Lermontov

6 hours ago, Zombie69 said:

Yes, i did all that. 551 stamp, expired green card.

Yes, it has to be the last 5 years, where you have lived and worked or schools you attended.

You have to answer the question about the trip you took outside the US over the past 5 years, it doesn't matter how long you have been in the States, you just need to answer the question truthfully. 

There are a few anecdotal pieces of evidence of all kinds of different scenarios, but no one will get their 400 approved before 751 approved, it is just the law, they may combine the two when it is your time to do the 400 interview  my lawyer told me over the past 15 years, she had never been in a situation where she applied for N400 while 751 is pending until me, so the delay of CSC is unprecedented because normally applicants usually do not wait for over a year like this, and CSC is very delayed, it is not just a bit over a year, we might have to wait for a year and a half or even possibly two years depending on whether CSC. PS, the moderators here do not want people to talk about 400 here, so gotta be a bit careful, if you want to talk about 400 related matters, should go to the 400 thread. They might remove the 400 related topics, and they have. Good luck.

Thanks so much.

2 hours ago, aleful said:

has she or he also been a GC holder for almost 3 years or 3 years? it is not only having been married for 3 years, but also a GC holder for 3 years or 90 days prior of being a GC holder for 3 years to apply for citizenship

 

for citizenship she needs to send copy front and back of the GC to show when she became a GC holder to verify if she qualifies

 

 

Thanks for this. Yeah, I mean 3 years as a GC holder.

Some questions for the folks applying for citizenship with ROC still pending:

1. Do you submit a copy of the I-551 stamp in lieu of the permanent resident card? Include expired card as well?

2. On the N-400, do you need to put employment and school for 5 years, or only 3 years? The intent doesn't seem to be listing employment if that employment was in the country you immigrated from before the immigration process started. 

3. Same thing with the "Provide the total number of trips (24 hours or longer) you have taken outside the United States during the last 5 years." What do you do if you’ve only been in the US 3 years? Do they recognize that this form has limitations and should be read contextually, or should you follow it verbatim regardless?

4. Any threads on here with successful stories of people who have taken this route of applying before ROC finalized?

Hi Guys,

My spouse is applying for citizenship after 3 years of marriage together.

Some questions that seem obvious after going through the N-400 application:

1. Do you submit a copy of the I-551 stamp in lieu of the permanent resident card? Include expired card as well?

2. Do you need to put employment and school for 5 years, or only 3 years? The intent doesn't seem to be listing employment if that employment was in the country you immigrated from before the immigration process started. 

3. Same thing with the "Provide the total number of trips (24 hours or longer) you have taken outside the United States during the last 5 years." What do you do if you’ve only been in the US 3 years? Do they recognize that this form has limitations and should be read contextually, or should you follow it verbatim regardless?

Thanks for the help!

On 4/2/2017 at 2:51 AM, nightingalejules said:

Officially, it's the date of the green card expiration, but even some of the people who answer the phones at USCIS seem to think it's from the date of the letter. 

The most recent info is that the actual USCIS officers at the field offices take it to mean the date on the green card + 1 year, and won't give you an I-551 stamp until the month before that expires. Of course it is confusing and unclear, so it is possible that another field office might interpret it the other way. And there have been some stories that people were delayed at the border during the "grey area" between the date on the letter + 1yr and the date on the greencard +1yr. I haven't heard of anyone getting refused, though... just delayed but eventually allowed into the US, which suggests that the greencard date is correct.

Nonetheless, I'm planning to try to get the I-551 stamp early if I'm going to have to travel out of the US during that window.

Wow, that's really good to know! Thanks so much!

Is the one-year extension letter an extension from the date of green card expiration, or from the date of the letter itself?

On 2/20/2017 at 10:34 AM, JEWELLA said:

Whose processing time is correct Visajourney or USCIS?because USCIS is at July 28,2016 for both VSC and CSC.

Now it's back to May 14 on their website. Weird!

Thanks, I appreciate it.

My wife immigrated back in November, and we recently moved to a new address. My father, whose residence at which we were living, is a joint sponsor.

