Starting to plan for our move - July 2019

We are planning a move back to the UK from the USA in July/August 2019.
My wife is the only visa applicant as the rest of us are British passport holders.

We are going the savings route via a gift from family and will be living with my parents for the first few months while we get settled.

What is the official name of the home inspection required, and how soon should we get that considering we are going to be submitting the for the visa in July.

I have included a list of what I have so far for supporting documents, is this enough?

Supporting Documents Currently Obtained
4 x Kids Birth Certificates showing both parents names
1x Marriage Certificate ( British as we lived in UK when we got married 10 years ago)
5 Years of Real Estate Taxes in both names showing ownership of various houses.
5 years of IRS Tax returns showing married filing joint
Bank statements from every January between 2012 and soon to be 2019 showing paychecks and joint accounts.
Letter from family member stating the 62500 GBP is a gift with no expectation of repayment

To be Obtained
6 monthly statements showing 62500 sitting in my account
Home inspection report?

Many thanks

We are planning a move back to the UK from the USA in July/August 2019.
My wife is the only visa applicant as the rest of us are British passport holders.

We are going the savings route via a gift from family and will be living with my parents for the first few months while we get settled.

What is the official name of the home inspection required, and how soon should we get that considering we are going to be submitting the for the visa in July.

I have included a list of what I have so far for supporting documents, is this enough?

Supporting Documents Currently Obtained
4 x Kids Birth Certificates showing both parents names
1x Marriage Certificate ( British as we lived in UK when we got married 10 years ago)
5 Years of Real Estate Taxes in both names showing ownership of various houses.
5 years of IRS Tax returns showing married filing joint
Bank statements from every January between 2012 and soon to be 2019 showing paychecks and joint accounts.
Letter from family member stating the 62500 GBP is a gift with no expectation of repayment

To be Obtained
6 monthly statements showing 62500 sitting in my account
Home inspection report?

Many thanks

Good luck...we are moving mid June, and I am the only visa applicant in our family. I’m going to just read along and make sure we are doing everything correctly too. Wish you the best of luck!


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We won't be able to apply until mid July, even with priority that puts us in the latter half of August.

There is a pretty high chance I will fly with the kids in late July so i can spend the month of August getting everything squared away such as schools etc and then mom comes when she can :'(.

There is no requirement to provide a Housing Inspection Report, so no need to worry about getting one done.


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Thanks for that KSAND.

I'm going to try and post everything here to keep it on one thread.

We live within a few hours of a VFS Premium Application Center (Atlanta)

What is the benefit of the Gold ($1800) or Premium Settlement Package ($1900) over the Silver ($775)?

We want things to move as quickly as possible and we can afford the $1900 but is there a benefit?

Thanks for that KSAND.

I'm going to try and post everything here to keep it on one thread.

We live within a few hours of a VFS Premium Application Center (Atlanta)

What is the benefit of the Gold ($1800) or Premium Settlement Package ($1900) over the Silver ($775)?

We want things to move as quickly as possible and we can afford the $1900 but is there a benefit?

Currently Gold applications take LONGER to process versus standard priority processing.

Do be warned that you will be applying at the absolute peak time for applications.  Priority usually extends to 9 weeks processing at the peak time in the summer, so it may be late September/early October before your partner is able to join you.

For accommodation you'll need:
letter from the homeowner granting you permission to stay in their home.  They should include the number of rooms in the home (excluding kitchens and bathrooms) and how many people currently live in the home to show that it will not be overcrowded
The Land Registry
If there is a mortgage on the property, the most recent mortgage statement.  If they own without a mortgage, the deed showing ownership.

What is the benefit of the Gold ($1800) or Premium Settlement Package ($1900) over the Silver ($775)?

We want things to move as quickly as possible and we can afford the $1900 but is there a benefit?

Gold and Silver are for non-settlement visas only (i.e. visitor, work or student visas), so you can't use either of those.

Your options are the $1900 Settlement Premium Service or the $793 Settlement Priority Service.

Personally, I don't think the $1900 service is worth it - it's maybe only a week or so faster than the priority service, so really, you're just paying an extra $1,100 for the option to keep your passport while the visa is processing.

