MASH

Lawyers these days don’t recommend submitting n400 (Naturalization) until your i751 is approved. One reason being if the couple divorces, the person becomes ineligible for 3 years rule, hence denial of n400 along with the app and lawyer fee. Secondly, it may add to the delay (not a 100% on this)
 
 

A LOT of people are in this situation.  You must, first, file to remove conditions on a 2 year green card.  When you become eligible, you can then file for naturalization (even if the I-751 hasn't been adjudicated). 
It would help if you filled in your VJ timeline.

I know.  Hahaha but if she's not petitioning anything, why waste $600+. 
 
If she has a US PP and a copy stashed somewhere eg email, Google drive etc, that'll do. 
 
I always save things on my drive because you never know 🤷🏽‍♂️

I had my interview 07/15/2022 and i heard the word CONGRATULATIONS. Oat ceremony scheduled for later date. I cant believe this process is over for me. it has been a long mental draining process but i am excited. Thank you VJ, this process would have been a nightmare without you. And to you all still waiting, it is going to happen soon. 🥰

This does not apply to you, but the I-751 and N400 cannot be filed at the same time.  The I-751 is for conditional residents with 2 yr greencards that need to remove conditions when their 2 year card is about to expire.
 
People can file the N400 under a 3yr rule if they stay married and live with their USC spouse. This is applied for at around the 3rd year of being a GC holder.
 
I believe you are referring to people who have combo I-751 and N400 interviews.  These people have been waiting over a year for their I-751 to be approved.  For example, some could get a combo interview 18 months after they submitted the I-751 and 6 months after they submitted the N-400.  But they never applied for both at the same time.

Hey Fellow December Filers!
 
hope everyone is having a great day  
 
I see based on the excel chart that many of us got interviews,approvals or oath ceremonies and just wanted to say congrats to everyone that got this far in their final journey ❤️
 
hopefully the rest hear something soon. Will be in my prayers.

Unfortunately, because we are retired with no income,  we cannot afford a 6 percent mortgage or whatever those things cost these days.
 
So unfortunately we will instead provide the deed that shows we own our home together as joint tenants with right of survivorship.  Hopefully that will work for USCIS.  

Thank you. I emailed a lawyer I used in the past and asked how much it would cost to ask a question about the notice. She said she doesn’t do that but offered to represent me at the interview and prepare me for it. Retainer of $1000 and she estimates a total cost of $1500. LOL. I’d rather go to the interview, be denied, learn from the officer my mistake and reapply for $700. 

The marriage certificate is not legit. They were not even present at their marriage ceremony. So no, their marriage certificate is not valid. I don’t see what a lawyer can do with a marriage certificate that is invalid. On top of that, the US consulate is suspecting that their marriage is fake.
 
Btw, posing as different family members will not change the answers.

Hey Fellow December Filers!
 
hope everyone is having a great day  
 
I see based on the excel chart that many of us got interviews,approvals or oath ceremonies and just wanted to say congrats to everyone that got this far in their final journey ❤️
 
hopefully the rest hear something soon. Will be in my prayers.

You stated he was only allowed 20 minutes for each interview. How is this his fault? Why are you blaming him when he has absolutely no control over how much time he's given for interviews? I know you're frustrated but you're taking it out on the wrong person. Seriously. Where you work aren't you at the mercy of your supervisors? I know I am. It's no different for this guy.

The 751 is never irrelevant. Not sure where your immigration lawyer friend got his law degree but the laws are very clear that once someone obtains a conditional GC , conditions must be removed, theres no wiggle room, no bypassing it, no skipping it. The process must be completed no exceptions.
 
Also as you experienced they can't just conduct your 751 interview because you're there and they are there. They need your 751 filing. They need an appropriate amount of time scheduled. 
 
I understand your frustration. The only good news is maybe your 751 will be approved w/o needing an interview. I would suggest reaching out to your congressman for assistance. You can voice your complaints about the process and the failure to have a combo interview as well. 

