CMJuilland

I second what everybody else has said - language skills are key, and it looks like once she masters that, there’s nothing that stands in her way in terms of becoming a citizen. My first career was as a language instructor, and whether you do an intensive program or just a night or two a week, classes and especially conversation practice helps and usually faster than people would think. Based on your profile, you’re in the Baltimore MD area, which should even have some free stuff. I would recommend small classes, preferably with other immigrants of different native languages. Also, improving her English skills doesn’t have to be uniquely geared toward the English portion of her N400 as once her skills are at an adequate level, the N400 part will be quite easy. As a plus, she will be a lot more comfortable when she is in situations where there are no other people with her language background. Best of luck, and contact me if you want me to leverage my network to find something around the Baltimore area.

As far as legalities and potentialities are concerned, you got great responses from @Boiler and @SalishSea, two members way more qualified to give them than myself. While you didn’t ask for advice, I am still going to take the liberty to ask a few questions/provide some perspective: Have you considered what it will mean for M to be here in the States, unable to work, unable to drive (most likely, at least for a few weeks), and unable to leave the country in case of an emergency back in Europe? Have you familiarized yourselves with how long AOS (and even EAD/AP) takes these days? Have you discussed alternative routes, i.e. getting married and then filing I-130 with the goal to obtain a spousal visa? The AOS limbo is often underestimated, especially by people who are used to having a routine (job, school, etc.) and having at least some independence (being able to get around -> driving, etc.). I have personally been through it when processing times were still somewhat bearable, and I wouldn’t do it again. Yes, long-distance relationships are difficult, and being “on hold” like that isn’t fun. However, AOS can put a real strain on y’all’s relationship, and while the short-term gain (yay, we can stay together in one place) may seem to outweigh the potential problems, it is worth considering them. As it seems right now (and I have no proof of that), USCIS seems to gear up to discourage AOS, which may mean even less resources will be provided for that part, and that may make the whole process even longer than it already is. Just something to consider. Unsolicited statement: if it were me, I would seriously consider getting married, getting all the forms for I-130 ready, and submit them once F has naturalized. Yes, it means long-distance for a while longer, but especially medium to long-term, it may pay off. Best of luck to both of you, and I hope your naturalization date comes soon!

I had an excel file where I listed my foreign travel. Also, if you don’t purge your email account regularly, you should be able to find at least most of the tickets/reservations/confirmations with dates. Use those. And if you’re not sure, give the best approximation you have.

Great discussion! Except for cashier’s checks, we used a mix of all of the above. However, we only used a personal check once. The very first application we submitted made it to USCIS, and the check was cashed, but no case number or NOA1 was generated. We tried to resolve the issue, but - as we all know - USCIS is not always the most helpful place, so finally, after about four months of trying to get USCIS to move, we accepted that we lost the money and refiled, this time with a money order. (So, the beginning of our relationship with USCIS was rocky already: gaslighting and ghosting). Once credit cards became an option, we used those - for the same reasons mentioned by many posters before me: points and miles. We never had an issue with a credit card institute blocking the USCIS fee, but I believe I got an alert once where I had to login and approve the fee. Not sure anymore though.

I know you want more info on the K1 visa, but I’ll just second what others have said: my suggestion would be to get married and have him file for a spousal visa. We went the K1 route way back when K1 was actually a lot quicker than CR1, but in hindsight, we would never do this again. It felt like forever for us to get my work permit and advanced parole approved, but back in 2017, it “only” took us about five months. These wait times are a lot longer now. And that’s not even a green card yet. As suggested, I wouldn’t get hung up on the couple of months you *might* shave off with a K1; it really isn’t worth it. Marrying would be relatively easy for you guys assuming that, since he can’t leave the U.S., you are the one usually making the trip. Just have a court house wedding next time you visit, and then file the necessary paperwork. You can plan a reception with all of your family and friends once you have set up shop together. Should you still want to pursue the K1, it should be relatively straight forward. The guides on here are very helpful, and the necessary documents needed should be relatively easy to obtain for you in Switzerland (at least that was my experience). Best of luck!

