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I am in the process of preparing our ROC packet, which we will be filing next week (earliest date we can file is 10/31 so I am hoping to get it in the mail on Monday, 11/1). I figured I'd go ahead and start the November thread for anyone else who is in the same boat. As of right now, this is the list of evidence I am including in our packet: Letter from our bank stating the date my husband was added to the account (because our statements only show my name) All statements from that same bank account from the date we were married to present (shows direct deposits from both of our jobs and all marital bills paid from this account) Letter from Discover that shows we opened a joint savings account on July 28, 2020 All statements for that joint savings account Documentation that my husband is the beneficiary on my Roth IRA Our apartment leases from 2019, 2020, and 2021 (with both names) Water bills with both of our names Healthcare durable Power of Attorney for each of us, appointing the other Several official letters we have received with both names (such as IRS notices and the letters from the White House about stimulus checks) 2 verification of insurance letters from Progressive that show both of our names as drivers and lists both vehicles Emergency contact list from my work that shows my husband as my emergency contact Screenshot of our Verizon account that shows both names and phone numbers Membership agreement from Planet Fitness that I gifted my husband (shows his name as the member but my name and bank info for payment) Tax transcripts for 2019 and 2020 Documentation of 4 vacations we took in 2020 and 2021 8 photos of us ranging from Nov. 2019 to July 2021 Joint credit card statements from May 2019 to present Documentation that he is an authorized user on another credit card (his name isn't listed on the statements) Also we just refinanced his vehicle in both of our names so I will add that documentation in if I get it in hand before I send the packet off. I do have a couple of questions, if anyone has input. How many water bills should I include? I have every monthly bill from May 2020 through October 2021, except for 2. I don't know if I should throw them all in or not. As of now, I have not included some documentation that was provided in our AOS packet (or at the interview). Examples include photos that were already provided and documentation of trips already provided. For more context, we were married in May 2019 and our AOS interview was December 2019. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to let me know. And good luck to anyone that plans to file in November

Hello, Can we know ourselves, and track all our progress through this process here please. Only Non transferred cases please, which means your Center has to be YSC/POTOMAC originally. Let me start with mine: Filed on the 29th of June, 2019 Delivered and signed for on the 1st of July NOA/Extension on the 7th of July Biometrics & Biometrics status update on the 24th of October Still waiting ever since for progress 🙏

Well since we will be mailing our packet tomorrow I guess it's time to start a September 2023 thread. Our 90 day window started the last week of July but we were out of the country last month so we put it off until we got back to avoid any surprise biometric appointments or missed notices. It looks like we will be sending in.... G-1450 credit card authorization. G-1145 E-notification. I-751 of course. Copies of their green cards, front and back, and passports. Copies of California Real ID Driver Licenses for my wife and I plus California Real ID card for my stepdaughter all at the same address. IRS tax return transcripts of our 2022, 2021, and 2020 joint US tax returns. Statements from our joint checking account showing joint ownership of the account and direct deposits of both of our salaries plus payments of bills in each other’s names. However only the last 5 months. Prior to that we had separate accounts and just shared expenses. Dated photographs of our family together in numerous places at intervals throughout our time together in the US, plus photos of my almost 80-year-old American mom meeting her Filipino in-laws on vacation in Manila. Copy of a California car title showing joint ownership and two years joint car registration. Copies of various car insurance notices and proof of insurance listing both drivers, covering almost the entire period they have been in the US. Copies of both of our 401K’s beneficiaries with each listing the other spouse as beneficiary. Copies of our Visa, Mastercard and Discover credit cards showing joint accounts. Copies of various club cards and membership cards showing joint accounts. Copies of various airline boarding passes and receipts for vacations we took together. Copies of my stepdaughter's continuous registration from our address in our neighborhood’s public elementary school for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The school registration lists both of us as emergency contacts with full authorization to pick her up from school. Copy of my stepdaughter's California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test results showing two years results with her living at our address and enrolled in our neighborhood public elementary school. Paystubs for my wife periodically throughout her time in the US showing her continuous presence at our home address. We’ll be double triple checking everything this evening and probably send it by Priority Mail flat rate mailer ("if it fits, it ships") to Phoenix drop box in the morning. I'm hopeful that is good enough, however notable deficiencies would include not having any joint lease or other paperwork associating both names with the house. All of our health insurance is separate since my wife and I each get it from our employer and neither plan is any good for adding the step-daughter so we just pay her insurance separately out of pocket. No kind of joint utility bills or anything like that and as I mentioned only the last 5 months have we had a joint checking account. I also didn't bother to get any affidavits from anyone. I guess we will find out if it was good enough in like 2025 or something.

