gregoryagu

Sorry, I am not being very clear here. Yes, we have applied for the N400 as of July 2024. I am not quite sure exactly what you mean by "under the 3 or 5 year rule" If you are asking how long we waited, the date of her becoming a LPR was March 24, 2018. So we waited over five years. So I think that means we filed under the 5 year rule. What I was trying to say is that we should have waited only 3 years from the date of her LPR, and then filed, as we would be finished by now.

We are married, so I think we would qualify under the 3 year rule. But I wasn't really thinking about the N400 until we started to have plans to go abroad and my wife wanted to lock in her citizenship now while we have the residency requirements in place. It would have been better to start sooner.

Filed for N400 July 22 of last year. Have heard nothing. I have checked many times online, and they just say the case is on step 3: Scheduling Interview. Office: Tampa, FL. Per there estimator, the process should take 11.5 months. Anyone else in a simliar situation? Is the current Trump Administration actions making things taking even longer than before? Just getting a little frustrated. The only reason it's an issue is that we want to be out of the country longer than the allowed 6 months currently allowed by her Green Card. Our plan is to go out of the country on July 15 and then just come back if and when it gets scheduled (but of course, not longer than 6 months.)

Ok, I did not actually realize this about the 1 year green card rule. It would be a pity to have to start over again.

Ok, thank you. I think our best course of action is just wait to finish the N400 process before going on any other trips.

Ok, thank you. I checked the N400, and we did use Tampa as the residency address.

As noted in my timeline, I submitted paperwork for my wife for the N400 naturalization on July 22 2024. Shortly thereafter we got a notice that the current bio-metrics were still valid and so that would not be needed. But here we are 4.5 months later and we do not yet have an appointment. Questions about this: 1. I don't recall ever selecting an Office, but I am assuming that the Tampa Office will automatically be used as it is the closest to our address, correct? In searches I have done, it seems like some of the offices are faster than others, but I don't know that there is any way of changing that, especially at this point. 2. I checked the Processing Time on the USCIS site, and this is what it says: So if this is correct, it is going to be April before we get an appointment, correct? 3. After the Interview, then there is also the oath ceremony. I was not able to find an estimate on how long after the appointment this would be for Tampa. 4. In times past, we did not really care how long the process took (we have been married 8 years now). However, we recently traveled for 2 months to see her family in Russia, and then another 3 months in South Africa visiting our Church. (A total of 5 months, below the "6 Month Rule") The concern is that we are going to somehow violate the residency requirements for her Citizenship. We started the application before we left. We have lived in the US the entire time, so our "Continuous Residence" requirement is easily satisfied. The physical Presence requirement is also easily satisfied. And we resided in Florida for the full three months preceding the filing. Our plan is to be back in the US and then wait for the interview, and then the oath. And at that point go back to South Africa for an extended for 1-2 years. So if the above estimate is correct, we will need to wait until June for the interview, and then another period for the Oath. All in all, we would like to have this done as soon as possible so we can finish the work we have started in South Africa (humanitarian work) Sorry if I am rambling here, but I am trying to put forward as much information as possible. Our other option would be to abandon the N400, and then be abroad as long as we want, and then take it up again after moving to the US. I don't really see an issue with this because as far as I can tell, the only benefit of naturalization is that you can Vote, and get a US passport. But the lack of a US passport has not been a hinderance to anything we have wanted to do so far.

Just to follow up on this: I sent my passport renewal with expedited service on March 14 via Priority Mail, and got it back yesterday, 28 March, also by Priority Mail. So, it took 14 calendar days to get the renewal.

Thank you, I did not realize that the old Visa would still be valid even if the Passport itself expired.

Yes, Russian tourist Visa to visit family. I did not realize it might be possible to transfer an existing visa, but it appears that it can be done here: https://mumbai.mid.ru/en/consular-services/visa_transfer/#:~:text=A foreign national will be,apply for a new visa. In any case, I will go ahead and get a new passport, and the new Visa since I have to get a new Tourist Visa anyone.

My passport is due to expire in a year. Since I am getting a 3 year Tourist Visa, I don't want my passport to expire before the Visa. What I am wondering is how long the actual processing time is for non-expedited processing. I would prefer not to pay the $60 if it is not necessary. On the other hand, I have to get the passport, then get the Visa which will take another month at least. We don't have tickets yet, as we wait until after the Visa is in place first. Has anyone recently renewed their passport using the non-expedited service?

I did update my timeline, did I miss something?

There were no interviews (only interview was for the very first application, but that was not the I751), there were no RFE's. Just got the letter saying it was approved. The service center was Irving Texas. Was not a divorce case, not sure what you mean by a joint case. It was me (American Citizen), beneficiary was my wife (we have been married almost 7 years now) from the Russian Federation.

Long wait, but tears in my eyes. Greg