zachp

She 100% has legally naturalized. She enlisted in the Army which removed the required waiting period. 

It seems the consensus is that the notice is simply an automated message that they forgot to cancel since military service is a bit uncommon. 

1 hour ago, Verrou said:

that reminder if i remember correctly is auto sent letter by USCIS. if you want to be sure, just send brief letter to explain that she already a citizen + copy of naturalization certificate. is there any address on that notice? if yes, send it to that address. 

This was my assumption. Like they just set up the reminder to go out when they issue the green card and do not remove the reminder if something changes (it is uncommon after all for someone to be able to naturalize before they remove conditions).

I think this is a good medium, just sending a response so it shows that we did something

1 hour ago, PaulaCJohnny said:

Is she already a citizen? Does she have certificate and passport?

Yes, she has the certificate, a passport, and a letter from Biden (that everyone gets 🤣)!

My wife became a us citizen in February, she was able to get expedited naturalization through military service. 

We recently received a notice from USCIS to remind us to file a form I-751 to remove conditions since her GC will expire in October. 

I assume this reminder was sent in error but I wanted to find out if anyone else had the same experience and if there is anything we need to do to make sure uscis knows she naturalized? 

I am so happy to see other people are progressing so much faster than us but also so bummed we seem to be on the slow track. FO is Charlotte, NC

Timeline so far: 

12/14/20 - I-485 Packet delivered along with AP and EAD

12/23/20 - Payment processed

1/6/21 - NOA1 sent

3/30/21 - RFIE sent requesting an employment verification letter and additional pay stubs. 

4/15/21 - RFIE response received. 

7/16/21 - Biometrics collected

7/22/21 - Ready to schedule interview

I know the rice slowed us down for sure but I'm hopeful things will start going a bit faster. 

Is it common for the status on both the AP and EAD to stay the same for the whole process? Ours still just says the request has been received. Updates just being made on the AOS case number. 

How long after Biometrics does it usually take to get the combo card? It seems like it usually happens within a couple weeks? 

They sent an email saying to sign back up for an appointment, all the slots were December 24th and then the email ambiguously said to fill out the emergency request. We filled it out and they approved the following day. We then got a fairly open appointment schedule to pick from. I believe this was all because our appointments were cancelled but maybe my reason of closing on a house was enough to get them to agree, not 100% sure (likely they didn't care about the reason). 

Just to add more. My Fiance interviewed on Tuesday and picked up her passport in BKK on Saturday. She arrived at IAD that Sunday  (Thanks to Qatar's extremely generous change policy they were able to make a same day change). She's now been in the US for about 12 days, she is so happy to be here in time for it to get cold 😶.

5 hours ago, KnoxThai said:

Small world!

 

My Fiancé met Fah and they talked for a bit at the embassy today.

 

Hope you had a good result too. 

Yeah, Fah mentioned that they met. Approved so now we just have to wait for the passport. Hoping it is soon but regardless, I'm happy this step of the process is complete. 

11 hours ago, KnoxThai said:

If nothing changes my Fiancé' has her interview for 6 October as well.

 

There are 3 holidays coming up after that date so we think that getting her visa will be delayed a bit.

 

We are planning on her visa arriving almost 2 weeks later.

She may see Fah there then! I am back stateside now, had to leave when Amnesty ended on Sept 26th. We have a flight booked for her on the 9th, hopefully things go as they used to and passports are returned the next day, she scheduled to pick it up at the post office.

To anyone looking at travel arrangements, Qatar Airways has a very flexible change policy that we're using so she can fly as soon as she gets her passport back basically. Fingers crossed we don't get stuck in Administrative processing. Keep in mind, they dont allow changes to be made within the first 14 days of making a booking but anyone with an appointment in late October to November, it may be a good option to look at. 

3 hours ago, KnoxThai said:

How long did it take to approve your emergency request?

 

We submitted our request yesterday and they offered us 7 October if we are approved.

