By Victoria
Once Colin is accepted at the border of the U.S., the K-1 Visa 90-day period to get married kicks in.
To be married in the state of Virginia, we only need to have a marriage license issued to us by the county court, have any certified officiant perform the marriage/fill out the marriage register, and have the officiant mail the form back to the courthouse. There is no requirement for witnesses, no blood test, no waiting period -- nothing like that. Easy! But there is also no Justice of the Peace at courthouses here, so we do have to find our own officiant. We can be married pretty much anywhere in the state, though...you could probably stand on the sidewalk outside the courthouse and have the officiant sign the marriage register right after you get it, if you wanted.
Given this process, it should be pretty easy for us to be married within a month after Colin arrives! There's no point in waiting, as that will only drag out the subsequent process to get his green card/permanent resident status and his work permission. (Yes, this will require a boatload of more forms and evidence, plus another months-long wait.)
As I've mentioned previously, we'll worry about having a small wedding ceremony later on, possibly a year afterward. We still plan to celebrate once we're married, though!
Monday, June 15, 2015
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Preparation for Leaving (and Official Move Date)
By Colin
I have an official announcement for moving: My ticket to the U.S. is booked for June 26th.
I think my final day at work will be this Saturday (5th), and the next 3 weeks will be complete bedlam with getting everything else fixed before I go.
My visa expires July 7, so my time was running down. The visa lasts for six months, but they start it at the date of your medical exam instead of the date you're actually issued the visa.
My preparations are now well under way.
I have started to sell larger things that I won't be able to bring with me. DVDs and CDs are being taken out of their boxes and the boxes thrown away. I've used the boxes that blank CDs come in to store the discs, saving a lot of room and weight. Aside from a lot of digital media, my main items for shipping are a few books and a couple of smaller electrical items. These should fit in one or two medium sized boxes.
I have also had some good news regarding the flat. I thought that under my Co-Ownership terms of agreement that it was impossible to rent, but since the flat had still not sold after a few months on the market and a reasonable reduction in price, I contacted Co-Ownership regarding my situation.
I attended an interview at their office and was told that I could rent the flat with certain clauses in place (permission from my mortgage lender, a legally drawn up leasing agreement with the tenant, proof that it had been on the market for a certain period of time and so on).
I'm still waiting for a form from the lender, but from what their man told me on the phone, he sees no reason that I would be turned down, which is a big relief.
If anything else of note comes up soon, I'll post another update!
I have an official announcement for moving: My ticket to the U.S. is booked for June 26th.
I think my final day at work will be this Saturday (5th), and the next 3 weeks will be complete bedlam with getting everything else fixed before I go.
My visa expires July 7, so my time was running down. The visa lasts for six months, but they start it at the date of your medical exam instead of the date you're actually issued the visa.
My preparations are now well under way.
I have started to sell larger things that I won't be able to bring with me. DVDs and CDs are being taken out of their boxes and the boxes thrown away. I've used the boxes that blank CDs come in to store the discs, saving a lot of room and weight. Aside from a lot of digital media, my main items for shipping are a few books and a couple of smaller electrical items. These should fit in one or two medium sized boxes.
I have also had some good news regarding the flat. I thought that under my Co-Ownership terms of agreement that it was impossible to rent, but since the flat had still not sold after a few months on the market and a reasonable reduction in price, I contacted Co-Ownership regarding my situation.
I attended an interview at their office and was told that I could rent the flat with certain clauses in place (permission from my mortgage lender, a legally drawn up leasing agreement with the tenant, proof that it had been on the market for a certain period of time and so on).
I'm still waiting for a form from the lender, but from what their man told me on the phone, he sees no reason that I would be turned down, which is a big relief.
If anything else of note comes up soon, I'll post another update!
Thursday, March 19, 2015
My Visa Interview
By Colin
Sorry that it has taken so long to post this -- but at last, here is a post about my visa interview experience.
I had to stay overnight in London, so I booked an evening flight for the night before, and I managed to find a reasonably priced hotel that was around 20 minutes walk from the embassy.
I didn't sleep much the night before the interview, waking up at least once and passing the time watching wrestling on television.
