acrufox

Well this just keeps getting worse and worse. I called my local SS office and explained that I can't just come into the office. She said I had to fill out the application and send in the originals of my certificate and my DRIVERS LICENSE. When I asked her about how to drive during the week or two it would take to process my form, she said drive without your license. When I said that wasn't acceptable she asked me if I got stopped by the police a lot. I said no, but I don't think the police officer would understand if I just said I had no license. She tells me to tell the police officer that I sent my ID into the SS office and that I can drive without a license. Again I said that was probably a bad idea she suggests I photocopy my drivers license and use that.

WOW! Drive without a license? Wow that's terrible advice.

1 hour ago, xyz12345 said:

1) SS is not really a priority unless you have a name change so you don't have to do go there asap. some people even took more than 10 years to update their records.

 

2) Don't apply for passport for now and hang on to your naturalization certificate. Since you are coming back to the US via land, you can just use your DL if it's Real ID-compliant. You can also bring your Nat Cert just in case.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative

What types of documents are accepted for entry into the United States via land and sea?

• U.S. citizens can present a valid: U.S. Passport; Passport Card; Enhanced Driver’s License; Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST); U.S. Military identification card when traveling on official orders; U.S. Merchant Mariner document when traveling in conjunction with official maritime business; or Form I-872 American Indian Card, or (when available) Enhanced Tribal Card.

 

3) When do you renew your DL? In FL the mailed renewal form also includes an voter registration form. You can also probably ask your state voter office to mail you a form.

I was just curious in what order I should do this or some way of updating my SS with the local office being closed. Maybe someone on here has been able to do it and it wasn't hard, and if that was the case then I would do that first if it only took a week or two. Voting is last for me, it would be nice to vote in the fall election but compared to everything else, my parents are more important. Indiana always votes republican anyway.

That's just it, I want to have the most valid thing on me, a US passport. I don't want to take a trip to help my parents based off using my certificate to reenter the US. There are only two crossings I can go through to get to Nova Scotia. They are New Brunswick Canada, and Maine crossings. I could write a book on the high levels of incompetence at both crossings and the US agents have put me through.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if I handed my certificate over and then they told me to park and come in and hold me for several hours for fun and then send me on my way and not give me my certificate back for the laughs.  I've had agents ask me if the car I'm driving is stolen, I've been screamed at for not paying attention to signs or road markings that were so faded, no one could see them. I was once pulled aside and instead of putting me into the waiting area, they put me into the detention area with no windows. I sat there worried, sitting on a bench with handcuffs along the metal rail. I've had everything dumped out of my car and left that way and told to put things back "the way I like"

I even asked an agent once, what do I have to do to stop getting treated this way. She surprisingly answered that the crossings are in the middle of nowhere and people from southern Maine take work up here and hate it. She said on any given day her coworkers would give people a hard time or give them an inspection just because they were bored or just because they can. She didn't mince her words when she said what she thought of everyone else she had to work with there. Magically I never saw her again after that day.

So no, I think taking my naturalization certificate back into the US would be a terrible idea. I would like to get my passport if at all possible. Also my drivers license is real ID compliant but that only applies to flying, not land crossings. For land crossings you need to have an enhanced drivers license, and the only states to have those seem to be border states. Indiana isn't a border state. Also I remember before I moved down here many years ago, I wanted an enhanced drivers license. Nova Scotia never offered them so using a EDL is out of the question.

Real ID and EDL are two completely different things. Real ID lets me fly without a passport, EDL lets me travel between the US and Canada only but only some states and provinces have those and I've never lived in one that did.

So I'm just kinda wondering if I should just throw caution to the wind and not wait for the SS offices to open again and voting in this state would only be for the principle of saying I didn't vote for someone, which leaves the last thing, my parents. They're old and getting older.  The way my mom talks about my father and the way my father speaks to me on the phone, I have the feeling hes developing dementia. The only other person to know about all their finances, investments and bills is me, including if something bad happens, the will. My mother doesn't even know how to use her debit card and my father has never told her the PIN number. So if I let things go too long, taking care of my parents, helping them downsize and move to another part of Canada for better health care will be way more impossible to accomplish.

