Autumnal

Yes, you can. I divorced two years prior to filing my N-400 and resumed my maiden name as part of my divorce decree. I remarried after I filed my N-400. The immigration officer asked me if I wanted to assume a new name, married name, or completely make myself something different. It was a tad surreal.

This situation is utterly ludicrous. Do the passport agents not take into account that not every relationship fits a standard, and Mom may not have Dad on the birth certificate or the like? I'm so sorry you've had this much of a headache.

Would going back for a different passport agent help? I've never tried, so I don't know.

Can you apply to your Senators for help? Their sway is likely to be very useful.

Ugh, why couldn't I see that before I swore mine? I have issue with the same part you do, VanessaTony, and I'm not too stoked about giving up the Queen as my sovereign but I could live with that. Gnar... Oh well. Does it count I sneezed during that part of the oath?

5 years: Much less documentation required, for one. I wasn't in a great hurry to naturalize, as there were no serious advantages other than voting and getting a nifty passport with eagles and Mount Rushmore in it.

Financial considerations can influence whether you wait or not too.

VanessaTony pretty much sums it up. If you or she are not confidant of her English, renewing the green card is probably a better bet and then wait until she meets the criteria to avoid the English test.

Learning here as well. Thanks!

Boarding schools in Canada are rare and prohibitively expensive in most cases. Not that American boarding schools are any cheaper, but they tend to be much more common in various forms.

The idea of taking the girls over a summer sounds promising, especially if you can continue the visitation you had earlier when you lived nearby. That continuity and attention definitely can benefit them.

They didn't even stare at my list. I'd itemized the contents of the box in a bit more detail if they were valuable, and I personally wanted to know. Border staff plain didn't care.

ID required is definitely a passport, unless you want to get chewed out by a border agent. Birth certificate and photo ID, like driver's license, won't cut it without an appropriately penitential look, as my husband found out when he forgot his passport. They fortunately didn't pull the car over or stick him in the added security line, probably because we were going shopping in Windsor, and I had more documents than a lawyer ready just in case.

If you live in one of the select number of border states, like Michigan and Washington, you can apply for an enhanced driver's license which will allow you through without the passport only at land crossings. It won't help if you intend to fly. Applying for the EDL is straightforward and takes 4-6 weeks to arrive in most states, though my husband received his in 10 days or so. These can be supplemented by a NEXUS pass, which allows the bearer to use an expedited lane through the land crossing and kiosks at select airports in the US and Canada. Basically frequent traveler passes, they're good for 5 years and a great investment of $50. I'm applying for mine on my next paycheque now that I have everything together.

The passport is really your best bet though.

As a former resident of Illinois for five years, I can confirm how confounding Chicago's interstate system can be. I didn't even blink at the autobahn in Germany and Austria, and I met the crazy winding roads of Scotland after a sleepless 8 hour flight with a mild smile. What's especially fun is when you have a S/W route together with two different interstates sharing roadway, like 80/94 or 90/94... But I digress.

Toronto has the worst traffic in Canada, and some of the worst congestion in North America up the 400/401/407. Trying to approach the megacity takes fortitude, patience, and a long approach of warning. I've specifically turned my GPS settings on to warn me more than 2 miles or 5 km out because those sudden exits have a nasty habit of sneaking up. Your pain is definitely shared by probably 40% of visitors in vehicles without previous experience navigating the tangle of odd signage and turn-offs being right now.

I personally like traveling the 407 and the other toll roads for the ease of navigation, but yes, you have got to have change or a transponder. They hit you with fees much harder than the IL authorities do. Like Illinois, the system will use your plates to determine where to send the bills. I've gotten bills on IL plates, BC plates, and MI plates from the 407ETR. Likewise, I've received toll notices for MI and IL and BC before I bought my i-Pass. There are a few jurisdictions where they won't chase outside their jurisdiction for money, but they're few and far between. Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, and California are all happy to pounce on Canadians. We return the favour in Ontario by pouncing Americans. And the former toll route in BC, the Coquihalla, couldn't be escaped unless you went off the side of the mountain.

Not at all! Your green card entitles you to come back and forth, spouse or no spouse. I traveled plenty on it without my spouse.

That seems like a very long wait. Maybe there's a run for school, but I doubt it. Can you press the office to expedite it?

