I-751 OCTOBER 2018

[Suze1 366]

@Brunno...Sure thing. It is your decision, of course.

It is a real pain having to wait so long...we feel ya.

 

If you want our two cents - 

If those are your ONLY two reasons, then here is how they struck us:

 

#1 Seem to be getting close -> We felt the same, after watching each day what was happening at all the service centers. We decided to go ahead, put together a full set of documentary evidence, and applied for citizenship with ROC pending. Doing so worked out for us, as we mentioned. Your mileage could vary, of course, as said.

 

#2 Not wanting a combo interview -> We felt the same here too. But if USCIS feels they have to interview you, you can get that even if not a combo interview. And lots of people are not getting interviewed - us included - in spite of some hearing/sharing that there will likely be more ROC interviews going forward. 

 

Nobody really knows a priori what WILL happen with any reasonable application. (With an outrageously unqualifying package, we have a better idea, or at least we think we do....smile.)

There is a risk/chance, either way.

But if your I-751 application package was tight, then maybe believe in yourself and your package.

Or not.

Just our two cents.

 

Sorry for the long wait. 

 

Wishing you the best,

 

Suze1

Edited December 24, 2019 by Suze1

[YESWECANDOIT 40]

3 hours ago, Brunno said:

Hi Suze1,

 

The only 2 reasons we did not file yet are:

1) people started to get approved so early so we had the feeling we will get too

2) since we have a small baby we did not want to have a combo Interview to drag him with us for it

 

We will wait till January/ February `20 and we will see then.

Hopefully we will see our 10y GC soon.

 

Thank you and have a good day!

 

Brunno..:-)) 

We are doing exactly the same. Just waiting. The thing with filing the N400 is we all don't file to the same service center. Some services are faster than others.

So it's important to make sure that your local office is fast and not backlogged like our Seattle office. There are applicants who filed their i751 in 2016 and filed the n400 are still waiting til today for a combo interview. 

 

So I made my research and I'm going to wait for the California center to process my i751 and not get it stuck at the Seattle office if I file a n400. Because once you do it, your i751 won't be in the big center jurisdiction anymore and it takes forever for them to transfer it if your local office if it's  not the lucky and fastest one.

 

So all our cases are completely different based on our location and we should not do like someone else. 

 

Good luck to you guys and congratulations on the new baby! 

 

[Suze1 366]

We hear ya.

Texas was NOT moving at all, for a long time.

We wondered if it would ever move.

Again, we hear ya, and thought the same things.

Sometimes it is easy to predict the future based on the past. It is much harder, predicting it rightly. 

We each get to choose, and we each get to share our thoughts about the choice we made.

That is what makes forums like this one so helpful.

Forward and upward to all.

 

P.S. As far as we can tell....our I-751 was not transferred or adjudicated locally. It was processed at Lees Summit, MO, as far as we can tell.

So the speed of the local office regarding the I-751 did not seem to come into play, even after we applied for citizenship. So there is that.

Might it for others?...sure! WILL IT FOR EVERYONE...not so definite!

Edited December 24, 2019 by Suze1

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

19 hours ago, Brunno said:

Hi Suze1,

 

The only 2 reasons we did not file yet are:

1) people started to get approved so early so we had the feeling we will get too

2) since we have a small baby we did not want to have a combo Interview to drag him with us for it

 

We will wait till January/ February `20 and we will see then.

Hopefully we will see our 10y GC soon.

 

Thank you and have a good day!

 

Brunno..:-)) 

Hey Brunno,

 

We are still in the exact same spot as you as well. My husband got his  original green card in the mail on Christmas Eve 3 years ago, so I was hoping to have the same holiday luck. Oh well.

 

I am a little worried about the social media thing, but if everything is on the up and up with your marriage, I wouldn’t be too worried. If they are checking phones and social media, they would have known by now that things aren’t really working with my marriage. We haven’t gotten any RFEs or calls for interviews though, so if we’ve been safe, you should too.

 

I hope so at least... I won’t be able to get a finalized divorce decree for at least another 4 months thanks to the process for divorce in Wisconsin. So if they send out an RFE anytime soon, we are kinda hosed. 
 

My working (and probably incorrect) theory is that they possibly hold some cases back in order to give themselves leeway and more control over average processing times. But who knows.

Edited December 25, 2019 by MorganandMichael

[brunochi2018 8]

On 12/21/2019 at 5:36 PM, prok said:

Wow!!!, thanks for sharing, I am also 14 months now, my case changed to Case was Updated to show Fingerprint we’re taken, and was wondering what this was. By the way I am October 2018 filer, Texas Service Center. I pray to have mine too as my end of the year gift, or Christmas gift.

Me too filled in October 2018 and Texas service center as well..Praying hard

[Suze1 366]

All this discussion raises a few questions -

 

1) If your I-751 is pending, does filing the N-400 mean that it will be transferred locally?

I think the answer is - Maybe, maybe not.

(It would seem that the IO's are not total dingbats...If they knew the downstream/local office was extremely overloaded would they mechanically/merely send it there anyway, as a matter of process, or would/can they exercise more discretion and, upon taking a look at the application, make the decision to not send it - and even make the decision to adjudicate the application right then and there?  I don't know. Does anyone here know?  If so, please chime in.)

 

2) If your I-751 application is transferred, is the applicant always made aware of that somehow - i.e. is evidence of such transfer available/shared with the applicant(s) or discernible somehow by the applicant(s)?

We saw/see no message or status updates that state that our application was transferred to our local office after we filed for N-400 with the I-751 pending.

We only saw confirmation of the biometrics, and then we got the green card in the mail (even before we got the approval letter - a fact we attribute to the US Postal Service processing timing more than anything else.)

 

3) Does the fact that we received the I-751 ROC approval letter from Lees Summit, MO mean that it was transferred? Or is that where such letters can come from whether transferred or not?

 

4) If it was transferred to Lees Summit, MO, then by whom? Could the Texas Service Center had transferred it there, or could our local Tampa Office have transferred it there?

We don't think Tampa got it and transferred it to MO. But did someone in Tampa get notified, saw it on the system, and transferred it electronically without ever getting the actual hard copy package? An electronic transfer from local to some processing site? We don't know. Does anyone here know?

 

 

We are considering calling USCIS and asking them. But then again, do we do that, or just let ours continue to process and ask them that question at the citizenship interview in Feb?

If we do the latter we cannot share what we hear until then.

 

One of the things the immigration officer said at biometrics when we asked how long, etc, he said - "You will qualify for citizenship long before we will ever get your package." That is how long we feared it would take for I-751. And it took a year.

 

Maybe some of the senior members here know, or have strong opinions about what they think can happen.

 

Comments are welcome, as always.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by Suze1

[Pitaya 2,577]

Your very well described and quite palpable feelings of  frustration and bewilderment with USCIS is likely very widespread among anyone that is in the throes of their immigration journey. Just look at the old sputtering, breaking down, in dire need of repairs jalopy that is known as USCIS.  It seems to be chronically overworked, inundated with applications/petitions/etc., horribly understaffed, and by their own bureaucratic logic  woefully underpaid for the untimely service the agency currently provides.  Yes, it seems that the prez's newly appointed hatchet-man acting head of USCIS, Cuccinelli is clamoring for more money.   His proposed fee hikes amount to an often doubling of the current fees!  I have to ask, For what?  He says so that the agency can be more run like a business. Right! His plan sounds more like squeezing more money out of the intended immigrants, and still drive around the old USCIS jalopy with new bandaids for the leaky tires. There is no talk of increasing staff to accommodate the huge influx of workload....Nah  , just keep moving and shuffling paper around the country to different offices. Sounds like the old shell game to me. There is lip service being given to improving the system, revamping the processes, automation (kind a like Henry Ford's Model T production line)...  

 

Honestly, Suze1, your questions about current USCIS practices moving and shifting of cases and the current level of disservice reminds me a lot of the old Abbott and Costello comedy skit, 

 

 

Good luck on your immigration journey and Merry Christmas !!

Edited December 25, 2019 by Pitaya

[prok 56]

Time is far spent, most of us had been hanging on for what seems like eternity. Here is what I figured for those of us that had case status changed to Case was updated to show Fingerprint taken. I think this is a good omen, it obviously shows there will be no rfe, however, there will be only one thing, and that will be USCIS decision. There are only 3 possible decisions each and everyone of us could possibly get. The first decision which is the favorable and good decision is Approval. The second one is interview notice and the last one, which no one pray for is denial. Decision will roll in for most October 2018 filers within the coming days and most of us will have it as new year special gift, for t’s sure going to put smiles on our faces. It’s been well over 14 months now, those that receive biometrics in October 2019 , should be happy it was not rfe nor interview. The next notice shall be Approval in Jesus Name....Amen. Let’s get insight of what’s going on with you, update us your story so we can all learn and know what to expect. Did Suze1 got approved even when divorce is still pending? Does it mean USCIS don’t have details to what you don’t tell them? Obviously, they can’t know your marital situation unless you tell them and you can do that until the divorce is final. Let some one talk to me please. Suze1, tell me did you get an update that says Fingerprint was taken?

