CitizenshipBound

Well, we had the meeting today and it went pretty well, though I have to say it was a bit unexpected.
 
The first thing the lawyer did was a call an automated phone number to check if deportation proceedings were underway. She entered my wife's A number and the prompt responded that no case was found, which she explained meant that no proceedings had begun. After listening to what happened, she actually recommended filing our N-400 shortly after the I-751 (an extra $500).
 
Her reasoning was that normally when I-751 is filed, it is sent to the California processing center and right now the turnaround time for them is around 10 months. N-400s are sent to the Chicago processing center and it takes normally around 4 months for them to be processed. So if we did it lineally, it could take up to 14 months to get her citizenship. However, If we first file the I-751, and then include the receipt with N-400, when they inevitably get to the N-400 first four months from now, they will request the I-751 file from California since they need it processed it before they can process the N-400. This means the same person in Chicago will process both the I-751 and N-400 and my wife could actually have her citizenship within 8 months.
 
On the topic of of the I-751 specifically though, she was actually pretty dismissive of it and said we had nothing to worry about and that it would be accepted. As far as what the "good cause" is, I'm not entirely sure what she will be going with and will have to wait and see what the copy of the filing says. We scrambled the whole weekend to put the evidence together and in the end, it was not nearly as extensive as what I've other seen other people send here, but she said it was fine, so I guess we'll see how it goes.

Thank you for all the replies. Since everyone recommended it, we contacted an immigration lawyer who came highly recommended and has experience with this situation and made an appointment for Monday to have the I-751 prepared. They said if deportation proceedings haven't started the fee is $1,500 however if they have, it will be higher. This is a high price to pay for this huge oversight on our part but it is something I will gladly give to keep my wife in the country.
 
Just in case anyone else finds themselves in this situation, I will keep the thread updated with our progress.
 
Thanks again.

Thank you for all the replies. Since everyone recommended it, we contacted an immigration lawyer who came highly recommended and has experience with this situation and made an appointment for Monday to have the I-751 prepared. They said if deportation proceedings haven't started the fee is $1,500 however if they have, it will be higher. This is a high price to pay for this huge oversight on our part but it is something I will gladly give to keep my wife in the country.
 
Just in case anyone else finds themselves in this situation, I will keep the thread updated with our progress.
 
Thanks again.

Thank you for all the replies. Since everyone recommended it, we contacted an immigration lawyer who came highly recommended and has experience with this situation and made an appointment for Monday to have the I-751 prepared. They said if deportation proceedings haven't started the fee is $1,500 however if they have, it will be higher. This is a high price to pay for this huge oversight on our part but it is something I will gladly give to keep my wife in the country.
 
Just in case anyone else finds themselves in this situation, I will keep the thread updated with our progress.
 
Thanks again.

Thank you for all the replies. Since everyone recommended it, we contacted an immigration lawyer who came highly recommended and has experience with this situation and made an appointment for Monday to have the I-751 prepared. They said if deportation proceedings haven't started the fee is $1,500 however if they have, it will be higher. This is a high price to pay for this huge oversight on our part but it is something I will gladly give to keep my wife in the country.
 
Just in case anyone else finds themselves in this situation, I will keep the thread updated with our progress.
 
Thanks again.