reach449

My wife just had her interview a few hours ago. She didn't miss any questions and the lady that interviewed her said she was impressed. She will say the Oath on April 27th. It has been a long process over the years, but her and I are finally coming to the end of our Journey! Good luck to everyone else!

Reach449

My wife just had her interview a few hours ago. She didn't miss any questions and the lady that interviewed her said she was impressed. She will say the Oath on April 27th. It has been a long process over the years, but her and I are finally coming to the end of our Journey! Good luck to everyone else!

Reach449

This is a vague request, but they're actually trying to help you. If there has been a new development since you filed the application or if there's something you forgot, they are trying to tell you being supporting documents, but they don't know what to ask for. For example, if you had a child they may want to see the birth certificate or if you were arrested they will want to see the court documents. Or if you forgot to tell them about a time you owed taxes, they'll want to see a payment plan. It's just a reminder to being anything else that may be important that they don't know about so they don't have to give you an RFE at the interview. If you don't have anything to take, then don't take anything. They'll ask for anything they need at the interview and they'll give you a month to provide it. Of course, it's frustrating when you're alread fed up with theong process. I understand how you feel. By the way, everyone gets asked to take their ID and passport to the interview.

On the other hand, I don't understand your complaint about the moral character questions at all. They need to ask those. Some of those questions disqualify you for citizenship and some do not. Some only cause a delay in natutalization. Wouldn't you want them to ask if people had a criminal past before naturalizying them? They don't know you, your wife, or me; we are just three out of millions of immigrants they process and those questions are not an insult; they are part of the process. Not everyone's answers are no. There are people who answer yes to those questions.

Also, l think you have some major misconceptions about what the president's executive order on deferred action actually does.

Best of luck in the interview. It sounds like you're well prepared and your wife will do fine. Don't get too stressed about it; the vast majority pass.

Thanks for the information it was very helpful. I agree with you 100% about asking the moral questions; they need to be asked. BUT the government IS NOT asking whom I was talking about. There are many, many, cases of felons, gang members, coming over here to ILLEGALLY and eventually will get at least a green card thru the president's actions; in fact many are getting state Driver's licenses now...and many more will be part of POTUS Exec Action on immigration. And I don't have "misconceptions" about POTUS's policy on this. But never-the-less we all have our opinions and I might not agree, but I do respect yours.

Again, thanks a million for your info, especially about bringing driver's license and passport is normal. :-) I will also print the most current bank statements and mortgage statements for her interview.

Take care,

reach449

If you have filed under the 3 year rule, I would bring additional evidence of your marriage. I brought a few more bank statements from the time frame of after ROC and now and a copy of our HUD of the house we bought last year. I also had brought a few flight tickets and such things. My IO just asked me after the Civics test if I had anything else that USCIS had not gotten from me in the past and that I would like to add, so I gave them the Bank Statements and Hud, but i kept the flight tickets and a few things i had submitted in my ROC package!

In the rare case that they want to see something else that you don't have on you that moment they allow you to mail it in after the interview. Good luck with the process

Thanks, I appreciate it. I did send in our gas, electric, bank accounts, and mortgage which both of our names and addresses are on all these. And of-course our last 3 tax returns, which were filed jointly. Besides of the passport and DL, I just have no idea of what else to send to show we have happily been married for seven years, but I will see what else I can think of.

Reach449

When I filed my wife's N-400 we sent every document the USCIS wanted...Bill, Bank accounts, my passport, front and back on green card, 3 years of tax returns, and a lot more. Last week we got a notice in the mail from USCIS that we need to bring more docs to the interview, not send them now. Now they want a copy of my wife's driver's license and her Thailand passport and "any other important documents", (exact words). Just what in the hell is "any other important documents?" We sent what they wanted and now they ask for passport, driver's license, and "important documents".

You know, I don't want to go on a rant, sort of speak, but I am fed-up with the whole system! When we filled out the N-400 and answered ALL of those questions about prison time, breaking the law etc..it really got me angry. Of-course all of her answers were "NO". As everyone here on VJ we do the process the legal and right way and pay thousands of dollars. But when I see our government letting in criminals, gang members, mostly likely terrorists and who know what other kind of people and give them a free green card and going letting them "go to the head of the line", it angers me. Not to mention they most likely get free health care and subsidies.... and no interviews. What has happened to our country???The government is watering down US Citizenship and making it "less valuable" by doing this!

