I wanted to tell my story while it was still fresh on my mind.
My husband and I have been married 21 years this October. He lived in the U.S. with me the entire time. When we reached retirement age, we thought it would be nice to retire in England. 5 years ago, we started planning for this. We put our lovely home on the market in October and sold it in January, with a 17 March closing date. Once our house sold we swung into high gear. We began sorting, discarding, and packing our belongings. We also prepped my visa application and gathered together our supporting documents.
On 28 February, I got my biometrics done and the package was shipped to Sheffield. We bought shipping labels from VFS, and paid for priority service. We received confirmation via email from UKVI on 1 March. Based on the February timelines, and our own incredible naïveté, we booked flight for 24 March. Everything was perfect. The house sale closed with no hitches, our goods were picked up for shipping, and we moved into my daughter's house for six days. But we still hadn't heard back from Sheffield. So begins the first of many Plan B's.
Our first Plan B, was that John would fly alone to England and I would join him as soon as I got my visa. It was sad when we took him to the airport and he left without me. But it was okay, because surely this visa would come any day now. Just a small hiccup in our plans. Right? Wrong. The hiccup turned into a giant belch.
On 30 March, I received the decision email. Figured I would have visa in hand on Friday, 1 April, and was looking at flights for Sunday. On Friday, my son drove me to UPS to pick up my package and I sat in his car reading the most confusing letter of refusal of entry. It stated validity of marriage as reason for refusal, but it wasn't talking about me and John. It was talking about a couple married in Punjab, Pakistan 2 years previously. Panicked and confused, I emailed UKVI. I prepped the email and sent it on Sunday, hoping someone would respond on Monday. They did, attaching another refusal letter, that was corrected to apply to us. Again, validity of marriage was reason for refusal. The examiner mentioned that there were no letters, greeting cards, or pictures to demonstrate our relationship. There was a wedding picture. But that was all. It was stupid really. Our financial section had everything in both our names. To me, it was crystal clear that we were indeed, a couple. On Monday, John shipped documents and pictures via DHL. On Tuesday, we redid the online application, paid again for priority and shipping and I got a biometric appointment for 10 April. On 5 April, I received the document John sent, and I put together a new package. On Thursday, 6 April, I walked in to see if biometrics could be done 4 days sooner than appointment. I was successful, so we went to the bank to get the March statement printed and stamped. Resent package on 6 April and received confirmation from Sheffield on 10 April. Yes, I turned it around in 6 days. I astonished myself. Now another long wait would begin.
In the marriage section, I typed up a cover letter that listed all the pictures and supporting documents and included a copy of the refusal. I sent mortgage statements and income tax pages, and house sales. Life insurance policies showing each other as beneficiaries. Phone records and emails and FaceTime screenshots. It was ironclad. It was undeniable.
On 1 June, 34 business days later, I received the decision email. On Monday, I received the package which included an approval letter and a vignette in my passport. On Tuesday I flew out of Orlando airport bound for Manchester and landed Wednesday morning on 7 June. All of the depression and anxiety immediately lifted and I am now with my husband, which means, simply, that I am home.