Gold and Silver are for non-settlement visas only (i.e. visitor, work or student visas), so you can't use either of those.

Your options are the $1900 Settlement Premium Service or the $793 Settlement Priority Service.

Personally, I don't think the $1900 service is worth it - it's maybe only a week or so faster than the priority service, so really, you're just paying an extra $1,100 for the option to keep your passport while the visa is processing.

Thanks for the info!
Normal priority service it is.....$1100 is not worth it at all.

Thanks for the info!
Normal priority service it is.....$1100 is not worth it at all.

Good call! 

Thanks for the info!
Normal priority service it is.....$1100 is not worth it at all.

Yeah, my thoughts too .

The settlement priority service price is set in U.K. pounds (£573) and then converted to dollars on the VFS site... so the price changes when they adjust the exchange rate. I believe it has just changed from $793 to $765.


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When the Visa is applied for, how does the biometrics at an ASC work?

Is it by appointment only, if so and lets say the nearest app is over a week away, can we choose to go elsewhere for a next day or almost next day appointment? (We have 5 ASCs within 300 mile radius)

When the Visa is applied for, how does the biometrics at an ASC work?

Is it by appointment only, if so and lets say the nearest app is over a week away, can we choose to go elsewhere for a next day or almost next day appointment? (We have 5 ASCs within 300 mile radius)

When you submit your online application, you will be promoted to book your biometrics appointment at one of the 129 USCIS ASCs across the US. They will likely show you the location closest to you but you can choose any one.

Usually people can get an appointment within a few days, but you can always try for a walk-in appointment earlier than your booked one (I.e. the next day)... however you will need to do that at the same ASC as your appointment, not at a different one as you will need to show them your appointment booking confirmation and get it stamped.

You will then have 5 days from your biometrics appointment to mail your documents to New York.

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When you submit your online application, you will be promoted to book your biometrics appointment at one of the 129 USCIS ASCs across the US. They will likely show you the location closest to you but you can choose any one.

Usually people can get an appointment within a few days, but you can always try for a walk-in appointment earlier than your booked one (I.e. the next day)... however you will need to do that at the same ASC as your appointment, not at a different one as you will need to show them your appointment booking confirmation and get it stamped.

You will then have 5 days from your biometrics appointment to mail your documents to New York.

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KSAND thank you, you have been very helpful.

We are closing on the selling of our house in a few weeks, and some of our prized earthly belongings are being shipped to the UK in lieu of the move, so life is going to get crazy busy very soon.

Can you confirm this checklist pretty much covers everything?

The relationship evidence....I can grab screenshots of messages from texting/whatsapp if needed from the past 18 months but that's all I have. I also have childcare receipts from 2015 in both of our names and disney vacation annual pass purchases and some flight itineraries to backup our traveling together.

Just let me know.

Receipts (will receive upon submitting application)
Priority Payment Receipt
Visa Application Payment Receipt
IHS Payment Receipt
Biometrics Receipt 

The Application
Cover Letter by applicant
Sponsorship Support Letter
Application Form
Appendix 2
Applicant's Current US Passport
Applicant's Previous Expired US Passport
Photocopy Of Sponsor Passport Photo Page
One passport-sized photos

Financial
6 months of original HSBC statements showing a balance above 62,500 GBP (will receive by July 20th)

Accommodation
Letter from my parents providing permission to stay with them as long as needed. With an explanation of the rooms in the house and how many people live in the house.
1x Mortgage Statement
Land Registry Document

Relationship Evidence
4x photocopies of our kids birth certificates
Original British Marriage certificate
16 photos showing us and the kids over the past 5 years
IRS Tax returns from 2013 – 2019 showing married filing joint
GEICO car insurance policy document from 2013 to 2019
Property Tax Receipts showing joint home ownership from 2014 to 2018
Joint bank statement and paychecks from January 2015/16/17/18/19 showing our paychecks going into the same account.

Have you applied for your ToR yet for moving your stuff?  If not, might want to jump on that!

Have you applied for your ToR yet for moving your stuff?  If not, might want to jump on that!

Yep we have the TOR, upackweship.com have been great!

Maybe I should include a copy of the kids British passport photo page, just to solidify that they are citizens?