Zoeeeeeee

Will do this, thanks!

Just had a look on my USCIS account and can't see any way to upload an additional document, now the N400 has already been submitted 🤔. Hoping it's because I'm on my phone and that I'll be able to do it on a laptop!

Hi! I just submitted my N400 (under 3 year rule) online and, after reading through some posts on here, I'm realizing that I was perhaps supposed to include a letter requesting a combo interview? My 2 year greencard is currently expired and I'm awaiting removal of conditions (have been since March 2022). I assumed that the N400 would just supercede the I-751...but now I'm inferring that there's further action I should have taken, re including that letter. Has anyone done this process and not included that letter (and if so, how did it impact the process)? Many thanks!

Perfect, thanks Dashinka! I actually started filling in a paper form before I realised I could do it online - and then I was hoping that maybe the online version would be smart enough to auto-update to only request information for the last 3 years...but no such luck!

Hello! My first post in a looooong time. I'm applying online for citizenship under the 3 year rule (lawful resident for last 3 years and married and living with US citizen spouse for last 3 years) - and I'm confused about the 'time outside the US' section. It's asking me to provide information on 'trips' I've taken outside the US in the last 5 years - however, I've only lived in the US for just over 4 years. So, should I include the year prior to me moving here...even though that wasn't a trip, it was me living in my home country? Or should I just start the trip history from the date I moved here? Hoping someone who's already done this can advise! Thanks ☺️

Just wanted to add to this from the perspective of someone currently going through the IVF process (I'm 37). Realistically, it's likely going to be difficult for your partner to naturally conceive at 43. I don't want to make you feel negative, but when you have a limited window, it's important to be realistic. I'm currently going through IVF due to infertility, as are 3 of my friends, who are aged 40, 41 and 41. @Jeanne Adil made an excellent point re the risk of giving birth to a child as an unwed mother - so it definitely sounds like you should prioritize marrying first of all, before anything else. I would then recommend starting IVF in Iran. By all means, try naturally first of all if you want - but I can't express this enough - don't waste a lot of time on this. At 43, your partner's chance of naturally just conceiving is less than 5% - and that doesn't even factor in the increased chance of miscarriages (unfortunately, I also speak from experience of miscarriages too). I've just checked the prices of IVF in Iran and they are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than in the US. To put things in perspective, the cost of one IVF cycle at the hospital/clinic I use costs around $30,000, once you factor in all the meds, appointments, procedures, etc. So, financially, it's probably better to do IVF in Iran. You could also then get married, apply for the CR1 and then do the IVF process whilst you're waiting for the CR1 to come through. You don't need to be present for the IVF process, except for giving a sample at the clinic - which can then be frozen for when it's needed. I know this isn't the information you've asked for - but I think it's really important that you both have this info, if you're not already aware.

If you're already married, that would probably explain why your K1 (fiance) visa wasn't granted.

It isn't? That's a shame 😕.

OP, I sincerely hope you're able to find a way to make money - it sounds like you're struggling, if you're prepared to resort to being a test subject. You could enter the diversity lottery, which, if you won, would enable you to move to the US - but you would still need money to pay for your flights and emigration costs, etc. As mentioned before, your sentence structure and grammar is excellent. Are you as proficient in spoken word also? If so, could you look for a role as a translator perhaps? Good luck to you.

Good luck - hope everything works out for you both!

We actually 'registered' our marriage (and by that, I mean signed the license in front of our officiant and a witness) before our wedding too, because we wanted to get the AOS process rolling. We did no vows, we literally just signed it - and then we had a big wedding, with a white dress, vows, weeping mothers and mothers-in-law, etc, a couple of months later (but of course we didn't sign or register anything, because it was already done). Again, only the OP and OP's wife really know what happened - but I feel like the wording he's used (saying they considered the marriage registered, because that was the day they went to court), sounds more to me like that was the day they got their marriage license. Which would then explain why their marriage date is actually listed a few days later, when they did their vows (and presumably signed the license).

I think the wording you/your wife are using probably isn't helping matters. You're referring to 1st August as being the day she 'registered' the marriage...but that they didn't do the vows until 4th August. Now, you don't have to say vows to get married. I didn't. What you do have to do is sign the marriage license and then whoever married you (officiant presumably) would need to send off the form. What your wife did on 1st August was obtain her wedding license - well, that's what I assume, from what you're saying. That's what you go to 'court' to do. You obviously can sign the form there and then and then you are married on the same day - but it doesn't sound like that's what she did, as she did vows 3 days later. I just wanted to highlight that obtaining a wedding license is NOT the same as registering a marriage - in much the same way as booking a hair appointment is not the same as actually having your hair cut. Getting the license enables you to get married - registering the marriage happens after you've actually done the deed and signed the form. Flagging this, because it may help you avoid further confusion when having this conversation with a lawyer and/or USCIS.

