spi9959

Does everyone get the "yellow letter" or does it depend on the individual?

I don't think so.... I didn't get yellow letter just an interview letter stating the date and time, what are the documents needed to bring, etc.. I think they send it randomly. Sometimes USCIS have different rule in every service center.

After waiting over two months from the receipt of the N-400 with no further response from USCIS, my wife sent a letter to NBC using the address on the N-400. She stated that she was worried that a biometric appointment letter had been sent to her and lost in the mail. Not a week later, she got the yellow letter! So, hopefully, she'll get an interview letter soon.

We don't mind about the repetitive requests for the same evidence; the difficulties were in getting everything that they wanted for the green card. Now that we have it all, it's just a question of making multiple copies.

My wife's N-400 application was received on March 4th and she received her NOA1 on March 12th. Her case was transferred to NBC. We live in the Chicago area so I suppose the Chicago office will be where her interview is held.

What we're antsy about is that she has not yet received any further correspondence --- nothing in terms of biometrics. It seems that many others get this notification within a month, more or less, of the receipt of the NOA1. At what point should the "antsyness" turn into concern? Thanks and have a great weekend!

Yeah...although a great system, it never updates or send you any updates. I got my oath date and online still dates back to 08/08/08 file and says pending. So the postman is your new best friend. When you say I-400's I am assuming you mean N-400 right? My file was transferred there from Nebraska Service Center. A lot of files were transferred there last year. Good luck. It will come soon.

Yes, sorry, N-400, and thanks!

NBC? or NVC?

From her NOA1 --- "This case is at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register".

My wife got her NOA1 dated 3/12/09 stating her case had been transferred to NBC. She has not received any notice yet for biometrics, of course, it's been only slightly over a month. NBC does not list timelines for I-400 cases. Anyone have any experience with NBC or have their I-400s sent there? Thanks!

I got it to work and I too think its cool. Only modification I would make is maybe to randomize and let you know when you have answered all 100 questions.

I can get it to work with Explorer, but not Firefox.

I am glad you all like the quiz tool!

Broma25, I have now updated the quiz page which should make it work on more browsers (and versions) I think. Try again and see if it helped.

I just tried to use it. It doesn't function properly.

at the citizenship interview or the oath ceremony? Thanks.

I have read many instances when thy had to go back to redo the biometrics. Curious - does he do extreme hard work with his hands or is it genetic or skin condition? Maybe he can wear gloves for a week or so before the next exam and keep his skin 'healed'. Good Luck

My wife is a waitress and her hands are rough and calloused, and we suspected that she would have difficulties with her biometrics. Her first set of biometrics was illegible and she was given a second biometrics appointment. Again, her second set was illegible. She got an RFE requesting clearances from local police departments from all locales that she lived in the U.S. in the past five years. She only lived in one town and she provided a police clearance report stating that she had no history of arrests. She sent that in and she has since been approved and she is awaiting her permanent green card. Had we to do it all over again, we would have obtained police clearances as part of the original evidence submitted --- even before the first biometrics appointment. It might have shortened the process a bit.

Woh, that is strange. FBI criminal clearance (fingerprints) is done in a couple of days. I thought it covers all US. FBI name check also covers all US (checks administrative and other courts, etc). Usually done in couple of weeks unless name is popular. This letter is very easy to get from Russia. Somebody has to go to her local police station and give a bribe even if she does not have any record. That is a custom. Throught embassy it will take forever to get such letter-but they can send a request. I know if USC immigrates to Canada-Can immigration ask for this type of letter (this letter could be obtained from FBI (after doing prints at the local police station and sending print card to headquorters). I know my response is not of help. Just came to mind, there is also third clearance which is done by Border Patrol. They use extensive databases and consular databases. US embassy in Russia now have computerized criminal records of Russian citizens. Maybe she was flaged there?

My wife's biometrics were illegible two times. She just got an RFE asking her to submit letters stating no "criminal record" from all law enforcement districts in which she has lived within the past five years. They want this by June 13th. She has lived at the same location in the U.S. three years since coming here on a K-1 visa. She lived in Russia previous to that.

Are we correct in assuming the USCIS is requesting clearance letters from all U.S. locales she lived in --- not foreign? We're assuming that FBI fingerprint checks are not international as well.

She wasn't flagged --- her prints were illegible two times in application for the permanent green card through ASC biometrics. I believe that the police clearances requested in the RFE only apply to the various residences that she lives and had lived in the U.S. --- not international residences. I think the FBI fingerprint database is aimed at determining, for the most part, arrest records, if any, within the U.S. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

My wife's biometrics were illegible two times. She just got an RFE asking her to submit letters stating no "criminal record" from all law enforcement districts in which she has lived within the past five years. They want this by June 13th. She has lived at the same location in the U.S. three years since coming here on a K-1 visa. She lived in Russia previous to that.

Are we correct in assuming the USCIS is requesting clearance letters from all U.S. locales she lived in --- not foreign? We're assuming that FBI fingerprint checks are not international as well.

I didn't know about the so-called Immigration Day. I expect that if the workers at USCIS hear about it, they'll likely think its a day off for them and not show up.

Those things that group says about immigration are wrong in so many aspects. Those of us that have followed the laws and dealt with the delay and frustration of the "legal process" do not want the illegal aliens given a green light towards legal status. I say, if you want to stay here and you are illegal, then you have two choices. Go back to your country and try the legal method or report all of the income you have earned for each year here illegally, pay all the taxes, interest and penalties and after that maybe you'll be allowed to apply for a entry status. But, you of course will need to go to the end of the line and become fully visible and honestly report your income and pay taxes. If the country which is your home has a quota system for allowing its citizens in, then your name will be on that list, thereby removing others from your country from applying.

