F4mandolin
Full time employment: Posting here.
Just complaining a bit here....Currently living in the UK and married to a local Yorkshire lass. Planning on retiring in 2 years at 54 from a teaching job with the military. Both of us would rather live on $40-45,000 a year and not work....and that means moving back to the Spokane area for me (although I grew up on the West side). Being a semi-responsible couple of people we have started the process of getting my wife a VISA (green card) so that she can live permanantly in the US with me (been married 2.5 years). We submitted the first round of paperwork to the London embassy ($355) and were accepted to continue filling out more and more paperwork. Here is where it get's good (er....bad), now we have to get a bunch of the usual proof that we have already given them with a lot more. No problem, nothing unusual....proof of how much money we have, jobs, check with the police for a record etc....no complaint there. We send that pile in and then we will be told when we have to report to London for a physical with the only hospital that they will allow for physicals. Just looking online and it looks like 174 Pounds for us to go and come back. I think there might be something cheaper when I dig into some discount rates. They won't accept the physical to be done by a local doctor here in Harrogate, although they will allow the local doctors to fill out her vaccination records and update anything she is missing. Then we will have to go to London again at a later date for an interview. Other than the trip down just for a physical (which she/I will have to pay for, she wouldn't if she used the National Health)...we can live with that as well. Jump through the hoops, nothing tooooo aggravating. But then within 6 months we will have to fly to the US and go through customs and then turn around and come back to the UK. We have just sent them a letter wondering if they have any problem with us just going to the US when I retire and doing all this there (Oh, I can hear them screaming about that already). Although straight off their computer site they mention all the steps (a LOT easier and cheaper) that you need to do to just bring a fiance over and do the same thing from that side.
Of course, a lot of this is just somebody "doing something" to prove they are on the ball and improving the immigration standards to the US.....although it is much harder to do this through the regular proper channels, and just easier/cheaper to bring somebody into the US with the plans to keep them there once they are there. There doesn't seem to be anything to stop people from just going to the US and staying there once they get there.
Orrrr, I am just screwed up and I have this all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time
Of course, a lot of this is just somebody "doing something" to prove they are on the ball and improving the immigration standards to the US.....although it is much harder to do this through the regular proper channels, and just easier/cheaper to bring somebody into the US with the plans to keep them there once they are there. There doesn't seem to be anything to stop people from just going to the US and staying there once they get there.
Orrrr, I am just screwed up and I have this all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time