.yana

22 hours ago, Joe King said:

We've contacted a representative to look into our case, still nothing

I would start with following up with their office. Pester them if you need to.

My representative helped me tremendously when I reached out to them. Albeit they responded right away.

They can do it, and USCIS will respond to their inquiry.

I feel bad for VAWA filers who already have an uphill battle ahead of them proving the legitimacy of their case.

 .

If you apply ASAP, you might get all three visas in time for your trip.

I only have experience with French embassy, and it took about 10 business days to get my passport back.

3 hours ago, nastra30 said:

Another trend is the subtle nudge to make people file online by making online filing fees less than paper filings. With the eventual goal of killing off those paper applications and making more forms available online.

I would stand behind this but only if USCIS spend that extra $$$ to significantly improve their website functionality. Because when I was doing online filing, it was a disaster. 

22 hours ago, CuriousImmigrant_ said:

Is it related to your country of origin? Do they do extensive background checks for people like you? 

First of all, don't compare your case to others'. It won't do you any good, just add to your frustration.

Back when I filed for my AOS in 2016, those who filed with me received their GCs within 3-6 months. At some point, I was the only filer left in my topic who got nothing from USCIS. 

Each of my filings (AOS, I-751, N400) ended up taking the longest out of the projected wait time, and I had no RFEs. 

So just be patient.

And yes, the country of origin might affect certain USCIS processes. For example, during my original AOS filing, at the infopass appointment I learned that my home country took over half a year to clear my background check which resulted in delay of my interview.

I was rooting for you so much… Don’t give up! 🙏🏻

I sent the absolute bare minimum. Didn't even include the most recent year of tax returns as they weren't available at the time when I filed.

No RFEs, interviewed in less than year (I-751 was delayed but that's another story). 

20 hours ago, Heidi9292 said:

Yeah, all of us have B1/B2 visa and my parents have been to the US as well. But mine is technically invalid since I am a GC holder now. Though I doubt MX has access to this information.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it either.

Was in your exact situation few years ago and decided to postpone the trip as I was finding too may stories of people having issues at the border for my comfort level. 

Personally - I wouldn't press my luck.

Push the trip out few weeks?

Weather is crappy there anyway.

30 minutes ago, DaisyJ said:

No I don't have a separate EAD, I've only ever had my original I-551 passport stamp and then my 2 yr GC. Good to know you got by ok with your extension letter, even if it did take some convincing!

I do however recall, that CA DMV site specifically listed I797C form + expired GC as one of the valid documents. So it’s a little different yet still wasn’t a smooth process.

if I were you, I’d print out whatever explanation of what the form I797C is and its validity from USCIS website, bring it with me, and ask to speak with a supervisor if they push back.

MA is a huge state, undoubtedly they’re familiar with this form.

Do you have a valid EAD? It looks like it's one of the accepted documents:

https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/04/21/Acceptable Forms of Identification online 041818.pdf

I got my DL in California with an extension letter although it took some convincing and speaking to the supervisor.

14 minutes ago, GP1977 said:

 

On a US passport on the biometrics page it has a line that says "Place of Birth".

The only reason you wouldn't be a citizen of that country would be if you renounced your citizenship.

Once you renounce your citizenship - you need to apply for a visa, like any other foreigner. 

37 minutes ago, Mike E said:

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/quotation-marks/

 

we list out the six main uses for quotation marks.

1 Quote a source directly

I was quoting a term used by the State Department. So my use of quotation marks was correct.

 

You  thought this was my purpose in the use of that term:

 

4 Set apart a word to show irony, sarcasm, or skepticism (scare quotes)

This is twice now that you have explicitly inferred ill intent from me.  I’ve contributed all I can, and I don’t wish to argue or bicker, so I won’t post more in this thread.

It truly baffles me when VERY experienced folks like yourself try to opine on such specific situations and such specific country laws they're not familiar with. 

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Same way a U.S. border officer knows you are a American citizen if you show up with passport from another country. Or no passport at all. Especially an American born in America. 

 

Similarly, how does a Russian CO issue passports to Russians abroad who have lost their Russian passports? The same way an American CO issues passports to Americans abroad who have lost their American passports.

 

If anything, it might be easier for a Russian border officer or CO, because of “internal passports” discussed in https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/RussianFederation.html 

 

Also it would not surprise me if Russian border and consular officers have verification by facial recognition as CBP has.  

 

People  across the world lose their documents, and manage to get re-documented. If one can be re-documented, then one’s citizenship can be re-verified without documents.

That's a great point! I can't imagine it working how it's supposed to in Russian reality but helpful to know!

No need to put quotes for internal passports by the way. It's our reality.

Just now, Mike E said:

Then that is not an absolute right.

 

 

How is the border agent going to know you're a Russian citizen if you show up with a passport from another country? 

