Starkilla09

16 hours ago, craftercool said:

Ok so far I've got this:

 

Disadvantages:

• Start being requested to attend jury duty

Advantages:

• Guaranteed admission at the borders
• GC's can be revoked
• The right to vote
• No limit of staying outside the US

So, those a pretty good reasons to change my status to US citizen, uhm... does anyone know about that thing of applying 30 days before the day I became a resident, or was it 60 days? I don't know, but I heard something like that.

 

The main advantages are the right to vote, have extended stay out of U.S. as long as you wish, serve in a jury, run for public office, work for the federal government, protection from deportation, ability to petition for your parents, siblings and married adult children, carry U.S. passport and enjoy visa free travel to 184 countries.

The main disadvantage is reporting requirement on your worldwide income even outside the U.S. (same reporting requirement also applies to lawful permanent residents though) and the second is loss of former citizenship if your country doesn’t recognize dual citizenship like Japan and India.

I lost my Cameroonian citizenship once I got naturalized as a U.S. citizen because my country doesn’t support dual nationality. I made the choice though for all the aforementioned reasons especially the visa free convenience. I do a lot of vacation abroad and was sick of spending money on visa application fees with my former weak passport.

I now apply for visas to visit home and can only stay temporarily but well I can live with that anyway. Besides I no longer feel left out from my American spouse and kid. Now as for your eligibility you can apply as early as 90 days prior to your 3rd anniversary of being a lawful permanent resident. 

Your best option in this case will be to apply for a K-1 fiancé/fiancée visa. A K-1 visa requires both parties to have met at-least once in person within the last 2 years prior to applying, be legally free to marry and also be unmarried as well. If you guys marry you will not be eligible for a K-1 visa anymore and will have to do a spousal visa instead which will take roughly 12 to 14 months to complete.

You’ll need to wait overseas until you get your K-1 visa before moving to the U.S. Just so you also know USCIS is dangerously backlogged now nationwide with all immigration petitions experiencing delays, so you’ll also need a big dose of patience. Immigrating to the U.S. has never been a quick process so you’ll need to bear that in mind.

Again you can’t use a visit visa to come get married in the U.S. that’s why there’s a K-1 visa which will allow you to come get married and adjust your status here to lawful permanent residency. No consular officer will issue you a visa for that reason. You can also immigrate with your daughter as a K-2 dependent.

12 minutes ago, AHG said:

I feel that someone at USCIS is just having a laugh at my case.

So just got home, checked my mailbox and 3 letters from USCIS are there.

1- interview scheduled Aug 12

2- interview scheduled Aug 22

3- interview Aug 12 cancelled.

 

All 3 letters issued exactly on the same day.

What do I do now? A friend of mine had the same situation, she got the cancellation so she didnt go, then few days later she got a notice that she did not appear for her naturalization.

 

Anyone been there? Thanks

It looks like a glitch but if I were you I’ll schedule an infopass as soon as possible to go there in person and clear this up just to make sure there’s no misunderstanding. USCIS has been notorious for screwing people like this so don’t take any chances. Alternatively you can still schedule while waiting for your oath ceremony letter, and once you get it then you’re certified that this was all a fluke but still call to make sure by then.

1 hour ago, AHG said:

OK, so my system got updated with I am in line for the oath ceremony. Seems like I am back on track and things are getting to a great end.

Anyone here was able to apply for the passport on the same day after the oath? Do you mind providing more information on where to go and how does the process work? I read that the normal way to do it, is to go to one of USPS approved sites in person and apply, but that takes 4 weeks. I heard from some of friends, that you can apply in the passport agency in Seattle the same day and get the passport in few hours. 

Any information on this would help.

Thanks.

