limejello

First... I appreciate the great advice that all of you offer here, so I'm reaching out to you again. We CANNOT afford an immigration attorney in any respect. I have nobody who will loan me money to get one, and I'm making barely above minimum wage, so I can't swing one on my own. So this question is more of a "if you couldn't afford an attorney, and were in my situation, what would you do?".

My husband applied for citizenship back in July, and had his interview in October. Of course, the N-400 has questions about registering to vote. This didn't even faze me when I was filling it out. Then, when I voted, I saw my husband's name on the voter rolls as "inactive, ask for ID". I went online and did a search, and lo and behold, his name is on the voter roll. I'm fairly sure what happened is that when he was getting his state ID when he first came to the US (and his English wasn't very good), he must've pushed the button to register to vote at the DMV. It's now been over a month since his interview, and we haven't heard anything from immigration. I've been working pretty much non-stop, so we haven't had a chance to fix anything, either at the board of elections or with immigration.

At this juncture, I'm thinking that the wisest choice would be for us to withdraw his application for naturalization, then get his name off the rolls and reapply later explaining what happened. What do you all think I should do?

Just wanted to drop by to say that my husband hasn't heard anything since his interview. His interview was on October 10th, and the IO said that he needed to check over the papers before he made a decision. He didn't have "recommended for approval" checked on the paper. I have no idea what to do at this juncture, since it's been a month since the interview. There has been no update on the online status. :-(

I'm not sure if it's that they make you renounce your citizenship as much as they don't recognize dual citizenship.

There is a Chinese couple with 2 young children that run a convenience store downstairs from our apartment. When we got into a discussion with the man about my husband's citizenship interview, he said that he was required to turn his passport in at the oath ceremony. I thought that perhaps he meant that he had to turn his green card in, but he insisted that it was his passport. His citizenship ceremony was 10 years ago.

I haven't heard any other cases of people having to turn their passport in, and I don't recall ever seeing anything about that on the USCIS site. I've also always understood it that the passport is not property of the bearer, but the country that issued it.

They can't take your Canadian passport (or any other country's)... passports belong to the country of origin, so they can't lawfully take them from you.

I also heard the rumor that the person must relinquish their home country's passport.

Tell the truth about the dates and where you lived. There were several times that we moved and I didn't update them via the online change of address form. We didn't have an issue with it either for removing the conditions, nor during his citizenship interview.

Edit: with respect to your second question, the only originals we provided were actually court-certified copies of my husband's court records. They tell you to take the originals to the interview, so be able to produce them. My husband wasn't asked for the originals of anything (except, I think, his green card and passport) during his interview.

Positive attitude is always good! From some old posts, I see people having similar experience usually get the decision and oath letter in 1-2 weeks. Good luck!

Thanks! My husband has a criminal record, a minor charge of harassment (it's not even a misdemeanor). No jail time, no probation, just a $150 fine. Keeping my fingers crossed that this didn't affect anything!

My husband had his interview on the 11th (last Wednesday) in Pittsburgh, and they gave him a letter saying a decision could not be made at this time. He said that the IO told him that he needed to check over the paperwork. No change in the status online yet! Hopefully we won't end up in that dreaded black hole of "pending" for months/years. I'm thinking positively!

Hi everyone!

I sent my husband's N-400 on July 20th, we got the return receipt stamped USCIS Dallas Lockbox dated July 25th. Our NOI is dated July 31st, and Biometrics appointment is set for 8/24.

I'm *slightly* concerned about this one because in the last year my husband was accused of a crime he didn't commit. If you want to read on, I'll explain:

We moved from SC to PA and we were looking for an apartment and found one on craigslist. It was a duplex, and the owner lived on one side and was renting out the other side. I figured that in the worst case scenario, since there was no contract, we could just use it as a temporary stopover until we found something better. Because of money constraints we ended up having to stay there a couple of months, but it ended up being an absolute nightmare. The owner was a raging alcoholic who would just waltz into our apartment any time, she would blast her music until 3 AM, she would take my 2 year old daughter out of my apartment into her apartment and paint her nails bright red (without my permission, of course). It also turned out that the duplex we were renting was not fully hers, but was partly owned by her son, who was in jail. She told us that she didn't know when he was going to get out, but she fully expected us to explain to him why we were living there once he came home and knocked on the door (this is after she told us that he was involved in several drive-bys not too long ago). It was really bad. So we gave her notice that we were moving out, and she flipped.

