atothelkini

I moved from Northern Ireland to the USA in 2005 on a fiance visa. Went through all the paperwork and finally obtained my citizenship in march 2011.

Now I have a problem - I've never obtained a US passport (one of those things I was always going to get around to, but never managed it.)

My aunt in NI has passed away this morning and I really do need to go to the funeral - I am looking at flights going out tomorrow (Monday) and coming back on Friday. I have a valid UK passport and my US citizenship certificate. Would it be possible to get back into the US with this paperwork, plus any other stuff I might need (birth cert, Driving licence etc?)

Thanks for any help anyone can provide - I tried calling the travel.gov helpline, but they only run M-F hours. Also called the US Embassy in London, but they can't help until tomorrow morning and I need to book the flight TONIGHT!

I agree...

Jax offfice just piss me off the way they do things there slow & ####### attitude...proberly in the top 10 sucky offices in the us IMHO

But what can you do? play there way or hit the highway...one of several reasons i want to be done with uscis..so i havent got to deal with such people

I've been pretty much OK with my dealings with Jacksonville since I arrived in the states. My lifting on conditions wait wasn't too bad, and the interview was great. This time around my wait from application to interview was only 2 and half months, so again no real complaints about the office.

But overall? My big complaint is having to drive there to do fingerprints. I live in Tallahassee. That's a 5 hour round trip that I've had to make twice, when they already have my fingerprints from my original K-1. (Yes I know they expire, but come on... really? My fingers don't fall off after a year, why do the prints expire, other than its a good reason to charge me more money for another processing date?)

The most horrible part of this whole process has been the K-1. Almost 10 months apart waiting for the system to grind its way through to our paperwork. (And we got off LIGHT - I feel so bad for people who wait over a year and more.)

Thanks... one more piece of worry off my shoulders!

Hey all,

I had my citizenship stuff approved yesterday after passing all the tests. It was very straightforward - the whole thing took less than 10 minutes from entering the interview room through to my exit with a big smile on my face.

I was SO worried about the civics questions and had spent the last 2 weeks going over the 100 over and over again. I also listened to the audio of the questions the whole way to Jacksonville, so I could continue to cram on the journey. Glad that paid off though, as I went 6 for 6!

My interviewer said that the oath ceremony would probably in 2-3 months, and to look out for a letter letting me know the exact date. Almost almost almost there!

Not sure if this is the correct forum - feel free to move if its not.

I am a 10yr card-carrying Permanent resident. I got my 10 yr card around this time last year and its good to 2019. (I arrived in the US in August of 2005.)

I started a great job in 2006, and have been there ever since. However due to the economy, things are getting extremely stressful there and I am really worried about the possibility of a layoff. My question is, now that I am a permanent resident, am I eligible to file for unemployment? (I know there is something that my wife had to sign during the visa process, agreeing to support me for a certain number of years... is this still in effect?)

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide...

Unfortunately, residents of NI have to have their interview in London. No way around it all - at least to my knowledge. If there was, I'd have tried to have mine there!

Congrats! I got the same email one day later!

It took over a year to process. I really wish something could be done about this - I kinda feel cheated out of the money. I'm happy to have that process over, but it took so long that now that it's finally here, I'm just about ready to start the next process!

Does the FBI check your background since you arrived in the states as it relates to you as a Permanent Resident in the country?

Or do they check with your native country for anything there?

For example if I was to have some debt problems which have occurred in the UK since I became a Permanent Resident - will these factor in my background check? In the US, I have a clean criminal and credit record... whereas the UK may show this debt problem in a credit background check.

If they do check my UK stuff and it shows, will this affect a citizenship application?

You should be ok as they are generally looking for crime committed while in the US. I'm unsure if they would run something through Interpol as well. As long as your financial issues haven't been money laundering, I think you are fine. Good Luck!!

BTW, where in the Jacksonville DO do you reside? We're in Tallahassee.

I'm not in Jacksonville... I'm in Tallahassee too!

Does the FBI check your background since you arrived in the states as it relates to you as a Permanent Resident in the country?

