US Immigration from Vietnam

So, one can file an N-400 for $640 + $85 or $725. My wife's daughter would get citizenship through Mom if mom's application goes through before she turns 18. So she will technically already have citizenship and can get a US passport. But, if I want a piece of paper that says she is a citizen I have to pay $1,170 for what she has technically already been granted. It's not the money, I can pay that. It's just the government charging another $1,170 for something already "granted". And, what are they actually doing to justify the expense? She's already granted citizenship and is eligible to apply for a passport the next day after mom's oath. It's not like they realistically are going to take it back.

If I waited on the filing (eligible to file now) for citizenship for a few months then it's likely her daughter would turn 18 before my wife gets citizenship. Then she would have to wait for the 5 year mark, file the "short form version" of the N-400 herself , pay $725, take her own civics test and oath and still get a Certificate of Citizenship. She's already waiting for ROC with mom right now to get a 10 year card. I assume if mom doesn't get her citizenship until after she turns 18 then they take only mom's green card and her daughter would keep hers until she would file under her own 5 year rule.

It doesn't make any sense to me.

We will be filing N-400 for my wife and her minor daughter this week. She is 17 now. As she is under 18 and will gain citizenship through her mom do we need to pay $640 + $85 for each of them or is it $640 + $85 + $85 for biometrics?

Also as she turns 18 next October can she "age out" of getting derivative citizenship if mom's oath isn't before her birthday or is locked in by the filing date? It may be tight depending on how long it takes for ROC and citizenship. We filed ROC back in January and we are filing N-400 the week after she was eligible under the 90 day early window. I'm really hoping to avoid having the daughter have to file separately under the 5 year rule.

Besides from the usual id, passport, etc. What do people usually bring? I'm very happy and nervous at the same time and don't want to mess anything up. We don't want to bring any more than what's needed. Cause I heard from most people that they don't even require much. But I noticed on the letter that we received that it says to bring tax transcripts, etc. Don't they already have this on file when we submitted all this stuff when we filed our AOS Packet (I-485, I-767, I-131)? I already included all those already. Why are they asking for it again?

Hello everyone,

Our interview is coming up the 8th of January. She (beneficiary) got the new blue passport in October of 2022. It is stamped with a signature stating place of birth is Dong Nai, which is technically true, but she was born in Long Khanh in Dong Nai Province. Will this be an issue? I am just dotting I's and crossing T's and want to be as well prepared as possible. I will be flying over to attend the interview.

Hi,

I just sent my I-129F application on 12-04-2023, USPS delivered to Dallas Lockbox on 12-08-2023, and received a $535.00 Credit Card charge from "United States Government Agency" on 12-11-2023.

From here, will my application be sent to a random processing center (California, Nebraska, Potomac, Texas, Vermont) regardless of what my state of residency is (California)?

Or is California (CSC) the only faciility that is processing I-129Fs currently?

Thank you so much! Looks like it might be a 2 year wait for me.