jennaleigh

Hello, I haven't posted here in awhile so I'm unsure if my timeline is complete. My wife (Canadian citizen) and I applied for her I-751 in March of 2019. It has been ready to schedule for an interview since March of 2020. She applied for naturalization on March 29th 2021, and on April 9th (super fast!) we got the notification that her interviews for both I-751 and N-400 were scheduled.

We got the notices in the mail today, and her N-400 interview is May 25th...and the I-751 one is May 28th! I am so confused, I thought it would be a combo interview on the same day; I also thought I-751 HAD to be approved before they would do the N-400 interview. I called USCIS tonight two different times and spoke to two different officers. The first said simply they will not do a combo interview and that it's fine to have the I-751 interview be a few days later; the other said the officer MIGHT do a combo interview on May 25th but it is up to officer discretion.

Anybody have a similar experience? I just don't understand why they can't do them both in the same day. 

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

My Canadian passport is my proof of my right to enter Canada when I want, and as long as I want. It's also proof that I can bring my non-Canadian wife into Canada with me when I want.

 

It's proven to be very handy during COVID.

I'm glad that works well for you! My wife and I have not been to Canada since she moved here in 2016 and we don't plan on going back until she is a US citizen, so traveling there isn't a concern for us right now. 

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

$190 vs $260. A $70 difference. That's Canadian dollars. Less than a tank full of gas. But even so:

 

I am not as optimistic as you are, that an I-751 case can be adjudicated in 5 years.

 

Better to borrow the money to get the 10 year: $26/year vs $38/year. 

I have not heard of I-751 cases taking that long. On the phone USCIS told me current processing times for the Nebraska Service Center were 13 to 28 months, and we filed March 2019.

We will be filing for naturalization in the spring, so a 10 year passport doesn't seem necessary.  But I get what you're all saying!

1 minute ago, Pinkrlion said:

It has been my experience, that they will not stamp an expired passport.  They will only stamp it until the expiration date of the passport.  Just renew your passport, it is not a problem.  

I understand that they will not stamp an expired passport. My question is if the stamp is necessary at all.

3 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Today is Veterans Day. USCIS is closed today.

That isn't true, I actually just got through to someone finally. However she was not able to answer this question which is ridiculous lol.

7 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

Did they stamp it for a year....oR only until the expiry date of the passport?

 

Regardless, without a valid passport, someone can take two passport photos and receive the I-551 stamp on a portion of an I-94.

This is standard procedure...can't believe they didn't tell you that this was an option (well, this IS USCIS so I can totally believe it)

 

 

Over the phone, they did tell my wife that. She actually thought her passport was already expired (she read the date on it wrong lol) so she took two passport style photos with her.

Once there they told her they wouldn't do the photos and would only do the passport. Luckily it turned out that her passport doesn't expire until March 2021.

I keep telling her that they got it wrong and that if she needs to go again in March she can bring the photos, but she insists we need to listen to what the employees there said, as it was two employees and their supervisor. I've been trying all morning to speak to someone at USCIS, but apparently they aren't taking phone calls. The automated voice keeps telling me it can only send me information.

The field office was the one located in Milwaukee. 

Not sure what to do or how to convince my wife we do not need to do the passport renewal right now.

Edit: The stamp expires a day before her passport does.

4 minutes ago, NikLR said:

My Canadian passport expired and I was scared of something happening back in Canada that I couldn't go during the whole time my renewal was happening.  How would your wife feel if one of her loved ones was sick suddenly and she couldn't go visit?  Citizenship takes about a year, plus the time to get a passport.  I wouldn't leave that to chance.  She could just do a simple renewal, she doesn't NEED to take your last name on her passport.  

 

She won't be deported for not having a current passport because as you stated, her status does not stop just because she doesn't have evidence of that status.  However she can be arrested and held until authorities can confirm her status. Visas can be valid in expired passports so it doesn't make sense that her stamp expires when her passport does.  

It's really okay to renew a passport with her maiden name, even though in the USA and on her social security card and driver's license here she has my last name?

