N-400 February 2016 Filers

[akihon 129]

I always try the machines in Atlanta but always get a big fat "X" on the receipt that means that I have to go through inspection

I always get the X. The machine scans my LPR card and I answer a bunch of questions and have my photo and fingerprints taken, and then have to get all that done again anyway by the officer. My passport is in my maiden name and my LPR card is in my married name, so that's probably why it gets flagged.

Edited April 13, 2016 by akihon

[ryna 132]

At JFK, you don't have a choice to not use them - everybody going through the Citizen / LPR line has to use them.

We've gotten the X sometimes too, but found out that it was because we board the plane leaving Armenia with our Armenian passports (because the plane ticket is with our Armenian names, and entered Armenia on our Armenian passports, as is required), and then enter the States with our US passport and Green Card. Thus, the manifest info sent from Aeroflot in Armenia to the CPB at JFK has our Armenian passport info, not our US passport and Green Card. So when we used our US passport and Green Card to enter at JFK, because it didn't match Aeroflot's manifest, we got the X.

So, now, when we check in with Aeroflot in Armenia, we show the agent only our US passport and Green Card, so the agent updates their records and that info goes into the system. Then, when we arrive in JFK and use the machine, everything matches, and we don't get the X. Took a while to figure out why we kept getting the X, but glad to have figured it out!

Good to know for the future. Maybe we'll try them out once my wife is a USC and all tickets can be bought in her married name. Other than thinking they were for pre-authorized users, in Orlando, they are (were? it's been 2 years) located at the head of the USC/LPR line right at the point where you would go to the next available agent. I never wanted to step out and lose my place in line to try it not knowing if I could use it or not. In any event, it seems I might have gotten through but my wife wouldn't have (because of the name difference) so I would have waited just the same anyhow.

Edited April 13, 2016 by ryna

[akihon 129]

Still waiting patiently -- I've looked at several other timelines for different months, and different tracking site - seems Phoenix isn't exactly speedy for the most part.... I guess they do a name check on both my wife and I... I have a pretty common name, so that also could be the reason why we haven't heard. I was originally thinking an early June interview, probably not likely - now hoping for Mid-July interview. Probably will have a better clue if we wait more than a few more weeks.

I guess Phoenix does everything and is getting swamped?

Edited April 13, 2016 by akihon

[Caryh 5,206]

I guess Phoenix does everything and is getting swamped?

I wish they'd get their butt in gear and schedule my wife's interview. There isn't a lot of St Paul cases reported here, but I guess I can expect a week or two more to get scheduled if we stay at the typical time frame of the past. I thought I was used to this waiting game, but now that we're back in it, I guess I'm not

[akihon 129]

I wish they'd get their butt in gear and schedule my wife's interview. There isn't a lot of St Paul cases reported here, but I guess I can expect a week or two more to get scheduled if we stay at the typical time frame of the past. I thought I was used to this waiting game, but now that we're back in it, I guess I'm not

Interview scheduling is based on your local office, and not really Phoenix though. ThaiJason is IN Phoenix lol.

[Sal and Jay 2]

I am trying to be patient will soon be a month that I have been inline, Atlanta must be slow.

[Caryh 5,206]

Interview scheduling is based on your local office, and not really Phoenix though. ThaiJason is IN Phoenix lol.

maybe I need to go knock on their door

I don't even know where the field office is. We've never been called in for an interview, just biometric appointments, which is no where near the field office.

[danoll4 0]

You better hurry up, because now EU is thinking about require "additional documents" to American citizens traveling to Europe in response to Washington's restricter regulations imposed to some European citizens

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/world/europe/eu-visas-us-canada.html?_r=0

Thanks. I guess that'll be as soon as I put my hands on that passport!

[Tim & Cai 15]

I totally agree with that statement! I'll be glad this is the last step my wife needs to make. But to tell the truth, once she was here, none of the waiting was near as hard as it was before she arrived. The original visa wait is the biggest killer.

