jonandrachel

Thanks, everyone! Sukie is right, my standard driving license is good for domestic travel until 2020, so I can use that! All these last-minute worries got me crazy!

Good morning all,

I have my citizenship test/interview on Wednesday this week (2 days!!), and, although it's obviously not a given, I expect to pass. This means my oath ceremony could well be in September still, where I will surrender my Greencard. I'm a UK citizen with a UK passport and will be flying domestically to and from Seattle from New York the first week of October. As a resident, I don't think I have the type of driving license that allows me to travel without a passport, so my quandary is: if I take my oath ceremony before I travel, give up my Greencard, I won't have any supporting documentation to go with my UK passport visa when I get to the airport. With this in mind, should I just wait until October to take the oath ceremony? 

All thoughts and suggestions welcome...

Thanks!

21 minutes ago, AshMarty said:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Advice-about-Possible-Loss-of-US-Nationality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html

 

"U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one nationality or another. A U.S. citizen may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk to his or her U.S. citizenship."

 

The US doesn't care if you keep your UK passport, but you will have to check with the UK to see if you can maintain dual citizenship. 

 

Thank you! The UK doesn't care either! I presume that means then that I am not required to bring my passport to the oath ceremony.

So I hadn't really considered this until recently. I have my naturalization interview next month, and I'm assuming if all goes well that my oath ceremony will follow in the month after, but my question is: do you have to surrender your current passport during that process? I have a UK passport filled with stamps and visas from the last 10 years that is almost expired, that I would hate to give up and not get back. I plan on renewing it with my own government in the next few days anyway. If you give up your passport at the oath ceremony do you get it back, with a corner cut off - much like you do when you renew with your home country?

Thanks for the help!

1 hour ago, Alabamak1 said:

I just noticed you are going for naturalization....No. interview is only for beneficiary of the N-400. It will be only IO and applicant

Thank you, that answers my question and puts my mind at ease. 

Good luck on your journey as well!

Hey all,

I got notified that my interview/test is next month! Way sooner than I expected! The letter doesn't say anything about your partner (the citizen) being present, so I just wanted to check if others have gone with their partners or if the partner has any part to play in the whole thing. 

Any input is appreciated.

thanks, 

Jon & Rachel 

No, in paper. 

Thank you! I saw that, but it seems so foreign to not send photos, and then I was thrown off by someone else's instruction. But that saves a lot of hassle. Appreciate the quick response, gives me peace of mind and doesn't delay my filing! Have a great day!

This should be an easy question, I'm guessing, but I'm a little confused if I should send 2 passport photos in with my N-400 application or not. It doesn't seem to suggest so in the filing instructions, especially as you have photos done during the biometric, but I did read in someone's guide that they included two. 

My application is pretty much ready to go, but finding a passport booth is always a mission these days!

Thanks for the input all!

Jon & Rachel

Thank you both for your quick responses! It is exciting!

Good morning everyone,

It's always exciting moving on to the next forum, so now here I am, having just been granted the removal of conditions, my card just arrived, and so my wife and I are considering the next steps available to us on this journey.

It seems that before applying for naturalization the general rule is to wait 3 years, but I wanted to clarify if that is 3 years from the issue date on my new 10 year green card, or the issue date on my old 2 year card, or indeed from any other date I may have.

Any answers, please let me know

Thank you

Look forward to chatting with you all

Jon

Congrats!! You are fine to travel before your new card arrives but in case you do not receive the card by then, print out a copy of your approval notice and carry with you together with the extension letter. It's been a long while since you filed for ROC and the CBP officers might question why you haven't received your new card yet. You can explain the situation if they ask.

Could you also tell us your filing and NOA dates to have an idea where VSC right now?

Thank you so much, i figured that would be the case, but hadn't thought about how much time has passed, and the problems that could cause. I forget the date i filed, but it was about April 3rd and my NOA was April 27th, then appointment notice May 16th followed by biometrics on June 01st.

thanks again

Phew!!! Received my approval today too from the Vermont center!!

I just have one question though... it advises not to travel abroad until the new card comes, which could take 60 days, but i'm literally flying back to England for a one week vacation in two days!1 I still have my one year extension letter, which is still valid, will this be enough?

Thanks for your help, and congrats to all the new Vermont waiters that just got the thumbs up!!

Jon

With everyone that filed in April still waiting, as we are, does anyone know what happens should the delay continue and the 1 year extension letter expires?