Just now, Lemonslice said:

Your wife does not need a new passport, however it is not that hard, complicated, or expensive, to get one.  If she's "losing sleep" and terrified of what could happen, why not get a 5-year Canadian passport and put it to rest?  I see no downside.

It's around $175. We have an 18-month-old son and money is currently very tight; we are using our next tax refund to file for her citizenship. If we could put $175 towards the citizenship fee instead, that would be awesome.

Hi all,

My wife and I filed for I-751 in March of 2019. It's being processed at the Nebraska Service Center. The last update was in March of 2020, saying that the case is ready to be scheduled for an interview.

Back in September, with the 18-month extension letter close to expiration, we traveled to the USCIS office in Milwaukee for my wife to get a stamp in her Canadian passport as advised by many. 

However, my wife's Canadian passport expires in March. The people at USCIS told my wife that before the date of expiration in March, she needs to go back to USCIS with a new Canadian passport and get a new stamp.

My question is, is this necessary? From everything I've read, you are legal until your I-751 case is decided. My wife has a steady job and we do not plan on traveling out of the country until she is a citizen. The process to get a new Canadian passport (she took my last name so she can't just renew, it needs to be a brand new one with her new name) is lengthy and expensive, and my fear is that we will get an interview for her I-751 case before her passport even arrives, and we'll have wasted money for nothing. My wife is terrified of having an expired passport and worried that she will be deported, especially if she arrives for her I-751 interview with an expired passport, but my understanding is that USCIS wouldn't care about her Canadian passport at her interview - she's there to extend her permanent residence here, not in Canada.

My wife is literally losing sleep over this so any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: I noticed my signature below is very out of date. Haven't logged into here in years! 

Hello,

I'm getting ready to file for my wife's AOS and I just realized that you need to include supporting documents for I-765 and I-131, oops. I've figured out that for the EAD I should include another copy of form I-94, a copy of her visa and passport, and two passport photographs. (Correct me if I'm wrong!) What about for I-131? I've read the instructions and I'm still confused. Would it be a copy of her passport and visa and 2 photographs? It talks about including an explanation, and I assume I don't need that because we're filing it with her I-485, and then it also talks about receipt if you filed for adjustment of status, but obviously we don't have that yet. So will a copy of her passport and visa and the 2 passport photos be enough? Just don't want to miss anything. Thanks!

Hi all,

My fiancee is flying in on August 3rd (yay!!!). Her flight is from Halifax to Ottawa to Toronto to Milwaukee. I am pretty certain her POE will be Toronto, but her coworkers are telling her it will be Milwaukee. Am I right in thinking that Toronto is the place where she will go through US Customs and have her visa checked etc.? Thanks!!

Thank you all for the very helpful advice!

At least in ND you don't need an ssn to get married. We did it at the courthouse 2 hours after he got off the plane. 90 days is waaaaaay too long to wait and get it done if you ask me. I would suggest calling your city's courthouse to verify with them if you need an SSN or not. All I had to do was pay the fee and that was it

Thank you! If you don't mind me asking, did you apply for the SSN before you got married or after? I'm hearing it's wiser to apply before you get married, but I'm not sure why.

My fiancee is crossing the border on August 3rd.

From looking at all of your signatures, how did you all get married so quickly? I was under the impression that my fiancee would have to apply for her SSN, wait to receive it, then apply for marriage license and receive that before we could be married.

Thanks

Did she fill out the DS-160 online? If so when it was done it would have shown here a confirmation of completion with a barcode and her photo and confirmation number. This gave you the option to print, save or email this page.

The interview email they are looking for is one that she should have received after booking the interview online, which confirms the date of the interview and Canada post mailing details.

Good Luck!

Yep, she has all that! I'm thinking this lady didn't know what she was talking about. Grr... thank you!

I'm so confused. As is my fiancee.

