US Immigration from South Korea

An American wife of green card holder who is applying for N400 doesn't remember when she became a US Citizen because she can't locate her certificate of naturalization.

What would be the best way to find the date?

Thank you in advance.

Hi

I am a Korean citizen and I am waiting with my U.S. citizen fiance for my K-1 to be approved. I filed for I-129F in September 2021 and it seems it will take 14 months + 3 months-ish to finally get the visa, which makes it about March 2023 ish to finally be able to arrive at the U.S.

I am a researcher (ecologist) and I would like to do some pilot research in the area I am going to eventually move to (DMV area) while also being closer to my fiance. So I have been talking with a professor at a university in the area about joining her lab and she said yes. We are thinking of 3 months-ish of stay to attend her lab meetings and join her fieldwork to eventually develop a research proposal for myself.

From what I know, I believe I can use visa waiver, which officially allows "independent research", specifically Visa Waiver for Business (VWB). But VWB feels pretty limiting: allows only a limited range of activities and the university will be unable to formally give me a formal appointment (unpaid visiting scholar) if I take the visa waiver route.

So the university recommends coming on a J-1 visa, whose acquirability I am not sure of with my pending K-1.

My questions are:

1) Is it worth trying for a J-1? I know it is probably going to get rejected and I don't mind getting rejected and losing the application fee. But I was hoping that I may have a slightly higher chance to get the J-1 because I acquired a Ph.D. from a U.S. university in a related field and I am currently doing the same type of work professionally as the proposed J-1 activities. I also would have strong ties to my home country (I am taking an official break from my institution for the research-abroad reasons.)

2) If J-1 gets rejected, will the J-1 rejection hurt my pending K-1 and future AOS?

3) If J-1 is not feasible at all, is it okay to apply for Visa Waiver for business (VWB) when I have a pending K-1, instead of the regular Visa Waiver (for personal)? I *really* am going to do the proposed independent research. I also already have an ESTA valid until Nov 2023.

4) When I am at POE for VWB, will I have to tell CO that I am here for research AND to see my fiance? Or can I just say I am here for research and only mention fiance when asked?

Thank you.

Been married to my wife for two years and more.We are based in Korea where she works as a teacher with the DODea.We did applied for an immigrant visa after following all the procedures and everything was confirmed.This took us almost almost two years.All my documents and application was perfect. Had my interview a couple of days ago and had my IR1 visa rejected at the embassy. Reasons being my petitioner has to show prove that her domicile is the US or intends to move to the US shortly..A 221g white slip was given to me and the reason marked was 'the petitioner needs to prove that domicile is the USA or intends to move to the US shortly.Note that i just got a new letter of employment from the DOD which expires in 2025.I thought marrying a US citizen makes you eligible for the immigrant visa and subsequently a Green card.Note that my wife is a contractor with the Department of defence in Korea.She still has 2 years in her contract.Any idea on what i could do next?.Help would be appreciated.What documents do i need to resubmit?.Thank you

Fiancee had her medical exam today. She made her appointment online (The Catholic University of Korea Yeouido ST.MARY`S Hospital (cmcsungmo.or.kr)) last month. We didn't wait over a month on purpose, it was the earliest available at that time. She heard from others the medical exam could take anywhere between 2 to 3 hours but she was out in 1. Mentioned the staff were very pleasant and answered all of her questions. Since her interview is next Friday, she asked if there was enough time between the exam and interview, just in case something comes up. The staff responded that once they receive appointment notifications they also look at interview dates. If they spot any where there could be time constraints a call would be made to reschedule the interview. Since she didn't receive one, the staff said she was in the clear They also told her, unlike the immigrant visa (DS-260) folks, non-immigrant visa (DS-160) applicants need to return and pick up their sealed package. All in all, her experience at this hospital was very positive. The only negative would be the congested roads in the city. Leave with plenty of time to spare.

We are at the NVC stage and we live abroad together. We have a joint sponsor for financial assistance. The CEAC website asked for the joint sponsor's proof of domicile status as one of the required documents, which we provided (driver license), but strangely it did not ask for the primary sponsor's proof of domicile status. We are thinking maybe we should have sent a letter as part of optional documents indicating the primary sponsor's intention to re-establish US domicile status along with some other concrete steps the sponsor has taken so far such as renewing a driver license, maintaining bank accounts in the US, voting records. We do not have anything more to show at the moment. The sponsor might look for a job; we are telling them that we will initially stay with the sponsor's parents in the US.

Our lawyer claims that we do not need to submit additional such documents at this stage and that we will be directed by NVC to provide these at the interview stage. I am nervous and the last thing I want is an RFE from NVC that will delay our case by approximately 3 more months. Because it's only been a week since we submitted all the documents, I am trying to convince my lawyer to submit these additional documents and furnish maybe a statement for us. I absolutely do not understand why we are taking this risk of getting an RFE in the first place.

Do you think we should go ahead and provide a letter that says the sponsor is trying to re-establish their US domicile status and whatever other documented evidence we have so far? Why is the lawyer telling me not to submit additional documents at the risk of an RFE in the future? I don't see no harm in submitting extra documents at this point.