On the morning of the interview, I was up in good time and made my way to the embassy with the help of a map that was provided by the staff at the hotel. I didn't bring my phone, because I had read that phones weren't allowed inside the building (this rule later turned out to have been changed, and it was now only large electronics like laptops which were prohibited). I arrived at the embassy around 7:30, half an hour before my appointment as instructed on my letter. There was already a large queue.
There was a delay in the K1 Visa people getting access to the building, because the staff inside weren't ready for them on time. I didn't mind, because it was a nice enough day. People outside were talking amongst each other, sharing their experiences of the process so far and talking about how nervous they were. This part didn't help me much.
Eventually our queue started moving and we went through a security check point. I then handed over some documents and was given a number to watch for, coming up on a screen. I'd estimate there were around 100 people waiting in the room, for interviews for various visas, with a steady trickle coming in throughout my wait. My number came up and I went to a window where I spoke to a woman from the UK who gave me a form to fill in which had questions on it that I had already answered several times on previous forms. I answered them yet again. I handed over documents and my passport with some more passport photographs and sat down again, waiting for my number to appear a second time.
This was going to be the visa interview. I was in a state of panic. I'm not good in interview situations at the best of times, and especially not if it is for something as important as that was. My number was called and I went to the window. It was an American lady on the other side of the glass, with a man shadowing her. She was really nice, and her approach helped to put me at ease.
I was asked only a few questions:
Who is petitioning your visa?
How long have you known each other?
Have you visited each other?
Have you met her parents?
Why are you going to the United States rather than her coming to the UK?
I think that was all, although the whole five minutes or so that the questions took to be asked is a bit of a blur. It all seemed slightly surreal.
After I gave my final answer, the lady said that she was pleased to tell me that my application was successful. I cried. I don't think she was expecting it, and neither was I, but after going through what we had so far and spending the amount of time and effort and the weeks and months of being apart from each other, I think it was an outburst of relief that it was almost over.
After the interview, I made my way back to the hotel and sent Victoria a message to let her know. She was awake, even though it was early in Washington, but she was anxious to hear how it had gone.
In preparation for the interview, I had printed off some pictures of me with Victoria in various places over the last two years and brought a letter that she had written to me as well. I wasn't asked for any evidence at all, though.
The next few weeks will be absolutely hectic, but I think the very worst part is over. New adventures await.
Sorry that it has taken so long to post this -- but at last, here is a post about my visa interview experience.
I had to stay overnight in London, so I booked an evening flight for the night before, and I managed to find a reasonably priced hotel that was around 20 minutes walk from the embassy.
I didn't sleep much the night before the interview, waking up at least once and passing the time watching wrestling on television.
On the morning of the interview, I was up in good time and made my way to the embassy with the help of a map that was provided by the staff at the hotel. I didn't bring my phone, because I had read that phones weren't allowed inside the building (this rule later turned out to have been changed, and it was now only large electronics like laptops which were prohibited). I arrived at the embassy around 7:30, half an hour before my appointment as instructed on my letter. There was already a large queue.
There was a delay in the K1 Visa people getting access to the building, because the staff inside weren't ready for them on time. I didn't mind, because it was a nice enough day. People outside were talking amongst each other, sharing their experiences of the process so far and talking about how nervous they were. This part didn't help me much.
Eventually our queue started moving and we went through a security check point. I then handed over some documents and was given a number to watch for, coming up on a screen. I'd estimate there were around 100 people waiting in the room, for interviews for various visas, with a steady trickle coming in throughout my wait. My number came up and I went to a window where I spoke to a woman from the UK who gave me a form to fill in which had questions on it that I had already answered several times on previous forms. I answered them yet again. I handed over documents and my passport with some more passport photographs and sat down again, waiting for my number to appear a second time.
This was going to be the visa interview. I was in a state of panic. I'm not good in interview situations at the best of times, and especially not if it is for something as important as that was. My number was called and I went to the window. It was an American lady on the other side of the glass, with a man shadowing her. She was really nice, and her approach helped to put me at ease.
I was asked only a few questions:
Who is petitioning your visa?
How long have you known each other?
Have you visited each other?
Have you met her parents?
Why are you going to the United States rather than her coming to the UK?
I think that was all, although the whole five minutes or so that the questions took to be asked is a bit of a blur. It all seemed slightly surreal.
After I gave my final answer, the lady said that she was pleased to tell me that my application was successful. I cried. I don't think she was expecting it, and neither was I, but after going through what we had so far and spending the amount of time and effort and the weeks and months of being apart from each other, I think it was an outburst of relief that it was almost over.
