And advice for a UK citizen seeking a visa to move to the US?

I have been to all the websites, I have downloaded all the forms, I've done me reserach... I think I know the process well enough...





My wife is an US citizen and has been living with me here in the UK for 5 years now... We now want to move back to the US.





Has anybody been through this process and if so, any advice or tips?





Also, once in the US on my Visa, how long does the green card application take (I will have an immediate visa number so I can apply straight away)?





Thanks!And advice for a UK citizen seeking a visa to move to the US?
Since your wife has been a resident in the UK for the past five years, what you really need to do is check with the embassy in London and see if she can't file an IR-1 immigrant visa petition there directly. Most US embassies will allow resident Americans to do this, and I believe London will as well, if she is indeed a legal resident there.





If she can, you will significantly jump start the entire process and speed things up tremendously. Among other things, there would be no need whatsoever to file a K-3 petition. That can't be filed in the UK anyway, but it's intended to allow spouses of US citizens to enter in a temporary nonimmigrant status while they're waiting for USCIS stateside to process the immigrant visa petition. These used to take a lot longer to process, but in many cases that's no longer true. Plus, you're far better off in terms of actually getting the green card in your hands, as going the K-3 route requires USCIS to schedule an adjustment hearing for you and given their backlogs, that slows things down considerably.





If you can have the IR-1 petition filed directly there, the adjudication time for the petition is far faster, and you can skip the normal processing route that goes from USCIS to the National Visa Center to the embassy as the petition would start and end at the embassy. You would be eligible for the green card immediately upon entry and would likely get it in several months, not 1 or 2 years. Assuming you and your wife have been married for the past 5 years, or at least over 2 years, you would be eligible for a permanent green card and not the 2 year conditional green card. So, contact the embassy and check it out as soon as possible.And advice for a UK citizen seeking a visa to move to the US?
The green card application will take a couple of years or so. If your wife is a US citizen, this process will not be difficult. Just make sure you read the forms carefully.
You could expect the K-3 application to take up to a year. If you have been married for more than two years already you will get a full green card, not a conditional one.





You say you've looked at all the websites. Does that include the London Embassy's website? When the time comes get your inoculations sorted out and apply for your Police Report promptly. Not too early, mind you. If it is older than six months they will ask you for another one which just delays you.





Good luck with this. The forms are a royal pain in the posterior but, trust me, it is worth the effort.
Pretty much straight away get a provisional green card, after 2 years if still married get a permanent green card.
After filing the papers my work permit came through in 3 months and my green card after 18 months. I'm British and was married to a US citizen for 10 years before we moved to the US. However, we started the process when we arrived in the US and as stated in the answer above, it is a slower process. We had to attend a couple of interviews at the Immigration offices in LA before I was finally granted permanent residence