i12rok

ok, i know this is stupid. but i wanna make sure i am dressed properly for oath taking. i wanna wear a nice jeans and a heels and a blouse and blazer. is this alright? just asking...

thank you! thank you! thank you all!

i know. my sister went through her interview three years ago. With IO hardly looking at her papers, they granted her US citizenship in about three minutes... i can't help but think that there are still people who are... you know.... should i say racist? well, i don't wanna dwell on it. well, if they are doubting, why don't they just make a surprise visit. to our homes, offices, neighborhood, child's school and ask people on the spot.

after all these, i am just thankful. thank you guys!!!

So, finally. My US citizenship was approved last Monday. I submitted tons and tons of evidence that I and my husband are living together. Just can't help but thinking what happened to me that day.... (a lot of rolling eyes all throughout the interview. why didn't she just told me to go home and gather more evidence. instead she read my paper from top to bottom.... sigh... i am pretty sure its more than 500 pages). Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Oh yes collect evidence as much as u can, go to ur neighbors ask them to write u letters that they know u and ur husband since... and let them sign it .. and go to friends and do the same. and if they want bank account go open new account in both names u and ur husband.. Plus.. when u recieved the letter from the interviewer .. it said there u passed ur test but decision cant be made, i wander if u need to apply for Hearing or maybe enough to send the evidence to them .. i hope this because applying for hearing u have to pay the whole price again. and this is to much.. and by the way why ur interview it took so long?? u said about an hour? wow that interviwere had nothing to do expect u .. Oh

yep. she checked it from 1st page up to the las (if there are more than 500 pages or 1,000 then she examined all those -not kidding!)! i wonder if she read our x-rated emails too hahahaha

Hi, I am so sorry to hear about that, but what do u mean about ....

she made a big deal of my middle name too.

Thanks,

she told me that i am using two middle names... i don't really know what she meant by that. then she made a LOT as in a LOT of corrections. she checked each questions on form n-400. and checked each pages from top to bottom. (if its 1,000 pages, then she checked all those one by one)

What bank account is used to pay household bills? Are they all on yours or all on your husband's? If you pay some and he pays others, then get copies of those bank statements and highlight where the bills come out of. As well, you should both be receiving bank statements from separate accounts but they would both come to the same address - highlight the addresses on the separate accounts.

Have you written wills? (A good idea always when a child is involved) Write your wills listing each other as spouse and indicating each other as executor of estates or heirs. School records are a great idea.

Think creatively! Do you have joint memberships in a video club, a gym or Costco or anything like that? Membership numbers would be the same. What about car insurance? Car registration? Do you have a family AAA plan? Again, things that you own and are responsible for will have your address. Things that he owns and is responsible for will have the same address. Provide examples of things like this that show you both living at the same address.

Ask your mailman or the Post Office if they would provide proof or a document that states they deliver mail for both of you to the same address. What about credit card statements? Again, if they are not the same membership, they should still have the same addresses. Look for things on the accounts that show purchases that are home related - ie paying a cell phone bill, etc. And what about a phone bill - do you have a family cell phone plan? It would have both phone numbers or names.

Are either of you listed as emergency contacts for each other's work/employment records? Your son's medical records/school records? If you don't work, have you purchased an IRA for you listing him as your beneficiary? What about either of you being listed as beneficiary on each other's work benefits - ie. insurance, health plan, retirement benefits, etc. Find copies of the documentation he submitted to enroll you and your son on these plans - or you to enroll your son. Find things like this that show the same address.

I am sure there are always things that you can find. Even though she asked for the mortgage - and the refinancing should have your name on it and therefore counts - and banks statements, there are ways you can make what you do have work for you.

Kathryn, i submitted more evidence last Friday. yeah we do have Costco membership. the mailman definitely knew i live in the same house as my husband. same mailman since the day i arrived here. as with my son, we don't sign papers or something like that. however, we do attend together during parent teacher conference. i drop him off in the morning and he picks him up in the afternoon.

the interviewer rejected the bills since she said its so easy to say that we live in the same house. she said its so easy to make up and use the same address -those are bills! with my name on it or my husbands. so i did not submit any of those.

i'll let you all know when i receive a mail from uscis

(well, it was in the afternoon when i got interviewed. a lot of rolling eyes during the interview and no patience at all so i knew that i did not pass)

Ok - you haven't failed yet! They are requesting more evidence to show that you two are in a bonafide marriage and when they get that evidence they will make a decision. Here is your opportunity to provide them with copies of the mortgage, the refinancing, any joint bills or accounts that you have together, any utilities that you pay together - or that you share with one of you paying some and the other paying some. Include copies of Driver's licenses showing both of you at the same address; health insurance plans covering both of you, a joint bank statement showing the mortgage and household expenses being paid from the account, things like that. You can do this - don't defeat yourself now by giving up. You didn't submit enough evidence to show you and your husband have a life together sharing expenses, a home, friends and family. Give them what they want and they will see you do qualify for citizenship based upon a valid marriage. Good luck.

