Pending Removal- Want to apply for citizenship

[minemar 96]

1 minute ago, mushroomspore said:

Yes you can definitely apply for N-400 when you are ELIGIBLE. According to your signature, you became a permanent resident in 2018. You can't apply for citizenship until 2021 (90 days before your 3-year permanent residency anniversary). Do not apply for it now. They will take your money and then rightfully deny you.

I totally forgot about that. Yes the card was delayed and I've been a green card holder for 2 years and counting. It's such a shame I guess I'll just have to pay the higher fee and wait a little longer. 

 

Thank you again for your help!  

[mushroomspore 3,044]

5 minutes ago, minemar said:

I totally forgot about that. Yes the card was delayed and I've been a green card holder for 2 years and counting. It's such a shame I guess I'll just have to pay the higher fee and wait a little longer. 

 

Thank you again for your help!  

No problem and yeah we've got similar timelines (I applied August 2017 and was approved October 2018). I JUST applied for RoC and I was complaining to my husband about having to pay higher fees for citizenship. But we are also lucky that we got AoS and RoC out of the way too. AoS total costs are going up by almost $1000 because they're going to start charging for EAD/AP!!! Anyway, just write down when your N-400 application window begins in your agenda or day planner and file when you're ready. 

 

As someone else pointed out, your K1 visa period does not count towards permanent residency. The green card is the permanent residency, nothing else.

Edited August 19, 2020 by mushroomspore

[minemar 96]

4 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

No problem and yeah we've got similar timelines (I applied August 2017 and was approved October 2018). I JUST applied for RoC and I was complaining to my husband about having to pay higher fees for citizenship. But we are also lucky that we got AoS and RoC out of the way too. AoS total costs are going up by almost $1000 because they're going to start charging for EAD/AP!!! Anyway, just write down when your N-400 application window begins in your agenda or day planner and file when you're ready. 

 

As someone else pointed out, your K1 visa period does not count towards permanent residency. The green card is the permanent residency, nothing else.

Oh wow,  they really want our money. I hope our ROC gets approved without interview and to have it soon. But every time I'm about to do something with USCIS the timeline gets worse. 

 

So frustrating! 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

8 minutes ago, minemar said:

Oh wow,  they really want our money. I hope our ROC gets approved without interview and to have it soon. But every time I'm about to do something with USCIS the timeline gets worse. 

 

So frustrating! 

If you apply for citizenship before your ROC is finalized, you'll likely have to have an interview for ROC and that might slow things down. I'd look at timelines from your local office to see how long citizenship applications take. Personally, I know for me waiting to apply for citizenship after ROC has been completed is the right choice. 

[lucardo3 220]

apply now or pay hefty fees later.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

5 minutes ago, lucardo3 said:

apply now or pay hefty fees later.

We've pointed out that she's not eligible now. OP mistakenly said she's been a LPR for 3 years but the first year was when she did K1 and AoS. She became LPR in 2018, so she can't apply until 2021.

[lucardo3 220]

3 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

We've pointed out that she's not eligible now. OP mistakenly said she's been a LPR for 3 years but the first year was when she did K1 and AoS. She became LPR in 2018, so she can't apply until 2021.

OK abort mission then

[JFH 12,190]

Which office would you be filing at? In some cases it’s better to wait until ROC is complete. 

[HRQX 4,145]

7 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

AoS total costs are going up

AOS total cost is going down by $95 (or either $70-$80 if they have to file I-130; I-130 filing fee is going up by $15-$25) for those that take the risk and don't file I-765 and I-131; i.e. only file what is required (I-130 and/or I-485).

Edited August 19, 2020 by HRQX

[Aburashid 10]

On 8/19/2020 at 10:56 AM, Orangesapples said:

If you apply for citizenship before your ROC is finalized, you'll likely have to have an interview for ROC and that might slow things down. I'd look at timelines from your local office to see how long citizenship applications take. Personally, I know for me waiting to apply for citizenship after ROC has been completed is the right choice. 

Hi Oranges,

 

I appreciate your perspective on the issue of waiting until ROC is complete before applying for citizenship. It's an imprecise calculus that I'm still trying to wrap my mind around though in our case, we did go ahead and applied while our I-751 is still pending. We applied for ROC almost exactly a year ago this month.

 

Our local office (Atlanta) is notoriously slow. In all likelihood, we will be scheduled for an interview since we were never interviewed on this side since arriving on the CR1.

 

Here's where the imprecise calculus comes in especially when an interview is likely: one doesn't know when the interview will be scheduled (there are SO many people waiting 1.5-2 years for ROC approval with or without an interview). Added to this are other unknown variables such as how much backlog the covid shutdown has caused and whether these looming furloughs will come to fruition.