It's really sad though. Back in 2016 when I moved away, I spoke to my parent's doctor about my concerns and he just said he felt sorry for me, that until they injured themselves or were at risk of injuring others,  I would have a hard time proving they needed assisted living or even just a nurse that checks in time to time.

44 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

Leaving for Canada isn’t the issue - returning to the US will be. USC are required to enter the US with the US passport hence OP is attempting to obtain one.

 

OP, I’d probably go for the passport first. Voter registration won’t close for some months and the backlog for passports is long, so the earlier you get in line the better

That's what I'm trying to get at. The return to the US and I'm crossing at a land crossing, not flying. To be to the point, in the 4 years I've lived in the US, doctors have resolved several health conditions I had. Some of them require prescriptions that I take on a daily basis. I've already asked my doctors how long they can prescribe for and they said 90 days. So I have to make a 4 1/2 hour trip back to the border, cross into the US and pick it all up at a walmart near the border. I really don't want to cross into the US with the reason of needing to pick up my prescriptions and hand them my certificate. Especially since the only two closest crossings are run by highly incompetent people. What if I crossed and ran into an officer on a bad day and he lets me in but confiscates my naturalization certificate. Then I'm about a 1200 mile drive back to Indiana and all my stuff in Nova Scotia. I will have to drive all the way back to Indiana and most likely be told "too bad" about getting my certificate back and told to request a replacement for only $555. :S

To me everything seems like a bad idea. My parents should be the most important thing but who knows how long it will take. They're okay with waiting 3 months or so if that's what is needed to get my passport, but who knows? If USPS is allowed to go under then I won't get a passport anytime soon anyway. It's just very frustrating when ones parents are almost 80 years old and every time you mention a delay they just accuse you of not caring or finding excuses not to help them and frankly I'm tired of being told that. *sigh* I'm also tired of them telling me to move back to Canada. 😕

Oh and also, as I've said, I live in a republican state. I've made two attempts to register to vote and be told it will only be 2-3 days and I'll hear back, especially if I'm denied. I applied the next day after my oath and I waited two weeks and heard nothing. I checked to see if I registered and the site said no. So I applied again and same thing, 2-3 days and you'll know. So by Thursday I bet I'll still not hear anything. I am not surprised at all that I'm running into issues with registering to vote, the site says how easy it is to do too. ::rollseyes::

It's not that I am concerned about visiting my ailing parents, it's the fact that I no longer have my green card so I can't just come back to the US whenever I want or need to with only a Canadian passport. I highly doubt I can just pull up to US customs with my car and hand them my Canadian passport and say I'm coming back to the US after taking care of my parents, trust me, I am an American Citizen, but have no US passport or US travel documents.

I know of the following:

"A United States citizen traveling back to the U.S. by land cannot be denied entry to the U.S. The U.S. will not refuse entry to a U.S. citizen; even one without a passport or other valid travel document."

I really don't want to test out the whole reentering the US with only a certificate of naturalization. Part of the problem here is my parents want me to get them care, fix the house up, sell the house and move them somewhere else in Canada. This will take several trips. The only two land crossings I can go through both have given me a very hard time in the past when I was just a Canadian Citizen with a passport. I really don't like the idea of being detained for several hours while they "verify" my citizenship.

My parents don't expect me right away but they hope that I can come back and take care of things by September or October when hopefully I will have my US passport by then. I am just wondering if I should even bother with notifying social security or registering to vote. I think both require me to have my certificate of naturalization, but if I go to USPS and apply for a passport, they will take that from me and I'll just end up waiting who knows how long until I am sent my passport.

