N400 interview scheduled while I751 is pending after interview

[MyNameIsEarl 13]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

Because:

- It is atypical for USCIS to not have made a decision 14 months after an interview.  This tells us something is amiss.

and: 

- You should have informed USCIS that it would not e a joint interview , and provided the decree prior to the interview.  They were obviously caught off guard by that change in circumstance.

 

Gotcha, thanks. The decision thing is definitely weird. I am worried initially but found few ppl like me on reddit, telegram etc waiting for over a year after the interview which provided me some relief but I am still a little worried.

 

And for the second point, it's my fault I didn't mention my timeline clearly. No, I informed USCIS about my divorce. Below are the highlights of my journey,

 

 02/2017 - Married

06/2017 - Filed GC (I waited few months because I was not sure as I already filed GC in employment category few years before )

01/2018 - Interview done 

01/2018 - Charged with DV a week after my interview

02/2018 - DV case dismissed without trail

02/2018 - Received RFE from USCIS regarding DV case

02/2018 - Sent certified copies of incident report and dismissal notice

03/2018 - Temporary GC approved

01/2020 - Filed i-751 jointly

07/2020 - Separated

08/2021 - I filed divorce

10/2021 - Divorce finalized

11/2021 - Filed waiver and informed USCIS about divorce

01/2022 - I-751 interview

02/2022 - Received RFE asking to submit almost every evidence from the date of marriage

03/2022 - Sent RFE - marriage pics, lease from before marriage to separation, bank statements, utility bills, joint filing tax records, tons of pics from family events, anniversary day cards from family, domestic and foreign trips, tattoo of my name on my ex, amazon and other shopping records etc etc of 400 + pages

04/2022 - Raised SR and received a reply ' we are processing the case'

07/2022 - Raised another SR and same reply

09/2022 - spoke to an USCIS officer during info pass stamping. She said they are very busy and unable to concentrate on i751s' and they will start focusing on them from 2023

12/2022 - Filed N400

02/2023 - Called for i-551 and they sent me a 48 month receipt notice and the agent raised another SR (still waiting for the reply, it's been 3 weeks)

02/2023 - Received n400 interview notice

04/2023 - Interview date

 

I felt that I sent a lot of evidence and I don't have any record other than that dismissed misdemeanor but it looks like I am wrong or they are busy that  they took 38 months already and 14 months after interview and 12 months after rfe. 

 

[Pinkrlion 2,716]

1 hour ago, MyNameIsEarl said:

Thanks. I don't think they even accept the application if you are divorced and filing before 4 years and 9 months. They have the eligibility calculator on the website. I got married in Feb, 2017 and received my temporary gc in March,2018. 

They will accept anything. It is not until time to adjudicate your petition. When they review your petition and  you did file less than 5 years. Also, they will approve it with pending 751. 

[Thunderbolt 172]

3 hours ago, MyNameIsEarl said:

02/2017 - Married

06/2017 - Filed GC (I waited few months because I was not sure as I already filed GC in employment category few years before )

So you've been living in US as illegal alien before your wedding? Did you come to US illegally when you were under 18 years old? Not judging, trying to put 2 and 2 together to see why there would be such a long delay for 751. 

If that's the case, maybe they trying to see if there are things from your time as "unlawful" resident and that's why it takes so long. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Whats your country of origin?

What visa did you have when you came to the US?

[Dashinka 24,489]

4 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Because:

- It is atypical for USCIS to not have made a decision 14 months after an interview.  This tells us something is amiss.

and: 

- You should have informed USCIS that it would not e a joint interview , and provided the decree prior to the interview.  They were obviously caught off guard by that change in circumstance.

How do you know this is not just part of USCIS's strategy to deprioritize the I751?  I tend to agree that 14 months with no decision after an interview is not exactly typical, but who knows with USCIS when it seems clear they don't really care about the I751.

[Dashinka 24,489]

12 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Jim Hacking 100%

Would Hacking go with the OP to the N400 interview, or would he send an assistant?  Seems like the OP has had a bad experience with a supposedly well reviewed lawyer, so not really sure Hacking or one of his assistants will quell that.

[SalishSea 17,819]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

How do you know this is not just part of USCIS's strategy to deprioritize the I751?  I tend to agree that 14 months with no decision after an interview is not exactly typical, but who knows with USCIS when it seems clear they don't really care about the I751.

Do you know of others in the same situation here?   I don’t.   
 

Like I said, it’s atypical.

[SalishSea 17,819]

7 hours ago, MyNameIsEarl said:

And for the second point, it's my fault I didn't mention my timeline clearly. No, I informed USCIS about my divorce. Below are the highlights of my journey,

In your original post, you said you arrived to the interview, and the IO did not know about the divorce….    That is odd.

