Az Parris

Again, thanks!

So, since she'll be filing by herself, what paperwork will she need to bring to interviews, send in with forms? Other than copies of her green card, driver's license, etc.? Will she need bank statements, bills in her name, etc.?

Hi,

Mom files for naturalization based on the 5 years rule on her own. Your marriage does is not material under the 5 years rule. When she becomes a USC, her daughter will automatically become a USC under the Child Citizenship Act.

Thanks! So, does she just fill out the one I-400 (I think) form and that's it? Or is there a separate form for the 14 year old? Fee for just the mom, or do both have to pay? Biometrics for one or both?

My apologies ahead of time if this has been brought up multiple times before. I read through several pages on this forum, but didn't find an answer yet.

Our history:

I am a natural born US citizen. I had a previous marriage to a natural born US citizen, had a child, and then divorced in the early 2000's. That child (my daughter) is now an adult (23) and moved out.

In 2005 I bring my fiance' over from Russia (met through a coworker), as well as her child from her previous marriage. We are married in December of 2005.

In 2008, we apply for and eventually get her temp Green Card. In 2010 they changed that to a 10 year Green Card.

Around 2011 we separated. We sill live in the same physical house, but she "rents" my in-law suite downstairs. We get along SO much better as friends than we did married. My step-daughter didn't have to change schools this way either. We are still technically married, but have been separated for almost 4 years.

It is now 2015 and time for her to start working on her Citizenship. She requested I ask on here what she needs to do in our situation. Which I didn't mind to do at all.

Her daughter (my step-daughter) just turned 14 in August.

What needs to be done for both of them to become naturalized citizens? They've been here, legally, for 10 years. We've been technically married all 10, but separated 4 years ago, even though we still share the same house. Does the daughter automatically get hers when the sorta-ex-wife gets hers? Or will she have to file separately? Does our marriage situation matter at this point, since she's been here for 10 years? We still technically share a bank account (her name is still on the account, though she still has her own as well), and the house mortgage is still in both our names.

Thanks ahead of time!

Thanks very much for the info.

My wife is from Russia. She has been here almost 5 years now. She has her 10 year green card. All is well in that regard.

This question is regarding her Russian Travel Passport (not her Russian Inside Country Passport, they use as general ID). I am talking the one they use to travel to other countries.

We discovered that hers actually expired back in April. If she wants to travel anywhere outside the USA, she'll need to get this renewed.

Is there a place, here in the US, where we can go, or call, or write to get that Passport renewed? I suspect the Russian Embassy in D.C., but I'm not sure. Anyone?

A check for the full amount, including biometrics, drawn from the US Treasury (looks almost identical to a Tax Refund check) showed up yesterday.

So...all's well that ends well, 'eh?

Well, the step-daughter's 10 year card showed up in the mail today.

So...no worries. We are just waiting on them to send the money back (wonder how long THAT will take?).

Thanks for the help folks!

Ok...this just got even *stranger*.

We just received this letter in the mail today:

Link to Immigration Letter

So...if I'm reading this right...they're saying they screwed up 2 years ago, and she should have just been given her 10 year card then. So they are gonna refund the fee to us. Could this also be the delay on receiving the child's 10 year card?

Nice that we get the cash back...but...guess I'll keep calling about the child's status.

Called the Vermont USCIS center today (that's the one that processed our paperwork) and spoke with "Stephanie" (agent # G672294).

She said it could take up to 30 days after approval (which was 4/1/2010) for my daughter's card to arrive. And that it was normal that no separate paperwork receipts showed up for her.

So...I guess I'll be waiting till May 1st to panic.

Since you didn't get the extension letter for the child. It's highly likely they screwed up. Did you send a copy of the childs BC?

I'd call your senator and get them working on it.

BC? If you mean Birth Certificate, that was all sent 2 years ago with the original request for the 2 year conditional green card.

According to other posters here, other children under 14 didn't get the 1 year extension letter either. All they got was the 10 year green card a few days after the parent did. I'll wait a day or two more....then I'm starting the calls.

Well...no card in the post for the child today.

I'll give it another day...then I'm gonna start making calls...

I asked on VJ the same question and answers were that most of the ppl seen on VJ do not receive anything regarding their minor child (age less than ???? don't really remember, but anyway, somewhere 14-16), until the actual 10 yr green card (where they receive both of them, ofc).

So I decided not to worry

I posted a separate topic about this, but I'll add to this one also.

As I stated above, we sent in the form (with the child in section 5) and the fees. Received the "I-797c Notice of Action" "Receipt Notice" , but it had no mention of the 8 year old daughter. Wife got her I-797c, Notice of Action "ASC Appointment Notice" for her biometrics, and again, no mention of the daughter. Wife had her biometrics taken, and yesterday, we received in the mail my wife's 10 Year Green Card.

Still nothing at all about the 8 year old daughter.

Are you saying this is normal? That the daughter's 10 year GC should show up in the mail in a day or two?

How strange they make NO mention, other than stating in the receipt that we sent the correct amount.

If it isn't in the mail today, I'll be making phone calls...about to hit the panic button.

You must have listed the daughter in Part 5.

Just double-checked. Yes, she was listed on Part 5 of the I-751 form.

Even has her Alien # listed in the correct column.

Greaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

*sigh*

And people wonder why we need immigration reform.

Did you get a separate one year extension letter for the child?

Nope.

Her info was filled out on the form correctly. We sent in the biometrics fee for her (like I said above) when we sent in the form fee and biometrics for my wife.

Well, today in the mail, my wife received her 10 year perm resident green card.

Great news!!!

However...we still haven't gotten one for her daughter (who's now 8).

The daughter got her 2 year card, almost 2 years ago.