I am aware of the global pandemic, there are a whole set of other circumstances I need to deal with when I enter Canada. I'm not saying they're not interested in sorting things out. I live in Indiana which is a republican state. You can't go anywhere in this state without hearing how everything is getting back normal and things are just great! No one in this state is social distancing or wearing masks. That soon everything will be open and running smoothly again. You have a government pushing to reopen everything except when it comes to government services. We have government services remaining reduced or closed and adhering to strict covid procedures while we have a president that tells the complete opposite.

Look at USCIS, they're already talking about running out of money by the end of summer. I'm seeing stories about how the NH field office will have to start furloughing workers by August. So by the time they are up and running again, they will have to shut down. When I had my oath done, I was told all you needed to do is wait 10 days and go into an SS office. All the SS offices were closed when I had my oath ceremony. Then there is USPS, again same thing, by the end of summer they will run out of money. So if I apply for my passport. I could be waiting a very long time. I know how serious covid-19 is. I caught H1N1 back in 2009 and I could barely move or breathe and it took over half a year for me to get my lung capacity back. Just walking in a store for 5 mins left me out of breath.

No, I haven't visited in 4 years. Although I do have a Canadian passport, I'm sure I would have a lot of problems coming back to the US as it's going to take more than one visit to sort my parents out, that and I have to drive there, it can't be a flight. I'd like to sort out my social security record first, register to vote 2nd, and then apply for a passport third, but it doesn't seem like I can get any of the three done.

The longer I wait on getting the passport the more difficult things will be to help them out, if the social security offices aren't going to open any time soon and I may not even be here to vote in the fall, I'm wondering if I just shouldn't bother with voting or notifying social security since neither seems interested in sorting things out any time soon.

So, how does one update your social security record after 10 days when it says here that it has to be done in person and the local social security office is closed because of covid-19? Also trying to register to vote as well as apply for a passport. All three seem to want me to show my certificate of naturalization, with the passport one actually wanting my original for I don't know how many months.

I've tried to register to vote twice now, two full weeks apart and I'm told by the online system for my state I should hear back in 2-3 days and I don''t. My parents health is also failing and they called me and asked me to come home ASAP which requires a passport. So I'm not sure what order I should do this in. Doesn't seem like I can update my social security record if they aren't allowing people to come in, I'd like to register to vote but no one ever gets back to me, and if I apply for my passport first so I can tend to my parents, I likely won't be able to do the other two because I won't be in possession of my naturalization certificate.

Has anyone who has just just attended their oath ceremony in the last month been successful in updating your social security record, if yes, how do you do it?

Thanks in advance~

A couple of hours ago I had my oath ceremony de-scheduled:

This is to advise you that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel the previously scheduled Oath Ceremony on Friday, April 03, 2020 for the above applicant. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.
We will advise you of any further action taken on this case, including any rescheduled interview appointment information, under separate notice.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this notice or the status of your case, please contact the USCIS Contact Center toll free at1-800-375-5283. If you are hearing impaired, please call the USCIS Contact Center TDD at 1-800-767-1833.

After my last interview I was asked if I wanted the closest available location being South Bend, Fort Wayne, Or Indianapolis, or first available location, I chose the first available location and was scheduled for an oath ceremony at the following location in South Bend:

101 Washington Hall
Notre Dame IN 46556

I must admit only being three weeks away from my oath ceremony and having it cancelled on me is quite depressing/disheartening.  Since the contact center is open 8am-8pm, it's beyond the time I can call to confirm this is due to coronavirus.

I entered the USA at the end of October and today I went to the Social Security office to request a SSN. I asked if they could find me in the SAVE system to which she could not. She took another look and found that I was in the system with my middle name placed with my first, no middle name, and my last name.

