Y3+E

First, our situation was different than yours in that we pursued the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) process leading to green card issuance, instead of the K-1 Visa process.   Second, we did have a child overseas while our immigration process progressed.  Having said this, I will tell you that having a child was the SINGLE MOST VALUABLE life event that facilitated not only initial temporary Visa/Green Card issuance, but also the subsequent Removal of Conditions from the temporary Green Card, and later U.S. Citizenship approval.  For example, In preparation for our interview at the U.S. Embassy, we studied the countless possible questions and the appropriate responses based on our relationship.  However, when we went for our interview, we were asked only three questions.  'Is that your daughter, [NAME]?"  This was in regard to our daughter born in the Dominican Republic.  My wife had two children by a previous marriage (my two step-children).  The embassy interviewer also asked each step-child their names.   This was the total extent of our embassy interview!  Later during subsequent immigration steps leading to U.S. Citizenship approval, we had to provide a lot of evidence to prove a bonafide marriage.  Receipts and documents related to our children carried the most weight.  In fact, we did not submit much of the other evidence as recommended at this site (because we found this site after we submitted our various packages). 

On 11/20/2019 at 11:05 AM, TopGear77 said:

did you end up getting the passports? I think i will send the request for my daughter's passport next year

Yes, we did receive a U.S. Passport and U.S. Passport Card for both of our daughters - applying via a local U.S. Post Office.  

Our 17 year old daughter's passport was approved and returned to us in less than three weeks.  

However,  our 15 year old daughter's passport application was tougher due to her being under 16 years of age which requires extra documentation.  The U.S. Passport office corresponded with us requesting additional information to include:  

1) A signed DS-3050, Statement of Consent, signed by the biological father.   (Had the Post Office clerk advised us to submit my (step father) legal guardianship documents, this may not have been necessary.)

2) Evidence that shows that the daughter was "in the sole or joint legal custody of your U.S. citizen parent pursuant to lawful admission for permanent residence."

3) “Early public records issued at or near the time of your birth which show your name and the names of your parent(s) such as hospital, religious, medical or insurance records.  The birth document you submitted was recorded more than one year after the birth occurred.”  

We did provide the passport office with the additional requested information and received a U.S. Passport three weeks after submission.  In hindsight, we should have waited a few months until our second daughter reached 16 years of age and then submitted the passport application.  This would have saved us the trouble of obtaining copies of documents (and translations) from the Dominican Republic (which had been originally prepared and submitted to USCIS for our I-130 application).   All of the issues raised by the passport office regarding the younger daughter also applied to the older daughter, but we did not have to submit the extra documents for the older daughter.  The passport office promptly returned all of our supporting original documents which we submitted.  The Passport office kept the Xerox copies that we also provided with the originals.  

Wishing you a speedy non-eventful application process!!  

4 hours ago, netz75 said:

just got the kids passports delivered at the same time, you don't need to apply one kid at a time you just need to copy the Naturalization certificate of mother, their green card or foreign passport that ha I-551 for both of the kids and need to  notarized each copies and send with the application, you don't need to send the original anymore just the certified true copy. its work.

Good to know for the future passport application submissions for our children!  Thank you!

7 hours ago, netz75 said:

it was also happen to me I applied 3 passport in the post office for me and for my 2 kids and its on 1 package assisted by post office personnel who did the application process then after 2 weeks I received a letter for my two kids requesting for my original citizenship certificate and their green card or pass port that had I-551. they are serious my Citizenship certificate is already there, then after 3days I received an email that my passport is approved and its already on the way but my evidence will takes 2 weeks to arrived so I wait for my certificate to arrived and make a copies for two kids and their passport went to a notary public to certified true copy on it for both of them and send it to NPIC, because I don't want to send my original certificate and their passport or green card back to them, they already not send my original birth certificate back, until now their passport are still on process but I did not receive any letter again that said they need additional requirements.

The  Post Office agents, in accordance with the Passport application instructions online, will not accept a copy of the mother's Naturalization Certificate with the daughters' applications.  We had to submit the original naturalization certificate with the mother's passport application.  When the mother's passport was delivered (in five week) and certificate returned, we again included the original certificate along with the #1 Daughter's passport application; her passport was delivered in three weeks (paying only the normal processing fee).  Today, we applied for #2 Daughter's passport, and we again included the mother's original naturalization certificate.  The Naturalization Certificate has been carefully cared for during the passport processing; it has now been twice returned to us without any damage, folding, or wrinkles.  