We filled out the adjustment form. Daughter's info on the form. Sent in the money for the biometrics and the adjustment fee (fee for wife, biometrics fee for both). Only the wife was scheduled to come in for biometrics a few weeks ago.

So...when do I start the panic because of nothing for the 8 year old daughter?

Thanks for the follow-up folks.

A couple of months ago, we sent in our form I-751, to remove the conditions and get my wife and her daughter the 10 year green card.

We sent in the form, with the filing fees for my wife (K1) and the biometrics fee for both her and the child ($80 each).

We've received both the Receipt Notice, and the ACS Appointment Notice for getting Biometrics taken.

However, I am concerned, because neither notice mentions the K2 child (and yes, all her info was put on the I-751 form when we filled it out).

The Biometrics appointment only mentions my wife (K1) and makes no mention of the child (K2).

Is this normal? Does the child (who is 8 years old now) have to get her biometrics retaken (I would assume so, hence the $80 fee for her), and if so, will they just do it at the same time as my wife?

Or is something hinkey going on here? I remember the first time around (when getting the 2 year green card) they sent a separate notice for each of them.

Well what about El Pollo Loco? I mean - is it the poultry version of Mad Cow Disease???

I think it means "The Crazy Chicken".

We have a local chain restaurant here by that name.

Hope you don't mind another US citizen poking his nose in here.

My wife (Russian) was astounded by "all you can eat" restaurants. Chinese buffets especially. She loves those.

For her, one of the things that still gets to her (after being here almost 3 years) is how (in general) American women just don't take care of themselves. She will dress nicely and put on makeup, even if all we are doing is going to Wal-Mart or some such. She'll see some dumpy American chick wearing a ratty t-shirt, stained sweat pants, and houseshoes while we are out, and just cannot fathom allowing herself to be seen in public like that.

For a while, I kept trying to get her to find some Russian friends (there is a rather large Russian community in the Atlanta area), but she refuses. Pretty much says that she doesn't want to have anything to do with them. I find it odd, but ok...

As for the recycling thing - dunno about elsewhere, but it is included in our trash pickup service. *shrug*

And, being in a large metropolitan area such as Atlanta, there's plenty of food choices besides "southern fried". Lots of farmer's markets, and international markets. We can even get some of her (and my) favourite Russian beer here.

Thanks for the entertaining reading...I always find it fascinating to see how others view us "Yanks".

I can't believe I just spent the last 2 nights at work reading this thread.

And I thought my two trips to Russia a story worth telling... *grin*

Greetings. Been a member for a few years, but don't post much.

This past June 1st, my wife and step-daughter got their 2 year Green Cards. That, in itself, was a nightmare, but that's a story for another day.

Anyhue... My wife would like to bring her parents here to visit sometime next year. They are citizens of Russia.

From what I am reading, there isn't really much *WE* can do. They must apply for the B2 Tourist VISA on their own, correct? About the most we can do is write an invitation letter, and they can take that with them to the interview.

They (wife's parents) are both still married to each other. Both still have parents living near them. They own their own apartment. Her father own a car. They have a bank account. Both have jobs. They would like to come visit us, and see their granddaughter whom they haven't seen in almost 3 years now.

What are their chances of being approved? Just a ballpark figure... Good? Excellent? Unlikely?

Assuming they are approved...her father had a question for me today that I wasn't sure of. He has a driver's license in Russia. Does the USA honour other country's licenses? Or will I be stuck as the chauffeur the entire time?

Neither one of them currently speak a lick of English. They both took German in school. While I will heartily suggest they start taking some classes on English, will this be a problem for the Tourist VISA?

Thanks ahead of time folks!

Me again. Thanks for putting up with stupid questions.

Last week, my wife and step-daughter both got letters in the mail showing their appointment dates / times for their Biometrics thingy.

Perhaps I am confused, but I thought that children under 14 (step-daughter is 6) didn't have to have Biometrics done?

And, in typical gub'mint fashion, they scheduled the step-daughter for Feb. 12th, at 3pm, and the wife the next day, Feb. 13th, at 9am. Couldn't schedule them together, now could they...?

Is this typical?

-Az Parris

Atlanta, GA

To be clear, the only I-797 they could possibly be referring to, for a K-2, is the one for the I-129F you filed for your (then) fiancee.

Excellent. Thanks. I'm just curious why they want this, since there is no mention of the daughter on this thing. *shrug* It just has the wife's name and that it was approved.

Weird.

Thanks for the info folks!

-Az Parris

Atlanta, GA

Greetings. New person here with some questions.

I am married to a wonderful Russian lady, and have her 6 year old daughter here. We did the I-129f form and all that some time ago, and they arrived here and we were married within the 90 days. No problem there.

Now, we are in the midst of trying to adjust their status, and keep running into beurocratic nonsense.

We filled out all the forms needed and sent them in. Last week, we got our notice for the Biometric meeting to take fingerprints, etc.

Today, we get a pink letter from them, regarding her daughter (here on a K-2) asking for "Initial Evidence (I-485)", specifically this:

"In order to process your application further, submit evidence that an immigrant visa petition has been filed on your behalf. Such evidence includes a copy of the I-797 Notice of Action on Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiance'), Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), or Form I-360 (Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant), and/or a copy of Form I-171 (Notice of Approval from the Consular Office). If you are not filing as the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition, submit documentation in support of your eligibility to become a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States."

....now... The only "I-797" I got when I filed the I-129F is the one I got for my wife, saying the petition was approved. There wasn't a separate one for the child. Is *this* the I-797 they are referring to? Because, it certainly is not clear at all.

My thanks ahead of time.

-Az Parris

Atlanta, GA