That seems only fair to everyone involved. Of course this would never fly because that would probably restrict so many honest applicants from ever being able to emigrate to America.

These immigration rallies draw fewer and fewer participants, and, IMHO, only solidify the resolve of those in opposition. I think they should have one every week!

I had posted several weeks ago about my wife's first failed biometrics for the permanent green card. She had a second biometrics and we fear her prints were poor in that one as well. We were told at ASC that, if the second set was bad, she would have to provide police clearances from all the places that she lived in the past 10 years. She lived in Moscow for seven years before coming here in April of 2005. We were very worried about how to obtain police clearances from a city on the other side of the globe and known for an extremely slow bureaucracy. As we should have guessed, police clearances are only required for locales lived in within the U.S. Hopefully, this information will help others in our position not to sweat unnecessarily about obtaining police clearances from other countries.

I just took the wife for her second set of biometrics for the permanent green card. We received a letter after the first set was taken stating that she needed to have them taken again. Well, we went again today and it turns out that her left hand didn't leave any prints. We fear that this second set will be rejected as well. This is interesting to us because we had no trouble with her very first biometrics when we applied for her conditional green card. I suppose that fingers and their prints can get smoothed out over time and depending on the type of work.

The people at ASC told us that only two tries at biometrics are allowed. They said that my wife might have to get a disposition from the police departments of all the places that she has lived in the past 10 years. The problem here is that she lived in Moscow for 8 of the past 10 years and it is extremely difficult to obtain any paperwork there. Besides, she did obtain police clearances for her initial K-1 visa here, but she lived in Moscow at the time she obtained the paperwork.

Has anyone encountered this biometrics problems before? Does anyone know if the information that ASC gave us is correct? Thanks so much for your help and advise.

A deed, mortgage agreement, or similar proof of shared living arrangement might have been helpful. I'm not sure if a copy of a shared home improvement loan is a substitute.

We got our NOA letter from California dated 1/29/08. We have not received a letter for biometrics yet. In reviewing timelines of others, we see the lengths of time vary from receipt of the NOA letter to the receipt of the biometrics letter. Our mail delivery is notoriously fickle and unreliable. At what point should we become concerned if the biometrics letter hasn't arrived yet?

Our check cleared yesterday, 2/6/08. Let the games begin!

It got really long there for awhile, but it seems to be improving. We filed back in July, and our check was cashed in less than a week - so fast processing does sometimes happen. But the other poster is correct - they advertise a month to process. You don't have a timeline - which petition did you file? I-129F's don't go to Nebraska any more, or anywhere but California and Vermont.

I-751

I'm sure it's variable, but I want to get some idea of a range. Nebraska received our packet on 1/29/08. No sign of check having been cashed yet. Thanks!

Give it at least 2 weeks to a month... it will happen, you just need to be more patient because this journey is a long route.

--Mae

I'm not impatient --- just inquisitive.

I'm sure it's variable, but I want to get some idea of a range. Nebraska received our packet on 1/29/08. No sign of check having been cashed yet. Thanks!

My question is, can i send a money order or a check, which one is faster. I dont want my application to delay. My husband spend my money, i was so sad when i saw the letter, infact i feel like fainting. Please can someone tell me, can i send a money order. And one more thing, it shows on the head of the letter that the letter was typed on the 17th of january 2008, but it has a posted stamp on the envelop for 25th of january 2008, which one is the correct one to start counting from.

me

I would suggest a postal money order.

But their own bank can easily tell them when the certified check was been cashed..

Giving some relief to poster's stress level.

The question was which one was faster not which one could be more easily tracked--- a money order or check. A postal money order should, it would seem to me, "clear" faster than a certified check or money orders issued by other entities, but I might be wrong.

My question is, can i send a money order or a check, which one is faster. I dont want my application to delay. My husband spend my money, i was so sad when i saw the letter, infact i feel like fainting. Please can someone tell me, can i send a money order. And one more thing, it shows on the head of the letter that the letter was typed on the 17th of january 2008, but it has a posted stamp on the envelop for 25th of january 2008, which one is the correct one to start counting from.

me

I would suggest a postal money order.

A couple of points and questions.

First - they asked for all the evidence I listed earlier in this thread. Not some, but all.

Next - should we blank out our bank account numbers?

I am not on the house deed. As we were planning on moving, we didn't bother on adding me to the deed. As such, I am also not on the mortgage.

Is this going to be a problem?

I would say don't blank out anything on the bank statements --- why risk it? Have both of your names placed on the deed. In most counties/states, it is a rather simple process. It may be difficult and costly to add a name to the mortgage. Adding a name to the deed should be sufficient.

But who would guess that they would require 12 months bank statements?

And, isn't your bank balances confidential information?

Anyway, we are moving on it right away..

Well, I'll tell you this: based upon what they are asking of you in the RFE, others reading this forum submitting information will not likely be giving them a "smattering" of bank statements anymore, if they can help it. Why wait for possible RFEs? Accumulate a lot of information in regard to the categories of information they ask for including each and every monthly bill, account statement, etc. And, no, bank statements aren't confidential when it comes to USCIS.

I do wish you the best of luck and I'm sure you'll be fine. I think all of us may have learned a lesson from your experience.

There has been at least one post here on "Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion" stating that a "smattering" of evidence for certain time periods should be sufficient and that there is no need to send bank statements for every month. It seems to me that what the RFE is asking you to provide is a bit more than a "smattering" of evidence, e.g. *every* bank statement for the past 12 months! The moral of this story, I believe, is to not take a chance sending a "smattering" of information and to initially send as much relevant information as possible to buttress your case ... to decrease the probability of getting an RFE. If you're interested in avoiding RFEs and time delays, and who here is not, initially send them as much relevant information as you can.