US spouse visa questions

[sanserif]

My DH is American and we've decided to move there. Woohoo! Took a look at the US Embassy website and it seems like we can apply for an immigrant spouse visa for me from London, since we're both currently resident here. The forms (surprisingly) look pretty straightforward. I'd been thinking of hiring a lawyer but wonder now if we really need one.

Has anyone else gone through this process? If so, do you think we need a lawyer? And how long did it take you from submission of the i-130 to actually getting your visa? Only complicating factor might be that we're both self-employed through the same limited company and I've been on maternity/looking after the kids for the past while, so haven't been earning much lately. Not sure if that impacts things?

Haven't been through a spouse visa, but have been through my own visa. I wouldn't hire a lawyer (do they even do visa applications?), it is do able by yourself. Especially if your form looks simple... if you run into problems you can always get help then

I had a J visa yonks ago. there is no need for a Lawyer. The wait at the Embassy is long, but the staff are nice (except for the scary security).

OK, so the spouse visa isn't quite as straightforward as I thought. There are eight (!) forms to fill out and I need to get police reports from every country I've lived in for over 6 months since 16 (that includes India and Italy -- great), list every country I've visited since 16 with date and location, and the list goes on. Fun! How I'm going to get a police report from India, I have no idea. Aaargh. I think I do need a lawyer.

It is all a bit of an administrative nightmare sanserif, for sure. Unfortunately though you'd still have to find all those dates even if you had a lawyer so they might only be needed if you have problems getting hold of police reports. I did think though that the US government has to request these (so they are untampered with), are you sure you are expected to provide them?

I did this a few years ago - agree that you don't need a lawyer, but they will make you jump through hoops on the forms/medical exam/criminal record stuff. Go to britishexpats.com, there is lots on there on what to expect etc. For me, it took about 6 months from beginning to end. There is something IIRC about not applying for the criminal record stuff until after the I130 comes back, but that is rubbish, it just slows you up (the UK criminal record takes 40 days for example). Also, all the forms will work on the assumption that your American husband lives in the US and is trying to bring his foreign bride over to the US - eg. they ask about your income, which is pointless when you are both coming from the UK - they don't actually care about what you used to earn! You can ring the Embassy helpline, but it costs something extortionate a minute.
In terms of the self employed angle, they want to make sure you (the non USer) will not be a drain on the country - one of the ways round this is assets. Assuming you will sell your UK house, you will realise assets, and this may be helpful.
Also,when I did it, there was a lot of stuff on britishexpats.com about needing to prove your intention to domicile in the US - as if selling your house and going through all the crappy forms didn't prove it! I had a whole file ready showing intention - eg. letters from potential landlords/nurseries, letters from ILs etc, proof of sale of our house - but none of it was needed on the interview day. It is the luck of the draw though - I got a lovely immigration interviewer at the Embassy, but you may not.

Overall, remember that the Embassy staff (along with most Americans when you get here) think that everyone in the world wants to live in the US as it is the best country ever, and they act accordingly.

OK, thanks howdoo. Weird that you mention all that 'intention to domicile' stuff -- it doesn't seem to show up on any of the forms I've looked at. We don't have a house here in the UK, which might help as we never intended to stay long term but eight years later, are still here! And we both still have US bank accounts and DH has a US cc which might all help I suppose.

When you say they don't care what you used to earn (as in earn here in the UK), does that mean they only want to see assets, not income?

Also, do you know if it's difficult/impossible to travel to the US on holiday once the application has been submitted?

Sorry, not very clear, what I meant was your UK job income is not relevant as, presumably, when you move to the US you would give up your UK job and get a new one in the US. Although if you are self employed, I guess you may be able to do the same job in the US?
The domicile stuff may just have been the bug bear of the Embassy staff in 2008!
We deliberately didn't travel to the US during the application period in case there were problems - again I think the immigration staff may (but prob won't) view you as trying to sneak in. We just didn't want the potential hassle TBH.
The fact that you already have US bank accounts is really useful. When you get here, try to apply for a credit card, get your name on household bills etc, so you can build up a good credit rating.
I'll come back if I think of anything else!

Great, thanks again howdoo. Also, one last question. So, yes we plan to set up essentially the same business in the US but it looks like we may need to show assets rather than income to satisfy the authorities. I read that you just need to have 125% over poverty guidelines which for a family of 4 is

try ukyankee.com - they have a forum on americans in the UK who are moving back, often with spouses.

Just re-checked this thread. Thanks for the tip ElaineBenes, I'll check it out.

Sorry to be a bit late here, too, but I'm from the UK and went through the fiancee visa application process to move to the States to be with my then-fiance/now husband. A website that I found really helpful was visajourney - www.visajourney.com. Lots of advice there about the forms needed/time it takes/etc. It's a really useful forum and I got my conditional two card through using that without a lawyer.
Good luck!