optlh0

I'm guessing they have PhilHealth over there (the Philippines government health insurance?). If so, that should cover a good amount of hospital visits at public hospitals if they're needed. You could probably get round the clock help at home for $1K per month over there?

While I'm not guaranteeing that's the cost, the point is, just the health insurance here will be over $1k per month, plus deductibles which are likely to run over $500/month (6K per year) if you use it a lot. That cost is probably on the low end for 2 seniors. That doesn't include any home care.

Plus as seniors in the Philippines they get senior citizen cards which entitle them to discounts, first place in lines, etc.. that they won't get in the US.

Just something to think about before bringing them here...

She's allowed to gamble at a casino in a state where it's legal. Online gambling is a whole different story. Lot's of differing state and federal laws that can be confusing to navigate through. Best to stay away from that until she becomes a citizen.   

On 9/25/2019 at 8:04 AM, optlh0 said:

So this morning my wife got an email from USCIS that her naturalization was approved! What a happy day  

 

Still no word on her greencard ROC but I guess we don't care as long as she gets to take the oath.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help and encouragement

 

The wife finally got a notice that her ROC was approved but the letter said that seeing how she was already approved for naturalization they would not be sending her a new green card. Guess that pretty much wraps things up. 

So this morning my wife got an email from USCIS that her naturalization was approved! What a happy day  

Still no word on her greencard ROC but I guess we don't care as long as she gets to take the oath.

Thanks everyone for all the help and encouragement

If your husbands company covers domestic partners, they may cover you before marriage. My company covers domestic partners so I just had to sign an affidavit that said we live together and we're in a committed relationship. That covered her from day one here until we got married. After marriage we switched it from her being my domestic partner to my wife. Yeah, not cheap though adding a family member  We did not need her to have a social security number first. Good luck! 

10 hours ago, dadNdave said:

Best of luck waiting for the I-751 and N-400 approval!

Thanks so much! Sorry for the rant. We were just really hoping to be celebrating yesterday. I guess now we can say we're closer than before but we're still caught up in the USCIS whirlpool of fun. The officer asked my wife why our 751 was taking so long and why it got transferred to Missouri. She asked if we lived in Missouri. Aggggghhhhhhh!

So my wife had her citizenship interview today. She passed everything but instead of leaving with a sheet of paper that said approved, she left with one that said ‘a decision cannot be made at this time’. Why? Because her freaking I-751 is still waiting to be approved! We filed in Oct of 2017. No RFE's. Her 18 month extension letter expired in July. Last month her case got transferred from Minnesota to Missouri. No idea why. This is soooooo frustrating.... 

On 9/7/2019 at 8:49 AM, dadNdave said:

he mentioned they were setting up an interview office in Sioux Falls

I wonder if you can do your oath there as well? 

Mine sent me a picture which I had printed at a photo shop

41 minutes ago, dadNdave said:

Has as anyone else been transferred to another field office after 290 days?

Our 10 year Green Card renewal (I-751) just got transferred to another office about a week ago. We've been waiting 22 months for that one so far.

A friend of mine had his wife's I-751 case similarly transferred about 6 months ago and they received the 10 year green card in the mail about a month after that. I think that means they went to the top of the pile. 

Hopefully this is a good thing for you. Best of luck!

Just give everyone that would send you mail your new US address. This includes changing your address on bank accounts, and things like that. The mail will automatically arrive at that address. You don't have to register with anyone  

6 hours ago, duitta2g15 said:

What do you mean you  hate expedited processing  because your mail could get lost in the mail? So if you do normal processing, it wouldn’t get lost in the mail? The chance of your mail getting lost  is very slim.  I applied for my passport and requested expedited processing and I got it within  less than two weeks. 

It doesn't say I hate expedited processing. It says if the oath ceremony is scheduled towards the end of Oct close to when we have our trip planned I'd hate to have to rely on expedited processing. It could get lost in the mail or something.  Something could mean a number of different things. 

The point of my question was to find out if there's a way to avoid getting into that situation beforehand?

1 hour ago, optlh0 said:

Hi all, the great news is that my wife has her interview scheduled for Sept. 9th. Assuming she passes, it appears like the oath ceremony would be scheduled in Oct? 5 - 8 weeks out from the interview? (Based on the google spreadsheet people have been filling out)

 

We have a trip planned for outside the US at the end of Oct. If the oath ceremony is scheduled for mid to late Oct her old passport would become void, and we don't think there would be enough time to get a US passport before we leave. I know it could be expedited but we'd hate to rely on that and then have it get lost in the mail or something. 