We will be happy for my wife to get her Citizenship and we will cherish it...because we worked and did everything the right way. But always in the back of my mind is the 11,000,000 that get a lot for nothing. I realize they don't get citizenship, but it starts a pathway for them to get there.

Anyway, I am sorry for my rant...hope someone can tell me why more documents and if it a "normal thing", if anything anymore is normal.

Thanks Everyone,

Reach449

Completed Biometrics on February 3rd. Got a notice today via email that USCIS is in the process of scheduling interview. But have no idea when that will be.

reach449

Still a December Filer. Had to re-send N-400 package in late December because the first N-400 was out of date. Anyway, USCIS has cashed check and sent me an email confirming they have received the package. Waiting now on the I-797.

Reach449

I filled out the form on-line and it was saved to my PC. I just downloaded the form not more than two months ago and it expired in 2013. I do print everything and double check it, then save it to my hard-drive, but really didn't think the form was out of date when I downloaded it from the USCIS! No joke, the form was downloaded from their site, not from some link to it. So I don't know what the heck happened. Somehow I must have got into their old forms or there was a glitch on their website that day....so IRI Svc you are right we should all double check....even forms you download from the USCIS that could be out of date.

Yes I will do it right now, as I did before, everything except for using an expired form. In fact the package is already to send out again.

Reach449

Don't know how I missed this, but I sent in outdated version of N-400 and today just got it returned. Will have to fill out newest N-400 and re-send. Damn!

Reach449

Thanks for the info Asia; pretty good information.

It just might be easier to get him to the states somehow and wait for the goverment to give him a "free" green card. It seems all of here on VJ doing the process the "right way", is somehow diluted by what is going on with-in our own goverment now-a-days....

Thanks again,

Reach449

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I want to bring her 46 year old brother from Thailand and eventually get him a green card. But my wife disagrees on the way to do it...........

My wife has read on Thai websites, that cover this subject, that it is better for her to petition for her Mom first. After her Mom gets approved and becomes a US citizen, THEN her Mom would petition for my wife's brother. My wife says this way works the best because of what she has read on the Thai websites. I am guessing the reason is, since the Mom would be petitoning for the son, is better than a sister petitioning for a brother?? This way seems more confusing than the way I would like to do it.

The way I would like to do it is just wait for my wife to become a US citizen, (we just sent in the N-400 package for her), and for her to petition for her brother. This way we would only be peitioning for one person instead of two. Besides, my wife's Mom would not come to the USofA anyway. But my wife insists her way will work better and faster..

So my question is: Is there any basis of truth to what my wife is reading on the Thai websites? Is it easier for Mom to petition for a child, than a sister for a brother? IF it is wouldn't it take a lot longer? Thanks for help and opinions on this subject.

Feeling confused,

Reach449

Hi Everyone,

We just FedEx'ed my wife's N-400 package to the Lewisville, TX Lockbox today. So I guess I am a new "December Filer". Tried to add to the "December Filer's thread", but didn't understand step 4 of the process; "quote coding" removal. I guess I will eventually figure it out.

It just seems like yesterday that we filed for removal of conditions, time sure does fly by. We are so glad to finally file for Naturalization.

Reach449

Thanks everyone. I want to send it FedEx, not for faster delivery time, but for tracking, like deidre's reasons. I like being able to track on-line. I will not send it to a P.O. box, for sure. I am fortunate to have worked for FedEx for 15 years, so my discount will come in handy this time. I just wanted to hear if anyone had any problems sending through FedEx or UPS.

Thanks Everyone; I'll be posting more soon and hopefully all good news..

Reach449

I believe courier don't deliver to PO Box that's why there is different address. If you are not in a hurry, just use USPS Priority Mail (flat rate envelope) and they will have it at around 3 days at a cheaper cost. You can have it certified for if you want.

The USCIS website has two addresses. The one for USPS is a P.O. Box, the one for the courier has a street address in a different city, (Lewisville, TX) instead of Dallas. I just wanted to know if anyone has ever sent the package via FedEx or UPS to the Lewisville, TX address? In fact all of the N-400 delivery areas have two addresses as this one does.

See: http://www.uscis.gov/n-400

Reach449

I am ready to mail my wife's N-400 package to the USCIS. On the USCIS website there are two addresses to mail your application. One is mailing through the USPS and Courier, (other than USPS). I would like to mail to the courier address via FedEx. Has anyone sent the application through FedEx or UPS? I noticed the address and city for USPS is different than sending it FedEx. This is why I am curious.

