cardinal

My husband has his interview in 3 days, and if everything goes well we think he'll be able to to do the ceremony that afternoon, based on the experiences of others at our field office. He just learned today of *possible* work travel overseas in ~3.5 weeks. It is far from confirmed, and the date may change, so we don't want to put off his interview or ceremony. If, however, he does need to travel a few weeks after naturalization, am I correct that there are no options to get his passport quickly (beyond the 4-6 weeks "expedited" processing)? My reading is that USCs need to leave/enter using their US passport, so are you just stuck in the US until you receive your passport? It's not a life or death emergency, but it sounds like they could lose the contract if he can't travel when the client needs him to...

Because I was curious, I went to read the actual INA. The relevant section says:

(4) who advocates or teaches or who is a member of or affiliated with any organization that advocates or teaches (A) the overthrow by force or violence or other unconstitutional means of the Government of the United States or of all forms of law; or (B) the duty, necessity, or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers (either of specific individuals or of officers generally) of the Government of the United States or of any other organized government because of his o r their official character; or (C) the unlawful damage, injury, or destruction of property; or (D) sabotage; or 

1 hour ago, CarlHamilton said:

No one has been penalized for overdisclosure when in doubt.  It sounds like you're leaning towards thinking he did advocate the overthrow of a foreign government (whether the government was legitimate or not is beyond the scope of the question, although there is a violence component in there).  In that case, you could cut and paste the post and let the officer decide if it's relevant or not. 

No, I absolutely don't think that. I worry that someone could interpret it as such, acting in bad faith. His posting (I'm paraphrasing) was basically, After 3 days of revolution the people have pushed out a president who refused to respect the constitution. The people have stood up as one and asked the president to go. Now he is gone and the new leaders need to respect the constitution.

I tend to overthink things, but I am also biased because I've lived and worked in the country and the president was objectively a despot who took power in a coup, killed journalists and political opponents, and got rich at the country's expense, so as far as I'm concerned, good riddance to him.

But maybe we will consult a lawyer. Agree that I'd rather err on the side of disclosure.

Thanks both for your quick replies. N400 does say "advocated (directly or indirectly) the overthrow of ANY government...", but I agree that it would be far fetched - that's not what his post was saying (and arguably the gov't was not legitimate to begin with). 

My husband has been a LPR for 6 years. He is finally getting around to filing N400. The whole time he has been in the US, he has been a PhD student at a french university, but working remotely in the US. His PhD does not require coursework - it's straight research - so he doesn't need to be physically in France to do the work.  For the first three years, he spent 3-5 months a year at his fieldsite (in another country); and the last 3 years he's spent about 2 months/year in France working with his advisor. He has maintained residency in the US the whole time - we own a home, have a kid, joint bank account, paid taxes filing jointly, etc.

Should we be worried that an employer/school address outside the US will raise red flags? For the occupation, we're thinking of putting "PhD student (working from home)" - is that adequate, or does it require more explanation? This was a non-issue for ROC, but it's a new administration, and I'm not sure how much to worry.

Also, in 2014 there was a  revolution in his country that overthrew the president who had been in power for 30 years and who was trying to force a change the constitution to continue to remain in power. My husband posted one FB post after the president stepped down basically supporting his country and saying that the pres. needed to go and that new leaders needed to abide by the constitution. There was then an attempted coup against the new gov't in 2015 and he protested in DC against the coup. Any issues there? Does he need to disclose anything? This was all after ROC so hasn't come up previously. I don't *think* this could be interpreted as "advocating the overthrow of government" but would like other opinions :)

He has no red flags as far as we can tell, not even a parking ticket. We've debated getting a lawyer, but it would be a squeeze financially, and we'd rather not if we don't have to.

Thanks!

This NYT breakdown may be helpful and seems fairly accurate now (although there were definitely USCs being detained here in the DC area over the weekend) 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/31/us/politics/trump-immigration-ban-groups.html

One question - I live in area with big immigrant communities and I have heard through the grapevine of dual citizens, LPRs, and visa holders being asked by CBP about whether they like/support Donald Trump (I apologize that I don't have a news article to link to on this - I do trust the sources I heard this from). As a dual citizen (France) born in the US, I would have no problem telling them exactly what *I* think - but for LPRs and visa holders, particularly those from muslim majority countries - should they say that they like the president (even if that is not the case)? Can you be denied entry for mainstream political views?

