I-751 October 2021 Filers

[Elena & Craig 80]

3 hours ago, dleen said:

We filed the N400 for my wife on Oct 17, 2022. USCIS sent a text message on Oct 18 with the receipt number. The NOA date is Oct 20 and we received the I-797 on Oct 25, 2022 in mail. The case status says "Case was Received and A Receipt Notice was sent".

 

We filed the I-751 on Oct 15, 2021 and received the 24 month extension on Oct 18, 2021. Our service center is NBC. Even though my wife had her fingerprints taken in Nov 2021, the case status still says "Case was Received" and there hasn't been any update since then.

 

From what I read on this forum is that once N400 is filed, the I-751 case is transferred to the NBC for concurrent processing of the two petitions. However, in our case, since the I-751 is already at NBC, I'm not sure whether we'd receive a similar update to our I-751 case. I'm not sure whether this is a good or bad thing. From what I've read, NBC filers for ROC have a very slow processing time since local USCIS field offices don't have capacity to process.

 

Any thoughts are appreciated

Have you received a bio reuse notice for N-400? In all irony I’ve seen the stats are that people whose biometrics were reused for I-751 end up with bio reuse for N-400 too, and the ones who had to go do biometrics for I-751 still get invitations for N-400 bio, yet again 🤔 Dunno, maybe related to how well your fingerprints lines can be read or something, go figure. 

[Mike E 11,730]

1 hour ago, Elena & Craig said:

Have you received a bio reuse notice for N-400? In all irony I’ve seen the stats are that people whose biometrics were reused for I-751 end up with bio reuse for N-400 too, and the ones who had to go do biometrics for I-751 still get invitations for N-400 bio, yet again 🤔 Dunno, maybe related to how well your fingerprints lines can be read or something, go figure. 

Some people have less  stability in their biometrics than others.  So if biometrics were  required for I-751 I would expect them to be required for N-400 

[Elena & Craig 80]

59 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Some people have less  stability in their biometrics than others.  So if biometrics were  required for I-751 I would expect them to be required for N-400 

My sentiment exactly 🙂 

[ashmed246 78]

On 10/25/2022 at 5:38 AM, TastyCake said:

We received an update to our case already that fingerprints from our prior visit to our application support center will be reused.  Saves us a trip.  Did you get the same?

Yes same here, we got the same update earlier this morning that her fingerprints will be reused for the N400. Meanwhile, our last update from her I751 was from Jan 2022 saying that her fingerprints were also reused and nothing since then. Did you get your I751 approved already?

[TastyCake 232]

11 hours ago, ashmed246 said:

Yes same here, we got the same update earlier this morning that her fingerprints will be reused for the N400. Meanwhile, our last update from her I751 was from Jan 2022 saying that her fingerprints were also reused and nothing since then. Did you get your I751 approved already?

Our I751 has been 'moved to another office' (presumably the National Benefits Center) so not approved yet.  I suspect at some point we will have a combo interview.

[Elena & Craig 80]

Finally just got an RFE via snail mail, been anxiously expecting since when they sent it Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary - seems like they have lost the whole bunch of papers we sent in. After reading posts here it only happens oh so often. I’m not really surprised. They transport cases from PO Box of a one state to the office of another. USCIS states we provided only several photographs and tax returns for 2020, which is not true at all, the list was significantly longer. Allotted time to respond: by Jan 16. Even though they ask NOT to send copies of previously submitted documents I assume I should treat it as they never seen those missing docs and provide them again + all the new docs for the last year I might gather. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Elena & Craig

[OldUser 5,202]

4 minutes ago, Elena & Craig said:

Finally just got an RFE via snail mail, been anxiously expecting since when they sent it Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary - seems like they have lost the whole bunch of papers we sent in. After reading posts here it only happens oh so often. I’m not really surprised. They transport cases from PO Box of a one state to the office of another. USCIS states we provided only several photographs and tax returns for 2020, which is not true at all, the list was significantly longer. Allotted time to respond: by Jan 16. Even though they ask NOT to send copies of previously submitted documents I assume I should treat it as they never seen those missing docs and provide them again + all the new docs for the last year I might gather. 

IMHO treat it as a new case. Send all evidence you have from the start of the marriage until now. I'm sure you accumulated more stuff since you filed I-751. Organize it well, explain the contents in a cover letter. Of course make sure you include the case number etc. Make sure to send it as certified mail so you have a proof of sending it.

[Elena & Craig 80]

6 minutes ago, OldUser said:

IMHO treat it as a new case. Send all evidence you have from the start of the marriage until now. I'm sure you accumulated more stuff since you filed I-751. Organize it well, explain the contents in a cover letter. Of course make sure you include the case number etc. Make sure to send it as certified mail so you have a proof of sending it.

