randomstairs

Dear Visajourney friends,
 
I became a US citizen today. My CG process had been very long and difficult (NIW), quite the opposite of the N-400 journey. I was expecting, optimistically,  as the best case scenario, to pass the interview and to get the Oath ceremony scheduled. Instead I was taken directly to the ceremony after the interview - I didn't even get a chance to use a bathroom as a non-citizen. 
 
I gotta admit that I held back my tears when giving the Oath. 
 
Back to the topic of the documents and my atrocious handwriting: I had to use my index finger on the touchscreen! The officer was very understanding and friendly though. He patiently waited for me to finish the sentence, lol 
 
I passed the tests with 100% score. I had had a detention on my record, from *before* the 5-year GMC probatory period (had partied and drank a bit hard with my grad student friends, and ended up in jail for the night. No charges had been filed). The officer didn't even care to see the original documents. He just laughed it off and made comments about my university campus. So much for those who say that the same-day Oath is impossible if you have any criminal record or detentions. They literally couldn't care less, in my case (no conviction and it happening  before the GMC period helped, I suppose).
 
I was in total disbelief when they took me from the interview to the Oath. When I became a citizen, I started enquiring about the urgent passport processing and almost became an entitled Karen when they explained that it's a bit complicated lol 
 
Thanks again, dear members of the Forums, for all your help and support!
 
 

Yes.
That would be too high risk for too low a gain.
 
When you return to the U.S., bring copies of your medical records. If CBP asks why you do not have your 10 year gc, explain that you were approved while under going medical treatment. CBP should waive the I-193 fee. But even if it does not, the cost and inconvenience of a lost gc,  exceeds the < $600 for the I-193 fee.

Thank you everyone, definitely puts my mind at ease. Feel free to close this thread as it's resolved. 🙏

There are several advantages to becoming a citizen, as others have mentioned (I'll add: more job opportunities, voting, running for office). However, in your case, losing the EU citizenship is a significant counterweight to those advantages (it's not just the Austrian citizenship that you'd be losing but the access to full rights in 27 countries of the EU). So, take your time, don't do crime and you'll be fine    

There are several advantages to becoming a citizen, as others have mentioned (I'll add: more job opportunities, voting, running for office). However, in your case, losing the EU citizenship is a significant counterweight to those advantages (it's not just the Austrian citizenship that you'd be losing but the access to full rights in 27 countries of the EU). So, take your time, don't do crime and you'll be fine    

There are several advantages to becoming a citizen, as others have mentioned (I'll add: more job opportunities, voting, running for office). However, in your case, losing the EU citizenship is a significant counterweight to those advantages (it's not just the Austrian citizenship that you'd be losing but the access to full rights in 27 countries of the EU). So, take your time, don't do crime and you'll be fine    

The IV visa is a single use document .. but once endorsed on entry by CBP it becomes the temporary I551 ( green card) valid for 12 months. This temporary I551 is what she will use to enter the US.. not the “visa”  

What airline is this?
 
Have you read: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/2019 Carrier Information Guide - ENGLISH.pdf . This is the document airlines are supposed to follow.
 
It says on page 32:
 
 
Immigrant Visa
An immigrant visa is issued by the Department of State and will be affixed inside the passport of the immigrant.
Once an immigrant has been admitted to the United States the immigrant visa becomes a re-entry document, valid for one year from the endorsement date. The
statement “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551
EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR” will be printed in the body of the visa directly above the machine-readable zone. This documentation is acceptable for travel and employment and is intended to replace the ADIT stamp.
 

 
 
You need to show the airline this document now.  You need to demand the airline supervisor now.

VJ: "A CR1 is better than a K-1" . No. It. Isn't.

It is now past May 2021. His endorsed I-551 has expired.
 
He will need to fly to Juarez (or nay other border city), take a taxi to the US CBP border check point and walk into the USA.
 
