londonskies

Hi all. After many (many) years of waiting and lurking on this board, I finally have an update that I can share with you all. Hopefully this is helpful to others who are also experiencing abnormal timelines / waiting periods! Oh, and I’m using a throwaway because there’s a lot of identifying information here but happy to answer any Qs about the below if you’d like. I’m an Australian citizen but have been living in the U.S. on/off for most of my life with various visas and my husband was born here. We hired a lawyer who was extremely helpful throughout this process, especially when it came to contacting my government representative and advising me in the final interview. Between 2018 and 2022 I had to make multiple emergency appts at the Seattle office for new I-551 stamps (for my employer) and each time the officers remarked how unusual it was that my case was taking so long. Not only was my I-751 extremely delayed but I was also asked to come in for two citizenship interviews. Here’s how it all went down… I-751 Timeline (via K1 visa GC) October 24, 2018: Submitted application via mail January 29, 2020: Request for more evidence about our marriage, submitted photos/affidavits/rental agreements/bank statements/health insurance/etc. May 19, 2020: Case was transferred to another USCIS office (?) I think because of California case loads during the pandemic June 10, 2020: We’re ready to schedule your interview February 16, 2021: Applied for N400 online (See below) December 13, 2021: Contacted Congresswoman for help with my application. USCIS agreed my case was outside of processing time but said that I had “cancelled” my I-751 interview, which was why I haven’t heard any updates. That wasn’t true so I followed up again but they insisted there was nothing they could do now that the case was a combo I-751/N400 case. July 6, 2022: Combo interview with N400 at 10:30am. It was pretty clear the officer hadn’t read our case file and was under the impression that our marriage wasn’t legitimate. Despite the fact that the interview notice said clearly “only bring yourself” she insisted on my husband attending, so I had to call him and ask him to come inside. She then asked us a laundry list of questions that we had proof of in our file, despite us having to submit additional evidence and waiting far too long to have this application approved. Our lawyer helped us navigate the situation and re-iterated that at this point we should have been approved w/o an interview, that we’d provided more than enough evidence, and that I had a clean record/our marriage was legitimate. Ultimately the officer decided that a decision couldn’t be made and asked my husband to leave the room while she conducted the N400 interview. Sigh. July 7, 2022: The very next day my case was updated to say that my I-751 application was approved. I received a letter that said I wouldn’t receive my green card because my N400 was approved. N400 Timeline February 16, 2021: Submitted N400 application online April 18, 2022: Interview notice. I had to cancel for a medical reason (they were super kind about it). June 9, 2022: Interview scheduled for July 6. July 6, 2022: I-751/N400 combo interview at 10:30am. The N400 part was pretty straight-forward and I got all of the civics questions right. The officer told me I’d passed the interview but she couldn’t approve because she needed to review our I-751. She gave me a N-652 that said I passed but a decision cannot be made yet. July 18, 2022: Received notice that a second interview scheduled for July 27. I was freaking at this point but my lawyer assured me everything was okay and it was probably a clerical error. I spent days Googling things about second interviews and was convinced I was going to be deported or thrown in jail (I have no reason to believe that but I was terrified, as many of us are throughout the USCIS interview). July 27, 2022: My second interview was with the same officer at 10:30am. She sat me down and said “I’m sorry to bring you in again but your signature didn’t save the first time around so I just need you to sign these forms again.” I think I cried a little. After signing the iPad, I went downstairs and participated in the Oath Ceremony with about 12 other people. They basically wait until there are 12 people sitting in the auditorium and do the ceremony. They didn’t allow anyone else to be in the room (COVID) and we kept our masks on the entire time. Once we hit capacity they told people to line-up outside and that there would be another ceremony in 15 minutes. Then they handed me my certificate and I went on my way. July 28, 2022: Applied for my U.S. passport!