Should I apply n400 while i751 is pending?

[Andocjourney 2]

Hi everyone,

My i751 has been pending over a year. Now I am qualified to apply for n400. However, I dont know whether I apply or wait? Has anyone been like my case and any suggestion plz? Thank you

[TWBRIT 0]

21 minutes ago, Andocjourney said:

My i751 has been pending over a year. Now I am qualified to apply for n400. However, I dont know whether I apply or wait? Has anyone been like my case and any suggestion plz? Thank you

I've also been waiting on my I-751 for a year, and also wanted to file my n400. After looking into it, I decided to file my n400 anyway, as the two can run concurrent. Obviously the citizenship process can't be completed without green card restrictions first being lifted, but I felt it was a better us of the wait time to just go ahead and file.

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Absolutely. No reason not to. My wife will do the same next year.

[charmander 692]

Do it. I've done it myself last year. Feel free to check my timeline.

[Andocjourney 2]

8 hours ago, TWBRIT said:

I've also been waiting on my I-751 for a year, and also wanted to file my n400. After looking into it, I decided to file my n400 anyway, as the two can run concurrent. Obviously the citizenship process can't be completed without green card restrictions first being lifted, but I felt it was a better us of the wait time to just go ahead and file.

I saw that your i751 is pending. How long have you been waiting? I am a little worried too, because the person who work in USCIS tell me to file n400 but I call my lawyer and she told me not to. 

[Andocjourney 2]

7 hours ago, charmander said:

Do it. I've done it myself last year. Feel free to check my timeline.

Thank you, I am debating now ?

[TWBRIT 0]

10 hours ago, Andocjourney said:

I saw that your i751 is pending. How long have you been waiting? I am a little worried too, because the person who work in USCIS tell me to file n400 but I call my lawyer and she told me not to. 

I did it now regardless. My I-751 is almost a year to the date, though I have just had a request for more evidence. I filed all of that a few days before sending my n400 paperwork. I'm not quite sure why your lawyer is advising against it, but I can see no issue. The processing of the n400 will show the status of your I-751 regardless, and so that will follow on, once your conditions have been lifted. 

[Andocjourney 2]

55 minutes ago, TWBRIT said:

I did it now regardless. My I-751 is almost a year to the date, though I have just had a request for more evidence. I filed all of that a few days before sending my n400 paperwork. I'm not quite sure why your lawyer is advising against it, but I can see no issue. The processing of the n400 will show the status of your I-751 regardless, and so that will follow on, once your conditions have been lifted. 

Wow you have been waiting for a year but now they asked for evidence? This is so awkward ? Gluck

[TWBRIT 0]

3 minutes ago, Andocjourney said:

Wow you have been waiting for a year but now they asked for evidence? This is so awkward ? Gluck

Yeah, but having followed the processing times for VSC, I wasn't surprised. It seems there's been a large backlog, but if I've learned anything through this whole process it's that patience is the only way to handle it all. The processing times for n400 seem to be much quicker than I-751 anyway, but it makes sense to use the time as constructively as possible.

[charmander 692]

12 hours ago, Andocjourney said:

I saw that your i751 is pending. How long have you been waiting? I am a little worried too, because the person who work in USCIS tell me to file n400 but I call my lawyer and she told me not to. 

Ask your lawyer specifically why she advises against it?  It's not your fault that your ROC is pending for more than a year. It's the Vermont Service Center not doing its job properly. Get going with N400, let VSC do whatever its doing. N400 interviews don't happen overnight, you'll wait anywhere from 4 months to 8 months depending on where you live. If they approve the ROC before your n400 interview, it's fine that's what happened to me. If they don't, you'll do a joint I751/N400 interview down the road, some people did that too, and you'll be done for good. It's something USCIS allows, why not take full advantage of it.

 

 

[Harmonia 211]

Yes, we did for my husband, and what they did was a I-751 interview immediately prior to his N-400 interview. He was approved, but the USCIS website never updated from I-751 filed back in Aug. 2015. We never received the card. We asked our congressperson to look into it and were told he'd never get the 10 year card unless he didn't pass naturalization, which he did. His oath is in 10 days!

[lucybelle 453]

1 hour ago, charmander said:

Ask your lawyer specifically why she advises against it?  It's not your fault that your ROC is pending for more than a year. It's the Vermont Service Center not doing its job properly. Get going with N400, let VSC do whatever its doing. N400 interviews don't happen overnight, you'll wait anywhere from 4 months to 8 months depending on where you live. If they approve the ROC before your n400 interview, it's fine that's what happened to me. If they don't, you'll do a joint I751/N400 interview down the road, some people did that too, and you'll be done for good. It's something USCIS allows, why not take full advantage of it.

 

 

 

23 minutes ago, Harmonia said:

Yes, we did for my husband, and what they did was a I-751 interview immediately prior to his N-400 interview. He was approved, but the USCIS website never updated from I-751 filed back in Aug. 2015. We never received the card. We asked our congressperson to look into it and were told he'd never get the 10 year card unless he didn't pass naturalization, which he did. His oath is in 10 days!

 

For those that did file N400 before approved ROC, did it slow anything down?  It seems like for some people the N400 process gets slowed down if filed before ROC.  Or that you need two interviews? (one for ROC one for N400)

 

I really want my husband to get his citizenship by the end of the year.  We can file for it at the beginning of April.  We filed ROC at the end of April.  I was considering waiting for ROC approval, but with your experiences maybe I should go ahead and prepare to file ASAP?

 

Also- did you send in a copy of the old GC?  There wasn't an issue with it being "expired"?  Do you also have to send in a copy of the NOA1?

Edited March 10, 2017 by lucybelle

[charmander 692]

2 minutes ago, lucybelle said:

 

For those that did file N400 before approved ROC, did it slow anything down?  It seems like for some people the N400 process gets slowed down if filed before ROC.  Or that you need two interviews? (one for ROC one for N400)

 

I really want my husband to get his citizenship by the end of the year.  We can file for it at the beginning of April.  We filed ROC at the end of April.  I was considering waiting for ROC approval, but with your experiences maybe I should go ahead and prepare to file ASAP?

My ROC was approved one business day after my N400 NOA letter was created. So it didn't slow down anything for me at all. My case might have the shortest gap between n400 application and I751 approval.

 

There is one more recent case where they did a joint I751/N400 interview. They approved their I751 at the interview, then failed N400 due to English skills. They gave them a 2nd N400 interview and approve them on that 2nd interview. Here is the link to that thread:

 

 

[charmander 692]

25 minutes ago, Harmonia said:

Yes, we did for my husband, and what they did was a I-751 interview immediately prior to his N-400 interview. He was approved, but the USCIS website never updated from I-751 filed back in Aug. 2015. We never received the card. We asked our congressperson to look into it and were told he'd never get the 10 year card unless he didn't pass naturalization, which he did. His oath is in 10 days!

Great!! I just linked your story above.

 

I read other cases in the past where they never received the new card and straight went to the naturalization oath. Good luck at the Oath!

[Harmonia 211]

You should look up and see N400 timelines for your office. It really varies. My office of Boston is slower than some others. There's no real way to compare N400 times nationwide.