taximan683

Wife had the oath ceremony today and we went straight to the clerk's office down the street and applied for the passports for my wife and step daughter. We have reached the end. All our boxes are checked in our timeline. Thank you to Visa Journey and all the help I got here over the last few years from the experienced users. Thanks!!!

So, something weird I just noticed. We are getting ready for our trip to the Philippines on Wednesday, so I am checking and rechecking our passports, green cards, e-travel registration etc. My stepdaughter's green card says "Country of Birth - Unknown"! How many times have we submitted her birth certificate during this process? Her original green card has Philippines as her country of birth, which is correct. Our trip is in two days, so I'm not going to do anything about it, or report it. I'll bring her birth certificate just in case. I'm just surprised that they could even produce a card that says "unknown". I guess we are OK since it is a green card with her picture and name. Kind of funny that they keep using the same photo. She was only 3 years old when they took the picture and she was crying hysterically, so it looks like she's not happy at all about being a permanent resident. She'll be a citizen when we get back, so the green card will not be important going forward. Is anyone considering getting the expensive Certificate of Citizenship for their child? I read some posts by lawyers online who said you should get it for your child so they can always prove their citizenship.

It wasn't a scam. I had forgotten that I had requested an appointment for the i-551 stamp in case we didn't receive the new green cards before our trip to the Philippines in July. The call was in regard to the appointment request. She scheduled a call back with me for when my wife would be available ( I was at work when she originally called and she couldn't tell me anything unless my wife, the applicant, was present). She called us back two days later and told us it was about the request for the appointment. We told her that we had received the green cards, so no appointment was necessary and that was it. On another note, my wife quickly received a Naturalization Oath Ceremony appointment for July when we plan to be on our trip to the Philippines. We sent a certified letter immediately to the USCIS field office in Santa Ana, CA where her ceremony was scheduled, and the day after they received the letter they canceled her ceremony and the status changed back to "Oath Ceremony being scheduled". That's a relief. Hopefully, they will remember the date we will get back and schedule her for after that date. It does say she was put back in the line with the others waiting for a ceremony. It was a relief to hear from them so quickly as we have less than two weeks before we go on our trip. USCIS has been very quick ever since she had the interview. Everything is looking good so far and we are eager to get to the ceremony.

We sent the letter asking to reschedule the oath ceremony because of travel and I don't think they could have received it yet. I just sent it yesterday certified mail. We just got a call from USCIS from Washington DC but my wife wasn't here so they couldn't tell me anything. Now I'm wondering why would they be calling? Anybody have any ideas? Our case is pretty straightforward.

"We have taken and action..." e-mail today. The Oath Ceremony has been scheduled. It is scheduled for when we are out of the country in July visiting my wife's family in the Philippines. As instructed in the notice, we will send back the notice with a letter asking for the oath to be rescheduled to a date after we have returned from our trip. I also noticed that the notice states that she will need to bring travel documents with her to the Oath Ceremony since we are traveling after she had the interview. Do you think I can print the notice document from the website and send it with the letter, or should I wait until the official notice arrives in the mail and send back the original notice with the letter?

Well, the next day my wife's N-400 case was updated "approved" and she is placed in line for the oath ceremony appointment. Then, in the afternoon, I received two separate USPS notifications that we will be receiving an item from Kentucky on Monday. I believe that is where the green cards come from? I'm not expecting anything else. Looks like priority mail or something. Wow, they move fast when they want to.

OK, I have another questions. Case changed to "Card Produced" and i-751 case closed. The letter congratulating my wife and daughter also says not to travel without your new card. We have a trip to the Philippines scheduled for July 3rd. Do we need an appointment for an I-551 stamp in their passports even though they still have their conditional green card and the extension letter? I hope that we receive their new green cards, but I requested an appointment online for the stamp just in case. I don't want them refused entry to the USA when we return! Does anyone know anything about this? Didn't expect this.

They take your green card at the oath ceremony. You can travel with your original country passport and your green card until you take the oath. If they schedule your oath while you are away, you can call and change your appointment. My wife told the interviewer that we would be on a trip and please schedule the oath for when we are back. She passed the interview and we are waiting now to see when she will be invited to take the oath.

