daboy

Hey mate,

I recently went through the exact same situation - and got approved without an interview; so I thought I had to chime in.

  I filed with a divorce waiver right out of the gate even though I hadn’t even filed for divorce at that pint.  My ex was being difficult, and avoiding court service and I needed the extension letter.

I front loaded the application with extensive documented evidence and wrote a cover letter that referenced each piece I provided.  I also provided a letter explaining my situation, and that I was looking to file for divorce asap.
Fortunately my divorce didn’t take too long, so I took initiative and sent the divorce decree preemptively in the mail.  About a year later I got approved without interview.

From what I’ve read though, I think the better option would be to file married jointly in case an RFE comes in before the divorce is finalized, and then once the divorce is settled - switch to a waiver.

let me know if I can help with anything else

On 7/11/2023 at 12:37 PM, cocoVA said:

 

If you applied in 2021 with a divorce waiver, and your divorce was still pending. I thought USCIS wants the divorce decree within 85-90 days window? They waited for your divorce decree til now? That was nice.

There is no time limit to present the divorce decree from my understanding.  I think the only time limit is when you’ve been issued an RFE and have to produce the decree. 
In my case, the long processing actually streamlined the process to where my divorce was fortunately faster than any potential RFE.

On 7/11/2023 at 10:49 AM, cocoVA said:

I have gotten an update only on my N400 today which I filed in 05/2023.

 

I did send in an expedite request for my I751 on 06/12 but then withdrew my N400 on 06/14. My update from USCIS for N400 is as following:

 

July 11, 2023

Interview Was Scheduled

On July 11, 2023, we scheduled an interview for your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, Receipt Number. We will mail you an interview notice. Please follow any instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

 

 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??? DIDN'T THEY SEE THAT I WITHDREW MY N400??? WHAT DO I DO??? STILL GO TO THE INTERVIEW??? THEY WILL 100% DENY MY CASE.

From reading what other users have posted here, it’s not usually an issue if you have a pending I-751 with an N-400 as long as you’re eligible with residency requirements.

Others have noted that they have sent a letter explaining that they have an active I-751 case, and would like to request a combo interview for both.  I have read cases where it has even speed up the I-751 significantly.

If you’ve already applied, and paid the fee - I think it would be a total waste to withdraw the application at this point.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share an update on my case and some insight.

I applied with a divorce waiver in Aug 2021 (with a pending divorce).  Once my divorce was finalized (July 20233) I tried to be pro-active and send in the official decree with the expectation of further scrutiny.  Well, I’ve just received a notification that my case has been approved today without an interview!  I know this isn’t the end of my journey with N-400 soon, but I hope it should be a little more streamlined moving forward.

I also wanted to share and somewhat reflect on this ordeal.

This process definitely took a toll on my mental health, to the point where it felt like it was deciding factor that pushed me over the edge.  Pairing this in my case with my divorce turned out to be a nightmare.  The feelings and frustration that you feel on this journey are real, and valid.

What we go through on this immigration journey is undeniably tough, stressful, and we’re expected to brunt through it and deal with it.  Although I am not active on here, I often browse through to relate to other’s situations and to vent at some of these issues, often stumbling across you @Crazy Cat with your seemingly endless knowledge about all matters!

But there IS and end, there is light at the end of the tunnel AND it’s worth it

I hope everyone’s packets get pushed through ASAP!!  Stay strong 💪🏼 

@Villanelle Thank you for the insight!!

No 2020 joint taxes as we were separated at the point of filing, so they were filed married filing separately.  Do you think this will be a problem?  

I'll check that link out now!

Thank you :)

@Wuozopo Thank you for your detailed response!

I'm the immigrant.  So that was my next question, we haven't even begin filing for divorce yet and my 2 year GC expires in 2 months.  Should I file with a waiver with an attachment that a divorce is pending?

I know the evidence is a little wonky lol - I'm gonna try and sort it out somewhat.  I have a lot of joint bills and leases etc but some of the main bills like cable and electric were only in one name as they didn't allow joint account holders.  Would you still include these?

And then finally you mentioned about not mentioning the 401ks.  Should I not even put a comment in the cover later stating the reasons for not having one set up?

Thank you!!!

@mindthegapThank you for your input :) Reading over some of the other ***removed*** sights there's a lot of conflicting info out there.

As far as enough evidence, would you see this being a problem?

@Boiler Thank you for the input, after reading some of the other guides/law forums out there it seemed as if the denial rate was really high and problematic. 

Good to see a fellow welshman around too :) 

@Allaboutwaiting 

Thank you!

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately after 8 years amazing years together with my wife (3 years married) it looks like that we're calling it quits and getting a divorce.  It's pretty sudden and unexpected so not only is it pretty devastating to handle by itself, but now I'm looking over the ramifications for immigration purposes and would really love some insight.

My main question here is wether or not a lawyer is needed for a divorce waiver?  Specifically with the evidence I have.

Whilst we were married, my partner was in full time school for almost the duration of the marriage, so she didn't have a full time job - which left me paying most of the bills.  We also omitted on Health insurance + 401ks as my employer doesn't offer any perks and we were both young and healthy enough to go without them for now.

So my main concern is that maybe an officer would pick up on this and be suspicious?  Especially with the retirement funds.

Again, we were together for 8 years and were college sweethearts so I'd like to think that it was pretty obvious that the marriage was entered in good faith, you just never know with USCIS!

