Wyatt's Torch

Thanks Kathryn. I'm pretty worried about it by now. I'll give it the weekend, then I'll contact the postmaster general. I keep checking my bank account to see if the check was cashed, but no luck.

I'm just hoping that it got caught up with a bunch of other holiday mail, and is simply delayed or something.

Funnily enough, I kept saying to my wife before I sent it that my biggest concern wasn't with USCIS, but with the package actually getting to USCIS. And truly, I'll feel a heck of a lot better when I know they've got it.

I still have no indication that they've received my priority envelope (put in the mail on Saturday morning), let alone cashed my check / processed my NOA1 etc.

What recourse do I have if USPS lost my envelope? I have a confirmation number, but what good is that if it got misplaced somewhere?

I'm now officially concerned about this, and not just doing my usual fretting...

WIZ: "Honestly sir, this lunchmeat is for personal use only, and not for distribution!"

CUSTOMS: "Uh huh. That's what they all say. Please get out of the vehicle and step AWAY from the meat..."

Nice to see another Portsmouth resident here, Maplestar!

I think you forgot Edmonton, but being a Calgarian born and raised I found that amusing.

Okay, okay. Edmonton qualifies, and I suppose Ottawa does too. But that's it! No more! I'm sure someone from Halifax or Winnipeg will start sniffing around this thread, insisting they're a top Canadian city, but I'm capping it at six and that's that!

I do find the smae thing about Americans - perhaps they have such a large country to begin with they don't always get much beyond their own shores? Lots to see in the US without ever leaving.

Yeah, that's one of the double-edged swords about America. There are so many diverse cities here. Each one is quite unique, and most denizens of each city have a certain "way" about them that is distinct from denizens of other cities. When my wife and I were thinking of leaving D.C., we bought a "Places Rated Almanac" that ranks all of the metro areas in the country. There are over 300. It was a bit of an eye-opener to realize that we could make a long list of cities, and simply whittle down to a dozen or so where we could envision ourselves living. In Canada, your options are basically Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Calgary. There are others, to be sure, but for all intents and purposes, those are the five major Canadian cities (and even Quebec City might be debatable). The downside of America being so big and having so many different urban centers, however, is that many Americans (rightfully) don't need to ever leave. It has a way of narrowing one's viewpoint though.

As for your earlier reply:

And why is that bad and why does it bug you? I'm perfectly fine with people thinking all Canadians are polite and outgoing.

It's not a bad thing...but it bugs me, because I think my personality and demeanor are individual traits, more so than cultural / national ones. I sometimes feel that people don't see me, but they see a Canadian, and they simply assume that all of my traits are common Canadian traits. I suppose it would be like an American in Canada, frustrated because all people see in him are the slight arrogance, swagger and overconfidence that most countries tend to associate with the U.S.

I can definitely relate to that. I moved recently, and am not working in my new location yet, but in my last job, I talked to a LOT of people on any given day. And few and far between were the days where someone didn't make comments about me being Canadian. In a way, that's fine -- I am Canadian, and happy to be. But even the HR person for my last company made references to "Blame Canada" from South Park, and people in general seemed to treat me a little differently. And it also bothered / bothers me that just because I'm a polite, outgoing person, it's assumed that I'm polite and outgoing because I'm Canadian. But there's no way to convince most Americans that not all Canadians fit the Canadian stereotype...

It's a minor quibble, really, but it's one of the few things that has bothered me since I moved down here. I still say words like "about" and "sorry" like a Canadian, so it's picked up on regularly. At least I've made my zeds into zees though...

Package delivered at 12:39 pm. The item was signed for by D RENAUD.

Wyatt I didn't get any tracking updates either. I went to the USPS website and checked, and got the information.

Yeah...it's still just saying on USPS' site that the status of the item is: "Electronic Shipping Info Received". No location or anything. Which worries me a great deal.

I probably shouldn't have sent any originals in my package, but I did... I'm likely fretting for nothing, but if I don't get a status update by midday tomorrow, I'll have to go down to my post office and check things out.

Package delivered and signed for at VSC at 12:39pm today.

Did you ship it Priority Mail? If so, did you sign up for package tracking? I put my Priority envelope in the post office mail box on Saturday morning, and there have been NO updates on it yet. I'm starting to get worried...

Personally, I'd send it as soon as you are able. But that's just me.

Having said that, I'm incredibly nervous, because I put my envelope in the mail (Priority Post) on Saturday, registered for tracking updates, and haven't seen a thing since then...

Alrighty. I sent off my package this morning, and am crazy nervous about it getting there. I'm not so worried about not having enough supporting information etc., it's just the getting-to-the-right-people part that worries me.

I can't help but think about how many hands this stuff goes through. Yikes.

WOOOOHOOOO CHECK CASHED CSC! 12/7/2011

please come soon NOA1 !!

Amazing, isn't it? We give them $590, and celebrate when they cash it in!

Congrats!

Ouch.

In a way, at this point it would almost be better for it to take four more months, as that way you'd be an IR-1, not a CR-1, and not have to worry about the ROC process 21 months later...

I just took the oath last week to become a US citizen.

Canada recognizes dual citizenship. The US does NOT recognize dual citizenship which is why they make you verbally (but not technically) renounce it during the oath.

You can still keep your dual citizenship, they just don't recognize it.

Yeah, it's really a classic case of semantics. Ultimately it comes down to fringe items like extradition etc. For example, if you were accused of a major crime in the U.S. and tried to claim you were Canadian and wanted to be granted clemency, the U.S. has no need to even consider such a thing, since you're an American citizen. For things like passing back and forth through the border as an American or Canadian, they don't care what you do when you LEAVE America, but want to make sure you return on your American passport.

Ultimately, the potential penalties are few and far between.

Whatever you do, do NOT lie or withhold important information in any way, shape or form to the USCIS. Honestly. The ROC process requires a lot of proof of cohabitation and a joint life together. Chances are, unless you're still on really good terms with your ex-husband and he's willing to be complicit in immigration fraud, it's going to be pretty clear to the consular officers that something is awry.

If the marriage was entered into in good faith (i.e.: you weren't just a green card seeker), then you should have a leg to stand on when it comes to the resulting questions etc. after you file your ROC.

I didn't think I was going to get nervous with this step. However now I am starting to panic thinking I don't have enough evidence.

I hear you there! I'm pretty comfortable with everything NOW, but until I spent several hours going over all of my documentation, writing a lengthy cover letter, composing affidavits and filling out the I-751 itself, I was crazy nervous too.

Now my only concern is that I moved fairly recently, and while I updated my address with USCIS both online and via mail, I received the ROC reminder letter from them to my OLD address a couple of weeks ago (forwarded to this address, thankfully). Hopefully, since everything on my I-751 has my current address, things will be okay.

The only issue is establishing residency. I know that when I left Canada, I filed to remove my residency status. If your husband did the same thing, he'll likely need to file to re-establish that. But like the other folks have mentioned, there's no problem with holding dual citizenship in Canada or the U.S.

For what it's worth, I've been a New Zealand citizen since 2004 (through descent), and it never came into play in Canada either. Eventually I'll actually have tri-citizenship.

I feel like I was better prepared the first time around because I was nervous. For me, having gone through one part of the process has given me a false sense of security that I have this ROC part in the bag and I kept postponing to send the packet. That fear of unknown the first time around has made me very diligent in preparing the packet for the AOS part, and I don't feel as confident about our ROC journey.

Based on your supporting documentation, you should be perfectly fine. I'm pretty happy with all of the supporting documents I have, but you have even more in that regard.

For what it's worth, I've found this process pretty nerve-wracking...sort of like dredging up an old long-term trauma from two years ago! I guess the key is to be confident in your preparation of the documents, and completely comfortable with the legitimacy of your status.

It really sounds like they just want to do a deeper background check. They don't need any more documentation, which means that all they're doing is dealing with documentation they already have.

I would be very surprised if it turned out to be something other than your fiance's Egyptian heritage.

I strongly advise against it.

My POE was relatively smooth (no one in line ahead of me, early in the morning etc.), and it took a full hour. In less than ideal circumstances, such as a busload of people crossing the border and needing attention etc., you're probably going to have one pissed-off customs official, as well as one pissed-off bus driver! I think it would be better to walk across the border, if necessary, and be picked up on the other side.

Yeah, I strongly suspect it's your fiance's background. They probably want to verify that they weren't involved in any terrorist organizations (which sounds crazy, I'm sure...but remember what the point of immigration is). Given the recent upheaval in Egypt, it's entirely possible that USCIS simply hasn't managed to make the verification so far. It happens sometimes -- good luck to you during the waiting process!

Hi all!

Well mailed off the package and they have cashed the cheque so... I assume that it means we're on our way with this whole business.

Just an update for anyone interested and in the same process as we are.

Super! It's always a little amusing to see how long the process itself takes, yet how quickly they manage to cash those checks!

I've got pretty much everything together now, including the cover sheet. I can't seem to find the lease from our last apartment, but I've got the affidavits done (one signed, the other getting signed this weekend), tax forms and all the other pertinent stuff. I didn't have much in the way of pictures, and I feel a little sorry for the immigration agent who has to see the picture of my fat, sunburned belly at the Outer Banks this summer.

If nothing else, let this serve as a reminder that it's extremely important to stay on top of all immigration-related issues until you're a citizen. Being ahead of the game doesn't hurt you at all, but being even a few days behind can hurt you a great deal.

Hope it went well! Arriving at 9:30 might have made things a little crazier, but hopefully he gets in and out in a reasonable amount of time.