What is a Mandamus ? A (writ of) mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion. In case of immigration it deals with asking Courts to intervene when USCIS is not performing its task of adjudicating immigration petition within 180 days of filing date. Congress as part of immigration law has written the law that USCIS should adjudicate petitions at the max period of 180 days ( as per 8 USC CHAPTER 13) ( link: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title8/chapter13/subchapter2&edition=prelim#:~:text=It is the sense of,days after the filing of) Here is the basic essence of wom process : Step 1: Draft and File complaint against Uscis . This will be the defendant. In the current scenario of April 2023, Mayorkas is the head of DHS or Jaddou is USCIS head. Court has a format for a civil complaint and a template (example of template from a court in San Francisco https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/pro-se/legal-help-center-templates-and-packets/General-Complaint-Packet_12-1-2020.pdf). You can download it from local court website . You are filing the complaint as a "Pro Se" meaning yourself without a help of lawyer. The complaint will need the following information 1) Nature of the Complaint: You can write the complaint in simple English using the above template document and asking for something like below : Iam so and so( include your name ) who has filed for I-XXX( xxx can be the form ( i-131, i-485, i-751) with receipt number WAC21900XXXX and it was filed with Uscis on date (dd-mmm-yyyy) and Uscis is expected to adjudicate hold interview within 180 days of receiving the application as per 8 USC code 1186b. You can add more information about your petition as needed. 2) Second part is jurisdiction in the compliant . You can says that the court has jurisdiction cause you live there as per 8 USC 1391(e) where you are resident of the jurisdiction and the defendant is a United States officer .You are allowed to file the case in your local jurisdiction aka district you reside if the defendant is a United States officer 3) Third part in the complaint is statement of facts . This is where you tell the court why courts need to step in and tell Uscis to adjudicate the case. You are asking the courts to intervene as USCIS has not performed its duty assigned by Congress to adjudicate your case within 180 days of filing. ( see attachment X) So most complaints don’t go for trial and the us attorney will reach out to you over phone to discuss an agreement. Us attorney will call and say “ hey we won’t need a trial but we can get you a decision on your case in. 90/120/150 days “ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Going back to statement of facts is where you write the story . The courts needs to know why they need intervene and it is for you to tell them why ?. You can say something like below You talk about the i-131/i-485/i-751 Petition you filed . You filed your i-131/485/751 on date dd-mm-yyyy.( see attachment 1) you completed biometrics on dd-mm-yyyy date and it has been XX months since you filed and you have not got a decision on your case . Uscis current processing time for i-131/485/751.is now about XX months which is 10x the time set by Congress in immigration act of 1990 as per 8 USC 1186b . Congress has set a guidelines of 180 days for Uscis to conduct to adjudicate the petition To close it out you can say USCIS has violated. 8USC 1186b or an immigration law section 8 USC XXXX ( read immigration law here https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/chapter-12) and failed to adjudicate your case as set by Congress. 4) Last part of the complaint is relief This is where you ask what court should do.You ask for court to enter a mandate time to adjudicate the petition. You sign the complaint at the end That is the end of complaint and your mandamus (Writ of Mandamus) It should be about 4-5 pages max 5) Attachments You attach a print out of your i-131/485/751 receipt, green card( if applicable) , USCIS processing time print out from USCIS.gov website Along with complaint you need the following 1) civil cover sheet 2) summons Here is a link for civil cover sheet https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/assets/File/JS_044.pdf. ( search your own local federal court for the correct form ) link to summons https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao440.pdf ( search your own local federal court for the correct form ) Step 2: Filing the complaint with court: Once you have the complaint and civil cover sheet and summons go to the local district court,Remember it is DISTRICT court Go to the clerk at the court and tell you have a civil case to file . This has to be in person . They will review the documents . Make fourh copies of complaint and 4 copies of civil cover sheet and 4 copies of summons Make a check for 402$ for filing fee Once the clerk accepts the complaint they will take two copies of all documents .1 for court and 1 for chambers . They will give you 2 copy stamped for you (one copy for you and one backup) . You will get a case number assigned and like 500 pages of instructions So now your complaint has been filed with Court. You now have to send a copy of complaint, Summons, Civil Cover Sheet and all the instructions that Court gave you to the defendant. Step 3 Serving the Complaint to defendants (USCIS/DHS) : So now the complaint is filed with court. Once the complaint is filed . You make like 4 copies of your complaint that was stamped by the court. You also make 4 copies of the documents given to you by court So you should now have 4 copies of your complaint , civil cover sheet, summons and instructions from court Now you need to serve three people 1) US attorney in your district 2 ) attorney general in Washington DC 3) Uscis office general counsel in Washington DC Take stamped complaint , civil cover sheet , summon, court instructions and send them via usps certified mail to the above 3 officers Address for US attorney can be obtained by calling your local us attorney office USCIS General counsel can he served at : office of attorney counsel ,dhs, 2701 Martin Luther jr ave, Washington DC, 20528-0485 Attorney general of United States office can be served at : US department of justice, 950 Pennsylvania ave, Washington DC 20530-0001 So now the complaint is served to three people 1) US Attorney in your district 2) Attorney General 3) General Counsel at USCIS/DHS The clock now starts for 60 window before which the District Attorney will give you a phone call to negotiate.

