Hi there -
My husband (who is British) and I (American) just got married in England a few weeks ago. We're living in England and I am here on a 2 year spousal visa.
We would like to now move to the U.S. and want to begin the process for getting him over to the U.S. We're just catching our breath from all the stress of planning our wedding, honeymoon, and getting my visa all sorted for me to live in England. From what I understand, this is a lengthy process and I would like to get any necessary paperwork filed so we can begin the waiting process.
Can someone possibly nudge me in the right direction for beginning this process? We're not sure which forms we need to fill out... I am not currently working, and my husband, who is a solicitor over here, hates his job! He wants to completely change professions and possibly re-train when we move over to the U.S. So neither of us will be working when we first move over.
So... where does that put us? Can someone suggest which forms we need to file? Is this something we should find an immigration attorney to help with, or are most people able to undertake all this on our own? The process of getting my visa to live in England was a big pain and I've heard this can be even worse getting someone from England to the U.S. Ugh! Where do we start?
Thank you!!
I presume you will only have Limited Leave to Remain in the UK right now, so a K3 visa is your best bet.
http://www.visajourney.com and do a search for K3.
good luck!
Congratulations on your marriage!
If you thought the UK process was a pain, you are in for a big shock!
The US/London process has changed in the last year (so careful when reading experiences on websites) in that you are supposed to have your UK permanent residency in order to qualify for fast-track processing (aka Direct Consular Filing, DCF). If you were able to do DCF, you could have your visa within about 3 months. You (the US citizen) could always try writing to the immigration folks at the embassy in London asking if they would accept your petition.
Other than that there are two options, the conventional one is an I-130 petition followed by a CR1 or IR1 visa; the second on is a K3 visa, preceeded by both an I-130 and an I-130 petition.
The good thing about I-130/IR1 is that you arrive in the US and become a permanent resident (green card holder) on day 1; the downside is that it could take a year or more to process.
The good thing about the I-130/1-129F/K3 visa is that you can get it in about 5 months; the downside is that you do not become a permanent resident on arrival in the US. With the K3, the visa is valid for 3 years (I think, it might be 2...), and you can use this to travel in and out of the US. You can't automatically work, so you have to apply for a work permit (employment authorization document, EAD), which is valid for a year at a time. When the I-130 finally works through the system, you have to file an Adjustment of Status application in order to turn your non-immigrant K3 visa into an immigrant IR1.
A lot depends on how much you want to get to the US quickly versus the amount of hassle you are willing to put up with. Everyone has different values and it depends on many factors, but personally, I think what I would do is stay put in the UK for the 2 years and then go for the DCF. That way, you are in control of the timings and you actually get down to normal living in the UK, rather than living some kind of limbo waiting for USCIS to get their act together.
Oh, a great place for immigration info is http//www.usembassy.org.uk - go to the immigrant visa pages, and then immediate relative category.
Ameriscot and Manc -
Thank you both so much. Wow. That's a lot to think about. We will take a look at the sites you recommended.
Can anyone recommend an immigration attorney for us? I am worried there will be some detail we'll forget, or I'll screw this up and end up prolonging our stay here in England. My English husband is very keen to begin a new life in the U.S., and I, to be honest, don't like the idea of staying in England for two more years. I've already lived here for almost two years, and I still don't feel settled here.
Thanks for your help!!!
Hi there,
Starting to do the same thing here. I also have the Limited Leave to Remain 2 year UK Visa but it sounds like you have been living here long than I have.
We are going to try to do DCF first. If we get refused, no big deal. We want to try for it anyway. I think you should try to file DCF first.
Most of the forms are really not that bad and if you ask questions on several visa boards, you'll get plenty of help and answers.
Getting an Immigration Lawyer can be very costly, imo.
Jennifer
I had bad experiences with immigration lawyers both UK and US side. If you read the forms carefully and provide everything they ask for you should be fine. That's all the lawyers do and charge a fat fee.
My UK lawyer failed to advise us correctly about my wifes work visa - which led to an unecessary delay in her work permit. My US immigration lawyer failed to inlclude photos in the work permit renewal for my wife - more problems....
Best of luck.
IMHO, getting a good lawyer would make the process smoother for you - it certainly did for me, and was well worth his $3000 fee. He certainly seemed to be on top of everything as far as we were concerned.
Here's his website - just in case
http//www.lonnierobin.com/home.htm
However you decide to go about it, good luck. smile
I presume you will only have Limited Leave to Remain in the UK right now, so a K3 visa is your best bet.
http://www.visajourney.com and do a search for K3.
good luck!
*************
I second what Manc said about heading over to VJ....however, read the guides closely, as they are a wealth of information.
You can either go K3 or just sit out the I130 - however right now MSC seems to be processing K3's pretty rapidly. So if working right away once you enter the US isn't a big deal, then go for it. If time isn't of the essense and you'd like to be able to work as soon as possible after entering the US, then you might wanna stick with the I130 and just see it through to the granting of the CR1 at the embassy, the main advatage there is not having to deal with some of the AOS hassle that you have to go through with the K3 and wait for your EAD in order to be able to work.
Either way, VJ has a wealth of info and the folks out there, for the most part, are very helpful.
And like with the decision of whether to go the K3 route or CR1, the choice to use an attorney is yours. Opinions go either way as to whether or not the process is made smoother via an attorney. Some will tell you if your case is straighforward and you've no "red flags" then you really don't need to go to the expense of an attorney.
However if you have something that might warrant further investigation by USCIS of the DOS, then an attorney is probably a good idea. And FWIW, some people just like having a professional deal with all the paperwork and making sure all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed. And that reason alone probably makes the investment of a good qualified AILA member immigration attorney well worth it.
Either way, best of luck! :smile: