Seven

13 hours ago, xzsca10 said:

A lot of people that file i-90 cannot file online -- for instance my wife. 

 

No criminal record. Nada. But since USCIS made the error of giving her a CR1 visa, we must send back the CR-1 Card, suffer for about 20 months (minimum, or so I've heard for cases like these) to get that corrected, and constantly worry about renewing her i-551 stamps so she doesn't get detained by ICE for whatever reason.

I am sorry that was the situation. Also, please notice that there are special situations that prevent certain things. Most people can apply by mail and online. Also, I am just talking about a simple 10 year card renewal (I-90 for a 10 yr card renewal). I understand people with certain special circumstances can be irritated about their situation and case.  By the way a lawyer told me not to apply online because it would take longer. So you know. There are stories of positive outcomes out there so just sharing one. To be fair, USCIS also sends an automatic notice of action letter letter with a two year extension on your expired green card. Wish you the best.

2 hours ago, Cathi said:

It's not fear mongering when it's the truth. Your case is not the norm by any stretch of the imagination.

Do you process all the cases? I am trying to share my experience but let’s continue focusing on the negative. Again, I am not special. The norm? Maybe not. Maybe average wait a year, I don’t know, there are many variables. I don’t dare to say that everyone will have my experience but that they CAN. Obviously, not impossible.

31 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

The next step should be that USCIS mails out green cards with delivery-tracking, and perhaps delivery signatures required.  There are too many stories here of "Informed Delivery showed that my GC was delivered, but it wasn't" and "My name is on the mailbox, but when I researched, I learned that the GC had been sent back."  Inexcusable for something so crucial in people's lives.

Next (big) step would be that immigration processes were free. Yay! 

36 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Look no further, recent post suggests it took 18 months to renew GC. This is a reality for most I-90 cases.

It's amazing that your case took few days to get approved. And thank you for sharing the experience. I would want to see more cases like yours to be saying "I-90 is a piece of cake, only takes few weeks to renew". Hopefully, USCIS is doing something to improve processing times, I hope this becomes the norm.

I am not saying those do not exist. However, not everyone who files posts in this forum. 

51 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I don't think it is about fear mongering but lowering people's expectations - and stopping them from pestering for at least 20 months 😜 -.

I am talking about what people say, stories they tell that make it look all cases are a nightmare. I am also talking about news to where it was said that it is crazy what immigration is doing to LPRs making them wait forever just to print a green card. I am also talking about the false advertisement and push that in these times it is better (if we only factor processing time) to do the N-400 than renewing a green card. That is all I am talking about. I understand that USCIS puts all cases from all people of all walks in life to do an estimate. It can be people who committed a crime or other irregularities that make their case longer and skew the estimation numbers. All I wanted is to share my experience to show not all cases are a nightmare. I have not won a Nobel prize, I am not in the military, I have done nothing special to get my case expedited. It just happened that way. I filed online, Potomac. No issues, it can happen.

6 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

My timeline was very similar to yours. 

Fast and smooth experience.

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/790597-10-year-card-renewal-surprisingly-smooth-experience/

Yay! think it there are many out there and it is great! I just thought to share because usually what’s heard the most are the bad experiences and for someone just wanting to find info and guidance it can all be very demotivating 

10 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

Is it not allowed or is it more cultural - it is not normally done?  From what I have read, it can be done but is complicated:  your NIE needs to be changed, as well as your residencia, and a few other steps.  The hassel may be worse than getting a visa for the US passport.

 

 

It is the law as I said above. Not allowed, never changes. Never. Complicated things that can be done are: first name for transgender people. Change the paternal or maternal last name if just say, one of your parents murdered the other and now you don’t want to carry one of their last names. In that case, you would carry both of your other parent. I have no NIE or residencia. I am Spanish born and raised.  There are different laws in every country. In not all countries one can change their names like they change their underwear 🤷🏻‍♀️

26 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Getting a visa to Vietnam with a US passport is really easy and about 20 bucks now roughly. You can do it online now, and print out the visa in advance, and it's easy peasy. I have also gotten a Vietnam visa issued next day multiple times at their embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. I would stop by the embassy, fill out the form, pay about 15 bucks ( Make sure you have passport photos with you, I always travel with about 6 current ones), and pick up my passport the next day, then head to airport, hop on my Vietjet airways for 9 bucks one way back in the day, and away I went. The visa for Vietnam is not very difficult to get, and would save a lot of hassle in the long run.

Note: Make sure you do it directly at their Visa webpage, there are a lot of 3rd party ones that get you visas, but mark it up to like 90 bucks, and then just do everything for you online and pocket the 70 for themselves.

 

Looks like it went up to 25 now....

The standard fee for a single-entry e-visa is US$25

I guess that what’s the whole point of dual citizenship, you know? Then it’s better to never get the US citizenship and use the more powerful passport (Spanish one in this case)

2 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

I find it a hassel to book multiple flights and try to organize transfers visa 3rd countries   And more expensive 

 

I would research the visa requirements for the country you wish to visit with your US passport.  If it is is something simple, like an electronic visa or on-arrival visa, then just use your US passport, register and pay the fee.

 

If it's something more complicated, like  requiring you to visit that country's embassy or mail your passport in, then I would seek the options that Olduser and MikeE described.

 

 

I am curious about your Spanish passport:  if there is a name change due to marriage locally, the name cannot be changed on the passport?

People are not allowed to change their names. Marriage is not a valid legal reason for name change. You are born and die with your name.

24 minutes ago, Mike E said:

few airlines interline and even fewer interline to another airline with a different named passenger.

 

so if you check a bag, then you will have to clear immigration, get the bag, and then re-check.  Most countries with international transit zones have exit controls. If you are using passport A to enter C you must use A to exit C. Your name won’t match. 

Fly through Hong Kong.

 Sorry I can’t explain it for you any simpler. All I can say, is I did it once. I had visa for India on my Canadian passport. So i flew to Hong Kong from Dallas on my U.S. passport on AA   Then hit the CX transit desk to my boarding pass for India using my Canadian passport. On the return, hit the transit desk in HK to get my AA boarding pass.

 

My name is the same on both passports but it would not have made a difference. It was going to work, and it did work.

 

 

Couldn’t you have presented your Canadian at check in the US (having booked a round trip to India) then get your US passport out only to enter the US in customs? The US law doesn’t prohibit having other passports and doesn’t obligate the citizens to exit the country with it. They just care you enter as a man American. Therefore, for you, with the matching name, only have to think of you want to enter a country as a Canadian or a U.S. citizen.

6 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@Seven is your question about travelling to countries from this list?

My question was directed to any country that the Spanish passport has an advantage over the US passport, that being the need for a visa or any other restriction the world decides to make up.

1 hour ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

What's the name difference? Maiden vs. married?

 

And the easiest way would be buying tickets separately in order to match each passport. 

Someone told me that I could book the flight with the Spanish passport name to a country such as Vietnam which requires no visa for Spanish passports. Then enter Vietnam with the Spanish one, exit Vietnam with the Spanish one and just take my American passport in US customs. What got me thinking is that when traveling with a GC with a different name than my Spanish passport to Spain, most of the time the airline people want me to check in using their kiosk. I tell them it won't work. They insist. Kiosk asks me if I have a US issued document, I say yes, names mismatch, need to go to the counter. Agent calls supervisor because according to her, I cannot fly with different names. Supervisor tells agent that I entered the name in my passport and any other issues are immigration's job, not hers. Then I am free to go on with my day. LOL. Sorry for the rant

40 minutes ago, OldUser said:

That's unfortunate. I would have not changed name in the US if I was intending to keep my country of origin's citizenship and they don't allow name changes. This is somewhat gray / undefined area.

 

Perhaps the easiest solution is to use US passport solely to enter 3rd country. Yes, it means applying for visa. But there's not so many countries requiring visa for US citizens. Unless you're talking China / Russia / Iran and similar.

 

The problem with airline tickets is that you need to provide name. And if the names don't match this will haunt you for the rest of your life. As long as air travel rules don't change to be more liberal, which I don't think they will anytime soon.

 

Thank you for your answer. It is much appreciated. The whole name mess that I got into when immigration happened (over a decade ago) was not entirely my decision either. I was very young too and uninformed to know how bad things got messed up. USCIS was not the most collaborative either. Long story. I guess Spanish names are not the most understood in the USA overall... Anyhow, my Spanish passport "opens more doors" than the US passport does. So just wondering how things could be done. The reason I am always going to keep my Spanish passport is because that's who I am, because all my family is in Spain, and because one never knows where life will bring. If (God forbid) a truck was to hit my husband tomorrow and kill him then I would have to think long and hard if I want to stay in a country where I absolutely have no one. Or we can make it both to our 90s and just leave this earth then. Who knows. Can't obsess about the what ifs...

7 hours ago, OldUser said:

Route 1

1. Change the name in passport of origin to match US passport name.

2. Problem solved

 

Route 2

1. If passport of origin has maiden name, carry marriage certificate with you to prove name change if asked any questions by airline

 

Either way, you would have to use both passports for travelling if you need that visa free access.

 

@Mike E gave example below.

 

The law of the passport of origin prohibits any name changes

4 hours ago, Mike E said:

1. Carry on bags only and utilize a country C that

* has an international transit are where passport control is not required for international to international flights.

* does not require a visa for citizens of A or B

 

2. Book a round trip between A and C in name of passport A on airline X

 

3. Book a round trip between C and B in name of passport B on airline Y

 

4. When arriving at C, go to transit desk of airline Y to get boarding pass.

 

5. For the return, do the converse.

 

 

 

 

I am a bit confused: why carry on only? Then maybe with the A and B it got confused but for example the Spanish passport would allow me to go just say Vietnam without a visa. The American needs a visa to go to Vietnam. So how that’d be? What name on the tickets? Would the airline in the US have a problem that the US passport is in another name?

I thought all countries had a border security where you show the passport.

I got really lost at the multiple round trips bookings for so many countries. Sorry ! 

Hi everyone. Just curious about something.

Just say US passport (passport A) has a different name than the passport of origin (passport B). A visa is required with passport A but not with passport B so how to travel to that other country using passport B without running into issues, not being let on the plane etc because the passport A has a different name? 
 

Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone,

Hope you are well. I do not know why I keep calling the USCIS phone number because they are completely useless. Two agents told me I cannot file for N-400 without filing for I-90 if my green card expires in less than 6 months. However, I had to inform now two agents that there is a new policy. They are completely unaware of this. My interpretation is that as of December 12, 2022 it doesn't matter when you file the N-400 (before or after the 6 month expiration date mark on the GC), you will receive a two years extension on your green card regardless. Anyone who interprets this information differently?

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-updates-policy-to-automatically-extend-green-cards-for-naturalization-applicants

Thanks

9 hours ago, carmel34 said:

My husband who came to the US on a CR-1 visa has two last names, separated by a space, as his surname: e.g., Jones Smith, no hyphen.  No middle name, and one given name: e.g., John.  He has had no problems whatsoever.  His Brazilian passport, CR-1 visa, green card, driver's license, SS card, IRS tax returns, bank accounts, health insurance, credit cards, I-751, N-400, etc. all have his name this way:

 

first name: John

middle name:

last name/surname: Jones Smith

Good to hear a story where no one has messed the first surname and taken it as a middle name. Thanks for sharing

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

I don’t know the legal intricacies, or like I said- whether it is at the state or federal level.   I’m just reporting my personal experience with naming my children who were born in the state of Washington.   I did not want them to have a hyphenated last name, so the absence of that hyphen means they have two middle names.

 

A fictional example: :  Gabriel Patrick Larson-Hamilton vs Gabriel Patrick Larson Hamilton.   The latter is what appears  on a kid’s birth certificate, SS card and passport.   On most other forms and records, it was easiest (and completely legal) to shorten it to Gabriel Hamilton, Gabriel P. Hamilton, etc.   The “Larson” doesn’t even appear on his drivers license.

