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ok thanks, so the message i'm getting here is don't worry about moving, it shouldn't adversely affect the immigration process. the reason we want to move is we love the mountains and we'd be more comfortable staying long term in Norcal with easy access to the best national parks in the US. so we'd actually be more likely fill the requirement of making the US our permanent home, not just someplace we live to fulfill immigration requirements.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual/PM-602-0189_INA335.pdf USCIS may request information from the alien seeking naturalization to inform its decision on conducting the neighborhood investigation such as testimonial letters from neighbors, employers, co-workers, and business associates who know the alien and can provide substantiated information about the alien, including any of the requirements for naturalization. If such evidence is not contained in the alien’s application for naturalization, USCIS may request that the alien submit such evidence. Submitting such evidence proactively with the Application for Naturalization can assist USCIS in determining whether a waiver of a neighborhood investigation is appropriate in a particular case without a need to issue a Request for Evidence.

i'm interested in moving from NY to CA. My wife can file N400 in September 2026. i know we have to live in the area we plan to file in for at least 3 months prior to filing, meaning we'd need to buy the new property and move in before July, which is fine. My worry is that now it seems we need affidavits from the neighbours to say my wife is a good person, we can get those in our current house in NY because we are friendly with the neighbours, but the place we are interesting in in CA is in the rural north and I'll likely never see the neighbours. If we file in CA (well be close to Lassen park, so i guess our nearest USCIS is Sacramento) , do you think they will accept letters from neighbours in NY that are already 6 months or so old? Do you foresee any other problems moving a few months before we file?

on the tablet software, is there backspace or erase option?

ok thanks, well hopefully it will not take 4 or 5 years from PR to get an interview. we don't want to spend winters in the US. in Queenstown NZ now and its perfect.

i don't mean over 6 month on one trip, i was asking about cumulative time out of the US. i'm asking because for none married 5 year applicants they get up to 1/2 the 5 years, i.e. 30 months out of the US

i have calculated it so my wife and myself are out of the US for less than 18 months over the 3 years between GC and N400 but i'm concerned that N400 processing will be delayed in future since the USCIS is clearly now in the business of kicking people out more than letting people in. suppose it runs to 4 or 5 years (from PR) before she gets an interview, does that also mean she can go over 18 months out of the country or are we stuck in the US waiting for an interview? BTW, she can't apply until next Sept. thanks

ok, well hope my wifes gets the same treatment because we have about 8 trips and no way she can remember all the dates. good to know you have 15+ trips and no problem with that too.

just to be clear, you were able to hang on to your support documents and refer to them throughout the interview? when you say "Referring to your documentation is fine", did you actually do that?

in many example interviews on YT it's often the first question asked in the small talk/chat section at the beginning.

i think my ability to defend and protect the Constitution is pretty insignificant, the supreme court was supposed to do that and even they have given up (sorry for off topic but i couldn't help myself)

i'm pretty sure that isn't the answer they want to hear.

you think that would be acceptable? i thought it would be expected you were supposed to be committing more of your time to the US, not less. i've heard that returning green card holders now need to prove ties to the US like utility bills, bank accounts etc. even following short trips abroad. i guess "I also want a real permanent status that will not need to be renewed every ten years" sounds legit and should not be a red flag maybe

what do you think is the best answer to this question? in YT videos I see a lot of people say "because i want to vote", do you think that's good enough or is there a more convincing answer?. i meant a lot of American can't be bothered to vote and going through years of trouble and expense just for something that is unlikely to make any difference seems a little unbelievable. i think a more honest answer is "because i don't want to loose my green card if i travel too much or get a traffic ticket and i don't want to renew it every 10 years", but i'm guessing that isn't a great answer. what do you think?

i'm guessing you are not allowed to take a cheat sheet in then like a list of travel dates and other relevant dates that might come up?

ok, i added that part because not sure studying the list is working

thanks for all the tips. the big problem i have is its like swimming up river, the moment you stop swimming, you go back down stream. i think she has learned something pretty well, then the next day we go for a walk, i ask a test question and get an answer from a different question. i agree with Crazy Cat, maybe the only way is she hand writes out all the questions and answers over and over again

she's been speaking English every day for 22 years with me so i doubt a few lessons will make much of a difference. like i said, she understands the questions and the answers, but makes simple mistakes connecting them. i've tried to explain American history and government structure so she understands the concepts behind the questions, and she's seen videos in Thai too, but Thai's are taught in school not to think and problem solve, simply to remember and regurgitate

not what i hoped for. my wife knows a bunch of questions and a bunch of answers, the problem she has is connecting them in the right order, so something i think she knows like "name one war fought by the US in the 1800s", half of the time she'll answer WW1 or 2 and there seems to be no way i can fix that. BTW, we can't apply until next summer so she will get the 2025 test

my wife has a memory like a sieve, we've been practicing the civics test questions and i thought she was doing OK on the old test but now with the 2025 test, she seems to have forgot the stuff she already knows! so, suppose she fails the N400 interview on the civics, on a second test, would she have to answer 12 out of 20 randomly chosen or would they only ask the questions she failed on the first time? if she failed on the english writing, would she get the same sentence to write next time and if she didn't know a definition on the yes/no questions, would she have to explain only the words she failed the first time? thanks

from a tax point of view and international banking that's true. no bank in Thailand will open an account for an american. my friend's wife is Swiss, she tried to open a bank account in Switzerland after living in the US for 30+ years and some how the Swiss banks found out she had a US passport and refused her, in her own country! i've entered Thailand on different passports in the past to try avoid the limits on visaless re-entries and thai immigration figured it out and told me to stick to only one passport in future!

ok thanks, so i guess strike that off the list of things to worry about. i don't want to renounce my UK citizenship even though i would never want to live there full time.

i just saw this video which i suspect is AI slop but not sure one of the main points is that dual citizens may be required to prove ties to the US to renew a US passport. i've renewed my US passport twice in Thailand already without incident and although i'm living in the US at the moment i will move back to Thailand one day. i wonder if this is going to become an issue? (BTW, i'm asking for me this time, usually i ask about my wife's N400 process but now i'm worried about me too because i'm a dual citizen US and UK)

that's why we are spending years of our lives dealing with this BS. A Thai passport is barely worth the paper it's printed on. all we want is freedom to travel when and where we want without visas.

that's not a lot of notice but depending on timing we'll likely wait for the interview appointment before booking any travel. we like a few month in Europe in the summer and all winter in Thailand.