Laniakean

I don't and my wife doesn't but it seems the USCIS misses us so much that regardless of how many AR-11s a previous resident of the house I bought 2 years ago sends, the USCIS keeps sending everything here. 

Knowing how much hassle it can be for returned USCIS mail, I tracked the beneficiary down and she comes to pick the stuff up. 

I can't say anything about Montreal specifically, but when I was an LPR in the UK trying to get a B1/B2 at the London embassy, my IO called up someone else to talk to me for a few seconds and he spoke my native language fluently with an easily identifiable American accent. I inquired about it after he was satisfied with my answer, he smiled and said there where translators for every language. 

It may have been because the embassy in London was a large one but who knows. If your parents speak a language that has a large enough presence in the country, they may accommodate them.

On 12/5/2022 at 4:47 PM, Kuz said:

Passed my interview thank you. 

Congrats!

9 hours ago, Kuz said:

Thank You did you take copies or orginal 

birth certificate n marriage certificate 

The USCIS needs to see the originals so always take the original and a copy of any certificate. The copies do not need to be certified or even color copies, but taking them with you speeds up the process as the IO does not need to step out to go to a shared copier, wait in line with other iOS doing the same, chit chat, and so on.

On 12/2/2022 at 3:48 AM, Kuz said:

What documents do I need to bring to the interview? 

Having her applied under the 3 year rule, she took her foreign passport(the one she used to enter the US), IRS transcripts for the last 5 years, mortgage statement and deed, our kids' birth certificates, marriage certificate, my naturalization certificate, 3 bank statements, our DLs, our health insurance cards for the past 5 years, letters from our 401ks showing we are beneficiaries from each other.

A lot of it was unnecessary but I like to err on side of caution so basically she took every document that shows both our names or that show the same address.

Good luck on your journey

8 hours ago, S.E.Z. said:

Congratulations! Do you mind if I ask when did your wife filed her N400?

Good luck!

We filed online late March this year.

18 hours ago, Kian C said:

Congratulations!! Did the agent also questioned you that day? Pending i-751 or no?

 

Hopefully I'll also get oath date same date, interview in 2 weeks (Brooklyn too).

No 751 pending for us so I was not allowed even in the waiting room and ultimately had to leave the building.

Good luck with your interview and please report back with your findings. It will be interesting to see if that's a new standard. 

Just dropping this here since I have not heard of this before and it seems like a good change they are adopting in NYC. 

My wife had her interview under the 3 year rule in the Brooklyn field office (Federal Plaza 8th fl) on Friday (11/04) and she was approved on the spot. However, instead of having to wait for the usual oath scheduling, the oath was scheduled right there. She left with a letter stating date and time for the oath ceremony (in 2 weeks time).

Definitely much better than my months long wait "in line" a few years ago.

Many already gave you good advice, but as someone who was once in your shoes, I will leave my 2 cents here. 

1 – Forget about immigrating right now as this is a very long process. I know how it feels, but if you want to do things right, work on reasons to be appealing to foreign employers before thinking about visas.

2 – Work on your Kung Fu. Meaning, go chase your degree no matter what. It is feasible (or at least was) to work and study in Brazil simultaneously. Also study on your own and start working on your reel right now. In this field, many employers ask for your reel before they look at your resume. And yes, I know you said you are unemployed, but even if it’s not on your field, don’t scoff at opportunities that have nothing to do with what you want to do as long as it helps you pay for the degree you want.

3 – Don’t focus so specifically in the US. Many Brazilians are entitled to EU passports and either don’t know about it or do not consider Europe as a viable option. Not only there are many big name studios either based or with offices in Europe, but you may find that the US is very different from what Hollywood shows.

In sum, take a deep breath and relax. Immigrating is a long-term project and the quicker you accept it might take a long time, the quicker you will start building a solid foundation to do it right.

Good luck!