You can apply for an expedited passport that you can get within 24hrs to 7 days depending on when you plan to travel internationally by paying a $60 expedite fee. You must have some proof of travel out of the country within 2 weeks to use this expedite service at a passport agency. A flight or hotel reservation will work just fine in this case. I used the Seattle passport agency for mine since I had to travel to Canada 9 days after oath ceremony. My passport was ready to be picked up in 4 days after application. If you have no travel plans and proof of such travel, you can't use a passport agency though you can still pay your $60 expedite fee and you'll get your passport in about a week to 2 weeks.

42 minutes ago, AHG said:

Thanks alot Srakilla09, I am really in a euphoric state right now.

My only doubt is that my online status still doesn't reflect that. It still shows the old update "We scheduled you for an interview". Whereas the email from USCIS clearly says, we scheduled you for oath. I always thought that the emails are triggered by the online portal and not vice versa.

Don’t lose sweat about it they don’t always go hand in hand. I also had some irregularities in status changes on both egov and my USCIS online account. Keep an eye when the notice reflects in your online account one of these days. A hard copy will also be mailed to you as well within the next few days.

11 minutes ago, AHG said:

I need an urgent feedback please.

So I just got an email from USCIS saying that my application was recommended for approval and I have been scheduled for an oath. Also it states that I need to log on to my profile for more information.

I logged on and there's nothing there, the status still shows that I have been scheduled for my interview which happened 3 months ago.

Any feedback is highly appreciated, because I am literally shaking 

Yay Congratulations! I’m so happy for you! Your oath ceremony notice will reflect within 24 to 48hrs. Mine took roughly 2 to 3 days to finally appear at my USCIS.gov account online. I’m glad you’re out of this nightmare finally.

12 hours ago, oceanborn said:

Sorry for the lack of responses! Been hectic here over the past few weeks.

 

I went to my interview on July 15. Took around 20 minutes, was relatively straight-forward. Unfortunately there was some kind of technical glitch towards the end and I was unable to attend the oath on the same day, but a couple hours later my status changed to "your ceremony has been scheduled" -- while I cannot see this online nor has it been mailed yet, the exceptionally helpful USCIS contact center were able to inform me that my ceremony is on July 31 2019 at 1:30pm in Seattle. I'm unsure how much I need the letter, the interviewing officer told me that I should just go even if I do not receive it and they can print it there and then for me. So I'm all set, all done, and will be a citizen come the end of this calendar month.

 

Thanks!

Congratulations!

No, you need to use either a U.S. passport, passport card, enhanced driver license or trusted travelled document such as nexus card.

On 6/10/2019 at 8:27 PM, oceanborn said:

Finally -- my status changed today to "We scheduled your interview". Will update once the letter shows on my documents tab / arrives here, but it's finally done.

 

 

Congratulations and good luck on your interview!

On 5/25/2019 at 5:29 PM, py6 said:

Hello Seattle applicants. How many months did you wait for your N400 from start to finish?

 

It looks like Seattle is a bit backlogged. I applied Oct 2018, expected completion time Feb 2020. Originally the estimation was 2019 Dec but the system updated the wait time. Though probably not among the longest, I'm still surprised by how long it's taking. Back in 2015 and 2016 when I checked on the processing times for Seattle office, it was around 8 months. Tbh I'm quite unhappy with how USCIS is handling this surge in application numbers. It doesn't look like they are increasing the processing speed to reduce backlog. I wonder if they are intentionally doing it. This situation is quite inconvenient for me. Because of I-751 & N400 filling my I-751 is frozen and bundled together with N400. Green card expired in 2017. It's hard to travel with the extension letters. Not every airline is familiar with them. When I got the second extension letter of 18 months I wasn't expecting it to expire but it is now, in a month. 

Unfortunately Seattle is very backlogged with one of the worse processing times in the nation. N-400 applications currently take 13 to 14 months on average to be scheduled for an interview. The good news is it does 2 same day oaths, joint I-751/N400 interviews and also schedules oath ceremonies fast within 2 weeks. 

