traveler17

I don't think the "zero income" argument will fly unless you can definitively prove that you had x amount of dollars when you quit your job and spent less than that over the years or you claimed benefits that allowed you to live during that time. Having no fixed address and all the travel complicates the matter. I don't know your personal sitaution bit from the outside it looks like you were living of casual jobs (both domestically and abroad) and never reported the income. Even as a permanent resident you are required to include any income you have worldwide. Because of the nature of your skills (IT), it is easy to get contract work anywhere and they know this. Again, I am not making accusations but in my personal opinion it looks like you have been dodging paying taxes for a long time.

If I were you, I'd get a job, rent an apartment and wait to file for citizenship.

I believe evading taxes is grounds for losing your Green Card. Be careful.

It depends on the local office.

In Houston last year I applied on October 9 and my Oath was on June 24 of this year. I had a small delay in my application (approved 3 days after interview as they checked my travel abroad prior to interview) but my wife was approved on the spot at her interview and her oath was May 13.

Don't worry about it. It's just a late update on the system

First you have to make sure you actually qualify having left for seven months. Your time might have reset.

Secondly, even if your physical presence requirement has been met, I would not recommend to leave the country and just come back for interviews and oath. There are very specific questions about this during the interview and in the N445 form for the oath. By all means you can travel, but you are not showing that you have the intention of living here.

I know in theory the physical presence requirement is supposed to be for your time up to the application but from personal experience and other people's account, that is not the case.

Consider your actions carefully. You seem to have waited a long time to be reunited with your husband. The process should not take but a few months (if you qualify with the 7-month trip). In the mean time, if you have the means you can go visit for a month or so and come back. The time between the interview and the oath should be short if you're approved.

Good luck!

You don't have to report parking tickets of any kind from any country. Unless you get a citation for not paying them.

I actually caled SS and asked specifically if the passport would be evidence for the child and they said yes. They need the document since the SS office is not qualified to determine the elegibility for citizenship of the child. They need proof. The passport agency is. They will kepp the child's green card.

Hi,

I became a US citizen last month and traveled with my family outside the US a week later. I processed my passport through the passport agency in downtown Houston and got it in a couple of days. I processed my 15-year old's daughter passport as well without a problem. They took her Permanent Resident Card and gave me a letter stating that fact. I am now filling out her N-600 and I have a couple of questions:

1. In the N-600 form there is a question about the applicant's status and the options are: Perment Resdient, Non-immigrant, Refugee/Asylee and Other (explain).

My question is whether we need to answer "Permanent Resident" or "Other" and write "US Citizen" in the line?

She has been granted a US passport, so I am assuming it should be the second option but I want to make sure with somebody who has done this.

2. Also, should we put the information for both parents (my wife became a citizen recently as well) or just one?

I know from previous posts that it is perfectly legal to obtain the child's passport before the N600 but I need help with these questions.

Thanks!

Their system does not say you're naturalized but it's pretty easy for them to figure out. Your country of birth is on your passport and I believe they can see when you got your passport for the first time in their system. Chances are, if you were born outside the US and got your first passport as an adult, you're naturalized. As he OP said, you can stil be a US citizen by birth even if born aborad, but if that is the case, you're likely to get a passport when you're young. I know it's all circumstancial, and I honestly don't think they really care much.

Regarding the question asked to a poster about their place of birth, they sometiems ask these kind of questions as a kind of "test" to make sure they are dealing with the person who is using the passport.

You do not need a valid passport at the interview. You GC should be valid and you need your state-issued ID (DL). Do bring your passport just in case they want to look at your travel records. Since you say you don't travel much, I doubt that will even happen, but bring it just in case.

Good luck at the interview.

I had a payment arrangement with the IRS before I decided to apply for citizenship. I decided to pay off everything so that I could answer NO to that question rather than explaining at the interview.

I understand not everybody has the chance to do that, but in my opinion, the fewer the number of things you have to explain, the better.

If you don't have a payment arrangement, do not apply yet.

This was my experience today in Houston:

As mentioned in earlier posts, everybody is asked to be there at 7am. Knowing that arriving at 7am is not critical, I left home with enough time to make it just in time but not much earlier like I did for my interview. Sure enough, there were traffic issues around the area and I got there around 10 minutes after 7am. There was a very long line outside. I stood in line for about 1/2hr before I got to my station. People need to make sure they line up in the correct side of the building. It is clearly shown in the instructions they send with from N445. The line was so long outside that you could not see which station you were lining up for. Stations 0-4 are on the East side and 5-9 are on the West side.

A USCIS rep with a clipboard was going over forms in the lines once you were inside the buidling (he could not get to everybody but he sped up the process).I answered yes to one of the questions (I traveled out of the country for 3 days). He asked me where I went and how long I was out of the US. I answered. He wrote the information on my form and gave it back to me. When I got to the table, since the officer had reviewed the form, the lady at the table just took it, made sure it was signed and asked for my green card. She then told me to go over my certificate with another lady who was sitting next to her.They were both very nice. She found the certificate and showed it to me. I said everything looked good and she congratulated me and sent me to the auditorium with a purple piece of paper. On the way there, there is a table with people handing out information packages including voter registration, passport applications and a nice folder for the certificate. I headed to the auditorium and sat down. By this time it was almost 8am. I came alone so I brought a book and sat down to read while we waited. The announcer said we had 2600+ people taking the oath. The auditorium was packed.