Totally agree

[Dustin C 12]

My passport is in my maiden name and my LPR card is in my married name, so that's probably why it gets flagged.

My wife is the same. Maiden name on Ukrainian Passport and married name on Green Card.... This is good to know, since she will be flying back to the USA on May 4th. I'll let her know what to expect. Thanks!

[nhutchings 17]

My wife is the same. Maiden name on Ukrainian Passport and married name on Green Card.... This is good to know, since she will be flying back to the USA on May 4th. I'll let her know what to expect. Thanks!

I don't think the names matter, so long as the agent at the departing airport puts in your name as it matches the document you'll use to enter the States. That is, purchase the ticket with either maiden or married name, but then when you check in to the flight back to the States, make sure that the agent puts in the name exactly as it appears on the Green Card when they review your travel documents. That way, it'll show up on the manifest as the Green Card name, thus in the CBP system as the Green Card name, and so when you use the Green Card at the immigration ATM-like machine, it should let you go right through without an X. Unless, of course, you get an X for another reason.

Easier still might just be to purchase the plane ticket with your Green Card name (ie married name), and then at check-in, just present the airline agents with a copy of your marriage certificate as proof of why the name on the ticket (and on the Green Card) is different from the name on the passport.

We've done both ways and had success both ways!

[Dustin C 12]

Oh good. The ticket is in here married name, so that will make it easy. Thanks for the info.

[akihon 129]

I've always just purchased tickets in my maiden name if I'm traveling overseas. I never carried my marriage certificate, and the only time I've ever been asked for it was when I was traveling back to the US from Munich International. I was reprimanded and asked for my driver's license, which of course, matches my married/legal name.

Hence why I just cannot wait to get my blue passport and be done with all this garbage and mileage accounts.

Edited April 13, 2016 by akihon

[nhutchings 17]

I've always just purchased tickets in my maiden name if I'm traveling overseas. I never carried my marriage certificate, and the only time I've ever been asked for it was when I was traveling back to the US from Munich International. I was reprimanded and asked for my driver's license, which of course, matches my married/legal name.

Hence why I just cannot wait to get my blue passport and be done with all this garbage and mileage accounts.

Right, if the name on the ticket matches the name on the passport, the airline agents and security at check-in rarely care if it matches the name on the Green Card. But if the ticket is in the married name and the passport is the maiden name, then you'll need to show the marriage certificate to the airline agents at check-in as proof of name-change to explain why the ticket and passport don't match. But then, the miles will be credited to your account easier (assuming the account is in your married name), and you'll avoid the dreaded X at Immigration.

But yes, thankfully this'll all be moot very soon!

[akihon 129]

Right, if the name on the ticket matches the name on the passport, the airline agents and security at check-in rarely care if it matches the name on the Green Card. But if the ticket is in the married name and the passport is the maiden name, then you'll need to show the marriage certificate to the airline agents at check-in as proof of name-change to explain why the ticket and passport don't match. But then, the miles will be credited to your account easier (assuming the account is in your married name), and you'll avoid the dreaded X at Immigration.

But yes, thankfully this'll all be moot very soon!

The good thing about United (amazing, there is a good thing about them) is that they made a note on my account regarding my name change, so when I called them yesterday to claim mileage that was flown in my maiden name, all they needed was my ticket number.

The reprimand at Munich International wasn't even at check-in. It was a transfer, because I flew out of Berlin, and there was extra document screening just before you could access the US flight gates. They asked me for my passport and American visa so I gave them my LPR card, and that was when there was a small kerfuffle. My husband just flashed his blue passport and sailed on by and it took him 5 minutes to realize I wasn't with him because I was being held up due to my names haha

But yes, I can't wait to just have one name. Honestly, with my recent business trip, it was strange to be addressed by my maiden name again at the hotel I stayed in (my husband and I don't usually stay at hotels when we travel). I haven't been called that in 4 years!!

Edited April 13, 2016 by akihon