FrancesTaber

Had my combined I-751 / N-400 interview yesterday at the Columbus Ohio field office. I had a ton of documents with me and was not asked for anything other than they wanted to look at my green card. While my husband was in the waiting room I quickly did the reading/writing/Civics test then they asked me some questions regarding our life together (I.e. what kind of car do you drive? What color is it? What car does your husband drive? What color is it? Do you have any tattoos? Does he have any tattoos? Where do you work and what are your hours? Where does your husband work and what are his hours? How many bedrooms/bathrooms/TVs in your home? What is your address?). After I gave my answers they brought him in to have him answer the same questions. They did not ask to see any of the relationship evidence I had brought with me or any originals for items I sent copies of with either application. Went quickly and the interviewer was very nice! I was approved on the spot and my online portal updated today with “we have scheduled you for an oath ceremony”, the actual document hasn’t been uploaded yet so I’m not sure when it will be. 
 
Hope this helps anyone with with an upcoming I-751/N-400 interview! 
 
All the best, 
Frances 

Wow!  Four months!  I hope you can benefit from that timeframe, Taber!  Yes, we are going to file the day the 90 days open.  Once you file and pay online, you get the NOA immediately, then the biometrics a month later.  The next step would be placed in line for an interview.  Looks like you can file as early as November 29th, which is 36 days away!

Well, it appears I answered my own question. Straight from the N-400 instructions. Are you personally planning to file 3 months early? I live in Columbus and the field office here is pretty quick, someone I know filed last year and went from application to oath in about 4 months... 
 
Early Filing. An applicant filing under the general naturalization provision (section 316(a) of the INA) may file his or her application up to 90 days before he or she would first meet the required 5-year period of continuous residence as a lawful permanent resident (LPR). An applicant filing as the spouse of a U.S. citizen under section 319(a) of the INA may file up to 90 days before meeting the required 3-year period of continuous residence as an LPR. Although an applicant may file early according to the 90-day early filing provision, the applicant is not eligible for naturalization until he or she has reached the required 3- or 5-year period of continuous residence as an LPR. Applicants filing up to 90 days before meeting the continuous residence requirement must still meet all other requirements for naturalization at the time of filing Form N-400. For example, an applicant filing under section 319(a) of the INA must meet all other requirements as the spouse of a U.S. citizen at the time of filing.

Hey @Amhara, 
 
One more question for you! I was under the impression you could not file for citizenship until 3 years from the date you received the conditional green card (assuming still married). For example, I have been a conditional resident since 2/27/2016. Can I only file for citizenship after 2/27/2019 or am I actually able to within the 90 days leading up to 2/27/2019? I had planned to file in early March. For some reason I thought that 90 day window thing only applied to removing conditions application. 
 
Thanks once again for your help! Truly appreciate it! 
 
Frances

Hi @Amhara thanks for the tip! That’s a great idea. Just wondering - are you planning to file electronically or paper? 
 
Thanks! 
Frances 

Hi there,
 
I went through K-1 a while back, but my soon to be sister-in-law is in the process right now. She was given authorization to book her interview earlier this week, and when she logged on there was still a date or two in May as well as dates in June (I can't recall if it also showed July already since I know she picked a June date). Back when I booked mine in 2015 it showed dates up to 3 months out however that could have changed.
 
It is my understanding (when I did this process as well as now) that you are unable to check interview times until you receive authorization to schedule an interview (aka Packet 4 via email) from the consulate.
 
Best of luck!

I can't say with certainty this is the best way to do things - but it is how I did it, and I had no problems what so ever!
 
I filed AOS with my NEW married last name. I also went to the Social Security office with the marriage certificate and changed the name on my SSN card (keep in mind the new card of course still had the not valid for work without DHS authorization stamp on it). When I got the EAD/AP combo card with my NEW married name, I then went to get a drivers license (Ohio), in my new married name and also went back to the social security office to get a card without the "not valid for work" statement.  Then finally after all that I decided to change my passport so that everything matched up! But I have seen many many people not change their passport right away and just carry around a certified copy of the marriage certificate or abstract when they travel since the green card will have married name but the passport will have maiden name.
 
Hope this helps!
All you need is the certified copy of the marriage certificate, which you will have to submit anyway with AOS  This is enough for them to produce the green card and EAD/AP combo in your married name.

I had to go in the first time because my green card was showing up as expired, they updated the expiry date +1 year and I was fine the other times I crossed. Updated the system again once I got my 19-year card.

It's been a little while since I did this, but I believe there is a little box you can check that says something about becoming a non resident and making this tax filing your "exit taxes". I can look in my tax records and see if I can find more info..
 
