jaske78

We are scheduled for Los Angeles in 7 days! It is such a stress! There has been no notification, but the ceremony will be for 5,000 people!

Our ROC case is finally completed. After two years of conditional residence, we filed for ROC in November 2017, then in February of 2019, since nothing happened and we had absolutely no word from it, we filed the N-400 for naturalization. The naturalization interview took place in late August. The naturalization interview was completed successfully, but the case could not be closed and the naturalization approved until the ROC was finalized. Fortunately, they called and requested the dossier to be sent from Laguna Nigel, where it had rested stagnant, and it was sent onward to Lee's Summit.

 After many months of complete silence, suddenly all of our remaining approvals happened overnight. On St. Valentine's Day, the condition was removed, and the physical green card was printed. Automatically on the same day, we received news from naturalization that the N-400 was approved and we were in the queue for the Oath of Citizenship, and today 2/22/2020 the Green Card arrived in the mail. Just one more step--the Oath ceremony--and our Visa Journey is done. They said it would be scheduled within ninety days.

Overall, so far, it was slower than normal, but not as slow as we feared it might be. The Lee's Summit portion took five and a half months. We feared it would be over a year. There was no interview and they did not ask for any additional information.

I hope that this helps someone in a similar position, who is locked in this waiting mode without any news from any source. That silence--not even having any time frame to expect--was the worst part of it.

Just checking in to say that there is absolutely no news. Our case was transferred to MSC three months ago. As of this week, we applied for green card two years ago. I am afraid of taking a job out of the area because I am afraid that it would set us back even more than the two bloody years it's taken so far. Also, they didn't send a confirmation email that they got the documents when we sent them back in September. All we have to prove that we sent them is the delivery slip from the post office, which shows that our package was delivered.

This is exactly my story! They even did the N-400 interview and then said, "We can't make a decision." We filed for the I-751 in November 2017!

I am going through the same thing. We submitted for AOS in November 2017. We even went through the N-400 interview, where the guy was stunned that the Green Card interview hadn't been done. They then gave us thirty days to produce evidence for everything from 2017 to 2019 that chronicled our story. On August 28th, we received notice that it was transferred to Lee's Summit. Since then, nothing. Not even an idea how long it will take: Savva was over in a month, VVP is holding on for a long time. The local office is San Bernardino. There seems to be no consensus on how long this nonsense takes, but at the 120 day mark I am contacting my local representative. This has been going on for two years now, so it is out of processing time.

Thanks!

I posted this a while back, but I am posting an update:

• We filed for AOS in November 2017
• AOS was transferred to Laguna Nigel, CA March 2018
  • It sat untouched, according to records, since then.
• Filed for Naturalization in January 2019
• Got I-551 passport stamp July 2019
• Naturalization interview August 2019
  • Reviewer was stunned that the status had not been resolved. Refused to conduct both interviews. Sent us home with RFE, due within thirty days.
  • RFE handed in September 2019
• Notification that AOS application was sent to Lees Summit, MO (not our local office.)
• Foreign passport will expire June 2020. We must travel back, renew the foreign passport--which will now have no I-551 stamp in it--and then what?

There has been absolute silence. I do not know where these things are. I do not know what is going on, or how long to wait. I do not know what to do. I have heard that they have to decide one way or the other about the naturalization interview within four months, but they say no. I have read that it might take San Bernardino 23 months to adjudicate a green card--does that mean that we have to restart the queue once it is finally transferred? Has anybody had an experience like this? Should I call and ask for them to expedite this process somewhat? Is this overlong? Should we lawyer up? I would really appreciate some assistance here.

It's not a long trip. The problem is that, while we are there, we will have to get anew PP that will have no stamp in it, and no way of proving that we have American residence once that old passport has been made invalid.

Should we go to the local Embassy about this?