After the interview, I made my way back to the hotel and sent Victoria a message to let her know. She was awake, even though it was early in Washington, but she was anxious to hear how it had gone.
In preparation for the interview, I had printed off some pictures of me with Victoria in various places over the last two years and brought a letter that she had written to me as well. I wasn't asked for any evidence at all, though.
The next few weeks will be absolutely hectic, but I think the very worst part is over. New adventures await.
Quick Updates
By Victoria
1. Visa Arrival
As mentioned in the last post, visas are issued pretty quickly after the embassy interview. The visa packet with Colin's returned passport arrived in Northern Ireland about a week after his interview in London in February. You can pay more for them to deliver it directly to your home, but Colin decided to pick it up from the airport facility where it had arrived and was being held. He doesn't have to do anything more with this except bring it with him when he makes his immigration flight to the U.S.
2. Selling the Flat in NI
The major piece of business Colin needs to close out before he moves to the U.S. is selling the flat (apartment) he currently lives in over in Northern Ireland. As of last week, it is now on the market...so now it's matter of seeing how quickly someone makes a good offer and a deal can be closed. We want to make sure this is taken care of before he immigrates because it's obviously easier to conduct this kind of business when you're still in the same country.
That's it for now.
1. Visa Arrival
As mentioned in the last post, visas are issued pretty quickly after the embassy interview. The visa packet with Colin's returned passport arrived in Northern Ireland about a week after his interview in London in February. You can pay more for them to deliver it directly to your home, but Colin decided to pick it up from the airport facility where it had arrived and was being held. He doesn't have to do anything more with this except bring it with him when he makes his immigration flight to the U.S.
2. Selling the Flat in NI
The major piece of business Colin needs to close out before he moves to the U.S. is selling the flat (apartment) he currently lives in over in Northern Ireland. As of last week, it is now on the market...so now it's matter of seeing how quickly someone makes a good offer and a deal can be closed. We want to make sure this is taken care of before he immigrates because it's obviously easier to conduct this kind of business when you're still in the same country.
That's it for now.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
K-1 VISA APPROVED
By Victoria
Colin had his interview at the London embassy this morning, and he was approved to receive the K-1 Visa!!
I don't have the details of the interview process he went through, so he will post about it sometime when he's not exhausted from traveling in, through, and out of London. Meanwhile, though, to answer some questions I anticipate people asking...
Does this mean he has the visa now?
No, not quite. It takes 5-7 business days for the embassy to do the final processing on Colin's application, and they will send him his physical visa packet in the mail (along with returning his passport). This packet has to remain untampered and unopened until he reaches his U.S. Port of Entry, at which point he hands the packet to the border officer and they examine it to give the final "yea" or "nay." (Yes, even with a visa you can technically still be rejected at the border, but I think that's really only in extreme circumstances such as finding contraband in the immigrant's possessions.)
When is Colin coming to the U.S.?
Once his visa is in hand, he can technically immigrate to the U.S. whenever he wants. However, we suspect it will still be a few months before Colin makes the leap over here -- he still has to settle out things in Northern Ireland like selling his flat and his car, deciding what stays and what comes here, etc. etc. So even though he'll have his visa within the next week, it will still be a little while before he uses it.
If he has to wait, does the visa expire?
According to the Department of State, a K-1 Visa expires 6 months after issuance. That should give him plenty of time.
We've read in other places that some people had to wait 3 months to even get their embassy interview scheduled, so I'm really grateful Colin was able to have and complete his in such a relatively short period of time!
Colin had his interview at the London embassy this morning, and he was approved to receive the K-1 Visa!!
I don't have the details of the interview process he went through, so he will post about it sometime when he's not exhausted from traveling in, through, and out of London. Meanwhile, though, to answer some questions I anticipate people asking...
Does this mean he has the visa now?
No, not quite. It takes 5-7 business days for the embassy to do the final processing on Colin's application, and they will send him his physical visa packet in the mail (along with returning his passport). This packet has to remain untampered and unopened until he reaches his U.S. Port of Entry, at which point he hands the packet to the border officer and they examine it to give the final "yea" or "nay." (Yes, even with a visa you can technically still be rejected at the border, but I think that's really only in extreme circumstances such as finding contraband in the immigrant's possessions.)
