catdog514

On 10/8/2020 at 11:35 AM, doggieandsam said:

Hi @catdog514 - just to confirm, your 75I was being processed in YSC but your N-400 was processed in the Charleston SC field office, correct?

 

For a second there, I thought there might be a silver lining for me and then I realized that your N-400 was processed in a different state altogether. I'm in YSC for 751 right now and come N-400 time for me, I will also be processed in the DC field office (also a notoriously backlogged one), so sadly I will not be as fortunate as you are.  

Yes, that is correct, Charleston SC. I was absolutely not expecting it to be so fast, but here's to hoping that it works out the same for you!! 🤗 Good luck!

On 10/3/2020 at 7:19 PM, jakelake said:

I know but naturalization does not occur if the I-751 is not completed. The I-751 cannot still be pending.

Correct, now it is no longer pending however, it was on the day we showed up for the interview. They approved it on the same day as the naturalization. I have now even got a letter in the mail confirming that the I-751was approved on 9/30, same day as the naturalization. I also got a letter in the mail after the fact inviting us to attend the oath ceremony on 9/30, which of course already happened. When I wrote "still-pending 751" in my post, I was talking about still-pending as of that day, not as of now.

5 hours ago, Pogue Mahone said:

because the N-400 was filed as soon as they qualified for it. 

I have seen more than a dozen cases like this one. I have also heard about combo interviews (I-751/N-400) done on the same day.

 

It happens.

Exactly, we filed for our N-400 online on the very first day we were eligible. I had read about cases like what happened with us, as well as surprise combo interviews and so we were prepared for that if need be. I had also read about folks being rescheduled once USCIS realized the 751 was still pending if they had not reviewed that case yet, or proceeding with the naturalization exam and just not completely approving it until the 751 was adjudicated as well. I think the fact that there have been growing backlogs of cases and then covid slowing things down even more has made it so that strange and unpredictable things can happen like what happened for us. We were not expecting to be completely done and receive the certificate all in the same day, and it was an excellent surprise. Hopefully they begin doing this more and more.

3 hours ago, Pats5415 said:

Had my interview today! Approval and oath done same day. Whole process took about 2 hours. Thank God this is over and done with. Very thankful. Good luck to everyone else.

Congrats! Same story with us, got the approval, oath, and certificate today, in about 2 hours. Finally done, and just in time to vote!! 😁

I've posted a couple times in this thread so I just wanted to give a final update on our case. On September 8 we got a notification that my husband was scheduled for his N-400 interview at the Charleston, SC office on September 30th. We didn't know what to expect but were prepared to interview together for the still-pending I-751 as well if need be. They didn't let me inside due to covid and didn't even address the I-751. He passed the interview/exam for naturalization, did the oath and they gave him his certificate. The whole thing took about two hours. I just checked online and no case status updates so far, but none of that matters anymore because we are done! Very excited and feel really lucky to be in Charleston for this part of our process as they apparently are very fast. Good luck to everyone still waiting, and thanks to all of you. This community was absolutely priceless and allowed us to do this without lawyers. 🤗🥰 

I've posted a couple times in this thread so I just wanted to give a final update on our case. On September 8 we got a notification that my husband was scheduled for his N-400 interview at the Charleston, SC office on September 30th. We didn't know what to expect but were prepared to interview together for the still-pending I-751 as well if need be. They didn't let me inside due to covid and didn't even address the I-751. He passed the interview/exam for naturalization, did the oath and they gave him his certificate. The whole thing took about two hours. I just checked online and no case status updates so far, but none of that matters anymore because we are done! Very excited and feel really lucky to be in Charleston for this part of our process as they apparently are very fast. Good luck to everyone still waiting, and thanks to all of you. This community was absolutely priceless and allowed us to do this without lawyers. 🤗🥰

Just wanted to give an update, our ROC receipt date was August 1, 2019 and we were sent directly to Potomac. We finally received a biometrics appointment letter in the mail in mid January. The appointment was January 31. So now we wait for interview or new greencard. Happy waiting!

7 hours ago, Tom169 said:

Unless you're both in the same city at the same field office I think it's comparing apples to oranges.

 

I filed in October '19 and today received biometrics appt. 

Hmm I didn't realize it wasn't based on the service center. I wonder what's taking them so long to schedule our bio appt...

16 hours ago, DSOTM1973 said:

glad I came across your post. I am December filler, and I was curious to see how Potomac handle biometrics, just to make sure what to expect. 

It seems like I shouldn't be expecting anything really until October or so this way

Yup, that sounds about right. I'm expecting to wait up to 10ish months to get the biometrics appt.  

On 11/14/2019 at 10:03 PM, NYCQueens2017 said:

Reading this again, I believe that I have misinterpreted the meaning of the effective date.  It looks like that the goal is to adjust fees on or before September 30th, 2020, which is the end of the second year of the biennial period.

