cooleynata

It would be in West Palm Beach, FL. 

Hi everyone, 

I am debating whether to request a name change on N-400 to my married surname. My green card is still in my maiden surname but I would like to have my new US passport issued in my married name. Should I request this through N-400 or later on change the name on my passport. The reason why I am not sure is because apparently you need to have the name change can only be done through a judge/court sworn in ceremony at USCIS and these are held apparently quite rarely in some offices. I don't want to delay the swearing-in ceremony after interview. 

FYI my SSN is in my married name. 

Has anyone come across this before? Any suggestions on how to have my surname changed to my married name for the new US passport? 

Thanks very much in advance!

Hi everyone, 

I will be applying for citizenship (N-400) online while I-751 is still pending. For reference, I filed all my previous applications (including I-751) by mailing all the forms and papers rather than online. 

When I logged into my USCIS account (which I think USCIS created after I filed I-751 to check on its status), I noticed that USCIS scanned only a portion of my I-751 application (titled part 1) there are no other parts scanned in. Is this something I should be concerned about? Did they lose the other documents I submitted with I-751? 

I'm still planning to resubmit some of the documents which were submitted with I-751 and that appear online on USCIS, but let me know if you there might not be any need to submit them because USCIS already can view these. 

Thanks in advance! 

Hi everyone, 

I will be filing for N-400 based on three year resident status under the marriage exception. My I-751 is still pending.

When providing documentation on marriage for N-400 as the joint bank statements, how far do you go back? Past 6 months or a year/longer?

Also, my husband and I have a baby (mentioned the conception and ultrasounds in the I-751 application) - would it be ok/should I bring our baby with us to the N-400/combo interview? He may be around 6 months/one year old by that point. Not sure if anyone has done this or would even recommend if let's say we can't find someone to look after him.

Thanks very much in advance! 

Thank you very much for your replies! Really appreciate this  

Thank you so much! Appreciate your response so much. 

One final quick thing - I guess it also does not matter if I file online the N-400 with the 90 day filing window. In other words this applies to both online and mailed in applications. 

Hi Everyone, 

I have a few quick questions. I will soon be coming up to my filing right for citizenship under the 3 year rule. However, I have a conditional resident card which I have filed to extend under I-751. This application is still pending and I have the 48 month extension to my green card. I would like for apply for citizenship now and see if the USCIS officer would combine the two interviews.

My questions are: 

1. Has anyone had any luck with this recently?
2. When you filed for N-400 did you file online or by paper form? I hear that N-400 filing online is more efficient and popular but my I-751 form was filed by paper. Does that make any difference to the citizenship application?
3. Is there an example cover letter for filing this type of application with I-751 still pending? 
4. Did you include a copy of your I-751 application? Unfortunately I did not make a copy of this before sending and therefore, may not be able to include this. Does it make a difference to the USCIS officer or could they request your application internally within USCIS before the interview? 

Thank you very much for your help in advance!

15 minutes ago, Timona said:

25. Write AOS

30b. Yes

Thank you! 

Hi 

Another question on the subject form and in particular question 25. What if the person entered legally a number of years ago as a visitor, but then overstayed and after a couple of years of overstay married a US citizen and applied for AOS. This person was also already issued an EAD and this is an application for a renewal of EAD while waiting for an interview. How to answer question 25? Perhaps "no status'? 

Hi guys, 

I am helping someone out with their I-765 form renewal. I am not sure whether to answer question 30b when filing under category (c)(9) and why question 30b applies? 

8 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

1.  You are a green card holder.  You are exempt from the travel restrictions.  

2.  Your parents are subject to the restriction per my understanding.  Parents of unmarried, minor children are exempt. 

Thank you!

Hi guys, 

I recently received my conditional 2 year green card following AOS interview. I would like to travel back home to Europe to see my family for a couple of weeks. Is my understanding correct that the USA proclamation for travel restrictions (persons who have been in EU for 14 days prior to entry) does not apply to green card holders? I am just wondering whether the conditional 2 year GC is caught by this lawful permanent resident exception? 

