
top_secret
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Everything posted by top_secret
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Worst case is they somehow calculate the date one day different then you did. So they sit on it for six months and then reject it for early filing. Then you have to start all over again with a new application and another long wait, just for trying to save a day or two. Definitely not worth the risk.
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CR1 is DQ, current wait time for interview in Manila?
top_secret replied to EdwardSnowden's topic in Philippines
Oh the calendar is wide open for scheduling CR/IR-1 interview dates. Plenty of days. Just no one can get the Embassy to ask NVC to send the cases over so no one can claim those dates -
N-400 July 2024 Filers
top_secret replied to Elllena's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
You could get the online tax return transcript pdf's instantly. I imagine USCIS prefers those anyway for online submissions since the pdf's strait from the IRS have basic security that would make any tampering evident. -
Question about Transiting after K1/K2 Approval
top_secret replied to Riley-Janice's topic in Philippines
Korea is visa free transit for Filipino passports. Philippine law grants a single mom absolute sole custody of her children. She needs no authorization from anyone, to take her children anywhere she wants, for any reason. She will have no trouble at all transiting Korea or traveling with her kids. -
N-400 July 2024 Filers
top_secret replied to Elllena's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
I'm still keeping my San Diego list. No recent updates and a good number of still open cases. I'll update any San Diego cases I see move. My wife has to wait until the end of October just to meet the 3 year rule. I'm working on the theory that those who are already time qualified, and easy cases, are getting super quick approvals from San Diego these days. -
Simple W7 ITIN Question
top_secret replied to edgarh1992's topic in Tax & Finances During US Immigration
We did just that and chose "passport" because it was a DFA certified copy of a passport. It worked for us. -
Recomended layover time
top_secret replied to Matt S's topic in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America
It varies immensely. Hence the wise 4 hour recommendation. At LAX TBIT, a terminal I know extremely well, it took my wife and stepdaughter 2 1/2 hours to emerge. The reason for the delay? Like three 777's from China arrived about 20 minutes earlier than their flight. Had weather or air traffic conditions ever so slightly rearranged, that order of arrival, processing times would have changed by hours. -
It really depends on the tax situation of those filing. Our case is perhaps an extreme example but our return was literally over $10,000 more by us filing jointly rather than me filing separately. I would not have been able to file head of household. Other people may see less benefit but most of the time a return for married filing jointly is going to be larger.
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N-400 July 2024 Filers
top_secret replied to Elllena's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
The hard copy N-400 receipt notice arrived today. Which is dramatically faster than the time it took for the I-751 to arrive. Return address National Benefits Center, Lee's Summit MO, but actually mailed from San Bernardino CA. -
If you are the petitioner just use whatever name you actually intend to really use in your daily life. If you dont want to use your husband's name then you don't have to, and if you do want to us his name then the sooner you start using it on everything the better. It won't have any impact on the immigration case one way or the other. For filing taxes you can file as married filing separately without doing anything, but you may get a much larger return filing as married filing jointly. For the Philippines, your husband can get a certified copy of his Philippine Passport from any DFA office. It costs P150. You can submit the certified copy of his passport with a paper 1040 return, a letter electing for your husband to treated as resident for tax purposes, and form W7. They would then issue your husband an ITIN you can use filing taxes while you wait for the immigration case. In some cases it can make a HUGE difference in the amount of your tax return. https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7 https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse
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It won't update until about a week or two before you actually receive the card. Then it will literally say "Card is being produced".😀 If you are concerned whether the $235 immigrant fee was credited correctly and the payment applied to your mom's case just try imputing her A-Number and DOS Case Number again as if you would try to pay a second time. When you click "next" you will get an error message. "The USCIS Immigrant Fee has already been paid for this person. If this person has not received their Green Card yet, create a USCIS Online Account to verify or update their mailing address." You can do that without committing to anything or entering payment information again. It confirms that the payment is correctly applied, everything is fine and the only reason you are still waiting is because USCIS is slow..