 

The DV thing also complicated the situation,  whether or not it went to trial.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Would Hacking go with the OP to the N400 interview, or would he send an assistant?  Seems like the OP has had a bad experience with a supposedly well reviewed lawyer, so not really sure Hacking or one of his assistants will quell that.

I’ve heard he goes to interviews. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

7 hours ago, MyNameIsEarl said:

Received RFE from USCIS regarding DV case

Who informed USCIS about the DV, and why do you think they sent that RFE so fast?

I feel like there are missing parts…

[MyNameIsEarl 13]

8 hours ago, Pinkrlion said:

They will accept anything. It is not until time to adjudicate your petition. When they review your petition and  you did file less than 5 years. Also, they will approve it with pending 751. 

when I am about to file online on the website, https://www.uscis.gov/n-400 there is a a tool https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility

 

The tool tells if you are eligible or not. You can apply 90 days before 3/5 years. Even for i-751 you don't need to wait 2 years, you can file 90 days before expiration. They won't approve with pending i-751. They will reach out to VO handling i-751 and they should complete the decision making in 120 days. 

[MyNameIsEarl 13]

6 hours ago, Thunderbolt said:

So you've been living in US as illegal alien before your wedding? Did you come to US illegally when you were under 18 years old? Not judging, trying to put 2 and 2 together to see why there would be such a long delay for 751. 

If that's the case, maybe they trying to see if there are things from your time as "unlawful" resident and that's why it takes so long. 

 

6 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Whats your country of origin?

What visa did you have when you came to the US?

No. Not illegal. I moved to states in 2010 legally from India. Came here on f1 and then got my h1b in 2012 and applied for gc in 2014 in eb2.

[MyNameIsEarl 13]

5 hours ago, Dashinka said:

How do you know this is not just part of USCIS's strategy to deprioritize the I751?  I tend to agree that 14 months with no decision after an interview is not exactly typical, but who knows with USCIS when it seems clear they don't really care about the I751.

The VIsa officer told me. I posted this in this group. I got three i-551 stamps so far and for the 3rd stamp, had to travel thousands of miles because I didn't find appointment in texas. The officer spoke to me for a while and informed the current situation and why the processsing is slow. Even the officer before that told me i-751s are in backseat then. But the officer before that got angry when I mentioned how long I need to wait, the officer said I have to wait a year,2,5 doesn't matter because there are many others like me and they have a huge load of cases.

 

Also, it's something I got from my previous experience. Before my 751 interview I raised multiple SRs and one time they replied my case went to records room by mistake and they fetched it, transferred it few times and finally moved to local office.

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

In your original post, you said you arrived to the interview, and the IO did not know about the divorce….    That is odd.

 

The DV thing also complicated the situation,  whether or not it went to trial.

Looks like the VO didn't check my new application. Yes, it was.

[MyNameIsEarl 13]

2 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Who informed USCIS about the DV, and why do you think they sent that RFE so fast?

I feel like there are missing parts…

I had this doubt and contacted few attorneys during that time and they all said the same thing, uscis will know if it's related to dui,dv,terrorism and something else that i forgot and courts inform them. I felt it's true because Judge asked me about my visa, how long I am in US etc.

 

It might sound weird but i spent thousands and thousands just on consultations. Even before I file my divorce I called 15-20 attorneys and paid consultations, took appointments and explained my situation, evidence I have because I felt I needed to move on and I need to file divorce. They all said I have good reasons, good evidence and it shouldn't be a problem except one who said he can't tell anything and every waiver case is 50-50%. it's simple, uscis or no one has authority to reopen a case that's been dismissed by a Judge after a certain time (they usually mention that timeline on dismissals). That's why they had to approve my 485 because it's dismissed. Still, they can ask for rfe, ask me multiple questions because even though it's dismissed if I admit it verbally or written it can be used as evidence against me. Even if I don't disclose, it can be used against the applicant. I don't know how hard the interview going to be but it's frustrating to wait so long. 

 

I know ppl who has no evidence before marriage and didn't leave together and divorced within 6 months and got approved, someone who married same sex with 30 years age gap and divorced and had a kid marrying opposite sex. I think it depends on the officer. I need luck..lol

[Rocio0010 5,579]

14 minutes ago, MyNameIsEarl said:

 

No. Not illegal. I moved to states in 2010 legally from India. Came here on f1 and then got my h1b in 2012 and applied for gc in 2014 in eb2.

Did you graduate from the degree you came to pursue on your F1?