N-400 December 2015 Filers

[groovyaardvark 7]

If you do decide to call them, be sure to come back and let us know what they say.

I'm curious for the 4 of us placed not placed inline... four questions (don't sweat it if you don't want to answer)...

Stavroula58, Groovyaardvark, JimmyHou, Spmaria

-What's your nationality?

-How long have you lived in the US?

-Do you travel internationally often?

-Do you have what you'd consider a common first or last name in your home country?

I am an Australian who has lived in the US since late 2007 on a non-immigrant work visa. I obtained permanent residency through marriage in Feb 2011. However I was amicably divorced less than 3 years later but was able to remove conditions while divorced from US citizen.

I do travel internationally perhaps twice a year to safe/non-suspicious countries, but am out of the country no more than 4-5 weeks per year. I have a fairly common first and last name in my country of origin and even the US since I am originally from the "west."

Cheers,

[Spmaria 11]

I'm curious for the 4 of us placed not placed inline... four questions (don't sweat it if you don't want to answer)...

Stavroula58, Groovyaardvark, JimmyHou, Spmaria

-What's your nationality?

-How long have you lived in the US?

-Do you travel internationally often?

-Do you have what you'd consider a common first or last name in your home country?

- Russian

- Here since 2009 (came on a student visa but got married), took some time to adjust my status, got my greencard only in April 2012.

- Not frequent traveler.

- Name is common, last name not so much. I know there are at least 20 people with the same name on the East Coast.

[JimmyHou 611]

I am an Australian who has lived in the US since late 2007 on a non-immigrant work visa. I obtained permanent residency through marriage in Feb 2011. However I was amicably divorced less than 3 years later but was able to remove conditions while divorced from US citizen.

I do travel internationally perhaps twice a year to safe/non-suspicious countries, but am out of the country no more than 4-5 weeks per year. I have a fairly common first and last name in my country of origin and even the US since I am originally from the "west."

Cheers,

We're really just playing guessing games here, but it's not like we don't have time!

So your nationality and your travel don't really explain why there'd be a delay.

Your length of time in the US may be a factor... more time in the US may mean more stuff to check?

As for me, I've been here over 15 years... so that's a long time.

Egyptian... which I assume they don't consider an particularly reassuring nationality.

Travel quite a bit.

Have a common name.

So I'm going to say I'm 4 for 4.

[JimmyHou 611]

- Russian

- Here since 2009 (came on a student visa but got married), took some time to adjust my status, got my greencard only in April 2012.

- Not frequent traveler.

- Name is common, last name not so much. I know there are at least 20 people with the same name on the East Coast.

You've been around for a while too, then, but not quite as long.

Russia is probably somewhere in between Egypt and Australia in terms of red flags.

Travel is out.

But all three of us have common names.

A lot of people seem to think that if you have a criminal incident in your background, then the check takes longer. That doesn't really make sense, because it would take about 2 seconds for a police report to show up and that would be passed on to USCIS.

I think the common name and travel factors are more important, because they can't just tell USCIS that Spmaria has the same name as a criminal suspect; they need to confirm whether or not it's the same person. Same thing with travel... there are all sorts of travel patterns that can be suspicious.

Anyway... I think a month or two should be enough for all that... I'm not sure why some applicants wait 5 or 6 months to be placed inline after biometrics (or 8 in a recent Houston case).

[JimmyHou 611]

Just so we don't feel like we're being singled out, check this out: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551049-n-400-june-2015-filers/?p=8050936

That's a discussion over the past few days of June 2015 applicants who are still waiting to be placed inline or have their interviews scheduled. There are similar posts from September and October filers recently.

Any December applicant who has got an interview letter should feel pretty happy, to be honest.

Edited March 15, 2016 by JimmyHou

[moemac59 192]

I just checked my online status and it has been updated to state that the oath ceremony letter has been sent out...sorry for everyone that are still waiting

[nessky 4]

Who of you guys applied based on 3 years rule?

Any tips for interview?

do I have to bring all pprwork from day 1 of marriage again at interview, as letter states bring marriage cert, taxes and one more thing not sure what at the moment.

I printed out 2/3 of our statements and its like 400 pages. and they have all of them already.... just thinking....

I also applied on 3 years rule. I'm not sure what to bring to my interview, we only have our taxes and our tenant agreement with both of our names. We don't have joint bank accts, we don't own house, life insurance... our car is under his name, but we are both on the insurance policy. I won't even have 2015 tax return ready before my interview. We filed electronically few weeks ago and just yesterday received the notice from IRS that they can't accept it because we need tax pin number for my husband (apparently someone tried to steal his identity). They sent us pin number but it will take 2-4 weeks to receive it and then we can file again. Or we can file by mail without pin, but still it will take more than 4 weeks to process it. I'm not sure what else they consider as valid evidence. Family photos? We have been married for 10 years now and have each other names tattooed as wedding rings. Isn't that good enough

[moemac59 192]

Jimmy,

I have a question for you about the N-445 that has to be filled out before the oath ceremony. I will be traveling back and forth to Canada (Toronto) via car for work until the 14th of April when I have my ceremony. I know that there is a question about travel since the interview on the N-445 form that has to be answered. Since I use my NEXUS card for entry into CAN/US, there will be no stamp any where on my passport. I have all my entry/departure dates that were provided during my interview. Can I add this as an amendment to that paperwork to present with the N-445?

Other posts that I have seen about travel after the interview mention stamps in the passport.

