ms80

Thank you all of you, and also thanks to those that DM'd me. Really, thank you all so much, as you possibly kept me from pirouetting off the Brooklyn Bridge which is how I felt on Friday evening when I opened the mailbox...
I'm truly, totally and utterly exhausted and sick of this, I'm sick of USCIS, I'm sick of having certain parts of life effectively on hold and in perpetual limbo...
 
However....
 

 
 
So........
 
 
 

 
 
 
No.
Way.
It is the principal of it. So buckle up buttercups, this is gonna get messy....
 
 
 
 
 

Hi! I just checked my status update for removal of conditions and it says my new card was mailed to me!! Does this mean I was approved?! I didn’t even have an interview. 
Has this happened to anyone else? 
Thanks! 

Found on WAVA thread but it's relevant here...
 
Meanwhile people start receiving new 48 month extension letters.
 
 
 

You are overthinking this, over complicating this, and over stressing. Before you jump down my throat for not understanding, take a look at my signature time/line below and see what I've been/am going through with USCIS, including similar to you.
 
Yes, USCIS are slow and useless. No, they largely don't care.
There may have been an interview notice sent out, there may not. If there was, it may have been tossed in the mail by the former spouse, or it may have disappeared into the USPS hole. You will probably never know. 
Either way, it doesn't matter at this point. 
 
Probably because it was not incorrect application of the law or policy by the service (which would have been grounds for re-opening) and it wasn't new information that was not considered at the time (which would have been grounds for re-consideration), so it did not meet the very narrow criteria for an I-290B. An I-290B should not have been filed in the first place - the 'lawyer' has treated it like an appeal, when it is absolutely not an appeal.
 
 
So,
1) Fire the 'lawyer'. An I-290B should never have been filed in those circumstances and should not be again.
2) Forget about the original I-751. It's done, won't be overturned, and it's history. 
3) File a new I-751 as soon as possible - you will have to pay for this again, and the biometrics again. Include everything evidence wise from the first one - the evidence in the first one will not be referenced during adjudication of the new one, so include it all again. And yes, before you ask, you are legally permitted to file multiple I-751s, so get it done. 
4) Await receipt for filing
5) Make infopass for I-551 stamp. Tell them it is urgent, book a refundable flight if you have to, as proof of imminent travel necessitating a stamp. You are legally entitled to a stamp, so get one. 
6) Await biometrics appointment or waiver letter.
7) Wait.
Thats it. Until an NTA or something else arrives, or another interview arrives, or approval arrives,  you are back in the waiting game. So get on with your life until then. You remain a permanent resident until an immigration judge says otherwise.
 

I751 
Filed 
-Jan 8th 2021
Biometrics 
-Nov 22nd 2021
Interview
-None
Approval Notice
-Dec 10th 2022
 
N400 
Filed 
-Feb 17th 2022
Biometrics 
-18th March 2022
Interview 
-Sept 22nd 2022
Approval Oath ceremony Notice 
- Dec 10th 2022
Oath ceremony -January 3rd 2023
 
Dear all 
I just wanted to take the time to thank each and everyone of you for all your help during this long journey. 
 
I finally became a US citizen on January 3rd, at 2 pm in Seattle Washington. 
 
The process was very smooth and quick check in to turn in your green card and oath notice invitation questionnaire page
 
It took about five minutes to say that oath, and that was it !!
I got my naturalisation certificate shortly after.
I spent about 20 mins in totals from entry to exit of the building. 
Next step is to apply for a passport. 
 
I just want to courage anyone that’s waiting not to lose hope, yes it’s a slow process , but it works.  The end is near,  just keep waiting patiently. 
 
I also think filing N400 concurrently worked for me as I never had an I 751 interview. I hope this helps anyone who has doubts about it. 
 
Happy New Year to everybody ,  God love bless , and best of luck ❤️❤️

I'm eligible to file under the 3 year rule in January.  We plan to file because I have kids who are eligible for more scholarships and will have an easier time with attending US institutions than if they were "simply" GC holders.  
 
I also think the majority of people who have to deal with USCIS on an ongoing basis end up with some sort of PTSD or trauma.  The experience isn't fun and the rules are subject to change on a whim.  I don't want to have to deal with that every decade. 
 
