Minneapolis-St. Paul MN Office AOS Filers

[USpatial 21]

Interview done, green card approved.

 

Now, in two years I have to apply for the removal of conditions, and one year later I can apply for citizenship (for a total of three years after the initial grant of residence)? Or is it three years later than I can apply for citizenship (for a total of five years after the initial grant of residence)?

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

5 hours ago, USpatial said:

Interview done, green card approved.

 

Now, in two years I have to apply for the removal of conditions, and one year later I can apply for citizenship (for a total of three years after the initial grant of residence)? Or is it three years later than I can apply for citizenship (for a total of five years after the initial grant of residence)?

Congrats!!! 

You may apply for removal of conditions 90 days prior to the expiration of your conditional permanent residence. In some states, such applications take a LONG time. So add that date to your calendar and start gathering your evidence now. A well prepared I-751 application typically means you won't have another interview.

As a permanent resident who is married to a US citizen -who has been a US citizen for at least 3 years- , you are eligible to apply for citizenship 90 days prior your 3 year anniversary as a legal permanent resident. I would recommend reading the N-400 instructions. There are nuances. You can't spend too much time outside of the US. That's all outlined on the N-400 instructions.

[USpatial 21]

20 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Congrats!!! 

You may apply for removal of conditions 90 days prior to the expiration of your conditional permanent residence. In some states, such applications take a LONG time. So add that date to your calendar and start gathering your evidence now. A well prepared I-751 application typically means you won't have another interview.

As a permanent resident who is married to a US citizen -who has been a US citizen for at least 3 years- , you are eligible to apply for citizenship 90 days prior your 3 year anniversary as a legal permanent resident. I would recommend reading the N-400 instructions. There are nuances. You can't spend too much time outside of the US. That's all outlined on the N-400 instructions.

 

So "conditional permanent resident" is not the same as "permanent resident": with the former, you can't apply for citizenship, because after two years you have to remove conditions and become a "permanent resident" and then (three years later) apply for citizenship. So the time it takes to become citizen beginning with the conditional permanent (?) residence through marriage totals five years (two as conditional and three as not-conditional), which is the same time it takes for the non-conditional permanent residence (five years as non-conditional). 

 

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

3 hours ago, USpatial said:

 

So "conditional permanent resident" is not the same as "permanent resident": with the former, you can't apply for citizenship, because after two years you have to remove conditions and become a "permanent resident" and then (three years later) apply for citizenship. So the time it takes to become citizen beginning with the conditional permanent (?) residence through marriage totals five years (two as conditional and three as not-conditional), which is the same time it takes for the non-conditional permanent residence (five years as non-conditional). 

 

Interesting... from your response, I am gathering that you may have misunderstood what I stated, as well as what the law states. I will do my best to clarify as it can be rather confusing.

 

One of the fastest ways of becoming a US citizen is by marrying a US citizen. You are eligible to apply for citizenship if: 

• Have been a permanent resident (green card holder) for at least 3 years
• Have been living in marital union with the same U.S. citizen spouse during such time

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/naturalization-spouses-us-citizens

 

That includes your time as a conditional permanent resident. Thus, if USCIS were as productive as they could be, you would be looking at:

Time between filing date and adjudication of I-130 + I485 (let's say 1 year)

2 years as a conditional resident (let's say you file I-751 90 days prior to the expiration of the 2 years and it gets approved before the 2 year mark)

9 months as a permanent resident (Eligible to file N-400 90 days prior to your 3 year anniversary as a permanent resident while married to a US citizen who has been a US citizen during those 3 years)

 

As a conditional permanent resident, you may, in fact, apply for citizenship if the adjudication of your I-751 is taking too long. The ISO will not process your N-400 (application for US citizenship) before adjudicating your I-751. Here's the excerpt from the USCIS policy manual:

 

