lntdenver

18 minutes ago, Mike E said:

 

Your  story has changed.  You led with the above.  “Help” is work. A B-2 visa is not a working visa.  
 

 

It has not changed. I meant “Help” as in “I’m a first time mom and have no clue what I’m doing” or “hey mom can you watch the baby  so I can take a shower?” 😂 

But thanks for your input anyway 

On 1/12/2023 at 7:54 AM, Mike E said:

Because of this reason, her  visa has an  elevated probability of being denied. If not denied, she has an elevated probability of being  denied entry.  
 

 

Wow. That seems a little harsh for just coming to visit her daughter and son in law after 3 years. And to meet her first and only grandchild. 

14 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

If she’s coming here to suddenly change plans and adjust status, just petition her properly.

She is definitely going back after a 4 week visit. She owns her business and has a lot going on in Brazil. Just trying to come meet her first grandchild.  

On 1/12/2023 at 1:42 PM, Bh_sarah said:

Even for renewal without the interview it's taking a lot of time from scheduling to dropping the documents at the visa center.

 

My parents just renewed their tourist visa (it expired in October 2021 I think). They applied for renewal in April 2022 and only managed to find an available date in January 2023 for dropping their documents in São Paulo (interview waived). We kept checking the website all the time to try to find an earlier date but only found one in December (one month ahead of the previous date). They got their passport/visa back after 2 weeks.

 

I heard it's best to check on early morning times (midnight to 5AM), that's when there might be earlier dates available, but I'm not sure if this is valid or not. Also if this is a huge priority, maybe renewing it through a visa agent ("despachante") can work out as they probably know how to schedule earlier/get earlier dates. Unfortunately I can't vouch for this either, just word on the street. 

 

And I'd say refrain from ever using the word "help" here and anywhere. I know that this kind of help is not work – it's not like you are bringing her to US so you can save on babysitters – but as you can see from the replies, this term gets super misunderstood here. I guess it's cultural and some other cultures don't really understand why you would need help from your relatives, especially parents (even if just emotional help) when you give birth/have a newborn. I don't get it as well, but just a suggestion to refrain from using this word when it's just your mom meeting your child and providing you maternal support.

Thank you so much for your input!!! Very helpful!!! 

Hi everyone,

I have been a U.S. Citizen for a couple years now, and am pregnant with my first child due in March.  
This will be the first grandchild on my side of the family and my mom was planning on coming to help and meet her grandchild in May or June 2023. She lives in Brazil, had a visitor visa and was here visiting in January 2019. 
It turns out her visitor visa expired in November 2022 and the earliest she could schedule the interview is June 2024 where she lives, or if traveling to another city for consulate, October 2023. 

is there any way to expedite, get the visa sooner or apply for some kind of extension since she did have a valid one until recently? 
is it allowed to apply for the visa in a different country other than your home country? 

Just a feedback on estimated times for those that are still in the waiting game.  
 

When I applied in May, my estimated completion was September.  
Then, in July when the offices were reopening from COVID, my estimated completion got updated to January.  
In August, my interview got scheduled and the estimated completion changed to December.  
I had my interview end of September and my oath ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow.  
my USCIS estimated completion still shows December as of now.  

This is for Cleveland Ohio office. The generic estimated USCIS processing time is much longer than that.  
 

28 minutes ago, Réina17 said:

Hi! Did you receive the oath date yet? I got approved on October 1st, the notification changed into oath ceremony has been scheduled on October 6th but haven't received any mail and it's not showing up on my documents tab yet.

It took a few days for the letter to show up in the Documents tab.  My oath ceremony is scheduled for Friday 10/16.  

updated status! still waiting for letter to be loaded into documents tab or show up in mailbox.  But this is good news for now.  
 

“We scheduled your naturalization ceremony

View your letter on your documents tab for the ceremony date, time, and location 

Note: It may take up to a few days for your letter to show on your documents tab.

You will take the Oath of Allegiance and receive your Certificate of Naturalization at your ceremony. You will also return your Green Card and answer questions about your activity since your interview.

You will also have the opportunity to apply for a U.S. Passport/Passport Card, register to vote, and update your Social Security record.

What to bring

• Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony (N-445)
• Permanent Resident Card “

18 hours ago, Chrisfer77 said:

Congratulations !! Did you apply for passport?

No, I did not.  I still have to go back for the oath ceremony.  