Are you being reasonable? You said yourself he told you he’s been allotted only 20 minutes for the interview. And yet you seem to be blaming him? I don’t get it.

Thanks that all we can do, it P's me off BIG TIME more waiting, all these forms not to mention thousands in fees, she passed citizenship, our relationship is legit and we pay our taxes which pay their salary. I love my wife but I cant get her to stop talking english nows that she is bilingual.

So I became an LPR on 3rd April, 2013. This meant that according to USCIS' filing calculator I became eligible to file an N-400 on 3rd January, 2018 (plus five years minus 90 days). I filed my N-400 online through ELIS at 2:30am, staying up late because I was excited to finally begin this final chapter in my immigration journey.
 
I hit an early roadblock when the receipt NoA for some reason assigned me an N-400 priority date of the previous day, 2nd January. The "application received on" date was correct since it said 3rd January. I posted about it here more than once, and the consensus seemed to be that USCIS would honour the "received" date, not the "priority" date.
 
It took a year of waiting (thanks, Dallas backlog) but I eventually got my naturalisation interview scheduled for 14th January of this year. I dutifully attended, answered all questions and passed all the tests, but was told a decision could not be made. Well the decision was made tonight, and a denial notice popped up in my online USCIS account. The reason? I applied too early. The notice stated that I applied on 2nd January, 2018, and was only eligible to file on 3rd January, 2018. Again, this wasn't mentioned at the interview, and I brought all my emailed ELIS receipts and other documents showing I filed on 3rd January in case they ever brought it up, but they didn't.
 
So it's been a fun night. After a brief period of shouting, loudly, I began to move into attack mode.
 
What I have done so far:
 
1) Emailed the CIS Ombudsman giving them the entire story, receipts with timestamps showing I applied on the correct date, and all that jazz. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Ombudsman is closed right now as part of the partial federal government shutdown, so I'm not really expecting much out of this immediately.
 
2) I'm going to my Congressman's local office tomorrow to give them the story and all the same documents and seeing if they can intercede with USCIS on my behalf.
 
3) Emailed my old lawyer and another lawyer that helped me back in 2013 to see if they can offer suggestions. Not trying to freeload on them; I offered to pay whatever fee they deem reasonable on this, since it's obviously no longer in DIY territory.
 
4) I'll be contacting the two biggest local newspapers, the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to see if they're interested in doing a story on this. I figure the more attention I can get on it the more likely I am to get something done.
 
I also have the option of either filing a fresh application, together with its $725 fee and one year wait time, or an N-336 formal appeal of their decision. Fun fact on the N-336: it costs $700 to file, and you will often wait almost as long as it costs to process a new N-400, so they kinda get you coming and going on that one. I'm not ruling anything out yet, but for now I'm hanging my hat on something from 1-4 getting me somewhere on this.
 
So at the end of the day, anyone intending to file for naturalisation on the day they become eligible: DON'T DO IT. Wait a couple of days, then submit. You will avoid all this bull, and can instead deal with some other USCIS bull that will be unrelated to this.
 
Now it's time to write some letters to newspapers and see if I can get anywhere. I will post replies here as to what happens, if anything meaningful does.

No one can answer that.  The fact that you had a previous relationship with a US citizen will likely be questioned.  One question might be "Why are you seeking American women online"??
Yes, that is the kind of scrutiny you can expect.  The reason for the past denail could also be a major obstacle. 

Exact message from USCIS:
 
You are required to live in marital union with NAME REMOVED for 3 years prior to the filing of your N-400. The affidavits and documents submitted show that when your statutory period started on July 21, 2018 you and your spouse were not living together. The documents show that NAME REMOVED was in the United States from the beginning of the statutory period until August 23, 2021, when he returned to the Philippines. The documents show that you and your spouse stayed in an Airbnb from August 23, 2018 until you both came to the United States on October 18, 2018. You did not provide sufficient evidence to show that you lived in marital union with NAME REMOVED for the 3 years prior to filing your N-400. Therefore, you do not qualify for naturalization at this time. See INA 319(a) and Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (8 CFR), sections 319.1(a)(3) and (b)(1) and (2)(i) and (ii).
 
