birchscott

1 hour ago, blackknight1609 said:

Policy Alert. 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/policymanual/updates/20190419-ControlledSubstanceViolations.pdf

Thanks for posting.

In summary, even if marijuana is legal in your state, it's still illegal federally and a conviction could prevent you from demonstrating Good Moral Character. 

10 hours ago, Paa Kay said:

With the blizzard conditions (Yes you read it right..MN Snow) expected in the minneapolis area on Wednesday/Thursday, i pray my oath ceremony on Friday is not cancelled  

Nothing quite like an April snow storm!

Keep an eye on this page: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings

and call this number before your appointment: Offices sometimes close because of bad weather or unexpected events. During bad weather, call 612-876-3397 before traveling to make sure we are open.

edit: Oops this information applies to the field office, not the oath ceremony. 

11 hours ago, Maharosa said:

On that note, anyone in here have their N400 interview while their I751 was still pending? Trying to figure out how that works... 

We did. Beyond bringing additional evidence, it didn't have much impact on the interview. I expected to have to join the interview as the I-751 is focused on a bona fide marriage, but I wasn't allowed in. 

Only impacts I saw were with actual case processing time and the online case trackers. Wife took the oath on 4/2 but the I-751 case tracker still says 'Case was transferred and a new office has jurisdiction'. Despite the fact she also received the RoC approved notice weeks ago.   /shrug   

2 minutes ago, stronghold692 said:

I have a friend who lives in Oregon and he had the interview and the ceremony same day last week. Why Minnesota specifically takes this long to have the ceremony? Too many applicants?   

As I understand it, same day interviews are only for those that live outside a certain distance from the Field Office. 

24 minutes ago, duitta2g15 said:

How long did it took to get your oath letter after your n400 interview? I did my interview since March 11th and no oath letter yet. My online status still says in line for oath scheduled. I am running out of patience

Interviewed January 30th, received oath notice March 6th.

Hang in there..it'll come soon!

Oath ceremony done! Our journey is finally over!

Here's how it went for us:

• Parked in the RiverCentre ramp which is skyway connected. $10 flat rate, paid when entering

• Arrived in RiverCentre at 7:30 (way too early but just to be safe)

• Proceeded to ground floor cafe for breakfast

• Went back upstairs at around 8:00--massive crowd lining up in a very disorganized fashion

• A lack of signage and direction from USCIS was very apparent

• Was eventually told that applicants should line up down main corridor and family could be seated in the ballroom.  (family and friend seating was eventually full, with many people standing)

• Applicants are then lead to their seats which are numbered for documentation purposes

• First wave of applicants were seated then documents were checked. If you have an I-551 stamp in your passport they'll invalidate it here.

• By 9:45 there was still a long line of applicants waiting to be seated. At 10:15 they were mostly all seated

• League of Women Voters addressed the crowd to assist people getting registered to vote

• Program started at about 10:20

• Following pledge of allegiance, applicants instructed to stay seated to receive their certificates of naturalization

• There were 1,002 applicants present from 88 different countries (top 3 being Somalia, China, and India)

• Left the RiverCentre ramp at around 11:20

It was a very powerful and emotional experience. 

8 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Severe administrative action has been applied against a member's account for importing melodrama from a previously locked thread against a Moderation directive, and for injecting unnecessary melodrama into multiple threads.  Several more posts have been removed.

 

TBoneTX

VJ Moderation

Really?! You deleted my post which was nothing but informative and useful.  

On 3/22/2019 at 5:17 PM, vjmember1234 said:

hi everybody , hope you all ready to spend a nice weekend.

i have couple questions.

has anybody experienced or heard a denial in n400 due to requirement of 3 months residency in uscis district?  In general, does anybody know if  there is any different timeline if you reapplied after a denial in MSP office? 

 

response would be very appreciated.

 

thanks

Yes, this is one of the main denial reasons.  Per the Federal Regulations (https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?&node=se8.1.316_12):

(5) Immediately preceding the filing of an application, or immediately preceding the examination on the application if the application was filed early pursuant to section 334(a) of the Act and the three month period falls within the required period of residence under section 316(a) or 319(a) of the Act, has resided, as defined under §316.5, for at least three months in a State or Service district having jurisdiction over the applicant's actual place of residence;

Quite sure that re-applying after a denial just sends you to the bottom of the pile. 

1 hour ago, corvusheart said:

Lawyer says he doesn't think it'll take long for them to respond to our RFE response. But from what I read it can take almost a year.

