randomstairs

The probation is a gray area. If her asylum case is eventually approved by the immigration judge, she will not have accumulated any unlawful presence. If the judge denies her case, all the days of her probationary status will be counted as unlawful presence. So, she has no status AND is currently in the country lawfully.

Yes, especially if you lose the card. When I had it I wasn't traveling for this reason alone. (I wasn't familiar with the land border option then.)

When you entered the US did you get inspected? If you entered without the inspection the unlawful presence is not "forgiven" even with marriage to a US citizen. I would look for a *good* lawyer at this point! If there are grounds for filing for a reconsideration of the decision, a competent attorney should be able to save you.

One of a very few cases when one can in fact lose a US citizenship is accepting a high public office in a foreign state. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/Loss-US-Nationality-Public-Office-in-Foreign-State.html

Wow, what a case! Really makes you think. Kafka would be proud. Fortunately I had heeded the warning about filing on the first day of eligibility before I finally filed. There's another issue with dates: on my GC the date is one day earlier than on the online account and in the email (the approval NoA - the "welcome letter" - has the same date as the GC). I called USCIS twice to confirm, and they did. The date on my GC was the one to go with. Still, for the 90-day window I prudently (as it seems) considered the +1 date as the "resident since" date. Then I added 2 days to that, already conservative, date - just in case. So that's why it's 3-4 days into the window. Anyways, it's almost a year now since I became a citizen.

I think there's more pros than cons to online filing. Assuming that the processing time is not affected by either method (let's call it X), it stands to reason that the (unknown) X + days in mail is more than X + zero (time it takes to upload). Therefore online filing, under this assumption, must be faster - regardless of other factors. But, yeah, a couple of days doesn't make a tangible difference. Granted, the website is between barely workable and atrocious. That is a valid advantage of mailing. (I guess highly skilled IT professionals are not too attracted to gov jobs. Or maybe they're not eligible because they aren't citizens yet due to getting stuck by the glitchy website.)

Online is not only faster but also much safer. You'll find the PDFs of all the critical documents from USCIS (receipts, biometrics, interview notices(!), etc) right in your account online. Mail often gets lost, USCIS can mess up the address (especially if you had moved), or it can get delivered late. The online filing is a no-brainer as far as I can tell.

Why would it get rejected? I filed 3-4 days into the window.

Define "around the time." Due to time zone issues I wouldn't file on THE day the window open. How about the next day? Or 2 days into the window? ...

You should not stay outside the US for more than 6 months at a time to maintain the continuous presence for the naturalization purposes. If you are absent for more than 6 months (and less than a year), the burden of proof is on you to show that you have not broken the continuous presence. For naturalization purposes you have to be physically in the US for 30 months within the last 5 years (if applying based on the 5-year residency). I don't know where the "6 months within a year" is coming from. You can travel abroad for 11.5 months out of a year and you may be just fine in terms of maintaining the LPR status. On the other hand, staying only 3 months abroad, with other factors included (such as working abroad and not having strong ties to the US), can put your status in jeopardy.

As long as she's honest about the illegal entry, I don't see why would they even ask for such detailed descriptions of the events and places, let alone expect her to remember it all. Like I said, she should answer to the best of her knowledge. Yes, my understanding is that the admissibility becomes an issue if a mental illness can result in some form of harmful behavior.

Upload for what? What type of a case?

They can ask anything but I doubt they will wanna know all the details of her entry - well, that's just me. She should answer the questions to the best of her knowledge. Also, the history of mental illness could be problematic in terms of admissibility.

If you've already filed a police report, the card is invalid (or it will be, if it reaches the CBP and other agencies). The I-90 the way to go at this point.

You should not change the field of concentration, regardless of the country. It is risky, but actually legally binding. It could raise a concern that you no longer are an alien in national interest, or, worse, that you misrepresented yourself. When you enter the US on an IV you become a Permanent Resident, with all the rights you're entitled to. The GC will then arrive in mail in a couple of weeks.

I was already getting nervous about mailing the Certificate like two years before the naturalization lol It is utterly bizarre that they not only require the original, but that they mail the precious document back to you in the cheapest regular mail, and there is nothing you can do about it.

You'll get it in hand after you swear to "...defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." - among other things. When you apply for the passport, do it two weeks before the date of your reserved flight, and make an appointment at a Passport Agency (usually less than 24 h processing time). This way you won't have to mail the original. Use a current passport for a subsequent renewal. Keep the Certificate in a safe place and avoid mailing it.

The whole point of the National Interest *Waiver* is that "...the job offer, and thus the labor certification, be waived..." https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-second-preference-eb-2 So being unemployed does not preclude you from satisfying the EB2-NIW criteria. The USCIS Policy Manual is referring to: "See INA 203(b)(2)(B)(i). See 8 CFR 204.5(k)(4)(ii)." Also see the Policy Manual, section D : https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-f-chapter-5 Now, I'm not saying that you are guaranteed to be approved at the interview. All I'm contending here is that the interview is very unlikely to get canceled just because you're currently unemployed. In the past, for a period of time, getting an Immigrant Visa did require that you demonstrate that you won't be a "public charge." This is still the law, but you don't usually have to prove that you are in financially good standing.

A1: Your unemployment status should not affect the likelihood of getting to the interview. A2: You should NOT change your field of concentration from the one your NIW was approved for. Yes, your visa could be rejected if you change the industry (the field of concentration).

She hasn't applied for an immigrant visa, so the answer to the question should indeed be NO. I don't think the Cuban Humanitarian Parole counts as an IV.

I had to visit the office as I was unable to find the option for updating the citizenship status online. You need to do it because potential employers (e-verify), election officials, local gov agencies (DMV), etc, may refer to the common database. You should also update the status at your DMV.

Crossing the border at a Port of Entry by land should work. She may have to pay a small penalty fee at the PoE for entering without proper documentation. Of course, filing the I-90 would be better.

This is Administrative Processing. It happens often. They may not need any new documents. It takes about two months in average to process.

I wouldn't create a new account. The system is already glitchy as you can see. Two accounts can seriously complicate the N-400 application when the time comes. If your account is otherwise functional, you should probably just ignore the AI "help" in the future. Call USCIS instead, if need be.

They probably won't look at the documents at all. They rarely do. Bring them just in case though. Just explain it the way you did here. Tell the Officer why you will be coming back while you wait for the EB3 to become current (other than the desire to avoid going illegal). If you have other work contracts in a non-US country, that would help. It's a tricky case, so I wouldn't keep my hopes too high, but I think that if you just honestly explain your intentions you could very well get a desired outcome. It does make a lot of sense to me.