yuna628

Is the citizenship test hard? No. But should it be? Not.. exactly. The fact is many if not most Americans cannot even answer the questions asked, so why should it be any different? For some people, having multiple choice answers could be easier, than having to memorize an exact answer. The fact is, all of us that have been through it with our spouses are relieved that they got through it, and wouldn't want it to be harder for them. Studies show that immigrants-new citizens are even more civic minded, educated about the country, and enthusiastic about being American, compared to those naturally born here. I think where some immigrants have an issue, like my husband for instance, is years of going through the stress and mess of this process, getting to citizenship and realizing "is that it?" It's a weird sort of apprehension, relief, and stages of grief. I reminded him that to become an American, isn't about needing 'pomp and circumstance', ordeal, and fanfare to belong here. Everyone in that room is on a level playing field and deserves to be there and there's beauty in the simplicity. The promise of America is that anyone can be American. Does answering six questions correctly make you any more or any less American? I'm sure many tests have been failed due to nerves rather than not knowing the subject matter.

Sorry we tried, we even tried some local colloquialisms and it didn't work. The only thing that worked was "rubbish" which was what he thought of it.

Car broke again last week. Husband took it to the local shop. Guys worked on it for hours, but the problem is mysterious apparently, and they recommended he take it to dealer. The dealer had the car captive for four days, called to say it's all fixed. So much $$$$s. I was angry, but husband paid it. I said I know I'm just a simple woman but my grandpa could fix anything with an engine and there is no way what they claimed was wrong could be it. He drove down the street - car still broken. So he returned it to dealer. Most ignorant mechanics there, absolutely nuts. Rude, dismissive, arrogant, and condescending. Two more days went by and we heard nothing, called multiple times, got passed to five departments and hung up on, so we just came and demanded the car back. They hadn't even done anything to it! Guy at local shop said I am right (thanks for vote of confidence bud). He will supposedly try again to look at it. Meanwhile I'm like... how many men does it take to fix something these days? I hate this car, but my husband loves it. He'd rather have the rusted hunk o' junk and pour money into that than get a giant car loan. Which okay, I know his guy math logic works, but... where do we have this much money to dump into a car every year? There are not many parts left to replace.

Not watching it because I think I know what's going to happen. 🤮

While the King begins treatment for cancer, let's not forget all the people in the UK that have cancer and are waiting for months to be told, those who cannot get screening, and those that are on waiting lists for treatment for that cancer on the NHS and will die or have worse outcomes before they ever receive help... https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/05/less-than-3-of-nhs-england-trusts-hit-key-cancer-waiting-time-target

You'll need to either A) pay for an officiant or B) go to another county or state Getting married is an important part of this process, and you should be prepared to budget those factors in beforehand. If you have not, then you will have to find the money from somewhere if you want this to work. There are small venue and even drivethru wedding ceremonies in Akron, Ohio that is certainly cheaper than what you've been quoted and there are officiants in Warren that are cheaper too. If you already have the license from Warren, then you'll need to find something that works there.

Heard they arrested someone that may have been helping the fugitive. https://news.sky.com/story/clapham-manhunt-abdul-ezedi-latest-chemical-attack-live-updates-13061433

In general they will take your word for it.

My husband naturalized within a year of needing to renew his DL. We inquired if it was too early and they said come in anyway. We updated his status with SSA first before doing so, then headed over to the DMV. They took a photocopy of his certificate and issued a new DL. It's always a paper document first, as the real one comes in the mail a week later.

The asylum statistics have been part of a larger debate, particularly about extreme backlogs, and accusations of the government intentionally sending cases into a black hole of no decisions being made for years at a time. It makes no sense why someone would be denied twice, and convicted of serious crimes, remaining and succeeding. It sounds as if family that live in the UK seem to be doing much better off than this homeless waste of space. This site shows some statistics currently.. https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/the-uks-asylum-backlog/#:~:text=Of the 132%2C000 main applicants,when it stood at 9%2C871. There are many more caseworkers but no decisions, so I guess a lot of Candy Crush time at the office. There are lots of good people that profess to be Christian and have fled these countries, are legit, and need help, and it is terrible that a church would actively be participating in what appears to be a scam.

Very odd story, but some things don't make a ton of sense. He arrived in 2016. It took that long (around 2022) for the UK government to make a decision about his status. UK Gov says he's from Afghanistan but a social worker says he's Iranian. He has a brother in the UK. What relation is the mom and kids? He doesn't seem to have a fixed address in Newcastle, somewhere in Byker he's been living homeless for years. Where did the car come from? Was convicted of the sex offenses before his asylum was granted and I would assume was a reason for multiple denials, so why wasn't he removed to begin with? I have heard that what saved him was claiming he had converted to Christianity and wanted to be a priest. A priest provided letters on his behalf. I'd like to know more about that. If those injuries are also from his attack... well he won't last long.

The RSC and the Globe take the position that productions can still be done the old way - with men playing women (you guys do love panto afterall). But they are also free to use women in men's roles as well, and they do in many updated versions. This is also done in other non-Shakespeare productions.. there's a reason why Peter Pan was also played by a woman in theater productions.