 

The hyphen would have ensured it was ALWAYS Gabriel Larson-Hamilton as his full legal name.

 

Since middle names are optional (and not everyone even has one), I suppose there had to be some way to designate whether a name is a middle name, or part of a surname.

 

 

Oh I see. It seems to me that if it was allowed in the surname at the SSN in your state somewhere was confused as the middle name and if it was not corrected then perhaps is wrongly listed as if it was a middle name when in reality is not. Sorry that happened. People can’t really understand sometimes seems like.

6 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

It's simplest to hyphenate.  Honestly.

Why is that? 

6 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

It isn’t a matter of “not understanding”:  naming conventions have a legal component.   I assume it is at the state level.   For example, I wanted my children to have my last name in their names, but I didn’t want to do a hyphenated last name, so legally they have two middle names: the “given” middle name, and my birth last name.  

 

I work in health care, and we have many Latinx patients with traditional naming formats.   The way we use their name on documentation, and in addressing them is however they have reported it to us when they became our patients.  
 

You do have the right to have whatever name you want, but be aware that without a hyphen, it may not legally be considered a surname.

I don’t understand why you said that without a hyphen it may not legally be considered a surname. If in the citizenship and SSN that’s what it shows as legal surname, the double barreled last name, that’s the legal surname so who has the authority to consider it not legal? I am confused. Sorry if I misunderstood what you wrote

32 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

 where did u have interview for AOS? i will use that USCIS field office location ( the city)

edit. u can put ur zipcode and check ur field office if u never got interview

 

u also dont need to file for n-400 if u dont want to and just file i-90

 

 

I had no interview, just received the green card in the mail. I guess it was the only easy thing that happened to me in my immigration journey

Hello everyone!

After 12 years living in the USA I want my name to be corrected for what it actually is in my Spanish passport and birth certificate because well, that's who I am. Living in the USA one can put whatever name they want and change it whenever. However, that it is legal and permitted does not mean that all names are treated with respect or understanding because they are another format or whatever.

In my country of origin (Spain) middle names do not exist so I actually have a compound first name for example Ana Maria and a compound last name (one from my dad, one from my mum): for example Janer Perelló. None of my names have a hyphen, just a space. So I am going to talk about stuff using that fictitious example name: Ana Maria Janer Perelló.

When asking some people about their experience some told me that:

1. In the USA even if you write everything right, most places/people will change your name to be Ana Perelló, ignoring anything in between. These people decided to write their name in several places in many different ways given their frustration. Ana Janer, Ana-Maria Janer-Perelló, etc. But would not that cause more issues? Then they said that it was not really a problem but decided to give their children a hyphenated surname or just one surname because ¨poor guys.¨Now, if it was not a problem to you, why did you do it different for your children? Others, decided to follow their same format, spaces, no hyphens for their children.

2. In the USA they do not understand the two last names or two first names so they will want to put everything  in between as your middle name and you will have serious issues even if you write it right and will have to call to many places to attempt to get things fixed. Even then, some places will not want to fix it.

3. In the USA they do not understand the two last names/two first names so it is best to put the hyphen. These people hyphenated their first name Ana-Maria and last name Janer-Perelló to decrease the chances that what falls in between is considered a middle name. However, they still say that it can be a pain and that it is a battle to have to clarify what belongs to what.

So here are my thoughts. I do not understand why someone who specifically writes two words on the first name field, leaves blank the middle name, and puts two words in the last name field has to go through any grief of others not following what they entered so now other people or agencies have the right to change others legal name? just because they want to or do not understand the format? Also, why people have to change their name adding a hyphen because apparently others do not want to understand? Is not it a country of freedom and immigrants? At this point I am so confused thinking that if I correct my name the way it is in my country of origin with the format explained above I will live a life of constant misunderstandings and bureaucratic hell. Is it really that bad? What are your experiences? 

Thank you in advance for your time!

Hello everyone!

I am sure this question has been asked before but here it goes. I came to the USA 12 years ago under a K-1 visa and once married did my I-485 (AOS). I was granted a 10 year green card and it is time to renew so here are my questions: