Henry357

On 7/27/2020 at 8:44 PM, Venus201320 said:

I’ve contacted the Ombudsman office instead through there website filled out the online form and sent it off. My Senator is not very friendly when it comes to immigration. 

My congressman is not friendly when it comes to immigration.  He got my combo approved in 2 weeks.   Don’t assume they will not help future voters. 

15 hours ago, HRQX said:

Note that the US Embassy in Stockholm can issue first time passports if the Naturalization Certificate is presented: https://se.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/apply-for-a-passport-in-person/ "STEP 2: Submit Evidence of U.S. Citizenship" tab

If you are applying for a passport for the first time, you may submit one of the following:

• Certified U.S. birth certificate issued by the city, county or state;
• Consular Report of Birth Abroad; 
• Naturalization Certificate;
• Certificate of Citizenship.

Bingo- plus you get it very quickly not months later. But if you applied by mail or an acceptance center right now you wouldn’t have your certificate!   You would be SOL.

9 minutes ago, RunTheRoad said:

We are up against a virus that no one has any clue about. It is not too far out to think Phase 3 may be indefinitely delayed. If you apply through the normal process, at least you are somewhere in a queue and there is some movement happening. Now that  Phase 2 is slowly opening up, I would think it wiser to at least get your foot in the door. Plus, I think people just hate the uncertainty of the waiting game and getting your passport application in gives you a sense of 'I am doing something'.

If the virus is so bad that phase 3 is indefinitely delayed than no one is opening boarders for Americans.  Congress is pushing them very hard to sort this mess out.   On the other hand if there is a VAX, phase 3 will start and I will be the first inline to bypass everyone by mail. (I’ll need to travel for work ASAP) 
 

A rush to get passports during a global pandemic just seems odd to me.  But I get it, people without the need to travel in the next few months just apply because they want to. My theory is that they miss USCIS abuse and heard about the mess at DOS.

1 minute ago, jan22 said:

And that's fine for you.  Some people, obviously, view it differently and have their own reasons that we will never know --  and may never agree with -- but it's their decision to make without anyone questioning why they are doing it.

Lol - okay.  Just trying to understand the rush to apply.   It’s definitely not for travel...

2 minutes ago, jan22 said:

Might not make sense to you....but it doesn't have to.   It is perfectly normal for a newly naturalized citizen to want to apply for/get a passport as soon as possible.

 

Not everyone lives close to a passport agency and/or can't afford to travel there while also needing to pay for a last-minute international flight in an emergency, so want to to have the passport in hand.   

 

And, for passport renewals, your expiring passport is not your only proof of citizenship; you have the original certificate and, in many cases along the border, a passport card.  For first time applicants, they should have a copy of the naturalization certificate to show while they explain the original is with the passport agency.

 

Probably have let this stray too far from the original question -- I really just wanted to clarify the mis-information on the Washington Passport Agency.

You will not be travelling on any last minute flight if your docs are in some lock box somewhere.  

Go to flyertalk and look at what people that actually are travelling are doing, people are completely SOL, DOS can’t even give them a tracking number because the application is sitting in some lockbox somewhere.   Congress is getting involved being people need passports for business and DOS can’t find passport applications.  It’s a mess.

I don’t see a case to apply. 

14 minutes ago, jan22 said:

A lot of people, especially near the border, like to have the security of proof of citizenship handy at all times, in case they get stopped by law enforcement or immigration.  Plus, if they are naturalized citizens with a large number of family members outside the US, they also want the security of knowing they are prepared to travel in an emergency to be with their loved one.  There would be no way to even plead your case to be allowed entry to another country in an emergency if you didn't already have the passport in hand.

None of the makes sense. 
 

You can get a passport in 1-2 days right now at a passport agency office in an emergency.  But you can’t if you mailed off your certificate.  You are screwed in an emergency and will be waiting months. 
 

Also how does parting with your one evidence of citizenship for months make sense if your worried about proving your status to law enforcement. 