2. Spouses with Pending Petitions and Naturalization Applications

An application for naturalization may not be approved if there is a pending petition for removal of conditions. If an applicant’s petition to remove conditions is pending at the time of filing or is filed prior to the interview, USCIS will adjudicate the petition to remove conditions prior to or concurrently with the adjudication of the naturalization application. [6]

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter5.html

 

I hope that helps. Adjudication of the I-751 is a lengthy process and case dependent. Couples who did not present much evidence for their *marriage-based Adjustment of Status, are going into it with a higher fraud level than those who submitted loads of evidence; especially, evidence of financial ties. Here's some info on how fraud levels are assigned and how to avoid another interview in order to get the I-751 approved. https://citizenpath.com/avoiding-i-751-interview/  (*My spouse and I have an age difference of 17 years. If that's considered a large age gap, then we have one item from Fraud Level A - the highest fraud level.Therefore, we are submitting everything we can think of now)

 

*I specified marriage-based Adjustment of Status because AOS takes places much earlier for k-1 visa than for marriage based. Therefore, k-1 visa couples may not have as much evidence of financial ties as couples who hit the 2 year marriage anniversary while waiting for adjudication of their AOS application. 

 

Bottom line is, don't delay your application for naturalization. USCIS has made public announcements several times advising to just go ahead and apply for naturalization. 

 

All the best! Care to share more about your interview experience at the Minneapolis Field Office? Thanks!

[itsdonealready 13]

1 hour ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Interesting... from your response, I am gathering that you may have misunderstood what I stated, as well as what the law states. I will do my best to clarify as it can be rather confusing.

 

One of the fastest ways of becoming a US citizen is by marrying a US citizen. You are eligible to apply for citizenship if: 

• Have been a permanent resident (green card holder) for at least 3 years
• Have been living in marital union with the same U.S. citizen spouse during such time

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/naturalization-spouses-us-citizens

 

That includes your time as a conditional permanent resident. Thus, if USCIS were as productive as they could be, you would be looking at:

Time between filing date and adjudication of I-130 + I485 (let's say 1 year)

2 years as a conditional resident (let's say you file I-751 90 days prior to the expiration of the 2 years and it gets approved before the 2 year mark)

9 months as a permanent resident (Eligible to file N-400 90 days prior to your 3 year anniversary as a permanent resident while married to a US citizen who has been a US citizen during those 3 years)

 

As a conditional permanent resident, you may, in fact, apply for citizenship if the adjudication of your I-751 is taking too long. The ISO will not process your N-400 (application for US citizenship) before adjudicating your I-751. Here's the excerpt from the USCIS policy manual:

 

2. Spouses with Pending Petitions and Naturalization Applications

An application for naturalization may not be approved if there is a pending petition for removal of conditions. If an applicant’s petition to remove conditions is pending at the time of filing or is filed prior to the interview, USCIS will adjudicate the petition to remove conditions prior to or concurrently with the adjudication of the naturalization application. [6]

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter5.html

 

I hope that helps. Adjudication of the I-751 is a lengthy process and case dependent. Couples who did not present much evidence for their *marriage-based Adjustment of Status, are going into it with a higher fraud level than those who submitted loads of evidence; especially, evidence of financial ties. Here's some info on how fraud levels are assigned and how to avoid another interview in order to get the I-751 approved. https://citizenpath.com/avoiding-i-751-interview/  (*My spouse and I have an age difference of 17 years. If that's considered a large age gap, then we have one item from Fraud Level A - the highest fraud level.Therefore, we are submitting everything we can think of now)

 

*I specified marriage-based Adjustment of Status because AOS takes places much earlier for k-1 visa than for marriage based. Therefore, k-1 visa couples may not have as much evidence of financial ties as couples who hit the 2 year marriage anniversary while waiting for adjudication of their AOS application. 

 

Bottom line is, don't delay your application for naturalization. USCIS has made public announcements several times advising to just go ahead and apply for naturalization. 

 

All the best! Care to share more about your interview experience at the Minneapolis Field Office? Thanks!

