10 ye visa process overlapping into qualifying for citizenship

[Thomianguy 36]

So, a few years ago, under the Obama administration, my wife had a relatively smooth process in getting her CR1 visa. Whole process took about 11 months and she moved to the states a few weeks later to be with me. 2 years later, she filed for her 10-year visa right at the time when the option became available, but Trump was now president. What, in the past, used to take about 6-9 months (getting the 10-year visa) turned into a potential EIGHTEEN months after she received a letter telling her that her processing time was INCREASED to that time frame. As of April 2019, it will be ONE year since we filed for that 10-year visa to remove conditions and May will be 3 years since she has been here and qualified to apply for citizenship. So, does she still wait for that 10-year visa BEFORE applying for citizenship or once she qualifies for the citizenship, she can simply apply for that and just forget about the 10-year visa or can she even do that considering the fact they could always find some reason to DENY the 10-year visa which, I can only assume, means you won't qualify for citizenship?

Anyone else in this predicament or received a letter telling them their road to the 10-year visa (to remove conditions) has become longer by well over a year?

 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

You mean "green card", not "visa". They're totally different things. She can apply for citizenship as soon as she's eligible, even if the 10 year GC is still pending. Pretty much everyone's doing this nowadays.

[Georgia16 2,858]

USCIS processing time goes up and down all the time you can’t blame Trump for everything! 

 

Just apply for citizenship when she is eligible. 

[Thomianguy 36]

4 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

You mean "green card", not "visa". They're totally different things. She can apply for citizenship as soon as she's eligible, even if the 10 year GC is still pending. Pretty much everyone's doing this nowadays.

Ok...yes, I guess I mean green card and thank you. Guess that $700 goes down the drain then, huh?

[Thomianguy 36]

2 hours ago, Georgia16 said:

USCIS processing time goes up and down all the time you can’t blame Trump for everything! 

 

Just apply for citizenship when she is eligible. 

Thought his order to redirect efforts to sniff out and weed out individuals took workers away from actual processing, hence the, across the board,  delays so many are experiencing.

 

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

[little immigrant 800]

6 hours ago, Thomianguy said:

Ok...yes, I guess I mean green card and thank you. Guess that $700 goes down the drain then, huh?

No. She needed to remove conditions either way. She can't skip that step. 

[Thomianguy 36]

2 minutes ago, little immigrant said:

No. She needed to remove conditions either way. She can't skip that step. 

So, how does "remove conditions?" Isn't the the process we did in filing for the 10 yr green card? Is there another way to do it?

[mushroomspore 3,043]

6 hours ago, Thomianguy said:

Ok...yes, I guess I mean green card and thank you. Guess that $700 goes down the drain then, huh?

You can't skip RoC. If you hadn't applied for RoC, her permanent resident status would have been terminated and she would be ineligible for citizenship. RoC is necessary for the process.

37 minutes ago, Thomianguy said:

So, how does "remove conditions?" Isn't the the process we did in filing for the 10 yr green card? Is there another way to do it?

RoC will be adjudicated with N400 (citizenship). They will be aware she has a pending RoC application when they receive her citizenship application.

[Thomianguy 36]

1 minute ago, mushroomspore said:

You can't skip RoC. If you hadn't applied for RoC, her permanent resident status would have been terminated and she would be ineligible for citizenship. RoC is necessary for the process.

RoC will be adjudicated with N400 (citizenship). They will be aware she has a pending RoC application when they receive her citizenship application.

Oh, ok...so that  am understanding this, when she sent in paperwork for her 10-year green card (which I guess is the process that "removes conditions") she was filing to have those conditions removed (which, basically, was a petition to upgrade from a temporary visa she received to enter the country as m spouse). So when she qualifies for citizenship, even if she has not received that 10-year green card, they will see she had/has a petition pending? Do I have this correct?

[mushroomspore 3,043]

4 minutes ago, Thomianguy said:

Oh, ok...so that  am understanding this, when she sent in paperwork for her 10-year green card (which I guess is the process that "removes conditions") she was filing to have those conditions removed (which, basically, was a petition to upgrade from a temporary visa she received to enter the country as m spouse). So when she qualifies for citizenship, even if she has not received that 10-year green card, they will see she had/has a petition pending? Do I have this correct?