Hi,

My husband can apply for naturalization starting in May, so we have started preparing. One place we have realized that we have an issue is documenting his travel. His passport was lost/stolen in Jan 2014 (he thinks it fell out of his pocket at a restaurant, and it was gone when he went back to look). He has the police report showing the passport lost/stolen, but this means that he doesn't have the passport stamps for 3 trips taken in 2012 and 2013. We are going through papers to see if he kept any of his boarding passes, but if not, what can we do? We have some emails from the airlines with itineraries, but obviously those don't prove that he actually flew on those dates.

He is a phd student at a french university, working remotely and travelling to france and his research site 1-2x per year. I worry that that fact plus the lost passport might raise concerns that he hasn't actually been residing in the US.

thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi all,

We are currently waiting for my husband's 10 year GC (filed I751 in March), but I figured we should think ahead to the next step, and I want to make sure that I am understanding the residency requirements correctly.

Husband received his conditional GC 05/2012. He is getting his PhD from the University of Paris (remotely - you don't need to live there to do your PhD there) in a field that requires international travel to a field site. He has maintained a continuous residence in the US since we were married in 2011 - we've maintained a lease/mortgage and paid federal and state taxes filing jointly every year. However, he has travelled a lot for his degree. I think his longest continuous absence was about 5 months. He was out of the US for 5 months in 2012, about 4 months in 2013, and 2.5 months in 2014. He is close to finishing and his travel should be greatly reduced going forward!

If I understand correctly, we can't count the months he was out of the US towards the 30 months of physical presence? Will he need to explain this time out of the US in his application for naturalization? Any other concerns that this may raise re residency?

thanks for any help!

He needs to go to the US Embassy there and let them know it was lost/stolen. He can file for a transportation letter that will allow him to re-enter the US. When he is back in the US, he will need to file an I-90 to have it replaced. Do you have copies of the green card? You could email him a copy or some other proof of his status to take along with his passport to the embassy when asking about getting the transportation letter.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/75 >

If your I-551 is stolen while outside the U.S.; please notify the police department in the jurisdiction in which your card was stolen to obtain a police report and contact your nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate to request a U.S. Government Transportation Letter or Boarding Foil. Please be aware; you may be required to complete their I-90: Application to Replace Permanent Resident and paying the fee at the time of your re-entry to the U.S.

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to Working & Traveling During US Immigration - topic about travel and not AOS process ~

Thank you!

We had great luck with the forums when preparing our K1 application and AOS. We are just starting to prepare for ROC and hoping someone can help with this.

My concern is my husband's (the PR) occupation. Since before he came to the US, he has been doing his PhD with a school in France. His thesis committee agreed to let him do it long distance (it's mostly data analysis and writing), so he lives in the US and travels to France and to his field site (in another country) from time to time. He is not employed in the US and has little to no income, which I assume will be evident when reviewing our tax returns. Could this be a red flag? We did not have an interview for AOS, so I am assuming we will have one this time around. We have plenty of evidence of financial commingling (joint accounts, lease agreement, life insurance, IRA, health and dental insurance, plus tax returns, affidavits, etc), I am just worried that they will think it is odd that he is doing his PhD at an institution in a different country. We do have a good rationale if the question comes up - it is only $500/year tuition in France and a much shorter degree than US universities.

Can someone tell me if I'm becoming paranoid, please?

We sent in the AOS package on fri and despite re-checking everything I woke up in the middle of the night and realized we forgot a copy of the K1 approval notice. Is there any way to send this in to USCIS separately and *hope* it gets matched up to our application, or should we just wait for the RFE? arghhh...

thanks

c

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

Sorry, I seem to have phrased that badly: there are plenty of photos of us together (though frustratingly not from when we actually met in the first place whilst I was on a work secondment in the US), just none with us and each other's families and friends.