This is a very thorough introduction! Thank you!

 

Now the i-751 process is extremely slow too (not a field office issue, looks like it happens everywhere in the country), I have seen cases pending for around 1 ~ 1.5 years, and a lot of them started the naturalization application process while they are still waiting for the permanent green card. However, as @USC4SPOUSE pointed out, the N-400 application will not be finalized until your i-751 is approved. So applying for naturalization while waiting for i-751 result does not mean that you can completely skip the i-751 wait; it just means that you can initiate the two processes in parallel.

 

Hope this helps, and congrats on passing the interview! @USpatial

Edited March 5, 2018 by itsdonealready
edit

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

53 minutes ago, itsdonealready said:

This is a very thorough introduction! Thank you!

 

Now the i-751 process is extremely slow too (not a field office issue, looks like it happens everywhere in the country), I have seen cases pending for around 1 ~ 1.5 years, and a lot of them started the naturalization application process while they are still waiting for the permanent green card. However, as @USC4SPOUSE pointed out, the N-400 application will not be finalized until your i-751 is approved. So applying for naturalization while waiting for i-751 result does not mean that you can completely skip the i-751 wait; it just means that you can initiate the two processes in parallel.

 

Hope this helps, and congrats on passing the interview! @USpatial

Anytime, @itsdonealready! 

Some conditional permanent residents can skip on the I-751 altogether. 

 

In general, USCIS requires that an applicant for naturalization must have an approved petition to remove conditions before an officer adjudicates the naturalization application. However, certain CPRs may be eligible for naturalization without filing a petition or having the conditions removed if applying for naturalization on the basis of:

•Marriage to a U.S. citizen employed abroad; or

•Qualifying military service

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter5.html

 

Cool, huh? Ages ago, when I first went through this process, my I-751 application was just lost in limbo and was taking forever. I hired an attorney who was known for being very resourceful. He asked me to describe the ISO. He knew who it was and drove me to the building the next day. Without an appointment, he got in and two hours later, he came out and grabbed me. The ISO burned my soul with her laser vision - I swear. Told me "Know this is a huge exception. I've never done this for anyone. Let's just take care of this" 

So she looked through my file again, and realized it had been 3 years already and said to me "well, if it was taking this long, why didn't you just apply for naturalization?"

Just like that. I had no clue. I was in my early 20s. How could I know? 

 

It's almost worth it to move to Ohio just to get this process done faster. MSP office.. oh, well..

[itsdonealready 13]

Hi, how is everyone doing? USCIS just updated the processing time. For MN office i-485went back 6 days compared to the last update...interesting. Guess we shouldn't be too optimistic. n-400 is moving forward though.

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	September 12, 2016
N-400	Application for Naturalization	December 24, 2016
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	April 12, 2017

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

On 3/14/2018 at 3:34 PM, itsdonealready said:

Hi, how is everyone doing? USCIS just updated the processing time. For MN office i-485went back 6 days compared to the last update...interesting. Guess we shouldn't be too optimistic. n-400 is moving forward though.

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	September 12, 2016
N-400	Application for Naturalization	December 24, 2016
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	April 12, 2017

 

And for the sake of record keeping...

 

As of:	I-485 cases as of	N-400 cases as of:	N-600 cases as of:
10/31/2017	7/31/2016	10/22/2016	12/31/2016
12/31/2017	9/18/2016	12/10/2016	4/6/2017
1/31/2018	9/12/2016	12/24/2016	4/12/2017

 

 

[itsdonealready 13]

16 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

 

And for the sake of record keeping...

 

As of:	I-485 cases as of	N-400 cases as of:	N-600 cases as of:
10/31/2017	7/31/2016	10/22/2016	12/31/2016
12/31/2017	9/18/2016	12/10/2016	4/6/2017
1/31/2018	9/12/2016	12/24/2016	4/12/2017

 

 

Thanks! hmm we should really keep track of this...both n-400 and n-600 are moving forward at least. It is already 168 days from my PD but guess there is at least another 200 days of waiting....