I think your lawyer is right. 

Also did you ask your lawyer if you can mail in additional evidence to the field office?

Just now, corvusheart said:

If we withdraw the N400 it won't go to the fraud office. Then he can reapply under 5 year rule next year.

What you've described to me does not at all indicate this is headed to the fraud office. Don't get freaked out by one poster making assumptions about your case!  

Just now, corvusheart said:

So tell me if they thought our relationship was fraud why did we get approval notice and new GC from approved ROC THIS WEEK.

You've nailed it. You have obviously already proven you're in a bona fide marriage, making this RFE all the more ridiculous. 

Like I said. Lawyer up. Withdrawing your application is not something to be taken lightly. 

1 minute ago, corvusheart said:

Should we just withdraw it then? The RFE said to attach everything from the past 3 years.

You really need to consult with your lawyer.  That's a huge decision and it should absolutely not be decided by this forum. 

2 minutes ago, blackknight1609 said:

Alright, let’s be realistic here for a moment. You sent the same document? Do you think the officer is dumb or stupid to not recognize he already has the same document????

 

by asking for more evidence, this mean they are not convinced with the papers and evidence you provide first time. By sending the same documents again to them. You will raise their suspicion again. 

 

Careful of what you doing here. You may red-flag your case by this action. Once your case is red flagged. Then good luck getting what you want from them. 

 

Just telling you here, USCIS now is auding all the cases with much more scrutiny and they will not grant anyone civic rights or naturalizations of they suspect something wrong. Any red flag will send your case to fraud officer then you will be deeply scrutinized and your file will be opened and every single detail will be revisited. 

 

Good luck everyone 

It's a different officer reviewing at this point. As their own field manual says: The officer who conducts the re-verification is not the same officer who conducts the interview. 

In my case I brought literally hundreds of pages to our N-400 interview and they didn't even glance at them.  So if I had an RFE I would also submit much of what I already brought to the interview. 

1 hour ago, corvusheart said:

Should we just withdraw n400 it says if we do we won't have prejudice effect our futures applications. 

Why do that? I think that's for situations where you can't produce what they're asking for and don't want the denial to impact a future filing. 

41 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

It's too late to submit an affidavit. Once you submit your evidence on the site you can't submit again that's your only opportunity. Plus I assumed it was giving us examples of what we could submit just like removal of conditions one of the examples on the ROC instructions for evidence was joint bank statements.

 

Anyway we want to withdraw to avoid any penalties or reprocussions over an outright denial.

 

And file again under 5 year rule where they aren't so focused on relationship evidence.

Are you sure you can't still re-file even after a denial?  But also it seems incredibly unlikely you would be denied, as they approved your I-751 without issue. The evidence requirements are more extensive for that application.  Also in that RFE letter you posted it says 'may include but is not limited to'. It doesn't say 'must' include. 

If I was in your situation I would consult with my lawyer before proceeding. Or try an InfoPass appointment? You'll lose your filing fee and countless hours of prep time if you withdraw.  

5 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

Should we just withdraw n400 it says if we do we won't have prejudice effect our futures applications. 

Why do that? Maybe submit a written affidavit about why you don't have some of the requested evidence. 

Regarding why this happened, I found this in USCIS handbook:  

If an officer approves a naturalization application, the application goes through the appropriate internal procedures before the USCIS office schedules the applicant to appear at a ceremony for the administration of the Oath of Allegiance. ^[2] The internal procedures include a “re-verification” procedure where all approved applications are reviewed for quality. The officer who conducts the re-verification is not the same officer who conducts the interview. While the officer conducting the re-verification process does not adjudicate the application once again, the officer may raise any substantive eligibility issues. 

I disagree with your friends and family.  The lawyer submitting these things changes nothing. What matters is the evidence, its relevance and its credibility. I assume what you submitted was not the same as what you sent with the initial applications?

I also agree with your decision to submit online. 

15 hours ago, corvusheart said:

I got some news for everyone. Last week my husband had his combo interview. He said he was being recommend for approval for both. He got his new GC in the mail yesterday. Today his status updated on N400 with a RFE!! Saying we need give more evidence of our relationship for the past 3 years. We brought all evidences in a binder to his interview. The IO didn't take any just looked at them. The myuscis website allows you to submit evidence on their website but only allows you to upload 5 files?! Has anyone heard of this happening? If we didn't have sufficient relationship evidence why was his ROC approved at interview?