21 hours ago, jm1409 said:

i understand no one here knows for sure on any of this, but based on experience/stories you've seen/heard - how do you feel about the chances of getting a b2 visa if this is the information the interviewer will have:

 

• purpose of visit: visiting boyfriend and meeting family and go to disneyland
• family ties to the US: none
• job: yes
• school: yes
• lease agreement: yes
• has been to the US before: no
• has been to other countries via visas and has not overstayed: yes
• does not need any sponsorship/affidavit for financial reasons, although will be staying at no cost at boyfriend's parent's house
• wants to visit for only 2 weeks

 

that pretty much covers it! something else to note: the person applying is a Brazilian citizen, applying at the Dublin, Ireland embassy (currently living there temporarily for school & work)

 

any advice/thoughts on if you think this has a high/low chance of visa approval/denial?

 

 

This was nearly 15 years ago but I was in a similar situation. The differences were that I did have family ties in the US, I was not going to school, I was living in England but had no love interest in the US. The IO asked me a couple of questions in Portuguese apparently in order to confirm I was indeed Brazilian and one satisfied, he approved me on the spot. I am not sure how things changed since, and the fact that you have a bf in the US may trigger some extra scrutiny, but I suspect you have good chances. Boa sorte!

On 3/22/2022 at 3:51 PM, Faye10 said:

For other people that have the same issue, here's another story.

 

My husband's application is now pending due to missing status information letter. he is 31, from what the selective service says, if you are 31 or orlder you are not required to provide a letter.  Before his interview he called Selective Service to make sure and and was told he did NOT need it as he was already 31.

 

He had his interview on March 14th, but the officer asked him if he had a SIL,  said no and showed him a letter from selective service (that the guy on the phone from SS told us to print and take with him). 

Also on their website it says this : 

 

"Immigrant men who are 31 or older who are seeking naturalization and who did not register are no longer required to provide a “status information letter” or documentation of their status from Selective Service. If asked for a status information letter, you may print a form letter concerning their request for a letter for use with USCIS." 

 

Now his application is pending, he needs to provide a stupid letter EVEN IF HE IS ALREADY 31. We requested it and hope it will get here before the due date (cause of course they give you a time limit).

 

So I recommend to anyone who is not 32 yet and was not registered, JUST WAIT.    IT WILL BE MORE EASY AND CHEAPER since we're probably have to restart the whole process. 

 

Will update!

Not only 32. To anyone bumping into this topic, I had my interview at 42, never set foot in the US before I was 30 and I was still asked for it. Luckily my paranoia led me to request the letter before the interview and I was able to produce it when asked. If you are a male, save yourself some trouble and get it. It takes just a few minutes to request it, it is free and it might just make your journey just a bit smoother with interviewers and supervisors not up to date with regulation changes.

58 minutes ago, yaya4501 said:

Unfortunately we have tried to call this number and they do not have year 2015 available at all. We may try to file the form though to get the transcript just in case... but filing under the 3 year rule I would only normally need the last 3 years of tax transcripts right? 

That is a bit strange as I used this very resource for my naturalization and I was able to retrieve every transcript dating back from when I first filed taxes in the US. Granted that was a few years ago so things may have changed. Nevertheless, you should be ok with what you have, not to mention the fact that you likely provided previous transcripts for your AOS. 

9 hours ago, yaya4501 said:

Hello! I filed for citizenship application  under the 3 year rule/USC spouse.
I have been a LPR for 7 years, and married for 7.
i know that technically I only need the last 3 years of tax transcripts because how I applied, but I wanted to have the last 5 just in case the officer really wants them. 
problem is, the IRS could only provide the last 4 years worth of tax transcripts. 
I have 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. So desperately looking for 2015 but tax transcripts aren’t available for that year. 
we haven’t filed our 2020 taxes yet and my interview is at the beginning of March. 
I still have the copy of our tax return filed with H&R Block for 2015, so I was thinking about taking it just in case, and if we have time to file 2020 taxes take the copy of that too (I don’t think we will get the tax transcripts for 2020 before my interview.)

im sure I’m not the only one in this situation, has anyone had the same problem? Was the officer at the interview understanding? Would they accept copy of the tax return rather than tax transcript with an explanation? 
 

thanks! 