18 hours ago, cdherrera said:

Congrats! We are hearing of so many people taking their oath right there and then, I was wondering if anyone had to wait anymore. No biggie, at least you are approved!! This wait is at least slightly less stressful. Thanks for sharing your update

I think maybe it depends on the field office?
Cleveland Courthouse is still closed, and I wonder if they are hoping to reopen and have the oath ceremony there (as it normally is)... 

it was a little disappointing because of the expectations I had after seeing everyone posting about having it right then and there. 
 

my status changed to “you attended your interview” and “we approved your application”.  

Had my interview today at Cleveland Ohio Office.  
 

IO was very professional and clearly stated the steps we were going thru and what I was to expect.  
 

She asked me to stand and sworn me in to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.  
 

Then proceeded to the civics test:

- what is the capital of our state 

- who is the speaker of the House of Representatives 

- when is Independence Day celebrated

- name one of the rights from the first amendment 

- who is in charge of the executive branch 

- name one of our senators 

I got all those right so she stopped at 6 questions.  
 

then she asked me to read from the tablet screen:

- How many senators are there?

Then she said to me and I had to write down in the tablet:

-There are one hundred senators

She said I had passed the civics and English tests. Then proceeded with the yes/no questions that are in the N-400 form (have you ever.....?) 

There was one question about are you a member of any organization... and I paused and said “athletic organization? I am a member at the gym”. She smiled behind the mask and said those are ok and do not count.  And I said “Costco?” She said everyone likes to say that on that question, and I said “we must all be proud Costco members”. And we both chuckled.  

At the end she stated she was recommending me for approval and that I was to wait for them to contact me regarding oath ceremony.  They would either hold it at the courthouse (If they open) or at USCIS office. And likely only myself would be allowed in the room because of Covid.  

I had brought a binder with evidences, printed everything I submitted and more evidences. The only things I was asked to present were my Appointment letter, my Green Card and my Passport.  
She did not ask me for Husbands (USC) birth certificate or passport.  Nor asked for our marriage certificate.  I thought she would ask for that since my passport has my maiden name, and the Green Card has my married name.  
 

she printed a One page report That states you passed the civics and English tests and your application is being recommended for approval. 
 

now back to the waiting game! 

On 9/23/2020 at 12:38 PM, sailorgal said:

Hi all, I am officially a US citizen as of a few hours ago!

 

I had my interview appointment this morning. I was allowed in the building 15 minutes prior to my interview time. After the security check, I was checked-in at the reception over an iPad. I was instructed to go to a room where an IO was waiting for me over another iPad. They took about 10 minutes to review my file and we proceeded straight to the civics test part of the interview;

 

- what was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?

- name your US representative. (The IO didn't know the person I named so they had to look it up haha)

- the House of Representatives has how many voting members?

- what is the capital of the United States?

- in what month do we vote for President?

- what ocean is on the West Coast?

Lost connection on the iPad twice during this test, gahhhh!

 

Reading - what day is Columbus Day?

Writing - Columbus Day is in October.

 

The IO then reviewed my application and some of my responses on my n400 form. We then went over the qualifying yes/no questions.

 

Any forms that they needed me to sign as well as the form for the writing test were sent over to the printer in my interview room by the IO. I would sign the form, hold it up at the camera so they could take a screen shot of my response and at the end of the interview all those documents went into a shred bin.

 

At the end of the interview, they told me I was approved, sent me a notice over the printer that reflected my approval, informed me that I will be taking my oath after the interview. I then took my oath with 4 other appliancants in the ceremony room. Also received an envelope with a few forms - passport application, voter registration, letter from the president, a cute little American flag, and naturally my certificate of naturalization. Make sure everything on this certificate is correct before you leave the USCIS office because fixing any mistakes that you notice after you leave will cost you $500.

 

The interview lasted about 25 minutes, would have been quicker if it wasn't for the connectivity issues. The process leading up to the oath and the oath took about 15. I was done in under an hour and 15 minutes or so. They had the usual COVID restrictions in place; face mask, social distancing. No cellphones are allowed in the building and you take your mask off during the interview. All in all everything went smoothly, 10/10 won't do this again now that I'm done lol! 

 

And that is all folks. I wish y'all all the very best with your interviews!

 

#murica🇺🇲

Congratulations! 
thanks for sharing your experience! 
 
it sounds like no one is allowed in the room other than yourself, even for the oath ceremony? 
we were considering if my husband would go with me but it appears it will just be a waste of his time... 

Interview letter came available in the “documents” section on My.uscis page.  Scheduled for Monday 9/28 (7 weeks away). 