Hi, all,

We applied for the AOS in November 2017, and it is still just circling around and around. Now we have a stamp in our passport instead of a green card. The problem? That passport is expiring next June. If we fly back, renew passports, and then come back, there is a chance that there won't be a stamp to prove that there is a green card at all (and this is one of those countries that requires a visa just to get into the US).

In the meantime, we have even had a citizenship interview where they were stunned that the Green Card had not been dealt with, and refused to make any decision at all.

As of a month ago, the case was transferred to Lee's Summit, MO, and goodness knows how long it will be hanging around there before our local office will pick it up.

What is the correct procedure here?

Hey, I have a similar issue. We did the naturalization interview and were approved (provisionally, with a few clarifications to update their files), but  they discovered that our 751 had been sitting untouched since March 2018 (we filed it in November 2017). They said in our local office that they would request it to be sent to them. And then it was sent to Missouri, which was a stunner. Is this a bad thing? Has anybody had to do a ROC interview AFTER having done the naturalization interview? Is this now some kind of formality?

52 minutes ago, jaske78 said:

Okay, so here is my saga, part IV.

• We did a naturalization interview that was passed, but because the ROC was still stagnating several hundred miles away, in Laguna Nigel, they asked for more information that I have acquired to verify the continuation of the marriage to this date, as we did not have a combination interview and they were even shocked that we would be coming in without the green card in hand.
• They requested a copy of our I-797 from Laguna Nigel (we filed in November 2017, it was sent to Laguna Nigel in March 2018 and has sat untouched ever since.)
• We have until September 25th to post our requests for more information directly to San Bernardino vis-a-vis the n-400.
• We just received a letter stating that our I-797 has been sent, not to San Bernardino, but to Lees Summit, Missouri. I looked at some messages there are found that people were writing cheerfully things like, "congratulations! Your green card should be adjudicated within three to five months!" Five months?
• In the interview, they were even suggesting that if we got our information in quickly enough, we could be at the oath ceremony in September/October.

Somebody please tell me that you have been through this, that I should not be freaking out and phoning them up to ask them why San Bernardino, my local field office that told me they requested my files, does not have them, that because of this issue they will make a speedier decision than five months. (Five months?) and that it will work out, that the Green Card will not gum up the naturalization...Yikes. My head is just spinning think about all the possibilities (and none of them are good).

Given that the information in that I-797 is now almost two full years out of date, will they ask for an RFE? On the other hand, the ROC is contingent upon proving two years of continuous marriage and cohabitation, which we have proven as of the date we filed the filed the I-797. In two thousand and seventeen.

I am freaking out. This is all backwards and it is all a nightmare.

Addendum to this--is this time to lawyer up, in your opinion?

Okay, so here is my saga, part IV.

• We did a naturalization interview that was passed, but because the ROC was still stagnating several hundred miles away, in Laguna Nigel, they asked for more information that I have acquired to verify the continuation of the marriage to this date, as we did not have a combination interview and they were even shocked that we would be coming in without the green card in hand.
• They requested a copy of our I-797 from Laguna Nigel (we filed in November 2017, it was sent to Laguna Nigel in March 2018 and has sat untouched ever since.)
• We have until September 25th to post our requests for more information directly to San Bernardino vis-a-vis the n-400.
• We just received a letter stating that our I-797 has been sent, not to San Bernardino, but to Lees Summit, Missouri. I looked at some messages there are found that people were writing cheerfully things like, "congratulations! Your green card should be adjudicated within three to five months!" Five months?
• In the interview, they were even suggesting that if we got our information in quickly enough, we could be at the oath ceremony in September/October.

Somebody please tell me that you have been through this, that I should not be freaking out and phoning them up to ask them why San Bernardino, my local field office that told me they requested my files, does not have them, that because of this issue they will make a speedier decision than five months. (Five months?) and that it will work out, that the Green Card will not gum up the naturalization...Yikes. My head is just spinning think about all the possibilities (and none of them are good).

