Scandi

CR-1 is by far the better choice. Especially at your embassy, I'd say. But the main thing is MANY visits, a lot of time spent together in person. Document everything.

It's easy in the Nordic countries, so no worries. The people working there are mainly friendly and non-suspicious. The only question I got that surprised me a little was "Do you have children?", because neither of us do and so children was never mentioned ever on any of the forms. Turned out we had included a Christmas photo among our evidence, a photo that had Christmas stockings with four names on them - me, my then fiancé and our two dogs! So they thought "Roxy" and "Peiper" could potentially be children. 😄

Hence " for the most part". Probably close to 90% of all posts I have read in here on this subject tells stories about how the spouse was not allowed in. So, "for the most part". The spouse is not needed for the N-400, even in cases where the spouse IS allowed to come. The applicant won't be denied because the spouse wasn't there.

Even during the pandemic in the beginning of 2021 there were no restrictions on visitors at the Los Angeles field office - this because our oath ceremonies are outdoors, so anybody can come watch. Totally depends on your particular field office, some don't allow any visitors. If you search this site, you might find other people who have been through your particular field office who can shed some light on this.

If you don't have a pending i-751, your husband will likely not be allowed to come to the interview with you. For the most part, the IOs only want the applicant at the interview, not the spouse. He can wait in the waiting room though, or lobby. My husband wasn't even allowed in the waiting room, he had to wait at the 1st floor, and I was interviewed at the 6th floor. So he went to sit in the car instead.

My IO told me the questions are pulled by their system, so it's not the IO deciding what questions to ask. You need to learn all 100. The Youtube videos make it very easy to study and learn, just listen over and over for a couple of days and you'll have them all memorized.

Wise usually has the best rates, is cheapest and easiest. I use it myself several times a month to transfer between countries (I send money to my Swedish bank account for when I go visit there).

You can file the N-400 now - but you will most likely have to prove that you didn't leave the US to live elsewhere, that you only travelled temporarily even if it turned out to be longer than 6 months. You can google what evidence USCIS wants to see - some include evidence that your immediate family (spouse, kids) remained in the US when you were gone, that you didn't end your rental agreement/lease or sold your house, that you still filed your taxes, that you renewed your drivers license/ID if it expired, that you didn't quit your job, didn't sell your car, kept all your insurances (health, car, home etc).

The 3-year rule is only for those who haven't been greencard holders for 5 years yet and who are eligible to file through marriage. Anybody who has been a greencard holder for 5 years is automatically filing under the 5 year rule - you can't choose. Doesn't matter if this person would otherwise be eligible under the 3 year rule, having been a greencard holder for 5 years or more, rules out the 3 year rule completely.

You can always just google "USCIS news" and see if there's an outage. They have these maintenance outages often - and often they happen a day before OR a day after the scheduled dates (so the dates can differ slightly). https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/tools-outage "USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 11:50 p.m. through Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 2:00 a.m. Eastern. During this time frame, users may experience technical difficulties with one or more of the following online tools: Check My Case Status e-Request Change of Address online Check Case Processing Times Civil Surgeon Locator Office Locator File Online myUSCIS online account Service Request Management Tool (SRMT) We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

It's the opposite, much easier making a mistake on a paper form that doesn't direct you. The online form removes things that doesn't apply to you based off of your age, if you don't have children etc, it also tells you if you haven't been an LPR long enough to file etc (while with the paper form you can still send it in not knowing you're not eligible yet, and your petition fee is in the hands of the lockbox people - will they accidentally accept your filing or not? Will they cash your check or not? You get denied later on, you don't get your money back). And if you happen to misspell something or not get something right (same with the paper form, people make mistakes on those all the time), the IO manually corrects that at the interview. The online filing is several times better and safer than paper filing.

You'll like it, you'll notice immediately when you start to fill out the "form" online that it is much less confusing than the paper form. And once you submit your petition you will get your receipt notice ASAP in your online account. When filing online you don't have to sit around and wait for the post office to deliver it to a lockbox (hoping that it won't get lost on the way), and then wonder when and/or if USCIS will accept it. Or reject it for some ridiculous reason or error of theirs. Much less stress with the online filing.

I don't think you'll encounter a glitch, and even if you do, that will be corrected at the interview. So no worries about that at all. Definitely file online, it's so easy.

While many do get a combo interview, a ton of people don't. Here on VJ a lot of people are requesting to get a combo interview by typing up and uploading a regular Word document (or similar, some use a cover letter) when they file their N-400. I don't know if it makes a difference or not - but definitely worth a try as it doesn't cost anything and is of minimal effort. It's hard to know how far in advance they look into your case at the field office, the i-751 with aaaaall of its supporting documents need to be shipped there and may or may not make it on time for your interview. Either way, perfectly normal to not have a combo interview. Once you have submitted what they need/want you're probably getting approved without having to go for another interview. Many times, when a case has been pending for a long time, they want to see updated evidence from the time of filing to the RFE date. A lot can happen in 2 years, they are making sure everything is still good to go.

Check the timelines of other VJers who have gone through the same field office as you recently, that'll give you a slight idea of what you may be in for. I would give you a link but your profile says Texas and field office says New Mexico, so.

I have had to hand-write certain boxes on every single form I have ever sent to USCIS, mainly because my name was too long and wouldn't fit. It works fine to hand-write in spaces that don't work typing in.

They do, you just fill out the form online so everything is ready by the time you and your spouse go to the office to pick up the license - they check your ID's when you pick it up.