My husband went with a friend to move the rest of our stuff out of the apartment, and she came barging in, screaming at him. She demanded to know where we were moving to and also demanded my husband's social security number. My husband's friend told her that he won't let my husband give her his social security number. She threatened to call the cops, and my husband said "go ahead". Enter racist cop. The cop had experience with this woman in the past, and knew that she was crazy, but he outright bullied my husband. He told him that if he doesn't know how to read English that he shouldn't be driving in PA, and equated his limited English with him being "stupid". Of course my husband was really nervous, he had no dealings with the law whatsoever in the past, and the cop was being really mean. The cop went into the lady's apartment for about a half an hour, then came back out and began interviewing my husband. Apparently the lady told the cop that one morning my husband came knocking on her door at 3 AM and asked her for a cigarette, then grabbed her rear and and pulled her into his crotch. During the interview, the cop asked my husband if he had a prior arrest record, and my husband answered that he didn't.

Fast forward to the next evening, the cop calls my husband's cell phone and asks to speak to me. He calls me into the station, planning for me to arrive around 5:15 PM. When I get there, the place is totally empty. The cop starts off friendly enough. Then he says that my husband told him that he didn't have an arrest record, and that that was a lie. He pulled out a folder with a rap sheet and a mug shot, and said that my husband was arrested in 2005 and again in 2009 in South Carolina. I told him that we didn't even live in South Carolina at that time, and that my husband wasn't even in the US in 2005. He wasn't convinced, and kept insinuating that my husband was here illegally in the past, and that my marriage to him was a sham so that he could get a green card (even though we have 2 kids together and have never been apart longer than a month!). Then he showed me the mug shot of the person that was arrested, which looked NOTHING (NOTHING!) like my husband. I told him so, but he was like "whatever". I thought that once he did a real background check using a SSN or even fingerprints, it would show that the arrest record isn't my husband's. I refused to talk more and got an attorney. All of this happened in August of last year, and in October, the cop filed charges of Indecent Assault (a misdemeanor 2 in PA). My attorney got his discovery materials and it turns out that the cop didn't run the SSN, or any other identifying numbers, just my husband's name. My husband has a very common name in Mexico, and it didn't surprise me that it (if used by itself) would turn up a hit in a database. During the preliminary hearing, after my husband already had his fingerprints taken, my attorney asked the cop if the fingerprints came back with a record. The cop said NO. The crazy lady also showed up at the preliminary hearing and testified, but after reviewing the court transcripts, her story changed no less than 18 times during her own testimony. Yet none of this was enough for the cop to say "ok, she's obviously lying", so it went to the next stage.

My husband's final hearing was at the end of April 2012. The District Attorney's office was unable to contact the lady at all after the preliminary hearing. They lowered the charge to summary harassment, which we accepted just to avoid any more stress and costs (this hit us hard at over $7,000, without even going to trial). This was pretty much 9 months of the most stressful experience of both of our lives, and we're really grateful that it's over. The only thing is that I'm sure it's going to come up at some point during the interview, which we are OK with and fully accept. We sent in our court documents with our N-400 packet.

I must not have made myself very clear. For those who are going through the AOS process after the K-1 they are supposed to send in a vaccination supplement because they already did the medical exam. There are quite a few people who did just that (sent in the vaccination supplement assuming that they did not need to send in the medical exam form), but were STILL RECEIVING RFEs for the ENTIRE medical exam, although they followed the instructions exactly. My post is intended to let people know what we did (write a letter stating the obvious, that he had already done the medical exam), and state the results (we did not get an RFE for the medical exam). Thus, I was trying to help/be of assistance to other people. I hope this has cleared up any confusion that might have originated from my first two posts.