Here is what the letter looks like.  

23 minutes ago, kranthi143 said:

Congratulations my friend. Can I know when you got the re-use of biometrics notification?

On Friday I got notification that biometrics was scheduled. Yesterday I went to check the documents tab, thinking they would tell me when my appointment is, and I actually found the letter stating re-use of biometrics. And I also happened to notice the status changed to Interview is scheduled, but the email about Status change only came in today.  

- Got a biometrics reuse notice letter uploaded to website, still waiting for hard copy in snail mail. 
- Status changed to interview is scheduled.  
- Estimated time for completion moved up to September.  It was originally September, then delayed to January 2021, but now it is back to September (1 month). 
 

I better go study my flash cards again!

40 minutes ago, Ismar&Brandy said:

 

When did you apply for n400? We did May 22

May 13.  

1 minute ago, kranthi143 said:

Where you are checking the timing? USCIS online account??

my.uscis.gov

My estimated completion used to be September (4 months) and it now has been updated to January 2021 (6 months). 

On 7/10/2020 at 5:41 PM, Phoenix777 said:

Tell me please, has you service center changed for 751 when you moved to OH? As we are going to move soon there and I have pending ROC and soon will apply for citizenship...

I filed to the appropriate center to where I was living at the time.  In my ROC process my file was sent to LIN Nebraska and I honestly have no idea how that gets distributed. There were filers from different centers that were also LIN and were processed around the same time.  Like I said before, I filed for the address change and the move really didn’t seem to affect anything on the process in my experience. If you are skeptical about changing the address while your application is pending, wait until you are in your new address then file it.  

On 7/9/2020 at 2:28 PM, vkbruh1114 said:

Quick question guys, if I plan to move from Maryland to Colorado, how can we change address for my N-400. Due to this tough job market, I lost my job at Marriott and found a new one in Denver, CO. How does this impact N-400 process in terms of delay.? Any idea 

Best of luck on your move!!!

I moved from Evergreen, Colorado to Ohio while my ROC was pending. All I had to do was change the address in the uscis address change website, and it did not affect the processing time at all (compared to other applicants from the VJ forum that had filed at the same time, we got processed and approved around the same time. )

You can also find this in the official Instructions  to fill out the form:

11 hours ago, arman597 said:

Is it true that uploading documents if using a Google Chrome browser can be an Issue? I already have an account, but I don't have all the documents scanned yet, most of them are printed out stuff. Are we able to upload pictures during the application process? I haven't yet transferred pictures from my phone to the laptop yet. My earliest filing date window is 27th June. Thank you,

I saved my progress using the browser safari (iPhone and ipad) and even though they showed on my screen before submitting it, they disappeared (no attachments to the application!).  I had to upload them all after the fact, which seems to be a common glitch on the website so I hope they will consider.  
Because I don’t trust their page, I would recommend you gather all the documents into one folder, and have them ready to submit when you’re eligible. Just my opinion 

20 hours ago, magentahaze said:

Just checked my account to see if ANY update and it seems another month has been added to my case, making the estimated completion now February 2021 *sigh* 😞
I applied on May 6th and I understand offices are now playing catch up, but I'm a bit bummed out. Hopefully I'll be able to get my biometrics appointment and everything else done before the weather starts getting bad here in the Midwest, as I have to drive three hours across the state to where the federal building is located.

It looks like the January filers are starting to get interviews rescheduled for June the had been originally scheduled for April. So maybe we are looking at a 2 month delay? 

it is still a long ways until the winter but Maybe look into Megabus? That’s what I use when I don’t want to worry about road conditions.  

Also I am not sure but I think there are multiple trips - biometrics, interview, civics test, oath ceremony? Does anyone know how many times or if any of those are combined events? 

There is a section called “unsolicited information” in the My USCIS where you can upload anything additional.  
I actually updated all my documents through that tab after realizing none of the attachments went through with my original application.   
 

On 5/27/2020 at 10:43 AM, TamHMB said:

I submitted yesterday 5/26/2020. i was eligible since March 2020 as i hit 5 years mark due to i got divorce. Not sure if anyone here has the same situation. i saw some people has 4 month estimated. mine is showing 15 months. OMG WHYYYYYYY?

 

i got an update this morning when i log in. 

N-400 Application for Naturalization

Estimated case completion time

August 2021 (15 months)

I think it depends on each local field office.  My 4 month estimate time is in Cleveland Ohio so there aren’t many people applying here - which is very understandable seeing the miserable winters and humid summers haha