We were advised that if we sent all three passport applications together, they would still be separated and handled independently - causing long delays in the processing due to each application requiring the mother's original naturalization certificate.

17 hours ago, monica7777 said:

I have to agree with you. Even though it is cheaper to just proceed with the passport, I also think it is very important for the children to have their own Certificate of Naturalization. I am going through the same process and I also decided that as soon as I obtain my Citizenship I will apply for my son's N-600. The immigration laws in this country seem to be more restrictive every year and who knows how different they will be by the time they are adults.

 

I also attended a free-session on how to obtain your U.S. Citizenship at my local library and when we were discussing my son's situation, he mentioned both routes. Just applying for the passport would be enough. However, he also made mention that he had heard that sometimes when they apply to Colleges and never obtained the N-600, it created confusion, because under the immigration system, they were still listed as permanent residents and not U.S. citizens. If they never applied for the N-600, they never surrendered their green card.

 

I feel that when it comes to immigration it is best to proceed on the safe side. I know it can be expensive, but if something goes wrong later on, you will spend thousands of dollars on an immigration lawyer trying to solve the situation. 

 

Just my 2 cents for the day  

It took us five weeks to get the mother's U.S. passport, applying though a Post Office.  We just applied for #1 Daughter's passport.  We had to wait until her mother's passport had been issued and her original Naturalization Certificate returned.  Then we submitted the mother's original naturalization certificate with the daughter's passport application.  (This is so tedious.  We will wait until the certificate is returned a second time, then apply for #2 Daughter's passport.  The powers to be will not allow us to batch process three passport applications; the USCIS site says each passport application may go to different offices).  And yes, we had to submit the Green Cards with the passport applications.  So, no Green Card as secondary evidence to prove citizenship via naturalization of the mother in the event the daughters' passports are lost or not renewed for some reason long after I am dead (but, free of all the USCIS requirements :-).  It was a bit difficult to surrender the 10-year Green Cards.  It took us 409 days to get them via the I-751 process.  We had them for less than a year.  But, seeing a U.S. Passport in hand is such a great feeling after working our way through the I-130, NVC, Embassy Interview, I-751, and N-400 processes.  Best wishes to all here!!

We received the U.S. Passport, U.S. Passport Card, and Naturalization certificate on the same day in three separate envelopes - exactly five weeks from submission of passport application at post office in Virginia.

On 6/12/2019 at 3:11 AM, Mrsrwhite said:

How was this resolved? my minor child will have derived citizenship through me but does not have a certificate.  can she still travel on her green card?

 

Yes, your daughter can still "return to the U.S." with a valid Green Card and foreign passport; she still needs her foreign passport to travel to other countries.  Know that if and when you apply for her U.S. passport, you will have to submit her Green Card with her U.S. Passport application.  So, she would not be able to travel during the 6-8 week (normal processing time) U.S. Passport application process.  (We applied for one of my wife's daughters passport yesterday, and the Post Office agent took her Green Card to submit with the DS-11 application.)

Unfortunately, based on her circumstances that you describe, the answer is NO.  She does not meet the N-600 application condition of residing in the U.S. with you.  You say that your wife's child will be returning to the U.S. after middle school.  At that time, you will have plenty of time to use the N-600 application process before your step daughter turns 19.  

Extract of N-600 Application Instructions:

If you are claiming U.S. citizenship after birth, but before you reached 18 years of age, the law in effect when the last

qualifying condition was met is the law that applies to you. Generally, the conditions are listed below.

These conditions must be met before you turn 18 years of age:

1. Your parent must be a U.S. citizen;

2. You must be the biological child of that U.S. citizen parent;

3. You must be lawfully admitted to the United States for lawful permanent residence; and

4. You must be living in the United States in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent.

On 8/9/2019 at 11:52 AM, beam30 said:

Used to be 160-175 days for interview after filing. Now, people who should have had their interview,  haven't even got interview notice.

