drosha

You can apply at 11/08/18. I would wait a couple of days after that and apply if you’re doing it online just in case they have  some funny calculations.

You have to be married to the USC that is your sponsor for at least 3 years at the time of application. There is no 90 day grace period for that. Your spouse also needs to be a US citizen for at least 3 years at the time of application.

In that case it’s a bit more complicated than I thought. Because I thought the marriage was in the US. I’m surprised you were able to change the name for DL and SSN without needing a court order just by using a foreign marriage certificate. You probably do need a judicial ceremony to change the name. Or you can do it yourself before the interview and USCIS will print the certificate with the correct name

Is your step daughter a US citizen? If so she is not your sponsor. Your wife is your sponsor. Otherwise

https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/bringing-children-sons-and-daughters-live-united-states-permanent-residents

“If you are petitioning for a step-child and have not been married to the child’s genetic parent genetic or legal gestational mother for 2 years at the time the child receives permanent residence, the child will be granted conditional permanent resident (CPR) status. Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence is used to remove the conditional basis of permanent residence. (Note that Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card is NOTused for this purpose.)

If your spouse and child became CPRs at the same time or within 90 days, the child can be included in your spouse’s petition. If the child became a permanent resident more than 90 days after your spouse, the child will need to file a separate Form I-751.

Form I-751 must be filed within the 90-day period prior to the expiration date on the conditional resident card. If you fail to file during this time, your spouse and/or your child’s status will be terminated and they may be subject to removal from the United States. For more information, see the How Do I Guides.”

If it’s written on her marriage certificate that means your wife has legally already changed her last name. What she needs to do at this point is to apply for a new green card with the new married name. In fact legally she should have done this soon after getting married because the green card is supposed to have her legal name. It is possible that USCIS will accommodate her and essentially use the naturalization process to update her name because it was through marriage. But it is also possible that they will not accommodate her and reject her application after the interview. Though to be fair the fact she didn’t write her correct legal name in the application may be disqualifying. In the case of the oath ceremony. She doesn’t need a judicial ceremony for the name update because it was already changed via marriage certificate. Good luck to you guys and hopefully she will get the easy route.

From selective service website:

”In accordance with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) Policy Manual - Volume 12 - Part D - Chapter 7, applicants for naturalization who are over age 31 are eligible for naturalization even if they knowingly and willfully failed to register. This is because the applicant's failure to register would be outside of the statutory period during which the applicant must show that he is of good moral character and disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. Thus a man's failure to register with Selective Service does not make him ineligible for naturalization because he is age 31 or older. Also, since an immigrant who is age 31 or older remains eligible for naturalization even if he knowingly and willfully failed to register, he should not be asked to get a "Status Information Letter" from Selective Service.”

https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Status-Information-Letter

if your birthday is correct,

 You are 31, hence you don’t need anything from selective service.

Those mentioned above are very good. assuming that you own your house, it would also help if you have a house deed/title with both names or mortgage with both names, if you’re renting a lease would help.

1 minute ago, Ash.1101 said:

That's good its worked for you in the past, but don't expect it to work every time. Is there a reason you can't get in contact with the insurance company?

It is not just in the past, it is actually working right now because I’m getting ready to apply for citizenship and they just gave me another letter upon my request saying that my spouse is a dependent in my insurance since a certain date. If you’re signing up for your insurance through your employer as a benefit, they are the guardians of your signing up process and premium payments. I don’t know how you guys don’t know this. Have you just never worked for an employer that gave you an insurance benefit? This is how it worked for me for every company I worked in the US. If you are an independent contractor it is different.

11 minutes ago, NikLR said:

The employer cant state who is insured, that is the insurance company's job.  Or there was a schedule for your taxes you can submit a copy of. 1095C? 

If you get your insurance through your employer and your spouse is added as a dependent your employer can state it. I worked for 2 separate employers, they both wrote a letter for me saying that my spouse is my dependent on the insurance

8 hours ago, aANDg said:

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine.

It's the time to apply for my i-751. I and my husband (USC) are gathering our documents together as we have to submit our application on August 22, 2018. Our question is about the copy of insurances with my beneficiary's name in it. My HR gave me a copy of all the form of the insurances I filled out from last year's open enrollment and it is in hand writing, would this be fine? I hope someone was able to experience the same. Thank you!

Couple of things. 1. Based on the immigration timeline on your profile, you don’t have to submit your application on August 22nd. You have to submit it in the 90 day period before your card expires.

2. I don’t get why your employer can’t give you a letter saying that you and your spouse are in the same insurance since such and such date. I don’t know if your open enrollment forms can be considered good evidence because there is no way to determine whether you submitted those forms. Try to get a letter either from your employer (better) or from the insurance company.

7 hours ago, Awesome22 said:

is the cover letter necessary for Roc docs? 

 

I'm not good at writing  😭

No it isn’t. It might help if you have to explain the reason behind the absence of a crucial evidence. But even then USCIS agent doesn’t have to believe your explanation without evidence. I never sent any cover letters or “exhibit” organizations for either AOD or ROC and got approved around about the same time as majority other people who sent it around the same date as me.

49 minutes ago, Awesome22 said:

Hello its me again.

 

My husband's green card expires on 11/23/2018.

 

When do we apply? within 90 days? 

 

The officer at the airport when my husband arrived  wrote down on the paper that we should file on Aug 22 2018 but when I calculated the days, its 93 days apart from 11/23/2018

 

 

Don’t trust the muddy math of a CBP agent who is not even tested for math before getting hired for that job. Do your own calculation. Don’t send it prior to August 25th.