When is Colin coming to the U.S.?
Once his visa is in hand, he can technically immigrate to the U.S. whenever he wants. However, we suspect it will still be a few months before Colin makes the leap over here -- he still has to settle out things in Northern Ireland like selling his flat and his car, deciding what stays and what comes here, etc. etc. So even though he'll have his visa within the next week, it will still be a little while before he uses it.
If he has to wait, does the visa expire?
According to the Department of State, a K-1 Visa expires 6 months after issuance. That should give him plenty of time.
We've read in other places that some people had to wait 3 months to even get their embassy interview scheduled, so I'm really grateful Colin was able to have and complete his in such a relatively short period of time!
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Medical and Interview Date
By Colin
Since my last post, I have been in London for a medical examination, which I passed without any problems.
I had to fill in a form that had general questions about my health (and which was very similar to one I had to fill in and bring with me to the appointment). Then I was back and forward to various rooms to do different tests and get various checks. I had a chest x-ray, got weighed and measured, had an eye test, had my ears examined and had a top-to-toe examination of my general exterior health. I also had a blood sample taken to rule out several diseases. The total time for the examination was around an hour and a half. This fitted well with my flight schedule home, and thankfully the process was easily completed in one day, as I had planned.
I was told that if I had heard nothing after 4 days, I had passed. I heard nothing.
The next stage is an interview at the American Embassy in London, which has now been confirmed for February 12. An overnight stay was unfortunately unavoidable, because the interview time is scheduled for 8:00 in the morning.
I thankfully had the opportunity to speak to someone at the medical who had already completed his interview, and he told me that it isn't much to be concerned about. The main thing he told me was to be there in good time, because there was a long queue even when he arrived an hour before his allotted time. I have a checklist of documents I need to bring, all of which I already have.
I'll post again after the interview - hopefully with some good news.
Since my last post, I have been in London for a medical examination, which I passed without any problems.
I had to fill in a form that had general questions about my health (and which was very similar to one I had to fill in and bring with me to the appointment). Then I was back and forward to various rooms to do different tests and get various checks. I had a chest x-ray, got weighed and measured, had an eye test, had my ears examined and had a top-to-toe examination of my general exterior health. I also had a blood sample taken to rule out several diseases. The total time for the examination was around an hour and a half. This fitted well with my flight schedule home, and thankfully the process was easily completed in one day, as I had planned.
I was told that if I had heard nothing after 4 days, I had passed. I heard nothing.
The next stage is an interview at the American Embassy in London, which has now been confirmed for February 12. An overnight stay was unfortunately unavoidable, because the interview time is scheduled for 8:00 in the morning.
I thankfully had the opportunity to speak to someone at the medical who had already completed his interview, and he told me that it isn't much to be concerned about. The main thing he told me was to be there in good time, because there was a long queue even when he arrived an hour before his allotted time. I have a checklist of documents I need to bring, all of which I already have.
I'll post again after the interview - hopefully with some good news.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
DS-160 and Medical
By Colin
The next stage for me was to fill in an extremely in-depth form online: DS-160. This is the official K-1 visa application for submission to your interview embassy.
I was asked questions about myself, including details of my previous visits to see Victoria, employment history, a basic outline of my education and endless questions about whether I have been involved in things like genocide, people trafficking, terrorism, recruiting child soldiers and other shady things. As with all forms, it is important to read all of the questions carefully and not presume that the answer will be no to all of them.
At the end, I had to upload a picture in the passport standard size, which proved to be a nightmare. Every picture I took myself, would NOT crop down to the specifications required by the online "help" tool. In the end, I went back to a photo shop where I got my passport pictures taken and they put the original onto a flash drive for me. I uploaded that, and it worked perfectly.
One other problem that I encountered with the DS-160 was the very first question, which asked the location from which I was filing the application. I selected Belfast (being the closest place to me), but I hadn't realised that the answer should have been London, since that was the embassy which was processing the application. I received an email asking me to fill in the whole form again, because I made that one mistake.
I also have booked an appointment with the embassy doctor in London for my medical examination, which I will attend this Wednesday (Jan. 7th). I've booked the trip so that I don't have to stay overnight, so hopefully I'll be okay for time, getting to and from the airport.
I'll post again later this week to go into more detail about what was involved for the medical.
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