Love the answers! Especially the creative ones OP, my I-485, first DL, etc. said 5’8” as that’s what I was measured at sometime back in Switzerland. Upon my first physical here, my height was given as 5’7”, and I have gone with that since. No one cares. Not USCIS, not the ATF, not the DMV. Don’t worry. And as for the weight issue, ha! I used to teach at the State Department, and most FSOs said that they usually lose around 10-20 pounds when they go abroad (there are exceptions in terms of countries) and gain them back when they come back to the U.S.

Like others have stated, K1 and B1/B2 are different, and the key difference here is that the K1 is a so-called “dual intent” nonimmigrant visa, so you don’t have to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent (as that’s the whole point of the visa if everything works out). For a B visa, immigration intent is automatically assumed, and it’s on the applicant to overcome that. Also, cultural background and language skills do not factor in and COs have to be U.S. citizens. I used to be a language instructor for foreign service officers for a few years, and we often talked about the differences in visa categories and how you would interview as they needed to acquire the skills necessary. So, yes, the official language(s) of any country will be covered, but not necessarily by a native speaker. The reason we often find native speaker COs in some countries is that when a CO already has language skills, especially in “hard” languages (the State Dept has a scale of difficulty for languages), it makes sense to send them to a country where that language is spoken as you don’t have to train them in that language from scratch. COs complete a number of region-specific classes beyond their language training as well, and in their training they also learn the ins and outs in terms of how you interview and decide for what visa.

Invalidation of EAD/AP and triggering a bar are very good points I hadn’t even considered. You do want to be careful here. Also, given that USCIS sent you an RFE, they seem to be almost ready for your interview. You may very well get a notice of interview between now and February. Just something else for you two to consider. I don’t know your exact circumstances, but it seems safest to maybe just travel for the Christmas/New Year portion… Not much happens in most (if not all) government agencies during that time anyway, and it would give you about two weeks, potentially making the trip worthwhile. Don’t jeopardize what you have achieved so far, even if it seems almost unbearable for your wife right now. Little side story on that: when I was in that situation, my EAD/AP didn’t get approved within normal processing times, and it got to the point where I had to involve my congressman in order to get any kind of response from USCIS. While his office was contacting them, my grandma passed away, and the funeral was scheduled. My EAD/AP was still not on the horizon, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go to the funeral to pay my respects (grandma were VERY close) and keep my family situation here in the States on track. So, I talked to my mom, and she implored me to stay put and to not travel. She said that the last thing my grandma would have wanted for me is to delay my family further and prolong the time apart. It was hard, but I did, and I don’t regret it. I know it sucks, but in the long run, it will pay off.

I don’t recall ever seeing an extension for an RFE, and I personally wouldn’t risk it. Sadly, your best bet is to either delay your travel plans on the front end (i.e., traveling later) so she can complete her medical, or shorten your plans on the back end (i.e., having her come back early and book the medical with ample time for everything to be sent). If it were me, I would want it out of the way and sent before I left the country, just to be sure. Why don’t you try for her to walk into the USCIS-approved clinic today or tomorrow and see what happens? As far as immunization is concerned, I had lost my vaxx pass from when I was a child, and I just had them give me all the shots again. It wasn’t a big deal at all. Best of luck to both of you!