Thanks

Seems like things really slowed down in April. I filed April 23rd, confirmed arrived on the 25th, but here we are May 6th and no NOA and the check has not been cashed yet. But i see that is now true of a lot of April filers so I will be patient. I filed on the first day of the 90 day window so i should have plenty of time.

Please add me to the list for Vermont also, thanks

Jon

Thanks everyone! Looks like i'll have to bite the bullet and do the test!

Hey there everyone!

Just thought i'd picked your brains on the issue of drivers licenses. I moved here from England and have an English drivers license. Does anyone know any useful websites related to switching from a UK to a US license? I live in NY state, and i'm not to keen on taking a new drivers test. I've heard that in some states you don't have to take the full test. Although i haven't found anywhere that lists which states differ in this regard.

Any help, is, as always, wildly appreciated!!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Thanks

Jon

Good morning everyone!

Yesterday, after a long long wait (11 months!) i received my Welcome to the United States letter saying my application has been approved and my permanent resident card is in the post. Does this mean i don't need to attend any interview? Is it all over? Can this really be it?!?!

Jon

What about your husband? Has he filed?

Actually it is my wife who is the US citizen. She has not filed, as she is a student with no income during 2012.

So, i'm not sure if this is the right forum for this post but we'll see...

I'm curious about filing taxes whilst still going through the AOS process. My case is such that i'm still waiting for my AOS to be approved, i'm in NYC and it takes a very very long time here. So, i'm technically out of status, but i have my temp work permit, and had 1 payslip for the 2012 year, which didn't amount to much.

Now that April is upon us, i'm wondering if i have to file the state and federal tax returns, and if so, is there any specific forms to complete as i'm not a resident of the US or the state?

Any help always greatly appreciated.

It is a confusing and stressful process, as always.

Thanks everyone!!

Jon & Rachel

Never mind, seems i've been a complete idiot and didn't realise my EAD card is also proof of AP and i've had it all along!!

Came to this understanding through another post someone had made today on Visajourney, as they mentioned their 'combo' card. Visajourney just keeps on helping.

Panic over!!

Jon

Hey everyone!

So, annoyingly i never received notification in the post of the approval for my AP form, which i filed along with my AOS, and i know it was approved on Dec 3rd as it states as much on the USCIS website when i input my case number, the trouble is, i've just gotten off the phone with USCIS customer service and there advice is, now that a month has passed, i should file i-824 to request a duplicate copy, but this form seems to think i need to pay $405 for this simple task. Can that be right? Surely not!!

The customer service rep seemed to think i might not have received any post because sometimes the postal service doesn't deliver gov post if your name isn't on the postbox, but that is rubbish because we've received so much gov post here due to this long bloody application process, so it must have just got lost on the way, and i'm not paying another 400 bucks just for a copy!

Trouble is, presumably i need this approval notice to show immigration if i actually want to travel outside of the states before my greencard is approved, which is likely still another few months away.

Can anyone shed any light on this fee for me?

thanks everyone, hope you all had a great time over the holidays!!

Jon

You can apply for jobs and attend interviews as early as you like. In fact you can apply for jobs even before you arrive in the US (although you would want to explain the situation to the employer, and when you expect to be able to start work). You will just need the card in your hand on the first day you start work so that you can show it to your employer when you fill in the I-9.

The card will take 1-2 weeks to arrive after the approval date.

thanks Lainie, that is sort of what i thought, but it's a bummer that i need card in hand to start, if that delays me two more weeks, thanks for the input though

Hey everyone!!

So, i've been waiting and waiting for my EAD to get approved so i can finally start looking for work and start earning! I keep check on the USCIS website daily, putting in my case number, and yesterday it switched from Acceptance (i.e application received) to Card/Document Production. Which i think is fantastic! So my question is, will i get a form to say my EAD has been approved and therefore i'm legible for work, or do i just wait for the card to come through, which it says could take 30 days? I want to make sure that as per Dec 3rd (the day it says on USCIS that my card was ordered for production) i can work, because i've started applying today and already have an interview lined up.

Any thoughts, always appreciated

Hope everyone is good good good

Jon

Views processing estimates are not to be taken seriously, EVER , in any case. The amount of people who fill their timelines and keep up with it are low, it doesn't keep out of control things under consideration like an officer taking time off or the electricity getting cut or someone having to leave early and all that, BUT generally EAD and APs arrive before the biometrics appointment.

Hey thanks!

I guess i'll stop expecting it any day then. But i had my biometrics exactly a month from getting my AOS NOA, which'll now probably be 2 months before EAD approval and i was of the opinion this order of things was normal.