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

33 minutes ago, itsdonealready said:

Thanks! hmm we should really keep track of this...both n-400 and n-600 are moving forward at least. It is already 168 days from my PD but guess there is at least another 200 days of waiting....

You're welcome! It's still impossible to know how they operate. Having lived here for 8 years now, I can see them trying to keep it fair for everyone by doing 1 of each. For comparison, here are the stats of the Milwaukee office, 

 

Field Office Processing Dates for Milwaukee WI as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	March 16, 2017
N-400	Application for Naturalization	March 3, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	March 24, 2017

 

Now if you want to talk about productive, well, there is Helena, MT: 

Field Office Processing Dates for Helena MT as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	October 1, 2017
N-400	Application for Naturalization	August 9, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	April 8, 2017

There is no way to predict. According to this Cincinnatti is pretty behind,; however, interviews are taking place before people get their EADs. It's all happening in under 90 days according to posts on other sites.

Field Office Processing Dates for Cincinnati OH as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	December 24, 2016
N-400	Application for Naturalization	May 12, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	June 24, 2017

 

Oh well, the wait just began for us. We fedex-ed our 13lb AOS last night. 

[cool_beans 6]

2 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

 

And for the sake of record keeping...

 

As of:	I-485 cases as of	N-400 cases as of:	N-600 cases as of:
10/31/2017	7/31/2016	10/22/2016	12/31/2016
12/31/2017	9/18/2016	12/10/2016	4/6/2017
1/31/2018	9/12/2016	12/24/2016	4/12/2017

 

 

 

This is getting out of control. Is there any way to get them to step it up? I think they are the slowest office in the whole country now by 3 months!

[itsdonealready 13]

On 3/15/2018 at 6:56 PM, cool_beans said:

 

This is getting out of control. Is there any way to get them to step it up? I think they are the slowest office in the whole country now by 3 months!

I know, it's upsetting... but for now I don't see there is any way for them to speed up. Guess the only thing we can do is waiting.

[itsdonealready 13]

On 3/15/2018 at 5:33 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

You're welcome! It's still impossible to know how they operate. Having lived here for 8 years now, I can see them trying to keep it fair for everyone by doing 1 of each. For comparison, here are the stats of the Milwaukee office, 

 

Field Office Processing Dates for Milwaukee WI as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	March 16, 2017
N-400	Application for Naturalization	March 3, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	March 24, 2017

 

Now if you want to talk about productive, well, there is Helena, MT: 

Field Office Processing Dates for Helena MT as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	October 1, 2017
N-400	Application for Naturalization	August 9, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	April 8, 2017

There is no way to predict. According to this Cincinnatti is pretty behind,; however, interviews are taking place before people get their EADs. It's all happening in under 90 days according to posts on other sites.

Field Office Processing Dates for Cincinnati OH as of: January 31, 2018

Form	Form Name	Processing Cases As Of Date:
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status	December 24, 2016
N-400	Application for Naturalization	May 12, 2017
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	June 24, 2017

 

Oh well, the wait just began for us. We fedex-ed our 13lb AOS last night. 

13 lbs! Wow you must have prepared well, good luck!

 

Although the processing time is showing something like a 16 months gap, I think the actually waiting time for an interview schedule is ~13 months. There are people who submitted last February who have already got their green cards.

 

[MelandJason 60]

Hello everybody I am going to join to this group, We send our AOS filles on Jan 31, our PD is Feb 1st, we are from North Dakota and we know that our interview will be in MN and also I know that this office is one of the most slow  Nice too meet everybody!! 

[itsdonealready 13]

15 hours ago, MelandJason said:

Hello everybody I am going to join to this group, We send our AOS filles on Jan 31, our PD is Feb 1st, we are from North Dakota and we know that our interview will be in MN and also I know that this office is one of the most slow  Nice too meet everybody!! 

Welcome! Hope everything goes well for your application!