Filing N-400: online or paper?

[meaganb 2]

Hi all,

I'll eligible to apply for my N-400 online or by paper. A couple of things:

1. I'm filing under the 5-year rule; I have my 10-year green card but am now divorced from my American spouse. I reached the 5-year mark in April 2020. Just now getting to applying (and beating the fee increase on 2 Oct!)

2. I don't particularly care about the speed (cause it's all taking forever anyways  ) but I want to make sure that if I file online, there is somewhere to upload supporting documents (extra lines for addresses/jobs etc)

3. Anyone else out there applied whilst divorced? Did you provide a copy of your divorce decree? Anything else I need to know?

4. With the N-400, am I supposed to provide supporting documents (divorce papers, letter from counselor saying we attended marriage counselling sessions, anything else??) like we had to do with all the other applications in this last 5 years?

 

I would love your thoughts on any/all of the above. I have the paper one all filled out but online seems smoother and more streamline if I can upload what need and provide supporting docs if needed. Thanks so much all!

Meagan

 

[NEW CITIZEN 151]

Filing online lessens the chance of mail disappearing. 

You can upload anything you have pertinent.

You will be asked about marriage, and divorce, be ready to send the marriage certificate, along with the divorce papers that follow.

 

[meaganb 2]

Thanks for that. I also found this which indicates I will need to send the divorce decree, especially since I changed my name back to my maiden name. Good to know I can attach everything I need. Thanks again!

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/M-477.pdf

[pm5k 129]

On 9/2/2020 at 1:30 PM, NEW CITIZEN said:

Filing online lessens the chance of mail disappearing. 

You can upload anything you have pertinent.

You will be asked about marriage, and divorce, be ready to send the marriage certificate, along with the divorce papers that follow.

 

Besides the mail issue, is there any other advantage to filing online vs. paper?

[NEW CITIZEN 151]

10 minutes ago, pm5k said:

Besides the mail issue, is there any other advantage to filing online vs. paper?

Besides the week mail takes to arrive? Your paper application sits on a pile waiting weeks for some underpaid government 

employee to input your data, having no incentive to work faster than needs to, to keep their job. Maybe incorrectly because he/she has problems reading your writing?

 

Online, when you click confirm, it's in their database immediatly in line to be reviewed.

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by NEW CITIZEN

[NotMoreForms 68]

I liked the online application as you cannot submit until you have answered all required questions, and it skips some of the irrelevant questions. It also lists what needs to be uploaded, so no confusion about what documents are required.  Note that many people have had issues with the document upload if you do things over multiple sessions.  I placed scans of all the documents it asked for in a directory on my computer, then once I was finished with the form, I uploaded all documents and submitted in one session.

[Limey 551]

I did it online and it worked well.

 

You know it got there, you know that the data was entered correctly (rather than relying on someone else to re-key it). You know that you completed all required sections (it won't let you submit without doing so). You can save it and carry on later so you don't have to do it all in one go.

[ThaOne 101]

13 hours ago, pm5k said:

Besides the mail issue, is there any other advantage to filing online vs. paper?

I did mine online back at the end of January. 3 days later (early February) I got my appointment scheduled for biometrics for 2 weeks after that, and beat the COVID lockdown. Had I mailed it, by the time they received it, and then someone had to type that all in there without any mistakes, who knows how long it would have taken.

Also, online, you can make sure there are no errors and just scan/take pictures of documents and attach.

Online you do not have to go stand in line at the post office.

...

[meaganb 2]

All excellent points for the online option! Thanks all!

 

Have any of you filed after divorce? Any troubles?

 

Also, I have a trip booked out of town from 25 Sept to 5 Oct. If my biometrics gets scheduled during a time that you're not available, can it be rescheduled? This is literally my only time away for the entire year!! If I file this weekend (12 Sept or so) and biometrics are being scheduled a couple weeks after application submission, that would put my would-be biometrics appt smack in the middle of my vacation. Thoughts? Maybe I delay filing for a week so as to minimise the possibility? 

 

Thanks all. You're such a wealth of excellent advice. 

 

Meagan

[NotMoreForms 68]

No need to delay filing unless something extraordinary happens.  At this stage almost all the March filers are still waiting for biometrics, though some from April through June have received biometrics appointments.  So it is very unlikely you will get an appointment during your trip.

[meaganb 2]

Wow, really eh!? That's incredibl(y)e slow.... Thanks for the heads up and info!

 

 

[Valor 131]

1 hour ago, meaganb said:

Also, I have a trip booked out of town from 25 Sept to 5 Oct. If my biometrics gets scheduled during a time that you're not available, can it be rescheduled? This is literally my only time away for the entire year!! If I file this weekend (12 Sept or so) and biometrics are being scheduled a couple weeks after application submission, that would put my would-be biometrics appt smack in the middle of my vacation. Thoughts? Maybe I delay filing for a week so as to minimise the possibility? 

 

Yes you can reschedule your biometric appointment. But the advice I got on here before was to try my best to make it for the appointment instead of rescheduling it. I was planning to take a two-week vacation last year and it was my my only time away for the entire year too. It turned out that my ROC biometrics appointment was scheduled during that period(eight months after I filed my application btw), I ended up rescheduling my trip to one week only right before I headed to the airport.  

Edited September 10, 2020 by Valor

[Fr8dog 312]

Online always!!! much easier for all parties involved.

The USCIS is not known to be a speedy beast, and this is one of the few times we can actually help the system. Applications sent by mail need to be scanned in by a person. When you file online, that is already done. Mail-in applications need to be opened and checked, again online is done automatically. Checks need to be cashed and some of it is automated, but it still requires a person to look at the check and hold it. When you think of the amount of applications they get, even 5 minutes saved per application starts adding up. And that is money they could have used for officers.

 

 

[meaganb 2]

In the end I filed electronically and it is incredibly simple and so nice to review your case or add documents to your application even after submitting! 

Application submitted Sept 10th

Biometrics Oct 20th

Now I wait for an interview. USCIS projecting March interview (Yakima, WA)

[BBlueB 35]

Online. you can also check the status easily plus uploading