I made a little list and so far I have the following:

Financials

• 2019+2018 Tax returns

• w2s

• Joint Amex Credit Cards

• Joint Auto loan paid off

• Joint Mortgage approval and bid

• Joint life insurance quote

• Cancelled check

• Rent payments from my account

• Venmo transactions

• Buying her a laptop for Christmas 

• DRIVERS LICENCE's at same address

• Diploma from Hair school stating same address 

• Car titles

• Amazon packages

• Travel tickets

Bills

• Electric bills in her name

• T-mobile bill in her name

• Xfinity in my name

• Sam’s club joint

• Joint auto insurance

• Joint Dental

• Living will

• Lease agreement plus extensions

• Other car payments and documents from both of us

• Accident with Rav4 detailing both of us in e-mail notices

• Joint cat bills for vet care

Evidence of living together 

• Marriage therapy receipts over the last few years

• Trips together:  Vietnam, UK, Amsterdam, Florida, New Jersey

• Itinerary and car insurance rental for both of us

• Visas pictures receipts for Vietnam 

• Social Media Snapshots

• Instagram Facebook

• Siblings social Media

• Mothers social media

• Letters from family weddings with both names

• Tickets for both of us

• Pictures

• New years

Possibility of around 5 good affidavits 

How does it look?  Would you get a lawyer?

Thank you!!! :)

The AOS interview?  I was in the same boat up until recently.

It unfortunately took over a year for myself to finally receive my card (which I’m pretty sure was due to an unorganised IO).

They do say they try to get it done within 120 days but it’s ultimately at their discretion which also seems to vary on location.

 One thing I do regret is not acting sooner, I only started digging into it after month 9.   So I’d most certainly start Inquiring/making some calls to Tier 2s before that (if you don’t get it before then).

best of luck!

Hey guys,

I'll try and keep this short as I can 😅:

I'm finding myself at an infuriating crossroad in my AOS application and would greatly appreciate any help/suggestions.

Myself and my wife have been together for almost 6 years now and we finally tied the knot last year in March in the US on a K1 visa.  We applied for AOS on March 11 2018, went through biometrics and had our interview scheduled in Baltimore on November the 9th.  We had an abundance of evidence with a strong timeline of our relationship in our packet.

To be blunt, the young interviewer seemed rather unprofessional from the get go.  Upon starting the interview, the officer stated that he hadn't had time to look over our case as he had just come off his lunch break....?  So we explained our journey to him with him asking the odd question.  He asked a few more basic questions such as my wife's birthday, vise versa (which we were expecting) and then began looking at the photos we submitted.  At one point he literally said that it was okay that my wife had daddy issues because her father wasn't present at our wedding...?  How do you even respond to that lol.

But anyway at the end of the interview he noted that a decision couldn't be made without speaking to his supervisor and that we should hear something back within 120 days... that was 10 months ago with absolutely no further correspondence at all.

I am unable to attain the financial license I require without a green card, so I'm working a completely irrelevant sales job as I was anticipating this to be a rather quick journey (Foolishly).  So this is pretty frustrating.

I have a strong feeling that after the interview this officer has just placed the paperwork in a completely unorganized cabinet never to see light again and went straight back to watching Dragon BallZ on his computer.

As of yet I've tried everything that I can think of:

I've tried multiple times to make an info pass appointment but everybody I speak to, including the higher level officers tell me that InfoPass appointments are solely for emergencies now.

I've made multiple service requests that keep coming back with the case is within processing times (Which is 31 months!)

I've contacted the Obundsman and have had the exact same response as the service requests

I'm also in the process of trying to get congressional help, but they seem as inefficient as USCIS unfortunately.

Has anybody had a similar experience to this?/If so how did you overcome it?

Many thanks guys!!

1 hour ago, Nouchigang said:

Hello,

 

No this is not an odd ball call. Baltimore is just weird in the way they approve cases. In my personal case they approved my GC  almost 13 months after our interview. I have seen on VJ: 4 months, 8 months, it seems just so random.

Were you able to schedule an Infopass 120 days after theinterview to inquire on the status of your application ?

If not call the 1800 and see if they will let you schedule an Infopass . 

If you already went and couldnt get more details,  I will knock on every door possible : Local Congressman, Local Senator, Ombudsman. All of the above.

And also do a service request online. 

After that, just hope and pray until they contact you or approve your case because there is nothing else you can do about it.

Do you have Informed Delivery from USPS? If not Google it and sign up for it itsfree,  it helps you by seeing what to expect in your mailbox and also open a USCIS online acct with email and text notifications.

 

Good luck

I called as soon as the 120 days were up, and have tried to be as proactive as possible on all ends.

All of the agents I speak to say that as it’s not an emergency and the case is within the processing time of 36 months I just have to wait it out and cannot do an indopass.

Sometimes they submit an inquiry, but I just get a letter in the mail stating that it’s within normal processing.

When I contacted the obundsman - I has the same response too.

There just seems to be no accountability on their end.  We’ve done so much waiting so far with the K1, and it seems that even people who just adjusted from a unauthorised stay get more priority.

thank you for your response... I guess I’ll just keep trying 🤷🏽‍♂️

Hey Guys, 

Sorry for jumping in on this thread.  But have you had any luck with your cases being approved?  

My case has been held for review since my interview in November 18 and I've yet to receive a decision or any sort of response back!

Just wondering if it is just an odd ball call of mine

Do you think the letter to the Director helped?  I'm also considering this -  I've been waiting almost a year since interview with no updates at all from Baltimore either 😕