Given that the information in that I-797 is now almost two full years out of date, will they ask for an RFE? On the other hand, the ROC is contingent upon proving two years of continuous marriage and cohabitation, which we have proven as of the date we filed the filed the I-797. In two thousand and seventeen.

I am freaking out. This is all backwards and it is all a nightmare.

1 hour ago, CJKylie said:

@jaske78 affidavits don’t really hold any weight - waste of time and paper imo

That is what I thought as well. Thank you for confirming it!

So quick question: in the list of stuff to send in, it does not have any I-751 Affidavits  listed from people who know us, although it does say "any additional evidence you wish to submit." Is that overkill? Does it make it look suspicious? I am trying to think strategically, that now that I am sending this information to the people in our local office, it will join the ample and extensive information I submitted two years ago to make the same point.

So far, I am submitting the following:

• Lease w/letter from our property manager that he knows us and knows that we live together, alone, and are good tenants who have not left the property
• Car/homeowner's Insurance documents listing both names
• Electricity bill in both names
• Webpage printout from cellphone company and internet company listing him as an authorized user/manager on my account.
• Bank statement for joint checking (we so rarely use checks that I never even thought about replacing them)
• Statement from Vanguard Investments, where we have a joint account.
• Statement from another investment where we have joint account
• Statement from my life insurance, where he is sole beneficiary
• Statement from retirement account, where he is sole beneficiary.
• W2s and statements from current workplaces stating that I am married, that he is listed as emergency contact, and dates of employment.

I can get affidavits from family friends and my stepsister that they know us and they know we live together, but my stepsister lives in New York, my father four hours away, my best friend in Ohio (I am in California) and my coworkers have only met him in passing, if at all (we are a quiet, stick-to-yourself sort of couple), so I worry that it might look a bit suspicious.

Has anybody ever been called in to do a ROC interview as well in these circumstances?

So this was our experience today: when we got there, the man was stunned that we didn't have the green card yet. At first he thought we submitted too early, but when he found out that it we have been waiting almost two full years, since 2017, he left the office and came back later to tell us the following:

• The Green Card application is sitting in a processing center in Laguna Nigel, some four hours away. It has been sitting there, untouched, since March 2018. He requested it to be sent to our local office. The fact that I filed a change of address in very early 2018 should have moved the packet, I suppose, but...didn't.
• The naturalization interview was a pass.
• They did not do a combination interview because there was nothing to process: the packet was not there.
• Even if he did have the packet, he said, everything would be terribly out of date: it proved that we would have had a marriage in 2017, but now, so what?
• He sent us home with a set of directives about proving where we have been living for the past three years, including old W2s,  letters from my current employers that show that I have claimed marital status, have my spouse listed as an emergency contact, leases, insurance statements, and financial documents.
• We have until September 25th to submit this for examination.

Many of these things, needless to say, were in the 2017 filing that will be sent over, and the updated things will be joining their brothers. He did have a better guidelines than I have gotten here: he said that if it does not have both our name on the front page, he is not interested (that's good to know).

I was able to assemble most of these things within a few hours. There are some things that I had to send emails about (verification of employment letters, for instance), but I am confident that I can get them within the week. So this is a process, but not an insurmountable one.

I wish I had known that the green card application had stalled. I kept hoping it would be put together, like it was for so many of you.

46 minutes ago, kline19 said:

If your office happen to be San Bernadino then I believe I have read more than one account on here in the past of people getting through the combo interview smoothly without any fuss.

It is San Bernardino. I read a couple from there that seemed to be saying the same thing, and I am reassured to hear that it they have an accepted practice that they seem to adhere to. Thank you!

Hi there! We are so stressed! Our naturalization interview is on Friday morning, first thing! Unfortunately, they seem to be unaware that it is a combination interview: we applied for the green card in November 2017 and it still has not arrived yet. We even got an I-551 stamp in the passport It seems that people have walked in and said, this is a combination interview, and the IO shrugs and says, okay, let's process them both. I am now having nightmares that we will walk in and they will say, "No, no, go away," and all of this will be for nothing. Will share the results on Friday, but please somebody reassure me that they won't send us away.