Yes...and they usually make a decision on both RoC and citizenship at the citizenship interview. Like I said, many people do it this way nowadays because RoC is taking so long..as you yourself are experiencing.

[Thomianguy 36]

1 minute ago, mushroomspore said:

Yes...and they usually make a decision on both RoC and citizenship at the citizenship interview. Like I said, many people do it this way nowadays because RoC is taking so long..as you yourself are experiencing.

Ok, gotcha! 

Yes, she is going to file for that citizenship, first thing in May, when she qualifies because, clearly, according to that letter they sent her, she is not going to hear from them until, at least October-November of this year regarding her petition to remove conditions. Oddly enough, we plan to leave the country, right after, but she has that letter (showing she applied and has an extension) to allow her to go and come if she has to. Of course, we have heard rumors of people leaving and upon returning, running into issues, but not sure if these are people not having proper documentation or being red flagged for one reason or another.

[mushroomspore 3,043]

4 minutes ago, Thomianguy said:

Ok, gotcha! 

Yes, she is going to file for that citizenship, first thing in May, when she qualifies because, clearly, according to that letter they sent her, she is not going to hear from them until, at least October-November of this year regarding her petition to remove conditions. Oddly enough, we plan to leave the country, right after, but she has that letter (showing she applied and has an extension) to allow her to go and come if she has to. Of course, we have heard rumors of people leaving and upon returning, running into issues, but not sure if these are people not having proper documentation or being red flagged for one reason or another.

As long as the LETTER is valid and unexpired, she will be able to come back perfectly fine even if the physical green card has expired. I hope her citizenship gets processed quickly. I have to do RoC in 2020 and I'm already thinking about the day I never have to deal with USCIS ever again haha.

[Thomianguy 36]

4 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

As long as the LETTER is valid and unexpired, she will be able to come back perfectly fine even if the physical green card has expired. I hope her citizenship gets processed quickly. I have to do RoC in 2020 and I'm already thinking about the day I never have to deal with USCIS ever again haha.

Need to take a look again, but I would think the letter is valid and unexpired. They sent it to her last August or September telling her her process has moved from the usual 6-9 months to 18 months.

Good luck on that. I just want to get this thing over with. When all is said and done, roughly $2,100 in 3 years (visa, 10 year green card, citizenship).  

[diane79 14]

18 hours ago, Thomianguy said:

So, a few years ago, under the Obama administration, my wife had a relatively smooth process in getting her CR1 visa. Whole process took about 11 months and she moved to the states a few weeks later to be with me. 2 years later, she filed for her 10-year visa right at the time when the option became available, but Trump was now president. What, in the past, used to take about 6-9 months (getting the 10-year visa) turned into a potential EIGHTEEN months after she received a letter telling her that her processing time was INCREASED to that time frame. As of April 2019, it will be ONE year since we filed for that 10-year visa to remove conditions and May will be 3 years since she has been here and qualified to apply for citizenship. So, does she still wait for that 10-year visa BEFORE applying for citizenship or once she qualifies for the citizenship, she can simply apply for that and just forget about the 10-year visa or can she even do that considering the fact they could always find some reason to DENY the 10-year visa which, I can only assume, means you won't qualify for citizenship?

Anyone else in this predicament or received a letter telling them their road to the 10-year visa (to remove conditions) has become longer by well over a year?

 

She can apply for the citizenship. However, take in consideration that you will "reset" the waiting times, and then you will have to wait (again) around 18 months for the citizenship, starting the date you submitted the application. 

Since she won't receive the 10-year green card, she will need to get the stamp in her passport once the 18-month letter she received when she filed for the 10-year green card expires.

I am in the same situation. I filed for removal of conditions January last year.  Last month I filed for the citizenship without receiving the new green card. Since I already have to wait, it doesn't really matter to me.  My estimated processing time was 19 months. 

 

[little immigrant 800]

6 hours ago, Thomianguy said:

So, how does "remove conditions?" Isn't the the process we did in filing for the 10 yr green card? Is there another way to do it?

If you filed I-751 you're removing the conditions 

 

5 hours ago, Thomianguy said:

was a petition to upgrade from a temporary visa she received to enter the country as m spouse

Temporary visa? You mean conditional green card? 

 

Yes even with ROC pending you can already apply for citizenship once eligible. 

 

Immigration isn't cheap for sure