You seem a little overwhelmed and confused, and I don’t blame you. Here is what people have been trying to tell you: U.S. citizens petitioning for minor children or step children (minor = under 21 here) don’t have to wait for a visa number to become available. That is why it will be faster for the twins to be issued their visas if you as a USC file. You don’t have to do it, but if you want the kids to be able to move to the U.S. sooner, you filing is the way to go. Since you haven’t filed for them before, your filing would be an additional one, not a refile. Within your family, it might seem like it, but as far as USCIS is concerned, those are two separate filings per child. Terminology can be very important when dealing with USCIS (which can be a hassle anyway, so it’s best not to add to said hassle with terminology issues). Since the twins are two individuals, you need to file two separate petitions (two I-130s, one per child). The issue there is always that one might get processed slightly faster than the other (we see the same thing and question when people file for both of their parents), but the difference in time (if there is one) is usually so marginal that it’s not an issue for them to interview together. Approved petitions are valid for some time. Currently, USCIS processing times are listed for between 13 and 14.5 months, depending on what service center it will go to, in the IR2 category (U.S. citizen filing for minor children - step children count here) vs. 32 to 36.5 months for the F2A category (permanent resident filing for spouse or minor children). However, even if USCIS approved your husband’s petition earlier than what is projected, a visa could only be issued after the priority date becomes current (which you can look up in the visa bulletin). In contrast, your petition can go straight to the embassy or consulate, and the twins can apply for an immigrant visa right away because there are no quota for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Please don’t take this as lecturing, patronizing, or as condescension. I just remember how overwhelming the process can seem and wanted to spell it out for you as clearly as possible. Best of luck to all of you!

The wait from interview to oath depends. Some field offices do same day oaths; Fairfax does not. When I became a citizen, I received an oath date right after my interview, and the date was about 10 days or so later. However, it was also during COVID when they did naturalization ceremonies every 30 minutes with no guests allowed, so it may have changed now. All you can do is check the records here on VJ for people who have recently taken the oath at the Fairfax office, try to extrapolate from there, and wait until you get scheduled… Best of luck!

Facial recognition technology everywhere scares me more than a little, even though my fear makes zero sense. After all, I had no problem submitting my picture, my naturalization cert, and a whole bunch of other PII about me to DoS for the issuance of my passport... (or I did it anyway because it's the only way to get a passport to travel). To get back to the actual topic of the thread, I could also argue in favor of facial recognition and other technologies as it would make the careful carrying of a paper extension letter obsolete, which would be great as it's issued for several years now (where are we? At four years?). THus, when implemented properly, it would make the whole ordeal faster and safer. Also, it could help with border security in general as it's a heck of a lot harder to steal or imitate somebody's face vs. stealing or falsifying documentation... Yet still. My analogue Gen X mind is not a fan, even though I have a bunch of good arguments. Mods, please delete if it derails everything too much.

For GE, they have been trying to implement machines with full facial recognition for a while. They’re great when they work as you don’t have to scan docs, but there are still enough cases when they don’t. I have been abroad three times this year, and the first time, it was a huge mess. IAD had the new machines, but every single person was sent for “human inspection” because the machines didn’t work properly. The second time, also at IAD, it was only every 5th or so person, and I was (luckily) not one of them. The third time, in Montréal, it was a breeze and took only 10 seconds. Now, that doesn’t answer the actual question of it being possible with an extension letter. In theory, it should work though as people waiting for RoC are permanent residents and should be listed as such in the database used for GE. I hope somebody with an expired GC and an extension letter will try and report soon.

When we were in that situation, my wife added me to the lease and to her existing bank accounts and as an authorized user on one or two of her credit cards. Especially the lease but also mail that was generated by bank/cc was enough “proof of address” for everything I needed going forward. It might also be a good idea to do that just to start establishing credit (the bulk of that will have to be your own credit card, but still). This goes beyond your question, but regarding DL: I don’t know what Colorado’s policies are, but here in Virginia, I wasn’t able to get one before I had my EAD or GC. When talking to our county police, they said it was “frowned upon” to drive on my Swiss driver’s license for “too long”, but I would “most likely be just fine doing it”. So I just did that until I had my EAD and was able to get a state issued DL. Best of luck with everything.

I second what everybody else said: 5 years. Less paperwork to submit.

We, too, are in the “no, we don’t miss USCIS” boat. In fact, whenever we drive remotely past our field office (we both do on a regular basis), we heave a sigh of relief. No more worries about missing one of their letters, no more frantically checking in online, no more concerns about scheduling trips abroad because they happen to fall with yet another adjustment of USCIS’s timelines. No more worries that, should my wife have an opportunity to work abroad for a few years, we would have to go back to long distance for a while, and so on and so forth. And unlike others (shout out to @TBoneTX and @JeanneAdil - I feel for you with all the money and time lost), we didn’t even have a complicated or super-long case.

