Nelly_M

Did you have your biometric appointment by now, and how did it go?

There is a worksheet (AIW) along with ASC appt notice that needs to be completed before the appt. It is asking for name, dob, country of birth and citizenship as well as race, gender, weight, height, eye and hair color.

The I-797 notice we received in the mail is showing this address. Which service center is this?

Sorry about late reply, I just didn’t catch this sooner. I think you should be fine considering you have already filed taxes for 2018 even though it hasn’t been processed yet. You can show the proof of filing taxes for that year. Are you required to bring the actual tax returns for the last five years for your interview?

Is that a different form in addition to biometric appointment notice? The appt notice has two pages and one has to be filled out with biometric information.

Yes, the appointment will be attended. We just want to make sure we have the right documents before the appt. Also, my husband doesn’t speak perfect English. I wonder if it ok for me to go with him for his biometric appt just in case he might need some help or is it just in and out type of thing? I don’t know how biometric appt looks like.

I am just reading the instructions for biometric appointment, and it says to bring the ASC appointment notice (Form I-797C), but the version I printed online doesn’t have form I-797C written on it, just ASC Appointment Notice. Does your version state Form I-797C anywhere?

Yes, I was able to locate the ASC appt notice online with the actual date. I guess I will just print it out instead of waiting for the original to arrive in the mail.

Hopefully we will get ours in the mail soon. I wonder if we do not receive anything in the mail by then, do we just print the documents from online account and take it to the biometric appointment?

Do you mind sharing when your biometric appointment is scheduled? I just saw online that ours was scheduled as well on 11/25 (even though today is 11/24), but I cannot see for which date. We did not receive anything in the mail yet. I am just wondering what is the time window between notice of biometric appointment and the actual appointment.

Here is our timeline so far: package was delivered on 11/14/23 received a confirmation text on 11/16/23 check cashed on 11/17/23 Nothing has been received in the mail so far. I am not sure what is the typical time needed to receive a notice. Also, we have a few days vacation getaway planned the first week of December. I hope that we will not have to postpone it in case we have to get biometrics done. I never knew that’s done soon after submission, but reading some comments it seems that comes soon after (in case it is needed). Do they send us a notice in the mail or do we have to rely on the online account?

Hi! I just sent mine yesterday to Elgin lockbox via FedEx with signature required. Now, I am thinking what if there is nobody there to sign? I haven’t thought about that earlier. I wonder if anyone has been sending it this way before.

Great, thanks. I saw some samples with signature line, but it wasn’t specified for who. I am glad that it’s not a requirement. One less thing to worry about.

Does cover letter for I-751 need to signed? If yes, by whom: petitioner, US citizen spouse, or both? I am the one putting it together for my husband.

Do we have to sign a cover letter including with I-751?

Definitely a big headache for all of us in this situation. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope your interview will go smoothly and that all your taxes will be finalized by then.

Thanks a lot for your help. Yes, we didn’t file because we were not required to file given the circumstances. We have filed jointly the following year and we are planning to continue filing jointly in the future.

Thank you for sharing this as you seem very knowledgeable about this topic. It is greatly appreciated. I have two questions in regards to this: 1) Did married filing separately for that year affect your I-751 in any way? 2) Is it possible to file as married filing separately retroactively for the first year now considering that we already filed jointly the following year (in case we still need to file)?

Are you sure? Even if that is the case, what my husband earned overseas in that year is still bellow the minimum amount required to file taxes. Hopefully, I will have this figured out before naturalization lol. Right now, I am focused on I-751 and for the year in question we would submit the letter with explanation that we didn’t file since no income. Not sure what else to do.

My understanding is that any income earned prior to becoming a conditional PR is not counted as taxable income here in the US. You were already paying taxes in the country where you were living and working prior to becoming a PR. At least that’s how it was explained to me. Any income earned from the moment you become a PR whether it was earned here or worldwide is taxable and should be reported on your income tax return if above certain amount as set by IRS rules. We have a letter from a tax specialist saying that we were not required to file tax for a year in which we had no income that I was planning to submit with I-751. I was also told that IRS might reject a tax return with zero income. Not really sure how this can affect a naturalization process.

Did you have any income for that year? Did not filing for that year affect your I-751 in any way? We have a letter from tax specialist saying that we are not required to file if there is no income. Not really sure how to go about this one.

Thanks for your help. My husband and I opened up a small savings account abroad while I was living there. Now that my husband and I are both here in the US, we no longer use it even though the account is still active. I enclosed that account information when I was submitting I-130. I wonder if I should be including it again with I-751. What are your thoughts on this one?

When putting the evidence together, are we supposed to put the most recent on top or the oldest records for example car insurance, bank statements etc?

For photos, do we need to write an A-number and petitioner’s name on each page with photos, or number the pages?