prolixus

I'm only making this thread because I am curious, it doesn't apply to me or anyone I know. Maybe it'll help someone in this situation. I came on an IR-1 visa a few years ago. I'm just trying to better understand and not judge anyone.

When I was just a Canadian citizen, I've entered the US a few times with just my Canadian passport and had no questions asked to me by customs. Once I was just asked to verify if that was my luggage on a screen and that was literally it. Another time the only question I was asked was if I'm going to see mickey mouse. 

I know that someone can enter this way, even if they personally have the intention to get married and stay and adjust status, once they are in they are allowed to adjust. 

I read on another thread that intent alone cannot be used to deny an application for adjustment of status, if it is the sole negative factor (matter of battista). It's in the main general FAQ thread here.

So if a person has an otherwise golden AOS application, and admits in their interview that they entered on VWP or B-2 to get married and adjust, it can't and won't be denied? Does it matter if it's because you admitted it in the interview or if the interviewer came to that conclusion on their own? 

I would think that if you are trying to enter with VWP or B-2 to get married, even if the customs officer doesn't specifically ask, isn't it the duty of the foreign person to be truthful about the complete intentions of their visit?

Thanks!

I think the main thing is that they are ending the direct consular filing option because the USCIS office is closing there, and not the embassy?

6 minutes ago, Roel said:

 

It doesn't matter how what her intentions were. She was allowed in the US and she can adjust status. 

 

(Unfair but it is what it is) 

Yeah that is true. Intent is determined at the border so if she's in the US currently then it would've been determined there was no immigrant intent at that time. Maybe this is given a little more scrutiny at the interview stage? No idea.. Sigh

You aren't supposed to file for adjustment of status after having entered on a B-2 or visa waiver as a tourist. While it is technically possible, and situations do change, what your spouses intentions were when she crossed the border will be very important if you go through with it. If she came with the intention to adjust status on B-2/visa waiver, she'll have to go back to Canada and apply for an IR-1 immigrant visa. What was said to the border agents is especially important as to what your intentions were if you do file for adjustment of status. 

I don't know too much about this, others who are more experienced will probably come to give better advice lol. 

Cool, thanks for the reassurance!!

I got my US passport recently and the photo in the passport on the biographic page is not centered at all, its much further left than it probably should be. I compared it to my spouses and hers is nearly perfectly centered. The picture is also very dark. I personally don't really care how it looks, but could it cause a problem at a border crossing? Has anyone else had their passport photo look off? Thanks.

I apologize for my choice of words, "fake converting" was a poor choice. You might want to consider exploring the religion and learning more about it and deciding for yourself. I didn't feel like I was deceiving anyone about my religion because I wasn't really sure whether I was going to continue practicing Islam or not at the time. I learned a lot about the religion, culture and the prayers. In the end I did not and that was my choice, it doesn't change the fact that my marriage is real, and the continued relationship my wife now has with her mom is real that otherwise may not be there. 

Felt compelled to comment on this because I went through a similar issue. I was the immigrant non-muslim male coming from Canada, so my embassy/consulate was different than what Bahrain might be like. My wife was originally from Bangladesh but moved to America when she was very young.

It was technically illegal under muslim law or whatever for us to marry because I was not muslim, and when her family found out about us they were devastated and were basically ready to throw her out. She was never religious but her family thought she was. In order to make the process easier for them, I kind of "fake converted" and we got married in a mosque. It's been almost a decade and her dad never did come around but her mom did pretty quickly after she thought I converted, and while neither me or my wife practice Islam at all, her mom learned to live with it and we have a good relationship with her and her side of the family. Because of that we were able to show lots of pictures with them to immigration.

You might want to consider the whole conversion thing if it'll make it easier for everyone, doesn't matter what you do when she comes over to the US, at that point it doesn't really matter and you don't have to be religious at all. My wife and I are atheists. 

Yeah, it seems the Feb 2001 date is probably the actual date. I used the 2003 date on the form that was stamped by the INS on her N-600 application that they sent us a photocopy of from 2003. 

I kept telling myself in my head that it isn't a big deal but just couldn't stop thinking about it. Either way, whether it was 2001 or 2003 it doesn't change her eligibility to sponsor me or whatever I guess.

And yeah, I've had a few beers since I've been done with this process, I'm just not gonna think about it anymore and try to relax LOL. Thanks for the reassurance. 

This is something that has been on my mind for the past month and a half since I became a US citizen that I've been wanting to ask the community here about. 

I became a citizen based on the 3 year marriage rule. My spouse was not born in the US, but immigrated at 4 years old. She had a green card for a period of time, I'm not sure how long exactly. She eventually became a citizen (I believe at around 11 or 12 years old), which leads to my question. 

