Info on expediting N-400?

[silvermoon 7]

Does anyone have any experience with expediting a pending N-400 case (Salt Lake City field office)? My mother applied in July 2017 and did biometrics in August 2017 and has been waiting for interview ever since. We received word last week that her mother, who lives in Australia, has taken very ill, and my mother would like to return to Australia to care for her. Right now she's contemplating three options:

 

1) Attempt to expedite her case through her Senator's office based on humanitarian reasons (caring for an ill parent). She has plenty of ties keeping her in the USA, including a permanent job, a house, two children living over here, etc. Mostly she is just wanting to know what the timeframe for an expedited case might be like, since she wants to be with her mother as soon as possible.

 

2) Leaving the case to process normally and travelling back to Australia immediately to care for my grandmother. In this case, she would book a return ticket to the US and return before her 6-month out-of-country limit is up... but this option is risky because then she'd have to stay in the US for another 6 months before she could return to be with my grandmother again, if her illness continues for longer than that. It would be ideal to have her citizenship before she goes, for this reason.

 

3) Abandoning her citizenship application and possibly her green card residency and just going now to stay with my grandmother for as long as she needs... but would this affect her ability to return to the US (even just on a visa) in the future?

 

Any advice from anyone who has experienced an expedited case before? Any help would be appreciated!

[Californiansunset 336]

34 minutes ago, silvermoon said:

Does anyone have any experience with expediting a pending N-400 case (Salt Lake City field office)? My mother applied in July 2017 and did biometrics in August 2017 and has been waiting for interview ever since. We received word last week that her mother, who lives in Australia, has taken very ill, and my mother would like to return to Australia to care for her. Right now she's contemplating three options:

 

1) Attempt to expedite her case through her Senator's office based on humanitarian reasons (caring for an ill parent). She has plenty of ties keeping her in the USA, including a permanent job, a house, two children living over here, etc. Mostly she is just wanting to know what the timeframe for an expedited case might be like, since she wants to be with her mother as soon as possible.

 

2) Leaving the case to process normally and travelling back to Australia immediately to care for my grandmother. In this case, she would book a return ticket to the US and return before her 6-month out-of-country limit is up... but this option is risky because then she'd have to stay in the US for another 6 months before she could return to be with my grandmother again, if her illness continues for longer than that. It would be ideal to have her citizenship before she goes, for this reason.

 

3) Abandoning her citizenship application and possibly her green card residency and just going now to stay with my grandmother for as long as she needs... but would this affect her ability to return to the US (even just on a visa) in the future?

 

Any advice from anyone who has experienced an expedited case before? Any help would be appreciated!

Option 4) is getting a re-entry permit for Greencard holders. Problem is that it needs to be approved prior to leaving and I don't know how USCIS is currently taking to approve it. It is pretty much always granted though so that's good. 

Also, if she stays out of the country more than 6 months but less than one year without the re-entry permit, she will be questioned at the airport but with good evidence and proof that she still kept all her bank accounts in the US, house etc. (kept residency in the US) her chances are not too bad that she would be fine. Obviously there is no guarantee though. However it will break hercontinuous residency for the purpose of naturalization if she leaves for longer than 6 months but I'm sure that would be a minor negative factor given the circumstances...

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Californiansunset said:

Option 4) is getting a re-entry permit for Greencard holders. Problem is that it needs to be approved prior to leaving and I don't know how USCIS is currently taking to approve it. It is pretty much always granted though so that's good.

You must file in the US and the biometrics must be done in the US, but one does not need to wait for approval itself. The re-entry permit can be picked up at an embassy/consulate abroad after approval.

Edited April 25, 2018 by geowrian

[Californiansunset 336]

Just now, geowrian said:

The biometrics must be in the US, but one does not need to wait for approval itself. The re-entry permit can be picked up at an embassy/consulate abroad after approval.

That's good to know! Thanks!

[mhis82 13]

On 4/25/2018 at 1:50 PM, silvermoon said:

Does anyone have any experience with expediting a pending N-400 case (Salt Lake City field office)? My mother applied in July 2017 and did biometrics in August 2017 and has been waiting for interview ever since. We received word last week that her mother, who lives in Australia, has taken very ill, and my mother would like to return to Australia to care for her. Right now she's contemplating three options:

 

1) Attempt to expedite her case through her Senator's office based on humanitarian reasons (caring for an ill parent). She has plenty of ties keeping her in the USA, including a permanent job, a house, two children living over here, etc. Mostly she is just wanting to know what the timeframe for an expedited case might be like, since she wants to be with her mother as soon as possible.

 

2) Leaving the case to process normally and travelling back to Australia immediately to care for my grandmother. In this case, she would book a return ticket to the US and return before her 6-month out-of-country limit is up... but this option is risky because then she'd have to stay in the US for another 6 months before she could return to be with my grandmother again, if her illness continues for longer than that. It would be ideal to have her citizenship before she goes, for this reason.

 

3) Abandoning her citizenship application and possibly her green card residency and just going now to stay with my grandmother for as long as she needs... but would this affect her ability to return to the US (even just on a visa) in the future?

 

Any advice from anyone who has experienced an expedited case before? Any help would be appreciated!

Forget about expediting process unless you are military.  There is no such a thing in the world when it comes to citizenship N400 process,  and expediting. 

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