My finace and I are getting married on September 9, and despite having e-filed my Visa application, I am still a little clueless about some things, so hopefully someone out there can help me.
I filed a spouse Visa because we are getting married here in NC and will be moving to England less than a week after the wedding. This presents all sorts of problems, but I am old-fashioned in some ways and didn't want to move over there until AFTER we said "I do." So, okay, let me backtrack. I originally submitted the e-fasttrack application back in March. Little did I know until I called the Visa "hotline" that I had applied too soon, that you are only supposed to apply 3 months prior to your arrival in the U.K. The lingo about Visas is so ambiguous and unclear, and I do not remember seeing that on the web site, but maybe I overlooked it. No worries, though, because they said they would put my application on hold until June and that I just shouldn't take any more steps until that time.
So now the move is a little over two months away, and I still can't set up an appointment at the NY consulate. Has anyone else had this problem? Every time I try to make an appointment, they are only taking appointments up to two weeks from now. That means we'll have to take a gamble on our flights from Raleigh to NYC (and to London from NYC) and our hotel bookings because we certainly can't wait until two weeks before we go (when we will be stressed about the wedding anyway) to make travel arrangements in NY. My plan is to check the web site EVERY day and as soon as an appointment is available for the dates I'll be there I'll jump on it so hopefully I'll be the first one to get one.
Another issue I am having is with the marriage license. The Visa office requires an original copy of our marriage license (with the raised seal). But since we are getting married on September 9, the earliest the pastor can send it to the county is Monday, September 11, which is only two days before we plan to leave for NY. Obviously we won't get it back by then. This timing is one of the reasons I also can't send all of the supporting documents and have opted for an in-person interview. Our pastor said we should check with the Register of Deeds and see if there is any way we can hand deliver the marriage license to them Monday morning to expedite the process. Hopefully that will work. But does anyone know if they will be able to give us multiple copies so I can send some to banks, insurance companies, etc. to prove my name change, or do I have to request that those extra copies be sent to me? And I hope the Visa office won't keep our marriage certificate.
Is anyone out there in the same boat, or has anyone successfully gotten a spouse Visa in this same situation?
