wxman22

Had combined 751 and N-400 Interview yesterday.
It took a while, over an hour, as the interviewer could not find our 751 online.
Luckily, we had copies of it, but not copies of the evidence, other than 4 years of tax returns. 
Also, since we had taken the I-129 route (K-1), this was the 4th time: K-1, conditional green card, removal of conditions, Naturalization, we had submitted many of these documents, in particular, my last divorce papers. 
In New York State, I have a certified copy of my Divorce Dissolution (but it isn't the actual Dissolution) Not an issue for the previous three submissions since 2017, but now, yesterday it was.
 
After months of trying to reassure my wife that all would go well for this interview and it was a slam dunk; I was worried that we'd be sent home because I had the wrong paper.
 
But after about 20 minutes, the interviewer asked me to take a seat in the back of the office, and she proceeded to ask my wife the naturalization questions. 
 
Then 15 minutes later, she just handed my wife the letter saying she had passed and asked us to follow her to get her oath ceremony appointment. That took less than 10 minutes. Her oath ceremony is next Friday, the 25th, but family members are not allowed to attend. 
 
I'm happy as a clam!
 
USCIS office was north San Antonio off US-281.
We waited about an hour for the interview to start with it took about an hour.
 
Thanks all on this forum for your hand holding.  Advice here was always spot on and extremely helpful.
 
Richard and Ti

And she had interview on 17 Oct; so turned out to be only 4 months.
Oath will be this Friday, the 25th.

Don't worry.  Wife said it was easy.  If you know the 100 questions, you will be fine.  Congratulations!!!   This is a great, great achievement!!!  Escaping the grasp of USCIS is wonderful!!

Had combined 751 and N-400 Interview yesterday.
It took a while, over an hour, as the interviewer could not find our 751 online.
Luckily, we had copies of it, but not copies of the evidence, other than 4 years of tax returns. 
Also, since we had taken the I-129 route (K-1), this was the 4th time: K-1, conditional green card, removal of conditions, Naturalization, we had submitted many of these documents, in particular, my last divorce papers. 
In New York State, I have a certified copy of my Divorce Dissolution (but it isn't the actual Dissolution) Not an issue for the previous three submissions since 2017, but now, yesterday it was.
 
After months of trying to reassure my wife that all would go well for this interview and it was a slam dunk; I was worried that we'd be sent home because I had the wrong paper.
 
But after about 20 minutes, the interviewer asked me to take a seat in the back of the office, and she proceeded to ask my wife the naturalization questions. 
 
Then 15 minutes later, she just handed my wife the letter saying she had passed and asked us to follow her to get her oath ceremony appointment. That took less than 10 minutes. Her oath ceremony is next Friday, the 25th, but family members are not allowed to attend. 
 
I'm happy as a clam!
 
USCIS office was north San Antonio off US-281.
We waited about an hour for the interview to start with it took about an hour.
 
Thanks all on this forum for your hand holding.  Advice here was always spot on and extremely helpful.
 
Richard and Ti

Had combined 751 and N-400 Interview yesterday.
It took a while, over an hour, as the interviewer could not find our 751 online.
Luckily, we had copies of it, but not copies of the evidence, other than 4 years of tax returns. 
Also, since we had taken the I-129 route (K-1), this was the 4th time: K-1, conditional green card, removal of conditions, Naturalization, we had submitted many of these documents, in particular, my last divorce papers. 
In New York State, I have a certified copy of my Divorce Dissolution (but it isn't the actual Dissolution) Not an issue for the previous three submissions since 2017, but now, yesterday it was.
 
After months of trying to reassure my wife that all would go well for this interview and it was a slam dunk; I was worried that we'd be sent home because I had the wrong paper.
 
But after about 20 minutes, the interviewer asked me to take a seat in the back of the office, and she proceeded to ask my wife the naturalization questions. 
 
Then 15 minutes later, she just handed my wife the letter saying she had passed and asked us to follow her to get her oath ceremony appointment. That took less than 10 minutes. Her oath ceremony is next Friday, the 25th, but family members are not allowed to attend. 
 
I'm happy as a clam!
 
USCIS office was north San Antonio off US-281.
We waited about an hour for the interview to start with it took about an hour.
 
Thanks all on this forum for your hand holding.  Advice here was always spot on and extremely helpful.
 