 

VJ username	Date Filed	NOA Date	Biometirics Appt	Int Notice Date	Interview Date	Oath Date	Days for Interview Notice or elapsed days since filing	Days for Interview or elapsed days since filing	Days for Oath
Tar999	2019-01-02	2019-01-02	2019-01-23		2019-06-11		218	160
Y3+E	2019-01-06	2019-01-11	2019-01-28	2019-05-09	2019-06-15	2019-07-09	123	160	184
mz_066	2019-01-13	2019-01-18	2019-02-08	2019-05-22	2019-06-26		129	164
varesident123	2019-01-21		2019-02-23	2019-06-08	2019-07-09	2019-07-18	138	169	178
Samlam04	2019-01-22	2019-01-29	2019-03-20	2019-06-20	2019-07-15		149	174
Neela Jitu	2019-01-27	2019-01-27	2019-02-20		07-12-2019	08-21-2019	193	166
fascinating123	2019-02-13	2019-02-13	2019-02-28	2019-06-24	2019-07-25		131	162
ISLANDBOY	2019-02-15	2019-03-01	2019-03-11				174	174
Jamie and Amparo	2019-02-25	2019-02-25	2019-03-20				164	164
birdword42	2019-02-27	2019-03-01	2019-03-22				162	162
NJL	2019-03-04	2019-03-09	2019-03-29				157	157
Teamsami	2019-03-19	2019-03-19	2019-03-27				142	142
Farashi25	2019-03-25	2019-03-30	2019-04-16				136	136
InsanelyOne	2019-04-08	2019-04-13	2019-05-02				122	122
Song41	2019-04-16	2019-04-20	2019-04-29				114	114
Mila	2019-04-25	2019-04-27	2019-05-13				105	105
Beam30	2019-05-03	2019-05-03	2019-05-07				97	97

We never saw this spreadsheet before; if we did, we would certainly would have entered our dates.  Very well done to whomever painstakingly and accurately mined this information from our posts!   Hope you all get interview dates soon.

We had to cut our summer vacation short in the Dominican Republic because our oath ceremony was unexpectedly scheduled for early July -  just three weeks after our interview.  

We didn't think that our oath ceremony would held until August or September at the earliest.  

Fortunately, we paid $106 extra for the Allianz Global Assistance flight insurance offered when purchasing four American Airline tickets.

So, we had to purchase new flight tickets to return home two weeks earlier than planned for the oath ceremony.

We submitted a claim to Allianz to recoup the cost of our original return flight family tickets.  When submitting this claim, we included a copy of the N-445 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony from DHS.  

Allianz recognized the N-445 as a "Legal Proceeding" and refunded our total airline $1400 ticket purchase cost today.

So, we recommend the Allianz flight insurance if you need to travel while waiting for your Oath Ceremony notification.  

You will need to submit a copy of your N-445 and "paid receipts" for both original and revised flight ticket costs.  Everything is done online, scanning and posting these travel docs on Allianz web site.  Easy to follow instructions provided at web site.

Wishing each of your a speedy interview and oath ceremony.  Thank you for helping us make it through this long and very often frustrating journey.  

We had our Oath Ceremony yesterday in Alexandria, VA capping a long journey -- six month I-130 Alien Petition process, followed by another six month process with the NVC in Vermont, then a 409 day I-751 approval process.  The N-400 process was relatively quick; applied in January, had interview on 15 June, followed by oath on 9 July.

The N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony notice had us reporting at 8:30 a.m.  We arrived at 7:45 and there were already hundreds in line ahead of us.  300 people were sworn in.  We were told another 300 would have another oath ceremony in the afternoon.  

8:30 - 10:00 am for registration.  10:00 - 10:45 am for the actual oath ceremony.  11:00 to deal with any corrections to the Certificates of Naturalization.  The local county election officials were on hand to register new citizens to vote.  Guidance given on a number of subjects, e.g., notifying the Social Security Administration, passport applications, etc.  

Wishing everyone a speedy interview and oath ceremony.

8 hours ago, estrella said:

I have my oath in 6 days!!! 4th of july!

Wow, the 4th of July will be an extra special holiday for your family in the years ahead.  Congrats.

On 6/19/2019 at 1:29 PM, Hesky said:

Fairfax, VA here (Washington field office). The timeline below is the same for myself and my wife:

 

Application submitted online: January 3, 2019

Biometrics appointment letter: January 4

Biometrics appointment: January 23

Interview scheduled: May 9

Attended Interview: June 13

Application approved: June 13

 

We are now just waiting for them to schedule our oath of allegiance ceremony. The USCIS officer told my wife that since we are asking for a name change it'll probably take a few weeks longer than normal. Our ceremony will likely be at the Alexandria office, which has judicial ceremonies the third Thursday of every month. According to the system, our estimated completion time is September 2019, so based on what the officer said, I expect our ceremony to take place in October or November. We'll see!

We also had our interview at the Fairfax office on June 15th.  We received our N-445 (Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony).  Our oath ceremony will be on Tuesday, July 9th at the Bryant Alternative High School, Alexandria.

