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Many thanks!  I'll have a look at the link you kindly provided.

Hello there, I was sworn in as a US citizen a couple of days ago.  My girlfriend is a Canadian and lives in Canada. I would like to sponsor my girlfriend into the United States.  We have been engaged for a few months now and been together for over five years.

Where do I get started?  Is it possible for her to continue living in Canada while we go through the process?  She has a good job in Canada and doesn't want to move to the United States until she is legal to work here.  Is this possible?  Thanks.

Applied April 11, was sworn in on September 9, so just under five months.  It seems incredibly arbitrary how some people seem to get it within five weeks, and some people wait up to two years!  Very unfair.  Anyway, best of luck to all of you that have applied and are waiting, and of course to those of you that took the time to respond in this thread.

That's good to know.  I let my boss know today that I'll need the afternoon of the interview off and then another bit of time off a few days later.  You're very helpful, thanks for chiming in.

Thanks so much for the reply!  Do you have any idea what the typical wait time is for an oath ceremony?  Are we talking a couple of days or a few months?

Does anyone know if they are still doing the same day oath ceremonies, or is that over now?  A friend of mine was sworn in a couple of days after his interview back in March, but he would have been sworn in the same day had he not had his interview scheduled at the end of the day.  I'm hoping my interview, earlier in the afternoon, will allow time for an oath ceremony right there immediately afterwards so I won't have to go back.

Interview scheduled for early September, less than five months after applying.  Seems quite a bit quicker than a lot of people in this thread.  Luck. perhaps?  I asked my lawyer today and she mentioned that the new administration is prioritizing applications for naturalization.

I'll report back here after my interview to let you know how it went.  Fingers crossed it goes well.

Update: biometrics appointment scheduled for mid-July.  At least the process is moving along.  What would the next likely step be after that, an interview and then oath ceremony if things go well?

10 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Is your lawyer is trying to lead you to believe that her clients get better treatment than anyone else?

No, the lawyer actually told me I really didn't need her to help me fill out the N-400, and in hindsight, she was absolutely correct.  I paid her a small fee for her time, and to help me with the interview if and when I'm called in for it.

8 hours ago, Scandi said:

The L.A. offices (LOS - city and LAC - county) are now scheduling interviews for people who filed in/around July 2020. I filed in May 2020, at the LAC office, and had my interview and oath in March 2021. So it takes around 9-10 months right now, quite quick in other words. I had my ROC fingerprints taken in late 2019 but got a new biometrics appointment for my N-400 anyway.

It's very common that people get their old biometrics reused for the N-400, we've even seen bio reused for people who had their last biometrics taken 8 years ago. But just like JFH said, the previous biometrics must've been taken by USCIS in order to have a chance for bio reuse. Biometrics taken at embassies and airports don't count. 

L.A. does oath ceremonies at least two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be the most common), several oaths ceremonies each day. So once you pass your interview you won't have to wait more than 1-4 days to become a citizen.

This is a great response.  Yes, my colleague interviewed late on a Thursday one week and went back the following Tuesday to be sworn in.  Thanks for your reply.  He did indeed have his biometrics done here in the USA, whereas I had mine done in an American embassy just over six years ago.  Hopefully having to do the biometrics again doesn't add a whole ton of time to my application process.

6 hours ago, Yan yan said:

Sacramento here. My husband did his application January 2020, did bio in early February and we heard nothing more of the case which was supposed to be completed in Sept 2020. In January of this year, I decided to inbox them through his USCIS online account querying the case. We got a response and his interview was scheduled in February with a interview date of April 8th. Mind you, his greencard was expired end of March this year. I got him an appt for the ADIT stamp and he did his interview last Thursday and got a decision same day. He's awaiting oath ceremony as we speak. Every field office varies

Thank you for your response and best of luck with your oath ceremony.

16 hours ago, Timona said:

Well, you paid for his services. Quiz him based on your research 

The lawyer is a woman.  Shame on you for assuming the lawyer is a man.

8 hours ago, JFH said:

Biometrics are only being re-used for people who have done ROC here in the US. If you arrived on an IR-1 or an employment based immigrant visa that did not require ROC then you will be called for biometrics as they don’t have anything already on file for you. So biometrics are, in some cases being reused not waived. 
 

People being interviewed now in LA applied about a year ago. There are some exceptions for military filers but for an “average” case you are looking at approximately a year. 
 

 

Thank you.  This is the type of response I was looking for, really appreciate it.

Well, a colleague of mine applied in August and was sworn in back in very early March, and his biometric appointment was waived.  A simple google search has led me to understand that it is because of the pandemic that they've been waiving a lot of appointments and just scheduling people for the interview.  I don't know what a "timeline" is.  I've been a permanent resident for five years now, and I sent in the N-400 today.  There are two possible field offices my application can go to, because of a weird zip code I live in that straddles Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles itself shows a 12-16.5 month wait.

