alex06m

Have you set up an online account? 

12 minutes ago, R&OC said:

I am wondering if you guys can help me - my document tab isn't working. I am unable to see a copy of the letter I have received. Meaning, I am receiving the hard copy but nothing in the document tab. Is there anyone else with this issue?

 

Other than that, I can see now that my application is currently being actively reviewed.

 

Hi everyone, I'm adding our case. 

My spouse was approved on GC in February 2016 based on marriage (I became USC in June 2015, but we've been married for more than 5 years before that), and filed online N400 on December 17, had Biometrics today. 

20 hours ago, Amadia said:

This is for all the newcomers to the thread:

 

First off.....WELCOME!

Second, when adding/updating the spreadsheet, it is recommended to take the most recently updated one so that all the data is preserved and no members' data gets lost. For example, if you added yourself on the last line of the sheet but you filed your application on 12/20/2019 and the member above you has a filing date of 12/26/2019, I rearrange the data on my master sheet so that everyone is listed and sorted properly.

 

I have updated the details and it is sorted chronologically:

 

DECEMBER N400 FILERS
VJ Username	Filing date	NOA1	Biometrics Appt	RFE?	Interview date	Oath Ceremony	Field Office	Filed Online/ Paper	Comments
DANIEL4310	12/1/2019	12/1/2019	12/27/2019				Tampa, FL	Online	Pending I-751
UNIDENTIFIED	12/1/2019	12/1/2019	1/7/2020					Online	Biometrics rescheduled
VENUS201320	12/1/2019	12/1/2019	12/30/2019					Online	Pending I-751, walk-in for biometrics on 12/30/19
IIPENNY	12/1/2019	12/1/2019	12/23/2019				Chicago, IL	Online
VVIRGIE	12/2/2019	12/2/2019	12/27/2019				Portland, ME	Online
MARICELNANASCA	12/5/2019	12/5/2019	12/24/2019				Pittsburg, PA	Online	Pending I-751
EDDIEM2044	12/5/2019	12/5/2019	12/27/2019				Newark, NJ	Online	Pending I-751
SH7N4	12/7/2019	12/7/2019	12/30/2019				Honolulu, HI	Online	Early walk-in for biometrics on 12/17/19
AMADIA	12/8/2019	12/8/2019	12/18/2019				WPB, FL	Online	Early walk-in for biometrics on 12/18/19
LMLADRENO	12/9/2019	12/9/2019	12/31/2019				Sacramento, CA	Online	Pending I-751; got 1-year I-551 stamp on 11/27/19
MVRGS	12/10/2019	12/10/2019	12/30/2019				Phoenix, AZ	Online
JAY98	12/10/2019	12/10/2019	12/31/2019				Long Island, NY	Online	Applied under 3-year marriage rule
GEORGIA16	12/10/2019	12/10/2019	1/2/2020				Kansas City, MO	Online	Pending I-751
NINETAILS	12/10/2019	12/10/2019	12/30/2019					Online	Pending I-751
DFW2019	12/11/2019	12/12/2019	12/20/2019				Dallas, TX	Online	Applied under 5-year rule. Early walk-in for biometrics on 12/20/19
YELLOW2	12/11/2019	12/11/2019	1/17/2020				Buffalo, NY	Online
FARIHAK	12/12/2019	12/12/2019	12/31/2019				Chicago, IL	Online
ZZMR_QZ	12/13/2019	12/13/2019	1/3/2020					Online	I-751 approved on 12/05 Live in NJ, biometric was taken in PA. Not sure of interview location.
MARYNA AND JUSTIN	12/14/2019	12/20/2019	1/8/2020					Paper
MARIMAR04	12/14/2019	12/14/2019	1/9/2020				Hackensack, NJ	Online
BUGG	12/15/2019	12/15/2019	1/7/2020					Online
RAINBOWMONKEY	12/15/2019	12/15/2019	12/27/2019					Online	Pending I-751; Early walk-in for biometrics on 12/27/19
R&OC	12/16/2019		Waived				Washington, DC	Paper	Military orders to file early; done via 319(b)
NEWSJUSTIN	12/16/2019	12/16/2019	12/26/2019				San Francisco, CA	Online	Pending I-751; Early walk-in for biometrics on 12/26/19
MORDECAIRIGBY	12/16/2019	12/16/2019	1/7/2020				Phoenix, AZ	Online
LAYLA987123	12/17/2019	12/17/2019						Paper
O&GFOREVER	12/18/2019	12/18/2019	1/8/2020				Salt Lake City, UT	Online	Pending I-751
MAIMOUNA	12/18/2019	12/18/2019	1/10/2020				Milwaukee, WI	Online
AFOYOSWA	12/20/2019	12/20/2019					Boston, MA	Online	Applied under 5-year rule
ENCELADUS	12/20/2019	12/20/2019						Online	Pending I-751
CKIBS	12/20/2019	12/27/2019	1/17/2020				Mount Laurel, NJ	Paper	Applied under 3-year marriage rule
JUSTWAITING2018	12/21/2019	12/21/2019	1/2/2020				Seattle, WA	Online	Pending I-751; Early walk-in for biometrics on 1/2/20
VPALERMO85	12/27/2019	12/27/2019	1/13/2020					Online
ELLIEPRO	12/27/2019	12/27/2019					New York, NY	Online	Applied under 3-year marriage rule
JӦNI	12/28/2019	12/28/2019					Nashville, TN	Online
ABHATIA315	12/29/2019	12/29/2019					Des Moines, IA	Online	Pending I-751
CHAKAQUAKER	12/29/2019	12/29/2019					Roanoke, VA	Online	Spouse of US citizen - previous K1 holder
KA&J	12/29/2019	12/29/2019					Indianapolis, IN	Online
GREGCRS2	12/30/2019	12/30/2019						Online	Pending I-751 interview 1/9/2020
GIOVANNA024	12/31/2019							Paper	Applied under 5-year rule
alex06m	12/17/2019	12/19/2019	01/06/20				Boston, MA	Online	applied under 3, but no need for ROC