I want to be able to vote.  I pay taxes and contribute to the country.  I should have a say. 
 
I'm Canadian, through and through.  I love that maple leaf and always will.  It's where my family lives, it's where my babies were born.  But, after you've lived away, it's never going to be "home" in the same way it once was, and that applies to anywhere.  Everyone gets nostalgic, but there's a bit of romanticism about how things were when you were "home" and how it changes since you lived there last.  I lived it first hand when I had to go back for 18mo and wait for my interview.  There were a lot of creature comforts that I loved and was happy to have access to after being gone 5 years, but there were a lot of things I missed about the US after living there for 5 years.  Home is where you hang your hat and surround yourself with people and things you love.  As you do more and see more, you realize that you're never going to be 100% content in a single place because you've been shaped by your experiences abroad and there's always going to be something you long for from those adventures.  Having my US citizenship just makes it a little bit less stressful to continue my journey as a global citizen, to seek out more experiences all while understanding the concept of "home" will never be the same as it was prior to setting out on my first adventure.  

I would tend to agree with all the reasons provided here in favor of naturalizing (ease of every day life, not dealing with USCIS, can move abroad without worrying about keeping GC, more options for the future, etc). One thing that I haven't yet seen mentioned, is the ability to vote. And not just Presidential or US Congress / Senate elections but also, and perhaps most importantly, local elections. The ability to have a say in laws and regulations that impact your daily life I don't think can be overlooked. And it's definitely a privilege not everyone around the world has.

Only you can make that decision, you don't have to become a citizen, you can live just fine your whole life as a greencard holder like many others do. 

For me, one of the reasons was that I agreed with my husband (who is born and bred American) when he said becoming a citizen is about respect for the country you see yourself living in for the rest of your life. Becoming a citizen shows that you care and want to be part of this new country as much as you can (there will always be certain things you won't be part of as "just" a greencard holder). And I agreed with him, of course I should be a citizen when I see myself spending the rest of my life here. 

But I believe the absolute biggest reason that I chose to become a citizen is that I always want to be able to move back to the US if I for whatever reason decide to live elsewhere for a while. Since I have no plans on ever living elsewhere but have family in another country, it made sense to become a citizen. IF I have to move back to my home country for a while when my parents get old, to take care of them or for other reasons, then I will always be able to easily move back to the US when the time comes. This is the most important thing to me. Since I became a citizen I feel more relaxed knowing that I don't have to think about anything immigration related in case the situation would arise that I would need to leave the US for a few years. All I need is my US passport. 

Another thing, that isn't very important but still a positive thing, is that a Swedish passport is only valid for 5 years while the US is valid for 10. That the Swedish one has such a short validity sucks in so many ways, especially when it's very hard to get it renewed in the US (can only be done in person in DC and NY, and I live on the west coast). Now that I have a US passport that is valid for 10 years I worry less bout being stuck without a valid passport. And obviously it's very easy to renew the US passport in the US too. 

The reasons above AND the fact that I can have dual citizenship made the decision easy. It wouldn't have been easy if I couldn't have dual citizenship. 

Very good point with the change of governmental administrations come changes to various laws. I advise people if they ask, that if you are in a situation where you are trying to get a particular benefit you better get it while the getting is good i.e., calmer times so to speak. You'll never know who's going to be making new laws or changing old laws down the road and you'll be sorry you did not act when you had the chance. That is what I tell my spouse she will be eligible this January, but of course I'll let her make up her own mind about it.

1. One $500 traffic fine is enough to get one deported.  There are millions of pages of laws on the books; I am sure I’ve broken several of them.  
 
2. The convenience to enter and leave the USA as I see fit.  
 
3. F2A category was not current at the time I filed for citizenship, and I was fairly certain I wanted my girl friend to live with me the U.S.  
 
4. Canada had practically zero restrictions on multiple  citizenship. As you are a citizen of the Netherlands, multiple citizenship might be  complicated for you.  
 
These days, I feel alienated by my country of birth.  At my last visit, the government threatened to arrest me if I didn’t quarantine (I didn’t).   My values are now American, and some of my beliefs, if expressed in Canada, are hate crimes.    I’ve no regrets about the decision.  
 
