Usagi_tsukino

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Thanks for sharing! For the name change, was there some reason they needed that? My husband had a name change at the oath but he didn't needed to provide anything other than the naturalization certificate as it had his new name there already.

Yeah i think i needed this, i'm pretty sure i read this in the instructions. Plus they kinda checked everything at the post office and i think they would have told me if it wasn't needed. (For example one girl wanted my a copy of my id as well and the other one told her they don't need that). I think it should be fine in your husband's case anyway, i'm sure they have ways to check and find out if needed. 

Hi again everyone, just want to report the progress, hope it can be useful.

Like i posted previously i got my passport on august 11th, so, just a few days after that i got my passport card; my naturalization certificate with the name change document was received back yesterday. Applied on July 23rd, so overall everything took exactly 4 weeks. Super fast. Still not having fully recovered from my AOS experience haha, I expect every organization to mess things up and be super slow, so I am pleasantly surprised.

For the name change i sent certified copy.

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

The two first numbers in the number you used to track the process on your passport tells you which passport agency processed your actual application. The passport was made in and shipped from AZ, the application itself was processed in "79" (whichever agency that is, someone said Houston). 

My application was processed at the Boston agency, and my actual passport was made in Arkansas.

Ohhh ok  thank you!

12 minutes ago, aa1979 said:

That's Houston, TX!

Hmm it was shipped from Tucson AZ though

36 minutes ago, millefleur said:

 

 

Quick indeed! Was it shipped back standard Priority Mail?

It says express 1 day, although i asked for 2 days im pretty sure  (As was recommended on the website). From Tucson too, btw

Here is what it says on informed delivery:

"PASSPORT SERVICES/DOS TUCSON

TUCSON ,AZ

Priority Mail Express 1-Day®--

PO to AddresseeUp to $100 insurance included"

PS: Seems like I've been getting a good luck now with all the citizenship stuff after my horrible AOS story. Hope i didnt just jinx it and they wont lose my naturalization certificate or something.

34 minutes ago, tu2008 said:

Congratulations! What are the first two digits of your file locator number?

Thank you! It's 79 

Hi, thought id share.

Applied for my passport on july 23rd, received it yesterday. Asked for expedited service and it took less than 3 weeks including mailing.

Still waiting for the naturalization certificate back and for the passport card (got it so i could give it to SSA), but at least the passport it here.

Definitely did not expect it to be this quick instead of 12 weeks as it is said on the website! 

Best of luck to everyone who is waiting.

On 7/21/2021 at 9:15 AM, El Escocés said:

If you haven't yet applied for your passport, it might be worth also getting a passport card. I will be using my passport card, when it arrives, to send to the SSA. 

 

A good discussion about that is here. 

 

 

Thank you  yeah i applied for both. Do you know if passport card takes less time to receive by any chance?

On 7/21/2021 at 11:52 AM, SusieQQQ said:

But also note SSA is now offering “express appointments” for people to do things like update citizenship status - 10 minute (apparently) appointment, you show your certificate or passport and take it back with you so no need to send anything in 

I called them and they told me to use drop box

On 7/19/2021 at 8:46 PM, EternalForeigner said:

I was wondering about that, too. I thought people who had same-day oath ceremonies got the original certificate but I could be wrong. Can someone verify this? I'd like a certified copy too so I can send it with the passport application immediately and use the original to update my status with the SSA.

I decided to get a passport first and deal with SSA later. I find the system of sending original documents pretty weird, but ok 🙄 Tried to walk in to infopass today but they turned me away since i didn't have an appointment. And to make an appointment you need to call and then they call you back in 3 weeks. I got a call back in a month and missed it. But i already made a passport appointment so i'll just mail my original one and will be left with no document at all. Weird. 

Oh also, you can't send a certified copy with your passport application, it has to be the original one.

For SSA i may just give them my passport when i get it, by the way, not the naturalization certificate.

3 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

You see if it is worth delaying getting your passport. Personally, I would just have a scanned copy in case it's needed.

thank you, yeah i decided i'll just mail it. Waited long enough already 😅

2 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

If you know your school, or other institutions, really need to change your status, do that first then.  

no, that's the thing that i want to have it "just in case", like i said. I already changed it where i had to change it now, but it takes a long time and you never know what may come up. So im just wondering if others thought the same or they just mailed it away. 

Thanks anyway.