 

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Finally! We had our interview yesterday (because my husband was adjusting from B visa, I know that here everybody went through different procedure and there is another topic for people like us, but I've been following this topic from the very beginning).

It was great, fast and even funny. I've spent more time collecting all paperwork day before than this interview lasted.

An officer told us immediately that our petition is already approved and it is just a standard procedure to make sure that we are still married and to get again all answer to the questionnaire in I-485.

At the end he said we would get the GC by mail within 4 weeks. I am so happy that this journey is over.

And congratulations to those who have already received everything and good luck to those who are still waiting.

I believe, you did get it through marriage (it does not matter if you are divorced, you did not get it through employment or anything else, it was based on your marriage even if you got a divorce)

Thanks to everybody who tried to help, I really appreciate it. There are some grey areas that have been identified by you all which I will check with an immigration lawyer.

@hypnos - not sure why you were unnecessarily personal sometimes with comments like ' he wants to jig the system' and all that without even knowing and understanding the situation and matter in depth especially when these are sensitive matters. However, i agree with few certain valid points you made out of many. Thank you for that.

After reading and re-reading all the comments, I thought it should be clarified: if your father-in-law has all this time a Reentry permit ("extension" is not a good word in fact, and this is why it was a kind of confusing for some of us) it doesn't matter how much time he is spending in the US, you cannot really count almost any time from any year that he is spending in the US toward "physical presence requirement" under Reentry permit. He should "go back" to the US first and then have 2.5 years out of 5 physically spent in the US. Some of them could be under Reentry permit, but not all. It is written in the Reentry permit book and in the USCIS guide (you have a link from Nick-Nick).

I know some people who became USC and spent only couple of weeks in the US, some of them did it with help of immigration lawyers, but in fact it is not a "grey area", there is a pretty clear and obvious reasoning behind it and it's the choice of your father-in-law of course if he wants with your help and the one of lawyers to pretend that he is continuously living in the US and is planning to do so.

Hi All,

This inquiry is for my father-in-law. My mother-in-law came to the US via Diversity visa program. Now she and her rest of the family are US citizens except my father-in-law. He has been taking permissions and extending green card for the last 10 years.

Question: Now that his wife (my mother-in-law) is a US citizen, will my father-in-law be considered as the husband of the US citizen and can apply for naturalization once he has stayed "3" years in the US instead of 5 years?

If so, will he need to apply for any special permission to get his green card application to the spouse of US citizen track from spouse of green card holder status?

