Leo7777

I will throw in my two cents, since I have already gone through this process. i.e. helping a student get F-1 visa.
First it is an absolute must that the funds be shown to be in cash in a bank account in an amount to completely pay for all tuition and living expenses for one year. JUST HAVING AN INCOME DOES NOT COUNT.
Look at an I-20 form. Item 7 has line items for a) Tuition and fees, b) Living expenses, c), d), etc. The school enters these items and adds them up. They will enter the living expenses calculated from surveys of current students and use that number REGARDLESS IF STUDENT LIVES WITH RELATIVE OR FRIEND FOR FREE.
Then comes Item 8 which has line items for where the total shown in Item 7 will come from. a) Student's personal funds, b) funds from the school (scholarships, grad teaching assistantship, etc.), c) funds from another source (this is where the relative or friends money will be listed), d) etc.
The amounts for 8 a) and c) will only be entered by the University after viewing recent bank account statements showing hard cash.
Now, are there exceptions, do Universities do sloppy work in checking out all of this, can you fake it, etc.? Probably it has been done many times.
Different Universities have different standards. The University we worked through wanted to see bank account statements for several months. This is because they know that people can borrow money to bolster a bank balance, and then have to pay it back once I-20 is issued, etc.
The money is just one issue.
Just as important or more so, is convincing the Interviewing Officer at American Consulate of the student's intention to return to the home country.
As other have mentioned, it is stated right in the websites that the IO IS TO ASSUME THE APPLICANT INTENDS TO STAY IN THE US. It is the burden of applicant to overcome this assumption. So, especially in case where applicant has close relatives in USA, need to come up with a very good story concerning the bright future that awaits the student when they complete the degree in USA and returns to home country to make millions of dollars using the knowledge gained from the degree.
Interestingly, the pending bills in Congress will for the first time not require those applying for F-1 to lie about their intention to remain in USA after the degree is obtained . . . at least in some cases. The pending bills will have provision for those who graduate from USA university with masters or PhD in the STEM areas . . . to be eligible to apply for AOS from F-1 to Green Card status.

People are always telling others to go here and read this, so I was surprised to find it is not listed here in this thread.
Step-by-Step Guide on How to File AOS packet:
http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Excellent write-up.  Thanks for your work and sharing.

Excellent write-up.  Thanks for your work and sharing.

Excellent write-up.  Thanks for your work and sharing.

That surprised me (that not many people get it right) as her name is only mentioned about 20 times a day in the news.
And it's not like her name is Jones or Smith, so pretty hard to forget.

Real question is why on earth did you buy ticket before completing the whole process of citizenship interview,  oath ceremony and obtaining USA passport.
After all the thousands of documents you had to deal with and waiting for years and years to obtain citizenship . . . you now want to go through the unnecessary additional nightmare of trying to travel at same time you need to obtain USA passport ?????

Real question is why on earth did you buy ticket before completing the whole process of citizenship interview,  oath ceremony and obtaining USA passport.
After all the thousands of documents you had to deal with and waiting for years and years to obtain citizenship . . . you now want to go through the unnecessary additional nightmare of trying to travel at same time you need to obtain USA passport ?????

Wife received USA Passport.   So she is officially all done with this lengthy process.
 
24 April 2019 Citizenship  Oath
25 April 2019 11:00 AM  Mailed Passport Application at US Post Office to Philadelphia paying $25.50 for fast mailing outgoing, $16.48 for fast mailing returning and $60 for expedited processing.
26 April 2019  10:45 AM signed for in Philadelphia.
30 April 2019  Check cashed by Philadelphia.
3 May 2019   2:30 PM  Passport special delivered to front door of house.
 
Thinking back, probably the $25.50 was not necessary due to Thursday mailing and Friday receipt.
Chances are nothing done until the following Monday 29 April.
Would be a different story for Mailings on Monday and Tuesday, because then the Passport may be done and mailed back on Friday for receipt on Saturday.
 

Wife received USA Passport.   So she is officially all done with this lengthy process.
 
24 April 2019 Citizenship  Oath
25 April 2019 11:00 AM  Mailed Passport Application at US Post Office to Philadelphia paying $25.50 for fast mailing outgoing, $16.48 for fast mailing returning and $60 for expedited processing.
26 April 2019  10:45 AM signed for in Philadelphia.
30 April 2019  Check cashed by Philadelphia.
3 May 2019   2:30 PM  Passport special delivered to front door of house.
 
Thinking back, probably the $25.50 was not necessary due to Thursday mailing and Friday receipt.
Chances are nothing done until the following Monday 29 April.
Would be a different story for Mailings on Monday and Tuesday, because then the Passport may be done and mailed back on Friday for receipt on Saturday.
 

Where you live or file from is not a factor . . . once the application goes into US Postal mail.
 
All Passport Applications go to Philadelphia.

Original Member of the July 2017 ROC Gang.
 
Wife went though Oath Ceremony yesterday.
 
Filed application for USA Passport today.

Original Member of the July 2017 ROC Gang.
 
Wife went though Oath Ceremony yesterday.
 
Filed application for USA Passport today.

I think you missed the entire point and logic of what I wrote.
 
THERE IS A CONTINUING NEED FOR THE CARD . . . UNTIL PASSPORT RECEIVED.
 
SHE CAN'T TRAVEL NOW . . . SHE COULD BEFORE. 

That timing estimate just refers to time before your interview.
 
However, experience here has shown that those timing estimates really mean virtually nothing.

OK, wife got email notice and notice on https://myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov/  that her Citizenship Oath  Ceremony has been scheduled for 24 April 2019.
 