[Ms Hogan 295]

Jimmy,

I have a question for you about the N-445 that has to be filled out before the oath ceremony. I will be traveling back and forth to Canada (Toronto) via car for work until the 14th of April when I have my ceremony. I know that there is a question about travel since the interview on the N-445 form that has to be answered. Since I use my NEXUS card for entry into CAN/US, there will be no stamp any where on my passport. I have all my entry/departure dates that were provided during my interview. Can I add this as an amendment to that paperwork to present with the N-445?

Other posts that I have seen about travel after the interview mention stamps in the passport.

They've gotta know (especially in Buffalo) that you aren't going to get stamps in your passport. The ONLY stamps I ever received in my passport in all my life was when I had work permit to work in the U.S. or when I did my POE and updated 551.

I'm curious about this too as I'll have travel between my interview and oath for sure!

[moemac59 192]

They've gotta know (especially in Buffalo) that you aren't going to get stamps in your passport. The ONLY stamps I ever received in my passport in all my life was when I had work permit to work in the U.S. or when I did my POE and updated 551.

I'm curious about this too as I'll have travel between my interview and oath for sure!

Ah Ms. Hogan, I've been wondering where you have been the last couple of days.

I guess I will just have to take my current dates of travel with me as well as a copy of my NEXUS card. I will let you know how it goes and what happens after the oath ceremony. The only stamps that I have in my passport are from activation of my K1 visa as well as being paroled back in with the AP card while the AOS application was pending

Edited March 16, 2016 by moemac59

[Ms Hogan 295]

Who of you guys applied based on 3 years rule?

Any tips for interview?

do I have to bring all pprwork from day 1 of marriage again at interview, as letter states bring marriage cert, taxes and one more thing not sure what at the moment.

I printed out 2/3 of our statements and its like 400 pages. and they have all of them already.... just thinking....

I have a binder with a hard copy printout of the evidence I sent in for initial CR1, all the evidence I sent in for ROC and updated information since that time which was collected over the past year. So photos printed out same as initially. I have all of our car and home insurance that show both our names, tax return transcripts, some bills that have both our names, documents that show our joint business ownership. The first page of our bank statements since 2013 when I was able to be added to my husband's account.

I have the original versions of divorce certificates, birth certificates etc.

I'm not taking any chances. It is all sorted in a binder and ready to go. It has been there for a while and I've just added the bank statement updates each month when they're available.

I know I have more than needed but i'm not willing to risk missing anything they might want to see!

[Ms Hogan 295]

Ah Ms. Hogan, I've been wondering where you have been the last couple of days.

I guess I will just have to take my current dates of travel with me as well as a copy of my NEXUS card. I will let you know how it goes and what happens after the oath ceremony. The only stamps that I have in my passport are from activation of my K1 visa as well as being paroled back in with the AP card while the AOS application was pending

Ummmm I'm not sure how to take that? lol

I've been busy with events and sick kids this week. And it's ONLY TUESDAY!!!

I don't think I would have thought about taking my NEXUS card. Yikes! I'm glad you brought it up.

Now i'm worrying about something new!

I'm anxious to know how your stuff all goes... including your passport. When are you going to do that?

[moemac59 192]

I have a binder with a hard copy printout of the evidence I sent in for initial CR1, all the evidence I sent in for ROC and updated information since that time which was collected over the past year. So photos printed out same as initially. I have all of our car and home insurance that show both our names, tax return transcripts, some bills that have both our names, documents that show our joint business ownership. The first page of our bank statements since 2013 when I was able to be added to my husband's account.

I have the original versions of divorce certificates, birth certificates etc.

I'm not taking any chances. It is all sorted in a binder and ready to go. It has been there for a while and I've just added the bank statement updates each month when they're available.

I know I have more than needed but i'm not willing to risk missing anything they might want to see!

lol I did the exact same thing. Brought my huge binder with me and the IO didn't want to see anything in that binder. The only thing that he wanted to see was my passport, GC and drivers license. He didn't even want to see my NEXUS card.

That being said, my USCIS file that the IO had was HUGE...probably about 40"-50" thick.

[moemac59 192]

Ummmm I'm not sure how to take that? lol

I've been busy with events and sick kids this week. And it's ONLY TUESDAY!!!

I don't think I would have thought about taking my NEXUS card. Yikes! I'm glad you brought it up.

Now i'm worrying about something new!

I'm anxious to know how your stuff all goes... including your passport. When are you going to do that?

I will be applying for my US passport the day after the oath ceremony and trying to get it expedited. I am going to stop at the Whirlpool Bridge (NEXUS ONLY) in Niagara Falls right after my oath ceremony with my naturalization certificate so they can update my information in the system and I can also make a copy of it. This way everything will be current in their system. If I don't receive my US passport by the time I have to go to Canada to work, then I will just have to use Whirlpool on the way back for entry into the US even though Lewiston/Queenston is closer.

Just make a copy of your NEXUS card for the interview and maybe after your interview when the IO tells you that you are approved, you can ask the IO about my N-455 question (traveling between the interview and oath ceremony using Nexus and how to present that travel info before the ceremony since passports are not stamped)

When I asked the IO if he wanted a copy of all my travel dates that were added after the application was filed, he said no that they already have that information in their system.

Edited March 16, 2016 by moemac59

[another1 2]

It's official!! My dad had his oath ceremony this morning at 8am. Thank you to all for good wishes and support! Good luck to everyone who's still waiting for their interviews!