 

Can we just tell them at the interview we either need to do the oath immediately or wait until after we return from our trip? How would we get the date changed if they scheduled her oath ceremony for a day when we're out of the country? Appreciate the help. Thanks

Disregard this, I found out how to reschedule if needed. Thanks

Hi all, the great news is that my wife has her interview scheduled for Sept. 9th. Assuming she passes, it appears like the oath ceremony would be scheduled in Oct? 5 - 8 weeks out from the interview? (Based on the google spreadsheet people have been filling out)

We have a trip planned for outside the US at the end of Oct. If the oath ceremony is scheduled for mid to late Oct her old passport would become void, and we don't think there would be enough time to get a US passport before we leave. I know it could be expedited but we'd hate to rely on that and then have it get lost in the mail or something. 

Can we just tell them at the interview we either need to do the oath immediately or wait until after we return from our trip? How would we get the date changed if they scheduled her oath ceremony for a day when we're out of the country? Appreciate the help. Thanks

9 hours ago, ricky22 said:

Yeah I wrote to him but never heard back. 

It appears like he packed up shop and left? No posts since April and he removed his timeline. Too bad, the google doc was an awesome way to track peoples progress

1 hour ago, Amadia said:

Destroyed it???

Whoa.....I have read many posts where members have gone to get i551 stamps in their passports but that didn't happen. Also, they only give the stamp within the week of expiration so that lady who stamped it and destroyed your spouse's green card seems to be acting out of normal protocol.

Another couple we know went to the same field office a few months before us. They were handled the exact same way.  Because the passport stamp gives the same privileges as the green card I guess I didn't find it unusual. Maybe they don't want old green cards ending up on the black market or something where they could get altered? Just a guess on my part...

7 minutes ago, JuMi14656 said:

I filed in September 2018 and it said it would take until July 2020. I'm taking my oath ceremony today.

Congratulations!!! Hope that trend continues

16 hours ago, N-o-l-a said:

Could. How close are you guys to the Twin Cities, because they seem to be zipping along now.

 

It is close to month 16 here.

I hope that's true. We live fairly close to downtown Minneapolis  They're not zipping along with the I-751's though. We filed that in Oct. of 2017 and still waiting... We went and got an I-551 stamp on Monday because her extension letter would expire next month. The woman there told us it's taking so long for 10 year green cards because there's only a couple places in the US that can print them and priority is given to people that are new immigrants. People that already have green cards can use extension letters and I-551 stamps instead of a green card. So maybe it's not their fault?

16 hours ago, Citizendan said:

Who told her that?

USCIS. She filed her application online. She got an email from them saying they received the application and the expected processing time was 22 months

My wife filed in Oct of 2018. They said they expect it to take 22 months. Sept of 2020

Just an FYI for people who hadn't heard this,

On Monday my wife and I went to the Minneapolis field office to get an I-551 stamp because her 18 month extension letter is due to expire next month. The woman that did her stamp said the long wait times for new green cards were due to there only being a couple places in the country that are authorized to print out the green cards. She said priority is given to new immigrants that don't have green cards yet because people with them can either use extension letters or I-551 stamps. 

After giving her the I-551 stamp they took her green card and destroyed it. They said the I-551 stamp in the passport becomes your new green card for both travel and work until you receive the new physical card.

The woman also said filing for the I-751 doesn't affect the processing time for the N-400 if you file that too

On Monday my wife and I went to the Minneapolis field office to get an I-551 stamp. She applied for the I-751 in Oct. of 2017. She'd received an 18 month extension letter which was going to expire next month. The woman that did her stamp said the long wait times for I-751's were caused by there only being a couple places in the country that are authorized to print out the green cards. Priority is given to new immigrants that don't have green cards yet because people with them can use either extension letters or I-551 stamps instead of getting a new green card.

She also said filing for the I-751 doesn't affect the processing for the N400

Also, just as an FYI, if you get an I-551 stamp in your passport they take your greencard and shred it. The I-551 stamp becomes your new greencard for both travel and work until you receive the new physical card.

15 hours ago, Loren Y said:

My fiancee came here end of November 2018, we married February 2019, and first thing I did was add her to my insurance

My company covers domestic partners as well as spouses. I was able to add my fiance to my insurance the day she arrived as a domestic partner (We just needed to sign an affidavit that we live together and are in a committed relationship). Then once we married we changed her status to spouse. Thankfully she didn't require any medical insurance before our marriage but she had it if she did

My wife and I have a 29 year age gap. At the Philippine consulate I think that's more common but I was there at the interview which I believed helped. They asked me how many times I've visited so far (that trip was the 7th time) and I believe having 7 visits in the previous 2.5 years helped a lot as well

OK, I guess that's pretty clear. We'll hang out and join a bowling league or something...

I appreciate the help!