Also, for a year to be counted in the US, i know he needs to stay at least 6 months. Can he stay 2 months, 2 months, 1 month and 1 month in 5 separate occasions within the year and get the year counted?

Thanks,

Appreciate all your help.

P.S. I hope this is the right section to put this, moderators please redirect the post if it belongs somewhere else.

I'm not sure that understand everything right (especially after reading some comments here), but as far as I understand:

If your father-in-law has already GC (so he is LPR) through diversity program I doubt that he can apply for naturalization in three years. Because as far as I know choice of 3 or 5 years is based on the grounds for GC, not your current status (maybe except of the case of divorce when you get your GC though marriage, but can apply for naturalization in 5 years, not three)

Did I understand your question right ?

As for your second question. Other users have given you links already, I can add this ( I'd been LPR for 15 years, lived abroad, came back to the US 3 years ago and I'm USC now, so I know this subject). Yes, you can count this year as a year with his presence in the US for 181 days. There are two factors: physical presence and continuous residence. The way you describe it, it is kind of ok to maintain his residency.

I'd like to add: he can travel back and forth, have Reentry permit, staying somehow 181 in the US without break for more than 4-6 months (it can cause some problems when he enters the country, I've got a stamp once "absent for more than 4 months" in my passport and was told that I could have some more serious problems next time), so it is better to have Reentry permit, but when time comes to apply (keeping in mind that the time he spent before using Reentry permit is not really counted anymore and two years of Reentry permit will be counted as one) he has to show some proofs that he is actually a resident of the US, living here, paying taxes etc. If he is working abroad it really does not help as an excuse to apply for naturalization. It helps to keep the LPR status, but not the reason to apply for naturalization.

Hi everyone!

I have couple of friends who are living (studying) in the US right now. They are thinking of trying to adjust while they are here through I-140 using it as aliens of extraordinary abilities (and believe me, they are, but not with fillings USCIS forms and etc). Does anybody here have a relevant experience that he/she could share? Thank you in advance.

I Believe the link that I provided should answer that question though. There are benefits that are Public charge and there are benefits that are not. You signed affidavit of support and if the person you are sponsoring gets benefits that are public charge, then possibly you are in trouble. I don't see Advance Tax return in the list for the benefits that are not public charge, that suggests that this is something he can get in trouble for. But, that is if he works, pays taxes and is getting that from his income as far as I understand. If you are the only one with income and are providing for 3 dependants -then it is you who is applying and you are the one receiving it not the husband and you can spend on your husband's insurance.

I don't have any kind of health insurance at the moment. Insurance companies won't take me cuz I am pregnant and my husbands health insurance from work is so expensive that we won't have food on the table if we pay every month for it. So I as a new LPR applied for Medicaid on the ground of pregnancy which is not a public charge. However our state laws require a five year residency before I can receive any kind of help from them. However they said we are eligible for Advance tax return. And in the official letter that we got from them they stated that I was eligible, my husband USC was listed as non applicant though. It is confusing. We will not use Advance tax return because those insurance plans don't cover pregnancy either way. But I am eligible for emergency Medicaid that is delivery and hospital bills, same goes to your husband if he needs emergency help and if he is hurt and needs urgent treatment. That is the only help I was able to get from the state. The only way I personally see in your situation is that you are the one getting the tax benefits. But I assume he is going to work himself soon enough, so...just finding work that offers insurance maybe?

Ksenia, thank you very much! You made a clear for me, it is an Advance credit return, that I am getting, not him! (emergency Medicaid he had before, this one I know, btw should work fine for pregnancy, I know one girl who used and she was here with a B2 visa, there are special family centers that work with pregnant women with Medicaid and provide full medical service, so good luck to you on this journey!)

And yes let's hope that he would find a job with an insurance soon enough! Thank you very much!

I am not 100% sure, but I think the only person that might suffer consequences from getting any financial help from the Government is the new LPR, not USC sponsors. And also the are things that are in a "forbidden" list and there are some that your husband might be eligible for and can get. Here's something that might help http://www.uscis.gov/news/fact-sheets/public-charge-fact-sheet

I have been studying the subject and Advance Tax is a good way to lower the amount to be paid for his insurance, unless it is not an option anymore due to higher income and you are not eligible.

