O&GForever

Hello all! I know I’ve been MIA. I needed a break from all things immigration after 6 years of dealing with it. Congratulations to all those who have finished over the last couple months. 
 

I am wondering for those who are done, have you dealt with updating Social Security after your ceremony. With the offices closed, how have you notified them about your status change? We called and they said we didn’t need to worry about it right away but if we wanted to we could send everything in through the mail. We worry about sending my husband naturalization certificate in the mail for fear it will not be returned. 

For what it’s worth, I know a women who’s husband received his visa before their 2nd anniversary. He waited to traveled until after the anniversary and he still received a CR1. They called USCIS and were told the greencard was based on when the visa was issued not when he arrived in the US. Not sure if that was a one time thing, a mistake or what, but just wanted to let you know. They delayed begging together and still have to deal with ROC. 
 

As for ROC, it really wasn’t that bad. I just continued to collect evidence as we went...bank statements, credit cards, insurance, taxes, photos, etc. We found out we’d have an interview since my husband arrived on a CR1. My husband became eligible for citizenship before that interview, so we filed the N400. Our combo interview was delayed a bit because of COVID...moved from April to July. He’s now a citizen and we’re done with all things immigration. All the evidence we submitted was normal life things so nothing too hard to get. The interview was really like a conversation as few questions and that’s it. 

6 hours ago, gregcrs2 said:

Our estimated completion date just changed.  Was November 2020 so 3 months were added to completion time.  Want to puke already.

Estimated case completion time

February 2021 (7 months)

4 hours ago, Marimar04 said:

Mine just changed too from September 2020 to August 2020. The estimated wait time didn't change : "We are taking longer than expected...". 

This is not reliable at all.

My husband is completely done...interview and oath. His account says estimated completion is October and the next action on his case will happen in 4 months. That should give you an idea of how accurate they are. 

2 minutes ago, Amadia said:

Oct 2, 2020. 🙂

That's what I meant. I am running on little sleep thanks to a teething toddler. Either way I am grateful to not have to give the government anymore money. 

Did anyone else see the news of the increased fees starting October 20th? $1,170 for the N-400!!! I am so grateful my husband was eligible to apply last December with the lower fees. 

2 hours ago, soso723 said:

I can now see my appointment letter in my Documents tab. It says that "the proceedings will take 2 hours". Is this what is written on any letter or could this mean a same day oath? Also, they want Selective service registration evidence, but up until my 27th birthday I was a non-immigrant on a student F1 visa. I only received the immigrant status 3 years later. Should I upload a letter to my documents stating that?

Its a standard text. They just want to ensure you have enough time for the interview. Ours took an hour because ours was a combo interview. It doesn't mean you'll have a same day oath. Some facilities are doing same day oaths...some are not. 

7 hours ago, Limey said:

Congratulations to your husband - I became a citizen today too!

Congratulations to you as well! I’ve seen a lot of people on here and Facebook that became citizens today. 

8 hours ago, lucardo3 said:

Great news! Congrats again. Time to apply for a passport, update all information and most importantly; vote!

We plan to. First on the list is to renew his drivers license that expires in September because the DMV only issued it for the length of his ROC extension letter. 

7 hours ago, JFH said:

I remember you - we were at the NVC at the same time. So pleased your journey is over. I’m almost done with this too. 
 

Congratulations! 

I remember you too! Congratulations on almost being done. We’ve both come a long way in the past few years. 

8 hours ago, Hariram30 said:

Congrats.. Its a great moment and agree worth the wait

Thank you! 

7 minutes ago, abhatia315 said:

are you getting rid of Recipets now as well? can we discard them now? I have receipts from I-130 till today.. 

I emptied out the drawer with all the paper evidence I’ve been keeping. I found stuff from our denied K1 visa in 2015. The stack is easily a foot tall. I am going to keep the digital stuff on a hard drive just in case. But I am sure we won’t ever need it again. 

1 hour ago, Amadia said:

Hi all,

 

I have updated the sheet to reflect interviews and oath ceremonies....please let me know if I missed anyone! 

Everything looks good for me. Nice job keeping track of everyone. 

16 minutes ago, Ninetails said:

Had my interview last Friday at Tucson office! It was super easy and quick, I was ready for an interrogation, but thankfully it wasn't anything like others  My current online status is "oath ceremony scheduling notice mailed", fingers crossed that it's soon!

Congrats!

11 minutes ago, R&OC said:

I have the combo interview, too but I was explicitly asked not to bring my husband? I hope this has something to do with being stationed overseas.

Is your husband in the country? If he is, I would have him come with you. That way if they need him, he's available. I went with my husband for his combo interview even though the N400 letter said not to. The IO commented that she was glad I was there...though if I hadn't be there she would have made it work. 

27 minutes ago, gregcrs2 said:

My wife is still waiting.

12 minutes ago, RainbowMonkey said:

Me. Seattle office. 

12 minutes ago, Marimar04 said:

I'm still waiting. N-400 only, not combo. My office is Newark.

I hope you three get an interview date soon. 

I am curious, who in this group is still waiting for an interview? 

