I-130 from London Embassy

D

Dyonn

New Member
Hi

I'm planning on applying for an I-130 immigrant visa to the US, as my sister is a US citizen, and I have questions that I hope someone can help with.


Firstly, are we eligible to apply through the London Embassy? My sister is dual nationality. The site states:

The United States citizen must also show that he/she has resided in the United Kingdom for at least six months from the date of arrival following approval of the UK Entry Clearance.

She doesn't reside in the UK, but she could. What proof would she need? Is a valid UK passport enough? The checklist for completing the form states it as:

Proof of UK Residence: The U.S. petitioner must
provide evidence that he/she has permission to live
and work in the United Kingdom and has been a
resident of the UK for a minimum of six months.
Submit a copy of one of the following:
? Appropriate UK Entry Clearance Stamp(s); OR
? If Dual National, EU Passport photo page; OR
? U.S. Military PCS orders assigning you to the UK


Secondly, the site states their processing times: As of August 28, 2012, we are processing petitions filed on July 23, 2012.

How is this possible? Are they not subject to the usual limits and insane waiting lists?


Thirdly, the site states:

U.S. citizens who reside in the United States or do not meet the above UK residency requirements must file their petition with the Chicago Lock Box.

Does that mean we wiould be subject to the normal 11 year wait? :confused:

Any and all help appreciated!
 
They don't allow directly filing with the consulate for sibling cases. Sibling sponsors must file I-130 at the US "lock box" and wait the usual 10-11 years or more.
 
Direct Consular Filing is only allowed for immediate relatives (spouse, parents, under-21 children of US citizens).

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/familybasedimmigration/direct-consular-filing.html

Secondly, the site states their processing times: As of August 28, 2012, we are processing petitions filed on July 23, 2012.

How is this possible? Are they not subject to the usual limits and insane waiting lists?
Click to expand...
Immediate relatives of US citizens are not subject to those restrictive quotas and long waiting lists.
 
That's a useful link, thank you, and it does imply that it it's only for spouses (doesn't mention parents or children either)

But still, the official site says quite clearly that they accept petitions from brothers/sisters, so I'm still :confused:
 
Even if there is a consulate out there that decided to allow Direct Consular Filing for siblings, that still wouldn't enable bypassing the 10-11 wait of the sibling category.

DCF is a few months faster for Immediate Relatives because the usual route involves the dual stages of filing the I-130 in the US, waiting for it to be approved, then sending it abroad to the consulate where it waits for the consulate to take it up and prepare for the interview. By filing it directly with the consulate, there aren't two different agencies in different countries handling it with a time-lagged handoff in between.

But if DCF were allowed for any of the categories with multi-year queues such as siblings or over-21 children, it wouldn't be faster because the I-130 for such cases is normally approved and send to the consulate long before the applicant reaches the head of the queue. If it were filed directly with the consulate, it would just sit there idle for years waiting for the applicant to move through the queue.
 
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