Am I obligated to fill out the I-865 because I changed addresses, or would this only be the case if my father were to move?

Thank you

I see the reason for your username.

Just to clarify, there are two types of AP.

One is simply that CEAC (the online visa status checker) shows "Administrative Processing" for a few days after the interview. This just means they are getting your visa ready.

More commonly AP refers to the background checks I mentioned above.

No chance. You will have to go through it for background checks etc. Can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple months or longer.

This is a terrible reply. According to the OP's timeline, he hasn't even had his interview yet.

Additional Processing is a security protocol tripped due to red flags from a visa applicant. It is more common among males from certain countries, but can also arise due to one's field of study or employment (if it's very technical or scientific in nature).

If you are just a normal joe and have a normal interview experience, AP is not common.

If the beneficiary does have a background in a scientific field, it would be best to bring a CV and list of publications to the interview in case you get asked about it so they can get the process in motion faster.

I need to know the approximate processing times for:

I-130

And PR visa and green card through consular processing

Just trying to figure out my options for bringing my husband to the U.S. eventually! Any additional tips/info appreciated!!!

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, however I have read that DCF is not available for Canadians. See here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/419480-direct-consular-filing-in-canada/

My wife recently received her CR-1 visa after 2 months in administrative processing. Her medical was the day before the interview.

Indeed, the visa's date of expiry is exactly 6 months after the medical exam date, which leaves 3 1/2 months to enter the US. Good to keep in mind.

I just wanted to provide you all with an update to the novel I wrote above...

After 70+- days of being a nervous wreck, we got word today both on CEAC, and via e-mail that our visa has been issued!

CEAC never changed to "ready," and back to AP like I had read about. Just "issued" out of the blue. Over the past week our case status was updated 4-5 times on successive days, so we knew something was up.

POE soon Hope these experiences help.

To be on the safe side...

He should be prepared to present anything (documents, plane tickets, medical records, etc.) that shows they were together at the time of conception.

Only certain couples qualify to DCF , you have to reside under an embassy that allows it, The USC has to have legal residence in the country usually for 6 months before filing.

He's talking about this:

"U.S. Embassies and Consulates may only accept I-130 petition filings from petitioners who believe they have exceptional situations that would merit an exception from filing by mail to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox."

Petitioners who believe that their situation merits an exception may contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate to request an exception and explain their circumstances in detail. Each request for an exception will be evaluated individually and must be authorized by the USCIS office that is responsible for that specific U.S. embassy or consulate.

USCIS published guidance on circumstances that may qualify as exceptional.

If your request to file an I-130 petition with a U.S. Embassy or Consulate is not authorized by USCIS, then you must file the petition with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox.

This guidance intimates that even if you meet the residency requirements in a foreign country, that you can only apply for DCF under "exceptional circumstances." As a DCF filer myself I've never heard of this, but if taken at face value, appears to be the official policy. Practice obviously appears to differ, and might be based on country.

I agree. I met my husband in October of 2013. We didn't get a request for more proof, BUT this is what I sent for his interview: a timeline showing the progression of our relationship, sectioned off by tabs. Each tab had a paragraph explaining the progression. Ex: met on interpals.net October 2. I wrote him a message and he replied. I then copied excerpts from our exchanges AND a screenshot of all our messages by subject. Next section: conversations moved to private emails. Screenshots of the file I created to house only emails from him. Excerpts from a selection of emails from every month. Next section: Facebook friends, and screenshots of our page activities: posts, shared pics, Facebook messages, etc. you get the idea. We also were able to get together twice before his interview. He just moved here 2 weeks ago, and we've now begun the AOS process. Expand on the evidence you have already sent. Try to be at the next interview, if at all possible.

Y'all met on Interpals? Us too

So much weight in fact the visa gets stuck underneath it for a while for AP!

Lol, good one.

You are a veteran! That makes sense. Best of luck, and let's hope it's soon!

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html here is another source for the three times verses five times value of assets needed. Scroll down to ASSETS and look for the how much FAQ.