The only logical use case is that you plan to go to Mexico or some island in 3 months but think the virus will be so bad that DOS will not hit phase 3. 

11 minutes ago, jan22 said:

???  There is, in fact, a passport agency in DC (Washington Passport Agency) --- on 19th St NW, between F & G Streets -- but there is no passport agency in Virginia.  Most are in Phase One of reopening, doing in-person applications for individuals with life-and-death level emergencies with passports needed in the next 72 hours.  A few agencies are in Phase Two, with most staff returning and more routine processing being done on applications they have received, and in-person applications in life-and-death emergencies.

Ahh the mailing address is VA but physical office in DC. Regardless, my point still stands that you don’t have to go to DC to apply in person.

i still don’t understand the rush to get a passport before Phase Three?  Where are people going ?!   You realize you are risking not having your documents in an emergency or when expedited returns allowing you to actually get a passport when you need it. 

9 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

sorry my first one went to DC  and was marked 

my first renewal said NYC/ my new one just says US Dept of State

but my post was meant to mean either you apply by sending mail or in person 

and a person can apply in person if they need an expedited passport 

 

 

You really only need a flight booked to get expedited in person service once we hit phase 3.   They will probably hit phase 3 and clear the backlog before your able to actually go anywhere anyways so I really don’t see the point of people mailing in the application to some black hole that is taking months, especially since some application have been reported missing.  Also, What if you DO have an emergency in the next month, you are screwed.
 

Just wait a few months, they will clear the backlog, than you only have to wait <2 weeks for mail or a day or two for in person expedited. 50% of Americans don’t ever get a passport. 

23 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

Have you thought to find out what documents Canada required for the naturalizaiton?

there could have been a record of your birth filed when you were 8

Likely refugee documents.   My friend had similar issue and they took his UN documents. 

13 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

you asked "so , i have to mail it in"   yes,  or go to DC and apply in person

There is no pp agency office in DC.  (There is one In VA) 

The full list is here: 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html

If you wait until phase 3 you can get your passport in person, in a few days as long as you have travel within 2 weeks. 

28 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Not all of us can have the ease of dual citizenship 

Where are non dual citizens travelling to that they need a passport so badly? Basically only Mexico and a few islands is open to Americans 

Seems safer and less inconvenient to wait. 

1 minute ago, Georgia16 said:

If you are a duel Citizen you Can still go home to your country for let’s say Christmas but you need your American passport for the travel as well

I just thought of that after I hit save.  When I was researching on FT they recommend applying at an embassy as lots of applications have gone missing.

You can wait for the passport agency offices to open and pay for expedited service.  Normally they process the application same day for pick up. (Pre covid anyways)  

Why  is everyone is such a rush to get a passports.  Most counties have banned American passport holders anyways. 

There are 3 types of birth documents in all of Canada outside of Quebec:

1. Short form, in the 90s this was wallet sized, only shows your details. 
 

2.Long form, shows you and yours parents details. 
 

3. A certified copy of birth record.  This is a photo copy of what is actually on record at the department of vital statistics certified by that agency.  

OP only has 1 and 3.  Based on the screen print from the DOS above, 2 or 3 are okay. 
 

40 minutes ago, Henry357 said:

Karen’s come in all forms. 

Kens are the most elusive form of Karen’s, often they are threatened easily.

41 minutes ago, aleac said:

Wow. We found an Immigrant KAREN.

I never thought I'd see one.

 

Surely you start yelling when you're told to wear a mask at Walmart, right?

Karen’s come in all forms. 

24 minutes ago, chi6488 said:

People want to work from home.  How does USCIS do its job working from home because of all the hype about covid??

 

Want your cake and eat it too??

 

Personally covid is a scam and people dealing with immigration are feeling the wrath of this scam.  Blame the media and the political party pushing for stay at home orders.

 

Some will die from covid but most will live.  This is like any other event in history proving darwins theory survival of the fittest

My team productive went up working from home.  Not that hard. Less distractions. 
 

