erinandahmet

31 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

Not being a Citizen, I feel compelled to "pull my punches" , but many agree with you on the intent of this mess.

Totally understandable. I was born here and feel that it is my patriotic duty to voice my perspectives.  I do control myself when it comes to my husband's country so I know what you mean. 

24 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I'm not as convinced that people are taking the action as good faith, but I do think a lot of people agree that medical insurance is a must and this is one way to do so. Bad implementation at best.

Most everything they do is riddled with a lack of understanding and bad implementation imo. When you look at it in the context of what they have said out loud, and then all the other changes to immigration policy they have been making, you can really see the agenda. It is not an isolated policy change. They have clearly that they want to move to a merit-based system, where wealthier people will have access to travel and possibly immigrate, but regular people will not. 

I actually think that this is a prelude to what will happen due to climate change, where mass migrations of people will become inevitable due to climate disasters. That is just my gut feeling about why this sudden shift in so many countries. As I understand it, Syria's civil war was partly initiated because of long drought that led to food shortages, etc. I guess we will see.

5 minutes ago, 90DayFinancier said:

This is insane, when the interviewers ask their boss for guidance on how to implement the law, are the directed to the same useless message on the department website?

 

And how are employers supposed help their employees through this process as that is how most get insurance in this country?

And some of the solutions are illegal in some states. This administration is useless.

 

Thanks for posting Reuters by the way. 

I am surprised at how many people are taking these actions in good faith, as if they are really trying to help bring down medical debt, etc. I think it is pretty clear that this and other strategies that they are implementing are doing exactly what they want, which is to lessen legal immigration. Calling them useless is being kind. 

On 10/15/2019 at 11:56 AM, yuna628 said:

Does the insurance really have to do what? Add a spouse without an SSN? Yes they do. It's the law. And that pre-dates Trump significantly. I even remember browsing over the training materials given to advisers for those signing people up on the exchanges teaching them the SSN was not needed, and furthermore there was regulation that potentially allowed someone a SQLE if their insurance wrongfully denied coverage because of ignorance.

 

As much as I do not care for the new regulations and the headaches it creates, an insurance company employee being ignorant and unwilling has nothing to do with the current administration. That's been going on for ages. Trump's proclamation (not executive order.. there's a difference) does not change that.

Yeah,  it was years ago now, so I don't know if they were an inept employee or what. The insurance company was Avmed. I didn't force it because 1) I accepted what they said to be true, 2) there was no law so it wasn't a big deal then, and 3) I didn't know that I was going to be penalized in my taxes. Fortunately, my husband has finished and is already a citizen, and fortunately, I work for a job where we have good healthcare. I can just see that this is going to add extra difficulties for a lot of people. 

29 minutes ago, Bill Hamze said:

This is EXACTLY what I mean, and that's been bothering me about this whole thing. Technically, you should be able to add your husband and children without a SSN, but your insurance is NOT playing ball.  

 

What your insurance company is doing is shirking their special enrollment obligations, and that is in DIRECT CONFLICT with Trump's proclamation!!!

 

I sincerely hope that the authorities or lawyers or the courts actually take action on this.

 

 

Was it an Executive Order?

I see this as problematic in multiple ways, which are 1) does the insurance really have to do it? And even if they do, he just ordered this so maybe it takes 6 months or so for them to get on the ball. Plus, insurance never wants to pay as we know. Then 2) I don't think this is about health care actually, I honestly believe this is just another way to cut down legal immigration, especially for poorer people. They have made many, many changes and have clearly stated that they want to change to a merit-based system, which is where people will be ranked based on a bunch of factors. It would change the type of person who is able to immigrate to the US and put family reunification on the back burner. You can see this by the new definition of public charge. Now officers will have a lot more discretion to deny people. What is also annoying is that these changes apply specifically to families trying to do it the so-called "right" way, whereas there are a bunch of other categories that these changes won't impact. 

I think the AILA will definitely sue but the people in process now or coming up soon will be stuck in the middle with unclear guidelines either way. 

12 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

It is always best to add the spouse to coverage as soon as possible. Wait too long, and yes, you'll be endanger of having to sit out a while.

It is, however if the couple waits too long to apply for coverage, they may have to wait it out. The ACA is LEGAL for immigrants to use. You just may not use the subsidy according to the new policy.