On page 7 of the I-864 instructions, it states:

"In order to qualify based on the value of your assets, the total value of your assets must equal at least five times the difference between your total household income and the current poverty guidelines for your household size. However, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are sponsoring your spouse or minor child, the total value of your assets must only be equal to at least three times the difference."

So that is two different sources that state it is three times--one is the USCIS I-864 instructions and the other if from the DOS.

Dave

Spaseeba, Dave.

Lermontov,

I hear ya! Anytime you mention a science PhD in consulate, they give you 221(g). I have been through it quite a few times and have lived to tell the tale. For me AP lasted about 15 days.

I have heard many horror stories about administrative processing as well and they are really scary, but don't panic yet. At least you are with your family right now. I think if one has a unique, uncommon name, the processing does not take too long. If it's a very common name and when they check it against FBI database and find many matches in many countries, then it takes longer.

Also I am quite familiar with the name translation screw up by Russian authorities. One of my friends from Ukraine has a very common name 'Anna' and when they translated it for her on her external passport, they wrote 'Ganna'. The poor thing is going to be known as Ganna for the rest of her life!

Hahaha, MUXAGIRL, thanks for the much needed breath of fresh air. You and my wife might need to trade contact details when we move back to the US You all sound very like-minded.

I made the very unfortunate error of thinking that high qualifications are a good thing! Oh well, we are both very educated people and value education, so it's hard to hide. Let's hope it's only 15 days like you! Luckily she does have a very unique name.

In my line of work (higher education administration) I have dealt with many international, PhD students who have missed a semester or more of classes because of the MANTIS checks. Of course you have the 80% who have quick clearances, but for those 1/5 of students for whom it takes 2-3 months or more, it can be tough. I have studied the issue and advocated for them a lot. Let's hope some of that lucky karma comes back to us. But, I feel like I'm putting in my time now and experiencing what I never thought I'd have to experience.

Ganna is just terrible! We were told that the passport could be changed, but that the request would have to go to Moscow for approval. But since I don't speak Russian, the responsibility would fall on my wife to go back to the passport place and do the whole thing over. Her name wasn't butchered like your friend, but just spelled in an "unorthodox" way, let's say. So, given we have a baby and the time it would take to go there and do all the stuff, and our desire to get the interview over with, she said the name was fine. She still thinks in Russian rather than English, so it didn't matter to her (maybe it will later). I was more upset! It will be a fun story, and has some deeper lessons too.

Thanks for your reply!

Call IOM and ask if you have questions! I don't think you need to have anything scheduled to do a medical exam. You're paying them after all.

God, that's terrible. My thoughts are with you.

Thanks for writing about your experience. I will point out that the guy was incorrect according to the instructions on the I-864 form. If you use assets you divide them by 3 not 5 if you are sponsoring your wife and/or minor child like you were. So it goes to show you that not everyone knows their own rules. In my dealings with this process so far I would say the CBP people are the best trained, then the USCIS, and lastly the SSA.

I hope you get good news soon,

Dave

Thanks for the support, Dave. If you have any documentation that definitively states this, I'd love to see it.

Best.

In tribute to the very detailed report by "julia&alex," I wanted to share my own recent experience of applying for DCF in Moscow. There were some unexpected things along the way, so I hope my experience contributes to navigating your own journey.

So, where to start?

1. Getting Married in Russia

My wife (Russian citizen) and myself (US citizen born and raised) met Online a few years ago, and in 2013 decided to get married in her hometown (not going to go into specifics here, but it's a mid-size Russian city that is surprisingly modern). I got a 3-year, multiple-entry, private stay Russian visa in about two weeks with no big hitches. On her end, the only thing I needed was a notarized invitation stating the dates we wanted the visa to be valid, cities to be visited, etc. Only word of advice...make sure the Russian notary uses special paper with a serial number on it! Not completely sure, but I've heard they aren't issuing these visas anymore. Anyway, I've been lucky (or blessed) with bureaucracy up to this point, and got the visa without too much drama. By the way, just for those wondering, my wife and I are the same age.