23 hours ago, devusr said:

I just checked the flights from Sri Lanka to Nassau and most of them go through the US airport.

 

Does that mean they will need a US VISA???

Just a heads up before moving forward with this plan, the Bahamas aren't allowing Americans into the country right now because of COVID. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/07/20/american-tourists-are-banned-bahamas-coronavirus-cases-spike/

2 minutes ago, Georgia16 said:

Just had my interview. Was a combo interview and took about 20 min. Got one question for the I-751 and my citizenship interview was first so my husband was there and I passed no problem. (I was sooo nervous). 
Already got update on app that I’m in line for oath. 

Congratulations! Another one from the group is done! 

4 hours ago, R&OC said:

I am going through the civics test questions right now and I read it is not a multiple choice test when conducted by the Immigration Officer. How does it work? Is the IO actually asking you the question or do you have a screen and choose write down the answers?

My husband was asked the questions and he had to answer them verbally without multiple choice options. The only thing the tablet was used for was the reading and writing part, as well as confirming some of his information. 

4 hours ago, Ka&J said:

Hey just got back from my interview, granted!  Officer was really nice, I am suprisee how fast everything became so electronic. I did not have to use a paper or pen. FYI once you arrive don't forget to check in at the window 3 with your interview letter!!

 

I am so happy, now waiting on my ceremony notification letter🎉🎉

Congrats!!!

49 minutes ago, swissbuttercream said:

Got approval for I-751 and N-400  today at. St. Louis.

 

IO confirmed oath ceremony on 31-July and should get paper in mail.

 

Yay! Congratulations! I love seeing all these recent approvals. 

4 hours ago, soso723 said:

My lease here in Jacksonville expires next week. I got ditched at the last minute by my new landlord, who found someone else willing to stay for 2 years. So I have no commitments now. I checked all the processing times after I saw Amadia's post and the fastest field office in the nation is now Albuquerque NM, at between 6.5 and 8.5 months. I filed the N400 7.5 months ago, would this mean that if I moved there, I could get the citizenship within a month?  And if not, I could certainly send an inquiry for outside normal processing time, right? Has anyone had any experience with that field office though?

This is a very sincere question: do you have anything in New Mexico for you other than moving just for immigration purposes? If the IO asked you during the interview why you moved in the middle of the process, I am not sure how well they would like the answer of "so my petition could be approved faster." Also, moving could end up backfiring on you because you have to wait for them to transfer your petition, then have another office look at it, and then you're added to the list behind everyone that is already at that office. 

I know the waiting is hard. Believe me if anyone does it's my husband and I. We had to go through the K1 and the CR1 process to get him here which added more cost and another year to being together. Then we waited a year and a half to get his ROC approved while we watched many people who filed the same time be approved with out an interview and very quickly. Like all things immigration, patience is key. Your time will come. Don't make a big life changing decision based on an estimate that isn't always accurate. 

12 minutes ago, Venus201320 said:

I am planning on moving to Salt Lake City, Utah next month. I’m just afraid that furloughs will happen on Aug 3 because congress hasn’t actually solved uscis budget crisis. 😢

What’s bringing you to Utah? It’s a beautiful place to live. The good news for you is the Salt Lake office isn’t as busy as most. So hopefully the furloughs won’t impact your case too much.

10 minutes ago, abhatia315 said:

 

Can you believe in year Oct 2016 we both were waiting for our case completion and now we both are taking Oath on same day!! It feel very good that I don't have to deal with USCIS anymore.. 

Its such a great feeling. I truly can’t wait to click delete on the very large file of evidence I’ve had on my computer since 2014. I can’t wait to not have to stress about filing fees, documenting my life for the government and worrying about interviews and petitions. 

8 hours ago, R&OC said:

For those of you who recall my question about the interviews being scheduled for August - I returned stateside last night and currently doing the 14 days quarantine before the interview (well, the letter asked to be 14 days in the country before coming to the interview).

 

Quick question: Which documents did you bring to your interview other than the obvious ones? I was asked by the airline to leave my two folders behind and so I just grabbed all the paperwork of my folders and stuck it into my carry-on (don't ask, turns out it was entirely unnecessary).

 

As I have my combo interview, I am not sure if I need to bring evidence of our marriage. The letter didn't state to bring any. Please share your experience. I am super nervous at this point.

I would recommend taking everything you have with you. They only asked for our daughter's birth certificate. I know others that we asked to submit tax information and others who needed to provide a lot more. It kind of all depends on the IO and what kind of evidence you've already submitted. 

5 hours ago, abhatia315 said:

He offered me day after  tomorrow as well but I have really important meeting Work. He told me I can choose different date if that doesn’t work. I choose July 29th. He had those oath papers on his desk ready. He just wrote my alien number in it and gave it to me. 

Congratulations! My husband's oath is that day as well. 

10 minutes ago, gregcrs2 said:

Wow!  That was fast!

We're kind of surprised, but not really. The officer told us she thought our office (Salt Lake) was scheduling for the last week of July and to expect a letter in the next week. Since they're not doing the big ceremonies, I think the offices are just scheduling people as soon as they can to stay on top of things.