Richard and Ti

You came to this forum seeking advice.
Virtually everyone above has given you the same advice. 
Whether you return to Myanmar or not; ditch the lawyer and the K-1, it will lead to a dead end. 
Re-file CR1. Time will be the same and it wlll save you a few thousand in filing fees.
 
Good luck.
Glad you caught it early. 
 

Good luck!

2. Varies greatly between field offices, and another thing that can change how quickly she gets to take the oath is if she will have a name change or not. For me in Los Angeles, including a name change, it was only 3-4 business days between interview and oath in the middle of the pandemic. 
 
3. No advice really, the N-400 was by FAR the easiest step out of all the immigration related processes I have ever been through. If there's something I wish I would've known beforehand, it would be just that - that it was a lot easier than I had anticipated, less worries.

I assume her 10 year Green Card is expiring.  
1.  For my wife, time from filing to oath took a little more than 5 months.
2.  About 6 weeks (included Christmas/NY holidays)
3.  N-400 was a piece of cake.  Used the guide here on VJ and filed online. 

We appreciate everyone's comments.  
 
We traveled to Myanmar last week and signed the marriage certificate, documented the event with photos, and took several photos post signing for evidence.  I am in the process of compiling all the evidence to submit with the I-130 and I have a question.  I am sure that I am overthinking this, but again my experience working with the government is to ensure I have all my bases covered to eliminate any confusion and more importantly to thwart any delays. 
 
Is there any issue with resizing documents to fit more on one page?  Please see attached example.  I am trying to make it easy for whomever is reviewing this evidence to follow i.e. traveled on this date, here is the visa for that date, here are flight receipts for that date, etc.  Then move to the next visit, rinse and repeat.
Travel Log to visit beneficiary v2.pdf

My Step son entered USA with mother (K-1) in Aug 2019, when we also got married. He was 16 at the time. Got conditional Green card in April 2020 when he was 17. 
We will apply for naturalization in April 2023. Son is going to college and still our dependent. 
 
Will he be included under mother's N-400 or not??
 
Thanks for all the good help.

You came to this forum seeking advice.
Virtually everyone above has given you the same advice. 
Whether you return to Myanmar or not; ditch the lawyer and the K-1, it will lead to a dead end. 
Re-file CR1. Time will be the same and it wlll save you a few thousand in filing fees.
 
Good luck.
Glad you caught it early. 
 

Gender matters.
 
IMO from posts on visa journey, all other things being equal, a female U.S. citizen petitioner who is 31 years older than a male beneficiary, from a non OECD country is more likely to have difficultly than a male U.S. citizen petitioner who is 31 years older than a female beneficiary, from a non OECD country.
 

Let me put this in the most delicate way that New Yorkers are famous for: Stop cherry picking your responses. In my 5 years of experience in the immigration system and this forum, pretty much all the above responses are correct. 
And in most cases, those who take the time to respond are just trying to help.
Had I found this forum before I filed for the k-1, I would have re-thought the plan, as a CR-1, while a bit longer, is less costly and less of a PIA.
 
Can you afford to spend the time with her in her home country?

Bottom Line:  If you have been married for 2 years (or longer) when the new immigrant enters the US via the spousal visa, he/she should be issued a 10 year Green Card.  With a 10 year Green Card, you will avoid the dreaded Removal of Conditions (I-751). 
I would enter a day or 2 after the 2 year anniversary.  Removal of Conditions is not a fun experience.  You should avoid it if, at all, possible.

Advanced Parole ie. I131 can take up to a year to get as processed at NBC.
GC may come even faster than that (or slower) depending on processing times of your local field office.
 
You can monitor both estimated times on the website. 
 
If she leaves the country without approval of one or the other BEFORE she leaves, she cannot return to the US without filing for a spousal visa (which takes 1 to 2 years). She would have to wait overseas. 
 
A pregnancy is 40 weeks or less. That's less than a year. 
 
As you know you can't even really plan a real wedding without a K1.
 
Planning for her to give birth overseas is not wise. 
 
Also AP is advised for short trips usually less than 3 months. IF she did get her AP, and decided to leave for her country, how would you time it so it would be a short trip?
 
Unfortunately, you're thinking of the wrong end of the situation (the baby) rather than the mom.
 

Thanks for sharing. I figured it wouldn't be trivial.
 
