Spouse visa, almost time to apply! Questions o'plenty

Oh, one other thing: do you (the applicant) have any previous passports (old/expired/cancelled)? If so, they must be included as well.

For your finances, just to confirm:
- you have a full 6 months of all the payslips and bank statements? (not a day less than 6 months for any of them)
- the latest bank statement from each account, the latest payslip, and any letters are all dated within 28 days of your online application date?

I do not have any old passports, no.  And yes, we have a full 6 months of both payslips and bank statements.  And yes, the most recent of all is within 28 days.

Is DHL a good option for my wife to send me the packet?  I've personally never used them, so I just want to make sure it's a smart choice.

Is DHL a good option for my wife to send me the packet?  I've personally never used them, so I just want to make sure it's a smart choice.

Yeah, any of the major couriers are fine - DHL, UPS or FedEx - just depends on pricing and service offered as to which you want to go with.

What she doesn't want to do is send it using Royal Mail or any Royal Mail service (like ParcelForce) as it may get stuck in customs or never arrive.

Nice.  Yeah there's a DHL place near where my wife works, so she's going with them.

Then tomorrow we're going to ring up my 401(k) people and hopefully get that sorted out.  So just to confirm...at the start of our 6 months back in April, I had ~£5,800 in my account, of which we needed ~£2,500 to reach our savings threshold.  Let's say that tomorrow they tell me yes, I can instantly access and withdraw £x,xxx - as long as it's over the amount we need, would moving that money into my savings account be a problem?  I think before you said it would be OK since it's been saved this whole time, but I want to make sure.  I would kill myself if I did something wrong at this point and had to start the 6 month process over again.

Then tomorrow we're going to ring up my 401(k) people and hopefully get that sorted out.  So just to confirm...at the start of our 6 months back in April, I had ~£5,800 in my account, of which we needed ~£2,500 to reach our savings threshold.  Let's say that tomorrow they tell me yes, I can instantly access and withdraw £x,xxx - as long as it's over the amount we need, would moving that money into my savings account be a problem?  I think before you said it would be OK since it's been saved this whole time, but I want to make sure.  I would kill myself if I did something wrong at this point and had to start the 6 month process over again.

I don't think there's anything wrong with moving it to a savings account, as long as the money was in the 401K for at least 6 months beforehand, but there's really no need to move it.

All you are showing for the visa is that you COULD access the money immediately if you absolutely needed to. So, if you don't need to withdraw it, then I would just leave it in the 401K until after you have the visa.

I don't think there's anything wrong with moving it to a savings account, as long as the money was in the 401K for at least 6 months beforehand, but there's really no need to move it.

All you are showing for the visa is that you COULD access the money immediately if you absolutely needed to. So, if you don't need to withdraw it, then I would just leave it in the 401K until after you have the visa.

Got it.  I just don't know how willing they're going to be to put a hypothetical situation in writing.  Know what I mean?

Wish me luck!  I'll post on here if they give me options or if I hit a snag.

Got it.  I just don't know how willing they're going to be to put a hypothetical situation in writing.  Know what I mean?

Wish me luck!  I'll post on here if they give me options or if I hit a snag.

It shouldn’t be about a ‘hypothetical situation’, it’s about the legal terms and conditions of your 401K.

All you are asking them to do is clarify what the rules are regarding withdrawing your money. They don’t have to specify the exact amount, just that you are able to take out ‘enough’ to meet the requirements.

It should confirm a) that you can withdraw it, b) if there is a waiting period to withdraw it and c) if there are any penalties for early withdrawal

For example, they need to clarify if you can withdrawal all of it or just a certain amount of the balance.... because if you can only withdraw, say, £1000 but you need £2,500 to meet the requirement, then you won’t be able to use it.



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After 59 minutes on the phone and asking to speak to a supervisor, I THINK I'm finally going to get what I need.  The first person didn't really know how to help me, but the 2nd one seemed to get it, and said that the letter I need is being composed now.  It's being sent overnight via FedEx tomorrow, and will arrive Wednesday.  So we'll see!

Also, my wife's final bank statement arrived today, and she'll be sending me the package tomorrow!  So with any luck, I'll receive it later this week, and if the 401(k) letter is sufficient, I can move onto the next phase.

So when I get the package, I'll add in the bits that I need to add (my statements, passport, evidence, etc etc), then everything will be ready to go.  Then I can go on and submit my online application, print it, then what?

- Once I submit it, will it take me to set my biometrics appointment?
- And what about paying for priority processing?  Same time?
- Is VFS Global the best way to go for the shipping process?

I know this has all been covered a billion times, but now that I'm getting closer to it being a reality I want to make sure I don't drop the ball.

Thanks!

So when I get the package, I'll add in the bits that I need to add (my statements, passport, evidence, etc etc), then everything will be ready to go.  Then I can go on and submit my online application, print it, then what?

- Once I submit it, will it take me to set my biometrics appointment?
- And what about paying for priority processing?  Same time?
- Is VFS Global the best way to go for the shipping process?