 

Comparing to the previous proposed rule and increase in fees on 12/23/2016, a rough estimate for the effective date of the current increase would be mid to late May 2020.

 

Let me know if anyone has different thoughts or views on this.

Ouch, I hope you're wrong. My window for N-400 opens 6/27/20... Guess we'll have to plan for the increased amount in case. I really feel bad for the folks who will have to pay the AOS fees after this!

On 11/21/2019 at 4:06 PM, Chilindas said:

Are there non-transferred filers who originally got Potomac/ YSC as their service Center for 1-751 here? Have been trying to get enough timeline information or even spreadsheet for that group here but haven’t seen any. 

On 12/14/2019 at 9:10 PM, yoh said:

I'm originally under YSC. I filed on November 14 but my status is still in the receiving end. No biometrics even, but i already received my NOA1 letter.

Same here, we filed late July and got a YSC case number on August 1st 2019. Got the extension letter in the mail a few days later and since then, nothing.  From the looks of things this is not totally abnormal. If one of us gets an appointment letter let's try to remember to come back here and update each other. 

9 hours ago, sausa said:

Hi Everybody,

 

I just got a notification that I got an RFE on my I-751😟 

 

Does anybody know if this is common? I am freaking out now , im not sure what it is going to say or what they need, but I think I submitted enough evidence anyways in the packet we sent out  

 

I included

• bank statements
• IRS joint returns
• copies of the new mortgage we got ( joint)
• copies of health insurance
• photos

 

Did I miss something out here? I will add that I had just put new stuff in there from the date we filed the initial I-485. I was under the impression that we just needed to show that we are continuing our life together and not include older evidence, but I'm reading conflicting stuff going through the forums.

I think RFEs are pretty common, don't freak out. You will find out what they want you to send and you can send it. We also didn't include old stuff, just the new items showing our ongoing marriage. Please let us know what the RFE was for when you get it, and try not to stress yourself out too much.  

On 1/2/2020 at 1:59 AM, Superman0007 said:

Hi  brothers / sisters,

Wishing you all happy new year.

 

We have filled   i-751 removal of condition . I am wondering I have not still received bio-metric appointment. There is any time frame I must watch / look for bio-metric appointment notice.

 

again wish everyone happy new year and hope everyone gets their i-751 approved soon.

Thank You,

SM

 

I-751 Timeline (for husband)

- On August 16, 2019, we received your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions

- on Sept 1st 2019 received 18 months extension.

Our 751 was received on August 1, and we are still waiting for the biometrics appointment letter as well. I have been patiently waiting as I know others are in this same position. I will likely reach out to them in a few weeks if I still don't have any updates. Just wanted you and any others still waiting to know, you're not the only one!

Our receipt date is August 1, and we are at the Potomac Service Center, still no biometrics appt date. I'm not too worried about it after reading a lot online about this being normal. The USCIS website currently lists expected processing time as 14-16.5 months for YSC.

On 12/14/2017 at 3:40 PM, Avsiws said:

What happened? Did you move out of state right before the interview?

We're facing the same problem.... thinking about moving from NY to OR right before our potential interview date... we really don't want to start our wait all over again

Hey, sorry I am not able to be of much help! We ended up getting our interview appointment and approval rather quickly, and received our card in the mail about a month before we ended up leaving the state. Having gone through it, I would be hesitant to move and try to go back for the interview. You never know what can happen and I'd be nervous about an unreported move coming to light during the interview process. If at all possible, wait to move until after you have your card in hand. Good luck to you!

Wow, thank you all so much for being so kind and encouraging. And for reading my long freakout of a post in the first place! I am feeling so much better today even though we are still waiting to hear anything, and I really have all of you lovely individuals to thank for that, you've helped put me at ease.

To answer some questions, we were not told we were denied even though I felt like she was implying that until she seemed to flip a switch towards the end. Honestly, the whole experience could be summed up like this:

IO: Sit down and shut up! I think you're a terrible person and I'm going to make it difficult for you to defend your very personal/painful life history. Don't touch each other and don't show me your photos or talk about your relationship, that's gross. I'm thinking it's a no....

us: whaaaaa...??

IO: Fine, show me those photos. flip flip flip, sigh. Alright look I'm angry and busy, I might just say yes get out of here I don't have time for this.

She did not give us a letter or form or anything, and at the time I could not wait to get away from her. I do wish I had said more, but done is done for now. Thanks for the compassion and level-headedness guys.

I am probably going to try to tune out and put my mind elsewhere for a while, to avoid obsessing too much when I just need to be patient. I'll definitely report back when I hear anything. Best of luck to everyone going through this crazy stuff!

17 minutes ago, Andrina said:

Hi there. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience. Maybe it wasn't the officers day. I think once she presents your case to the supervisor they will approve it. I have my fingers crossed for you.