I have insurance from work so I don't know how any of the ACA works. I wasn't able to add him when we got married because he was not in the country and didn't have a ssn. Then, when he did come, they said that we had to wait until open enrollment. It could be that the person with whom I spoke to was inept and incorrect. That's always possible. Some people say that moving is a qualifying event and they should have added him then. The penalty was a lot too. It was either 600 or 700. They didn't have this rule then so we just waited. I kind of feel like I got scammed by the insurance company actually. 

On 10/5/2019 at 1:52 AM, ADW & JOP said:

Not a Trump supporter and from a country with universal healthcare, I agree with this policy.

 

The other day, my wife and I were wondering why we haven't received our joint tax refund for this year. Our accountant contacted IRS and they explained it has been withheld due to Shared Responsibility. We both have healthcare insurance so we are sorting this out with the IRS right now. However, if taxpayers are expected to have healthcare insurance or make a shared responsibility payment , I see no reason why this should not be considered for prospective immigrants.

 

Reviewing his previous post, one can understand why he feels this way about the administration trying to "curb legal (immigration)".

 

What is "shared responsibility"? Is this related to the penalty that was supposed to go away? 

I have to say, that my insurance would not allow me to add my husband when he came and I had to pay a 9 month penalty that year. They said he had to wait until open enrollment since it was past the 60 days after we got married. 

12 hours ago, chel0524 said:

I-751 only.  We're not eligible to file N-400 until January.  My thinking is that all of these, like ours, that are moving so swiftly are all cr-1 cases where they are pretty cut and dry.  No adjustment of status or fiancé visas involved.

What is the difference? More interviews?   Ours was a CR-1 cut and dry, no RFE or interview, but it still took 17 1/2 months. 

8 hours ago, millefleur said:

I just realized that if having a CR-1 visa means faster ROC processing, that could be another pro vs. con when it comes to those deciding about CR-1 vs. K-1.

@millefleur, why does CR-1 visa make for faster processing of the ROC? (BTW, we did CR-1 visa and our ROC took 17 1/2 months, and we received it when it was 40% of the case numbers around ours.)

12 hours ago, erinandahmet said:

My understanding was that the National Benefits Center really just prepared the files for your N-400 process which takes place at your local office.  Are these I-751s only or is everyone filed N-400 also?

I was thinking of this one: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/blog/2012/06/national-benefits-center-what-it-is-and but maybe they changed it. I remember when we were doing I-751, all the people who filed for N-400 had their cases transferred there on their way to local offices but I guess they switched it up. 

7 hours ago, highHopes said:

Are you at the one at 183rd or downtown Miami rather??

Neither, the office is on NW 7th Avenue & 88th Avenue, which is near El Portal neighborhood. Right off of 95 

On 5/17/2019 at 9:53 AM, romypau77 said:

hello is someone from Miami field office has had any update, movement in their case?

I have completed fingerprints on 8/30/18, and nothing since then. 

completion says January 2020, so by then will be finished, ( oath ceremony done) or in line for interview? 

why is it moving so slow?

thanks

Hi @romypau77 
We just got our interview scheduled on Friday for Miami. We had filed 8/8/18 I believe, and then now our interview is 7/9/19 (5 weeks notice). Our estimated completion time still says December 2019, but I have seen that oath ceremonies are pretty fast in Miami. So you might be hearing something within the next few weeks. Good luck! 

My understanding was that the National Benefits Center really just prepared the files for your N-400 process which takes place at your local office.  Are these I-751s only or is everyone filed N-400 also?

14 minutes ago, N400NYC said:

Out of 86 field offices, Miami ranks 85th 😔

 

https://www.boundless.com/american-citizenship-report/#what-are-the-best-and-worst-field-offices-for-becoming-a-us-citizen

 

I applied in NYC (ranked 76th and almost as bad as Miami) in April 2019. It takes about a year to get an interview here - my estimated case completion is April 2020. Meanwhile there are other people who applied in April 2019 who live in other parts of the country and who already have interviews scheduled for June 2019 (less than 3 months after applying!!!). The inconsistency is absurd and cruel . 

 

 

It just depends on how busy they are. I think that Houston, Dallas, NYC are some of the most backed up locations. Those places that go fast are smaller locations where not many immigrants want to live.  Our processing date actually went down the other day. I think Miami is going to be around 13 or 14 months total until the interview. Just a few years ago it was only 4 to 5 months, but so many people applied for citizenship after the new administration came into power for obvious reasons. Look at the link that I posted which shows the current backlog. They only do it quarterly so the actual date was from Dec 2018, I believe. It takes them another few months to release the data but it was similar last year.  Well, it will either get a lot better soon or a lot worse. I kind feel happy to be this far a long at this point. They have started interviewing more people, denying more cases, etc. so I kind of feel like we will be lucky to  be finished before things get even worse. 

