US Immigration from Russia

My wife is a 10-year GC holder. We lived in the US for 7 years before coming to Europe for an extended stay. She had no long stays outside the US prior to that - just a couple of holidays to Mexico. We've been gone 6 months, and plan on going back in another 2-3 months. We had a few reasons for the trip: we wanted to get away from the scary Covid situation in the US, because at the time Europe was doing much better. We also wanted to look for an investment property, which we've been thinking about for a long time - having a place back in Europe to rent out, and for holidays. But lockdown here sudden, long, and very strict, so we were basically just stuck in an apartment for 3 months. Now we want to have the trip we'd planned on having since that things are finally opening up.

Everything I see on official USCIS website etc. says she can be gone for up to one year, but beyond that should get a re-entry permit. So we didn't get her one. On other websites (lawyers and forums) a lot of people say it's only 6 months. I tend to believe USCIS, but what can we expect when we go back?

We're still married, and we still have the same address we've always had in the US, and will be going back to it. We'll be traveling together with our dog. We're both self-employed but online, so we have no "work" to return to. I do have family in the same town (including my elderly mother), though she doesn't.

Also, she applied for US citizenship last year but her appointment came up the same day as our flight to Europe, after we had booked and it was non-refundable. So we cancelled it and sent them a letter that she'd apply again later because she'd be away for a few months.

Based on all this, should we envision any problems going home? If so, what do we need to be prepared for and how should we handle it?

Thanks.

Hello everyone. Below is my original post of a couple of months ago and I would like to follow it up just for some clarity.

My boyfriend and I just got officially engaged and want to get married through Utah state zoom ceremony. We are together for almost 7 years, all of this time living together in China. As we want to go with CR1 the only way for us to get married is via Utah online ceremony (2 foreigners of different countries cannot get married in China, and its super complicated for us to do it abroad currently with all the travel bans and not really being able to return to China) about which I actually found out here recently.

As we are planning to do it next month, just wanted to double check with you guys, if you know more than one case of success with Utah zoom marriage and visa approval (besides the one which went super popular here Approved Spouse Visa. Zoom Marriage! - Page 4 - IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports - VisaJourney )? Is it actually 100% legal and we won't have any issues whatsoever with it during the process or in the future? As Zoom marriage is something quite new we are a bit worried about it, but really don't have other options now - except of K1, which we really really don't want to go with.

Looking forward to your advice guys and appreciate it a lot! Thank you!

Spouse visa / getting married in US on travel visa - What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration - VisaJourney

Hello, I'm in the process of obtaining a K-1 visa for my fianc and have a question regarding the sponsorship requirements.

I'm currently a graduate student and don't have a job yet, so I am planning to use co-sponsorship option for my fianc . I live with my parents and my father is willing to become my co-sponsor; he makes enough to sponsor me, my fianc and himself.

So my question is: How sufficient is having a co-sponsor when I personally don't have a job? Is it relevant for them that I am a student and that's why I don't have a job yet?

I read the information that some visas are denied because of the fact that the petitioner does not have a job, even with having co-sponsors.

Most current information and personal experience are preferred. Thanks!

Hello everyone,

Here is my quick story. I became a citizen on March 18th, obtained my Naturalization Certificate + name change form. I applied to get a passport first, and received it precisely in 2 weeks after applying. Next step for me was updating of my SS record to get a new drivers license. I was very hesitant to send the originals of my documents to SSA, and my worst fear turn out to be true - they lost my documents. It has been 3.5 weeks since I applied for SS citizenship status/name change, and I haven't received anything from them, and neither had I seen any changes reflected in my SSA.gov online account. I finally talked to the person this morning, and they told me, that my documents were scanned almost 3 weeks ago, but SSA "forgot" to plug it in the system upon receiving, so it was done while I was on the line. They said I should receive my new SS card within two weeks, but when I asked about my documents, they said "oh, they were sent back to you on April 19th". Today is May 10th, and I obviously had not received anything. SSA clerk said I should inquire from the post office, but they cannot provide me with a tracking number "Just tell them the date when the documents were mailed". Obviously the lady at the post office looked at me like this O_O and said she cannot help me since I don't have a tracking number.

With that said - did anyone have to go through the NC renewal, and more importantly, if you were able to make SSA/USPS/whoever else lost the documents pay for it? The replacement fee is $550, and I am not looking forward to pay this amount. Plus they also lost my military ID (I chose to send that one over the original of my drivers license).

I recently became a US citizen and want to apply for a US passport for my 12 year old son.

I looks like this can be done without the need for a Citizenship Certificate (N600), by showing other citizenship evidence.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/citizenship-evidence.html

Under "U.S. Citizenship through Naturalization of a Parent" it says:

* Your parents' marriage certificate (if your parents were married when you legally entered the U.S. and before your 18th birthday

What do they mean by "when you legally entered the US"?

I was married to his mother when we entered on L-1/L-2 visas in 2012 and still married when we adjusted status to a Green Card in 2015.

We divorced in 2018. He has left the US once with his mother after the divorce, so the last time he legally (re-)entered the US we were not married.

So do they mean: the last time he entered the US after being abroad, which was 2019, in which case his parents were not married.

Or first time he ever entered the US which was in 2012? Or first time he entered the US on his Green Card, which was 2016.

Any help with this ambiguous requirement is much appreciated.