@Dashinka is probably correct but you can get older transcripts by mail. You can call 800-908-9946 and request the years you need and they will send you in a week or so (if precessing times are as they were pre-pandemic).

Ref: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript-faqs (Question 12)

3 hours ago, ThiagoAKern said:

Hi guys, 

 

So I'm about to become a US citizen and will then have two passports with two different first names. During the citizenship process, I changed my first name. So, in my Brazilian passport I am Thiago and in my US passport I'm Pierre. When booking a trip between America and Brazil to go visit family, which passport do I use to book tickets and which do I show at the airport when I depart and upon arrival? Anyone has a similar background? Thank you!

This is my MO:

I am yet to go to Brazil but when travelling to countries where US passport holders do not require visas (such as Brazil currently), I buy the ticket on my US name and only use the US passport. I do believe however that you would need to present your Brazilian passport at immigration (PF).

When a visa is required for US passport holders but not Brazilian, I still book the trip under my US passport name, but at the check-in, I present my Brazilian passport along with a copy of the name change disposition and present my Brazilian passport at the destination. So far I have had no issues with any airline as they seem to have standard procedures for this scenario.

I am not sure if what @aaron2020 says is correct about the Brazilian passport becoming invalid, but I do know that it is not straightforward to have your original name changed in Brazil. There is precedent but at the same time, there is an interpretation of the Brazilian law that leads to person requesting it losing citizenship altogether. In any case, if you want to give it a try, the first thing to do is to contact a specialized lawyer in the state where your ID (Carteira de Identidade) was issued.

1 hour ago, adil-rafa said:

I am not a foreigner but sometimes feel like it

i moved from the north to the south and the racism here is abundant

one man (in the  grocery store ) started talking to me totally unwanted and the last sentence he said was "they're black you know"

for what reason i don't know

and now with the political unstate we are in,  i can't even believe the comments on facebook (some from my own family)

i just find to ignore and do my thing and just obey GOD and all of us are created equal 

 

I got my cornea transplant when i lost right eye from someone of color so for anyone to talk down infuriates me 

 

all i can suggest is "stay away from those who upset you as much as possible"

find your own social group

 

truth is the US is divided into 6 totally different areas and the northeast is nothing like the southwest 

and Louisana is not like any of the rest 

we are suppose to be a melting pot of different nationalities but i refer to it as a boiling pot 

Sadly the northwest is far from impervious from racism and I personally have seen and experienced enough in the past few years to start considering immigrating for a third time. Boiling pot indeed.

5 minutes ago, AaronManhattan said:

Thanks for taking the time to explain Laniakean, I really appreciate it.

No problem. It has been bugging me that I managed to predict the dates of both my naturalization (a few years back) and my wife's AOS interviews to roughly a 10 day spam and yet I see people in multiple forums who should have had their interviews scheduled already. Now at least I know I didn't account for all the variables and probably just got lucky in my guesstimation. 

8 hours ago, AaronManhattan said:

Laniakean, you filed in Manhattan 2/1/18 and received interview notification on 5/14/19? Luck you. Did you file I-485 and I-130 out of curiosity?

Yes, we filed I-485, I-130 and I-765. But I think I found the reason for the discrepancy between our timeline and a few other members here with an older PD. The Brooklyn field office was the one processing my application, not Manhattan (NYC). A few years ago, there was only NYC (7th floor) and Queens (8th floor) field offices, but now it seems they split it further into Brooklyn (8th floor), NYC (7th floor) and Queens (9th floor). 