So, before moving to Russia, my wife visited the local "palace of marriages" (i.e. ZAGS) to check up on marriage requirements, and told me they had copies of the "non-impediment to marriage" forms from most US states. It was surprising how many USC's had gotten married there. But, they didn't have one from my state. I just had an apostilled form from my state's Dept. of Health which stated they could find no prior marriage records, and this was accepted.

After registering our marriage date about a month before the ceremony, the only hiccup we had was about the suffix on my name (Jr.) I also had Jr. (мл in Russian) on my visa. So, because my wife wanted to change her name to my own, they wanted her to also be "Junior!" Clearly that wasn't going to fly. Lol. So, we explained to the very educated, English-speaking ZAGS administrator that this is just an American convention, and her last name should be without suffix. After making a quick phone call, she agreed, and so it was. Our daughter went through the same confusion when she was born, and they wanted her to be "Jr." on her Russian birth certificate! Again, my very persuasive wife talked them out of it.

ZAGS weddings are very egalitarian...we loved it. Happiest day of our lives. They did require an in-person translator, however, to make sure I understood the legal aspects of what we were entering into. So, if the translator didn't show up, we wouldn't have been able to get married! That was nerve racking, but the translator showed up, and we were hitched. And, that's that!

2. Submitting I-130 via DCF

So, because we aren't in Moscow, submitting the I-130 was going to be the first step of a big process of booking flights, traveling to Moscow, etc. Not the most convenient thing. I wanted to submit our I-130 in February 2014, and just travel by myself to Moscow and get it knocked out. Our daughter was only a few months old, and we didn't want her and my breastfeeding wife flying in the dead of winter.

Due to my visa type, and length of stay in Russia for over 6 months, I qualified for DCF. USCIS Moscow was very responsive both via phone and e-mail, and answered all my questions. One of my big questions was about how long a trip could be outside of the country to still qualify for DCF. They told me 7-10 days, which is very generous. I only took two trips since I moved to Russia, one for 1 day, and the other for 3 days. The customer service was excellent for the most part. So, I thought I had everything together and was about to go to Moscow in February, and then I found out.......

If you have been married for less than 2 years, your spouse must accompany you to file your I-130 -- something that to this day I cannot find guidance about on the USCIS website, or even on Visa Journey. I was aware of the CR-1/IR-1 differences dealing with the number of years you have been married, but had never heard that they need to interview both spouses in person if they've been married less than two years. I only found this out through a random e-mail I sent to USCIS before my trip. If anyone has documentation about this, just in retrospect, I'd love to see it.

So, our February submission of the I-130 was scuttled. We finally waited until June 2014 and went to Moscow together.

The trip was easy for the most part. It was sunny, the embassy was easy to find, and our daughter was a champ on the plane ride. The day we arrived we went to the embassy (American Citizen Services) and applied for a passport and CRBA (consular report of birth abroad) for our daughter, which was pretty seamless.

The next day we had the appointment with USCIS (you enter via the right hand entrance of the embassy if you are facing it, there is a left-hand entrance that is used for ACS). But, the security guy, despite speaking some English, didn't seem to know what USCIS was (even after showing him our InfoPass appointment). So, we grabbed the security guy we chatted with the day before at the other entrance and he explained our situation.

We then went through to security (no one else there in the afternoon), and went up to USCIS on the second floor, to a white-washed waiting room with a few doors leading to interview rooms. It was pretty dingy, and not all that glamorous. I'm sure funding and space issues play a role here. We went to the reception area, where you pick up a phone and tell them that you're there. A nice Russian guy (USCIS employee) came and reviewed our documents with little delay, and then we waited for our interview with the USCIS-equivalent of a consular officer.

The officer interviewed us separately (me first, with my wife and child outside the room), which lasted probably 25 minutes (an hour or so all together). The officer typed everything into a computer: Where we met, etc. etc. Honestly I can't recall that much about it now. Everything was basic, but a little more in-depth than I expected. Like, when we first met, how often we spoke on Skype together. So, it went well beyond cursory knowledge, but was still routine. Then it was my wife's turn, which basically consisted of comparing her answers to mine. And, that was it!

