seganku

As a much belated follow-up, the ceremony was still a drive up ceremony.  There were two long lines of cars, and they'd take five cars from each line, have the people step out and walk up to a flag and do their oath there in the road.  Take some pictures, back into cars, and off we go.  Family parked nearby and walked over for the brief ceremony.

4 minutes ago, Vickys_Mom said:

She should buy a round-trip ticket with her U.S. name that matches her U.S. passport.  She should get a visa just like any other foreigner does.

That is exactly what I was thinking.  Thanks

A Chinese citizen is scheduled to take her U.S. citizenship oath in the near future, but we have some questions about using documents.  If at all possible, she'd like to retain her Chinese passport.  I have friends that have been able to keep their Chinese passports for decades, by simply never telling China that they are a U.S. Citizen.  Is this still possible?

Should she purchase round-trip tickets under her U.S. passport, or get two separate one-way tickets (ie. us->china with Chinese passport, and china->us with US passport)?

2 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I'm not sure where they could hold a ceremony indoors there

They do have a very small auditorium, which might hold 60-70 people.  I think it is in the same building as the museum.

On 3/26/2023 at 12:15 PM, Allaboutwaiting said:

You can also try leaving a message on their FB page asking about oath ceremonies.

Got a reply on Facebook.  It is usually outside, but moves indoors for rain ... which we have had an unusual mount of this year.

Thanks!

10 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Maybe the easiest way to know exactly how the ceremony will be is contacting the park.

I have left a couple messages on their voicemail.  The outgoing message states that a park ranger will call back within 24 hours, but I haven't received any replies yet.

My wife has her Naturalization Oath Ceremony scheduled in a few weeks.  My parents and sister would love to attend (as well as myself, son, and daughter).  I've talked to USCIS twice, trying to find out whether guests will be permitted, and received two different answers.  The USCIS website says that only the candidate will be permitted the ceremony, but I suspect this differs by venue.

Does anyone know whether ceremonies at Cabrillo National Monument are typically conducted indoors, or outside?

Can family come?

Is there a way to directly contact the San Diego field office, to ask them?

Thank you so much for all the years of help, here on this forum!

16 minutes ago, RandyW said:

You could simply fill out a tax return showing the $0 tax - if this is the case, you are NOT required to submit the return to the IRS, but can submit this to USCIS.

Interesting point.  Thanks!

We are working on my wife's N-400, and everything seems straightforward, except we always run into a hiccup with tax returns.  I am on disability and have not filed taxes in years because I have had no taxable income.  My wife has been working as a homemaker, caring for our two year old daughter.  My parents are fully supportive of my wife staying home to raise our child, and help us out with a bit of cash each month.
 

In response to the question, "Have you ever not filed taxes since becoming a permanent resident?", this is what we've come up with:

Quote

I have been working as a homemaker, and have not had a job yet. Neither I, nor my husband have had any taxable income to report since I have become a permanent resident.  My husband collects $?,454.00 each month for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).  Additionally, my husband's parents support us with $?,000.00 every month, so we don't eat into our savings too much before I can start working. Therefore I have not filed tax return since I become a Permanent Resident.

I've replaced a couple numbers with "?"s, but the combined values would put us above the poverty line, and well below wealthy.

Should this explanation be sufficient?  Thank you so much for your time!

On 6/17/2022 at 2:03 PM, Dongbei said:

I honestly don't believe 军训 fits anything like what they're thinking when they say "military training." It's 99.9% sitting in the sun and being forced to sing patriotic songs, isn't it?

Yes, she did a lot of marching in place (in the sun), singing patriotic songs as loudly as possible (in the sun), and making her bed a crisp as possible.  There was no combat training whatsoever, with the exception of firing the rifle that one time.

Part 12, Question 19: "Did you EVER receive any type of military, paramilitary (a group of people who act like a military group but are not part of the official military), or weapon training?"

My wife went to university in China.  All students attend a mandatory one month 学校军训 (school military training), which mostly involves calesthenics, marching, waking early, and making your bed with crisp corners.  At the end of the month, each student fired one shot from a rifle.  No one seemed to care if they hit anything.

In previous documents (eg. I-485), we've always answered "No" to military training questions, because she didn't really consider this military training at all.  But .. it does have "military" in the name fo the program.   We feel like it is better to answer "Yes" here, with explanation.

How likely is it that she runs into issues if she says "Yes" on the N-400, but previously said "No".  I suspect it would be worse to reverse the scenario (say "Yes", then "No").

Thank you so much!  Also, a huge thanks to a wonderful community that has supported us through this entire process!

My wife's GC expired last year and we're still waiting on her I-751.  Estimates fluctuate a lot, but often put the I-751 into 2023.  We expect to start working on N-400 paperwork in a couple months.

My wife was recently offered a job somewhat unexpectedly, and I'm just not seeing any clear path on the required I-9 documents.

I-94 shows admit date until 2019

EAD/AP Combo Card expired in 2020

She does have a valid Driver's License as well as a Real ID Identification card (getting a DL took a while).

Social Security Card has the "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION" text.

My real question is:  What would be the quickest path toward satisfying the I-9 documents?

If we get a new Social Security Card, would it still have the "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION" stamp?  Our Social Security office has been pretty prompt about stuff, although the wait can be brutal.

Thank you so much!

A couple months after receiving her Green Card, my wife returned to China to deal with a family member's medical emergency.  Things are okay now, and she'll be returning in the next week or so.

