US Immigration from Colombia

Hello all,

Thank you for these forums as they were of great help for me and my wife when she applied for her adjustment of status seven years ago. Since then she has become a US citizen, started her own business and employs about a dozen people.

Also in that time, her brother and wife were able to come her via the humanitarian parole offered to Venezuelans in early 2023. Her brother is Colombian and our sister-in-law is Venezuelan. Now that the parole program is not going to be renewed we want make sure we understand all of our options.

With TPS, from what I can understand, only my sister-in-law can apply as a Venezuelan but her husband does not qualify as a Colombian since TPS is based solely on nationality. However, I just now saw that there is a family reunification parole process available for Colombians. I don't know much about it but I was wondering if anyone has done that process.

Also, my current understanding for siblings is a lottery process which is certainly backed up years if not decades, but Im wondering if in their case they could apply for the reunification while they wait for that lottery. I understand if that is not the case, but I want to make sure to exhaust every possible option.

Thank you!

We are going for our K1 visa interview in the first week of December 2024.

Anyone have any ideas about how long it will take to get the passport and visa packet back if there are no issues?

Thanks!

I am concerned about abandonment of my families LPR status. I am retired US Army and currently working for the Department of the Army in South Korea on official orders. All of my family are listed on my official orders to reside with me. My family migrated from Colombia to South Korea directly in May 2021 and has never lived in the US for any amount of time. I filled I-130 forms in May 2022 and we interviewed at the US Korean embassy in July 2023. In August 2023 we visited Guam from Korea to activate the visas to obtain the I-551s. The I-551s were delivered to my military address here in Korea in Sep 2023. My family has been living with me here since that time with no extended stays more than a week in continental US. I have already filled for naturalization for my spouse under the 319B program. From a few things I have been told and read that living with a "sponsor" while working overseas in an official capacity is viewed as the same as residing in the US. Upon a visit the US recently my wife was informed she needs a re-entry permit due to her extended absence. She notified the agent that I worked for the US government and showed her the relevant paperwork. The agent wanted to fine her and noted her account of her extended absence. What I need help with is what are the rules governing US government employee families about LPR abandonment? Which codes in the CFR or other manuals I can use to educate myself and the agents in case we need it for our next visit to the US.

My wife's visa Journey is nearing the finish line. The timelines are in a previous post

So the updates:

• February 8, 2023: We went in for the N-400 interview but were told on the spot that the i-751 Interview would also be done, which threw us off. It was our fault for not doing more research and bringing a hard copy of what we sent. Thankfully, we were approved for the i-751 removal of conditions. However, the N-400 was canceled pending rescheduling.
• July 18, 2024: Received notice: "We are actively reviewing your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Our records show nothing outstanding at this time."
• August 26, 2024: Received notice: "We scheduled an interview for your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. (September 30, 2024 Irving)"
• September 30, 2024:
  • 8 am: Complete interview
  • 9:30 am received notice: "We recommended that your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, be approved. Your case was submitted for quality review."
  • 12 pm: Receive notice: "Your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, was placed in line for oath ceremony scheduling."
  • 1:30 pm receive notice: "Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed (October 19, October 2, 12 pm Irving, TX)."

We got there at about 7:45 am. They only let her in, and I stayed in the car.

According to her, she went through security and had to wait 10-15 min for them to call her. The officer interviewing was pleasant and spoke good english. She starts with an oath where she stands, raises her right hand, and swears to tell the truth. No small talk at all. The first thing was to read and confirm her full name. Then the officer asked my wife to read out loud one sentence. Then the officer said, "California has the most people," and my wife had to write it on a tablet.

Civics Test:

-Name of national anthem
-Where is the Statue of Liberty?
-Who makes laws
-Who signs bills to become laws?
-I forgot the last one.

From there, it was an N-400 walkthrough. The first minor hiccup was how long we've lived at our current address. We have lived in the same building address for 4+ years but moved apartments, so technically, our current apartment has been there for only two years, but the building has had the same address for 4. My wife had to point that out to the officer.

Things got really tense once it came to how long she'd been out of the country. The officer said, "You've been out of the country longer than you're supposed to, which is more than six months in a year."

My wife had only been out of the country 2-3 weeks a year for the past five years, so this was very confusing. The officer showed my wife the screen, and it showed a bunch of dates that we did not submit on our N-400 or I-751. As it turns out, the system added the 1+ year she needed to wait outside of the country for her CR-1 to be approved and lawfully enter the US. We are really grateful the officer showed the screen and a willingness to listen because it allowed my wife to walk through with the officer that it's counting time before she was a lawful resident and we lived in Colombia right after getting married because our understanding was to change her Visa from visitor to spousal, we HAD to leave the USA until the CR1 was approved, a new visa was added to her passport and mailed back to her.

The officer said that made sense and let my wife know that if she hadn't clarified that, she would have denied her and was actually wondering why my wife came to the interview if we knew she was going to be denied based on being out of the country for so long.

After that tense back-and-forth, the officer made all the updates in the system and said my wife was recommended for approval.

We were shaken at the fact an error happened that was no fault of our own, and that error was pointing us to being denied. But we are SUPER grateful the officer was willing to let us explain our side and not just try to push us through to get to the next person. Overall, it was like a 45-minute interview, and the happiness kicked in with them being so quick to schedule our oath ceremony (October 19).

We submitted the I-130 application in September for our 25-year-old daughter. We are American citizens. How long will the case take?