That’s what I plan, yes. Should I provide a copy of the last Oct 2021 cover letter along with the new one to let them know we’ve sent all the documents previously or not bother? 

[Oaklandish 8]

21 hours ago, Elena & Craig said:

Finally just got an RFE via snail mail, been anxiously expecting since when they sent it Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary - seems like they have lost the whole bunch of papers we sent in. After reading posts here it only happens oh so often. I’m not really surprised. They transport cases from PO Box of a one state to the office of another. USCIS states we provided only several photographs and tax returns for 2020, which is not true at all, the list was significantly longer. Allotted time to respond: by Jan 16. Even though they ask NOT to send copies of previously submitted documents I assume I should treat it as they never seen those missing docs and provide them again + all the new docs for the last year I might gather. 

You'd think that, after all the money they charge us for these applications, they'd at least do a good job of keeping our documents properly. With the RFE now you are probably looking at at least another 2-3 months till they make a decision. Frustrating to say the least. Did you file your N-400 yet?

 

I am eligible to file N-400 starting today, but I will wait a couple weeks for them to process my I-751. Fingers crossed! 

[Elena & Craig 80]

19 minutes ago, Oaklandish said:

You'd think that, after all the money they charge us for these applications, they'd at least do a good job of keeping our documents properly. With the RFE now you are probably looking at at least another 2-3 months till they make a decision. Frustrating to say the least. Did you file your N-400 yet?

 

I am eligible to file N-400 starting today, but I will wait a couple weeks for them to process my I-751. Fingers crossed! 

You’d think so, huh 🙈 Things happen, I understand, sorta, and now just have to deal with what I have on my plate. Answering your question - YES, I did file my N-400 a day later as a cushion after my window opened despite the popular opinion here to wait for I-751 to be processed because WAC seems to be working on October filers currently and “why disrupt the process”. Honestly I’m glad to not have waited to file for N-400. I filed on Oct 17 and exactly a week later my case for I-751 got an update saying that they sent an RFE. I can’t know if it was just a coincidence time-wise and they were working on October filers anyways and sent me an RFE or maybe they noticed in the system that I filed for N-400 and decided that it’s time to speed up, don’t really wanna speculate on that. The outcome would still be the same - getting an RFE as they seem to be missing the whole bunch of papers we sent…Surely they did not send me an RFE just because I frustrated them being impatient and filing my N-400 before any I-751 approval 🙂 

 

P.S. Good luck to you, we live not too far away seems like, both are OAK…just different oaks 😂 OAKland-OAKley 🙃 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Elena & Craig

[OldUser 5,202]

12 minutes ago, Elena & Craig said:

 I filed on Oct 17 and exactly a week later my case for I-751 got an update saying that they sent an RFE. I can’t know if it was just a coincidence time-wise and they were working on October filers anyways and sent me an RFE  

Based on the case statuses for I-751 in WAC, the center is sending RFEs or approving cases for mid October 2021 - first week of November 2021. I believe this was a coincidence. Either way your case is moving, and that's great. Good luck!

[Elena & Craig 80]

4 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Based on the case statuses for I-751 in WAC, the center is sending RFEs or approving cases for mid October 2021 - first week of November 2021. I believe this was a coincidence. Either way your case is moving, and that's great. Good luck!

Thanks! There is really no way to know and it does not really matter. I certainly would feel weird to be applying for citizenship right after getting an RFE, in that case I would opt out to wait to resolve my RFE and then file N-400. But now it’s lined up as is, meant to be. 

[dleen 33]

On 10/26/2022 at 2:19 PM, Elena & Craig said:

Have you received a bio reuse notice for N-400? In all irony I’ve seen the stats are that people whose biometrics were reused for I-751 end up with bio reuse for N-400 too, and the ones who had to go do biometrics for I-751 still get invitations for N-400 bio, yet again 🤔 Dunno, maybe related to how well your fingerprints lines can be read or something, go figure. 

We see a status update as of Oct 28 that my wife’s  biometrics was scheduled. We haven’t received the mail yet. My wife had her biometrics for I-751 in Nov 21. She immigrated through consular processing and not adjustment of status. From my experience, if one has adjusted status and has had an interview with USCIS, then you have a big chance of I-751 interview waiver provided you have submitted solid proof of bonafide marriage. If one has immigrated through Consular processing i.e. the interview was conducted by DOS and one has not had an interview in the US, then in most cases, an I-751 interview will be scheduled. The same may be true for biometrics.

Edited October 29, 2022 by dleen

[Blasian 2]

processing time is 15.5months now for Texas..frustrating..

[aznhouston 124]

1 hour ago, Blasian said:

processing time is 15.5months now for Texas..frustrating..

That would keep increasing as I submitted last July and it's already 15 months for me.