She's on her way right now to Montreal, a 14 hour drive. On the way there she gets a call from the clinic telling her the X-ray machine has maintenance the day of her appointment and asking her if she could come in earlier. Fine, no problem there. But then she started listing off the things my fiancee needs to bring and she mentioned a "packet 4 confirmation with the letter/confirmation with a barcode attached to it" that was supposedly supposed to be emailed to my fiancee but she never received. What??? This is what she has as far as confirmation goes (and we went over this a million times before she left to make sure she had everything! She has her passport photos, passport, everything like that):

-Email confirmation of the interview date

-Receipt for the DS160, which has a barcode. It says "This confirms the submission of the nonimmigrant visa application for _____."

She did get an email after she emailed her Packet 3 information in saying they got everything and she could schedule her appointment, but she didn't print that out.

What is the lady at the clinic talking about then? Was there some email with a barcode she was supposed to be sent? She has a letter confirming the date of the interview, is there another one with a barcode she never got? We are so confused and the lady at the clinic said it would be fine and that she's contacting the embassy to get the go ahead to do the medical, she told my fiancee to go anyway and that she shouldn't worry. But what is she talking about??? We went over her stuff a million times and never heard of anything like this.

Any help appreciated, thank you!!!

Hi, my fiancee submitted her Packet 3 paperwork yesterday. Our NOA2 expires May 4th; it took two months for Montreal to receive our case which was a big reason for the delay. Anyway, I emailed Montreal to ask for an extension and this was their response:

Good morning,

Please note that the I-129F petition revalidation is at the discretion of the Consular Officer at the time of interview. The applicant should present a recent letter of intent to marry within 90 days from the U.S. Petitioner.

I have always heard that they automatically extend the NOA2 by four months but now I am freaking out that they won't because it's up to the officer and what if we get a crabby mean officer?!

Should I be worried?

Finally got our case number today...after almost two months of phone calls and emails to NVC and USCIS trying to figure out what the heck happened. First phone call to NVC back in January - they said they had received it but no case number yet. All subsequent phone calls until today - receipt number did not exist in their system and I got a multitude of suggestions; someone at USCIS even said I'd have to go talk to an immigration officer in person!

Now we can finally move forward...but the expiration notice on the NOA2 is in May and she isn't going to be here by then...is that automatically extended or do I have to do something to get it extended?

According to your timeline you haven't received (NOA2) yet. Your application hasn't been approved in order to be sent to NVC. It is after your approval by USCIS that your petition will be forwarded to NVC. Once it arrives at NVC it should only be there for about a week before it is forwarded to embassy of your fiancées country.

Sorry, my timeline was out of date. My signature is up to date though. I have received NOA2 - I did on January 4th. I have the hard copy and everything.

No one?

Just called again to double check and I got the spiel from a new operator telling me it can take up to 35 days to receive it, and 42 more to get it assigned a case number so they request I give them time blah blah blah, I told them I understand but they said they received it January 13th last time I called but that it just didn't have a case number yet. She basically said the same thing. I said so you don't think I should be concerned that they told me they had it and now it's not in the system? And she said we just need time to get it all into the system. What the heck!!! I'm so lost. Emailed NVCresearch already but not holding my breath that they will respond to me in a timely manner.

Called NVC a few weeks ago, they said they received our case January 13th, but to call back in a month to get our case number. Finally just got a hold of them again, and when I give them the receipt number they tell me nothing is showing up on the computer and that I need to email nvcresearch@state.gov with a copy of my NOA2! What the heck?! I am in ultimate panic mode right now.

Hi, I called NVC a few weeks ago, and they said they had received our file on January 13th, but to call back in a few weeks to get the case number. I finally got through just now and the woman I spoke with said they could not locate my case after I gave her my receipt number. She told me to scan it in and email it to them as a PDF attachment.

I already emailed them February 3rd asking for my case number and didn't hear back yet so I'm not really optimistic that they will get back to me in a timely manner.

I'm freaking out, assuming they lost my case or something...I don't know what to do, besides the email. Has this happened to anyone else???

Called NVC for the first time and they received our case on the 13th! No case number yet though...

This forum is the best. Thank you guys for all the advice...now I feel confident as to our next steps.