15 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

When do you expect you would need a certified copy to be presented?  Plain photocopy or scanned for your reference would be enough.

I dont know. Just to have it just in case. I know my school has me as "permanent resident", may be i decide to change it for whatever reason so may be it would suffice. Waiting for a passport just takes a long time and all this time we are without any document, that's weird.

Hi everyone, i was wondering when you applied for passport, did you all get a certified copy to have just in case since the original needs to be mailed? It's quite a pain to get infopass appointment for that so im not sure if i should wait longer until i can get one or just mail it without having a backup document. 

Thank you

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Thanks for the feedback - I remember your original post. There are many ways to serve your country, Congrats on passing.

 

 

Yep, i would totally be willing to perform non-combat service if needed but bearing arms is not something i am willing to do (for any country) and i wouldn't feel right lying about it. Thank you!!!

Hello everyone, back in fall i said that i would be requesting a modified oath since i am not willing to bear arms, and a few of you asked me to share my experience.

Well, i had my interview this morning, the officer went through my application, and at the end she said "Oh and you don't want to bear arms, right?" i said "Right". She said she removed this line from my oath and showed it to me on the screen. Not a single question asked. That's it  

The reasons I stated in the letter when i submitted my applications are purely personal beliefs, not due to a religion.

Was approved on the spot.

Good luck everyone!!!

5 hours ago, Fr8dog said:

I am a firm believer in the constitution (including the 2nd amendment) and would defend it in anyway needed. That includes the OP's right to their opinion and their moral convictions. I do not share OP's believes but applaud their willingness to go through the "hassle" for their believes.

 

By law, you cannot be forced to "bear arms" if you object based on moral convictions. This includes religious believes, but does not limit it to it.

Both the question and the line in the oath state "when required by law" and you can make a valid argument that you do need an amended oath since your believes are covered by law. The same could be argued for question 48.

 

If you feel that this does not cover the intend correctly, I would go with marking both questions "no" and submit an explanation for both.

Please keep us updated on the application.

Thank you!

3 hours ago, ioxtremod said:

I don't want to be this guy but why applying to get US citizenship if you don't believe in defending the US constitution? Green card gives you 99% of the benefits of citizenship without any of the responsibility.

 

I believe in defending, just not in this way. And i know that it is ok to do so, otherwise they would not give us this option.

3 hours ago, RunTheRoad said:

I don't have an answer for this, but what an interesting question!  What would be your reason for not willing to bear arms? 

Deeply held moral and ethical values, as allowed by Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization, Part J, Oath of Allegiance, Chapter 3, Oath of Allegiance Modifications and Waivers [12 USCIS-PM J]: “May be eligible for modifications based on religious training and belief, or conscientious objection arising from a deeply held moral or ethical code.”

Anyway, i applied yesterday, i said i cant take the full oath and attached a letter explaining this and requesting to remove this line. Will see how much trouble they will give me. Let the fun begin again LOL

Hi everyone, i am about to file my application. I am answering "no" to the question if i am willing to bear arms, does this mean i am also supposed to answer "no" to the question if i am willing to take the full oath? I saw an example online where a person who refused to bear arms said "yes" to the full oath.

So:

1) answer "no" to bear arms and provide explanation only to that; OR

2) answer "no" to both questions and send a request to take a modified oath?

Thank you!

Also, if anyone answered "no" to the bear arms question sharing your experience would be highly appreciated!

11 hours ago, Wiz_Fit said:

May I ask how you got to your officer's supervisor on the phone line? Was it only because you had a card or would there of been another way?

We talked to him in person, not over the phone. But actually we had his phone number as well  If i remember correctly the other supervisor who gave us his business card wrote down his phone number for us. 

11 hours ago, Wiz_Fit said:

Did you begin the process with a lawyer or did you have to get one near the end?

We began without a lawyer but had to get one near the beginning, actually. We received a RFE right after filing that stated that my husband does not make enough money to be my sponsor (not true, another uscis mistake and they had plenty of evidences). So we weren't sure what to do and we hired a lawyer.

11 hours ago, Wiz_Fit said:

Edit - just realized this post is super old but guessing it could still apply. I did see you got a lawyer after your first RFE. Would you wait in our case or go see a lawyer at this point?

