US Immigration from Australia

Hi all,

I am just looking for some guidance on this. I understand the general rule of thumb is that you cannot be out of the US greater than 6 months if you wish to naturalize. Is this correct?

What I would like to know is if there is any leniency with this? And if this is a hard and fast rule?

A brief history:

I married my US husband in March 2020 and have my conditional permanent residency now. This expires in March 2023.

In August 2022 we went to Australia for an extended trip. We are still here now. We intend to return to the US in a couple months, but at that point I would have been out of the country greater than 180 days (but not by much). For context I have filed all taxes since becoming a PR and I own my home in the US, so I do have significant ties.

I appreciate any guidance and to hear from anyone who has been able to naturalize despite being out of the US greater than 6 months at a time.

Thank you.

Hey everybody,

How has everyone submitted documents, specifically the I-864? The NVC must have been upset with the clarity of our original documents because they RFE'd us to 'resubmit with handwritten date'; which is obvious bull.

We have a lawyer who is suggesting we submit the same document again and that it should be fine this time; which I also don't understand!

How did everyone else send the i-864?

• Fill entirely digitally and sign via touchscreen/touchpad
• Fill most digitally, print, sign and scan
• Print and handwrite entire document then scan
• Fill document digitally and upload scanned signed page into PDF document.
• Some other way, that I can't think of.

Thanks for your help guys, it's frustrating dealing with this minor step in the process.

My wife and I were planning to go overseas for the holidays this year. We had to cancel the trip yesterday while we were at the airport because she had left her green card at home and we could not check her in for her flight. (She still has a Singapore passport and isn t going to pursue U.S. citizenship.)

Although we initially had the airline reschedule the trip to today, we ended up canceling the trip. Her green card has an expiration date of over a year ago (September 2021). The I-751 NOA, which we received in July 2021, says her conditional permanent residency is extended for 18 months from the date which is on the card (not the date which is on the NOA, so March 2023). She originally moved to the U.S. in November 2018 under the K-1 visa. Her original EAD/AP combo card expired in 2020.

Two employees at the airline check-in, who are immigrants too, told us that the airports in Europe would not allow her to board the flight and she would be stuck in Europe. They also said the airline would be fined $15,000 for letting an illegal immigrant back into the U.S. After we found this thread, we were no longer confident that she could travel abroad even with the green card and the original of the NOA. If she is deported, that is a criminal offense which would kick her out of the U.S. and cancel her Australia permanent residency (which she also has). We want to move back to Australia, so a 10-day vacation to Europe is not worth the risk of losing that.

So this raises several concerns for us (aside from trying to get a refund on our expensive travel)

1. USCIS processing times at YSC for I-751 are now 26 months. Our extension was only 18 months, and the USCIS case inquiry said we could not even ask them about the case until October 2023. How can my wife still legally be in the United States and be able to work while we are still waiting for USCIS?
2. Why don t the extension letters cover this entire lengthy processing time? We filed the correct papers and paid all of the fees why would she be treated like an illegal immigrant?
3. How do we get an extension that the airlines and customs people will actually, consistently, honor? With the documents we currently have, it s luck of the draw and we can t travel abroad without worrying about this.
4. If she had a family emergency and had to go back to Singapore or Australia, how can she do even that travel without running the risk of not being let back in to the U.S.?

Good morning!

Sorry if this has already been asked but I am quite an anxious person when it comes to important things such as this and thus I want to be sure that I understand correctly. For AOS my K2 had her own complete application that was filed with mine. However, am I correct in understanding that for ROC she does not need an application at all and is just listed in the correct section in my application?

Thank you!

We received the dreaded RFE - This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants at NVC stage.

After researching, it seems the intending immigrant spouse can use their assets to make up the financial shortfall. Which form is the way to do this, do we have to resubmit the I-864 with the additional information at or does the intending immigrant who is the spouse of the petitioner able to be added as a household member therefore file a I-864A????

I don't know which way to go so I thought i'd ask here. The NVC portal does not have the option to re-submit a new updated I-864, it only has options for add a joint sponsor or add a household member. The Travel state website says you can

Can the immigrant visa applicant count assets that he or she owns that are outside the United States, such as real estate or personal property?

Yes, under the following conditions:

• The assets must be convertible to cash within 12 months.
  
• The applicant must show that the assets can be removed from the country where they are located. Many countries have limits on cash or liquid assets that can removed from the country.
  
• The net value of assets must be at least five times the difference between the sponsor's income and 125 percent of the poverty guideline for the household size.

The visa applicant needs to file a Form I-864A to have his or her assets included in the minimum income level calculations.

but the I-864A instructions say

Confused, would appreciate any suggestions