I’m a joint I-751/N-400 Seattle combo who just recently got scheduled for oath ceremony in 2 weeks and it took forever to get scheduled. I applied for my I-751 in December 19th 2016 and N-400 December 7th 2017 while I-751 was still pending. I-751 got transferred from CSC on May 3rd 2018 to be adjudicated with together N-400. It stayed pending until I had a joint I-751/N-400 Interview in Seattle on February 27th 2019 after more than 3 years!

The wait didn’t end as bad luck will follow suit. Officer had to go through recertification process as system kept preventing him from approving my stuff the same day. That too added extra months and both petitions just got approved last week May 15th finally ending the wait. 

You’re going to be in for an eternal wait and will have no choice but use I-551 stamps until your interview several months down the road. I’m currently on my 4th and final stamp as we speak! Below is an active thread for N-400 Seattle filers that’s been going on since. I suggest you and @JFH should join our exiting thread here.

11 hours ago, Ck207 said:

YEs please. I will message you in the inbox. Also, what is your ETA on the case status now?

There's no ETA anymore it disappeared once N-400 went to post decision activity for quality review to be approved. Current status just says we scheduled you naturalization ceremony on my USCIS acocount. 

12 minutes ago, AHG said:

Hey there, 

I was looking at your profile screenshot and I had no idea that they would update it to "You attended your Interview"

Mine still shows "We scheduled you for interview" even after I attended my interview on May 1. How long did it take the system to show that?

Did everyone get the same thing after they attended their interview? 

Yes, mine also showed that status the very next day after my I-751 was finally approved on May 15th even though I attended the I-751/N-400 interview since February 27th. The next day it the changed 3 times within very short intervals to "case submitted for quality review", "we approved your N-400", "we placed you in line for oath." The final update was the very next day saying oath ceremony notice has been mailed. Seattle office is pretty good at scheduling oaths so once they touch your N-400 everything will flow in place. Your N-400 will stay at "we scheduled your interview" until it is touched and adjudicated. That's how mine was since I last had my interview as well.

17 hours ago, GermanG said:

Thank you! Yes. I also wonder if it has happened to "accelerate" the date. From the future to the past.

So far, according to them, it takes a total of 16 months.

Has it ever happened to go back to 14 months if they hired more staff?

No, it hasn't regressed in any manner favorably. Matter of fact the backlog has been steady for the most part for many months now. Seattle office currently has 20,748 pending N-400 applications as of the most recent quarter of April 2019. This is roughly the same number they had around August 2018, so it makes sense as to why they have been steadily scheduling interviews after 13 to 14 months now since then. Other offices like Houston and Dallas have more than 40,000 pending, however; the difference is they're attacking it rigorously faster compared to Seattle field office taking 11-12 months on average. Based on your priority date of October 2018 chances are you'll be scheduled sometime in November this year or December unless things change vigorously which is very unlikely to happen.

4 minutes ago, Curve said:

Is there a way to pin this to the top of this thread? 

Will have to notify mods to do so.

24 minutes ago, GermanG said:

Question to those combo (I751/N400) filers.

We received a letter a while ago that extends our GC to 18 months after the expiration date.

Since we are combo filers, and we are not supposed to receive the 10-year- "plastic" green card, does anybody know if we will be receiving another extension-of-extension letter extending our 18-month post-expiration?

It sounds ridiculous to be thinking in these terms.

Another option is to be getting Infopass black stamps till the date of our interview for combo status.

Once your 18th month extension letter is about to expire (preferably 30 days prior to) schedule an info pass appointment with USCIS at the local field office in Seattle to have your passport stamped with a temporary I-551 stamp which will now serve as evidence of your lawful permanent residency status for both employment and travel. You'll get stamped in about 6 months intervals until you have your I-751/N-400 combo interview together. I'm currently on my 3rd and final stamp before I swear in on June 12th. During your first info pass appointment chances are they'll confiscate the expired 2 year conditional green card by then prior to issuing you the stamp on your passport.