We have a couple questions:

1. Her visa is in her Maiden Name, but her Green Card is in her Married Name.  Will she need her Marriage Certificate to enter the U.S.?  I plan to FedEx this to her.
2. Besides her Passport and Green Card (and maybe Marriage Certificate), are there any obvious typical documents that she'll need to enter the U.S.?
3. What, if any, documents would China want to see when she's leaving the country.  In the past, they've wanted to see the visa she has for destination countries.  She no longer has a valid visa for the U.S., but has a valid Green Card.

Thank you for the help!

It might really depend on the location, and how the beneficiary typically receives mail/parcels.  My SO lived in an apartment building (Shenzhen) and received a call for most deliveries.  I'd suggest talking to your beneficiary, and asking if they can receive EMS deliveries without a phone call.  I think it should probably be okay.  The mail may get delivered to a local delivery hub, where the beneficiary can call/check to see if they have any deliveries waiting to be picked up.

It is still hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of entire countries without mailboxes or well-defined mailing addresses.

4 hours ago, chocolatecookie said:

Our petition left NVC on 9/12 for GUZ.  We have not received an email from GUZ confirming receipt of our petition case, and we have not received the packet 3. Should we worry? 

Any advice on when we can expect packet 3? 

I'm sure there is variation, but this is what it looked like for us in January:

"I'd been checking our CEAC status a couple times a day.  It stayed stuck on "Ready" for ~14 days, then the "Case Last Updated" date changed to the current date for ~2 days in a row, then it briefly (less than 1 day) switched to "Administrative Processing", then back to "Ready".  EMS delivered the P3 about 2-3 days later (Guangzhou to Shenzhen, very close)."

Hello,  

About the birth certification and Non-criminal certification , they were requested to hand in 1 piece of each original(not copy)when in K1 Interview, the document handed in would not be given back to interviewee. As  we considered the birth certification doc. would be requested in application for status changed, and the birth certification doesn't have expire validity, we prepare 3 pieces of it. so when we were in K1 ,We prepared 1piece Non-criminal certification,  and 3pcs Birth certification.

We applied status changed already, when we applied it,  we sent the copy of birth certification as it not got request for original.

Above is our process for your reference. 

On 5/28/2019 at 4:01 PM, Grantman1987 said:

I will be truck driving when my fiance arrives from Philippines. My plan is to bring her on the truck with me. But first she must have her ID. Can we apply for her ID as soon as she arrives or do we have to have the wedding first? Thanks.

I suggest applying for the ID asap.  Here in California, they wanted 60 days left on my wife's I-94.  While technically doable, it requires everything to be done just about as quickly as possible.

We were not that quick.  D0h!

On 5/11/2019 at 3:13 PM, Shiran said:

What we did is apply for SSN right away, then the moment we got it, we got a State ID, which for us (California) is good for 4 years and looks pretty much the same as California DL (but it doesn't actually allow to drive) We also had no issues opening checking account. With SSN and passport (did it before we got State ID)

Well drat.  This did not work for us.  Our I-94 is only valid for another two weeks, and the DMV wanted it to be valid for 60+ days.  I kinda got the feeling that the DMV worker was "optionally enforcing" that criteria, as it was mentioned nowhere on the website.  While technically possible, it leaves very little room for delay (with the waiting for SS card and maybe marriage certificate for a name change).

The DMV worker suggested that we have our I-94 extended/updated with a new departure date.  It really sounds like that isn't possible, from the USCIS website.  It sounds like quasi-legal immigration status limbo is part of the design.  It does not seem like a good design.

13 hours ago, JP5380 said:

Thanks for all the responses. I will try to get a state ID for her.  Not sure if a child can get one, or if it's even needed. At least we have a SSN for her, but that doesn't prove much of anything about legal status in the country (or at least I don't think so). 

Children should very rarely ever need to prove their immigration status.  I never carried any form of ID when I was a child until I got my Driver's License.  My son (13) carries no photo ID.  TSA does not require accompanied minors (under 18 years old) to show ID to get on domestic flights in the US.

It appears that children can get a Real ID in some cases.  For Ohio, see: https://services.dps.ohio.gov/BMVOnlineServices/DL/AcceptableDocuments

23 minutes ago, Shiran said:

What we did is apply for SSN right away, then the moment we got it, we got a State ID, which for us (California) is good for 4 years and looks pretty much the same as California DL (but it doesn't actually allow to drive)

This is smart and exactly what we will do next week.

Thank you!

3 hours ago, missileman said:

Once the I-94 expires, they will have no legal status.....but they will have "authorized stay"....as evidenced by the NAO1 after filing the I-485.

I am also a bit fuzzy on this point.  I do have the I-797C (NOA1) for the I-485 (right in front of me), and I don't see anywhere on it where it has any mention of "authorized stay".  I feel like she should really carry around a huge packet of papers with her everywhere she goes .. also, that seems like a terrible idea, and a quick way to lose paperwork.  Gah!

Medical Exams are done at an office right next to the consulate on a walk-in basis.  It seemed quite easy.  The only hitch was that the results aren't typically ready for pickup for a couple days.

The ME office opens at 08:00.  You might plan to pick up the packet the day before the interview, if spending the night, or schedule the interview later in the morning, so there is time to pick up the packet before the interview.

On 1/31/2019 at 1:14 PM, Flynn G said:

Does a scanned photocopy of my affidavit of support work for my fiancé to submit at the embassy or do I need to mail her the original? This is for Guangzhou.

I'd strongly recommend a wet signature, if at all possible.

16 hours ago, kimme79 said:

Well folks she is finally home September 27th, 2019.

September?