We would appreciate any advice on Postponing our Oath Ceremony, please.

Wife breezed through her interview on 15 June, at the Fairfax, VA Washington Field office.  

Today, we received the N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony (Alexandria, VA).  We are really shocked that the oath ceremony is set for 9 July, just a few weeks following the interview. The only issue is that my wife and children are on vacation in the Dominican Republic.  

What do you think?  Cut her vacation short and fly back to take the oath as scheduled?  

Or, send in an explanation that she is on vacation, requesting a ceremony oath on later date?

I'm wondering if the immigration officer receiving our explanation may erroneously think that the oath is not important to us.  Or, if we may not get a new oath ceremony appointment for months.  

2 hours ago, mz_066 said:

How was your interview going?

I just finished mine today and they gave me a paper said the decision can't be made. And told me that I will receive a letter by mail.

SORRY to hear that you didn't get a decision.  Our interview went very fast, 22 min, in and out with approval.

5 hours ago, CDN(ON)-USA(VT) said:

Good morning,

 

Wanted to let you know that you do not have to get a certificate of citizenship for both of you daughters and spend over a thousand dollars. The following site is helpful: https://www.lawhelpmn.org/self-help-library/fact-sheet/naturalized-us-citizens-proving-your-childs-citizenship. Hope this helps you out. 

Thank you for your help here 🙂   Yes, we know that this is an optional step, i.e., the N-600 Certificate of Citizenship for our two teens.  We have really researched this, and, would rather not spend $1170 for each application.  But (as I stated in another forum here), we considered that the current administration is doing everything that it can do to reduce legal immigration.  Recently, a number of U.S. Citizens (immigrants) had their U.S. Passports revoked or not renewed.  Should our daughters lose their U.S. passports decades from now and run into obstacles getting a replacement passport, they would have to provide the following original documents to prove U.S. Citizenship via mother's naturalization.

• Your foreign birth certificate listing your parent(s)
• Your parent(s)’ naturalization certificate
• Evidence of your permanent residence status. Examples include:
  • Permanent Resident Card/Green Card
  • Foreign passport with the original I-551 visa entry stamp
• Your parents' marriage certificate (if your parents were married when you legally entered the U.S. and before your 18th birthday) 
• Documentation of legal custody (if your parents were not married when you legally entered the U.S.)
• Evidence of your legitimation (if your parents were not married at the time of your birth). Examples include:
  • Your parents' marriage certificate dated after your birth
  • Certified court order of legitimation 

When I saw the above list, I cringed.  Having to go through this is like reliving our long I-130 and I-751 frustrating journeys.  I don't want our daughters to have to face this possibility.  And, as much as I love them, I don't think that they are responsible enough to save all of these original documents for the rest of their lives as a back-up to losing a passport. 😉 

My wife just passed her N-400 interview today; she has two daughters under 18.  The day that she takes her oath, we will apply for U.S Passports for the two daughters.  And, after much serious thought, we have decided to also submit two N-600 applications for Certificate of Citizenship.  (I say serious thought because each N-600 will cost us $1,170.)  

The national news is so terrible with so many administration initiatives to curb immigration - both illegal and legal.  U.S. Citizens are having their U.S. Passports revoked or not renewed!!

I am concerned that decades from now, if our daughters lose their passport, they will have no evidence of U.S. Citizenship through naturalization of their mother.  

Then our daughter would have to assemble a packet of "Secondary Evidence" to prove U.S. Citizenship through Naturalization of a Parent.  They would be required to submit:  

• Your foreign birth certificate listing your parent(s)
• Your parent(s)’ naturalization certificate
• Evidence of your permanent residence status. Examples include:
  • Permanent Resident Card/Green Card
  • Foreign passport with the original I-551 visa entry stamp
• Your parents' marriage certificate (if your parents were married when you legally entered the U.S. and before your 18th birthday) 
• Documentation of legal custody (if your parents were not married when you legally entered the U.S.)
• Evidence of your legitimation (if your parents were not married at the time of your birth). Examples include:
  • Your parents' marriage certificate dated after your birth
  • Certified court order of legitimation 

There is no way that our teen daughters will faithfully maintain all of the above ORIGINAL documents for the rest of their lives.  Yes, they can apply for a renewed passport, but what if they run into bureaucratic obstacles?  It's simpler to get them a Certificate of Citizenship now, albeit irrationally expensive!