Hang in there!  

On 5/17/2019 at 9:53 AM, romypau77 said:

hello is someone from Miami field office has had any update, movement in their case?

I have completed fingerprints on 8/30/18, and nothing since then. 

completion says January 2020, so by then will be finished, ( oath ceremony done) or in line for interview? 

why is it moving so slow?

thanks

We are from the Miami office. We did our bio a few weeks before you, so you can follow our timeline if you want. Miami has 16,000 cases backlogged.  Miami is the worst in the state, with Oakland Park coming in 2nd. The new data just came out in April. You can see their quarterly reports.   https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports and Studies/Immigration Forms Data/Naturalization Data/N400_performancedata_fy2019_qtr1.pdf

Miami is taking over a year, but how much ranges. Their current official processing time is up to 25 months. Watching in real time the few Miami people going through here, you can search the spreadsheets, it seems to be around 13 or 14 months typically. Our date just moved back to December instead of January 2020 when they updated the system the other day. I think in real time, anywhere from August, Sept, October will probably be when we are called for an interview. There was someone from May who just got their interview and oath, and that was right around 12 months. 

Do you have a USCIS account? What does it say there? 

On 4/16/2019 at 9:02 AM, romypau77 said:

Hello, is anyone here waiting news form Miami ,fl field office? 

I did my bio metrics 8/30/18 and haven't heard anything, my completion timeline, shows january 2020, 9 months, but not sure which one is it, since Im already at my almost 9 months mark, with no update, 

 

Also that office is showing a very long and different processing time to up to 27.5 months, so any input as whats happening will be appreciate.

 

thanks

Yes, we are in Miami too. We did biometrics back in August 2018. When we spoke with them they said, it might be a little quicker but since then the times have increased. We have the same date of January 2020. Based on my research of other cases, although there are not that many, I kind of expect around October or November we might get an interview. All the offices in the cities are getting backed up. Basically, the new administration is changing how intensely the cases are vetted and interviewing more cases, which means that the lines will get longer and longer given a finite number of resources. Unless they were to increase the fees and hire more people. But even that would take a lot of time for training, etc. Not much you can do but wait. 

1 hour ago, corvusheart said:

At the end of his interview the IO said everything looked good and that he was recommend for approval for both. Even though he marked N400 as. Decision cannot be made he said he only had to mark it like that because he had to go in a different system to approve ROC and then after 2 days he would approve N400. 5 days later he got the ROC approval letter and new green card in the mail and a few more days later he got the RFE asking for 3 years worth of relationship evidence even though everything was already submitted and brought to interview. Somehow our evidence was good enough for ROC but not N400.

I am shocked too! I have not heard this one before. It is like a supervisor overrode the approval. Taxes are required, but none of the other things are specifically mentioned in the N-400 application. Those are all typical things for the ROC. I have noticed a lot more RFEs after our case was approved. What a hassle. I don't think that is typical at all, but they may be cracking down or trying to apply stricter standards, which of course will make everything longer and longer. Like asking for employment letters with all that specific info. People put that for their ROC sometimes but not N-400. 

I added  a few files because they were scanned and easily available when I did the N-400 online. I will have a folder ready with everything, but we still have approximately 10 months more of waiting. I have a feeling that they are also kind of not happy about all those people who were doing the combined cases. Some went smoothly, but I am hearing more and more weird stories and also just the endless wait for many people. By the time we get to our N-400 interview it will be around 5 years in the country anyway because they are so slow. 

Good luck. I hope they approve it soon.

22 minutes ago, santiagosilva said:

 

 

Thank you for the info.

 

When i applied for my n 400, (and not to vent too much), my wife was doing another month or so in the psych ward. I was considering not applying, but since i figured my life was going to be like this ; me going to see my wife at the mental ward everyday, the state was going to declare her a vulnerable adult, possibly put her in a home, what's another 6-12 months added to my process?  u know?

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry. That is a very sad situation. If I were in your position, I would definitely have all that paperwork organized and with me to show that there were a lot of factors outside of your control. Showing them that paperwork, plus your other bona fides will greatly help your case, even if you end up needing a waiver. Don't stress but just have your evidence prepared. Good luck! 