You have more than enough without any pictures, tickets or any utility bills. What they look for mainly is financial commingling and living together. You have joint bank account, home ownership, tax returns and health insurance. That is major primary evidence there. You can send the bills you have to show living together now as secondary evidence.

I don’t understand why her driver’s license expiration date is before the expiration date of the extension letter. Is that because DMV extended it one year from the letter date and not the card expiration date?

Also this whole thing is stupid, each state seems to have a different interpretation of the real ID act. Some states give a full term license to the 2 year green card, some give only to the card expiration date even though your status doesn’t expire when card expires.

also some states give people drivers licenses without immigration status. You can look into that but I don’t know how you can switch back to the regular license after doing that once the 10 year card comes in.

Did they not send you a letter extending the card a year? If yes and that letter is expiring, Try the other nearby offices. There is one in fairfax VA or if you can take the time off and drive, try Norfolk VA. That one usually have openings. Sometimes these infopass officers don’t like people coming from out of state but you can explain your situation and hope for the best. Also unless you need to prove your status to an employer or DMV or traveling outside the country you don’t need to extend the letter. Your status doesn’t expire when that letter expires.

1. Should we visit a field office near us to get another extension? If so, how does that work? Do we receive another extension letter? A stamp in passport?

it depends on whether you need the extension or not. Your status doesn’t expire while your i751 is processing so technically you don’t need a stamp unless 1. you travel outside of the country or 2. You need to prove to an employer or DMV or some other government agency etc that you’re in the country legally. If you need it you should set up an info pass appointment and get a stamp on your passport.

2. The field office for my state is much farther away than for an adjacent state. Can we go to that or do we have to go to the one for our state?

Other people’s experience seem to be mixed about this. Some say that USCIS in a different state didn’t give them a stamp without a proof of resident in that state, others say no problems. But it looks like most of them are ok especially if it’s just the adjacent state.

3. It has been over 4 years, since our marriage and petition. Can we apply for citizenship or do we have to wait till the conditions on the green card is lifted?

it depends on when you became a permanent resident. It would be written on your expired green card “resident since”. If that date is 2 years and 9 months or more ago then you can apply for citizenship but you can’t take the oath until i751 is decided. You should also keep in mind that you need to live in the same state or USCIS district for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship.

18 hours ago, xulakolof said:

Yes we were married in July 2016.  From https://www.uscis.gov/visabulletin-aug-18

 

it seems as though our priority date of 05AUG2016 is current (actually we're late). 

Those priority dates are irrelevant to spouses of us citizens. There is no limits for immediate family (spouse, young children and parents). You can apply for adjustment of status anytime you want after getting married

On 7/31/2018 at 12:13 AM, orenstore said:

Last week my lawyer filed all my documentation to have my conditions removed. As far as I know, within a few weeks I should receive a piece of paper that should be good for 2 years while they process the green card that will be valid for 10 years. Now, I want to change my name in the US: I am from Spain and people there have two last names (let's say my legal name is John Smith Doe), which can get very confusing for people in the US. I want to remove my second last name (to be just John Smith).

 

Is there a problem with doing this now? Should I wait until I have the GC in my hand? I asked my lawyer and he said that I can just do it, and once I have the new name notify the USCIS. Is this correct? Any thoughts?

if you can wait I recommend you change your name when you apply for citizenship as part of the application. That way the name change will be free and your immigration documents will not need to be changed.

On 7/31/2018 at 12:14 PM, AnnaMaria said:

She is not eligible for the 5 year rule, only the 3 right now as she's been here since 2014. 

 

I guess my main question, is debt an issue with immigration?

I don’t think debt is an issue unless there is a court order due to debt and you ignored it or that you owe the debt to a government agency. In fact debt can be evidence of financial commingling and living together if it’s in both your names and joint address. You should also try to get some evidence of living together. Even if you don’t have a joint bank account you should be able to get a letter or a statement from the bank of account closure and all the previous statements. Also joint life insurance, health insurance etc can be useful

On 6/18/2018 at 12:18 PM, Ahmed1981 said:

I just came back from the court asking for the form that they gave me before and i losted but there is nothing in the system and they said its expunged and there is no way they can get it . Also went to Sharif department to check my background is clear there is nothing ..so what i should do now 

Sheriff department who arrested should have an arrest report that could be helpful also the district attorney or whatever the equivalent is in your area should have record of charges being dismissed. 

I submitted the printouts of both federal and state tax returns from TurboTax for both original green card and removal of conditions. No problems or requests for transcripts in either case

From selective service website

”In accordance with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) Policy Manual - Volume 12 - Part D - Chapter 7, applicants for naturalization who are over age 31 are eligible for naturalization even if they knowingly and willfully failed to register. This is because the applicant's failure to register would be outside of the statutory period during which the applicant must show that he is of good moral character and disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. Thus a man's failure to register with Selective Service does not make him ineligible for naturalization because he is age 31 or older. Also, since an immigrant who is age 31 or older remains eligible for naturalization even if he knowingly and willfully failed to register, he should not be asked to get a "Status Information Letter" from Selective Service.”

I don’t know why people here think that you have to somehow prove your marriage was Bona fide when you apply after being a permanent resident for 5 years. I’m sure behind the scenes they will scrutinize and be suspicious but they can’t deny you citizenship based on just a suspicion of a sham marriage when you’re not applying under 3 year rule. They might ask you a couple of questions in the interview, just answer them honestly and you’ll be ok. If they deny your citizenship application based on sham marriage suspicion they also have to file to revoke your green card but then they have to go to court to prove that it was a sham marriage. You should collect any helpful documents just in case of a court case but I don’t think USCIS would be willing to jump those hoops unless there is strong evidence of marriage fraud (like money exchanging hands for marriage, witnesses, fake documents etc.)