Hard copy letter to come in U.S. Mail.

I was the 3rd poster in the beginning of this ROC thread back in July 2017.
 
Wife finally got her 10 year Green Card in early December 2018, and we filed for her citizenship on 8 December 2018.
 
I then mostly switched over to the Citizenship Forum.
 
Early notifications were that she would be waiting 10 months or so til August 2019 for movement on Citizenship.
 
But as a surprise, she got notification in late February 2019 that her Citizenship Interview would be on 26 March 2019 (yesterday).
 
She passed all (English written, English spoken, U.S. History, U.S Government) with flying colors and was even thanked by the Interview Officer for being so well prepared with everything.  As result she was done in about 26 minutes.
 
Now she is waiting to get notification as to the Oath Ceremony date.
 
So that is the final story to report to this thread.
 
Best of luck to all.
 
Leo7777

Wife passed Citizenship Test which  consisted of 1) Written English, 2) Spoken English, 3) U.S. History and 4) U.S. Government.
 
We arrived and were seated 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time.  The interviewing officer called her in 10 minutes later which was 10 minutes before her scheduled time.  She was back out 26 minutes later with a big smile.
 
Officer thanked her for being well prepared and quick with all her answers.  If you answer the first 6 questions correctly (which she did), they stop and don't ask the full 10 questions.  She had to read a 6 word sentence and write a 3 word sentence.   They also checked her teeth and vision (no, just kidding).
 
She did have to say No to  the 100 or so questions (that are on the application), and was even asked a second time about 10 or so of them later.  Just to see if she was consistent, I presume.

Off to Pittsburgh for wife's Citizenship Interview and Testing !!!!

Wife passed Citizenship Test which  consisted of 1) Written English, 2) Spoken English, 3) U.S. History and 4) U.S. Government.
 
We arrived and were seated 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time.  The interviewing officer called her in 10 minutes later which was 10 minutes before her scheduled time.  She was back out 26 minutes later with a big smile.
 
Officer thanked her for being well prepared and quick with all her answers.  If you answer the first 6 questions correctly (which she did), they stop and don't ask the full 10 questions.  She had to read a 6 word sentence and write a 3 word sentence.   They also checked her teeth and vision (no, just kidding).
 
She did have to say No to  the 100 or so questions (that are on the application), and was even asked a second time about 10 or so of them later.  Just to see if she was consistent, I presume.

I was the 3rd poster in the beginning of this ROC thread back in July 2017.
 
Wife finally got her 10 year Green Card in early December 2018, and we filed for her citizenship on 8 December 2018.
 
I then mostly switched over to the Citizenship Forum.
 
Early notifications were that she would be waiting 10 months or so til August 2019 for movement on Citizenship.
 
But as a surprise, she got notification in late February 2019 that her Citizenship Interview would be on 26 March 2019 (yesterday).
 
She passed all (English written, English spoken, U.S. History, U.S Government) with flying colors and was even thanked by the Interview Officer for being so well prepared with everything.  As result she was done in about 26 minutes.
 
Now she is waiting to get notification as to the Oath Ceremony date.
 
So that is the final story to report to this thread.
 
Best of luck to all.
 
Leo7777

I was the 3rd poster in the beginning of this ROC thread back in July 2017.
 
Wife finally got her 10 year Green Card in early December 2018, and we filed for her citizenship on 8 December 2018.
 
I then mostly switched over to the Citizenship Forum.
 
Early notifications were that she would be waiting 10 months or so til August 2019 for movement on Citizenship.
 
But as a surprise, she got notification in late February 2019 that her Citizenship Interview would be on 26 March 2019 (yesterday).
 
She passed all (English written, English spoken, U.S. History, U.S Government) with flying colors and was even thanked by the Interview Officer for being so well prepared with everything.  As result she was done in about 26 minutes.
 
Now she is waiting to get notification as to the Oath Ceremony date.
 
So that is the final story to report to this thread.
 
Best of luck to all.
 
Leo7777

Wife passed Citizenship Test which  consisted of 1) Written English, 2) Spoken English, 3) U.S. History and 4) U.S. Government.
 
We arrived and were seated 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time.  The interviewing officer called her in 10 minutes later which was 10 minutes before her scheduled time.  She was back out 26 minutes later with a big smile.
 
Officer thanked her for being well prepared and quick with all her answers.  If you answer the first 6 questions correctly (which she did), they stop and don't ask the full 10 questions.  She had to read a 6 word sentence and write a 3 word sentence.   They also checked her teeth and vision (no, just kidding).
 
She did have to say No to  the 100 or so questions (that are on the application), and was even asked a second time about 10 or so of them later.  Just to see if she was consistent, I presume.

Wife passed Citizenship Test which  consisted of 1) Written English, 2) Spoken English, 3) U.S. History and 4) U.S. Government.
 
We arrived and were seated 20 minutes ahead of scheduled time.  The interviewing officer called her in 10 minutes later which was 10 minutes before her scheduled time.  She was back out 26 minutes later with a big smile.
 
Officer thanked her for being well prepared and quick with all her answers.  If you answer the first 6 questions correctly (which she did), they stop and don't ask the full 10 questions.  She had to read a 6 word sentence and write a 3 word sentence.   They also checked her teeth and vision (no, just kidding).
 
She did have to say No to  the 100 or so questions (that are on the application), and was even asked a second time about 10 or so of them later.  Just to see if she was consistent, I presume.

Off to Pittsburgh for wife's Citizenship Interview and Testing !!!!