Apologies for incorrectly stating which office had our case and if anyone needs to double check which office is processing their applications, the service areas by zip code can be found here https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/field-office/field-office-state?state=NY&topic_id=1&lang=1125

I just got back from the interview where my wife's AOS was completed. If anyone is interested in the details, I left a review in the appropriate section  https://www.visajourney.com/reviews/view-dos-cis-reviews.php?entry=26463

23 hours ago, Bm1789 said:

 

When is your interview scheduled for? My PD date is 1 month after yours so this is the first encouraging news I’ve heard in months!

06/18

Based on the latest reports here and other sites, the Manhattan FO seems to be picking up the pace slightly so you should have your notification soon. Good luck!

On 5/17/2019 at 11:23 AM, FilingGuy1 said:

Guys,

 

just wondering if any 2017 NYC Manhattan filer had his/her interview scheduled recently? 

 

Thanks

2017 no, but early 2018 (PD 02/01/2018). Interview scheduled notification on 05/14/2019.

53 minutes ago, akravche said:

Thank you, a bit confused about one thing though, probably because I've never been there.  So, when my wife goes to the room where they take biometrics, will she has to leave her phone outside or keep it quietly in her bag?

 

Also, somewhat unrelated question, we filed two applications - petition to remove condition on greencard and request to travel.  We got appointment letter only for request to travel, will there be anyone there to ask if the two biometric appointments got combined?

thanks.

Keeping the phone on silent mode in her purse should be more than enough. She will probably spend no more than five minutes in the booth where she will have her fingerprints scanned and picture taken.

To be clear, this ASC is just a wide room which I assume used to be a store in a small shopping mall. There are really no walls or partitions. Just a security checkpoint where they will ask her for the appointment letter and give her the form, a bank of seats by the entrance to fill up the form, then a short line to a reception desk where her documents will be checked for accuracy and where she will be assigned a queue number, and then another set of seats near the booths I mentioned before. At first, she will be directed to the grey seats (where you can join her), and then her number will be called to go to red seats at the front (you cannot go with her at this point).

Only after passing by the reception and getting the number you guys should not have your phones exposed anymore. Having said that, the longest time I spent there was around 25 minutes so I really don’t think there are any concerns about missing important FB or Instagram posts (I hear you can get people talking to you as well on those things but I am not sure ).

As for the I-131/I-751 question, my guess is no. This ASC seems to be an outsourced or simply a data entry facility (I had biometrics for an UK visa there as well) and they don’t seem to really have real access to the case files. Feel free to ask at the reception desk as it seems it is where the most knowledgeable people seat.

13 minutes ago, akravche said:

Hello all,

 

My wife received an appointment for biometrics at 1260-1278 60th St. office in Brooklyn.  The letter states in bold that cell phones are not permitted.  Since we'll get there by public transport, we won't have an option to leave the phones in the car.

Has anyone went through this office recently?  Do they scan bags and reject cell phones?  If so, is there a way to store it somewhere?

They only enforce this rule while in the area for people taking the biometrics. You are free to keep you cellphones and even use them at waiting area by the entrance where you will fill out a short form. I have been there many times and the last one was just last week, and it has been always the same so I am sure you will and your wife will be just fine.

Hi @sevimli

In my case I chose:

- DMV

- Passport

- SSA

SSA I left for last since you have to wait about 10 days to update your records anyway. DMV was first because they do not keep either the certificate of naturalization or the name change disposition, they just have to see them. Passport (my current stage) seems to be still taking about 2 weeks in average, so I should get it back roughly the same time as I am supposed to go to the SSA. Assuming USPS will not lose my certificate, even if the SSA needs to keep it (I don't think so, but I can't say with 100% certainty), I will at least have the passport as proof of citizenship.

My DL (with the old name) was only required at the DMV. At the passport processing center, they didn't even take a copy of it since the certificate was also used as ID.

At least here in NY, both applications where extremely straightforward. At the DMV I spent less than 30 min to change my name, request the EDL and change the vehicle registration. At the passport center, if it took 10 min it was a lot.

Good luck