Thanks,

Reach449

I have done some searches here on VJ for this topic and it doesn't look like a good idea to reschedule anything, but I will wait to see what you here on VJ has to say about this matter.

Reach449

Hi Everyone,

I am getting ready to send my wife's N-400 package on Monday. By looking at the timelines here on VJ, it seems that a lot of people are getting their interviews around four months later. In four months, (November), we will be going to Thailand for 3 weeks. IF she gets scheduled for and interview while we are away on vacation, is it a "big deal" to reschedule her interview? If we do have to reschedule how much more time are we looking at? Should I make a note of this in the N-400 package? Hopefully this will not happen, but wanted to check in and see what you guys think.

Thanks,

Reach449

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been a few years since I have posted on Visa Journey, but have always been checking in and keeping up and reading posts. I haven't posted, but have always kept up.

Well, since my wife and I got married in September of 2007, we have had a wonderful marriage and are growing together everyday. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me, that is for sure. She has and always will be the greatest and biggest part of my life. I can't imagine a life without her now. She has had a great job as a pharmacy tech since 2008 and is enjoying living here in the USoA. We have made 4 trips to Thailand to visit her family since we were married and plan to go again the end of this year. She loves it here, but she always misses her family that is 12,000 miles away; as I am sure all of you that have spouses far away from their home can attest to.

Anyway, the reason I am posting is that I have the N-400 package and all supporting documents ready to mail. One question I do have is, is it necessary to send the package in with a cover letter? I know the answer might be somewhere here on VJ, but to be honest I did do a search, but didn't spend a lot of time doing it, so I thought I would just ask the question by this post. I did not see anything about a cover letter in the N-400 guide, so I am assuming I don't need to send one, but want to make sure first.

Well, the cover letter question is the only one I can think of asking, but if anyone thinks of anything else that I might need to know before sending, please don't hesitate to tell me. I plan to make copies of everything today and probably mail it out tomorrow or next Monday. As far as "supporting documents", I have, >last 3 tax returns, bank/charge account statements, marriage certificate, her two photos, copy of MY passport, current mortgage statement, color copy of permanent resident card, and a few more docs. All of the bank/charge/tax and mortgage docs have her name on them also.

Again, thank you for all of your help over the last few years and I am sure I will start posting again as soon as I file the N-400. Glad to be back! Everyone take care and good luck with your journeys you are taking at this time.

Randy

Thanks a lot for the info....

I am a retired USAF Veteren. I am beginning the process of US Citizenship for my wife. We have been married for 7 years and she has a full time job. My question is, as a VETEREN do I get any discount on the fees for filing a N-400? I can't seem to find this answer about Vets, just active duty personel. Thank you, I am sure this question has been answered before,

Reach449

Hi Everyone,

This is my second time posting on this subject, but for some reason when it was posted it turned out to be blank, so I am trying again.......

I know this question has been asked a million times here on VJ. In fact I have read many many threads on this subject, but there are mamy answers and many different answers. So I want to ask again. Thanks for your patience ahead of time.. :-) We have booked a round trip flight for my wife in January on Delta/Korean Air from Memphis>Bangkok. The leg from Memphis to ATL is on Delta and the rest is on Korean Air. We booked the flight using her MARRIED name and her Thai passport obviously has her MAIDEN name. I feel very embarressed because we have done this trip twice already, but for the life of me I cannot remember how we did it before...lol So I will ask the question again..

Since her ticket is in her married name and her passport has her maiden name, do you think we will have any problems? We plan to take our marriage certificate with us if needed. I did call Delta, and for our initial check-in at Memphis, Delta said it would be "no problem", however I am not sure how confident the Delta rep was when she gave me her answer.

So what do you guys think? Anyone with experiance with Delta/Korean Air or flying to Thailand with this same scenerio? But any answers would greatlly be apprecieatied.

Thanks in advance for your help and Merry Christmas!

Reach449

Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted to VJ. We have booked my wife a ticket on Korean Airlines connecting with Delta Airlines for the domestic part of the trip, round trip Memphis>Bangkok. We booked it on-line with her current married name and her passport has her Maiden name. Yes, I have read many many threads here on VJ about this, but the answers are many and many are different. This is not the first time we have traveled, but for the life of me...lol... I can't remember what we did last time and cannot find any old tickets. So I know this question has been asked a million times on VJ, but I will ask once again. She will be traveling with her current Thai passport with her maiden name and her ticket is in her married name, as with all of her other ID's. We do plan to take our Marraige Certificate with us as a back-up. Do you guys think we will be ok and not have any problems? We use Delta to connect to Korean Air in Atlanta and the rest of the trip is with Korean Air. I did contact Delta and they said it should be "no problem", however the Delta rep didn't seem too confident for my taste.