I know it's a done deal but weren't previous marriage and divorce dates in the application with your file? Maybe I'm mixing them up but I know some forms ask for them. 

Thanks Andrina, actually the 485 doesn't specifically ask for that information. I had included copies of my divorce decrees with our application but I don't think those state the dates of marriage. I didn't even think of checking that! WHY?! I gave her certified copies of the divorce decrees when she asked for those, so she has them. I'll check when I get home and see if they state the date of the wedding or not. The 129f did ask for divorce finalization dates on it, which I gave at the time we filed that application. She was asking me the wedding dates, which I didn't remember, and how long the marriages lasted, which I also did not remember exactly. I said approximately 1 year for each, but in retrospect each was less than that. Now that I am thinking about it, I truly cannot remember, even now under no pressure, the exact timeline of those relationships. I'd have to go back and look at my facebook, emails, photos, etc. to try to figure that out more accurately, but I have a feeling that I deleted a lot of that stuff long ago.. Thanks for your well wishes!

Thanks everyone for your replies. If we end up getting a NOID or stokes I am going to have to look into lawyers willing to work cheaply or do pro bono work as we can't afford thousands of dollars for a lawyer. I've read a lot so far about NOIDs and stokes interviews on here and am getting some idea of what that might look like. I hope the optimistic viewpoint is right and we will be approved, but I tend to try to prepare for the worst so that I can be pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong.

My husband is being really positive and I think partly it's to support me, and partly because he is not quite as worried as me. He was saying what some of you have said, which is that she was just doing her job and trying to test us. I understand that and just have to hope that I didn't fail as badly as I feel I did.

I really appreciate everyone's kindness, I think I already feel a little calmer after spending the last 24 hours beating myself up about it.

Thank you geowrian. I appreciate your comments and am going to prepare to have to reply to a NOID. And thanks for pointing out the part about the open forum policy. I will rephrase to say, I hope folks who choose to respond will do so with kindness, empathy, and insight. I will definitely update this thread as soon as I hear what's next. Thanks again for your kind words.

Hi everyone,

I am seriously devastated right now. My husband and I had the AOS interview yesterday morning (I'm the USC). We were not worried at all, we had good evidence, very organized documents, etc.. We were so happy and excited to finally be at the interview, we were laughing and smiling in the waiting room. We were called in a few minutes early, and the woman was not friendly at all right off the bat. She led us back to her office and took a phone call before even saying anything to us. She ended the call by saying that she had an interview to take care of and then she'd call back after, and it sounded like she was annoyed that we were there. I started to feel uncomfortable at this point but tried to stay relaxed with a smile on my face. I am absolutely terrible at interviews and public speaking but I went into this interview without my usual dread and anxiety because I was sure that we had nothing to worry about. 

