US Immigration from Vietnam

Hello all,

My wife and I are submitting a I-485 for my mother-in-law after having a change of plans while she visited, and since she does not plan to work(we will be supporting her and filing affidavits of support with the I-485) or leave the country until her petition is completed, we are wondering if we can skip the I-765 and I-131 entirely. She will not be working, and the I-131 seems to require upcoming travel plan info of which we have none. Is it an issue if we do not submit these with the I-485?

We also previously submitted a I-130 for her, and the receipt notice said "The beneficiaries of a petition must wait until a visa number is available before they can take the next step to apply for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence." However we would like to submit the I-485 as soon as possible so we can extend her stay in the US until the petition is completed, as her current B2 visa only allows her to stay until mid-May. Maybe this is referring to an applicant that is outside the US currently, and does not apply for our situation? Is it an issue to submit the I-485 now?

EDIT: Just found on page 22 of the I-485 instructions "Immediate relatives do not have to wait until Form I-130 is approved to file Form I-485. You may file your Form I-485 together with your Form I-130, while Form I-130 is pending, or after your Form I-130 is approved" So I have my answer to that part of my question. Editing in the answer instead of removing that part in case it can help anyone else!

Thanks in advance for the help!

I didn't want to derail the 48 month extension letter thread but I don't want to move this to the N-400 forum as the people that would answer this question would be reading here and wouldn't be reading there.

Of course every person's situation is different but why would a US immigrant NOT want to file for citizenship? I'm truly curious. Other than those that simply can't hold dual citizenship I can see several advantages above being a LPR. I'm curious what people see as disadvantages.

At least for me personally, I see several advantages:

No more green card renewals which saves money and paperwork. Can't forget to file which could creep up on you on a 10 year card as it's such a long time.

Spouse would potentially get more SS benefits as a widow than working and earning the beneficiary's own. In my case my wife would never reach my level of benefit even when it is 50% of mine as I'm capped at the SS max benefit. She won't even work 40 quarters to get any on her own if we move back to her country, which is probably going to happen before 10 years.

Potentially getting a more powerful passport. This might not be the case coming from Europe but coming from SE Asia my wife's passport is weak trying to get to many countries but the benefit of visa-free travel to many SE Asia countries so she could use hers sometime and US sometime. But if you hold dual citizenship this may not be a benefit but wouldn't be a negative.

No risk of loosing a green card if you spend most of your time outside the US, again, as we plan to do in the future. To be able to come back any time you want even after a multi-year stay outside the US is reassuring.

Again, for me, zero disadvantages because my wife will also keep her VN passport and citizenship. We would still have to file iincome taxes in the US based on worldwide income anyway so, while it isn't a benefit, it isn't a negative either.

I am GC. I applied for reentry permit and got biometric done 1 year ago. My case is still pending. I left the US for 1 year. Should I come back before 1 year mark just to be safe.

Thank you

I posted this in the January 2023 filer thread but for anyone that isn't following that specific month thread they wouldn't see this.

We just got our extension letters today. Instead of extending the expiration 24 months our letters are good for 36 months. Doesn't look like they anticipate anything getting better any time soon. At least it will avoid some of the problems people are running into with 24 month letters and still not being done and needing to make an appointment for an ADIT stamp.

Hello All, I submitted my wife's I-751 in early January 2023 and to my surprise I received back the I-797 Notice of Action today. But to my disappointment, the Notice Type read Receipt Notice Amount received $680.00 U.S.. Was hoping for an approval status instead. Is it normal to get a I-797 receipt notice first then an approval status later? Sort of concerned. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!