Hi August 2022 Filers, Hope you all are doing good. It is hot out here in Texas. I will be sending my packet on or during second week of August this year. I wanted to touch base on what are some of the important documents that you have gathered, that we must include in our I-751 packet? Similarly, I will be sending my packet from Dallas, TX. I was wondering which service center my packet is most likely to land into? Appreciate your input, Thanks!

Making a new thread for October filers since September is almost over We will be filing the first week of Oct and preparing the documents now

Never thought I would be making one of these! But this is one side of things I haven't really looked into. Just received advanced notice from my boss (off the record) that the people above him are thinking of making me redundant! Yay! (Apparently taking the initiative and asking for more work to do was the wrong move; even though everyone else is overworked they're taking the opportunity to let me go - stellar logic right there.) Gripes aside...I actually have no idea where this leaves me. Redundancy might not be for a few weeks, no one has officially spoken to me so I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row and figure out as much as I can in advance. And hope maybe I'll get lucky and Potomac will get a move on and approve me before I need to really worry about any of it. Which leads me to the question; what should I expect while trying to get a new job with an expired green card? I feel like the answer should be pretty straight forward - that with an expired green card and a valid extension letter everything should be pretty smooth sailing, but after getting bad news everything feels a bit intimidating so I suppose I'm looking for someone else to confirm that!

I can't find a November 2022 Filers thread, so I guess I'll create one! I thought I was going to be an October 2022 filer as Oct. 31 was the day we became eligible to file, but needed an extra day to put my package in order, so ended up filing November 1st. I'm a bit confused which Service Center to select in my Visa Journey timeline under the Removing Conditions section. The choices are: California Service Center National Benefits Center (MSC) Nebraska Service Center Potomac Service Center Texas Service Center Vermont Service Center I live in California, but the USCIS instructions told me to mail my package to the Phoenix, Arizona lockbox. Which Service Center is the Phoenix, Arizona lockbox associated with?