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I think technically she is supposed to "update" her CFO. A walk-in is probably all it takes and I 'think' it can even be done online. If she still has her old counselors e-mail or WhatsApp I'd try messaging them directly.
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N-400 July 2024 Filers
top_secret replied to Elllena's topic in US Citizenship Case Filing and Progress Reports
Well, our meaningless estimated time until case decision dropped another month today. Now it stands at only 6 months. So we moved up 3 whole months in just the last 3 days. If this rate keeps up I think we will be done by next week.😆🤣😂 -
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This fantastic service is included at no extra charge.
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Lately there have been few complaints about CFO and they seem to be working more or less quickly and efficiently. You will still probably see a lot of horror stories online from the rona era through about summer 2023 when they had a total meltdown. They have since scaled back their mission and things seem better now.
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The D-160 doesn't even ask about simple visa refusals by other countries. However, if you were removed or deported from another country (which probably involves a ban) then you have to declare it and explain it.
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At the time they take the culture samples they will give her a slip of paper with an appointment date to return for results. Usually you don't hear from them and just go back for your appointment, get immunizations and are good to go. As J.M. mentioned if they call her much sooner it's probably bad news. If she is still waiting beyond the first month with no contact it's 'almost' a sure thing that she passed. Once she has an appointment for the results it is reasonably safe to make a new interview appointment for a couple of days after that if you see a date open.
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Probably the best approach to this is to respond with a letter statinyin your child is a US Citizen under INA 320 because all of the following requirements have been met. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-h-chapter-4 The person is a child of a parent who is a U.S. citizen by birth. The child is under 18 years of age. The child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR). The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent. Then for each of the 4 conditions spell out in the letter exactly what you have already submitted or are now submitting as evidence the condition has been met. Your birth certificate and the child's birth certificate should prove #1 and #2. The child's endorsed IR2 visa bearing the annotation “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR.” should prove #3. Your marriage certificate if still married to the child's father or custody agreement if seperated, plus various proofs of a common address like insurance, school records etc for the child and drivers licence, bills etc should satisfy #4. I'm totally just guessing but #4 may be where are seeking more evidence.
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When you pay the $235 immigrant fee you will receive a receipt e-mail from pay.gov. The e-mail will have a new IOExxxx case number. This is not the same one as the I-130. You can track the green card status with the new IOE number on https://egov.uscis.gov/. If you pay the immigrant fee while logged in to her USCIS account the case 'might' be visible there some time after she enters.
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I do think the check-in agents at the airport have considerably more authority to make changes than call center agents. Last year on a Thai AirAsia flight I accidentally booked my stepdaughter with her mom's last name. I attribute that to some autofill error and have no excuse whatsoever and no justification that she could fly under that name since NONE of her documents ever had that last name. The AirAsia check-in agents were even able to straighten that mess out.
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I tend to believe it doesn't make any difference at all but if you want to be super thorough you can get the embassy to reopen the DS-260 before an interview. Go to https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visa-inquiry-form/ Choose from "Topic of Inquiry (Dropdown):" select "Form DS-260 (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration) Access" . Fill out the rest of the information and just put a note like "Can you please reopen my DS-260 so I can update it before my scheduled interview.” They would typically reopen your DS-260 and reply in 2 or 3 work days. At the pre-interview document check they will ask about any updates to the DS-260 too.
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If the old NBI Clearance is expired there's no need to bring it. You need a new one. But do upload the new one to CEAC. Usually they dont ask to look at tax returns. They just look at what is in CEAC. You can still bring updated tax returns just to be safe. Mom could e-mail you a pdf. A printout is fine. They also prefer tax transcripts to actual tax returns and transcripts are fewer pages to print.
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NBI Clearance is valid for 1 year from when it is issued. It has a "VALID UNTIL" date on it". The embassy will go by that date. You just need the normal blue "MULTI-PURPOSE CLEARANCE". It is better to upload it and bring the original to the interview yourself rather than having it sent directly to the Embassy. The Embassy has been known to loose documents sent directly to them. If you bring it yourself you know it is there.