I don't want to go into any of the details about questioning, etc. It was all routine. However, to my surprise, the officer (who had been friendly, if not a bit quirky) at the end made a very strange and sarcastic comment to us. But, we perceived it to not be friendly. That put a damper on us and made me worry the rest of the trip.

Upon leaving (and paying) we checked-in again at the reception desk, and a very nice lady (the supervisor I think) told us that she had seen my name before from the e-mails I had sent, and what could to expect next in the process.

A few days later we received an e-mail that our I-130 was approved with an attached PDF letter, and we got a hardcopy of the same letter via DHL a week or two later.

3. Visa Interview

After the initial USCIS e-mail approval, we received very quick e-mail confirmation from the embassy that our case had been transferred to immigrant visa unit, along with our case number, and received instructions for how to schedule an interview appointment on USTravelDocs. We received nothing via regular mail.

Our lives were turned upside down for a few days as my wife then received her new "Zagran Passport" (Intl. Russian passport), but they spelled her name (the English transliteration of her Russian name) completely different from how she spells it in English. Google it, it's a common problem. We just decided to go with it, and not go through the hassle of changing it. As long as the name spellings sound similar phonetically, it doesn't affect any of your embassy paperwork from the I-130, but you have to make sure on the next round (i.e. DS-260) that the name you submit matches the passport, as this will also be the name on your visa. So, my wife finally fell victim to Russian bureaucracy (which up until this time we had no complaints about). I sarcastically mentioned to my wife that we could bribe them to change it...and she said we could go to prison if we tried that. Contrary to popular belief, I've never experienced any kind of corruption in Russia, and no one has ever intimated or asked us for a bribe, nor have we ever thought that attempting that would get us anywhere. I don't know where corruption exists in Russia, but it's not in our town. From hospitals, to ZAGS, to the passport place, everything (i.e. bureaucratically) has functioned just as well, if not smoother than in the US.

So, preparing for the next leg of flights, etc. to Moscow in July 2014 (a month after I-130 submission) was fraught with the same worries about getting documents together, our daughter flying, etc. But, it all went fine. My wife got her police certificate easily, in about 3 weeks (it only listed the places she had lived, not that it had been checked against a central database), and it only took a day for translations. On the first trip, USCIS told us that they "weren't sure" if my big packet of evidence (with photos, etc.) would be transferred to the embassy, so I wound up making another one again with photos, etc. Turns out the embassy did indeed have all our USCIS materials in their file.

Medical. We booked our medical appointment with IOM by phone about two weeks before our interview, and were surprised that some of the days that week were fully booked. However, there was plenty of interview space on USTravelDocs, so it was easy to change my original interview date to later in the week to accommodate the medical slots being booked. The medical has two legs: 1) Show up to their administrative offices from 8-9 AM, or so, to register and pay. 2) Travel to the actual medical clinic for your exam.

We were processed pretty fast at IOM, which was open before we got there at 8:30. We filled out some sheets, paid, they took a quick look at my wife's vaccine record, and that was it. We then hopped in a taxi and got to the medical clinic (close to Red Square), which took 20-25 minutes.

We were the second people there, and it took around 2 hours all in all. However, it seemed to go pretty slow after that, and I'm sure some of the later folks had a longer wait. We were pleased with the speed of it all, and picked-up the results the same day at 4 PM. The price was around 7000 rubles (a bit more, but don't recall the exact amount). They ONLY TAKE CASH, no credit cards. Once at the clinic, turns out my wife needed an extra immunization that was out of date, and we weren't charged for it.

Interview. The next day we had the interview at the embassy 8 AM. We showed up around 7:15 and there were already people waiting. So, I don't know what I did wrong, but at the first security checkpoint inside the embassy they actually WOULDN'T LET ME IN at first because my name "wasn't on the list." Only my wife was on there. Maybe doing DCF screwed something up. But, basically, they were about to not let me into the interview with my wife (which would have been terrible, since I had assembled our folder with forms, evidence, etc. and she had no familiarity with any of it). I still don't know how one gets onto this "list," since I'm the petitioner I thought 100% my name would just be on there. But, anyway, they sent my wife and daughter ahead of me, made me wait for 5 minutes, made a call, and I was let in. But, Jesus, talk about stressful!