The woman provided me with a phone number to call Homeland Security who then referred to me make an appointment with my nearest USCIS office to make the correction (123 Miles away, ugh) I have made an appointment concerning this~

Should I just bring my long form birth Certificate and Passport with me as proof of my name? This isn't exactly a typo, and I haven't received my permanent green card yet either, I'd like to avoid paying a filing fee of $365 since I wasn't the one that made this mistake~ What should I expect since this error was spotted only two weeks into entering the US.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Just checked again and the status has changed from Ready to Issued but says below:

Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. As the officer told you in the interview, if further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved when administrative processing is finished, you will receive notification to collect the passport with the visa from the Loomis branch you selected when you booked your appointment.

Is that the standard message when the status is changed to issued?

I didn't really keep track of the timeline so it would take me awhile to dig all that information up. It's for a CR-1 Visa.

I really hope that isn't the case that it will take a year for anything to happen 0_o They currently have my passport and that expires in the spring of 2017...I was curious how long other Canadians who had to go to Montreal had to wait before receiving a change in status at the NVC or how long until they received their package that they take to the POE.

Just at the last step wondering generally how long it takes from the interview and approval at the consulate to hearing something.

I went to my interview on Friday, August 5th in Montreal and was approved and given my welcome letter. I asked if there was anything else I needed to do or pick up later in the day and was told no and to wait for a packet to be sent out to the location I chose back home containing my passport.

How long does that usually take? My status on the NVC status website has remained as Ready ever since I was assigned my schedule date. Is this something I just have to sit tight and continue waiting for?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the quick replies, much appreciated!

Guess I'm ready to go to my interview next week!

I've been prepping for my interview that comes up soon and decided to read through the reviews for the Montreal consulate location so I'm somewhat familiar with what to expect while I'm there.

Most of the reviews I've read speak of a DS-160 confirmation page with photo on it that you first provide, I don't ever recall seeing or filling out a DS-160 form/confirmation page. I do have a DS-260 confirmation page, is that what they are referring to? It has my case number, confirmation number and two bar codes on it but no picture.

Also my checklist refers to the following:

"IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION PART 1"

"IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION PART 2"

I take it from what I've read on here that this is the complete DS-260 form I filled out online (6 pages).

Going through the I-130 process and I thought I'd ask on here to be sure~

Thanks!

Welp, just checked ceac.state.gov and the Affidavit of Support (AOS fee) and now it says N/A instead of paid.

Guess one of us should call to confirm~

My husband called in to check the status and the person at the other end said that it would take up to 42 additional days from when he called on Friday. She didn't mention anything about it being under supervisor review though, she just said it might take up to an additional 42 days.

So we should just leave things be and the NVC will eventually get around to things? Or should we just check in at https://ceac.state.gov and wait for the three N/A status on that website for an indication of case complete.

I've read through the forum and have seen some people who call 2-4 times a week and ask for a status update, and I've even seen other postings for/against supervisor reviews on a case to get things moving again.

Everything has been moving along smoothly within time frames expected until we received a checklist for my long form birth certificate on the step just before being forwarded to the consulate in Montreal.

Just wondering how long is too long at this stage in the process before we should be concerned of how long is too long to receive a response or what to do when that point is reached.

On April 15th, we received e-mails stating that the NVC wanted the long form version of my birth certificate. Due to government agencies being notoriously slow, I wasn't able to obtain mine until May 6th.

I sent him a pdf copy of my long form birth certificate and he printed it out and mailed it in the following day. The tracking number indicated it was received on May 9th, to the NVC center in NH, just over 30 days have passed and we have not received any further contact from the NVC requesting any additional documents, and my status just says At NVC. The checklist says to allow 30 days to review our response.

Should my husband start poking the people at the NVC to see if things are moving along smoothly yet, or should we give it another couple of weeks? If they haven't reviewed the additional documents yet, should he ask to speak to someone higher up than the operator like a supervisor?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks, I had been really concerned we wouldn't have very much on that front when I read through the process. I want to help him as much as I can but at the same time I don't want to overwhelm him either.

That being said, it's probably a good idea to get him to sign up with this site if he has any additional questions.