Haha it's ok, i actually don't know how this post went unnoticed because i had a huge thread about my situation before 😅 I guess there was some other more popular post at the same time i started this one. Don't pay attention to what the system says, they sent me a message that my case was approved a year later 😂 If you want a lawyer i think you should ask what exactly this lawyer can do. Because honestly our could not help us with the delay, we had to do everything ourselves. If they offer you some good options go ahead  But on the other hand you only waited for less than a month after it was received. You should give them 2 months before you start pushing them. Good luck!

4 minutes ago, DRKALEMAR said:

Hello,

 

Bumped into your post and I'm in a similar situation. My husband filed for AOS on 11/2016 and we just received an RFE asking to redo his biometrics. It's been 2 weeks since they have received it but we haven't been given a notice of receipt or next steps. The website is completely useless as well and in NY, they are not even accepting info pass appointments. Calls Only. How did you locate your officer? Where could I find my officer and contact? THANKS

Hi! Sorry about your situation.

If you got a request to do biometrics again then it’s a good sign, they were probably about to approve, found out that biometric expired and had him do it again. But in case I’m wrong keep reading.

We were just going there every two weeks and talking to different people, I don’t remember the details, but our office is divided into infopass area and area where interviews take place.

Once someone from infopass told us to go upstairs (interview area) and ask them. So we did. 

We told them that people from infopass told us to come up so they called someone. We talked to one of the supervisors, I don’t remember what she said, but nothing happened so we went back. I think we told to her again....then nothing happened again....then we went back and talked to someone else..... repeated this many times.

They don’t like you coming to the interview area where all the offices and supervisors are. What really helped is that one of the supervisors gave us his business card (shocking!) and told us the name of our officer’s supervisor (also shocking!) , for future reference let’s call him Mike. So after that we were just coming in, showing them this business card and telling them that this person whose card it is told us that we need Mike. They became a lot more friendly and were actually calling Mike for us. Sometimes it took hours to wait for Mike. We saw Mike many times before our case got approved. So, it took a lot of effort.

I wish the best of luck to you!

4 minutes ago, cduran said:

Secondly, we ALL have accents, even across the US there are regional accents

i said "foreign accents"

4 minutes ago, cduran said:

Maybe focus a bit more on intent over feeling victimized and things would flow better for you. Best of luck.

Believe me, i am the last person who feels victimized over anything. It's simply annoying.

5 minutes ago, cduran said:

You say you take no offense to being asked where you're from or asking about your accent but your four paragraph essay seems to indicate otherwise.

Again, you are telling me how i feel : )

All i am saying is that people feel different than you. I see that its all fun for you, great, I do believe that you mean no harm, but may be think about how others feel too when you annoy them about their accents.

5 hours ago, cduran said:

Please don't take it offensively! We (Americans) have a weird obsession with accents. haha and for obvious reason (because its awesome!) the British one is at the top of the list. I know it probably makes you feel a weird way but just look at it as people are genuinely interested in getting to know you and about you. Put a positive spin on it so it won't hit you so hard and feel special because you get to see the country that most of us see as "usual" through a fresh pair of eyes. Immigrants are the foundation of this country so feel proud of it!

 

Good luck on your journey, hon!

But why won't you, people who don't have a foreign accent (can't say "you Americans" because many people who have accents are also Americans) put yourself in our shoes? Why are you telling us how to feel? It's even more annoying than hearing about our accents. I've lived in the US for over 10 years, and i can tell you my attitude towards it did not change a bit. 

Pronunciation is an important part of the language, i find it very rude of people to comment on someone else's pronunciation. Basically you are telling them (us) that our language skills are not good enough when we are not asking you about your opinion. Many of us are trying to speak better, we are learning vowels and pitch and sounds and so on but then, after hours of studying we go outside and hear "what a nice accent", how do you think it makes us feel? Like we studied for nothing and can't even learn how to speak.

On top of that, it doesn't matter where I am from. No, it's not offensive at all, it just doesn't say anything about me and being asked about it and being associated with it is also annoying. I left that country long time ago, it's not "my" country anymore, i don't represent that culture. I don't see myself as being from an another country. When people ask me things about that country i don't know any more than those who ask. It's also very annoying. 

I think people should become more aware of this issue. Somehow we are all about racial equality, gender equality, people watch what they say in may other situations but everyone forget about accents and comment on them all they want, and then even worse - tell people how they should feel about it. 

Accent is the worst. I don't understand why people think it's ok to comment on someone's accent. I mean come on, I studied English for years, I do not wish to hear from you that I have an accent! 😡😠