I have to say, this is complete and utter bullshit on USCIS' part!  The fact that you had all this evidence at the interview and they didn't even bother to review it actually seems pretty common, but for them to then send an RFE!?  I've never heard of this happening. Very sorry you have to deal with this! 

What evidence are you planning to resubmit?  Also if you have a bunch of PDFs you want to submit, you could potentially combine multiple into one to get past the file limit.  There may also be file size limits to consider though.

5 hours ago, Paa Kay said:

Does anyone knows how long it takes from being in line for oath to when oath is scheduled? I have been in line for oath since March 4th. Is it ok to say it takes two to three weeks from in line for oath till when oath is scheduled? Please those who had their oath scheduled or attended their oath ceremony can chime in the Minneapolis Field office. Thanks

We only spent 1 day in the 'in line for oath' phase but everyone's experience is different. Your wait time is not abnormal. 

18 minutes ago, Peter32 said:

How difficult is it to reschedule a N-400 Biometrics appointment in Minneapolis these days?

 

We are ready to submit my wife's N-400 online now, but we live out in the rural MN and my wife does not want to drive to Minneapolis with our two small kids by herself.  Most days I can take a day off to go with her but I have some days in my work schedule that I definitely can not take off without getting in serious trouble.  Just trying to understand the risks associated with rescheduling. 

 

How about walk-ins these days? I think they say no walk-ins, but is that really a consistently enforced policy?  If she shows up there say a day or week too early, would they not allow her do it?

 

Thanks.

Below is the appointment notice. It will delay your case. 

Also the first thing the security guard asks is 'Do you have an appointment?'.  I wouldn't risk a walk-in coming from St. Cloud. Look for an InfoPass appointment.  You're talking about Support Center walk ins, not Field Office. My mistake. I can't speak to the situation there. 

Yet another example of how disorganized USCIS and their online systems are:  our I-751 case tracker still says 'Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed', but yesterday we received a 'Notice of Action: Approval Notice' saying our request to remove conditions has been approved. 

Almost there!  For those still waiting and looking at those incredibly long wait times, maintain hope! If you review the spreadsheet from this thread you'll see those estimated wait times are generally not accurate.

23 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

Good thing we don't plan to go anywhere. Just we won't have any evidence on us if we get stopped. Not like that happens much in MN.

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken, but I don't believe MN law enforcement can ask about residency status. This happened on a light rail train a couple years back and there was a huge uproar and the officer was fired. 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/minneapolis-transit-officer-fired-after-asking-for-passengers-immigration-status

From the article: 

Minneapolis is not a “sanctuary city” but since 2003 has had an ordinance in the books preventing police officers from asking about a person’s immigration status unless it’s relevant to a crime.

9 hours ago, corvusheart said:

It's not actually mandatory to have the stamp right?

Right. The stamp is merely proof of his Legal Permanent Resident status. Even with an expired stamp he is still an LPR, he just can't re-enter the country. 

20 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

No plans to travel soon and he's not planning to switch jobs either. Hopefully his work won't ask him for another stamp when this one expires. I doubt they keep track. But other than that do you think he will need another stamp?

Only if he plans to leave the country, which should be avoided if possible at this stage in the game.

I don't think his work can inquire about that. The social security number/card would be used in the government's eVerify system to confirm work eligibility.  

44 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

One thing I'm sort of concerned about is last year when my husband went to get his stamp in his passport they took his GC.
 At his citizenship interview when the IO asked for GC he explained how when he got the stamp they took it. And the IO looked at his stamp and said yep that's how it works now.  I heard the IO is supposed to give you then a slip that's a sworn statement saying you no longer have the physical card and you're supposed to bring they to your oath ceremony.

But he never gave him that. So I don't know what he will have to do when he goes to the ceremony.

 

I was hoping he'd get his new card but it sounds like you get the status update but not the card.

 

And I also don't know if he will have to get another stamp before the ceremony as his current stamp expires in early April.

 

Maybe someone on here has an idea about this?

Honestly I doubt it matters, since the stamp in your husband's passport indicates the GC was taken plus its documented in the case files. But maybe you should call the support line (1 (800) 375-5283) to confirm?

As far as another stamp, are you planning to travel soon? I sure hope you don't have to go through the trouble of an InfoPass appointment just weeks away from being done with this BS. 

Just got our oath date through the online document viewer!  April 2nd at the RiverCentre.

It's surreal to be this close to the end of this ridiculous and tedious process.