Thanks for replying so qickly

So basically Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage is anything showing proof we have been in a relationship over the years. Not just confied to that specific 1-6 list.

We have many friends that are aware we have been together for at least a good 10+ years, and family members on my husband's side of the family for at least 15 years. That being said can the affidavits be from family members or are they not considered third party? How many affidavits would be a good number to include?

The US doesn't seem to stamp Canadian passports, but I have kept my previous passport, the only reason I had it was to travel to the USA. Before 2007 passports weren't required to visit the USA.

*with two of my closest friends present.

Small update on things. My husband and I got married back earlier this summer in Maryland with two of my closest friends and we left our current travel plans asis.

He is about to start the CR-1 process in early January 2015. I noticed on the CR-1 page about assembling the I-130 checklist that Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage is required. 1-4 don't cover our situation. He has always lived in the USA and I've always lived in Canada. Our finances have always been separate outside of him helping me pay for the odd bill here and there over the years. We don't own joint property together, we do not have a joint lease showing a common residence (I live too far away for that to be feasible), the only co-mingling of financial resources we have would be paypal trasactions from him that I've used on bills back home or to assist in travel exepenses to and from Indiana going back several years. So I don't know if this would be suitable documentation for #4.

We've only been married since the early summer and that was only 5 months ago, does this include proof/documentation since before we got married but were together? Does that mean we only have 5 open to us? Any feedback on what others who didn't really fall under 1-4 would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks!

Thank you everyone for your replies and providing with all this information. I think I pretty much have had all my questions answered.

Wrong=long, oh autocorrect...

Does having the I-130 filed suddenly change what questions they ask you when you go through customs for travel?

I never take much pleasure with customs when I cross via a land crossing. Usually the times I am asked for proof of returning, I don't have to go much further than my medical records and insurance coverage as proof of return. I'm currently on prescription medication and my travelers insurance policy only lets me go down anyway up to 60 days at a time or I lose it. Whenever I explain that I am self employed, they never seem satisfied with the answers I give or proof I provide, as compared to showing them my medical records, or things like bills I pay on a monthly basis. I used to get asked a lot more questions than I used to though. Since I travel down there sometimes 3-4 times a year, it's becoming more of a routine than anything, so I haven't been asked for proof of return for many years now.

This is why I'm afraid of having the I-130 submitted during or right after this trip, that it will somehow change or increase the amount of questions they ask me when I cross to go on our Vegas trip early next year. Roles between my boyfriend and I have changed over the years. I used to be the one that made a lot more money than him, and he was only part time. Now he is the one with a steady job and income.

I can see why you guys are encouraging to file ASAP since the process could end up being overly wrong, I just don't want to jeopardize my visits with my BF, that's my only concern.

Aside from the basic steps/procedure, do they assist you with going through to the next step or assume you should already know.

How many days should I set aside to be in Montreal approximately, including the interview & medical exam. Are there any costs involved outside of the obvious staying at a hotel and getting food? Does this physical exam cost any money? I only knew about the consulate and medical exam needed but not the details like you've provided here.

The IR-1/CR-1 process looks much more appealing indeed, one thing noted on there though about that is: "Separation from family may be longer than if filing for a K-3 Visa (or K-1 visa for a non-married fiance). The applicant will most likely not be able to enter the US while their IR1-CR-1 Visa is being processed." How long exactly are we talking here approx?

Looks like this avenue would be better in the long run, and would save quite a bit of money as well. I will more than likely need to travel outside the USA myself due to family emergencies back home, and most of them are seemingly always unexpected.

Reading through the replies.... We can indeed get married in 2 weeks, obtain our certificate and have a small ceremony to officialize the certificate, head back home. I can still travel back/forth on my Passport and travel freely to the rest of our planned trips as usual. Can the I-130 part to start the petitioning process be filed while I'm inside the USA on one of these trips or I must be in Canada when he does.

I apologize for being repetitive on here. Thank you for being patient with me