# Two year plan



## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

So following on from my pervious thread where we essentially realised that gaining residency through marriage to an American was the only realistic way forward......

The girlfriend and I decided on something of a two year plan, we want to be in a position to get the ball rolling by December 2011, applying at that point and getting over as soon as I can.

A first step towards this is that we're now engaged

Now the thing is from what I hear the Fiancee Visa is really slow and expensive to sort out, so is the spouce one that much different. And where do we stand with that, would we have to get married in America or in England. And then apply afterwards?

And isn't it possible if you get married out there to just stay and process all the legal stuff from there?


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

...so many helpful replies, lol

Fortunately I have been able to answer all my questions and the two year time scale does seem a bit long. I'm currently in California and having completed all the paperwork required to file my I-129F will be doing so once I leave the country. Would hope to have the visa by next spring and be moving by June 2011.

It's really at that point I expect the hard part to begin.

Getting a job
Sorting out a credit history
Dealing will the culture shock
And also the terrible heat in this part of California, been suffering with dehydration while I have been out here this time, and it's a 'mild summer'


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

BritishGav said:


> ...so many helpful replies, lol
> 
> Fortunately I have been able to answer all my questions and the two year time scale does seem a bit long. I'm currently in California and having completed all the paperwork required to file my I-129F will be doing so once I leave the country. Would hope to have the visa by next spring and be moving by June 2011.
> 
> ...


Work on a resume and cover letter. Send it to me by PM.
Credit history as the word history indicates will take time.
What culture?
Come to The South if you want 100-110F and 95-98% humidity - CA is cozy:>) 
Dehydration is your own fault - do like the natives and drag your sippy bottle around with you.


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

After a minor cashflow problem has been sorted out.

I-129F filed 1st Octobeer 2010


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## Mikesgirl (Oct 3, 2010)

Brr, i'd appreciate learning more about what the fiance visa experience is like. My boyfriend's having to sort that out, poor man! How expensive is it? I've been looking at the US visa websites and sometimes find it quite confusing, took way too long to find out that the first step is that he has to file a petition for permission to startup the process.
Helen


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

Well the initial application (the i-129f) is $455, which is why it took us a while to find the money for it. And from there to getting the visa they reckon on about 8-10 months, but it can take longer. 
For the i-129f you need photo's of the two of you together, recent passport photo's of each of you, two forms that detail a little about each person. Where you were born, nationality, and the same of information about your parents. That kind of thing
Also a covering letter, two letters of intent and a copy of the US citizens birth certificate

After all this the onus shifts to the person emigrating, there's going to be forms to fill in, a police report, medical, three injections and an interview. I've got all that to come, next year probably. 

You also need to be able to prove there is enough money to make you not a public charge, the USC needs a salary of about $18.5k if you don't have enough you need to be able to make up 5 times the difference in savings.


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## Mikesgirl (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for the quick reply :-D I have one more question if I may...while the application's going through, does that mean I cannot visit him at all? Or is there a way to see him?

Lol, that's good to know about needing to provide photographic proof of us together...I may be able to give them a photo album if they like


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

You need proof of the relationship, so stuff like pictures of you together, hotel recepts, old boarding passes and stuff like that. When we actually went through it all it turned out we had a lot more than we needed.

As for visiting, you can but it's a risk. You have to convince the boarder official that you aren't planning to do a runner. If they believe you then no worries, but if they don't you can be denied entry and that can jepordise you visa application. It also means you can't use the visa waiver program anymore either. I don't know about you but I don't think it's worth the risk.


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## Mikesgirl (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks, that does sound like it's more risk than it's worth :-( I guess Mike and I had better be ready for some time apart while waiting for it to process *makes face* at least we only see each other twice a year anyway, so it won't be too absolutely big a change!
Thanks really much for the info  how are you and your fiance/partner doing now? (it's so odd how in America, they use 'fiance' for both fiancee and fiance...i'm starting to switch my vocab over in preparation )

Helen


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

Well just because you can't go there doesn't mean he can't come and see you here instead, thats what my American girl is doing, she's coming over for christmas and new year, and maybe some time in the summer if we can afford it.
Karen and I are keeping busy and we're very focused on the plan. Everything we're doing right now is building up towards being together. She's just started her own business, and she's still studying really hard too. And I'm saving my arse off. 
But don't let yourself be colonised my the colonials, you can't help it to a point though. I talk about going to the movies instead of the cinema, by there's no way I am giving up on rubbish, petrol and football


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## Mikesgirl (Oct 3, 2010)

He can't actually come here :-( His new job is real strict about time off and well...the more we works, the more money is saved as I've only just found myself a temp job at least for the next 3 months to get some more money saved of my own.
His plan is for me to visit him at Christmas, I guess then we'll start planning on starting the visa process after that. I actually like absorbing the vocab over there, though it is fun to tease Mike with the difference with words...i call it 'queue', he calls it 'line' so the one time he slipped up and said 'better join the queue', boy was he traumatised  he and i love bantering over words!
Good for Karen, what kind of business is she running? What is she studying? She sounds like she must be lovely


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

She does private maths tutoring, and she's doing her BA in Maths at the moment. She wants to be a teacher eventually. Karen and i are always bantering about how we say things differently. We saw this trailor for a movie (never actually saw the film) and this girl and guy are together and i think one was American and the other was from Oz (I could be wrong) and she makes fun of how he talks and he says 'Don't mock me, I don't appreciate it!' and I say that to Karen in jest ALL the time, lol
People make fun of her for talking to 'British' and they make fun of me for talking to America. Apparently I over use Awesome


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## Mikesgirl (Oct 3, 2010)

Wow  is she doing the private maths tutoring as something aimed at students or at adult learning?
Hehe, that is funny about the 'talking too british' and 'talking too american' habit 
Do you have any trouble with the American currency? It may be utterly silly, but I still struggle with it and as a result have a purse stuffed with dimes and cents and quarters. I assumed that quarters meant 25 cents and that 100 cents made up a dollar, and now i'm confusing myself just as I write.... (god how i love the british pound...100 pennies to a pound and that's IT!)


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

She does some adults, but also quite a lot of high school and middle school kids.
The currency can be a problem, quaters being a quarter of a dollar are easy enough. What confuses me are dimes and nickles, as the one that looks like a 5p is worth 10c and the one that looks like a 10p is worth 5c. What bothers me more is sales tax, as you don't know what things will cost its hard to get the right change ready. I also have to keep my notes in order or I get confused as it all looks the same.
It's a learning curve though, I have a friend I used to work with a few years ago and he has now lived in Oz for three years, and he's quite well adapted to everything out there now... even the heat


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

Just an update on everything so far

i-129f posted UPS 2 day air to Dallas 1st October 2010
i-129f arrived in Dallas 4th October 2010
i-129f payment cleared 7th October 2010

Expecting the NOA1 pretty soon


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## BritishGav (Jan 26, 2010)

Just an update on everything so far

i-129f posted UPS 2 day air to Dallas 1st October 2010
i-129f arrived in Dallas 4th October 2010
i-129f payment cleared 7th October 2010
NOA1 date 7th October 2010
NOA1 hard copy recieved 12th October 2010

Expecting the NOA2 in about 3 months


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