Good news! Two days after my wife passed the N-400 interview, June 8, we got an e-mail "We have taken action on your case". We went to her MyUSCIS account and the action was taken on the i-751 - "Card is Being Produced", "We have approved your Form I-751...". So, filing the N-400 and going through the interview apparently sped up the approval of the i-751. That's a big relief. Things are moving ahead. It only took them two days to approve the i-751 after the N-400 interview, and the i-751 interview was apparently waived. So, if anyone is wondering, file your N-400 as soon as you are eligible and don't wait for the i-751. I guess USCIS is more efficient than I gave them credit for, at least in this case. I'll update our timeline. Thanks!

Just one

This is a good video about the N-400 vs i-751 situation.

Crazy Cat was correct. My wife passed the interview 6/6 but no decision was made due to pending i-751. We are back to the waiting game hoping the i-751 will be expedited. I think some people had success by requesting a combo interview before the N-400 interview. It's very disappointing to go through the interview but have no.resolution. I'll be checking out case and let everyone know what happens next.

Today, 6/6, wife passed the N-400 interview, but not yet approved due to pending i-751. We are very disappointed since now we are waiting again at the mercy of USCIS. I see all different outcomes online of this situation. Maybe we have to wait months, or maybe the i-751 will be expedited. We thought we were at the end of the process, but we are still in the waiting game. Apparently earlier posts were correct that the N-400 cannot be approved until the i-751 is adjudicated. Possibly we could have contacted USCIS prior to the interview and asked for a combo interview to resolve everything at once. I just thought the N-400 would trump everything, but I was wrong. Waiting...

What if our child is with us? (6 years old). I hope they let us know before, so we can try to make arrangements. We don't have anyone to watch her.

I was joking about the fee I paid for the I 751 since it looks like my wife will pass the citizenship interview first. It appears though that it will be adjudicated at the same interview.

Ok thank you, then we'll be ready in case.

Spouses with Pending Petitions and Naturalization Applications An application for naturalization may not be approved if there is a pending petition for removal of conditions. If an applicant’s petition to remove conditions is pending at the time of filing or is filed prior to the interview, USCIS will adjudicate the petition to remove conditions prior to or concurrently with the adjudication of the naturalization application.[6] So, the I 751 will be adjudicated concurrently if it has not been adjudicated prior to the interview. I take this to mean the effect will be the same as I said in my posting. If they want to bring you in for a combo interview they will, or they'll just approve the I 751 when you pass the N-400 interview.. I believe, from other postings, that if they want a combo interview they will specify it in the interview appointment letter. Is that correct?

I don't believe this is true. The N-400 interview approval makes the I 751 moot. I believe a combo interview is the option USCIS can choose for whatever reason they have. If you get through the N-400 interview and are approved then take the oath, you are done. Am I wrong? Citizenship doesn't depend on having your restrictions removed from your green card. If anyone knows different, I'd like to hear about it. I'd like to get that fee back as well, but I know that won't happen.

Wife filed March 30. Biometrics waived right away. Interview scheduled April 2 for June 6. Wife studying civics. Santa Ana, CA office.

You are right! The fee went up for filing from $640 to $710, but the $710 includes the biometric fee now. So I paid $15 more thinking that I was saving money. Ugh

You can print out your tax transcripts easily on the IRS website. I have heard that they prefer transcripts since they are officially from the IRS.

Filed 3/29 before the fees go up. Biometrics reuse notification was immediate. We watched a mock interview on YouTube and my wife is worried about it now. She's very soft spoken and intimidated by official situations like this. She's studying for the civics test, and she will make sure she remembers and understands completely all the questions on the form. Her English is good, so that's not a problem. We are almost to the end of this long process from K-1 and K-2 to citizens!

I wonder how long in advance they notify you of the appointment. If they notify us before July, then at least we'll know if we have to reschedule. If they notify us while we're gone then maybe the appointment would be after we're back, so it wouldn't matter as long as we find out. I just don't want to completely miss the appointment because we didn't know about it.

My wife is eligible to apply, but we are traveling to the Philippines for 6 weeks in July/August. I'm worried that they'll set an appointment for the time we are out of the country. Are all the letters available online, or do we need a traveling mailbox so we can see any documents they might send? I suppose I could reschedule if there is a conflict, or should we wait to file when we get back?