So, we go up to the second floor (again, close to where USCIS was), and sit down. Since we have a baby, I talked them into letting me submit my documents first, but other than that it seemed to be a free-for-all system of who submits their forms first. Then, I went downstairs to pay, and back upstairs again (wife and daughter stayed upstairs). Then, very quickly we were called into the interview.

Both of these trips because of the time difference from our hometown in Russia, we had been sort of jet lagged/out of it. That's why I can't really recall the nitty-gritty details of the USCIS interview. I'm sure petitioners who travel from the US face the same thing.

So, all of our hard work and waiting boiled down to this point, jet lagged, going into a non-air conditioned interview room...

My wife and I entered and she did the fingerprint thing and took the oath (you have a choice to say it in Russian or English, she elected for Russian). I raised my right hand and took a shorter oath. Despite saying "Spaseeba," however, the consular officer never asked if my wife would be more comfortable doing the interview in Russian (she would have been). But, again, we were jet lagged, and we didn't even think about asking.

The questions at first were usual: Where we met, my wife's employment, etc.

Then, the consular officer eventually breaks it to me that I didn't meet the "poverty guideline." I had lots of assets, but only a small "estimated annual income" (or whatever it is that you estimate on the I-864 for the current year). I was like $1,000 short. Why? Because they divide your assets by five. So, my tens of thousands of dollars worth of assets were suddenly divided by five, and when added to my estimated annual income, didn't reach the poverty threshold.

So, why was I calm throughout all of this? Because, anticipating this might happen due to the asset/income disparity, had my father fill out an I-864 as a joint sponsor.

However, the consular officer didn't even ask for a joint sponsor. He was busy rattling off the ways in which I could find more assets to qualify (house, car, etc.). He even started to fill out a 221(G)! I finally said, "I have a joint sponsor, will that work?" I handed over the papers and he checked them over and asked quickly about my father's employment. "You obviously came prepared," he said. Yeah.

So, after the shock of not being let into the embassy, and having my assets divided five times over, I thought that was it. However, in my idiocy -- after asking about my wife's employment (she's a science teacher) -- unsolicited, I bragged that my wife had a PhD. Education wasn't asked about on any previous form, either. The officer asked if I had a copy of her CV (I didn't), but I did have a copy of her dissertation abstract (I had it in lieu of her diploma, which she hasn't received a hard copy of yet). So, he asked for it and intimated it would have to be reviewed. He was about to get up and leave...

"Wait, where do we go from here," I asked. I was then told her visa could be issued in "1-2 days," or it "might take a month." We were then told if we had any questions to contact the embassy, and he CIRCLED THE EMBASSY E-MAIL ADDRESS ON THE 221(G) HE WAS ORIGINALLY FILLING OUT FOR ME. I didn't realize this at the time, but he basically handed the 221(G) to us without explaining anything, and leaving us unsure whether he was just guiding us to contact information, or genuinely issuing a 221(G) to us. I think he didn't issue it, but I'm not sure. So, definitely no "congratulations, welcome to the US," or whatever. It was this kind of ambiguity that typified the entire interview. No questions about our daughter, and no USCIS-type relationship questions at all. All in all it probably lasted 15-20 minutes.

Post-Interview

It has now been over a week since our visa interview, and CEAC still says "Administrative Processing." Today, August 8 (a little over one week since the interview), I received an e-mail asking for my wife's CV and a list of scientific publications.

So, I am anticipating this might last a month or so (as the officer explicitly said), but the "AP horror stories" I am now reading are making my thoughts go wild Maybe it's karma for the ease of DCF? Anyway, at least we are together -- I can't imagine what it would be like going through AP if you're apart from your spouse after all your waiting and hard work.

I will update this thread with updates about our visa.

Hope this helps!