Los Angeles County shows a 13.5-17 month wait.

My lawyer says that most of her clients are getting processed pretty quickly and assured me last week that I'd have an interview by the end of 2021.  

The website says 12-17.5 months, but a friend of mine applied in August and was sworn in about six weeks ago.  The lawyer told me the processing times on the website are far longer than the actual wait times, just so that people aren't phoning all the time to check their case.  Can anyone tell me how accurate the website is when it comes to actual processing times?

It seems as though the biometric appointments are being waived due to covid, which cuts the processing time down significantly.

Hello, I just submitted my N-400.  I believe the next step will be biometrics followed by an interview.  Does anyone know how long the actual wait times for these things are?  I've read online that it can take 12-18 months but my lawyer told me that it is likely far less of a wait.

On 8/19/2020 at 12:57 PM, pablo2752 said:

Why don't you just naturalize in the US then live in Canada? 

Snow

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Processing time has generally been around a year, she may or may not need to wait for a visa number after that. F2A is a limited category (by numbers per year) and usually those applicants need to wait for a visa number (in the parlance, for the priority date to be current), but this has not been the case for the past year or so. However, F2A visa issuance is currently banned until year end (won’t affect you as your petition would still be processing anyway), but there is likely to be a backlog both from Covid embassy closures and the ban so...there will be some wait. No idea what.  

 

Doesn't matter where you marry, all that is required is that the marriage is legal in the country it is performed in.

 

N400 is the form you file for naturalization.  FO is your field office, and how long it takes to naturalize depends mostly on what your FO is. Some have a wait of a few months, for others it can be over a year.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to reply to all of this, I really appreciate it.  What would your advice be?  Get married ASAP and then hire a lawyer to help us with the paperwork to get her down here as soon as legally possible?

40 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

The long way is the legal way. As you are a permanent resident, she will not get forgiven for things that spouses of citizens would. Be very careful about thinking you can do things/cut corners because others have done so, as the law treats LPRs differently.  Get married, and apply for a F2A visa for her (spouse of LPR), and yes you’ll have to wait, but you and she can visit each other in the meantime. In the event you become a citizen before she gets her visa (i would usually say unlikely if you marry soon, also depending on the wait for n400 processing at your FO, but who knows with the visa backlog building up), you can upgrade her petition at that point and it'll (probably) move faster.

 

 

Thanks for the reply!  Just a few questions.  If we got married soon, any idea how long the F2A visa as a spouse of an LPR would take?  Is it better to get married in Canada or the USA, or does it matter?  She has a good job in Canada, and she'd like to stay there working until she can move to the USA legally.  What is the n400 and what is my FO?  Many thanks.  When I become eligible to apply for citizenship in March of 2021, any idea how long it might take for me to become a citizen?

She has no interest in staying, she has a job back in Canada.  We just heard that if she came to visit and we decided to get married, it would cut the wait time down quite a bit.  Is that true?

Hello everyone!

I immigrated to the USA in 2016.  I'm a Canadian citizen and I am a legal Permanent Resident in the United States.

My girlfriend is back in Canada and we would like to get married and settle here in the USA.  Can anyone tell me what our options are?  Again, I am not a US citizen, just a PR.  I will be eligible to apply for American citizenship in March of 2021.

Someone told me that if she came down to visit, and we decided to get married while she was down here, it would be faster than waiting for me to become a US citizen and then sponsoring her in.   Another option suggested would be for us to get married in either the USA OR Canada and then applying for a visa at that point, which I believe may take longer.

If anyone could give me some solid information on this situation, it would be very much appreciated. 

My buddy was born in Los Angeles, is a US citizen and has a US passport.  He has lived for most of his life in Canada and will be getting married in Canada in the fall.  He's considering moving to the USA and bringing his fiancé with him.  Obviously he can come and work in the US if he wants with no hassle as he is a citizen, but what would the best plan be for his wife?  He'd like to sponsor her to be able to come and live and work with him when and if he does decide to move there.  Should they get married in a civil ceremony before the big wedding in front of their family and friends in Canada later this year?  Does it make any difference?

One of them was 21, the others were all under the age of eighteen.

Thank you for the response. I'll have a look for the I-130 immediately.

Hello, my father is a 59 year man with PR status in the USA. He has lived in the USA since 2000, the whole time legally, and is married to an American citizen.

He would like to sponsor in his unmarried 22 year old daughter, who was born in Ireland but is a dual citizen of Ireland and Canada and whom currently lives in Canada.

I believe she'd be going for an F2B visa which may take 6.5 years or more.

Two questions.

1) Would she get her visa any faster if he were to become a US citizen before she applies for the visa, and

2) What are the first steps she should take? As in, what forms should she fill out, etc.

Thank you.

They are all unmarried.