Obviously you visited your state's health department page. Basicly whatever help they offer is what you can get based on income eligibility of course, other than that just ordinary insurance companies that charge more. That is what I've found out so far.

If I didn't get your question right I apologize and you might want to clarify. Hope it helps!

Ksenia thanx. In fact Advance Tax is what we got from the healthConnector. As far as I understand a new or potential LPR can apply for public benefits, but the State (or the Government?) can sue sponsor(s) who signed Affidavit of Support because the meaning of the AoS is to promise that the person would not apply for the public benefits. So I am trying to figure out is Advance Credit is considered as public benefit that the LPR should not apply to.

If it does I have no clue how we can get a family insurance if three of us (kids and me) are USC and have rights to get Advance Credit and one member of our family family (my husband) is assumed to not apply because the sponsors promised that he would not.

Hi everyone! Need some advice.

I have a question related to health insurance and would start a new topic (or look for an answer), but I don't know where to look.

(I'll try to make it short)

I am self-employed and my husband just received his EAD, so he did not work in the US before. We have two kids and based on my income last year we received Masshealth insurance for all of us. My husband was also on the list, but had Limited Masshealth (emergency only, which is ok according to what written in the instructions for Affidavit of support).

So now I changed his status to legal immigrant and added his SSN in our profile on HealthConnector. Our income this year is higher, so now we have to pay for the plan chosen through HealthConnector and it is not Masshealth anymore, but we received some Advance Tax credit from the state (it means we do not pay full price for the insurance).

So here is my question: is it ok or I and the other joint sponsor we are going to be sued as we signed the AofS? And if it is not, how do we get a health insurance? I mean I have a right to get lower rate insurance anyway, but my husband should not and we are the same household...

Thank you in advance.

Thanks alex06m. I sent my I-485/I-765 package y'day. Hope everything works out fine.

btw, my status has changed to H1-b now.

Great, you should be fine I guess. So you will get new EAD and AP (if you filed for it) and get your interview and GC within one year I hope. I wrote to NVC in June and I got an answer from them in August that they transfer my case to USCIS.

By the way the only one major in procedure for spouse of LPR and those of USC is that when you immediate relative of the USC nobody cares about your overstay. But I guess you don't have this problem, so good luck on your journey.

Received my EAD card in mail today.

We did too. Together with approval notice.

Congrats to all

Hi thank you for pointing out something I need to correct, I got a copy of the NOA during a INFO-PASS appointment, we tried to apply and were told to return when we had the card, sorry about not correcting sooner

I see. I was just surprised and started digging if it was possible. (I've made so many mistakes before I've found this forum, so now I'm like reading it every day. I mean if I knew some stuff that I've found here everything would go much faster. So I've just thought that is another something that I did not know.

Things going great, got email the GC card has been mailed

@MichaelnJanice, congrats!

I am just curious, I look at your time line and it appears that you applied to SSN before getting EAD in your hands. How did you do that? (we've received AP and are expecting to get EAD approval notice in the mail tomorrow or on Tuesday. Is it possible to apply before the card arrives?)

you can check your status here: https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

The number that you enter is the one on all papers that you get from USCIS (Notice of Action, Bio appointment and etc)

It is more likely (I hope so) you will get your welcome letter when all the things that they asked for (apparently they need your photos, because you either did not send enough or incorrect or they lost them) will be attached to your file.

And yes, you can get financial aid if you decide to go to school. You are eligible for it and it is going to be based on your family income.

Good luck

Yes, I think you are right boy15. I just got a little confused because an attorney told me that I have breached the continuous residency requirement because of my trips, you can check it here:

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/will-my-long-trips-abroad-in-2015-broke-my-continu-2344700.html

Do not listen to them ( I mean these so-called lawyers) You are fine. (I had something like 900 days abroad). You can go your trip in January and then file in February.

Good luck!

Hi guys, I NEED HELP

I just received an email saying my Green Card was being produced (YAYYYY!!!!)

BUT

I'm going on vacation in a week, and was planning to use my EAD/AP combo card to regain entry after my trip. My question is : Does this card lose its validity because my green card is being produced? Will i have any issue using my combo card to get back from my trip?

You can get a stamp in your passport at your local office.

