US Immigration from South Korea

Hello folks, come first week of April we'll be submitting my wife's I-751. So far these are what I've gathered and hoping to get some feedback since we don't have a joint bank account, thank you!

- Copies of both of our state IDs, one from previous state & current state we live in

- Copies of apartment leases, first & last page only, showing both names as the tenants at the same address and signatures

- Print outs of IRS Tax Return Transcripts, filed as married filing joint (2024, 2023, 2022)

- Copies of my latest employer provided medical and dental insurance card/plan, showing both names

- Print outs of previous year's (2024, 2023, 2022) employer provided insurance and benefits selections, showing both names

- Print outs of wife as beneficiary for 401K, IRA, and HSA

- Copy of our current car insurance card, showing both names

- Print out of car insurance policy update when wife was added back in 2022

- Print out of credit card confirmation page adding wife as an authorized user

- Copies of photos: one with just the two of us (2022), one at a friend's wedding with friends (2024), and one with another couple during NYE (2024)

- Copies of mails and contents addressed to both of us (2022, 2023)

Hello

I am wondering if there are any time based exemptions of the 5 years for the mentally and physically disabled to file the N400.

I am concerned about abandonment of my families LPR status. I am retired US Army and currently working for the Department of the Army in South Korea on official orders. All of my family are listed on my official orders to reside with me. My family migrated from Colombia to South Korea directly in May 2021 and has never lived in the US for any amount of time. I filled I-130 forms in May 2022 and we interviewed at the US Korean embassy in July 2023. In August 2023 we visited Guam from Korea to activate the visas to obtain the I-551s. The I-551s were delivered to my military address here in Korea in Sep 2023. My family has been living with me here since that time with no extended stays more than a week in continental US. I have already filled for naturalization for my spouse under the 319B program. From a few things I have been told and read that living with a "sponsor" while working overseas in an official capacity is viewed as the same as residing in the US. Upon a visit the US recently my wife was informed she needs a re-entry permit due to her extended absence. She notified the agent that I worked for the US government and showed her the relevant paperwork. The agent wanted to fine her and noted her account of her extended absence. What I need help with is what are the rules governing US government employee families about LPR abandonment? Which codes in the CFR or other manuals I can use to educate myself and the agents in case we need it for our next visit to the US.

Hello, so we are waiting on my wife's IR1/CR1 visa interview at the US Embassy in Seoul. I have found the NVC stage to be much more opaque than the USCIS stage, with few data points to go off of. So I am posting this information here, in case it may be helpful for others.

So there is a Naver Cafe called Mijunmo ( ) that my wife uses. It is all in Korean though, and obviously focuses on the Seoul Embassy primarily. People there are pretty good on there about posting their timelines, including DQ dates, interview letter (IL) received dates, and actual interview dates. I do speak Korean, so I went through posts there from this summer and last summer to collate those timelines into a spreadsheet. I didn't record every single one cause it was a bit time-intensive hunting through the forums, but tried to get a good sample. I will attach a PDF of that spreadsheet here.

You can see for the past year DQ to IL wait times average about 30 days, and DQ to interview wait times average 80 days. However, do note that recently the Seoul Embassy is taking a lot longer. Many of us who were DQ'ed in May still have not received interview letters (roughly 90 days ago). You can also see in the spreadsheet that there is a lot of inconsistency in how cases are handled. Even though NVC does mostly go "first in/first out" as they say, there are times that doesn't happen. Also occasionally cases seem to get skipped over for later ones.

Seoul Embassy Interview Timelines.pdf

I recently got an RFE because when we submitted tax documents for my joint sponsor we submitted 2022 tax documents, she filed an extension for 2023 because she has such complicated taxes to do. My question is, if we can't get the tax documents for 2023 right now can she submit her significant assets INSTEAD of the 2023 tax return? Or do both need to be submitted?

The tax return probably will not be ready until October of this year.

Thank you in advance.