wil

Can I send the package via Fedex? I think I can't send it to USCIS P.O. Box 804616 Chicago, IL 60680-1029.

Which address can I send to by Fedex?

You don't need to send neither G-325A nor passport pictures of anybody. When the case is moved to the NVC, you will need passport picture of your mother.

Just focus on that for now so you don't get yourself confused.

Thank you. I'm a little confused.

Do I need to send my mother's birth certificate? And how about her marriage certificate? She has divorced.

I sent these for my parents:

Contents include:

• This covering letter

o Check: for the amount of $355 (payable to U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative

• Copy of birth certificate of beneficiary

• Two Copies of Marriage Affidavit for beneficiary ( You need to send this if you are applying for both parents)

• Copy of Proof of Citizenship of petitioner

• Copy of US Passport of petitioner

• Copy of Birth Certificate of petitioner

Hope this helps...Good Luck...Thanks, Raj

Hi,

So you did not send passport photo of yours, your mother or your father? No G-325A either?

You need some G-325As as well -

please read - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide1

ya, it's for CR-1 - is exact for IR-5 also. skip the 'Note: Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage' section for the I-130.

The bio page of passport requirement comes in for the G-325A.

You'll need two sets - one for you (the petitioner ) and one for yer mother .

Thanks Darnell.

Do I need to send a passport photo of mine with the package too? I read checklist 12: One passport-type photo (see specification) of the petitioner. Write the full name on the back. Place in a plastic bag and label the bag "Photo of <Insert Name>". Attach the bag to a sheet of paper and place behind the corresponding G-325a.

And do i need to send my mother's passport photo?

Thanks for all the advice I got this afternoon. Now I'm preparing I-130 to petition for my mother. I read the instructions of I-130.

Here are the documents I will send. Can you tell me if they are enough? Did I miss any?

1. I-130 form

2. Check of $355

3. Copy of my Naturalization certificate

4. Copy of my US passport

5. Copy of my birth certificate

6. Copy of my marriage certificate (to show that why my name was changed)

Is that it? No need to send a copy of my mother's passport or any ID of hers?

I read some other's processing procedures. It seems back and forth a lot of forms will be sent back to me even a bill to pay? I'm really new to this and not sure the whole procedure of it. Is there a step 1, 2, 3... so i can know what to expect next?

Thank you.

If I were in your shoes, I would have filed the I-130 petition for IR5 visa the day after receiving the citizenship 'paperwork'. She'd probably have her interview in March 2010 (if you used e-file at NVC) .

Seriously, file an I-130 whilst Mom is in China.

There are NOT 'wait times' for parents of USC - it goes as fast as one for a spouse, sometimes faster.

If you want MORE speed on an I-130 that's bound to GUZ, then enroll in NVC electronic processing, once the petition is at NVC - see http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...onic_Processing

There was another recent USC with Chinese parents that was planning the same as you - adjust stateside when here on B2 visa, posting here on VJ sometime in the last 6 months. Didn't see any followup with 'what he did' - but.

Seriously, making the attempt is a huge risk - as MUST prove up is NOT Visa Fraud. That's going to be hard to do. USCIS assumes firstly, is Visa Fraud, when they see this type of case. Is nothing you can do to change the 'first assumption' - this is how it's handled. Sure, you can present all the evidence that you think you have, that you think they want, to OVERCOME the INITIAL ASSUMPTION of Visa Fraud, but, IMO, will be useless to attempt - as her 'situation', as you've described it, fits the USCIS parameters for VISA FRAUD.

Has it been done before? Sure.

Will you be successful? Hard to say, I'm betting with a 'NO' answer.

If I would have known this, I would have applied for her in Sep. That time my mother was still in New York with me... She returned in Oct...

But I will do the legal way to apply for her. Thank you!

Thank you for all your advice. If i apply for I-130 for my mother now, can she still come to visit us in Mar 2010 before her visa expires? How long do you think they will let her stay?

How about this? Can she go to US embassy to ask for a new visa since hers is going to expire?

It only takes 6-8 months for petitioning parents of US citizens nowadays. Why go the risky way? Start the paper work now and your mother would be here by the end of the summer.