No texts or e-mail, I've just checked an USCIS site as I do at least five times every day and

"New card is being produced"

We are so happy!

Did you file them together? If you did you should have received one card that is both your authorization to work and also to travel. EAD/AP combo. Ours was approved on the 10th as well but both our I-131 / I-765 were.

No, we did not. As I wrote we filed I131 more than one month later than I485 and I765

Hi everyone,

Some updates on our case. I-131 was proved on Sept 10 and came today. It is funny because we filed it much later than everything else and it came approved in 22 days.

So here is our timeline:

I485 and I765 were received on July 14

Biometrics appointment August 13

Update for I485- Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview August 19 (since than no news, how long can it take?)

I131 was received on August 21, approved on Sept 10 and received on Sept 14.

NVC sent our case back to the USCIS August 25 (it took them slightly more than 60 days)

I hope we get some updates on I765 soon, as I see it the most important thing right now.

I'm in roughly the same boat. My wife is an LPR and we have been in the US for just shy of 2 years now. I've just been offered a position abroad, which would likely need to begin sometime in the next 3-4 months, and I'm wondering if it is possible for my wife and child to stay back in the US with my parents and apply for citizenship after one year. Did you ever get a good response for this?

My friends in the exact same position just had her interview and received a RFE for more proofs about their marriage (she had bank statements and joint tax-returns, photos and they have two kids also). So let's say, yes you can, but you should think about a lot proofs that you are still together.

Hi everyone!

Congratulations to those who have their timeline reddened! I know that it is very exciting moment.

I need an advice. I've asked before for my friend who was waiting too long for her interview. finally she had one recently. She was applying for citizenship based on green card (10 years) through marriage. She lives in the US and her husband (USC) is working in the home country and he is going back and forth. After the interview she received an RFE asking for additional proofs of their marriage. So here she needs an advice: besides standard requirements we were thinking about letters from neighbors and friends who can write that they know them and see them as a couple, but we do not know (I want to write one too, as I've been knowing them for years and I am USC) how to write it the right way. Is it possible to find a template or something? (We are kind of worried because as far I see when you get a RFE and you do not manage to handle it right you get a denial)

Thank you in advance.

I've found these examples of affidavit in guides section! What a great website VJ is!

So I do not mind if the moderators prefer to delete my question.

Hi everyone!

Congratulations to those who have their timeline reddened! I know that it is very exciting moment.

I need an advice. I've asked before for my friend who was waiting too long for her interview. finally she had one recently. She was applying for citizenship based on green card (10 years) through marriage. She lives in the US and her husband (USC) is working in the home country and he is going back and forth. After the interview she received an RFE asking for additional proofs of their marriage. So here she needs an advice: besides standard requirements we were thinking about letters from neighbors and friends who can write that they know them and see them as a couple, but we do not know (I want to write one too, as I've been knowing them for years and I am USC) how to write it the right way. Is it possible to find a template or something? (We are kind of worried because as far I see when you get a RFE and you do not manage to handle it right you get a denial)

Thank you in advance.

She wants to divorce because only reason i dont want to have a baby but when we talk about divorcing she says she is not ready for it. (Maybe she try to convince me to have a baby by bringing up divorcing) So that is why We will go to counselor and try to save our marriage again, i think. She has an alcoholic sister and cousin, she gets together with them to drink at least four days in a week. She gets drunk most of the time. Even Our marriage counselor said she has a drinking problem, my wife didnt accept that. She wanted to change the counselor because she thinks our counselor is always on my side.

It is kind of weird giving an advise in this situation, but do not divorce just because not having sex with your wife could sound odd to USCIS. All couples have some problems, you can talk about divorcing for years and never do it, or decide to divorce out of the blue and live happily ever after without each other. She says that she can wait and all this talk is about having a baby... So it is just your family matter, just wait, file for ROC and see what is going on with you marriage. Maybe in one year you pregnant wife would abandon her habit and you would be complaining that she is spending too much buying kid's stuff and forcing you to move to a larger home with better schools around. Or maybe you with would figure out that the divorce is the only option. Even if you do not sex, you are still a couple finding the way to keep your marriage.

good luck to you both.

It is fine with reentry permit. You can have even another one when the first one would be about to expire. I had three in fact, while I'd been studying abroad.

(but my GG was not through marriage, may be it is important)