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JasonGG

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  1. Just wanted to provide an update . . . USCIS tier 2 called this morning. She confirmed that yes, we need to hold on to my son's 10-year green card even though he has a U.S. passport now. The passport proves that he is a U.S. citizen to the State Dept. and most federal agencies, BUT it does not prove legal entry into the United States. The State Dept. computers have recorded him as a citizen, but the USCIS system has not. She recommended he carry the green card in his passport until he receives the certificate of citizenship. The certificate "may be needed" when applying for financial aid or dealing with social security. Ugh . . . just when we though USCIS was behind us and now we have another step to complete! Thanks everyone for you responses. They were very helpful. - Jason
  2. No, he does not have a naturalization certificate. Just his US passport.
  3. My wife and her son were permanent residents, but when my wife became a U.S. citizen, her son acquired citizenship through her and received his U.S. passport 6 months ago. Last week, his long-overdue 10-year green card arrived. I called USCIS today to ask what we do with the card and the representative only scheduled me for a "non-urgent" return email or call in 30 days. She added that I may have to call back and submit a new 30-day request when the deadline passes. I found a couple very old posts saying that USCIS "should be dead to us" now that my wife and her son are citizens. Since USCIS was very strict about having the cards returned at the citizenship swearing in ceremony, do we need to return this to someone or simply throw it out? Thanks - Jason
  4. Congratulations to you and your wife. Glad you were able to find someone to watch the baby. Good luck on the rest of your journey - Jason
  5. You’ll be fine. Bring it to the interview. The ceremony doesn’t seem to be as important now as it was years ago. - Jason
  6. Congratulations! Best of luck to both of you - Jason
  7. My son got a new blue passport in March and it only shows the province also. - Jason
  8. Yes, you can - and you are encouraged - to accompany your fiance to the appointment in Vietnam. There were lots of couples and families having visa interviews with infants when I attended with my fiance. Most were pretty unhappy and noisy after a few hours in that waiting room. Best of luck to you - Jason
  9. Good luck to you and your fiancé. Just making sure . . . Did you file any official papers with the government? If not, you are fine. You are definitely only engaged. We submitted dam hoi photos when we applied for our K1 and the consulate expected to see them in 2017/18. If it comes up , just say that was the florist’s andfotion and you did not have a wedding ceremony after the engagement ceremony. They can confirm you didn’t submit papers for a marriage if they want. Best of luck to you. It is a long and stressful process. Be patient, visit each other again if you can, and continue to collect as much documentation as possible. Jason
  10. Oh, my wife just said that means engagement AND wedding ceremony on the same day. I don’t think you should resubmit, but prepare to explain it at the interview.
  11. The sign is good. It confirms that it’s your engagement ceremony and not a wedding.
  12. When I was scheduling for my wife and later her son, we checked Friday 12-1:00am U. S. Eastern time (noon to 1pm embassy time). In 2018, the embassy seemed to load new dates every Friday around that time and they were gone in 1-2 hours. Jason
  13. Did your wife get her documents? We have only waited a couple weeks for the return of my wife's naturalization certificate, but came here looking for others' experience getting documents back. Thanks - Jason
  14. My wife was in a similar situation this past January with a naturalization interview and approval 10 days before a planned overseas trip. She told the USCIS interviewer about her travel at the interview. Although the interviewer made a note on the account of our travel, we still got a ceremony confirmation letter 2 days before we left. The letter notes that pre-planned travel IS a valid reason to reschedule. We sent a letter requesting a new ceremony date along with the original scheduling letter and proof of travel (plane ticket confirmations from months earlier). We asked for a date after our return. As instructed we sent this to the field office where the ceremony was scheduled. Within a week - while we were overseas - her online status changed to "ceremony cancelled / to be rescheduled." Soon after we returned from travel, we got a letter confirming her rescheduled ceremony. No problems at all. I read that some suggested traveling on a naturalization certificate and green card. Your green card is no longer valid as soon as you take your oath. At the ceremony, they will require you to surrender it. (Two people at my wife's ceremony were denied the oath and rescheduled because they did not bring their green cards with them to surrender.) The USCIS agent specifically told my wife that the naturalization certificate would not be acceptable for travel. You must have a US passport after taking the citizenship oath. Just an FYI - my wife applied for her US passport in March. You will need to send your original naturalization certificate with the application. Approaching week 13 and still waiting for the passport and return of her documents. Jason
  15. Did they give any indication what - if any - issues they have with your case? Hope it will be resolved quickly. - Jason
  16. They probably didn't keep her passport because it doesn't have enough time on it for her to leave the country. I am assuming they are going through their approval process, but will contact her to supply a new passport. You don't want them to stick her visa into a passport she can't use!
  17. From experience . . . she will need to have a new passport to leave Vietnam if it is expiring in September. My son had 5 months and 3 weeks left on his Vietnamese passport when we tried leaving Vietnam in February. He was not permitted to leave even though we showed his green card. They were enforcing the 6-month requirement strictly. No negotiating. It took 3 weeks to get his new ID (required because he's 16) and then passport expedited . . . and a lot of "fees!" Without the fees, it would have been 2+ months. Airport officials in Hanoi were not interested in negotiating the rule. There were 2 options for the new passport. If you are in a hurry, get the one without the chip since those take longer. He did not get his old passport back and the new number is different from the old one. Luckily he was not traveling on green card stamps in his passport like my wife and daughter. Jason
  18. A SSN is fairly easy to get. You only need to prove identity/age and proof of lawful presence. The SSN is pretty easy to get, just follow the instruction for form SS-5. A recent immigrant can apply with their valid foreign passport and I-94 or other document showing lawful immigration to the U.S. More recently, my wife updated her S.S. card for her legal name change after citizenship. We visited the SSA office on Thursday and had the new card in hand the following Monday. It helps that we are close to Baltimore and SSA headquarters. - Jason
  19. Your wife is correct. I checked my wife's and she chose 1.d. and left #1 and #2 blank in Part 3. Continue with 3 and applicable questions afterwards. - Jason
  20. Sorry, I think you should probably search all the forums for what others have done when they had a joint sponsor. I would assume that you need the same documentation for each of you and it is not country-specific, but I don't want to give you incorrect information. - Jason
  21. As you probably know, you'll need to bring all the same documents for your sponsor, plus documentation for your investments, bank accounts, etc. Make sure the CO understands you want to qualify with your assets and the sponsor at the interview. Search the forums, as I have seen discussions about people using assets to qualify. People have done it successfully, I just haven't seen any posts specific to Vietnam. Best of luck to you and your fiance - Jason
  22. Bring current pay stubs to show you are currently working. The instructions also recommend letters from your employer and bank. You shouldn’t need the 2022 transcript, but have it ready when you file to adjust status. Jason
  23. My wife was scheduled for her citizenship interview before her green card was approved. Her I751 status remained "transferred to another office to speed processing" from December 2021 to 3 weeks after her citizenship was approved in January 2023. Her I751 online status and approval letter she received soon after says she will not get a new green card because she already passed the citizenship interview. Makes me want to ask for a $680 refund! My wife's son applied for his 10 year green card separately because he arrived in the U.S. after his mom. He just got his 4-year extension letter last week. He filed his I-751 in May 2021 and it was never transferred to speed processing. He will probably have his U.S. passport (through his mother's naturalization) this summer - long before he would have ever gotten the green card through Potomac. 😬
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