Just before 10am, they closed the doors, the judge was announced and court was in session. It was then announced that 2495 people would become citizens in Houston today (I guess over 100 people missed the ceremony). The USCIS reps presented us and asked the judge to grant us citizenship. He asked the reps if all the candidates had been approved following procedure and a few more questions. After affirmative answers, he granted the motion for the citizenship. The judge then recited the oath with the applicants raising their hands and responding "I will" when he was done.

There were speeches by two prominent Houston ladies (the president of the BAR association and a Texas congresswoman) and then the judge gave a speech. All of them made very strong arguments for everybody to regiter to vote there and then.

After singing the National Anthem, the ceremony was over. Everybody had been handed a piece of paper with different colors. Five different groups had gone back by the time purple came up. I went back to my table and picked up my certificate. Some people stayed and waited in a very long line to take a picture with the judge. He was very nice and said he would stay as long as people were there. I left by 11:10am.

The only downside was the long line to enter. I talked to somebody who suggested it is better just to come in later. However, this is a very risky proposition. Despite having a large audience, they went through the line quckly. If they close the doors, you will be left out of the session and will have to re-schedule your oath with some explaining to do. Bring family, bring something to read if you're alone and the time will go by quick.

I hope this helps the people who take the oath in Houston. For those waiting for the oath to be scheduled, be patient. The letter will come.

Well, I am done with the process. I took my oath in Houston this morning and I am proud to be a US citizen. I want to update everybody on some questions I had a while back regarding traveling during the process.

I have to travel a lot for work. Since it's for business purposes, they are normally short trips, but very frequent. I filled two passports in the 5 years I was a resident.

My recommendations:

1. I created a spreasheet when I became a resident and logged all my trips. I used airline records whenever I forgot to update it for a while. I strongly suggest doing this. If you only have a couple of stamps on a passport it's not a big deal, but if you travel often, filling out the information form your passport will be a mess, especially since some countries (like Mexico and the US) don't stamp on the way out and if you have Global Entry (like me) you don't get stamped on the way into the US.

2. I sent copies of every page of the two passports I used during my LPR time with my application. I didn't read that anywhere, but the IO said it was a good idea.

3. Keep updating the spreadsheet for any travel between the application and the interview. I did not do this because I wrongfully thought the physical presence requirement was up to the time of the application.

My decision was still delayed a few days after my interview (my wife had the interview the same day and got the decision on the spot). It only took 3 days for the status to change to "Oath will be Scheduled". I think it was mainly because of my travel between the application and the interview. They had to make sure I was still here. The IO has access to all your travel records and they double check the information you send if physical presence is an issue.

I took a 3-day trip between interview and oath. I was worried about it since there is a specific question about this on the N-445 Oath letter. It was not an issue. They asked me where and for how long I was away. I told them and the USCIS representative made a note with red pen on my form. That is just to highlight your answer. I wasn't asked for any documentation (but this doesn''t mean that someone else may not do so). My green card was taken and I was shown my certificate for verification and went on to the hall for the oath.

Most people don't travel that much, but for those who do, I think these tips will help.

Thank you very much! That pretty much answers all the questions I had!

Hi,

My wife completed her naturalization (I am just waiting for my oath ceremony). Her naturalization certificate was issued with her married name as she requested. Does that mean she has legally changed her name or is there an additional step?

I read somehwere (but can't find the thread again) that you may still need to apply for a name change in a court. She had a judicial oath ceremony (Houston, may 2015).

If she goes to change her name at the DMV is her certificate enough?

Thanks!

I know from previous posts and other responses that you are allowed to travel between the interview and the oath ceremony.

I am looking for someone who may have had the experience of answering yes to this question, especially for the oath in Houston.

I was out of the US for 3 days for work purposes after the interview (total time between interview and oath is 45 days). However, I am worried about how the officers will handle this when I fill out my I-445. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Yes, they do. They had a full print out of every single entry to the US I had. I travel a lot for business, so my file was extensive.

Hi,

I am new here.

I applied for citizenship in October 2014. Got interviewed in early May 2015 and passed the tests but the IO said a decision could not be made at that time because they neeed to check my physical presence. A few days later, the status online was updated to "Oath Ceremony will be scheduled"

My questions are:

1. Does that mean the case has been approved?

2. It has been a couple of weeks since then. I need to travel for work (it's part of my job, not for pleasure) but since the physical requirement was an issue, I wanted to wait until the oath. However, I have a responsibility with my employer and will have do travel soon. If I schedule an infopass, can I ask to be put in the next oath ceremony? I am in houston where they seem to have one every month.

Thanks