TB44

Scandi - thanks so much!  That makes total sense and is really helpful.  I did come here on a K1, but my AOS was approved pretty quickly (only 9 months from arriving until I got my permanent residence), so yeah - I'm no where close to the 5 year mark.

So, the question in the N-400 application is "Have you taken a trip outside of the United States in the last 5 years?", and then you have to list all your trips outside the US.  I assume this question was written for those who are applying on the basis of 5 years of permanent residency, and it hasn't been adjusted to take account of the fact that people (like me) are eligible to apply for citizenship after only 3 years of residency.  I think the question is probably intended to ask "have you taken a trip outside the United States since you became a lawful permanent resident"...

So, if applying for citizenship on the basis of 3 years' permanent residency, do you answer this question: (a) with 3 years of travel history (which doesn't strictly answer the question as-written, but answers it in terms of travel taken since becoming a lawful permanent resident), or (b) 5 years of travel history (which will include 2 years when I wasn't living in the US)?!

Thanks in advance for any help!

I entered the US on a K1 visa in January 2018.  After getting married and then submitting my application for AOS in February 2018,  receiving no RFEs, my AOS interview was scheduled for 17 September 2018.  You can imagine my horror when 3 days before my interview I received a letter from USCIS saying that I needed to bring a completed I-693 and I-130A to my interview!  I immediately made an infopass appointment, luckily for the next day, and received some clarity.  Two things:

1. According to the instructions on the I-693, if you file for AOS within one year of the date of your K1 visa medical exam (AND your K1 visa medical is satisfactory i.e. shows no signs of TB, syphillis or gonorrhea, and you have completed the necessary vaccinations as evidenced by your D-3025), you DO NOT need to undergo a new medical for AOS, and you DO NOT need to submit an I-693 for AOS.  You should simply submit the D-3025 with your AOS application, and that is all you need to do.  When I asked at my infopass appointment why I had been asked for the I-693 (3 days before my interview - FYI it's very difficult to get a visa medical done in 3 days!!), she said that it was probably an administrative error.  It likely that someone in the USCIS back office, when flicking through my file in advance of my interview, failed to see my K1 medical, or did not realise that I was exempt, and just absentmindedly ticked a box saying that I needed to bring this to my AOS interview.  In my AOS interview itself, I explained (very nicely!) to the USCIS officer that, as per the I-693 instructions, I should not need a new medical because my K1 visa medical was satisfactory, and I filed for AOS within one year of that medical.  I was also able to show him the D-3025 and the blood test results from my K1 medical, which I think helped.  In summary, he was very nice about it, and agreed that no new I-693 was required, and my AOS was granted  All that panic for nothing!
2. The I-130A form does not remotely apply to my case!  The form I-130 is for US Citizens seeking to bring their citizen spouses to the US, and the I-130A is for the spouse beneficiary to provide supplemental information.  So essentially it is the start of a completely different visa process to the I-129F/K1 visa process which we had completed!  The helpful USCIS lady at my infopass appointment was completely baffled as to why I had been asked for it (and she even muttered under her breath "I need to talk to the person who issued this letter to you, because that is NOT correct..."!).  And when I turned up to my AOS interview and asked why I had been asked to provide the I-130A, the USCIS officer just brushed it off and said "no, we definitely don't need that from you".  So, essentially, this was another mistake by an idiot in the USCIS back office, who has no idea how much stress they caused!

In short, if you get requests for forms shortly before your interview - don't panic!  You may need to provide them (in which case they will go ahead with the interview, but issue you an RFE, and your case will be held pending USCIS receipt of that further evidence requested), but in my case it was just a USCIS error! 

I entered the US on a K1 visa in January 2018.  After getting married and then submitting my application for AOS in February 2018,  receiving no RFEs, my AOS interview was scheduled for 17 September 2018.  You can imagine my horror when 3 days before my interview I received a letter from USCIS saying that I needed to bring a completed I-693 and I-130A to my interview!  I immediately made an infopass appointment, luckily for the next day, and received some clarity.  Two things:

1. According to the instructions on the I-693, if you file for AOS within one year of the date of your K1 visa medical exam (AND your K1 visa medical is satisfactory i.e. shows no signs of TB, syphillis or gonorrhea, and you have completed the necessary vaccinations as evidenced by your D-3025), you DO NOT need to undergo a new medical for AOS, and you DO NOT need to submit an I-693 for AOS.  You should simply submit the D-3025 with your AOS application, and that is all you need to do.  When I asked at my infopass appointment why I had been asked for the I-693 (3 days before my interview - FYI it's very difficult to get a visa medical done in 3 days!!), she said that it was probably an administrative error.  It likely that someone in the USCIS back office, when flicking through my file in advance of my interview, failed to see my K1 medical, or did not realise that I was exempt, and just absentmindedly ticked a box saying that I needed to bring this to my AOS interview.  In my AOS interview itself, I explained (very nicely!) to the USCIS officer that, as per the I-693 instructions, I should not need a new medical because my K1 visa medical was satisfactory, and I filed for AOS within one year of that medical.  I was also able to show him the D-3025 and the blood test results from my K1 medical, which I think helped.  In summary, he was very nice about it, and agreed that no new I-693 was required, and my AOS was granted  All that panic for nothing!
2. The I-130A form does not remotely apply to my case!  The form I-130 is for US Citizens seeking to bring their citizen spouses to the US, and the I-130A is for the spouse beneficiary to provide supplemental information.  So essentially it is the start of a completely different visa process to the I-129F/K1 visa process which we had completed!  The helpful USCIS lady at my infopass appointment was completely baffled as to why I had been asked for it (and she even muttered under her breath "I need to talk to the person who issued this letter to you, because that is NOT correct..."!).  And when I turned up to my AOS interview and asked why I had been asked to provide the I-130A, the USCIS officer just brushed it off and said "no, we definitely don't need that from you".  So, essentially, this was another mistake by an idiot in the USCIS back office, who has no idea how much stress they caused!

In short, if you get requests for forms shortly before your interview - don't panic!  You may need to provide them (in which case they will go ahead with the interview, but issue you an RFE, and your case will be held pending USCIS receipt of that further evidence requested), but in my case it was just a USCIS error! 

I entered the US on a K1 visa in January 2018.  After getting married and then submitting my application for AOS in February 2018,  receiving no RFEs, my AOS interview was scheduled for 17 September 2018.  You can imagine my horror when 3 days before my interview I received a letter from USCIS saying that I needed to bring a completed I-693 and I-130A to my interview!  I immediately made an infopass appointment, luckily for the next day, and received some clarity.  Two things:

1. According to the instructions on the I-693, if you file for AOS within one year of the date of your K1 visa medical exam (AND your K1 visa medical is satisfactory i.e. shows no signs of TB, syphillis or gonorrhea, and you have completed the necessary vaccinations as evidenced by your D-3025), you DO NOT need to undergo a new medical for AOS, and you DO NOT need to submit an I-693 for AOS.  You should simply submit the D-3025 with your AOS application, and that is all you need to do.  When I asked at my infopass appointment why I had been asked for the I-693 (3 days before my interview - FYI it's very difficult to get a visa medical done in 3 days!!), she said that it was probably an administrative error.  It likely that someone in the USCIS back office, when flicking through my file in advance of my interview, failed to see my K1 medical, or did not realise that I was exempt, and just absentmindedly ticked a box saying that I needed to bring this to my AOS interview.  In my AOS interview itself, I explained (very nicely!) to the USCIS officer that, as per the I-693 instructions, I should not need a new medical because my K1 visa medical was satisfactory, and I filed for AOS within one year of that medical.  I was also able to show him the D-3025 and the blood test results from my K1 medical, which I think helped.  In summary, he was very nice about it, and agreed that no new I-693 was required, and my AOS was granted  All that panic for nothing!
2. The I-130A form does not remotely apply to my case!  The form I-130 is for US Citizens seeking to bring their citizen spouses to the US, and the I-130A is for the spouse beneficiary to provide supplemental information.  So essentially it is the start of a completely different visa process to the I-129F/K1 visa process which we had completed!  The helpful USCIS lady at my infopass appointment was completely baffled as to why I had been asked for it (and she even muttered under her breath "I need to talk to the person who issued this letter to you, because that is NOT correct..."!).  And when I turned up to my AOS interview and asked why I had been asked to provide the I-130A, the USCIS officer just brushed it off and said "no, we definitely don't need that from you".  So, essentially, this was another mistake by an idiot in the USCIS back office, who has no idea how much stress they caused!

In short, if you get requests for forms shortly before your interview - don't panic!  You may need to provide them (in which case they will go ahead with the interview, but issue you an RFE, and your case will be held pending USCIS receipt of that further evidence requested), but in my case it was just a USCIS error!