Also in 
 you told us he entered December 2020. We cannot help you if you don't provide consistent info.

Is the IV still valid after you become an LPR? I suppose this would work with the airlines, and it would be trivial for the CBP to identify her, so that's more of an academic question.  

The only things you need to be aware of: you can lose LPR eventually if you spend too much time outside of the US. 
 
Also, if you happen to commit a deportable offense in the future, you can be deported.
 
US citizenship protects you in both situations.
 
However, there's many examples of people living for the rest of their lives as LPRs. There was a thread about older lady who's been LPR for 50 years:
 
 
 

You can remain a PR for forever. No pressure. A lot of people do. 
Yes file under 5 year rule. 

They already use contractors for some processing.  Fees have been too low for years (they report), but that is going to change soon.

I'm clueless. I thought it was a separate card. My image is suggestive that you are correct but inconclusive. However Jenny has internet on the bus from Lviv and reports that YES, it is glued into her passport. Mike - you are another Visa Journey hero.

You mean the I-193 fee?
 
It is $585 per https://www.uscis.gov/i-193 . Sometimes, IMHO, most times, it is waived.
 
If the courier loses the green card, you looking at:
 
* I-90 fee: $540 
* I-131a fee: $575 
 
Total: $1,115 
 
On top of the $225 courier fee.
 
Stapling a green card (rendering it useless to a machine reader, so that is an I-90 fee) and shipping a green card card (to a war zone especially) are just bad ideas. 
 
Have you ever been a green card holder?
 
 
 
 

$593! 

What is wrong with:
 
?

They most certainly can, and do in many cases. Filing your taxes proves good moral character, so sometimes they definitely ask to see that you have filed yours. If you owe backtaxes, they will also want to see your payment plan with IRS. It's all about good moral character. 

With a stylus pen. I also wrote in capital letters rather than cursive as my witting isn’t the best (added to the fact that writing on a tablet also makes my handwriting worse vs pen and paper too). So I tried to be as clear as possible. 
 
I had to sign a couple of screens too with the stylus and tablet. 
 
Another thing to add - don’t press any buttons on the screen (like accept or continue) unless request to do so! Do exactly as the officer says (e.g.  sign your name, then stop), if they don’t say anything or move the screen on automatically for you, ask before doing anything further. During my interview there was a lot of long pauses (almost uncomfortably so). I just figured they were reviewing my responses or looking through my documents online. But they definitely didn’t want me doing anything unless instructed. 

I just had my test on Monday and it was pretty straight forward, took about 10 mins. 
 
The English tests were pretty straightforward. For the writing I was told a sentence “who was the first president” several times and had to write it down on a tablet. And for the reading there was a sentence on the screen “George Washington was the first president” and had to read it out. Nothing too complicated. 
 
The civics piece was just learning the 100 questions from the official flash cards online, but it sounds like you got that covered. I was just asked 6 and then we moved on to the English reading/writing section. 
 
I took a copy of what I had submitted for my N400 as well as the documents on my letter (passports, birth certificate for spouse, marriage license). But wasn’t asked for any of it. I had to put it all in a box behind me as I did the video interview and was never asked to produce it. Was good to have it, just in case. But it doesn’t seem like they need anything other than what is listed on the letter. 
 
The only thing that took me off guard was questions regarding to the oath itself after I had passed everything else. They asked why I wanted to become a citizen. Nothing too complicated, just didn’t expect to be asked so had to come up with an answer on the spot when I wasn’t really prepared (and probably a little stressed - as it’s a big interview!). But he was overall happy with my answer and moved on to the next questions. 
 
All I can add is maybe just read the room? I read a lot of people’s experiences on here with their interview and said how it was very informal and a friendly chat/conversation. I tried to go into more detail when asked how many children I have. (We have another on the way next month), so I tried to be friendly and let them know, then he shot be down (a little stern) and just wanted to know the facts (as of now). So after that I just gave concise and to the point answers, which moved the interview on quickly, but was very formal. Not bad or anything, just very formal. 