Let's use this Google-Sheet to share our timelines processed in Nebraska Service Center (LIN-xxxxxxx): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Buo_drIy4zaCFZUULdT_L9JrA6YZgrVtt7Cj6nUsvv0/edit?usp=sharing 👆👆👆

Hi everybody. I searched the forum hoping I already started a similar thread where I could provide an update without success. My situation: I'm currently in the middle of move. In a few days I'm leaving rented place and moving into house, my lovely USC spouse and I purchased recently. The move out date is already agreed upon with the landlord, most of the stuff moved except some furniture. In preparation I set up USPS forwarding and changed address with DMV. I haven't filed AR-11 just yet, since physically I still live at rented place. Yesterday, out of blue, I got a surprise email saying my I-751 got approved and card getting produced. I doubled checked myUSCIS and the status confirms this. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? 🥲 File AR-11 ASAP, prior to move? Leave as is until the move and ask landlord to check mail so I can pick it up? I really thought the probability of this happening to me was low, but life proven otherwise. Worried that GC can get lost or returned to sender. G-28 has boxes to send approval letter to lawyer, but card to my current rented place.

OK, so we want to retire to the Philippines in about 2 1/2 years. We have filed I-751 and my wife's provisional green card was created June 2021, so I believe she can apply for citizenship 90 days before the same date in June 2024. I'm thinking that we should make her and her child (my stepchild who I plan to adopt) dual-citizens before we retire to the Philippines because we will want to visit the USA whenever we like. If my wife and step-daughter only have green cards, then we will have to return to the USA every year and renew their green cards in 10 years (after they receive their 10-year green cards). Has anyone here dealt with the same situation? My plan is to have her apply for citizenship when eligible which would confer citizenship on the child as well, then apply for dual citizenship at the Philippines consulate in the USA. I also plan to adopt my step-daughter because she would be eligible for Social Security benefits until she reaches 18. I will be applying for Social Security in the next few years. Does anyone here have experience with this kind of situation? Is there anything I am forgetting, or any flaws in my plan? Is it very important for her to become a citizen, or is it possible to deal with the challenges of the green card? (wife is worried about the citizenship test).

My wife has her interview scheduled for September 13, which means her 6 month window to enter the USA will expire a few days before our 2nd anniversary, assuming that 6 month window starts from the interview date. Does anyone know if that’s the case or is there a delay in processing a passport as it typically takes awhile to receive it back after the interview from what I’ve read? It is possible to reschedule the interview with cause, but does anybody know how feasible that option is?

March filers, it's our time to shine! Good luck! ❤️

Hello all, My spouse received her immigrant visa approval on July 31, 2023 under the CR1 category and we have planned her arrival to the US by September 2023. The consular officer gave my spouse a note about the removal of CR1 status, which had the following text - "If at the time of admission to the United States you will not have celebrated the second anniversary of your marriage, you will be granted conditional permanent residence by an officer of USCIS at the time of your admission to the U.S." Based on this can someone please elaborate, if the immigration officers at the port of entry will no longer consider this to be applicable if my spouse traveled to the US after October 2 (our second marriage anniversary date) and that we would not need to file I-751 for removal of CR status? TIA.

Context: My husband and stepkids are currently scheduled for their interviews at CDJ in Mexico on September 26, and our plan is to have them cross as soon as they get their visas (hopefully a week or two after - early-ish October). Our second wedding anniversary is March 11. We are (like many of us here on VJ) dying to finally live together; plus, getting my stepdaughters enrolled in school and having my husband get a U.S. job sooner rather than later is a major advantage. Could you expand a little on why ROC should be avoided if possible? I've read through this thread and others that it is expensive ($595 x 4 for us - goodie!) and is extremely delayed. I guess my initial reaction is - well, sure, it may be a lot more waiting, but at least we'd be waiting together, living together. It's been hell doing all of this paperwork and paying all of this money, plus the waiting and waiting and waiting, all while living apart. Is the ROC process particularly nerve-wracking? Is there a chance of losing status? Are the chances of getting denied high? All that to say, this thread has me rethinking our plan a little bit. To wait until March would break my heart and crush me, but I'm curious of ROC is bad enough that it would be worth it to wait.