Or do they check with your native country for anything there?

For example if I was to have some debt problems which have occurred in the UK since I became a Permanent Resident - will these factor in my background check? In the US, I have a clean criminal and credit record... whereas the UK may show this debt problem in a credit background check.

If they do check my UK stuff and it shows, will this affect a citizenship application?

Ok folks... I'll be mailing my application off this week, here's what I'll be including in the package...

Cover Letter

The I-751 Petition

Copy of my I-551 Green Card

Copy of the ID page of my passport

Copy of the K1 Visa page of my passport

Copy of both our driving licences - showing we live at the same address

Copy of our health insurance cards

Copy of my life insurance policy showing my wife as the beneficiary

2005 & 2006 Tax Returns

Copy of Target & Sam's Club store cards - both our names on the same account

Copy of our Visa Cards (3 in total) - all 3 show our names on the same account

Copy of a page from our Mortgage payment book & copy of some of the pages from the mortgage packet - showing we own the house we both live in.

Copy of our car insurance cards and our certificate for both cards

Copy of our car registration documents

Copy of bank statement pages from over the past 2 years

Copies of some Vetinary bills and receipts for our 3 dogs - both names and the address are definitely on that paperwork.

Some photos taken over the past 2 years

The fee (this part HURTS! )

Some questions I have...

All our utility bills - electricity, water, cable, house phone, cell phone - are in my wife's name only. Although I'm a registered name on the account, the bills only come addressed to the person whose name appears first. Should I include some anyway?

Also, the Visa cards are the same situation only with the names flipped. The bill comes addressed to me only, and my wife is an autorized user. Should I include these bills, or are copies of the cards enough?

Is there anything else I might be missing, or that might help?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I can't find any of my official USCIS letters - I-485 approval etc. I also can't find my birth certificate, my wife's birth certificate, or my divorce decree from my previous marriage. Yes, yes, I know... I'm a complete idiot. I normally keep everything to do with my immigration situation in one box, but for some reason its not there, and I'm too old and absent minded to remember if I've had reason to pull it out! Of course I'm going to rip my house apart to try to find it, but in the unfortunate event that I don't I guess I'll have to order some more copies of everything.

I don't have to file until around November, so I should have plenty of time anyway.

My questions are:

1) The guide for this section doesn't mention needing any of the above when filing to lift conditions. Is this correct?

2) If I do need reprints of the USCIS letters, how do I get those? Does it cost anything?

3) How can I improve my memory?

Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide...

That's the thing though... a grudge for what? Tipped them off about what?

We've followed every step of this process by the book, and here we sit with me green card in hand, happily working AND PAYING TAXES, and getting ready for the end of this year when we can file to remove conditions.

What exactly would they be investigating?

I did call the USCIS phoneline. The lady told me that she wasn't sure if USCIS or Homeland Security (ie, her own people) did make phone calls like this, but I was welcome to book an Infopass appointment to discuss it at my local office. Yeah, like I really want to drive 2 and half hours to Jacksonville just to hear someone tell me it was a normal call, then drive 2 and half back.

Crazy crazy stuff. Why don't they make the local offices publish their phone numbers for goodness sake?

Oh well...

Earlier this week, completely out of the blue, my wife received a call to her home phone from someone claiming to be from the Dept of Homeland Security.

They asked if we were still married, where we still living in the same house, if either of us were employed... and that was basically it.

It was such an out-of-the-blue thing, plus the fact that if someone calls from the govt then it throws you off, that she can't remember if they gave an ID number or not... when we checked the call history on the phone there was no number there. Not private or blocked - NO NUMBER.

So my question is... is this a normal type of thing? Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do I have anything to be worried about?

Or is this a new and improved way for bill collectors to check on you before they make a move?

as many others have said, its really white, not green, and is very similar to the EAD card, but with some star wars hologram-looking stuff on the back...

I'm officially DONE with USCIS for a year and three quarters!

Congratulations! I think you're definitely right about interviews being easier if you're from certain countries. I always imagine (and hope!) that interviews are much easier when you're from the UK.

