Visa questions (UK to US)

Can anybody answer a few questions on Immigrant Visas

So I married my American wife last year in the US, we moved back to UK and have lived in the UK for the last year and are now looking to move to the US ASAP.

We are planning to travel to the US in December and stay!

The problem is that we have not filed a I-130 Petition.

I have just phoned the Megabucks helpline and they have informed me that the Visa process takes about 9 months to complete and my only option is to file the I-130 asap and get a tourist visa, travel to the US and return to the UK for the Interview and med exam.

Is it possible to travel to US under the Visa Waiver and then petition in the US for the Immigrant Visa?

Could I get a K-3 Visa?

You may want to check out British Expats Forum, hopefully they can answer your questions. UKY is more for US to UK moves but we do have a Repatriation Section you may want to check out.


In my experience we filed our I-130 on 7 June 2010 and we received a request for further information in Late August and returned that the day we received it and I received the approval notice in mid September but my husband did not receive his notice from the Immigrant Visa Unit until the first part of October. We currently do not have our documentation together at this point so we have not notified the Embassy that we're ready but we've scheduled a medical and are just waiting for some paperwork to arrive from the US. So the 9 months estimate is pretty accurate (so far at least for us). Once we have our paperwork & notify the Embassy it takes about 4-6 weeks to get an interview appointment and then they make there decision that day and we should (fingerscrossed) get our visa a week later. We were hoping to be back in the US by Christmas, but it's looking more like late January or early February at this point.


I believe that to be able to file the I-130 with the US Embassy in London your wife must be able to show that she is normally resident of the UK (being here at least 6 months but some have even been told that they need to hold ILR before this is possible it just varies depending on each case). The Embassy is really not keen on those that come to the UK on a spouse visa and then file the DCF request because it's really a short cut so they like to see normal residence established and may question you regarding this.

That being said she can file the petition with the Embassy first and then return to the US to set up home (notifying the Embassy of the change of address for herself once she relocates) and I do believe that you can enter the US as a visitor for up to 90 days but you would have to return to the UK before that visitor period expired. But if those 90 days pass without approval you would have to return to the UK to wait out the petition processing time and in case there are other documents that are needed they will need to be addressed as well.


I'm not sure about the K-3 visa you would have to explore the other forum for those answers.

Hi Weby,

Thanks for the info, Do you have any info on the tourist Visa? I understand that I could stay in the US for 6 months on this Visa.

You would have to apply for a B-2 Visitor Visa and be issued that visa before you leave for the US. Generally they are issued for 6 months which is the maximum but it depends on your individual situation. It also appears that under the B-2 you can apply once in the US for a change of status but that does take more time & money than simply following through with the DCF process (according to what I have read by doing a simple Google internet search).

For more on the B-2 Visa & how to apply visit the US Embassy in London website.

But I would strongly suggest that you check out the other forum I mentioned as there are people there who have gone through what you're going through and can share their experiences.

You would have to apply for a B-2 Visitor Visa and be issued that visa before you leave for the US. Generally they are issued for 6 months which is the maximum but it depends on your individual situation.

I applied for a B-2 visitor visa last November and it was granted for 2 years, expiring in November 2011 (they can be granted for up to 10 years, depending on your situation). It's a multiple entry visa, but you cannot stay in the US for more than 6 months per visit. I've entered the US twice on mine, but the first visit was only for 2 weeks and the second was just for 36 hours (I was in transit from South America back to the UK).

It can take a while to get an appointment for a B-2 visa... I had to wait 2 months for an available appointment last year (and it was about a 2-month wait for each of my US student visa interview appointments back in 2003 and 2007)! However, once you've attended the appointment and the visa has been granted, it only takes a few days for your passport to be mailed back to you with the visa inside.