I’m not a frequent poster, but I appreciate quite a few members here a lot: @Mike E - I learn a lot from you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. @SalishSea - to the point and in a “no BS” kinda way. Love the sarcasm, too. @Rocio0010 - congrats on your recent citizenship! You have educated many here on F1 and J1 myths @Dashinka - always super nice and helpful, even when people are being stupid @TBoneTX - thanks for the countless laughs in some threats and the reminders/advice in others @mindthegap - your patience with U.S. immigration is amazing. I’m rooting for you and regularly check in to see if your case has finally moved. I’m sure I’m forgetting some members. Great community here. Stay awesome.

Wow… Honest to God (and probably TMI): this made me cry, even though I don’t even know what he looked like. His family and mine were on very similar timelines and trajectories for our respective visas, and I very much appreciated his contributions and help, especially at the time…

I was going to suggest something similar. It’s a super long shot and will most likely not work, but “Ask Emma” and calling is quicker (and cheaper) than flying home and then over to Japan again. It doesn’t really cost you anything either, so I would try that. Should this not be an option, I don’t see any other way than for you to dig up that notice. Once you do, the first thing you should do is take a picture of it or make some other sort of record of the receipt number. The next step is making a USCIS account where you register the case (so that you have access to it online). After that, make a paper copy and bring both copies to Japan. Should your letter be lost, you can either try and see if you can get another one (I personally wouldn’t trust USCIS will definitely do that, but you can try). If nothing else, as already suggested by @Mike E, you would need to file a new I-751. I don’t know anything about the DoS side and the boarding foil, so I can’t add anything to that. Hopefully things will work out for you guys. For the future - and I can’t state this enough - please make (digital) copies of everything USCIS sends your way (and preferably that you send there).

Lol, we should all get together once a year and make a pyre out of all the new citizens’ USCIS paper records. Set it on fire and celebrate.

As long as you have been present for at least half the time (30 months, 913 days, see here https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-4#:~:text=Applicants for naturalization under INA,days) before filing the application.), which from what you say seems like you have been, you should be good to go. Keep in mind though that physical presence is not the only requirement. Best of luck!

The civics test is administered orally, and it’s not a multiple choice test. If you get the first six answers right, they’ll move on with the interview. I’d recommend you have your kid use the materials @Mike E provided and be prepared to answer as closely to what is in those as possible. Also, have him/her memorize the names of your senators (technically, just one is required), the governor of your state, and your rep in the House. Best of luck!

As others have said, refile asap. Also, never assume that USCIS already have documents - even if you are 100% sure that you included them - especially when mentioned in an RFE. Always send them exactly what they’re asking for, no matter if it has been submitted before.

First off, premature congrats to you!! I hope it’ll all be a walk in the park from now on out. As everybody else said, yes, if you can avoid the I-751 process, please do. It’ll save you and your husband a lot of stress, money, and anxiety. Rooting for you that you’ll have your visa issued soon!!

First off, yay for your I-130 approval! That’s awesome, and from what I have seen, everybody in here is happy for you. Then, there is a clear distinction between a USCIS petition and a U.S. visa. Approval of the former means you’re eligible to apply for the latter. They’re also handled by two different departments (DHS vs. DOS). Worst case scenario for using wrong terminology in immigration means you make yourself ineligible for a visa. Nobody here wants that to happen to you, but we have seen our fair share of people who confused petition and visa and ran into trouble because they didn’t factor in the DOS side of things (NVC, consular, and all that). We’re trying to mitigate that and at the same time provide accurate info for everybody else who reads your thread. Finally, and somewhat off topic (mods, please edit if not allowed), I personally find it quite rude to make snarky comments toward long-term members in excellent standing such as @Crazy Cat or @SteveInBostonI130 while knowing full well that they took years (if not decades in some cases) to learn everything there is to know about immigration law, process, and timelines, and are willing to share their knowledge in a DIY forum for free.