Had our interview in the Washington Field Office (Fairfax, VA) this morning.  The appointment was scheduled for 10 a.m.  The interviewer called my wife in at 9:58 a.m.  She walked back out smiling at 10:20 a.m. -- she was recommended for approval.  We received a USCIS email before we walked out the Field Office saying she had been recommended for approval.  One minute later, we received a second email saying she had been placed in line for the oath ceremony.  Fast approval process.  

There must have been 100+ chairs in the waiting room.  There were only two other people waiting with us.  I guess Saturdays are slow days for interviews which was great for us!

Interviewer was very polite and patient!!!  He asked every legal type question on the N-400 form, e.g., Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?, etc.  Asked a question about our taxes.  She breezed through six civics questions, writing one sentence in English, and reading one sentence in English.  

Going to the Dominican Republic for a month.  Interviewer kindly said he would schedule the oath ceremony on a date after we return.  

Submitted N-400 in early January, so it took us five months from application to interview.  Much faster than the 409 days that it took to get 10-year Green Cards (I-751).  

Just a couple more steps now - the Oath Ceremony, then two N-600 Applications for Certificate for Citizenship for our two daughters. They automatically get U.S. Citizenship from their mother because they are under 18, but no documents to show this; so we have to file the N-600.  Can you believe this?  Each N-600 Application fee is $1,170.

42 minutes ago, LizB0322 said:

Thank you Morgan! I hope so 🤞🏼

Yes, I agree with Morgan.  The MyUSCIS site updated a day following our initial notification.  And our interview letter was posted to MyUSCIS in three days from notification.  

On 5/30/2019 at 9:40 PM, SONG41 said:

My In-Laws just applied for N400 Citizenship on April 15, 2019 based on 5 years residency.

They did walk in finger prints at end of April at Fairfax Office.

It seems probably 6-7 months before they get an interview?

I am pleased to find this thread.

We applied (N400) on January, 6, 2019.  Our interview at the Prosperity Avenue office in Fairfax is on 15 June; so, a five month wait for us.  Hope you get a speedy interview!  Good Luck!

18 hours ago, mz_066 said:

Congratulations, <ay I ask if you have I-751 pending or not? 

Hi, no pending i-751; our I-751 was approved on 9/11/2018.

We were scheduled for an interview at the Fairfax, Virginia office.  Seems to be only a five week wait time from notification of interview.

Good Luck!!

On 5/8/2019 at 9:13 AM, Y&i2015 said:

Hello Guys ! My interview has been scheduled too ! filer from milwaukee. I just found a job in virginia so I moved 2 weeks ago and didn't even think about changing my address because everything happened so fast so this was my last concern. but now my interview is scheduled in the middle of the week, I am now in virginia... do you think we can transfer an interview in another state? I also don't want my schedule to be postponed to later later since washington DC is so backed up (I am just assuming). 

You should follow the instructions on your Interview Letter, i.e., "... If for any reason you cannot keep this appointment, return this letter immediately to the USCIS office address listed above with your explanation and a request for a new appointment, otherwise, NO FURTHER ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON YOUR APPLICATION."  (We live in Northern Virginia and our interview was scheduled 5 weeks from the date of the interview letter, so the backlog isn't that great.  Personally, I would go to the interview wherever it was originally scheduled.)

We received a text message, then an email today from USCIS-CaseStatus@uscis.dhs.gov.

Our interview in Virginia has been scheduled.

Now, must wait for the the interview notice with date/time, etc. to arrive by mail.  🙂

On 3/28/2019 at 6:04 PM, jhon30 said:

Hi guys 

had bad interview today , officer was so hard on me ,too many question about everything  since day one I came to the us , some question i forget like the address that I lived in 5 years ago , my wife first marriage ( my wife was married before and got divorced ), I passed the English test but he said no decision can't be made as of today I have to wait for letter ,its could be approval or more evidence , nightmare  , I can't believe it ,I applied thought marriage 3 years rule ,now I have to sit and wait 

good luck everyone ,

 

Sorry to hear about your interview.  But, thank you for sharing your experience.  We will carefully review our application information before we go to the interview. 

7 hours ago, brien0512 said:

I was reviewing my form for my interview next month when i notice i made mistakes on my form.. im just wondering how can i edit it? Im just so worried

Under the Documents Tab of your Application for Naturalization, there is an Unsolicited Information/UPLOAD DOCUMENTS option shown below all of the documents that you uploaded.  We forgot to complete a section of the U.S. spouse.  We typed the questions on a blank sheet of paper and uploaded it with the rest of our documents.