Anyway, any experiances with this issue, especially people flying on Delta or Korean or going to Thailand, any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks a Lot in advance for you help and answers.

Reach449

Mr. Reach:

In my 25 years as an immigration lawyer I have encountered many cases where people thought that a tourist visa qualified to do anything, to stay as long as they liked, and to enter as many times as they cared to. Sometimes a person on a tourist visa will get xis months on his I-94 and stay until that time is almost up. They s/he will come back a month later and stay another six months. This is all in good faith thinking that they are entitled to do this. When they come in the third time, or if they have to go the Consulate in their country to renew the visa they are sent back or the visa is denied, even though they fulfilled the terms of the I-94. These are people who honestly think that they have done everything right and don't understand why they have been detained.

"Acting suspicious" is a difficult term to define. Good people with legitimate visas are often nervous when they step up to the immigration officer at the airport. Yes, some do try to hide something, and sometimes they get away with it. But if they enter frequently sooner or later they will be caught. I have been in the secondary inspection area at the Newark airport. There are a lot of people there, some who have just gotten off of flights from as far as Asia that have lasted 20 hours and who have to spend the night. Its no fun. Many, but not all, are eventually sent back. satraylor

Satraylor,

I guess I was a little "hard" on you with my first response. I would like to apologize for that. In your quote above you offered a lot of good information and it is all true. I guess when I first read your response it just seemed a little negative to me, among all the positve responses. I agree with you as we all know here on VJ that the USCIS and US Customs are in constant change and never really close to 100% consistent. The employees of these agencies are humans and have their bad and good days just as we do. But a bad day for them can really affect someone who is just trying to "do the right thing". With exceptions, as in every situation in life, I feel that mostly the US Custom agents do a good job screening people. It is that those few times when they make a big mistake is what we hear about the most here on VJ.

Entering the USofA legally is always a challenge and there are just to many "built in variables" that should not be there. But I guess everyone just has to live with it all. It is always that way when human beings and their emotions are involved. When my wife arrived for the first time, the Customs agent made some of the most un-needed stupid remarks to her, I almost wrote the goverment about it. He told her she was marrying a "rich guy", (which I am not); he said she was a very attractive woman and if her marraige did not work out to contact him,(he actually gave her his phone #)! There were more remarks and my future wife handled it the best way she could and made it thru the checkpoint. We were so happy she made it and just forgot about it. I never even mentioned all of it in VJ on my Entry evaluation.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. Thanks for your information. We will press on with my in-laws visit in November and hope everything will work out. We try to plan for every situation they might encounter on the trip over to entering the customs area. That is all we can do.

Take Care,

Reach449

I have my interview on the 26th of July so I will tell you all how it went. I have all the documents(bank statements+payslips, work contract, invitation letter, round trip ticket, letter from my manager aproving my holiday, lease from my flat) so what happens happens:)

Good Luck Eddyy! Be sure to let us know how it went. We here at VJ wish you the best!

Reach449

Be careful. A B-2 vias does not allow you to come and go from the United States as you please. If you take too many trips and spend too much time here you run the risk of having the officer at the airport determine that you are no longer a visitor but are really residing in the US. S/He will then void the visa and send you back. Also, remember that a visa is not an automatic entry into the US: you have to convince the airport officer each time that you are really a visitor and don't intend to work or study in the US. Most of the time this isn't a problem, but sometimes they are just in a bad mood and give you a hard time. Stephen Traylor Attorney at Law

Satraylor, (Attorney at Law),

I agree with almost everything you say, but don't be such a "spoil sport". Yes, a tourist can't be coming to visit ten times a year or stay six months at a time. I think most people here on VJ have enough smarts to realize points such as these that you mentioned. After all it is a Tourist Visa.....and yes the custom official determines the time of stay the visitor will have here and he can deny it. But like you said that rarely happens and as long as the Tourist are prepared for the entry, by letting customs know that they are only here for a few weeks visiting their relatives it really should be no problem. The people they send back, which is rare, are the ones that are hiding something or acting suspicious.

Reach449 (Aircraft Maintenance Technician)