I had my wedding in LA...but I had a 'secret wedding' 2 months before, in the OC (because they issue their certificates so much quicker after the wedding). We picked up our marriage license in Irvine, met our officiant for lunch, he married us there (and our waiter was our witness) and we got our certificate a couple of weeks later. We then had our big wedding two months later, in LA (Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon - it was amazing!) and no one knew we were already married 🙂. EDITED TO ADD - actually, that's not true - 2 people at our wedding knew we were already married - our officiant and our 'witness'. No one else, to this day.

The certificate is what you get after you're married - no relation to the license (which you get beforehand). You'll be fine getting your license the day before. But it's the certificate that you need when you send in your green card forms...so you may have to wait 2 months before you can send them.

Unfortunately, I don't know the details of it, as it was something mentioned in passing a few years ago. I believe her parents were denied at the airport in the Philippines - but I honestly couldn't guarantee it wasn't at LAX. I heard the story from her husband, but his main focus in telling the story was that he was desperately scrambling to try to find an alternate route/flights for her parents in the limited time he had before he (and his wife) were due to fly. Also, I've slept many times since then 😆. Regardless, the point I was making was that they weren't granted tourist visas. It definitely happens.

I know of two USCs with parents in the Philippines who applied for B visas. The first (my grandmother-in-law) was granted the visa. That was back in the 90s though and she had strong ties to the Philippines (house, family, business, etc). The second (my friend's parents) were both denied a B visa about 5 years ago. They also own a house and have careers, but they were still denied. They then tried to go on a family holiday to Mexico a year later, which involved a change at LAX (where my friend and her husband were joining them) and they got denied and couldn't continue on to Mexico.

Where does he actually live? That is where I would choose to interview, because it would clearly be the most convenient. And it's definitely not a red flag to interview in the country you live in.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. If your relationship is genuine, then that will reflect when you're answering. I also don't think it's neccessary to swot up on stuff, like it's a school test - because you don't have to know EVERYTHING about one another. They're not going to worry if you don't know what city your husband was born in...but they probably would be concerned if you didn't know what job your husband does or where you live together, etc. But that should all be stuff you know anyway. One of my friends (back in the UK) married a woman from China - and one of the questions she was asked in her interview was 'what football team does he support?'. She responded 'Manchester United'...and her husband was later on like 'I don't support ANY football team... why did you say that?'...his wife thought that she had to give 'an answer' and the correct answer (that he doesn't watch football) would be wrong somehow. So yeah, don't do that! It's ok to not know the answer or say you've never discussed it or whatever! Just be yourself and be honest.

I know this must feel like we're all being super negative - and that it can't be as difficult as we're saying - but the immigration system/process isn't set up to allow people to easily just bring their entire family over...because if it was, everyone would be doing it. Unfortunately, your neices are not immediate family, which essentially means they have no more rights to come to the US above any other random person. And the usual ways that most random people come to the US are via having very special, desirable skills (and getting sponsored for a work visa)...or having lots of money (and being able to afford to study here - or invest here). Or applying for the diversity lottery. There isn't a way to short-cut it or do it on the cheap (which seems to be what you're trying to do) - the system has been very carefully set up to prevent this, or again, everyone would do it. So, whilst it may not be what you want to hear, it's the truth - and if you do try to play the system, whether intentionally or not (ie, register her in your local school for $20 because you've not researched her ineligibility for that), you will have a negative and lasting impact on her long-term ability to visit here (I say visit, because again, a student visa isn't an immigrant visa - you have no direct path to helping her immigrate). Good luck in navigating this situation.

You are making sense...but even for a school exchange program, she will still need a visa (a J1 I believe). She cannot enter the US without one.

To my knowledge, that doesn't exist (though this definitely isn't my area of expertise). The visa is needed to enter the country - they can't apply for it when they're already here. And even a year of high school won't be cheap (to my understanding, even public schools aren't free to international students, who arent residents or citizens, though I could be wrong about that).

You/your husband can't sponsor his nieces, as they're not direct relatives. So if they want to come over, it would need to be on their own (ie, on a student or working visa). You could obviously provide them with a place to stay and help out with their school tuition (spoiler alert - not cheap) - but they would need to do all the visa stuff themselves.

Are you planning on moving back to the US? If not, applying for a greencard is a mistake. They're not there to be used in lieu of a tourist visa...