We got approved one day after (requested Friday, approved Monday), the date you put on your request does not seem to matter much, they will just approve it and then you choose the date that is available. 

10 hours ago, Steve and Nicha said:

This is great that you shared this screen.  It gives a good idea how often interviews are occurring.  Can you provide some information regarding how many time slots are being offered for each day?  This will give an idea how many interviews are being conducted per month.  Thanks so much!

I didn't click around a lot because I didn't want to lose our slot. It looked like there were 2 appointments per day, at least on the days I clicked. 

I also was not included on the email, but my fiance was. Make sure to keep an eye on the email account that signed up for the ustraveldocs site because that will be the account notified. 

Our emergency request was approved and we were able to make an appointment on Oct 6.

On 9/19/2020 at 2:36 AM, x3n said:

 

I don't believe that the December 23rd thing is really when the interviews will be. According to the instructions, you apply for an interview on Dec 23rd and then submit an emergency request, which they'll use to set your actual interview date. When I went through the process this morning, the emergency request page said something like the next available interview was Sept 23. That sounds too soon, but December sounds way to late. My guess is that the actual interviews (once the embassy starts processing the emergency requests) will be spread through October for the most part - depending on how many they can do in a day. That's just my guess (and hope) though. Regardless, it's progress at last!

 

 

Yeah, I submitted our request as well. Hoping we'll get an update from the embassy today on the emergency request. We still need to do medical and the police certificate so hopefully we can get everything wrapped up quickly. I'm leaving Thailand when amnesty expires here on the 26th, it's unlikely but it would be amazing if we could travel together. Fingers crossed. 

We got an email (as did it seems like everyone that was cancelled based on the Thai US Visa facebook group) asking us to schedule an appointment for Dec. 23. They showed 50 slots available for each time, so about 300+ appointments in one day? I wonder what they're doing but at least progress is being made!

As someone that is currently in Thailand with my Fiance. I don't understand why they are delaying any appointments at this time, Thailand is nearly at 100 days without a community born virus case and life here has more or less returned to pre-covid normal except now you have to wear a mask at 7-11. 

I really hope the embassy begins scheduling K1 interviews soon primarily because it just doesn't make sense to say you can't interview Thai nationals that have not had a case in over 3 months. 

It's also worth noting, there are no restrictions on departing Thailand at this time. I have a flight to return to the US at the end of September (my Thai visa/amnesty is running out) and there are plenty of seats out. Yes, there are limited options compared to before however, it's really not that hard to leave.

I hope so too but at least for that delay we will be together in the US. 

I emailed this morning. They reiterated that no K visas are being scheduled at this time and did not provide a date that they would, with that all being said - we're heading in the right direction, my guess is they are figuring out how to clear the backlog out. If anything, the number of immigrant visas that were suspended, I am hopeful that it means family visas will be processed faster than we'd expect. Time will tell. 

Just as a heads up to anyone going to the process. I emailed yesterday asking if there was a change due to COVID-19. I just got a response that said:

Quote

 

As of March 19, 2020, the United States Embassy and Consulate in Thailand are cancelling Immigrant Visa appointments until further notice.  We will resume routine Immigrant Visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time.  When we resume scheduling appointments, applicants who had their immigrant visa interviews cancelled due to the cessation of operations will be given first priority for rescheduling. 

 

Once we resume Immigrant Visa operations, we will contact you with a new appointment date....

 

Pretty disappointed. We were hoping to be back in the US late May but this could cause a pretty big delay in our plans.

Good luck to everyone else out there!

9 hours ago, elkski said:

what emails do they send?  do they send to both petitioner and beneficiary?   Do they send to notify they have received the file? and when approved?  is it really taking 4 months from Noa2 to interview date? 

I (the petitioner) received a confirmation/package 3 from the embassy when they received my file. When we submitted package 3, we used my Fiance's email address. When they sent the interview date, it was sent to my fiance. All of this was via email. We got our NOA2 on Feb 6 and our interview date was scheduled for May 11, package 3 was submitted the same day as we received it.