I don't want the risk. The thing is my mother is planning to visit us early Mar 2010 before her visitor visa expires. She came here once in Apr 2009 and left in Oct 2009. So i think the customs at the airport will give her permission to stay 6 months again just like her last visit.

If i apply for her through I-130 now and let's say the procedure lasts 7 months, by the time her interview is scheduled in her country, that will be July 2010. But she will be here in USA with us in July 2010. What's going to happen? She has to fly back to China just for the interview?

Hi, can someone give me some advice on this?

I became a US citizen Sep 2009. My mother has a vistor visa B1/B2 valid for multiple entries in 1 year (to be expired 03/24/10).

I'm planning to ask my mother to come to visit us in New York in early March 2010 just before her visitor visa expires. After she gets here in USA, i think i can apply green card for her while she is in USA with a visitor visa. Is that allowed? Will this be an issue?

What kind of forms shall i fill out and send to apply green card for her?

Thank you for any comment.

But i did read that some people do that and sucessfully got green card for their parents. Is there anything specified on www.USCIS.GOV?

Hi, can someone give me some advice on this?

I became a US citizen Sep 2009. My mother has a vistor visa B1/B2 valid for multiple entries in 1 year (to be expired 03/24/10).

I'm planning to ask my mother to come to visit us in New York in early March 2010 just before her visitor visa expires. After she gets here in USA, i think i can apply green card for her while she is in USA with a visitor visa. Is that allowed? Will this be an issue?

What kind of forms shall i fill out and send to apply green card for her?

Thank you for any comment.

My wife is going to the Oath ceremony Mid-Sep. She will be officially 'US Citizen'. She would like to apply for her parents to immigrant to USA right after she becomes a citizen.

But she is unsure if she can apply for both her father and mother (birth parents). They are divorced. Her mother is single now. Her father is married to her step-mother. She only wants to apply for her birth mother and father.

Is it possilbe? Is it to file separately but based on the same application with same documents?

Thanks for your help.

Thank you l.j./1999.

I will tell my wife to bring 2-year green card and her EAD as well. As to other immigration documents, I don't think we have any.

We will hold on the oath letter until the end. So we will get the original certificate at the ceremony. I thought they will mail us the certificate...

Congratulations l.j./1999!

Thanks for your details on the oath ceremony. My wife just received her Oat Letter this past Saturday. She will have her Oath ceremony at the same place (Brooklyn) on Sep 18.

We read through yours and that is very helpful. Can you tell us what kind of documents your husband took for the ceremony? Only greencard and the letter? Any other?

wil,

Congrats on your wife's upcoming swearing-in!

For documents to bring, the Oath Letter and Green Card are the most important ones (since they won't let you in the oath ceremony room without those). My husband also brought his first conditional green card, and his EADs from before he became a permanent resident, which were collected by USCIS.

If you have any other immigration documents (Advance Parole or Re-entry Permit) you should bring those too to turn in to the USCIS officials.

Another thing, after the oath letter is reviewed by them, make sure to hold on to it till the end of the ceremony -- everyone had turn in the Oath Letter at the very end to get their Naturalization Certificates.

Congratulations l.j./1999!

Thanks for your details on the oath ceremony. My wife just received her Oat Letter this past Saturday. She will have her Oath ceremony at the same place (Brooklyn) on Sep 18.

We read through yours and that is very helpful. Can you tell us what kind of documents your husband took for the ceremony? Only greencard and the letter? Any other?

Our officer is dark hair in her 30's. She looks more friendly (my husband said) than she is after I told him my interview experience.

I think NYC interview is the toughest. You can expect anything.

So Krysia, you did not get immediate approval at the interview but you got the approval letter in the mail two weeks later after your interview. Correct? Did you get your oath letter yet?

It seems recently USCIS website's update is not accurate. I read a few memebers here received late notice or incorrect notice on line.

I would suggest you giving USCIS hotline a call to double check if they did mail you a letter. It's possible that they sent RFE for N400. But it should not take that long for you to recieve if they had sent it on Aug 5th.