You UK guys are sick...

Why don't you stay your country and bring your spouse to your strong country?

why don't you stop inventing things to be offended about?

chill out...

Approved this morning in Jacksonville!

Following a nice 2 and half hour car journey from Tallahassee to make our 7.30am appointment (who the hell would ever set appointments at that time of the morning?) we arrived bleary-eyed at the Jax office with about 10 minutes to spare.

We took a seat in the waiting room, and only waited for around 15 minutes before we were called. I can't remember the guy's name who called us, but he was around 34-35 and looked a little like Clark Kent. (We both commented later that he looked as if his name should be 'Keith' but that's another side issue.)

Anyway, 'Keith' brought us into his office, where we took the oath and then sat down. He quickly put us at ease, and it was hard to fight the feeling that this WAS actually going to be the 'easy' experience that others spoke of! He asked for drivers licenses from both of us, as well as my EAD card, and passport. Then he asked me what Jeneane's birthdate was, and then asked her what mine was. After that he asked for our wedding date, and some pictures of this (we had made copies which he didn't keep), and the marriage certificates (we had 2 originals and a copy - he took one of the originals). Then he asked for birth certificates, viewed the originals and kept the copies we had made after stamping them (I guess to say that he had checked them against the original).

Then he came to the I-864. Jen hadn't made enough on her 2004 tax return, but we sent a letter from her job stating her salary (which met the threshold) with the original I-864 submission. We also had filed our 2005 taxes on Monday which proved that we were well over the threshold, and we brought copies of the returns which he took.

Finally he went thru the checklist of questions ("Ever been arrested for drugs?" etc etc), and made sure to make wisecracks about the "Ever been involved in terrorism question?" (since I was from Northern Ireland) as he ticked all the boxes.

Then he took copies of bills with both our names on, and our rental agreement and said that he was happy to approve us.

He did quick computer checks on both of us, and said he was happy to tell us we were 'clean', and he then stamped my passport and explained about the lifting of conditions stuff.

Then he spent another couple of minutes making jokes and talking to us about day to day stuff (this was AFTER THE approval - so there definitely wasn't any ulterior motive to this - he was genuinely friendly.)

All in all, it was a breeze. 'Keith' was a total professional and made everything very easy through the whole interview.

THANKS 'KEITH'!

I guess this is the end of the road for me for a while at least. I'll still continue to check on everyone on VJ from time to time, especially the people who have been so helpful to me throughout this whole process - meauxa, sjoefl01, rebeccajo, katehuber (CONGRATS!), crazybrit, and all the rest of you nutters. I know for a FACT that I couldn't have made it thru all the stress and paperwork without the advice and support from all the above, and the rest of the extended VJ family. Thanks again for all the help, and good luck to everyone waiting for news, paperwork, and completions of their own journey!

changed his password on the computer. He is not even aware of this yet.

I've been following your tale from the start and do feel genuine sympathy for your predicament, and while understanding the stress he has put you through, I still feel I need to ask...

why would you do the above? its just another example to him of his parents snooping behind his back and getting into his private stuff...

OF COURSE he gave you a reason too, and of course you had little other option, but I kind of think its going to be difficult to build a trustworthy relationship between parents and child, when the parents give off the air that they don't trust the child (again, with GOOD REASON), and the child has evidence that they don't (his changed password) - its another thing to rebel against, no?

hopefully though, after the long talks, all these issues can be gradually brushed under the carpet, and a good relationship between everyone can develop...

More for reassurance than anything else...

Interview in a week and a half and...

The checklist on the appt letter mentions bringing a I-864 UNLESS already filed, so I assumed that since they already have mine as it was submitted with the AOS paperwork last Sept that I don't need my wife to fill a new one out? No circumstances have changed, so we were going to bring a copy of the submitted one, along with her tax returns, and more recent pay stubs, as per the letter.

However one of the recent AOS successful interview threads mentions the Immigration Official asking for a NEW I-864.

So is it the old, or a brand new one?