Let's say an I-751 is submitted before the Green Card expiration, but the USCIS reviews the submission and finds a problem AFTER the expiration. Is that simply an RFE or are Green Card privileges lost because the submission wasn't "properly" filed before the Green Card expired? Thank you for any insight.

Case is far outside normal processing times. MSC Processing Center. June 2020----- Filed I-751 May 2021-----BIOmetrics May 2021----- Ready to schedule interview Feb 2023---- Second I-551 Extension letter received. Expires September 2024. April 2023---- I spoke with a USCIS agent who acknowledged my case was outside processing times and instructed me to send an email to have the case reviewed. Sent email, was supposed to receive reply withing 30days, still no reply. May 2023--- After waiting for 30 days without reply, I contacted senators office to request help. sent them necessary info. They said uscis is working on it, nothing more they can do. ----Case Last updated 780 days ago What gives? USCIS won't communicate, I understand there are delays, but I'm seeing people who've filed in 2021 and 2022 that already have their approvals.

I added my I-751 case to my online account using the access code i received in May 2023. When i was checking the account today i noticed the case is no longer visible. All other previous cases are visible though.

So for reasons in life I don't need to explain right now I filed I-751 5 years late (don't judge, seen a case here that filed 10 yrs late and got approved) my case was accepted, finger prints were used again and I received a 24 month extension letter, still waiting for the 48 month one. In this time I had to come back to my country for a medical reason, now my question is how likely am I to go back and be admitted with this expired card and extension letter? @mindthegap would really appreciate your opinion and to the rest please don't judge, you don't know everything I have been through, I'm just looking for an opinion/advice.

Here's a report on our combo I-751/N-400 interview this morning at the Atlanta USCIS field office. The interview was scheduled for 8:50 am. We arrived at 8 am so we used the extra 30 minutes to review all of our documents, well-organized in labeled file folders, and the N-400 application one more time. We entered the building at 8:30 am, showed the two interview notices (I-751 and N-400), and went through security, then checked in at the reception window where an employee took my husband's photo and fingerprint to confirm his identity. Then we went up to the 3rd floor waiting area. About 45 minutes later, an officer came up to my husband and confirmed our names, then said he would be back in five minutes. When he returned he asked both of us to follow him to his office. Once seated, he asked for our driver's licenses, also for my husband's passport and expired green card. I noticed an open file on his desk, with all 500+ pages of the I-751 submission we sent two years ago. He then had us stand up and do an oath to tell the truth. Then he said he would first consider the pending I-751 and ask questions that either of us could answer, and some questions directed to one of us to answer. The first question was how we met (online initially, three months later in person). He asked a series of questions about why I proposed so quickly (on my second trip to Brazil, only five weeks after our first in-person meeting), and why my husband was willing to commit so quickly to marriage and potentially move to the US. I got the impression that the officer was skeptical about our relationship (we have a 27 year age gap, big income and education differences). We explained that we fell in love immediately when we first met in person, and wanted to be together, so we got married seven months after we first met. He then asked for additional documents to support our relationship, new information from the last two years while the I-751 has been pending. We gave him two years' of quarterly joint bank and credit card account statements, also five years of IRS tax return transcripts, married filing jointly. He looked at these additional documents, kept them, and then said "I am a big photo person, do you have any photos?" My husband handed him a file folder with about twelve pages of photos, 2 per page, from marriage to now, each with a brief description and date. As he flipped through the photos, his countenance changed. The look of doubt from before left his face, and he glanced up and said he was approving the I-751, then asked me to leave. I went to the waiting area while he continued the N-400 interview with only my husband. The officer did not ask to see any of the civil documents we had brought with us, but did ask or review most of the questions on the N-400 application. Then he asked six of the 100 history/government questions, and my husband answered all of them correctly. After that the officer did the reading and writing tests. Following this, he gave my husband a form N-652, Naturalization Interview Results, with two marks checked: "you passed the tests of English and U.S. History and government," and "Congratulations! Your application is recommended for approval." The oath ceremony letter will be sent via regular mail. We were all done by 10 am and drove home very happy and relieved that things went so smoothly. Based on my prior research, Atlanta USCIS schedules oath ceremonies for 4-6 weeks after the interview. Once that happens and he has his naturalization certificate, his US immigration journey will be over, five years after it began when I filed an I-130 petition for him back in July, 2018, a month after we got married in Brazil. I would like to thank all the regular contributors here on VisaJourney for your very helpful advice during this long process, as it has been invaluable to benefit from your experience and sense of community. Good luck to everyone!