She asked us to stand and swear we were going to tell the truth, we did and sat down. Then she asked my husband to confirm some details like his parents names, etc., and what my birthday was. He had suddenly become very nervous and started to say our wedding date but corrected himself. I think he is absolutely adorable when he's nervous and it rarely happens so I was smiling/laughing softly and said something like, "you're so nervous babe." She then asked him all the yes/no questions from the application. She had told me to get ready any extra documents that we wanted to submit while she was talking to him, but at this point she turned to me and told me to stop what I was doing as she'd be talking to me now. She looked very intensely into my eyes as if to say, "I've got some doubts and I'm really scrutinizing you right now so you'd better have a good answer to what I'm about to say..." Then she asked me how I met my husband. I explained, but didn't go through the whole timeline of our relationship at this point because I thought I'd be able to expand on that later. I now regret that as there wasn't another opportunity. At this point I was still calm, but a little uncomfortable as she was not friendly and had basically scolded us when my husband tried to hold my hand as she started to question me. Then she started asking me about my previous marriages. I was married twice before, about 10 years and 8 years ago. Both marriages were short (less than 1 year), and I was 21 and 23 at the time. The first ended because it was abusive and the second ended because he waited until we were married to tell me that he expected me to get pregnant right away, follow him around all of our lives and then retire to one of those neighborhoods with a golf course in the backyard in Georgia where he is from, despite that being pretty much the opposite of what I had always told him I wanted out of life. Anyway, I tried to make it work but we just wanted different things. I tried to explain this to her but she kept interrupting me and was writing down a lot of notes. I got the timeline wrong as I didn't remember exactly when everything happened. I didn't remember the wedding dates from either of those marriages. I know that seems so weird but I didn't celebrate an anniversary for either, we never made it that far. Both were a difficult and negative experience that I tried to forget, and I have a terrible memory of the chronology of a lot of my life. I was not expecting to be grilled so harshly on something that happened so long ago, when I was pretty young. It's not like it was a crime or anything, I just had some failed relationships. She made me feel absolutely terrible. She told me I must have been dating the second guy I married while I was still married to the first. That was not true, and I told her that, that I couldn't remember the exact dates and that it was a long time ago and I admitted the relationships were very close together, but that I had really not tried to remember that point in my life. Why would I want to remember the anniversary of my failed relationships and bad memories? I was feeling so uncomfortable as I am a deeply private person and I hate crying in front of people I don't know, so I was having a difficult time knowing what to say. I ended up focusing on fighting back tears and trying to explain the timeline of those marriages and why they happened like they did. I was feeling very shocked, defensive, and I have since thought of a million things I should have said in that moment. I can't stop crying and feeling like I totally messed up. She said "Why should I give him a greencard when you don't even remember when you got married before?" She started putting our papers in a stack and talking really slowly like she was thinking at the same time, saying that she'd have to talk to her supervisor and they'd probably call my family to ask if they even knew if were married, and we might have to come back for another interview so they can find out "what's going on." We tried to show her the pictures we had brought but she wrinkled up her nose and waived her hand and said she didn't need to see them. I was in total shock, I didn't know what to say. When I have to do job interviews or public speaking I often get so anxious that I have a panic attack and it's like I black out, because afterward I can't remember what was said, only little bits and pieces. I was just trying to understand what she was saying, if we were being denied, what was going on. I felt frozen in the chair but she was inviting us to leave. I was just staring at the desk and trying to gather all the packets of documents and our binders, feeling like blurting out "Wait, what is happening? That's it? We didn't even talk about us, just some stuff from my past that is painful and you just judged me without knowing anything and acted like I did something wrong for having previous relationships close together in time that failed!" My husband and I were obviously sad, moving slowly, dropping things as were trying to put them in our bag, and she said, "Okay, let me see the photos." She told me to come stand next to her and explain them to her. I did so and she seemed to soften a little after that. It was like she dropped the aggressive attitude a little bit and told us that she was a senior employee there that doesn't normally do interviews anymore but that day 5 people had called in sick and so she was really busy and would look over our case in between the rest of her work. She said she might just approve it but she'd have to check with her supervisor, and we'd get a letter in the mail in a few weeks. We said thank you and left.

As soon as I left her office I hyperventilated. My husband knew it was coming and just hugged me tightly until I calmed down. I tried to pull it together enough to walk through the lobby without freaking out the people still waiting to go in. I spent the rest of the day and all of last night thinking about every detail I could remember, all the nervous mistakes I'd made, all the things I would say if I could do it over. I'd give anything to just go back in there and have 30 seconds to say my piece. I feel like I let her intimidate me into a corner. We didn't get to talk about our relationship at all, our wedding, our life for the last year being married, meeting my family, nothing. I am so angry but more so I am disappointed in myself and sad. I got so upset and now I don't know what to expect. I don't know how I am going to make it the next few weeks like this. Anyway, I'm sorry I'm not sure what I'm asking. I just want to hear from other people and see what you guys think, what should I do to prepare for the worst? My husband is trying to be optimistic and part of me thinks she has to approve it or it would be so cruel considering how it ended. But I don't know what to expect anymore. I feel so stupid, I was so excited to be in that interview and I wasn't worried at all. I thought we didn't need to be, we love each other.

One last thing, I spent hours last night scouring the internet for other stories like this and I must say, I do not want negative, condescending, judgmental replies. If after reading this you don't have something constructive to say to me, please do not reply. I'm sad enough. Thanks for reading.

On 4/18/2017 at 2:39 PM, D+JT said:

I have a very similar timeline; application received December 2nd and NOA 7th Dec. Filed two SR's but only received a response via mail for the second, which simply stated that the case was being reviewed. No EAD, AP or interview date, and no updates (other the the SR response) since Jan 10th.

Hey, do you have any updates on your AOS?

On 5/15/2017 at 7:32 PM, Charlene/Neale said:

** Addendum

Then again, if we're successfully being processed through the Sacramento field office (as you'd think we should, as we're in Placer county in CA) then they're processing cases filed as of Sept 2016 and so theoretically we'd only be 3 months from approval!

Did you call or find anything out? I am also curious about the answers to your questions, specifically:

- will they tell you where your case file is / where your interview will be?

We might have to move right around the time we are expecting the SF office to schedule our interview. I am wondering what happens if we have to move (out of state) right before the interview. I would come back to SF for the interview rather than rescheduling it in the new local office and having to wait all over again.

Hey all,

Sorry for the delayed response, I was offline for a bit. I wanted to update you all. My fiance got the email to go ahead with our process, so I recommend emailing or calling, it seems to speed up the process. I wish you all the best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions. Our interview is on July 15th, so now we are just waiting for that and hoping for the best!

Absolutely it has become confusing... I thought I had it all figured out and now at the end they threw a monkey wrench with their responses..

Well let's keep each other posted. Hopefully we figure it out soon!