I think the optimist in me can read into that that photos of just us from our last few visits will be sufficient... Have always been one for memories instead of photographs before; I wasn't looking at it from an immigration perspective!

We applied with only photos of us and it was fine. I will say that at the interview stage having a photo of us with my husband's extended family seemed to seal the deal - once the CO saw that the interview was over. There are a lot of reasons why you may not have pictures with friends and family, including not being able to travel where they are for various reasons, and just not being big photo people.

Having said that we did have a letter from my parents, one from a senior family member on his side, and one from a friend - all basically said they had spent time with us, watched our relationship evolve, that it was serious and that they supported our engagement etc. In my parents case they hadn't met him (and said that in the letter) but wrote that they were aware of and supportive of the relationship, that we all spoke a common language (french) etc

I've searched the forum... even used advanced search, but have not found the answer I need. I'm the USC petitioner.

For the section on the G-325a where it says "Applicant's last address outside the United States for more than 1 year."

Are they looking for domicile like on the i-134 form? On that form, I put my age and stated that I have resided in the US for my entire life.

The issue... A long time ago, in a land far, far away, I was in the military stationed overseas but still had my US APO Box as my "official" address. All contact was via that address.

But, I did serve and live overseas for 19 months, 8 days and 3 hours.

Do I show that address on both forms, neither form or what?

I had a similar situation. My mom, who is a lawyer with some immigration training though not an expert, recommended that I put down the address where I actually lived (ie overseas) but add a note that my mailing address during that time was XYZ IN, USA. I did that on the G325A and on the 134a put down that overseas address as well. I don't know if that's the "right" way (since I have yet to see USCIS define "residence" anywhere) but I figured it was full disclosure and got through with no RFEs.

hope that helps!

Sorry, I've read through a bunch of I-693 posts but haven't found one addressing our particular question. On my fiance's DS-3025, both varicella and influenza are marked "Not routinely available". He has no history of chickenpox. all the other boxes are ticked approipriately, including The vaccination history incomplete and blanket waiver boxes are ticked at the bottom of the form, and it is signed and dated. Do we need to go see a CS to get these and get an I-693 completed, or are we ok sending in the DS-3025?

So, it looks like we will need FI's SSN to apply for a marriage license in MD. From the VJ SSN guide, it looks like we should wait 2 weeks after his arrival to apply, and then will need to wait at least another 2 weeks to get the card. Is that right, or is there anything we can do to get the number faster? He is arriving nov 15 and we had been aiming to get married dec 11 - I'm wondering whether we should rethink that. We want to get married before the holiday rush, and also to get him on my health insurance ASAP (just in case) and AOS so he can get his EAD...

would appreciate hearing others' experiences. Sorry if this is the wrong forum - I couldn't find an ssn forum

If you look at the following link for Ghana, it shows the petitioner is not allowed at the interview.

http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Ghana&cty=Accra

Weird, in BF they highly encourage it; they say it gives them a better sense of whether the relationship is real

Actually about 2 weeks ago - but it's been a busy 2 weeks. Below is the review I just posted:

I can't express how impressed I was with the consulate. From the time we picked up the packet of documents to the day of the interview was 3.5 weeks. They scheduled the interview around my schedule (I was out there for work and traveling around) because they really like to have the USC there for the interview. They called us the day before the interview to check that I was back in Ouaga. We arrived at 8:50am for our 9am appointment. We had to wait outside the consular section about 10 minutes while the interview before us finished, an then they called us in. The CO was super-sweet (and spoke really good french) and put FI at ease. The interview was three questions: 1. Tell me your story 2. Do you have any plans for the wedding? 3. Are you going to do anything to celebrate in BF (to which we said we had traveled to spend the previous weekend with his fam, and showed her the pics). Then she said that it was clear that we were love each other, and to come back in a couple days to pick up the visa! Total duration, including the time waiting and paying the fee and such: less than 30 minutes. She didn't even ask for the 134a - I had to ask her before we left if she wanted it. Two days later, they called him to come pick up the visa. ten stars