At the time I was not bothered by the hassle of filing for a new gc every 10 years. These days, with renewals taking over 3 years, that alone would be enough to cause me to file N-400. I filed in February 2017, and by the middle of the year I was seeing reports of I-90 taking over a year. My gc was due to expire 2018.  I took oath 7 months before my gc expired. 

My complaints about Canada are classic “first world” problems compared to my wife’s complaints about her country of birth (celebrating its diamond anniversary of brutal and quixotic  military dictatorship).  She filed N-400 about as soon as she could, and she will not be able maintain her original citizenship as a result. She hopes to be a U.S. citizen in 2023. 
 

Everyone has the right to choose of course but I’m glad I done N400. It feels absolutely marvellous to be a both a US/British Citizen, to be able to vote etc and no need to file or worry about USCIS 🙌

We completed an approximately six year process from K1 -> AOS -> ROC -> Citizenship back in mid-August this year.  I updated our timeline back then, but I just felt the need to log in and take a moment to give thanks, so:

Thank you so much to VisaJourney and its community!  We seriously could not have done this without you. 
 
This is quite possibly the most useful and active forum on the internet.  Anytime we had a question, the answer could be found here and/or we could ask it ourselves and get a solid answer.  Those answers always came back same day, if not within seconds or minutes from posting.  Even the most obscure issues are solved here in a moments notice.  You've helped us save thousands of dollars avoiding the use of an immigration lawyer, and rescued us from millions of headaches or bouts of anxiety.  The knowledge here far exceeds anything that could've been paid for professionally, and all of it.. at no cost to us. 
 
The end-result: I get to be together with my wife, every day, and for the rest of my life.  Plus, she now has all of the same rights as any other American citizen, and soon... her passport will arrive in the mail and we can finally travel to places we've only ever dreamed of seeing.
 
I feel like the best way to continue giving thanks is to stick around and help other members of the community with the knowledge we've learned along the way from our experiences and from you.
 
Once again, and with the utmost appreciation and regard for all of you here, thank you!  I wish you all the best in your own visa journey and in your lives moving forward beyond it.

I am not sure why ppl think this may be a scam.
 
A scam would be:  "Hello, this is USCIS, can you please verify your identity?  Please tell me your name, address, SSN, mother's maiden name, name of your favorite pet, and also your credit card number and 3 digit code for secondary identity verification...."
 
A scam is not when USCIS calls to make an appointment over the phone and have you go to a USCIS BUILDING.
 

Nice!
 
Yeah, about the introspection, I had to let folks now what it means. Unless you’ve lived for a while in a country that’s not your native one, you can’t really understand what it means
 
I got it yep, travel coming very soon. It’s actually faster than I was expecting. 

Fam—
 
I. Am. A. US. Citizen!
 
What a journey it has been. 
 
First things first, thanks for everyone for have shared your stories. They help me not only prepare for what to expect, but also stress a lot less. Thanks for the DMs as well, you know who you are
 
Second, on the stressful part, I can’t stress how trivial the whole process is really. It might differ for some, but the whole thing was done in less than 5 min for me. No documents asked whatsoever, no clarifying questions on my N400, nothing.  The bulk of the remaining “interview” time was chatting and laughing with the officer. I spent a lot of time studying my N400 application (what if I forget the exact history of my addresses, etc.) just in case. When I applied I forgot to mention a couple of trips outside the country and a speeding ticket, absolutely no big deal, the officer didn’t sweat it. I bought coffee on my way to the interview, couldn’t bring it in the building, and by the time I was out the coffee was still very warm for me to drink. Out of the ~50 min in the building (including oath), ~40 min was just waiting. 
 
I knew I would feel good at the end of all this long journey, but man o man is this relaxing. I’ll still hang in there from time to time until life gets my focus away, but it has been a pleasure fam. 
 
Best of luck to those still waiting. Work on your civics questions and review your application, but don’t loose sleep over it. All in all the interview is the easiest part. 
 
🤗

With my passport in hand, I just took some hours of introspection and started wondering about the possibilities now offered to me, as well as pausing a bit to think and reflect about the ride. Then I got a huge piece of carrot cake lol. 
 
how are you celebrating?