What a heartbreaking situation, and good for you for wanting to help. There aren't many alternatives that I can immediately think of; I wonder if a consultation with an immigration attorney who specializes in family matters might be helpful in this case, at least to see whether there are any precedents.

The student visa is a good idea. It might be possible to have them come down for extended periods of visitation, though I don't know how disruptive that would be or what impact that could have on their schooling.

Good luck!

Just backing this up - if you entered the US from Canada overland, say as a visitor, chances are you wouldn't have an A number.

I am a LPR, gained this status through DV Lottery. I have been an LPR for 5 years and have just recently filed my N-400. I am currently married but filing for divorce very soon. I filed the application as married. If the divorce goes through before my interview, will it cause an issue with my application? Again my LPR status was NOT based on marriage.

Whether or not you obtained your LPR through marriage or another route won't matter. You fulfill the criteria for naturalizing by being in the US for a total of 5 years or more. Even if you were an LPR candidate via marriage (like I was), as long as you aren't trying to use the 3 year waiver, USCIS doesn't care.

You can file the N-400 without any hiccups. The application will ask you about your marital status; in your case, it's either divorced or separated. Include the relevant information on the form. If you don't have your divorce concluded at time of filing, bring a copy of the decree/certificate with you to your interview to provide to the immigration officer. It will be added to your file and your status will be updated there. Before you get your naturalization certificate, the immigration officer will have you review a form with your name, date and place of birth, marital status, etc. for completeness and correctness. That's the time you will flip your status from married to divorced.

You may or may not have a question about the divorce. My officer basically confirmed the information was correct, and moved on. It's not likely to have an impact unless something spectacularly odd happened.

How I did it: Cover letter, then cheque, then N-400, then all supporting documentation. I used a paper clip rather than any staples (since they dislike staples so!) to hold the lot together. My passport photos were contained in a ziploc bag to protect them, and that was attached directly to the N-400 in front of all the documents they requested.

Order isn't crucial, but I figure since it's the main application, have it up front.

Put the form with the relevant application, the N-400. I made sure to include a mention in the cover letter just in case. You will need to use the online registration to track your case once you receive a NOA letter.

I think a waiting period of 4 to 8 weeks before being assigned an interview is common in most cases. Check out the timelines for your area in Florida. Depending on the case load, your local office may not have the resources to schedule an interview right away. Sometimes backlogs form. I know this to be the case especially in the smaller offices.

You haven't filled out your own, so you might find it helpful to add the dates for a more accurate accounting and tracking Floridian experiences.

Okay, first question for you: what did you put down on your application as your permanent address and your mailing address?

Did you put down a Wisconsin address or something else? I have no idea why they would arbitrarily assign you to Wisconsin if you had not noted it at any point on your application. If you have that state noted as your permanent or mailing address, they may have assigned the biometrics location closest to that.

I'm afraid I don't know if you can have USCIS biometrics done at the embassy. I know that many embassies take biometrics now, but whether they get to the immigration department is beyond me.

If she is under 18 she does not need to be present. She will not be asked to take the oath, come up to the front, get a handshake, and all that jazz. You are the only one required to be there.

The local health unit was the first place to start. Try your family doctor/physician as well if they're still in practice from the time you were young, or you had consistent doctor's records all the way through. Mine happened to have them going back to the age of 2, and the health unit supplied the rest for my school-age vaccinations as well.

You could always be brave and bring a sweetly scented cinnamon roll for the border guard...

Seriously, though, the concern is more with unprocessed agricultural products and dairy (cheeses, milk). I don't bother with raw fruit or veggies across the border any more. The whole idea is to quarantine areas from potential invasive species or plant-based diseases, plants hosting insects, etc. On Vancouver Island, they were extremely diligent because so much manages not to get across the Strait of Georgia naturally. The last thing we'd want is, say, something like Asian carp roe...

I think you'll be good for the buns. The seeds might be a bit iffier, but if they're packaged up, you're not dealing with standard seeds. Those are snacks unlikely to germinate, as far as I know. I've never had a problem with bringing almonds or canned macadamias across. Make sure that if you're asked, you declare what you have for gifts and whatnot. They may or may not go through your trunk.

That makes a lot of sense.

Congrats, Vero and Chris! Vermont is wicked fast right now, let me tell you how jealous it makes everyone else except California!