I've heard so many horror stories about SSA consulates, but I guess BF is low fraud (I think they don't get many K1s), and we don't have any red flags - same educational level, lived together for a year, etc. Our friends had their interview about a month before us, and they said the first thing the CO said to them was "Congratulations!", after which they felt pretty confident

I (USC) moved 2 weeks ago and our file is currently at the consulate. I know I have to call NVC to notify them and we will put the new address on all the forms for the consulate. My question is USCIS. I know they don't care about me moving now that our petition is approved, but the new address (where he will live once he gets here) is different than the one we listed on the I-129. Do I need to change it with USCIS now and can I use their online system to do it? Or do we wait until he is actually here to change it? I've read their directions and old threads and still not sure.

We are still in the process, but here's what we are doing. We will not sign any contracts or send invitations until he has his visa in hand, but I bought my wedding dress when his file arrived at the consulate, and we have identified a photographer, potential venue, and 1st and 2nd choice dates. It helps that his consulate is apparently pretty quick and I didn't want a big elaborate wedding to begin with - our guestlist is about 20 people, ceremony in our living room and dinner in the private room of a nice restaurant afterwards. No DJ, no florist, no wedding cake = fewer headaches. And it's much easier to book (most) restaurants at short notice than it is a traditional wedding venue. We are also doing e-invitations, because I'll probably be overseas when we finalize the date, and our friends and family know us and the situation well enough not to be offended.

I really wanted people close to us to be there for our first exchange of vows, which is why we're doing it this way. Also, there's no way his family could get visas to come for the wedding so that is moot - we will go there 6 months later instead and have a dinner or something

In a nutshell: my fiance has been studying in france for a year. He is going home in about a week to do his medical and interview in his home country. He will be staying with friends/family while there, since the process is supposed to be pretty fast there (they don't process many K1 visas) and it doesn't make sense for him to rent anything.

My question is, what do I put down on the I-134, where it asks where he presently resides? I don't think I can put down his address in Paris as he will be no longer residing there at the time of the interview. And most homes don't have street addresses in this city, so I can't put down his family's steet address, just their neighborhood and city. For the g325a, we just gave the neighborhood and city for his previous residences, and attached a google map showing where he lived. Can we do this for the I-134 or do they need a more formal street address? Help!

tia

First off, I wasn't sure whether to post here or in the consulate forum - moderators please move if it would be better placed there

My fiance has been in France on a student visa. He finished his degree this month and his visa expires end sept, so he will be heading back to Burkina then. We had put Paris as the consulate on the I-129F, but back in July when we realized it wouldn't be approved in time for him to do his interview in Paris, we set about changing the consulate back to Burkina. And yet...our file is currently en route to Paris. Below is our experience in detail. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

July 25: I call USCIS to find out whether they can change the consulate while the file is still at VSC. First person tells me to schedule an infopass appt. Second person tells me to ignore the first person and to send a letter by mail to VSC requesting the change

July 26: Letter is sent by 2 day priority mail with delivery confirmation. It includes all the requested information including receipt number, names, DOBs, etc.

July 28: Letter is delivered

No response

Monday, Aug 8: NOA2!!!

Fri, Aug 12: I call NVC and am informed that the file just arrived in the mail. No, there is no case number yet. No, he cannot tell me whether the consulate has changed. No, I should not call back on Monday; I should wait several business days because it will take a while for it to get into the system, and it will be several weeks before it is sent out.

Tues, Aug 16: I call NVC, get the case number, and discover that it is still assigned to the Paris consulate. The rep tells me: no problem! Just send an email requesting the change with a copy of his passport (showing he is eligible to have his interview in BF).

Tues, Aug 16, 1 hour later: Email is sent. I receive an email from NVC confirming receipt

Wed, Aug 17: I call NVC and am told - Oh, it looks like your file was sent to Paris yesterday. WTH?!?! Rep tells me there is nothing they can do, but to send an email to the BF consulate asking them to request the file from Paris.