Also, my parents would like to travel and see my husband and I in January 2022 for the big wedding that we have been planning this whole year. Would they have to get the ESTA and then stay in a third country (e.g. Dominican republic or Mexico) for 14 days before entering the USA or could they get an exception to this? Probably not, but just wanted to double check. 

Many thanks in advance

1 minute ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

No, you don't need to go to the field office again nor need a stamp. 

You might have read info referring to a different process.

 

Besides checking often on the USCIS tracker, sign into USPS informed delivery if you haven't done so. 

Thank you so much again! 

11 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

All normal. 

 

You didn't get the approval notice right after the interview, so it will be sent to you by mail. The instructions will refer to ROC and when to file. 

 

Soon you should see the tracking number for your green card delivery on the USCIS case tracker. So check often. 

 

Thank you so much - so does that mean that I will not have to go again to the USCIS field office to get anything stamped in my passport? I read online that apparently that would be the instruction in the approval notice, but that must be only for people filing overseas or for some other visa/residency categories. 

Hi guys, 

Quick question - I had my interview on 31 August for AOS. All went well, although the lady who interviewed us said that she would review the documents and the decision would be issued within 30 days. We were a bit concerned about that since other couples sometimes get an indication straight away from the officer, but I also heard that other officers don't say anything. 

In any event, I kept refreshing my uscis case status page after the interview and in the evening (couple hours later after the interview) it changed from "interview scheduled" to "new card is being produced" for the I-485. I thought that this is great since indicates that the case was approved and probably that green card is being made and then sent to me. The next day (1st September) status changed to "Case Was Approved" for I-485 and also for I-130. The status page states that "we sent your approval notice and please follow instructions etc". 

Do you know whether now I should get soon an update on uscis website saying "card is being mailed". Not really sure why they are sending approval notice with instructions when they would be sending the green card. Anyone has any idea? Your thoughts would be much appreciated. 

Many thanks in advance!

On 8/20/2021 at 7:28 AM, Christian Alvarad said:

UPDATE

 

 

Hello guys.

2021 AOS from B2 visa marriage based, Baltimore ASC. 

 

01/04/2021: Sent packet via USPS

01/07/2021: Chicago Lockbox received the packet

01/13/2021: Received text messages for all forms (I-130, I-765, I-131, I-485) and CC charged for $1225.00 and $535.00

01/15/2021: Received all letters in the mail and used I-485 to get a drivers license at the MVA. (worked just fine)

01/30/2021: Received Biometrics appointment letter.

02/26/2021: Biometrics done and case was updated to "Show fingerprints were taken".

04/16/2021: Expedite request (Job Offer) & requested a tier 2 officer call back. Got email to send fax on the same day & faxed everything as well.

04/26/2021: Tier 2 officer called and confirmed they had received the fax.

04/27/2021: EAD and AP approved. New card is being produced. SAME DAY.

04/28/2021: Deficiency for I-693.

04/29/2021: Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview.

05/01/2021: EAD&AP (Combo card) on HAND!

05/03/2021: SSN card on hand!

08/18/2021: Interview approved. I-485 & I-130 approved. New card is being produced. Same day.

Total: 223 days.

 

Very fast!! Hang in there guys

Hope this will help all of you.

Thanks very much!

Hi 

I was wondering do I need to print out my husbands personal bank statements or just for our joint account when preparing for the interview? The reason why I ask is because we have a joint account and have used it lots for buying groceries, paying for some bills etc, but my husband has also used his personal account to pay for some bills. I would think it's not relevant for the officer to see his personal account, but rather he/she would be interested in our joint account, but just wanted to double check. 

8 hours ago, Christian Alvarad said:

UPDATE

 

 

Hello guys.

2021 AOS from B2 visa marriage based, Baltimore ASC. 

 

01/04/2021: Sent packet via USPS

01/07/2021: Chicago Lockbox received the packet

01/13/2021: Received text messages for all forms (I-130, I-765, I-131, I-485) and CC charged for $1225.00 and $535.00

01/15/2021: Received all letters in the mail and used I-485 to get a drivers license at the MVA. (worked just fine)

01/30/2021: Received Biometrics appointment letter.

02/26/2021: Biometrics done and case was updated to "Show fingerprints were taken".

04/16/2021: Expedite request (Job Offer) & requested a tier 2 officer call back. Got email to send fax on the same day & faxed everything as well.