[Georgia16 2,858]

8 hours ago, prok said:

Time is far spent, most of us had been hanging on for what seems like eternity. Here is what I figured for those of us that had case status changed to Case was updated to show Fingerprint taken. I think this is a good omen, it obviously shows there will be no rfe, however, there will be only one thing, and that will be USCIS decision. There are only 3 possible decisions each and everyone of us could possibly get. The first decision which is the favorable and good decision is Approval. The second one is interview notice and the last one, which no one pray for is denial. Decision will roll in for most October 2018 filers within the coming days and most of us will have it as new year special gift, for t’s sure going to put smiles on our faces. It’s been well over 14 months now, those that receive biometrics in October 2019 , should be happy it was not rfe nor interview. The next notice shall be Approval in Jesus Name....Amen. Let’s get insight of what’s going on with you, update us your story so we can all learn and know what to expect. Did Suze1 got approved even when divorce is still pending? Does it mean USCIS don’t have details to what you don’t tell them? Obviously, they can’t know your marital situation unless you tell them and you can do that until the divorce is final. Let some one talk to me please. Suze1, tell me did you get an update that says Fingerprint was taken?

You can still get an RFE at this point. 
no USCIS can not know a divorce is pending it is up to you to tell them that. Not telling can get you in trouble at a later point and you of course have to N-400 after 5 year rule. 

[Brunno 11]

On 12/25/2019 at 9:30 AM, MorganandMichael said:

Hey Brunno,

 

We are still in the exact same spot as you as well. My husband got his  original green card in the mail on Christmas Eve 3 years ago, so I was hoping to have the same holiday luck. Oh well.

 

I am a little worried about the social media thing, but if everything is on the up and up with your marriage, I wouldn’t be too worried. If they are checking phones and social media, they would have known by now that things aren’t really working with my marriage. We haven’t gotten any RFEs or calls for interviews though, so if we’ve been safe, you should too.

 

I hope so at least... I won’t be able to get a finalized divorce decree for at least another 4 months thanks to the process for divorce in Wisconsin. So if they send out an RFE anytime soon, we are kinda hosed. 
 

My working (and probably incorrect) theory is that they possibly hold some cases back in order to give themselves leeway and more control over average processing times. But who knows.

Hello MorganandMichael,

 

When I mentioned about the social media I did not want to say our marriage is not legit. We are happy for many years. We have a baby and we have tons of proof...:-))

I just mentioned it because at this point we are just desperate and we are overthinking everything over and over. Reading here on VJ that some people are getting approved who applied months after us is making us think that something is not right. But I am sure it is. They are just busy. 

The social media: We just heard it that USCIS is using it as a tool nowadays to check the couple. And it make sense. I would do it as well if I would need to make sure that the applicant is saying what he/she is saying. Paperwork, BIO, background check and more. Including FB. Who does not have the FB today?

Like I said with us everything is fine and if we will get interview notice we will be ok. But because we overthink it I just mentioned that I am not so active on FB and because of that the case maybe be delayed. Maybe I should be more active on FB...:-)))

 

Have a good day!

 

Brunno...:-))

 

[losaltos 3]

Longtime lurker, wanted to give other California filers some hope

 

WAC1990019xxx

751 submitted: October 9, 2018

Fingerprints: April 5, 2019

Update to show fingerprints taken: December 13, 2019

New card being produced: December 27, 2019

 

Thanks to everyone for the updates along the way!

[prok 56]

4 hours ago, losaltos said:

Longtime lurker, wanted to give other California filers some hope

 

WAC1990019xxx

751 submitted: October 9, 2018

Fingerprints: April 5, 2019

Update to show fingerprints taken: December 13, 2019

New card being produced: December 27, 2019

 

Thanks to everyone for the updates along the way!

Congratulations, this is a good news and end the year package, we can as well call it a new year gift. I am really happy for you, the wait is long over. I got same update that Case was updated to show Fingerprints were Taken on December 13th as well, hopefully, Texas Service Center will produce my card too soonest. Once more, congratulations!!!

[yna2015 22]

4 hours ago, losaltos said:

Longtime lurker, wanted to give other California filers some hope

 

WAC1990019xxx

751 submitted: October 9, 2018

Fingerprints: April 5, 2019

Update to show fingerprints taken: December 13, 2019

New card being produced: December 27, 2019

 

Thanks to everyone for the updates along the way!

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm 1990058xxx. I hope my turn is coming soon! Congrats!

[pcke2000 39]

My wife's case has been at LIN for 14 months, no RFE, no interview, did biometrics early this July, no online status updates besides 'We have received your case'.

 

Do you guys think getting local congressman/woman involved may accelerate the processing? We are an active duty military family and I am on orders to move to another duty station (another state) early next year, so we really want to get this ROC done before the move.

 

Thank you very much and happy new year!

[prok 56]

1 minute ago, pcke2000 said:

My wife's case has been at LIN for 14 months, no RFE, no interview, did biometrics early this July, no online status updates besides 'We have received your case'.

 

Do you guys think getting local congressman/woman involved may accelerate the processing? We are an active duty military family and I am on orders to move to another duty station (another state) early next year, so we really want to get this ROC done before the move.

 

Thank you very much and happy new year!

That might be an option to explore, no harm in trying, but I think few more days or weeks  should be it for approval, little more patience. Wishing you happy new year in advance and taking this opportunity to appreciate your patriotism to this lovely country. Your service to this country will not go unnoticed.God bless America.