Wed, Aug 17, 1 hour later: Email is sent, with copies of all of our correspondence to USCIS and NVC attached

Thurs, Aug 18: I call DOS. Rep tells me that we "did everything right" (nice to hear, even though it doesn't help with our file) and that we should email the Paris consulate, with copy to Ouaga, asking them to send the file to Ouaga. Why do I get a different answer every time I call these people? She also tells me it will likely take several weeks since it has to go by diplomatic pouch.

Thurs, Aug 18: I call ouaga to confirm whether I am supposed to email them or Paris, and am told to call back later.

Paris has no phone # for immigrant visas, or I would call them as well. I have tried to be patient, but at this point I am seriously upset. I realize that in the grand scheme of problems with the immigration system this is not a big deal, but to us it is...we are trying to plan our lives and the uncertainty over if and when our file will ever arrive in Ouaga is not helping. And when we are paying this much for a visa I expect a basic level of competence...at a bare minimum getting accurate information when I call.

So my question is - what next? I will try to call ouaga again, I will send the email to Paris, and if I don't get responses within 1 week I will contact my congressman and both senators. What else? Should I be calling/emailing DOS and the consulate daily? I find it really irritating that THEY screwed up and yet WE are the ones who have to spend time and money trying to fix their mistake. I have had to deal with the Paris consulate when I lived there previously and in my experience they are not terribly responsive, which worries me.

Sort of a random question - I included a complete copy of my passport in my K1 petition (I am the USC), highlighting the passport stamps from my trips to visit my fiance. Since we sent in the petition I've visited him twice more. For the interview, do I need to re-copy my entire passport again to show those stamps, or is it enough to just copy the pages where the new stamps appear? Not sure whether I will be able to attend the interview (obviously if I am there we can just hand them the passport)

I have a question regarding the definition of an international student at US graduate school programs, for anyone who has gone through this already.

Fiance is coming on a K1 visa (we hope!) and will apply to PhD programs, but will almost certainly have to submit the application before receiving his green card (but after filing for AOS). So his immigration status at the time of submitting the application will be pending. Would he then be considered an international student or not? And does this usually vary from school to school? Our concern is whether we will need to provide proof of our ability to finance his course of study - this is required for international students at all schools, as far as I can tell.

We will check with the schools themselves but I wanted to tap the experience of folks on here as well

thanks!

You have been residing in the US since the last time you returned from residing abroad. There is a difference between residing abroad, and simply visiting abroad. You can be absent from the US, but if the absence is intended to be temporary, and you maintain your residence and ties to the US, then you are still residing in the US. If you quit your job, put your stuff into storage, and move out of your house or apartment, then you're no longer residing in the US.

Why does any of this stuff matter? Because a sponsor is required to be a US citizen or permanent resident who resides in the US. This requirement isn't usually enforced with an I-134 from the primary sponsor, but it may be enforced on a joint sponsor who submits an I-134, and it WILL be enforced when your fiance arrives in the US, marries you, and you submit an I-864 for his adjustment of status. There's no minimum length of residence required, but your feet must be firmly anchored in the US when you submit the I-864. The government can't enforce the contract portion of the affidavit if you're living abroad.

When USCIS approves your petition it will be sent to the National Visa Center (usually for no more than a few weeks), and then forwarded to the US consulate in the country where they think your fiance is living. They usually go by the address you write on the I-129F. If he's living in a different country at the time then you may have to jump through some hoops to get the US consulate in Burkina to forward the petition to the consulate in the country where he's living, and it will undoubtedly cause some delays. Is he a citizen or legal resident of Burkina? Can he return to Burkina for the visa interview? It would save you considerable headache and delays if so.

Thanks for the very clear answer! Now I understand the reasoning behind the question

The consulate problem is actually the inverse. He is a citizen of Burkina and in France on a student visa that expires end Sept. On the advice of a lawyer who we ended up not hiring (and, to be honest, hoping to avoid a return ticket to Burkina - the fares on that route are extortionary) we put Paris as the consulate, hoping the visa would be processed before his student visa expired. It is now clear that that will not happen, and we will need to switch the consulate to Burkina. From reading others' experiences it sounds like this may be done if we can catch our file when it is at NVC - so I am planning to call them daily once we receive the NOA2! He cannot return to Paris for the visa interview once his french visa expires.