USCIs is like any government agency though.  Their job security is based on congress not performance. 

43 minutes ago, PWB said:

So very easy right now to get frustrated with the "system"  Makes me wonder if our President had to submit his tax return and 2 passport pictures etc, etc for the processing of his 129F that got his beautiful wife to America.  Probably did even have to document that they had met personally within the two years of filing his petition.    Where is the fairness that is due to all of us to have done things right in the horrid immigration process.

She was self sponsored on EB1 after O1 so no he didn’t have to submit anything.      

3 hours ago, aleac said:

You fail to mention that USCIS started losing considerable money under this administration, the deficit was minimal until 2016.

In part because of poor management,  also because part of the funds were taken out from USCIS to fund ICE or DHS. Also immigration officials were assigned other duties fighting illegal immigration instead of assisting with legal immigration. Delays from USCIS did not start this year. They should really stop blaming "Covid and less petitions" for this disaster

Do you have a source for your claim that USCIS fees are being redirected to ICE?   I have never heard this. 
 

You realize that IO pay has skyrocketed up to a starting wage of over 100k/year due to 10 years of raises to all federal workers.  Other government “departments” just charge our national credit card that your kids will pay buck but USCIS is self funded so needs to raise fees.

Completely misleading headline.  Not getting a card doesn’t make anyone undocumented/illegal. 

The 2016 change was to the status granted for the 1 year prior a Cubans eligibility to adjust.  If they illegaly entered they basically got a form of tps to wait out the year as long as they made it to dry land.  Now they can get deported before they hit the 1 year mark. 

As long as he has been in the US for 1 year, legal or illegally, and entered legally he can adjust and is exempt from most rules that apply to the rest of us.  This is federal law and can’t be changed via a EO. 

1 hour ago, HulkySun said:

Hey Henry, I believe I already stated several times I'm not 'leaving it as is' and never said anything about "8k expenses", quite the contrary. This means I don't need any notes to "write to the c/o".  And I don't need cake as well.  Thanks for your help

You said 3k in taxes.  Sounds like 8k to me because that’s my marginal rate. (Around 40 pct)  I had to go reread the comment. 

But at your income might be way more as you noted because of the lower tax bracket.   (15 pct)

2 minutes ago, Cndn said:

No. I was simply wondering out loud (probably not a good idea to do that here) about whether or not IO’s view self employed income differently. I was absolutely not making an assertion that they SHOULD view it differently. Another user pointed out that all self employed deductions are for money used toward business expenses, and therefore cannot logically be also viewed as money that can support the immigrant spouse, which I accept as making perfect sense. I think that’s possibly what you’re getting at. I don’t disagree, I’m just still curious if self employed income is viewed differently by some IO’s. I’m sure it’s not. 

My guess is no, they will just look at income as stated.  The burden is on the applicant to show they will not become a public charge after all. 

16 minutes ago, Cndn said:

I don’t understand at all what you mean about arguing the “counter factually to another government agency.” What? Who did that? I just submitted all the financial information they asked for like everyone else. How they interpret it or what judgement call they make is completely out of my control. No one has argued anything. 

It was a hypothetical.  You asserted that self employment income should be treated by DOS/USCIS in higher regard due the amount of deductions taken. You used your rent as an example of a dedication that should be considered.  No? 
 

This would require someone to argue (or for the officer to infer)  to USCIS/DOS that these are not true business dedications, the income is understated and the income could be diverted to support the person if needed.  I think it would be hard to argue this case since it’s counter factual to the persons IRS declaration.  
 

You have a different view I guess. 

19 minutes ago, HulkySun said:

Right on!  There is no cake being eaten either way, its simply a different system and taxes are paid differently and significantly into the system with huge expenses not easily understood as a more simple W2.  I'm not running a neighborhood lawn mowing service for extra money on weekends

Okay fine. Leave it as is and write a note for the CO/IO to read outlining why the income on the  tax return is understated...... what more can you do?