I checked my status online and here is what I saw:

Application Type: N400, APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION

Current Status: Request for Additional Evidence Sent

On August 5, 2009, we mailed a notice requesting additional evidence or information in this case N400 APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION. Please follow the instructions on the notice to submit the requested information. This case will be in suspense until we receive the evidence or the opportunity to submit it expires. Once we receive the requested evidence or information and make a decision on the case, you will be notified by mail. If you move while this case is pending, call 1-800-375-5283 to update your address.

The problem is that the only thing that I recieved since NOA was the biometrics appointment notice (sent on August 6, notice date August 6). I did biometrics last Friday and haven't recieved anything else yet.

Did anyone else have the same issue? I heard that N-400 doesn't have an RFE option but this got me worried. I sent plenty of evidence with N-400 and have no idea what else they may need. And the biggest thing that worries me is that I never recieved any paper RFE notice from them - just this online thing. Can it be biometrics notice? Or just a mistake maybe? Please let me know if anyone else has/had same experience!

Hi, we just had N400 interview at downtown Manhattan (Federal Plaza) yesterday.

A lot of people got there early. I think we were set for the 1st batch to interview (7:25am). But my wife was not called until 8:50am. It took her about 20 minutes. However I did see others even took longer. I think nothing is easy at NYC! I believe the officers ask for many more questions than anywhere else.

The officer asked a lot of questions. Since she was questioned so much and she could not recall all. The 1st question was 'can i see your birth certificate'? My wife did not bring her birth certificate only mine! She explained to the officer that hers was submitted at her 1st application when she was applying for K-1. The officer took a look at the thick file and was searching for my wife's birth certificate. She did not say anything after this. We don't know if she found it or not. But we never knew they still asked for birth cert at N400? We knew they need citizen spouse's birth cert.

The officer asked for 'What's your husband's name? Where is he living? What's his company's name? What's his occupation? Are you married? Did you pay tax?' My wife gave her the tax transcript from 2005-2008. She took everything and even read them page by page and she filed them. She also asked where my wife is working? What's her occupation? What's her current employer's name and address?

She asked my wife what kind of documents she brought today. My wife had our mutual bank statement, utility bills, rental statement. She grabbed all and took 3 each and filed them. Fortunately my wife did take 2 more passport photos with her to the interview because she did not like the ones we submitted with the original application. We don't know if this is lucky or unlucky...

The officer asked all those routine 'yes' & 'No' question right after. And then asked my wife to read and write a sentence, then 6 questions. She got it all correctly.

My wife told me the officer spoke really fast! There is no even a short 'break'. The officer has no smiling face. When she asked my wife 'do you have children'? My wife said 'not yet but it's on the way.' The officer said 'so you are pregnant'. She did not even say 'Congratulations'.

In the end, the officer said 'okay, you passed the test but we are going to review your files and will mail you the decision'.

It's not a too bad interview but my wife said she just felt a little bit 'rough' even we submitted all required documents and brought enough paperwork.

We would like to know if anyone who had interview at the same place as we did? Is it normal to have no result at the interview? How long will they mail us the decision?

I will have my wife take2 new photos with her just in case USCIS has lost them.

Thanks all for your reply.

Hi,

My wife's citizenship interview is at the end of this month. On the notification letter, it says 'it's not required but we recommend you to bring 2 more passport photos to the interview'....

Is it necessary to take 2 more passport photos and bring them to the interview? Has anyone been questioned for that at the interview?

I'm just thinking if it's not necessary, why need to go to take passport photos again since we did submit them with N400 application?

Any idea?

Thanks.

Yeah, I hope so too krysia!! It's just that I've been checking forums and talking to people and no one ever heard of a request for more info when oath date was already set. You're right though NY is defintely something;)

Hi Tini27,

Did you get any letter yet? Your oath is around the corner...

Hi, just want to share this with you.

We got the interview letter last week and the date was set for Aug 20 in downtown Manhattan (Federal plaza). We just had fingerprint done on June 24. Our application was sent at the end of Jan, 2009.

In the interview notification letter, it says they recommend us to bring 2 more passport style photos. But we did send our package with 2 required photos. Does anyone have an idea of that?