 

So many question marks.

 

We took our chances and jumped into the N-400 queue as soon as we were eligible last month. After all, our eye is on the citizenship prize. We don't care if we never even see the 10-year green card if citizenship is achieved.

 

Interestingly, about a week after we submitted the N-400, we got a message informing us that the I-751 was sent to a different office of the NBC. Many have commented that when this happens, it frequently suggests that the file is being prepped for a "combo" interview. If so, we can totally live with that outcome. The Atlanta office is a little more efficient with scheduling N-400 interviews, so if our I-751 gets on the citizenship interview schedule through a combined interview, no harm or foul. We'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

 

Wishing you and everyone a smooth process however we approach it in our respective strategies.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

4 hours ago, Aburashid said:

Hi Oranges,

 

I appreciate your perspective on the issue of waiting until ROC is complete before applying for citizenship. It's an imprecise calculus that I'm still trying to wrap my mind around though in our case, we did go ahead and applied while our I-751 is still pending. We applied for ROC almost exactly a year ago this month.

 

Our local office (Atlanta) is notoriously slow. In all likelihood, we will be scheduled for an interview since we were never interviewed on this side since arriving on the CR1.

 

Here's where the imprecise calculus comes in especially when an interview is likely: one doesn't know when the interview will be scheduled (there are SO many people waiting 1.5-2 years for ROC approval with or without an interview). Added to this are other unknown variables such as how much backlog the covid shutdown has caused and whether these looming furloughs will come to fruition.

 

So many question marks.

 

We took our chances and jumped into the N-400 queue as soon as we were eligible last month. After all, our eye is on the citizenship prize. We don't care if we never even see the 10-year green card if citizenship is achieved.

 

Interestingly, about a week after we submitted the N-400, we got a message informing us that the I-751 was sent to a different office of the NBC. Many have commented that when this happens, it frequently suggests that the file is being prepped for a "combo" interview. If so, we can totally live with that outcome. The Atlanta office is a little more efficient with scheduling N-400 interviews, so if our I-751 gets on the citizenship interview schedule through a combined interview, no harm or foul. We'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

 

Wishing you and everyone a smooth process however we approach it in our respective strategies.

I think that if you came on a CR1 or just didn't have an interview in the US for some other reason, then combo filing might be the right choice, because an interview is likely happening anyway. Of course, no one can know for sure. It's just one consideration before people decide what to do. 

[Aburashid 10]

11 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

I think that if you came on a CR1 or just didn't have an interview in the US for some other reason, then combo filing might be the right choice, because an interview is likely happening anyway. Of course, no one can know for sure. It's just one consideration before people decide what to do. 

Absolutely. All good points. None of us really knowing for sure is precisely what makes the approaches we take that much more foggy. Regarding combos, for example, it's not clear to me if it must be requested formally in the N-400 application (we did) or if it's automatic if the I-751 is still pending. I've heard both views on these threads. All the best. 

[Thegirl 225]

11 hours ago, Aburashid said:

Absolutely. All good points. None of us really knowing for sure is precisely what makes the approaches we take that much more foggy. Regarding combos, for example, it's not clear to me if it must be requested formally in the N-400 application (we did) or if it's automatic if the I-751 is still pending. I've heard both views on these threads. All the best. 

Hi there, how did you formally request a combo interview? 

[Aburashid 10]

8 hours ago, Thegirl said:

Hi there, how did you formally request a combo interview? 

Hi,

 

As our I-751 was still pending at the time that we were eligible to apply for citizenship, we wrote a dedicated letter requesting a combo interview, and included it with our N-400 application.

 

Mind you, we have no way of confirming that our letter was in any way consequential nor even if a combo will ultimately be granted. 

 

I hope this answers your question. We wish you all the best with your journey in any case.

 

Mario 

 

 

[mushroomspore 3,044]

5 hours ago, Aburashid said:

Hi,

 

As our I-751 was still pending at the time that we were eligible to apply for citizenship, we wrote a dedicated letter requesting a combo interview, and included it with our N-400 application.

 

Mind you, we have no way of confirming that our letter was in any way consequential nor even if a combo will ultimately be granted. 

 

I hope this answers your question. We wish you all the best with your journey in any case.

 

Mario 

 

 

Hmm, thanks for sharing this. I didn't realize you could do this. It's at least worth a try to include a letter requesting a combo interview, even if they don't or can't necessarily grant that. I'll keep this in mind for next year when I do N400 too.