Davidbfun

Hello Mike and Peewee,

When my wife got her biometrics appointment they gave her about 2 weeks to show up. Also, they gave her the opportunity to change to a later date. As someone else said, if you HAVE the letter they will take you early, even tho they don't want to. The biometrics people in Birmingham like playing God. They had no one in the office but didn't want to give service to my wife either. You shouldn't have problems with going to FL. The first time she got her biometrics letter we were out of the country and was told by my sister-in-law that it came. We called and let them know we were out of country and wouldn't get back for 3 more weeks and they told us to just bring the letter into the office when we got back into country and they would give us service. They did it but, gave us a bunch of hassles. So, if you could have someone monitor your mailbox and let you know, then you can take action if it does come while you are in FL. Good luck. David

Hello,

I married a wonderful Colombian woman 4 years ago. We married in Colombia and I had to go thru the Colombian laws and requirements. In order to apply for a Visa for her I had to be in Colombia continously for 6 months before The US embassy in Bogota would accept my application. When I got there they were going to deny the application because I didn't live in the US and didn't have the minimum income of $20k to support her. This was ludicrous as I had over $100,000 in my bank account which was 5 years of salary. Finally, with threat of talking to the ambassador they finally gave her a Visa to visit the states. We got here and started the process required for permanent visa, Social Security Card, biometrics and green card. It has been a long and difficult process and it is scary....so I know what you mean. My wife got her first interview for Naturalization in April and the interviewing official liked playing games as he knew her English was limited. He told her to stand up...she did. He told her to raise her right hand...she did. While standing and raising her hand he asked her, "Have you ever claimed to be a US Citizen?" She responded,"Yes." She was thinking that he was doing the oath and wanted to know if she wanted to be a US Citizen. Well, he immediately failed her for not speaking English because it is illegal to claim to be a US citizen--when you are not; which he was legally in the right to do. However, she was so nervous and scared that she could barely talk. He asked her 4 questions and failed her immediately without asking any civics questions, without asking her to read or write anything. All of which she could do. She is limited in her speaking/oral capacity. She had taken English courses in an University, church, ESL setting and did better than all of the other students yet, when it came time for the interview the officer never tried to make her feel relaxed and wanted to play tricks on her. Final word from this experience is that knowing how to respond to the application was more important than the civics questions. His first question to her was, "How did you get here?" Easy enough for a person who speaks English but, not easy to understand as a ESL person. She was thinking she got here because she married a US citizen. If he'd ask how did you arrive at the interview she would've understood a bit better. Needless to say, we both cried after he failed her English and was told that he'd reschedule her. She continued with her studies and went to her second interview a few days ago and passed. So, if you ever need help with anything we will be glad to assist you as the process is long and scary.