I also moved in November (2015) and had worked in Canada that year so similar situation.

I can't say with certainty this is the best way to do things - but it is how I did it, and I had no problems what so ever!
 
I filed AOS with my NEW married last name. I also went to the Social Security office with the marriage certificate and changed the name on my SSN card (keep in mind the new card of course still had the not valid for work without DHS authorization stamp on it). When I got the EAD/AP combo card with my NEW married name, I then went to get a drivers license (Ohio), in my new married name and also went back to the social security office to get a card without the "not valid for work" statement.  Then finally after all that I decided to change my passport so that everything matched up! But I have seen many many people not change their passport right away and just carry around a certified copy of the marriage certificate or abstract when they travel since the green card will have married name but the passport will have maiden name.
 
Hope this helps!
All you need is the certified copy of the marriage certificate, which you will have to submit anyway with AOS  This is enough for them to produce the green card and EAD/AP combo in your married name.

It's been a little while since I did this, but I believe there is a little box you can check that says something about becoming a non resident and making this tax filing your "exit taxes". I can look in my tax records and see if I can find more info..
 
I also moved in November (2015) and had worked in Canada that year so similar situation.

Aussie (so can do ESTA) chiming in on this one.  
 
Because despite "unrestricted" travel (we have all seen horror stories of people being turned away at POE or given a hard time so they're worried about trying again), that doesn't mean that we have unrestricted time off to travel for your we.   Or even unrestricted money to travel.  I know you can get some great prices for flights from the UK or even Canada, but there's plenty of places where air travel is prohibitively expensive or the cheap flights you get will take 2-3x the time which then means you're losing out there (you want to do a 2 week visit and find cheap flights? Great! But you're losing 4/5 days of those 14 in travelling back and forth) 
 
Say for example, like us, you make the decision to get married in January 2018? Great!   Say that neither of you can travel until at least August or September because of work and family commitments.  So you get married in say August.   Then by the time you file all the paperwork for the CR-1 it's now September.  So then you're waiting until at least September 2019. Probably even October or November.   And if you're lucky you may be able to make 1-2 short (~2 week) visits during that year, if you can afford it (flights door to door for me never cost less than $2,600 total for a single round trip) and if your work will give you the time off.  

Now compare that to... you decide to get married in January 2018.  You put in all the paperwork a few weeks later (call it the first week of Feb) and if things go very very well for you, you'll be there by December or January 2019 (obviously if nothing goes wrong). 
 
I know plenty of people say that the CR1 is superior because you can work/travel/drive right away and it works out cheaper (apparently the state I'll be moving to has no objection to me driving on my Aussie licence so that's not an issue) but honestly I'll take ~6 months of being a housewife, getting settled into my new home, bonding with my new family, training the puppy we're going to get, plotting/planting our vegetable garden and getting to know the local area over spending the extra 6+ months working out the time difference to see if I can squeeze a 5 minute phone call in on my break at work, stressing about if my job is going to approve time off so I can be there for our birthdays (being born close together is helpful) and if we're going to have another stretch of 6 straight days where we can't do more than text when the other is asleep due to totally opposite work schedules (yay for being a shiftworker).
 
So in short: different strokes for different folks.  Most adults (I like to believe anyhow) have the foresight and ability to delay gratification long enough to consider what's going to be the best option for them in the long run. 

 

Same here! It also says my case was received at my local office (Columbus OH) on March 5th.

Hey @Amhara

Are you still unable to check your case status online? I have still had no luck with my WAC receipt number.
 
Thanks!

All, don't forget to update your Visa Journey Timelines on here! It helps the website keep track of the Approval rates under the Processing Time tracker.
 
Also, if you want direct contact of any "touches" or when you're Approved... update your My Case Status on the USCIS website to get automatic updates to your phone and/or e-mail.

Hi @Amhara,

I am thinking about calling as well since my NOA1 is 12/14/2017 and I still have not received a Biometrics appointment. Are you planning to phone the (800) number listed at the bottom of the NOA1?

Thank you so much!

@FrancesTaber here is the number I called (800) 375-5283 and I  typed 1 2 2 2 ....customer service rep answered and then I requested to speak to level 2.

Same boat as you guys @FrancesTaber....I got NOA1 Dated December 15 2017 and still have not got my Biometric letter.
 
After calling several times and talk to customer service I have not got any useful information from them , so today I decided to request to talk to Tier2 and they transferred me with no issues. I've waited 36 mins and got the call back from an IO , he gave me a case number so I can check online and put in a request for Biometric Appointment.
 
So my advice , I would call and do that as well.
 
Good Luck!