Hi, I am eligible to file for citizenship under the 3 year rule with a pending 1-751 (since August 2022) and I wanted to check with others if my evidence list would be sufficient or if there would be anything else I should include in N400 application. I have recently filed 1040X with IRS to amend my status on the past 2 tax returns and I scanned a copy of the signed 1040X’s so I can include that in the evidence also. I was advised it could potentially take up to 20 weeks for IRS to complete amendments, so I was hoping I can send the proof of amendment in my application. Current list of evidence: -Marriage certificate -Copy of front and back of green card -Husband’s birth certificate -2022 tax transcript -Tax returns and 1040X amended forms for both 2021 and 2020 -Lease agreements for past 3 years -Renters insurance -Health insurance (for me and my husband through employer) -PDF document comprised of photos of us over the past 3 years, including with friends and family (with dates and locations) I have bank statements, internet bills, phone bills and utility statements that I can send if extra evidence is recommended, although I have them printed so I can bring them to the interview. Lastly, I worked remotely for most of the past 3 years and I was confused on the application question that requires the location we worked at for each employer. From my understanding, would it be best to include the employer address listed on my W2’s and specify in my job role that I was a remote worker?

@Mike E mentioned that it's best to use the Employer address on the W-2. I'm also a remote worker and my working location is my home address. On the W-2, my company uses a PO box, but on the Form 1095-C, they use the street address of my company. Can I use the street address instead?

Does anyone know if this Documents section on the USCIS online account supposed to be empty? I thought we would be able to see the notices/letters sent so far. This is the first time i have been assigned with an online case number. I received the online access code in the mail yesterday.

My K-1 spouse and I are finalizing our I-751 submission and will hopefully mail it tomorrow. We had used the services of a professional immigration lawyer for the original K-1 process with mixed results. It was surprising how many things were overlooked by them. In any case, we're doing the I-751 ourselves and saving the $2,500 fee the lawyer wanted for it. Before sending things in tomorrow I just wanted to ask my fellow Visa Journey members a couple of questions that should be (hopefully) easy to answer. 1) Just to be sure.. the "Petitioner" on the I-751 form is the K-1 immigrant fiancée.. correct? Not me, the U.S. citizen. This is (I believe) a reversal of how things were on the K-1. 2) The I-751 filing fee is $595.00 and the Biometric fee is $85.00. My question is.. are they both to be sent in at this time with the I-751 submission?.. or just the $595 filing fee only. And if the answer is that both are sent now, should it be separate checks or just one check for $680.00. Thanks in advance for all replies. JM

Thought this would be an interesting datapoint. I was just listening to Jim Hacking's Immigration Show on YouTube. Somebody reported getting a 10 year GC AFTER naturalizing and having naturalization certificate in hand. Episode 357. All because of pending I-751 at the moment of N-400 interview. Lawyer suggested keeping the card in safe place just in case. What would you do in this case?