I know this has all been covered a billion times, but now that I'm getting closer to it being a reality I want to make sure I don't drop the ball.

Thanks!

Once all your evidence is in your hands, you can go ahead and submit the online application and pay for it. It will then direct you to make your biometrics appointment.
You'll pay the IHS too.

Priority processing and shipping are both done via the vfsglobal site. As ksand already mentioned, you don't have to use vfs for the shipping but it's the easiest way to do it and most people go with this method.

Once all your evidence is in your hands, you can go ahead and submit the online application and pay for it. It will then direct you to make your biometrics appointment.
You'll pay the IHS too.

Priority processing and shipping are both done via the vfsglobal site. As ksand already mentioned, you don't have to use vfs for the shipping but it's the easiest way to do it and most people go with this method.

Do you typically have choices for where you have your biometrics done? Or does it just depend on how big of a city you live in? I'm in Vegas so I'd assume there's more than one location, no?

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Do you typically have choices for where you have your biometrics done? Or does it just depend on how big of a city you live in? I'm in Vegas so I'd assume there's more than one location, no?

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You can have your biometrics taken at any one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centers in the US.

The online application will likely show the nearest offices to you, but you can change it to any office you like.

You can have a look here for the office locations:
https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=ASC

Looks like there's only 2 offices in Nevada: one in Vegas and one in Reno.

You can have your biometrics taken at any one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centers in the US.

The online application will likely show the nearest offices to you, but you can change it to any office you like.

You can have a look here for the office locations:
https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=ASC

Looks like there's only 2 offices in Nevada: one in Vegas and one in Reno.

Excellent, I looked and it's not far from my apartment.

When I started my online application a couple weeks ago, I thought it would take a bit longer for us to collect all of our evidence, so for the expected travel date to UK I put December 15th. I want to change that now...but I don't see a way of doing it. Is it possible to change it, or would I need to scrap the app and start over?

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Excellent, I looked and it's not far from my apartment.

When I started my online application a couple weeks ago, I thought it would take a bit longer for us to collect all of our evidence, so for the expected travel date to UK I put December 15th. I want to change that now...but I don't see a way of doing it. Is it possible to change it, or would I need to scrap the app and start over?

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If you want to change it, you can just cross it out and correct it in pen when you print out the application.

However, you may want to stick with December 15th... because you want to put the earliest possible date you know you can travel to the UK. If that date has passed before the visa has been issued, they will just make it valid from the date (or close to the date) that the decision is made.

You don't want to be in the situation that you put a later date and then the visa is processed really quickly and then you have to hang around for an extra few weeks before you can travel.

If you want to change it, you can just cross it out and correct it in pen when you print out the application.

However, you may want to stick with December 15th... because you want to put the earliest possible date you know you can travel to the UK. If that date has passed before the visa has been issued, they will just make it valid from the date (or close to the date) that the decision is made.

You don't want to be in the situation that you put a later date and then the visa is processed really quickly and then you have to hang around for an extra few weeks before you can travel.

That's why I want to change it, to an earlier date. Something like December 1st. That could be wishful thinking, but it seems like the backlog might be mostly cleared up now, so with priority it's possible. Would hate to have it approved and have to sit around for 2-3 weeks, like you said. Ready to go now lol

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That's why I want to change it, to an earlier date. Something like December 1st. That could be wishful thinking, but it seems like the backlog might be mostly cleared up now, so with priority it's possible. Would hate to have it approved and have to sit around for 2-3 weeks, like you said. Ready to go now lol

Ah, sorry - I misread your post and thought you said it took longer to gather the documents than you expected.

Yes, by all means, change it to an earlier date ... and you can emphasise this date in your cover letter . The online form is not transmitted anywhere, so no one will see what date you've put until they receive your documents.

Hi, just an update.  Got the letter from my 401(k) provider, and it looks solid - everything that y'all said needed to be in there, is.  Glad the gentleman I spoke to on the phone understood lol.  My wife sent out a package yesterday via DHL with all her evidence and everything organized (she's done office work her whole life, so she's very orderly unlike myself), and it is set to arrive tomorrow.  Once I get it, I'll put in my evidence and information, and then what? 

- I have the online application filled out, all the sections are green, I just need to submit it.  Once it's submitted, should I print it out right away?
- At that point I will set my biometrics appointment, right?
- Once that appointment is set and we're waiting for the day to arrive, we are going to comb over the package one last time and make sure we've dotted every I and crossed every T
- At the biometric appointment, will I receive some paperwork that I need to include in the package?
- When do I pay the visa and priority fee?  At the time I submit it, or after the biometrics appointment has been completed?

If the DHL experience goes well, I think I would like to use them to send the package to Sheffield.  If so, how exactly does it work?  I've never shipped something before and paid for it to be sent back.  Will the DHL location be able to help me?  (I know that's probably a dumb question, just so nervous lol, my stomach is in knots).

Tick tock.  Tick tock.