The N-400 form asks for the date your US citizen foreign born spouse became a citizen. She wasn't completely sure of the exact date, she never had a certificate of citizenship (to our knowledge) and only ever had her US passport. When she first arrived her father was already a citizen, he sponsored her and her mother. This was in 1997, so I'm not sure if the law back then allowed for her to become a citizen right away after arriving on an immigrant visa.

Before I filed N-400, I had her file an FOIA request with USCIS to find out the exact date (didn't want to pay $1000+ for the certificate of citizenship). They didn't respond with anything saying "you became a citizen on...xx/xx/xxxx" but instead provided her with a form N-600 that had been filed out, I guess to request a certificate of citizenship back from 2003. Whether or not she ever had one of these certificates, she doesn't know and her parents don't remember and if she did it has been long lost. 

So for the date that she became a citizen on my N-400 form, I just put the date that USCIS (i think it was actually INS back then) had stamped the form, which was the only official looking date. 

I was going to bring this up at the interview but it totally slipped my mind, and I wasn't asked anything about it. Is it something I should be concerned about? It's probably not a big deal at all but I can't stop thinking about it every now and then.

I had my interview at the Montreal consulate in 2015, but it was for an IR-1 visa. At that point my spouse and I were already married for 4.5 years. I was really worried about the outcome too but the Montreal consulate is pretty relaxed, and the interview was very easy and straight forward. The interviewer was a guy probably in his late 20's or early 30's and was very friendly. One of their biggest concerns is when the US citizen petitioner is living in Canada, and domicile becomes an issue, but that won't apply to your case. Good luck!

@payxibka My apologies, I made this thread asking specifically as a dual citizen with the US. I know that foreign citizens use ID issued by their government. 

@payxibka Yeah, that is what I meant. As @NikLR had said, use a US form of identification like US passport or drivers license. I will probably just show US officials my US passport to play it safe. 

Thanks for all the responses. Seems like its probably more important to show US officials a US form of identification, but in Canada its not as big of a deal. I'll still use my Canadian passport when entering Canada at the border. Thanks again!

My full name is the same on both passports, and that article says it doesn't matter which passport i use with TSA. Looks like they're just trying to match the name on the passport with the name on the ticket, so I should be fine. Thanks!!

Not sure if this has been specifically address or not, but I was wondering. I was naturalized yesterday and am now a dual Canadian/US citizen. I know I have to use the passport for the country I am entering at the border, but I've read that you have to use that countries passport with officials from that country as well, like at an exit border. Canada and the US don't have exit borders, not in airports anyway.

My question is this: is it okay for me to use my Canadian passport with TSA, and US passport with the Canadian TSA? 

Thanks!

@lovemywife85 

Applied July 25, 2018

Biometrics notice July 28, 2018

Biometrics August 13, 2018

Interview notice February 26, 2019

Interview August 9, 2019

Oath August 11, 2019

Had my interview in Orlando yesterday. I have a 10 year green card with no removal of conditions, applying under 3 year rule. 

My interview was at 10:00am and I arrived around 9:30. Security at the Orlando field office was was pretty quick, there was one couple ahead of me, took about 5 minutes. You have to have your interview letter and identification out and ready for them. After that I approached the reception desk and showed them my letter and green card, and they gave me a slip with a number. I then went to the waiting area to wait for my number to be called. The waiting room was pretty big, and not exactly crowded. There was plenty of seating for everyone there.

I waited about 50 minutes before my number was called. The numbers can be called at random, so for example if your number is "P62", they could call P74, P67 before yours. I think it's probably because whoever is supposed to interview you is predetermined, so your number will get called whenever that particular officer is ready to interview you. 

So after 50 minutes or so my number was called, I approached the door and followed my interviewer to her office. She asked me a few questions first, like my full name and date of birth, easy questions. Then I was put under oath. After that, we went through the standard yes and no questions that are on the N-400 and I verbally answered them all. One thing I'd like to note, I did get a speeding ticket 2.5 years ago. On the question where it asks if you've ever been arrested, cited, or detained or whatever, I had answered no. In preparing for my interview I got all the documents for it that I could, including what I guess is a court disposition that was stamped by the clerk of court, that showed the ticket was paid. So when I was asked that question, I said no, but I did get a speeding ticket in 2016. All she asked was if it was paid, I said yes, and we moved on. Did not need any documentation for it or anything further. 