1 minute ago, santiagosilva said:

 

 

I'm also a CSC applicant 😕   .. I've spoken to some ppl in my geographic area, and they all seem to to have to wait longer than the rest of the country, weather it's N400, i751.. etc.

 

 

The different ppl who got ROC without being married on or after filing i 751, the ones i've spoken too, made no mention of domestic violence.. Heck, i have tons of police reports against my ex, not to mention she spent months at a time in the mental ward for self harm, strangling our cat, trying to kidnap me and our friend at knife point... just to name a few things.

 

 

I'm only basing my "overthinking", on if the person making the decision, isn't used to i 751, as the officer at fargo specifically said, and thus goes by "since you're not in an ongoing relationship", even thou as i 751, you're only supposed to prove that it was a bonafide relationship, AT TIME OF GETTING YOUR I 511... (at least that's what everyone who's gotten their i 751 / various articles say.)

 

If my i 751 is to be denied, I will appeal it, and hire lawyers etc. In terms of proof, we submitted literally everything in their list of proof of relationship, except having a child. Other than that, we literally ticked all the boxes, including foreign assets in both names. (well, my assets that I foolishly added her name to, before we got married)

 

 

 

Well what happened is that when you applied for the N-400, you were put in the back of the N-400 line. That line is related to your local office. We did not file the N-400 until after we received approval. Our local office is taking 18 months so we would have 2 1/2 to 3 years of nothing if we had filed. As soon as we were approved in July, then we just filed the N-400 online. I din't want to lose our place in the ROC line. The reason why is that if a local office is not backed up, filing the N-400 can make it go faster. However, in the city locations it makes it much slower and then you only have the letter to travel with. 

You are correct that you can be divorced, and all you have to prove is that you entered in the relationship for genuine reasons. If a divorce is final before you get approved, you are supposed to file for a divorce waiver. I do know people whose cases were given RFEs and then they were approved, even after divorce. You probably have enough evidence based on what you said to prove the genuine relationship and get approved for the ROC. However, the reason why the officer is saying that you should withdraw your N-400 is because you don't technically qualify anymore since you are not together. Did you read the USCIS memo I posted before? You would qualify at 5 years though so it is not a huge issue. 

https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoptions/remove_conditional_status

You can see that being a victim of violence, a widow are categories that they mention.  Then see the section about the "waiver." Most people who do joint applications don't  get interviewed, but the divorce waivers are more likely to be interviewed. 

I guess you should wait and see what he says. 

Here is the related policy manual; https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter5.html

19 minutes ago, santiagosilva said:

 

My understanding is that ROC, is based on conditional GC date, not the final interview date. I've even heard of ppl having gotten remarried before interview date, and passing, not to mention not being with their spouses on the day of filing i 751.

I filed I 751  feb 2017, and n 400 feb 2018, my wife left late june 2018. I fulfilled the bare minimum requirements in regards to filing dates, just not the final dates.

(i haven't seen nor spoken/reached out to her since she left, on account of her being mentally ill, and a danger to herself and others.)

 

in terms of commingling things, i'm not worried.. to this date , we have about 5-6 accounts and assets in both names, that she left me paying for and taking care of . (including  3 houses)

But in terms of bringing her with me, that's obviously not going to be an option. (+ she ran back to her home state of NJ, and we lived in ND )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not sure that I understand, what interview date? The ROC is for people who are married less than two years when they enter the United States.  You mean people who  got divorced and then remarried someone else? They could have gotten a waiver for violence against women act or a divorce waiver. In that case, they need to prove that the original marriage was bona fide. Most ROCs do not have an interview, unless they are divorced or suspected of fraud. 

Generally, the ROC is huge with tons of proof to show that the relationship continues, that you are living together. They seem to especially focus on joint taxes, bank accounts, etc. 

Sometimes when people do not file the N-400, then their ROC can slide through without getting flagged. By filing for citizenship, you are forcing them to interview you. Do you still even qualify for the citizenship? If you are doing the 3 year rule, then you don't. 

Btw, we filed 2/2017 also and were approved 7/2018 from CSC. Which office were you at? 

1 hour ago, corvusheart said:

Our ROC was approved after combo interview. But we got RFE for N400 wanting more relationship evidence.

What evidence did they ask for? Was it at the interview? They only ask for a few basic items in the file which are located in the document checklist.  I actually spoke with the officer here specifically about each type of file when I was checking on our ROC. 