We didn't have an interview, our case was transferred to CSC and approved from there. We DID go to a USCIS civil surgeon who filled out the vaccination supplement and put in in a sealed envelope and signed over the seal. That's the envelope that I was referring to that was paperclipped to the back of the letter.

I'm not sure if this helped us or not, but we included a letter in our AOS packet stating that my fiance/husband had already received his medical exam. We did this because we heard that so many people were getting RFE's for medical exams even though they had already had one for the K-1 process. We included the letter in the packet with the vaccination supplement envelope paperclipped behind it. As I said, maybe this helped us avoid the RFE so maybe it can be of use to someone else who is preparing for this process.

This is the text of the letter that we included in our packet:

To Whom it May Concern,

I am including only the vaccination supplement in accordance with the requirements for Adjustment of Status from a K-1 visa, as per USCIS form I-485 instructions as follows:

8. Fiance(e)s

If you are a K-1 finace(e) or K-2 dependent who had a medical examination within the last year as required for the nonimmigrant fiance(e) visa, you only need to submit a vaccination supplement, not the entire medical report. You may include the vaccination supplement with your form I-485.

I received my full medical examination required for the K-1 visa on (date of medical exam). I gave the results of the medical exam in a sealed envelope to the consular officer on the day of my interview. The results were then placed in another sealed envelope, which was given to the immigration officers at my point of entry at (POE location).

Regards,

(signed name)

(printed name)

Just got the email, our AOS was approved today! (card production ordered)

Just got the email that our case got transferred to CSC!

Bump. Anyone have an opinion on this?

I'm filling out the I-485 right now for my husband as I realized that I simply can't put it off any longer and I want to be sure that I'm doing part 3 section C correctly. It asks for any clubs/affiliations and also says that you must put down any military service. Mexico has mandatory military service for all young men and I'm not sure how to address this. What I have down is:

Mexican army service (reserves); [City], Mexico; From: [date] To: [date]

I put below that "This military service was obligatory. I held no rank nor had a specialty."

I added that on because it said to detail the nature of the organization. Is this too much or should I leave it in?

Expect and prepare for the VERY worst; be pleased when the worst doesn't happen.

100% agreed. Our interview was super easy (even for Juarez) and completely painless but I don't regret for one second being "too prepared" (if there is such a thing).

Great news! Congratulations!!!

My fiance is in the consulate right now, and has been there for 5 hours. The police out front say its a long process which takes about 6-8 hours because there are several interviews that must take place. Does this sound right?

AVER, My fiancee and her daughter has been there since a little before 8 AM this morning. The guard outside said 3 to 5 hours. It has been 5-1/2 hours for her so far. I dont know if the 3 to 5 hours is from the time they are allowed inside or for the interview process. All we can do is wait. Yes I am a little worried.

She went in around 8 also. I'm hoping the long wait is some kind of good sign. I'm worried in Iraq, her friend waiting outside is worried, and her friend in cuernavaca is worried. She had to do extra medical tests, adding 2 days. So she can't wait to get out of Juarez. Good luck on your case.

She got it!! Either today or Monday she can pick up the visa.

I just wanted to make sure that I can get the letter at the consolate!! did anyone else do that? Yes, quite a few have, including me. Just make sure you have the Juarez case number (you'll have to call the NVC to get it).

And If i dont have the Funds for the public charge can use a form-184 Affiddalt of Support? is that the right form? If you are doing the K-1 it's the I-134 not I-864, and yes, you are allowed a co-sponsor. For spouses I think it's the I-864.

COngrats on all those who got thier visa!! I will be going to Juarez very soon, I am really nervous about everything, thanks for all the advice everyone! Everything will be great

This is where you get a paper hospital gown that you change into.

What? This must be new. Unlike the thoroughly humiliating experience my fiance had to go through (along with everyone else) being completely naked and in front of a female nurse.

Can anyone give me driving directions from El Paso to the consulate and/or the nearby Holiday Inn? Paseo de la Victoria must be relatively new because I can't seem to find it on any maps.