Once those questions were all answered we moved right into the civics test. I was asked six questions and answered all six correctly. I was told I had passed the civics test and she was preparing the reading and writing sample. There was an issue with her system, it wasn't working properly so she told me she would close out of my file and I guess try going back into it to see if it would work. When she went back into my file, all the answers I had given for the civics test were wiped. I told her it was no big deal and I wouldn't mind taking it again, so we did that. I was asked another set of six questions and answered all six correctly again. I'll try my best to recall all the questions I was asked:

What is the supreme law of the land?

What are two rights in the declaration of independence?

Who does a US senator represent?

Why do some states have more representatives than others?

Who signs bills to become laws?

What is the highest court in the United States?

What are the two major political parties in the United States?

What is the political party of the president now?

What is one responsibility only for United States citizens?

How old do citizens have to be to vote for president?

When was the constitution written?

Who was the president during world war one?

I believe that was all the civics questions I was asked. Not in the order I was asked, but that is all of them. After that we moved on to the reading and writing. I had to read "When is Columbus day?" and write " Columbus day is in October." 

I brought a LOAD of documents with me. I hardly needed any of them. Another thing, my spouse was not born in the US but became a citizen when her parents were naturalized when she was 12. I submitted a copy of her US passport with my application. They didn't need to see any further proof of her citizenship, I didn't need to show her passport or anything. I guess the copy I had submitted of just the biographic data page was enough. 

One thing that they did need that I did not submit was a copy of my IR-1 visa in my passport. I didn't know they needed that, it was never asked for, but I still had the same passport I used when I immigrated so she just made a copy of that. 

Towards the end of my interview, she asked me if I had any further proof of our bona fide marriage. I had brought a lot, I gave her copies of leases from our apartments, document from our car loan, various bank statements, and recent mortgage documents. I printed about 10 new pictures over the past 3 years, some with just me and my spouse and some with her parents and with my parents. 

As a final note, I just want to say that I was pretty nervous for my interview, and it was all for nothing. The lady who interviewed me was professional but very very nice, and it helped to put me at ease. As far as I could tell, everyone who does interviews at the Orlando office seems very nice and friendly, and overall it was a fantastic experience. Once my interview was over, I waited about another half hour for a lady to come through a different door and hand out the oath ceremony letters. Mine is scheduled for tomorrow. 

@lovemywife85 you can request it here https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

@Lina&Juan Thanks a lot, glad your interview went well. Congrats!!

@TheAffThanks for the tip! I work in corporate finance so yeah I knew I needed the official IRS transcripts and I've got them for each year, including for the 2018 tax year. I don't owe any tax, and get a refund each year. 

@Lina&JuanHow was your interview? What questions were you asked? I think we have the same field office. I'm a little nervous for my interview.

@TheAffExactly, I'm trying to have everything I possibly can just in case. Best case scenario is that they don't need any of it, I don't mind at all lol.

Thanks for the reply Lemon23. I'll put together a few then, of mostly important events and with each others families. That should do it.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I have lease information for each apartment we rented, with both our names on it. I also have documentation of volunteer work I've done a few times a year since 2017 to help with the good moral character issue, should that come up because of the speeding ticket. 

I didn't submit very much evidence when I first applied, just a few financials for each year since I've been here with both our names on them. Really don't want to get an RFE at the interview so I'm bringing as much as I can. 

I haven't posted much on here, but I filed July 25, 2018 online and my local office is Orlando, FL. Filing under 3 year rule.

Biometrics on August 13th, 2018

Received interview notice on Feb 26, 2019

Interview for April 9, 2019.

I've been married to my spouse for nearly 8 years, we lived in Canada first before moving to the US. I came with an IR-1 visa and got the 10 year green card right away so I don't have to remove conditions. 

My case should be pretty standard but I got a speeding ticket in July of 2016. I know you don't need documents for it (it was a $120 ticket, paid it right away), but I have the certified court disposition for it anyway. Hoping it won't cause a problem.

I updated my address 3 times since living in the US, but was a few months late updating my address the 3rd time around, and have all documentation for it. 

I have loads of back up to prove our marriage. Recent mortgage docs, house title, car loan, credit cards, bank statements, tax docs, all in both our names. 

I didn't submit any photo evidence of our marriage. But we went on a few trips together, and I have some with her family and her with mine. Do you guys bring photos like those to the interview? Would be a pain to get them done but I could. 

I'll post about my interview and oath experience once it's over!

Thanks a lot for the reply. I changed my address two other times since living in the US, and have documented proof that I submitted the AR-11 on time. I never intended for USCIS to not know that I changed my address. I'll bring as much documentation regarding my address changes to the interview and hope it isn't a problem.