On 3/19/2019 at 2:38 PM, santiagosilva said:

 

 

 

I'm more concerned about the i 751 to be honest.

 

my worry being that I show up for an interview, and because he doesn't know about the i 751 process, that seems to be more about "so long as you fulfilled the dates before applying, you're good", as opposed to "oath dates... that could've happened 20 years later ...", i don't want him to deny my i 751 based on n 400 principles

 

 

I am not sure that I understand what you mean. The I-751 does have higher standards as far as proof and is more up to their discretion. We are seeing more RFEs it seems like lately. If he doesn't approve your ROC in a combined case, then your N-400 would just sit in pending until the ROC was approved. The N-400 has different standards, and in some ways is easier, than the ROC. People are sending in hundreds of pages in their folders for the ROC, but the citizenship is if you meet the requirements for being in the country, pass the tests, good moral character (no legal issues). The Removal of Conditions is not hard per se, but they want proof of co-mingling of assets and all kinds of marriage proof. You definitely should bring your spouse for the interview. 

18 hours ago, santiagosilva said:

I just got back from my second infopass appointment. (fargo ND field office) The officer said he only dealt w n 400 and that there was nobody else at that office. I said i have a i 751 pending and that I'd have to come here, so he would have to most likely deal with both my cases . He kind of just shrug his shoulders. I told him about my pending divorce, and that estimated timeline would be divorce court in May, final late may. He said I most likely wouldn't qualify for the N 400, that I might as well withdraw it, but that he was going to have to look into the laws. I asked to clarify that "n 400 counts as continuous marriage, all the way through the interview, NOT just application date?" he repeated 2-3 times that that was the case. (but that he would look into it.) He also said that the N 400 are 16 months processing times. (in my case, that would put me at finalizing n 400 a little after my divorce.) But as I said, he didn't seem 100% sure on a lot of things, so I'm not going to take this as gospel for now.I just got back from my second infopass appointment. (fargo ND field office)  The officer said he only dealt w n 400 and that there was nobody else at that office. I said i have a i 751 pending and that I'd have to come here, so he would have to most likely deal with both my cases . He kind of just shrug his shoulders.

I told him about my pending divorce, and that estimated timeline would be divorce court in May, final late may. He said I most likely wouldn't qualify for the N 400, that I might as well withdraw it, but that he was going to have to look into the laws. I asked to clarify that "n 400 counts as continuous marriage, all the way through the interview, NOT just application date?" he repeated 2-3 times that that was the case. (but that he would look into it.)

 

 

He also said that the N 400 are 16 months processing times. (in my case, that would put me at finalizing n 400 a little after my divorce.)

Yes, I think you need to stay living together until the Oath.  See this recent USCIS memo:  https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/20181012-MaritalUnion.pdf?token=AWy6RZ2xkIBMCjekm4uWngN6OqgM3YZZNkxEwuPogy9vSSGiAjGwKSVPiPigXleaEEU3KpPcZgPGo1ibiyv0SAhwbrmOoh8RO9ok8hVvhxRwGq6k0O1txZne5s60hZiCpFBSnt0h395UNlxfr497ScVP

Also, sometimes they just do the one. For example, he could do your N-400 and then leave it pending. So what would happen is that you would have to wait until the I-751 is approved from whichever office it is at. This occasionally happens. They cannot approve the N-400 without concurrent or prior approval of the ROC. 

The thing is that you don't want them to make a mistake in your process because it could come back later to bite you. They can make a mistake and then take away your status later, so then it becomes more of a mess. They have been denaturalizing people that they say were given their status (mistakenly or fraudulently) so you are better off just waiting if that is what happens. Good luck!

On 9/8/2018 at 6:30 PM, Dodgertown said:

Yes, I noticed that too. Lots of information will be missing on the final N-400 snapshot. And it has nothing to do with Mac. That's how the system works at this moment. I believe all missing info can be added/edited during the interview. 

Thanks! I wanted to mention it during biometrics but they were so busy. Getting my husband organized with all the info and questions is what concerns me. LOL I am the one who does all the paperwork type of stuff. 

Hi! Has anyone noticed that when you file online and answer the questions not all the questions show up in the PDF Case Snapshot that you download? We answered everything online, but it doesn't seem to synch up with the paper version very well. I don't know if that is because I filled it out on a MAC? I am a bit concerned because I do not want them to say that parts are missing. I know others have had this as well but not everyone. 

Any thoughts or info on this?