Thanks in advance!

Thank you so much! I was in so much panic! I didn't even know the I-94 existed, but now I have a copy ready to go to correct the issue.

Hi, all:

On the n-400 I entered the wrong date (the wrong year) for one of our trips abroad. How bad is this? Can it be corrected at the interview? Does this mean rejection and repeating the process?

Thank you

It says in the official USCIS video that they would like to see a copy of all your old, expired passports. However, I have read many, many people here who have been asked to show their passports during the time of their stay in America and for the prior five years.

Some of these old passports cannot be found (I don't keep old, expired passports, for instance).

Can someone confirm their experience with this? Did they insist on seeing your old passports from 1984, or not?

Thanks very much.

Dilip, the 18-month extension letter is what just expired.

Georgia16, thank you - and thank you also for correcting my terminology. It has been very helpful.

The temporary green card expired yesterday. We are waiting on a phone call to get an appointment to get the I-551. When we called initially, 30 days in advance, we were told by USCIS that we could only apply for the I-551 about 5 days before expiration of the temporary green card. We have called and we are waiting for them to contact us.

We have also filed for naturalization, in January, and would like to know the following:

1. What are the consequences for this having expired without having this stamp while the case is still pending?

2. How far out are the appointments, in general? I read somewhere that it was about a week, but that might have been very out of date, as I am now reading about several weeks. Our local office is in California.

Thank you,

Jason

Hi there!

A few weeks ago, GoodbyeGirl gave me some great feedback about the I-551. The extension expires on July 11, 2019.

I just got off the phone with USCIS, where the woman said that she could not make an infopass appointment for this reason until it was five days before the expiration date, OR the date had expired. I expressed concern because on the date of expiration, my husband becomes, technically, illegal. She said that he would not be deportable because he has this paperwork in progress. My local office is not scheduling Infopass online. What is your feedback about this?

On 4/2/2019 at 5:37 AM, GoodbyeGirl said:

My local office will only issue the i-551 (stamp in the passport) around 30 days before the expiration of the current Green Card. I would hold off, as you may find your cases - at the very least your GC - see some traction before July 2019.

• Or has the office been sending second extension letters automatically as well?
  • If so, how long do I wait before I apply for an extension?

As far as I'm aware, there is only one 18-month extension letter. Should you get to at least a month before that expires and there's still no progress, then make an infopass and your 'extension' will be the i-551.

 

 

Hi there!

So some confusion here, and I will give you a timeline and then ask my questions:

TIMELINE

• Applied for permanent green card, November 2017, still no word.
• Application was transferred to local field office on March 4, 2018, and has been sitting there ever since.
• Extension granted on conditional green card, January 2018, expiring July 2019
• Applied for citizenship, February 4, 2019. At current timeline, it should be adjudicated in November/December 2019.

PROBLEMS

• At current timeline, the Green Card should be adjudicated in April 2019, however, the current timelines show that they are now dealing with applications far later than ours.
• We hoped that, by delaying the citizenship application, we could sidestep some of the problems reported here, of the citizenship being adjudicated before the green card was finished.
• The conditional Green Card's extension is almost over, and I am not sure if it would hamper things to ask for an extension now.

QUESTIONS

• Has the green card now been bundled in with the citizenship application?
  • Does that mean that, even though we waited, the green card simply won't come on its own schedule?
  • Is there any way to ferret out slightly more detailed information from anywhere aside from "Your application was received?"
• How long does it take to get an extension on the conditional Green Card?
  • Should I apply on April 11, 90 days before it expires, or ought I to wait until June 11,  only 30 days before it expires?
  • Does asking for an extension add to the delays?
• Or has the office been sending second extension letters automatically as well?
  • If so, how long do I wait before I apply for an extension?

Thank you in advance!