They completely disregarded all trips except the most recent. The evidence was outlined clearly to show the other trips also. As outlined in the initial post, here are my most recent 2 trips where we lived together (not my only ones!)
 
2018/05/12 – 2018/06/22 (42 days in marital union)
2018/08/24 – 2018/10/18 (55 days in marital union)

Hello, I am seeking advice on how to proceed. Our case was denied today with the option to request a hearing. My inexperienced interpretation of the law makes me think they should have accepted. Here is the backstory.
 
We applied for my wife 90 days before 3 years of her arrival. This advice is all over the internet and even on the USCIS website. At her interview, they said she needed to be in marital union for 3 years prior to applying. This came as a surprise since there were no warnings of this next to the 90 days advice. We were not overly concerned, however, because I visited her many times since being married, more than 90 days worth. I sent in evidence for 127 days of living together in the Philippines after our marriage.
 
Today we received a denial. They only counted the final visit. I had visited for 55 days before we flew back home together. Even at the interview, the interviewer told my wife the combined time together would be acceptable to fulfill the 90 days. We made it very clear in the evidence submitted how many days I had been there, where I stayed, when I flew, etc, so she could not have overlooked the other trips. We also made it clear that I have work and could not be there continuously, so I had to return home periodically. To give you an idea, here are my final 2 trips there which add up to more than 90 days:
 
2018/05/12 – 2018/06/22 (42 days in marital union)
2018/08/24 – 2018/10/18 (55 days in marital union)
 
We were never separated after 2018/10/18 which was her arrival date in US. So there is only around a 2 month gap when I had to return home, then we were continuous for the entirety of the 90 days. We have a bank account, house, taxes, and baby together.
 
I find it hard to believe a significant amount of Americans move to the foreign country for more than 90 days before immigration. How can this not be mentioned clearly when giving advice of applying 90 days early?
 
FYI my wife said the interviewer asked the toughest civil questions (which she got correct), then went into this 90 day business and was unfriendly the whole time. Then she took a long time to review the submitted evidence before denying today. Could it be just a bad case officer?
 
Was denial a correct decision? Should we do the hearing or just reapply? That's another $800, but how long would the hearing take to receive? Will I be allowed with my wife for the hearing? I am better at presenting the evidence since she is shy.

Hey! Once I received this update “case is being actively reviewed with nothing outstanding” things moved real fast. It was just like less than 2 weeks after this update I got my interview notice.  Wishing you good luck! 

Because it bypasses the entire system of security checks in the home country that is done there by the embassy and USCIS has to do it from here which ties up the federal system(s) that have to search for answer(s) and security checks from foreign governments  Doing this involves several branches of the federal government
for one a tourist does not have to provide a criminal report and medical exam so all the paperwork that would have been done from homeland now has to be done from here and is much harder to do especially from governments that are poor record keepers 

If you have no red flags your interview should go well.
 
Thanks.

Today (08/11/2022) at 2:35 pm I officially become an American citizen. I would to say thank you to everyone in this forum who help through this journey. For those of you waiting just be patient your day will come. 

Since it’s a day before ur trip I would recommend just going, I heard way to many horror stories were people rescheduled and it ended up not being properly updated n they end up getting denied. I would keep the interview and reschedule the oath ceremony if it’s not gonna be on same day.

I just come home from the office they gave me the stamp no problem and they told me not even gonna need it soon Thank you all for your help. 

This is general advice that applies to you and to everyone dealing with USCIS, either by yourself or by an attorney: always, always keep a copy of everything you submit to them, and the notices they sent you. 
I still think that the denial did not come because of a mix up of addresses. There has to be something else. Maybe your ex sent them a letter stating you married to get an immigration benefit. 
If I were you, I would retain a top notch attorney and ask them to file a FOIA  (Freedom Of Information Act) for you. That way, you can see what is on your file and see if it is something you can overcome. It's certainly not a DIY anymore.