.

We got approved! yay.
I am already 30 weeks pregnant, so I only have about 5 weeks left which I can travel before the airlines will stop me flying. So 5 weeks now to sell the house, pack up and leave. We need to tell my mum, and husband's parents that they won't get to see this baby, and they're going to hate us. need to tell all the friends and family we're leaving MUCh sooner than we had planned. Plus I have no health insurance, so I'm going to be paying a lot of money to have this baby over there!

Then stupid me, I forgot that Ryan air need photo ID and the embassy retain the passport. So this morning, after 3 hours of sleep (because of staying up all night talking about how we're going to do all this in 4-5 weeks!) we get the taxi (not underground! yay) from Kings cross to liverpool st, then the stansted express to stansted, just to be told by Ryan air that photocopies of passports are not acceptable, and they can't let us on the flight. I seriously by this point couldn't take any more.

So we had to spend another £200 getting the train all the way to Glasgow, which was 1.5 hrs to petersborough, then 5 hrs to Glasgow central, then 45 mins to prestwick, then the bus to the car park, then the hour drive back home. Kids have been exhausted, they haven't eaten a proper meal all day and we didn't get home until 11pm. As soon as we walked in the door (hadn't stepped foot out of the hallway yet or taken off our shoes) my husband got a phone call from his sister saying his granny died while we were away.
So now we have to tell the family we're leaving at such an aweful time. man everyone is going to hate us!

But I guess this is good right? We got approved. I haven't had much time to just revel in that bit.
I'm looking forward to having the visas in hand. I won't believe it til I see them I think.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-15 19:05:00

After a delay at embassy, visa finally arrived!

Congratulations!
That's great that they were able to clear that up for you so quickly, because the affidavit of support is a very important one.
So that's great news!

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2006-12-16 19:14:00

To work in Theme...

About the US toilets thing....my husband says he doesn't like the way they make them in the USA because his um...(what's a polite word for balls?) "parts" hang down into the water. Do other guys suffer from that too...or is he just droopy or something? lol!

I was raised in the UK, but to American parents, and we visited the USA a lot, where family are. And we lived there briefly too during childhood.
I've always missed many things about the USA while being here

root beer
graham crackers
lots of flavours of pop tarts
taco bell
basements
large top loading washers
big watermelons
the beautiful sound of crickets at night (family is mostly from Florida)
mozzerella sticks mmmmmm

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2007-01-15 20:33:00

Had my medical this week. Took about 90 mins. Seen the vacination nurse and xray man quite quickly then about 30-40 min wait for the doctor. There was about 5 other people in at the same time and we all seemed to be taking turns getting things done. A very easy process though, everyone at the practice really friendly and explain things well.

Oh, and they asked for a UK photo. (plus police certificate, passport and vaccination records).

HighlandScott

Male

Scotland

2011-09-15 12:29:00

Yep, I'm prepared for the gender check! lol. I've heard varying stories about that....anything from a quick peek to a full inspection! :blink:

How long did your medical take?

HighlandScott

Male

Scotland

2011-09-12 17:36:00

Thanks Nich-Nick. I do already have a few of each size, so I'll take both, but give them a UK one.

Not sure why it say's on the document I quoted above to take US size. They also don't mention anywhere (someone correct me if I'm wrong) to take a police certificate but we all know they want one. How hard can it be to provide a simple list of exactly what they need.......... :wacko:

HighlandScott

Male

Scotland

2011-09-11 17:56:00

I have my medical tomorrow. Should I be nervous? Had a routine checkup with my regular doctor last week who gave me the ok.

How many photos do we need?

I wouldn't be too nervous- they are only checking for a limited amount of health issues which most people easily pass. By most accounts, the medical is a case of "is that it?" once it's over with. Sounds very quick and hassle free. I have mine on Wednesday and I am a little nervous....who knows what might turn up on the xray, etc, but I'm 99% sure it'll be fine.

According to the (updated Aug 2011) guidance for the medical on the Embassy website you should take "one passport type photograph of each person requiring a medical, including babies. The specifications of the photograph are the same as those obtained for the visa."

Although I'm sure I've heard of people giving UK sized passport photos. To be safe I'm taking 2 of each size (UK and US).

Good luck. Let us know how it goes

HighlandScott

Male

Scotland

2011-09-11 09:22:00