32 minutes ago, GermanG said:

Any idea which is the latest case being processed?

Also has anybody called to ask if it's true that everything got pushed two months later?

The website says that it's taking 16 to 21 months to process N400.

Adding these 2 extra months makes it to 16 months.

My gosh...we'd better be focused on something else. It's totally nerve wrecking.

That case estimation website is very unreliable and not an accurate representation of processing times and that's what we keep saying in this forum. You don't want to know how many times it shifted over the course of my timeline from 12/07/2017 when I filed my N-400 till 01/23/2019 when I got scheduled for interview. Those estimated times were created in the first place so people won't plague USCIS with "unnecessary" calls and inquiries. Your best bet is to check this forum and see which people are being scheduled for interview and check their priority dates to know where you currently stand. It's still taking on average at least 13 months to get scheduled for N-400 interviews, and until you're at that timeframe it's highly unlikely you'll get any notification so don't get stressed about it.

21 hours ago, Ck207 said:

Yes that’s really smart. I have a final that day but I will rather ask to take final another day than rescheduling my appointment.

 

it shows up this morning and it is scheduled at 1:30PM. If we are on the same day, let’s meet

Yay, we’re on same oath ceremony day June 12th at 1:30pm. I’ll catch up with you there! I get back from the UK on June 11th which is miraculously perfect.

9 minutes ago, Ck207 said:

Hey my oath ceremony is on June 12. 

Oh wow that's nice. Mine hasn't reflected yet as a PDF on my USCIS account hopefully it appears there today. The 12th would be amazing though for me as well because I have a planned trip to London from May 27th to June 11th. I'll have no option but to reschedule my trip if it falls in between this time period because I can't risk a rescheduling. I guess you can't blame a guy for wanting this done with after all this drama with USCIS. I'm at the point where I'll rather lose a few hundred dollars in rebooking fees than deal with USCIS again. When did yours appear on your online account and where and what time is it scheduled?

1 minute ago, Ck207 said:

Yes I just got mine too. Keep me updated!!! 

I sure will.

I just got a text message oath ceremony notice has be mailed! @Ck207 you'll probably get your notice as well today. Chances are we might have same oath.

1 hour ago, OneD said:

I thought the 3 year rule was for those who got their PR through their spouse. Maybe I am wrong but more knowledgeable members will soon chime in.

It doesn’t matter how you originally acquired your lawful permanent residency status. To qualify under the 3 year rule you must be a lawful permanent resident for at-least 3 years, been married to a U.S. citizen for at-least 3 years and your spouse must’ve been a U.S. citizen as well for at-least 3 years. 

25 minutes ago, Ck207 said:

Do you have any idea how long will it take for us to get our Oath Letter and when usually is the Oath ceremony?

Seattle office is pretty good at scheduling oaths so we should be able to get it between a few days and a week from today. The actual swearing in day should be between 2 weeks and a month.

Just now, Ck207 said:

Can you let me know when you know your Oath day will be? We might be on the same day. 

Absolutely! I'll definitely keep you posted! 

4 minutes ago, Ck207 said:

i passed my citizenship test. Will post my experiences later. My status changed to Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled. 

 

I guess my officer is a senior

Yay Congratulations! My status also changed as well within the last 15 mins. It now says ''Oath Ceremony will be scheduled" as well. I can't believe it's almost over. What a relief!

22 hours ago, Helenng said:

Hello everyone,

I’m a new member in this group. I just had my interview yesterday at 1.15 pm in Seattle office. Everything went well and I got a letter for recommend approval. I just checked  this morning they update my case completion will be September and say waiting for oath ceremony. I wonder if I really have to wait until September because I heard everyone got schedule for oath after 2 weeks. Thank you

No you won’t have to wait till September, it’s just a generalized message that gets updated once you attend your N-400 interview. The status will stay like that for roughly a week till your oath gets scheduled then it will change. I have the same message as well.