Why isn't it correct? If your I-751 hasn't been approved, your N400 will never be approved. So yes it's very linear, even if you are given a combo interview.

I was happy to get the old gen passport, this was the last chance to get it, next one I get will be the new one. This way I have had both old and new (for the future).

I remember when I applied for my US Passport a Post Office clerk stapled my certificate to passport application. I was a bit shocked how they treated my precious document 😃
We feel very strongly about naturalization certificate as it is culmination of our immigration journey. 
It felt really nice to get the passport  though. 

Hi NJ people.  Idk why there are no updates here, but since I read all the comments in this thread and helped me I will post here.
 
I applied on October 2021 some of you know kearny usps had a problem with the roof and there were delays with the mail.  I thought I lost my package, I was stressing because My only court disposition certified was there.  Went to court and they never gave me another one except for the expungement.  So Def there was stress there.  I received an update that the package was delivered and NOA November 01, 2021.  Bio for November 30, 2021.  I didn't pay attention to the estimate, but I think it said like 15 months if im not mistaken.
 
Last week of may I received an update that the interview was schedule for july 12, 2022.  
 
So last week I reserved a parking with an app (spothero)  for the parking next to the building 1000 broad st.  The app said to scan the  barcode, there was no scanner and no one there.  So I had to press for a ticket and the gate open.  And to come out you come out via orchard st.  And there was a machine to pay the ticket, which came out to $21.  So Im not even mad at spot hero at this point. I will take the L but If I had to do it again I wouldn't use spot hero and just go there, because it was cheaper paying cash.
 
Went to the building and up to 15th floor waited like 2 hours 30 mins and I was called to approach a door.  The interviewer asked me for my green card and passport.  Then the standard questions.
 
Who was the fist president?  
What is one duty as a citizen?
What are the first 3 words.....?
Capital of New jersey?
A war in the 1800's?
And I forgot  the other one but I think it was a right of a citizen.
 
Then read a sentence,  What is the largest state of the US.  and write Alaska is the largest state.
 
Then the standard yes and no questions, file taxes or if I owe any money.  Have I ever been arrested and If I submitted the court disposition, which I did.  He checked that, told me to check if the info was correct on the tablet and said I was approved.  
 
Some people that were approved will have their oath ceremony at another place next week.   From what I heard a lawyer telling a couple of her clients, I think it was like a special oath ceremony if they were from that county they were likely going to do it there.
 
As my journey ends here, I want to thank the people of this website and forums that wrote their experiences.  And to @sandranj the lawyer at the Vawa forum, I read her responses to the vawa recipients and realize that there are still some good lawyers that care.   And that's how my  journey on this forum began.  I filed everything myself from Vawa to 485 to n400.  
 
(tips that helped reading this forum and listen on spotify n400 questions).   Eat a good breakfast because you are likely going to be there for a while.
 
 
 

This morning I was scheduled for Naturalization ceremony oath in Hartford, CT USCIS office at 8.30 am. The actual ceremony started around 9.15 with a short speech, followed by handing over US Flag plus packets with Pledge of Allegiance, Oath, passport form, voting information, etc. plus a yellow envelope from White House which  had a letter to new citizens from President Biden. This was followed by Oath and then they handed out Naturalization certificates to the new citizens. Everything was wrapped up by 9.40 am. This afternoon, I applied for the US passport at the local postoffice. This ends the 23 years and 23 days journey that began in 1999 with student visa arrival in US. Good luck everyone who is still awaiting. You will have your citizenship soon.

Send it the Monday after. 1 day makes no difference and you don't want to risk it getting there early. 

Ive never understood why people won’t allow a day or few hours of eligibility to pass before filing. Whatever it is whether he wins an appeal or not, he/she is going to become a citizen later than anticipated because of this desire to send in your application right on the dot.
 
In my case I waited a comfortable three days beyond my earliest eligibility to avoid all this unnecessary drama. 
 
Too bad!

Not every right is worth the trouble to exercise. 

Why do people insist on filing the very second they become eligible?  Filing a few days after the window opens causes no delay in processing.  All you can do is wait.......