Also - you're implying not only that everyone on Russian border patrol is aware of laws but that they also follow them.\?

My guy! 😬

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Perhaps

 

* Russian citizens have an absolute right to enter Russia

 

* Russian embassies hand out visas to Russian citizens like American embassies hand out visas to U.S. citizens.  

* Correct, on Russian passport

* I would be shocked if so: Russia/US never had a smooth relationship, I can't imagine Russian Embassy NOT scrutinizing an American applying for a visa, especially one bearing a Russian name since you mentioned your colleague's wife is a Russian native. 

*** I think only those who had experienced crossing the Russian border can relate but I have never in my life been questioned as much as while entering / exiting Russia, and I am a Russian citizen, so the oversight you mentioned above is very hard to believe😅

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

Big mistake. You always have to enter on the passport you are a citizen of unless that country has some specific law saying otherwise.

I was always under this impression too! But my family members who were born in Switzerland yet haven’t renewed their Swiss passports in many years travel back and forth on their US passports alone… I was very surprised that they never had any issues!

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

Ive a colleague whose Russian born wife successfully entered Russia on her U.S. passport, but was blocked from leaving until she could produce a Russian passport. Which she did after at least several weeks.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship

 

 

• Ukrainian law currently does not recognise dual citizenship, while not explicitly banning it. Citizens of Ukraine who hold multiple nationalities are only recognized as Ukrainian on Ukrainian soil, and their other citizenships are ignored. In the past, bills to criminalize the act of holding two citizenships in 2014^[180] or to automatically revoke the Ukrainian one upon obtaining another in 2017^[181] have been submitted, but none had been made law. As of 2021, the bill being worked on aims to allow multiple citizenships as long as they are reported and such citizens do not work in governments. Dual citizenships are planned to be fully established with the European Union and, in the context of the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, explicitly forbidden with Russia.^[182][183]

 

 

How did she enter with US passport? By sea assuming the stay was under 48 hours or did she have a Russian visa in her US passport?

While the former is somewhere plausible, the latter is not.

Clarification: while Russia recognizes Russian citizens holding another citizenship solely as Russian citizens (as many other countries do) - its laws don't forbid one to have dual citizenship. 

Ukraine laws strictly forbid having a dual citizenship:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_nationality_law#Acquisition_and_loss_of_citizenship

"Citizenship may be involuntarily deprived from individuals who acquire foreign citizenship without renouncing their Ukrainian citizenship"

3 hours ago, BigRedCat said:

She was just using the passport as her only ID as we have nothing until she gets her temp green card. We live in Vegas so I guess San Francisco is the closest Embassy although I thought that one closed. It appears they have an option to not travel which is what we would want to do but I dont see a price on that or how that is possible. 

 

Do you mean you used russianpassportservice.org? 

She has to have 2 passports.

If she only has her expired traveler's passport then she will need to obtain proof of citizenship via the Embassy (not sure about procedure):

"Если заявитель не имеет действующего внутреннего российского паспорта, а срок действия загранпаспорта истек, необходимо предварительно сделать запрос о принадлежности заявителя к российскому гражданству."

" В случае если срок действия загранпаспорта заявителя истёк до подачи заявления на оформление нового загранпаспорта и заявитель не может представить оригинал действующего внутреннего российского паспорта нового образца, то в такой ситуации необходимо пройти проверку принадлежности к российскому гражданству через Посольство России в США."

San Francisco consulate is long gone.

Friend had to go to Washington one for passport renewal. Consulate vs embassy situation (one accepts passport renewal application, one doesn't). 

Yes, I've used russianpassportservice twice. Last time was in 2018, and they stopped processing all remote appointments by then (before you could grant power of attorney to their agency, and they went in and submitted everything on your behalf, was not an option as of 2018). 

1 hour ago, BigRedCat said:

I think its around $1k to do but she doesn't have any other ID

Russians have 2 passports:

- Internal 

- Traveler's passport

Assuming the one expired and the one she needs is traveler's one (internal means nothing in the US), hopefully she brought her internal one with her as she'll need it to apply for traveler's passport renewal via the service provider above (I've used them twice by the way, they're really good). 

I don't know if anything has changed now, but few years ago when I applied for renewal via russian passport services, I had to go to the embassy in-person, there was no other option (many years before that the agency did everything for the applicant but they have since shut that down). So depending on where you live, you'll likely looking at $200 + the cost of travel to the nearest embassy. You can certainly skip the $200 and complete the forms and submit paperwork yourself. I used the agency more recently because it was really hard to make an appointment in the embassy, but the agency could get you in whenever you needed.

4 hours ago, turveydrop said:

 Is that a good sign

My sweet summer child

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

 

Would that be something you could also tip off the local police onto as well?

From my understanding, police has already been notified.