Just wanted to add my experience in case it is of any help to you!

It says either:
"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog"
or
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."
 
Got it, first try!   

You are a U.S. citizen.
 
Citizenship of children of naturalized parents 
 
To get your child  a U.S. passport you need to have evidence that the child: 
 
 is your child   lives with you  is in your legal custody  has LPR status  you are a U.S. citizen  the above all happened before the child  reached age 18  
IMO there these are  facts:
the longer a parent waits to secure a U.S. citizenship document for the child, the harder it becomes to prove the child is. U.S. citizen. It actually becomes exponentially harder because evidence, like radioactivity of isotopes has a half life.  It’s actually the law of physics: order tends to disorder aka the Law of Entropy   
you get exactly one chance to file N-600.  Often when parents decide to try N-600 first, they get RFE for evidence. The parent doesn’t know how to respond to RFE, and the case is denied. Forever.   Whereas if the passport acceptance agent is half way competent the agent won’t accept the application with incomplete evidence.   
whereas you can  try as many times as you want  to get a passport   
passports get lost and replacing a passport without a certificate of citizenship is hard. Replacing a passport when you have a passport card is easy.   
Thus the parent should first try to get the child a passport and passport card. And this should be done at the same time, at the same appointment with the passport acceptance agent (for example the post office). Both parent and child should get a passport card because 
 
it seems losing the naturalization certificate is inevitable.  the CBP Ready Lanes at ports of entry on the land border don’t work with passports but do work with passport cards   
Make sure to make a complete copy of everything sent to the passport agency. While most evidence (except a green card) will come back, sometimes the post office or the passport agency loses it.  
 
Once the child has a passport and passport card:
 
Once same evidence used to get the passport, file N-600 online to get the child a certificate of citizenship, plus the passport, passport card, and any note the passport agency sent back regarding the passport agency confiscating the green card   
Parent and child should go to SSA to get a new SS card. If the child has has an SSN a passport card is fine for this. If the child has never had an SSN, then a certificate of citizenship might be required.   
In lieu of a green card, hopefully the parent retained the original passport used to enter the U.S. on an immigration visa or the original I-485 approval document. 
 
Some people will tell you that your child doesn’t need a certificate of citizenship. I disagree:
 
A citizen has no right to a U.S. passport.  Certain acts such as habitually losing a passport, being behind on child support payments, or being placed on certain no fly lists can cause one to be denied a passport. Whereas a qualified citizen has a right to a certificate of citizenship. I don’t   think a family court judge will have any pity on someone who can’t get a passport, and thus can’t get a job to pay child support and thus can’t get a passport.   
investigators performing security clearances for certain roles in service of the federal government, military, or federal contractor are known to reject a U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship   
Some citizens of certain countries are denied certain roles.  A certificate of citizenship identifies the previous nationality. Hence a passport is not accepted when applying for those roles   
At some state DMVs, if the SAVE system doesn’t verify U.S. citizenship using the passport card, some DMVs will override SAVE if a certificate of citizenship is presented   
When registering online to vote, some states require those with a US birth certificate or CRBA to provide the number from a  certificate of citizenship or naturalization.   
When petitioning a relative for LPR status (aka filing I-130) USCIS and sometimes the department of state won’t accept a U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship. It is rare but it does happen.  There are now reports of U.S. citizens who lost their passport having difficulty obtaining a new passport without a certificate of citizenship.  

Hahahaha.
So far I can safely diagnose you suffer from severe overthinking. 😄
 
And yeah, they'll sure allow you writing all caps - though your cursive has a je ne sais quoi that makes it charming-.

Thanks! I'll ask if I can use all caps but should be okay either way. Probably shouldn't have too much coffee that morning.

Can read and understand. 
Certainly not mesmerized by the artistry, but that's not what's at stake here. 😊