04/26/2021: Tier 2 officer called and confirmed they had received the fax.

04/27/2021: EAD and AP approved. New card is being produced. SAME DAY.

04/28/2021: Deficiency for I-693.

04/29/2021: Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview.

05/01/2021: EAD&AP (Combo card) on HAND!

05/03/2021: SSN card on hand!

08/18/2021: Interview approved. I-485 & I-130 approved. New card is being produced. Same day.

Total: 223 days.

 

Very fast!! Hang in there guys

Hope this will help all of you.

Hi 

How did you interview go - could you let us know what questions they asked, did you think it was straightforward? 

Hi

I will be going to the AOS interview soon with my husband and as part of the updated documents we need to provide, for how long of a period before the interview do we need to print out our joint bank account statements? A couple of months or for the whole period prior after filing the AOS? That would be over 9 months so just concerned about printing too much. 

Also, for my husband - do you think providing paystubs for the past month before the interview would be sufficient to show continues employment and salary? 

Thanks very much in advance. 

Hi there, 

I was wondering since Biden's administration cancelled form I-944, do we still need to bring any updated/new documents in relation to that to the AOS interview? We filed the forms in December 2020, so I believe then I-944 was still in force, but now that it has been abolished, I was thinking of how does it apply in the context of the interview? 

Grateful for any thoughts. Thanks very much in advance. 

On 8/5/2021 at 4:02 PM, Ediye said:

Oh wow. Congrats guys. This is so encouraging. Mine is next week. 

Did you guys have to print every single thing you had submitted before and take them with you? Did they even ask for it? And also, what questions exactly did they ask you both?

Hi Ediye, 

Good luck for your interview next week. Everything will go well. Do let us know how it all goes. 

29 minutes ago, M_S said:

Our interview is tomorrow too, so I'll update how it goes afterwards. Right now I'm printing more copies of everything that we submitted for the interview, along with the changes to our info since we submitted the application. Oh and also printed a few more photos of stuff we did in the past 8 months since we submitted the application. It almost hurts me to be printing so much stuff, but such is life 😐

 

We've also been practicing answers to some FAQ's we found online. Hopefully that'll be sufficient!

Best of luck to you! Everything will go well - it's just being prepared and not worrying too much. Look forward to hearing how it all goes. 

Thank you so much for your reply. I will also bring the whole application with me and see if I have any other new documents need to be printed. 

Hi guys, 

I wanted to share my timeline with you. I filed the adjustment of status documents on December 3, 2020 and we received a couple of weeks later notices of receipt. At around May 2020, I received my I-693 deficiency notice. At the end of June, I got my biometrics appointment for West Palm Beach. Now yesterday we got the notice for an initial interview for form I-485 with the list of documents etc to bring for end of August. This is quite surprising. I thought that it takes ages to get interview invitations and we would get the EAD first, but it must be that West Palm Beach is less busy perhaps  or quicker at processing files (compared e.g. to Seattle/NY)? 

We have friends in California who were going through a similar process and they are now waiting for over 2 years for their interview (their USCIS case status says that the case is ready for interview to be scheduled)- their application was filed before the pandemic, but the offices probably shut right before they got the chance to be invited for the interview. 

I now need to get my medical exam done asap and compile again all the documents. 

I can see that a number of you have had their interviews scheduled for 5th August - how did it go? 

Would appreciate for any thoughts on the interview etc. 

Hi there, 

Happy 2021! 

I sent my adjustment of status packet on around 1 December and it arrived at USCIS lockbox a couple of days later. About a week after that, my husband and I noticed that USCIS took the application money from our bank account (cleared the two checks). 

At the end of December, we received four I-797C notices for each of the applications - (i) for I-130; (ii) for I-485; (iii) I-765 and (iv) I-131, stating that each of the applications is being processed.

This is all great, but we have still not received the G-1145 e-notifications on our phones and e-mails. Is this normal? Has someone else been in a similar position? 

I was under the impression that the G-1145 mobile/e-mail notifications come in first, certainly before the USCIS letters. Maybe they will send the same when someone picks up our application and starts reviewing the same? 

Would be grateful for any thoughts/comments.