Moving home after 1 year in the UK.

Hello to my favorite expat community!
My husband and I are looking to move back to the US at the end of this year/beginning of next year.  I'll have been in the UK 1 year this November. When can we apply for his visa to stay in the US, and how do we go about getting it started? I know it'll be a long road, but just wanted to get the ball rolling. 

I don't have advice on the process to go from UK to US, but a FYI in regards to the UK...

I don't know if you are aware, but the UK immigration rules changed in July.  There are stricter new requirements for getting a UK spouse visa, and it's especially difficult for UK/US couples both living abroad and wanting to return to the UK together. 

I know it's a few more years in the UK, but unless you are pretty certain you will not want to ever move back to the UK again, I would highly recommend getting UK citizenship (or at least ILR) before you move back to the US. 

There have been a few instances of people who moved back to the US before getting UK citizenship and/or ILR, and now they want to move back to the UK and have found they do not qualify under the tougher new UK immigration rules. 

It may be worth having a read through the new rules if you haven't already and see if you think you'll be able to meet the new requirements if you decide to move back to the UK in the future.

Thank you for the advice.  We are about 99.9% sure that we will not be wanting to return to the UK. Right now we would like to know if it would be easier (and quicker) for me to go home, get a job and place to live, and then apply for him to join me, or if it's easier to apply while we are both still in the UK. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

That's fine; just throwing it out there as a FYI in case it would have had an effect on your decision as the new changes have, unfortunately, scuppered other people's plans to return to the UK after a few years in the US.   

I believe most people have done DCF; hopefully someone who has done it can chime in.

It is faster to do DCF, but then things can be trickier in terms of having enough to sponsor him. 

I heard from someone, on here maybe (?), that the first part of the visa (where you ask for permission to apply) was approved in like 3 weeks! Then he has to do more forms and get a medical and have an interview.  That can take a while and you can string it out too (like if you wanted more time) by waiting to schedule appointment.

Do you know where to do DCF?

You file the petition to apply at the US Embassy in London. Right now the processing time is right around four weeks.

Once the petition to apply is approved, your husband can make the actual application. That's the part that takes time.

Thank you for the answers- just to tag on to that, more questions: (copied from another forum I've posted in)

My English husband and I(US citizen) were married in March 2011, and I have been living in the UK with him since November 2011. We are looking to move back to the states as soon as feasible, and it looks like DCF is the way to go, however, we do not have any assets. Right now we are renting a place, he is leasing a car, we don't have any savings. In order to do DCF, as I understand it, we need to have assets to prove that I can support him. (?) Chances are, we will be quite reliant on my parents for the first month or so until I can find a job etc. So, is it better to do DCF, or are we more likely to get the visa if I go back to the states, get settled, and THEN have him join me? I prefer not to be away from him for a long time (again!) Thanks in advance for any advice!

Just do DCF. File the I-130. Once that's approved you'll file the I-864 and your parents will be your sponsor on the application. Once your I-130 is approved, the embassy should send you further information on what to do. It's much faster to file DCF than to file from within the US.

http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/immediate-relatives.html