I did just put in an e-Request for a typo and supposedly they should get back to me within 3 weeks. The one service request I put in a few years ago actually did work for a green card that never got mailed, but it took more like 2 months. So I'll at least give it one try before calling USCIS.  It really sucks that this letter is also the extension for the 2-year-card. I still can't believe how a one-letter typo can cause so much havoc and be so difficult to fix. The US federal government should just subcontract out the IT infrastructure and all logistics to Amazon or Google because this is a disgrace.  Like, could they not verify what they typed against the A# number? Or just look up the applicant based on the A# rather than typing things in manually?

Thank you for the reply.  It is my understanding that she interviews in the country where she lives regardless of her country of citizenship.
WOW!!!  This is the exact scenario we want to avoid.  SO sorry to hear this, and hopefully you will get approval soon.
Yes, I am so glad I posted a totally unrelated question which led to the discovery of this monumental mistake on the part of our immigration attorney, who has been ditched (had the nerve to try to sell me on paying for his services AGAIN to file CR-1).   However, filing the wrong petition is not totally on the lawyer.  We take full  responsibility, and we will endure the consequences of the misstep.  We are thankful that the price we pay will only be a couple of months, which is a small price to pay. 
 
We are mailing the K1 cancellation notice to CA service center, and I will subsequently be filing the I-130 online ASAP.  I will post our progress and any related CR-1 processing questions in the CR-1 forum.
 
A million thanks to everyone for your help.

The problem is that you could be considered "married" by the officer conducting the K-1 visa interview, 1-2 years from now, leading to denial.  It is very risky to assume otherwise, as you would at that point have to start over with a CR-1, meaning that an immigrant visa, if approved, would take about 4 years.  You need a marriage certificate to switch to CR-1, by filing an I-130.  Utah Zoom marriage is the fastest way to begin the process, and is acceptable for US immigration.  K-1 is not faster than CR-1 these days.  Many years ago, but not anymore.  In many countries it takes longer.  This is why many are recommending that you get married and file an I-130  petition now.  CR-1 is also superior for many additional reasons after arrival in the US.

Signed or not signed, you are considered married and thus ineligible for K1. You can search and read here about many denials for an unofficial ceremonies where nothing was signed but consulate denied their visas because for them it is considered as married.

Wow that was super fast ! Hoping we get our interview scheduled soon too. 

Tramadol may have some narcotic properties, but isn't really considered a narcotic, or addictive  and as such is widely prescribed.
I was on it for many months and never got addicted. Its pretty mild.
 
Plus a 3 months supply is not significant.
 
And its crazy if not cruel to tell her not to bring her medications with her, as long as its less than 90 days and in the original bottle with the prescription label.
 
Furthermore, the FDA allows a foreign national to bring in a 90-day supply of prescription medication. Therefore, I don't know why you are worried at all since she has a legal prescription.
 
 
 

What has been other's experience when entering the US with your spouse when one is a US citizen and other is foreign visitor -- which line during border control have you all gone in and what has been your experience? Both in US Residents line? Both in Vistors line? Separate? 
 
I have seen mixed messaing about this (only US citizens/residents in US line, but also keep families together, etc.), and even have received mix messaging at the airport. 
 
Our story, we live in Chile and were visiting my family in the US, we were the last in line at border control (had to clean up a baby and a toddler after long flight), and we asked someone that looked like he was directing people where to go -- which line we should go in (with US citizen and foreign spouse). He told us to all go in the US citizen line to keep family together. We do that, we arrive at the control and the agent procedes to chew us out, saying my wife isn't a citizen, she shouldn't be in this line etc., I explain that is what we were instructed to do. She then later is pretty rude, and instead of telling my wife that they will do additional screening just asks her "Do you want the baby or do you want to hand it to your husband", we had to ask why and then she told us. 
 
THEN just some lovely contridictory nature of the CBP, she gets to the secondary screening....this agent is very friendly and relaxed, and asks her if she had a green card in the past, she said she did and she officially abandoned it two years ago...and he asks her "why? You should have just kept the green card." Just telling us to commit fraud (keeping a green card while obviously residing in another country). Didn't ask her anything else and let her through. 
 
So yah know....the only consistent thing is the inconsistancy. 
 
 
 
 

If your question is if it will speed up the process, the answer is no. 
 
If you haven’t even started the process yet and the pregancy happens now, just realize that the other partner might not be able to be there during the birth and mom might have to take care of the baby on her own for a bit.
 
Babies and immigration aren’t always the best combo. 

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.
K-1        
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
    In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice   
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
    
CR-1
    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
   

 
***Moved to "What Visa Do I Need"******