From the Holiday Inn website:

FROM EL PASO, TX: CORDOBA-AMERICAS INTL BRIDGE, TAKE AV A. LINCOLN, TURN LEFT ON P. TRIUNFO DE LA REP. TURN RIGHT ON AV. PANAMERICANA, TURN LEFT ON AV TEOFILO BORUNDA UNTIL P. DE LA VICTORIA, AND TURN LEFT. HOTEL IS NEXT TO STAR MEDICA.

Thanks for the info. I had assumed it actually did transmit some data to the consulate so that they could associate the bar code with the case. If not, I guess we can re-fill out the form to correct a couple of mistakes?

We are going for the interview on Monday!

We have a question about the online 156 form used by Juarez. After you fill it out and press "continue" to generate the PDF, do you print it out and then sign the paper copy/copies?

Thanks in advance.

Yes. It's not really online in the sense that you are transmitting data. It's only online so that it can generate a unique barcode for everyone. The new 160 actually sends data but, as far as I know, Juarez still isn't using it. Be sure you print out two copies or photo copy the original before you sign it. You need to have two copies with the same barcode.

Nothing gets transmitted to the consulate, so you're free to fill out the form again and fix anything that you might have messed up. The only "electronic" part of it is that it generates a bar code that gets put on the form that you print out, and the consulate can quickly scan it and won't have to manually enter the info. Best of luck to you on Monday!

Went to Banamex this morning.... In line at 9:30.. In the consulate immediately.... Approved at 11:52am!!!!!! Now I can breathe again.... Now there is more planning to bring everyone home finally!!!!! Thanks for everyone's kind words and advice. It really helped us all in this process! Best of luck for everyone doing their interviews in the next few days. Hopefully it goes smoothly for you all....

Big, huge CONGRATULATIONS!!!

For everyone who is going through this right now, I just want to give my 2 cents, take it or leave it:

1. No 2 cases, either the medical or the interview, are exactly the same, so don't worry excessively if your case varies either a little or a lot from other cases. It's only after the interview that you can take action if something didn't work out, but there really is no point losing sleep or giving yourself an ulcer BEFORE you even find out anything.

2. Because of the consulate being closed due to swine flu (and the fact that it seems something changes all the time with them), on the consulate side and DHL side things might be a little weird for a while. It also is very likely affecting the medical exams. Starting out after the period where they closed there was no backlog, but now that everyone that planned to go in the first couple weeks of May are probably all going now, there will more than likely be a wait (which will only increase before it starts to lag off a bit more).

3. Be positive (as hard is it may be). Juarez has a high approval rate for K-1's that are straightforward (meaning legit relationship, no drug problems/mental health problems/past illegal entries). Your positive attitude will have a HUGE effect on how confident your fiance(e) is in the interview. This is probably the most important thing.

BY far the best advice I have received in a while!!!!!! We needed it too as I am sure we are questioning EVERYTHING as we all do when you are a day from the interview!! Gonna take her to a nice dinner and try to have a great evening before the big day... More to come tomorrow...

The very best of luck to you! Remember: "If you can't change your fate, change your attitude" -A Chinese Proverb

Everything will be GREAT!

For everyone who is going through this right now, I just want to give my 2 cents, take it or leave it:

1. No 2 cases, either the medical or the interview, are exactly the same, so don't worry excessively if your case varies either a little or a lot from other cases. It's only after the interview that you can take action if something didn't work out, but there really is no point losing sleep or giving yourself an ulcer BEFORE you even find out anything.

2. Because of the consulate being closed due to swine flu (and the fact that it seems something changes all the time with them), on the consulate side and DHL side things might be a little weird for a while. It also is very likely affecting the medical exams. Starting out after the period where they closed there was no backlog, but now that everyone that planned to go in the first couple weeks of May are probably all going now, there will more than likely be a wait (which will only increase before it starts to lag off a bit more).

3. Be positive (as hard is it may be). Juarez has a high approval rate for K-1's that are straightforward (meaning legit relationship, no drug problems/mental health problems/past illegal entries). Your positive attitude will have a HUGE effect on how confident your fiance(e) is in the interview. This is probably the most important thing.

They asked her some basic questions also, but it seemed more for him... Now I have ANOTHER thing to worry about!!!!

Don't worry unnecessarily! If everything is normal at home, there should be no issue (relax!).