Kathryn,

the thing is, she only wanted the mortgage with my and my husband's name in it because i told her my name is in it. but my husband explained to me later that my name isn't in the mortgage but on the refinancing of our home. she looked at my driver's license already. as with the bank account, we have separate bank accounts. thats all she was asking but we don't have both our names on it. i only have letters, photos, my in-laws, our neighbors and friends to prove it

OMG! So did they keep your Green Card? Can you re-apply? I hope you won't have to pay another $675? Sorry that this happened to you. My name is not in our mortgage either and I already explained it in a letter when I filed I-751 and had no problem and was approved. I am getting ready to submit my application for Citizenship should I explain it again this time??

i-10 west, i still have my green card :-) they want sufficient evidence that we are living together. yes, make sure that you don't miss out on anything. submit everything you think will help. it won't hurt. now, i am hurt lol.

guys,

i cannot prove anything unless they do detective job. i don't have my name in our mortgage, we have separate bank accounts. i and my son are under my health insurance while my husband is under his company's health insurance. what we have that i did not submit is the car insurance. we have both our names on it. and also our family trips, pictures, cards and letters from my in-laws, photos with friends and my in-laws. these are the things that are missing.

i can only keep my fingers crossed that they will accept these evidences. the bills did not help and mo son did not help. she said that we may have a son but we could have splitted him.

yes, the details. i wish i let my husband do the papers. i forgot that there's visa journey and just relied on the people. when i did the AOS and ROC it had all kinds of evidences and had not a problem on those interviews. this one is all my fault for omitting the "major" evidences -mortgage and bank account. but it will not prove anything that we are living together because i don't have my name on it. but we do have our names in our car insurance. also, the health insurance. i and our son are under my health insurance and my husband has his own health insurance from his company. so that also post a red flag, probably. the bills didn't help either. she said that our son won't prove anything that we are living together. we may have a son but we might have splitted him. why don't they just visit us and interview the neighbors, the school where my son is enrolled, my co-workers who sees my husband whenever he shows up

i failed, honestly, for my stupidity. thats all.

i was just too confident -and ignorant. well, i followed the instructions and submitted any of the documents they wanted to see. i should know that its all black and white and lots of papers/evidence. i listened to people who have been through these and said i'll be just fine. the interview was more on income tax returns and mortgage. i told the interviewer that i have my name in our mortgage and was confused that when i asked my husband about it after the interview, he said that what we signed on last year was for the refinancing of our house and not contract signing or something.

i don't know if i invited him with me in the interview room if it would make any difference since he can explain it clearly. i am not very articulate so for surethat also add up

what said on the paper was that they cannot decide right now. i have to submit more evidence but it does not guarantee me anything

i had my test and interview at the uscis in houston, tx today. i passed the test but failed the interview. the interview took about an hour, more or less. the interviewer scanned each page from top to bottom starting from the recent application to k1 visa papers. i knew then that i failed. she is looking at the tiniest detail on my papers. one wrong word or date/number and you are doomed. our wedding date is 2005 and i really overlooked that i put 2006 -w/c is our son's birth year. she made a big deal of my middle name too.

well, whatever mistakes i made i knew then from the start that i was doomed. so make sure when you are submitting evidences to include all documents that will help establish that you are living together. i wish i did not stop doing my research that instead of listening to people, i should have "played safe."

i guess, its my fault for not including the mortgage (w/c is under my husband's name only), car insurance, and bank account (i chose not to be with the same account as his because i was spending too much two years ago). But the neighbors, co-workers, everybody knew we are married and are living under one roof.

i don't know what to say

From your timeline it looks like she can apply around Sept 2008.

Jackie

Jackie,

yeah, thats right. its just that somebody told us at the superbowl party that we set an appointment or something with the immigration officer and ask about the US citizenship. With the fees going triple, who doesn't want to get US citizenship before the fees go up, right?... thanks Jackie!

Marilyn,

we know very well that i have a "conditional" greencard. we also very well understand that i have to get a 10 year greencard, wait another three years before applying for US citizenship. that means i still have four years in waiting. no arguments. its just that somebody wants to help us. thank you.

KAROL

Hi everyone,

My wife has had her temporary green card for about a year now. We were told at the INS interview that after two years she would be eligible for the permanent 10 year card. Well, we were at a superbowl party the other day and some friends told us that we should see an immigration lawyer and get citizenship directly before the fees go up because we now have a baby (american). I had read that the fees are rising dramatically but I thought there was nothing we could do until next year when she could apply for the 10 year green card. Has anyone heard how you can get your citizenship 10 year green card without waiting till the second year?

Randy & Karol