Our interview time is at 7:25am but it says normally it takes 2 hours or more to process. We have to get up early on that day for sure. Has anyone had the interview there? Will you have the Oath ceremony after the interview?

Thanks.

I just called NBC hotline.

You know what they told me? Each application must have new fingerprint taken. Previous fingerprint on I-751 is not acceptable on N-400. Everyone has to take a new one.

So I asked her why they mailed me last time telling me my fingerprint is still valid. That person asked me to read the letter I received but I told her I don't have it with me. She said you need to call back with the letter and read it to us. And then we can help you further.

This is getting more and more stories from different people...

From what I've seen, the Garden City sub-office in Long Island is much slower than the main NYC office in Manhattan. So if you live in Brooklyn, Queens or Long Island, that might explain the longer wait.

Since you didn't have fingerprints done recently, it could be that the old prints they had on file had expired while you were on the queue and that is also delaying your interview appointment. In that case, an Infopass might be in order to make sure you get the biometrics done as soon as possible if the expired FP are in fact holding up the interview scheduling.

Good luck and please share your experience! We are just a few months behind you!

Hey l.j/1999, thanks for that piece of information which really makes sense. Someone in the Bronx filed in February and is nearly done with the process, oath is mid june.

I filed in March and haven't got an interview date yet so yessssss Garden city is much slower.

@ Wil, when did you take fingerprints last? I took mine in May 2008 but still had to take another set in April 2009 for the N400, less than a year. in fact, I was told that you had to have the FP valid on your interview date so like Ij/1999 suggested call them, they may have expired in the meantime!

Hi Tini27,

The fingerprint really drives people crazy... Some say it's valid for 1 year and some say 1.5 years. Our last fingerprint was taken March 2008 for I-751. We contacted them in Feb 2009 after we submitted N-400 in late Jan 2009. They mailed us replying our fingerprint is still valid, not necessary to re-take it.

But I did read someone who went to the interview with the fingerprint expired and was advised by the officer at the interview that they have to take their fingerprint again and come back for another interview. That person said he/she was advised by USCIS before the interview that they don't need to re-take the fingerprint because it was still valid. But when they went to the interview, the officer told them something else.

If the fingerprint is valid for 1 year so ours expired already. It's June now. I think we should give USCIS another call to find out if they can schedule us to take the fingerprint.

NYC is moving really slow. So i guess even the fingerprint is valid for 1.5 years, by the time we get our interview date, it will still pass 1.5 years...

Sorry to confuse you.

We did receive NOA in Feb. When I called them in late Feb about the fingerprint, they mailed us stating my fingerprint is still good.

And then it's just waiting...

I saw someone else from NYC submitted application in Feb and got interview for June 2nd...

We are just unsure about ours... Or most cases are slow in NYC?....

Hi,

I saw a lot of people who sent their applications in Feb already got their interview date.

But ours were sent and received by NBC at the end of Jan and we still did not hear anything from them. Is it because we are in New York City and it is kind of slow? No fingerprint appt, no new update on case status online...

Did anyone who is also from NYC and sent their application at similar time get their interview notification? It's worrying us when we see the others at least get something...

Any advice?

Wil

I have another worry. I did not receive an biometic appt. I sent my package at the end of Jan. I contacted USCIS at the beg of Mar to find out when I would receive fingerprint appt. They sent me a letter by mail telling me my fingerprint still has not expired that's why i don't need to take it again. My last FP was taken on Mar 8, 2008 for my I-765 application (10 year GC).

thank your for this info.. so i can stop waiting for my bio notice.

Last time i had my fingeprints done August 2008 for removal of condition..

If you didn't receive i'm not going to receive either..

as far as i know fingerprints are valid for 15 months..

I'm sure you are going to receive your interview notice before your fingerprints expire.. you should stop worrying about it

Good Luck !!

I saw several members here have had discussion on how long the FP lasts. Some say 1 year and others say 1.5 year. I remember i read one member said she/he was sent to have FP taken by the officer at the interview and then she/he came back for the interview because her/his FP was taken 1 year and couple days ago. The officer told her/him it's expired.