319b Expeditious Naturalization (INA319B)-A Complete Experience Report

[TosioCarlyI 6]

Anyone who applied through 319(b) provision, for spouses employed abroad --- the interview letter does not ask for the spouse to be present at the interview. Has anyone run into them wanting the spouse's presence anyway? Just wanting to make sure.

[mrbtx 7]

4 hours ago, TosioCarlyI said:

Anyone who applied through 319(b) provision, for spouses employed abroad --- the interview letter does not ask for the spouse to be present at the interview. Has anyone run into them wanting the spouse's presence anyway? Just wanting to make sure.

My spouse was the USC and did not have to attend with me. In fact, I was told at the time that only I could come due to COVID. So, I flew back to the US alone for my interview and same day oath, only to find many people brought their families to celebrate and I was alone

[lovinglive 24]

Hi everyone, 

 

Good news that my wife has been scheduled for an appointment for an interview at the Washington DC office in a few weeks.  We are busy preparing and trying to make sure everything goes smoothly.

 

I just have a few questions:

 

-Is the English test difficult?

-The oath ceremony is on Tuesday at the Washington office, correct?  (Trying to make travel plans)

-How is it possible to get a passport?  While the letter from USCIS says that you will be required to obtain a US passport, it sounds like this is quite impractical.  Also you are expected to buy a plane ticket before the interview, which means before you even know if you will succeed in becoming a US citizen, or have even attempted to get a passport.  I have heard that you can call two weeks before your departure and ask for an emergency passport. I also read a number of people that said they departed on their previous country's passport and then applied for a US passport while abroad, although this seems to contradict the letter from USCIS.

 

Any advice on how to navigate the passport issue?  

 

Thanks for your advice.

[MMDG 106]

Extremely helpful! Now I’m joining the thread 😀

applied for citizenship 14 days after entering USA as a permanent resident.

 

 

Timeline:

entered USA June 23rd

applied for N400 on July 7th

received notice July 8th 

biometrics appointment scheduled for August 16.

left USA with US husband and kids last week and now I have to fly back with my temp stamp in passport since I haven’t even received my physical green card yet (being produced).

 

I’ll keep you updated.

[lovinglive 24]

Well, my wife has been naturalized and received her naturalization certificate, it seems that it is all over except for getting a passport.

 

I'd like to write back to inform the group what happened.

 

My wife and I had been in a long relationship and had one child, and then were married in the US in 2022.  My wife received her green card in record time in October, 2022.  Then in late 2022, I was offered a job overseas, but for different reasons had to wait in order to start until earlier this year.  

 

My contract was only for one year exactly, with the possibility of extensions.  I believed that my wife was still eligible, as long as we applied before my contract actually started.  So we applied one day beforehand, the key documents of course being my contract, and a letter from my employer.  My employer wasn't willing even to mention my wife by name or refer to her identification documents, but in the end this made no difference since the employer's letter referred to me and we had a marriage certificate. 

 

We applied online one day before my contract started.  We were already overseas at that time.  We didn't submit fingerprints because they would only be able to be taken at the US Embassy, but they were never requested.  Of course, however, we did pay the biometrics fee.  We chose Washington, DC because others on here advised that they are used to these types of cases and we would face no hiccups.

 

Within about two months my wife received an email asking her to set up an appointment with choices that were within about three months of our original application.  By that time she had returned to the US to be in compliance with the unofficial, informal rule for green card holders not to be abroad for more than six months.  Since I had been the one to figure most of this out, and my wife is taking care of our child, it was quite hard to get all the requirements communicated to her in preparation for the interview, get her to assemble all the documents, etc.  I was stressed out before her interview because she went to Washington with out originals of our marriage certificate, her birth certificate or my birth certificate.  It made no difference, though.

 

It sounds like the interview was very easy.  She arrived and had to tell them her name is on the military list.  The interviewer complimented her on her dress and another IO even came over thinking it was her case.  

 

The IO asked a few questions like wanting to see her main documents like passport, green card, my "travel orders" (which my wife just gave her my employment letter).  She asked to see my wife's travel itinerary, they asked where I am. 

Then they ask her a few questions from the civics test but it didn’t seem like it was even 10 questions.  Then there was the English test, which involved writing on a tablet.  It was quite easy. They also asked her some of the long list of questions from the end of the N-400 application.  They did not ask whether she was planning to get a passport or not.

 

Then they told her to come back the next day, and she had her naturalization swearing in ceremony the next day!  It seems like it is all over for us.  

 

A few lessons learned as I already mentioned: 

-You can apply from overseas

-You can apply online (in fact that may be better)

-You may not even need the fingerprints but you have to pay the biometrics fee

-You don't need to be married for one year to apply

-If you're already overseas you can choose the location of your interview, and Washington DC is a good choice

-Since it could not be guaranteed that my wife would succeed with this application, we opted for her to return to the US to avoid staying overseas too long and triggering the 6 month rule

-We applied for the re-entry permit before we even went overseas in the first place but it never came back

-The process was surprisingly fast

-My wife's interview was easy and consistent with the descriptions of other people on this thread.

 

Thanks to everyone who shared their experience here.  We learned so much form it and ultimately, had success.

 

[Chloe257 0]

If I qualify for ina 319(b) and I immediately leave the States for abroad after receiving my green card, is the goal to apply for naturalization within 6 months? Would that override the green card requirement not to be away for more than 6 months? What if the naturalization application is still pending for more than 6 months and Im still stuck abroad? Will my green card still be valid? Thanks!g 

[lovinglive 24]

On 8/26/2023 at 2:10 AM, Chloe257 said:

If I qualify for ina 319(b) and I immediately leave the States for abroad after receiving my green card, is the goal to apply for naturalization within 6 months? Would that override the green card requirement not to be away for more than 6 months? What if the naturalization application is still pending for more than 6 months and Im still stuck abroad? Will my green card still be valid? Thanks!g 

We were facing the same issue that you raised - if you are overseas and applying for expeditious naturalization, do you still need to abide by the 6 month rule?

 

For us, my wife had already been overseas for about 5 months when we applied for expeditious naturalization.  I tried to ask this question in this thread to people like @Qian but I don't think anyone has a clear answer.

 

We decided to play it on the safe side, and when my wife was close to 6 months, she returned to the US.  Fortunately it was not long before she had her naturalization interview.

 

So my thoughts to you would be to apply as soon as possible and if you're lucky your naturalization interview will come up well before 6 months.  

Edited August 27, 2023 by lovinglive
typo

[Qian 33]

On 8/26/2023 at 3:10 AM, Chloe257 said:

If I qualify for ina 319(b) and I immediately leave the States for abroad after receiving my green card, is the goal to apply for naturalization within 6 months? Would that override the green card requirement not to be away for more than 6 months? What if the naturalization application is still pending for more than 6 months and Im still stuck abroad? Will my green card still be valid? Thanks!g 

319B doesn’t overwrites the green card requirements, I believe. One of the 319B criteria is to be a LPR at time of filing. Thats’ important. 

I would play safe traveling back and forth before you get approved. I remember I traveled about four times during the period, and I also always carried my acknowledgement letter of N400 with me. Even with that, one time at ORD I was suggested to get a “travel document”.

Hope this helps.    

Congratulations @lovinglive BTW!

[Chloe257 0]

On 8/31/2023 at 2:41 AM, Qian said:

319B doesn’t overwrites the green card requirements, I believe. One of the 319B criteria is to be a LPR at time of filing. Thats’ important. 

I would play safe traveling back and forth before you get approved. I remember I traveled about four times during the period, and I also always carried my acknowledgement letter of N400 with me. Even with that, one time at ORD I was suggested to get a “travel document”.

Hope this helps.    

Congratulations @lovinglive BTW!

Thanks! Did you travel every 6 months or closer to a year? Did the officer ask for the travel document after you did that a few times?

[OmarStuck 24]

24 minutes ago, Chloe257 said:

Thanks! Did you travel every 6 months or closer to a year? Did the officer ask for the travel document after you did that a few times?

In my experience, we got the green card in July/August 2021 and had the interview in January 2022.

 

We used the DC office.

 

I do not think you would need to travel too many times so it would not be worth the travel document.

[ros88 12]

I have been scheduled for an interview.

 

Anyone knows if the oath is on the same day or the following one?

I need to schedule my overseas trip that’s why I am asking.

 

I cannot stay more than a week in the US, hope everything is going to happen that week (if I pass the interview)…

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

1 hour ago, ros88 said:

I cannot stay more than a week in the US, hope everything is going to happen that week (if I pass the interview)…

With what document do you plan to exit the US after taking the oath?  It might be difficult to get a passport that fast.

[ros88 12]

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

With what document do you plan to exit the US after taking the oath?  It might be difficult to get a passport that fast.

With my European passport.

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

4 minutes ago, ros88 said:

With my European passport.

Not supposed to do that.  Might need to try to get an emergency passport appointment after taking the oath.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[ros88 12]

22 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Not supposed to do that.  Might need to try to get an emergency passport appointment after taking the oath.

This is what I am going to do.

thanks

Just now, ros88 said:

This is what I am going to do.

thanks

I will try to get an emergency passport 🤞