I don't really understand why we need to pay for biometrics if they end up never actually using new biometrics. But what do I know, they never make sense.

It is tradition for men to play women roles in these plays and women are placed in male roles at the RSC all the time. Tamsin Grieg was very acclaimed in Twelfth Night. The overall tone of the plays are sometimes modernized with artistic changes made. https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/archive/women-playing-male-roles

Well, they never took new biometrics on my husband.

Ouch am I glad we're done with the USCIS. I was wondering if the free filing in that package would be removed and looks that way.

Over the years there's been many persons on this forum that have inquired about returning to the UK with their American spouses and children. There has always been visa requirements involved with that, which included financial requirements that for some, were too great. Based on yesterday's announcement by the UK government, they intend to increase that burden further. The old rules required that the UK citizen and only the UK citizen had a UK job and guarantied salary held for six months or more of £18,600 (roughly $23,000), or a large sum of savings of £62,500. This amount increased with each non-UK citizen child. As of yesterday and becoming effective in spring 2024, these guarantied salary amount will be increased to £38,700 (roughly $48,800). No doubt that means the amount for savings and for any additional child will also increase. If the math works out that would increase to £112,000 in savings. No joint sponsors or joint income may be used. There is also price rises in the visa fees itself, as well as significant increase to the amount you would have to pay each year under the health immigration surcharge. This was a part of additional changes and measures which will negatively affect legal immigration to the UK. This post is just for informative purposes. I've had numerous discussions with UK-based lawyers and legal immigration support organizers. I'm sure that everyone will have a variety of thoughts on it. There may be legal challenges to come and things could theoretically change in a new election. My advice is always: make sure you have your UK citizen spouse's status settled here first, before thinking of uprooting yourselves and be aware that the UK's requirements are a lot harsher than the US. For more information: https://news.sky.com/story/tougher-visa-rules-for-foreign-workers-including-ban-on-bringing-families-and-raising-minimum-salary-requirement-13022936 https://freemovement.org.uk/government-attack-on-families-as-minimum-income-requirement-to-rise-to-38700/ https://kittyfallsimmigrationlaw.com/2023/12/05/partner-visa-minimum-income-requirement-is-going-up/

My husband had his Naturalization interview last week. Ironically the day after Kevin McCarthy got tossed out of speakership, so we wondered how that question could be answered correctly if it came up. It was quite a long trip for us, as we were on vacation in another state and I wasn't sure if I would be allowed in with him so he went in by himself. He arrived 20 minutes before his appointment. It wasn't too busy. There was TSA style security first, and then waiting for his appointment was about 45 minutes. You are given a number which is supposed to show up on the screen. His number took about 20 minutes to appear on the screen, so if your number doesn't appear immediately don't worry. His interview was about 10 minutes in length. The officer was very polite and no-nonsense. He asked for his NOA and asked for his US ID and his green card. My husband was very nervous and accidently handed him his UK driving license instead of his US one without realizing it. The officer was confused by this, but eventually that got cleared up, and had a laugh. He asked to confirm personal details and a few of the N400 questions. Keep in mind we had been initially nervous about tax questions, since we were unable to obtain every single tax transcript from the IRS (the IRS won't give them to you after a certain date), but were able to give them tax forms. But the officer did not want to see any of it. So I'd say as long as you have some sort of a combination of transcripts and forms this is not really an issue. He asked the six questions: 1) What is the economic system in the United States? 2) In what month do we vote for President? 3) What is the name of the Vice President? 4) Who is the Commander in Chief of the military? 5) What is one responsibility that is only for US citizens? 6) Who was President during the Great Depression and WW II? (hilariously the question that would trip him up the most) The reading was: When is Columbus Day? The writing was: Columbus Day is in October. He was informed that he had passed the test and that he needed to confirm the information that was going to be on his naturalization certificate. After showing him the Oath, my husband requested a modified oath, which was granted. He was then informed that he would be notified by mail that his oath ceremony would be scheduled. Later in the day the website updated to reflect his Oath ceremony would be scheduled, and the next morning his Oath appointment letter was uploaded. The ceremony is next week. All in all this has been a shockingly fast and easy process. Afterwards, since we were all dressed up we went on a nice date in the city before making the long trek back to our hotel. I hope this review helps others as to what to expect for Baltimore. It's a nice big facility that is not in the best area these days unfortunately. All in all the end of the journey has been the most simple experience. Thank you to all the guys and gals on VJ that has helped us through this whole process over many years.

Whelp, this one is a doozy of an indictment. That's a lot of cash and gold bars laying around your house for the feds to find. Seems he was also selling secrets to the Egyptians. You can read the indictment here. It is INSANE. You could make a movie about this: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/robert-menendez-indictment-document/e9ff4e956cb8dfc9/full.pdf There is a passage that caught my eye: "Third, MENENDEZ promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty to recommend that the President nominate an individual as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey who MENENDEZ believed could be influenced by MENENDEZ {....}" Was the President interviewed? What did the President know and when did he know it?

Rachel Morin told her boyfriend that she was going for a run on a popular trail in the small town of Bel Air, Maryland. When she did not return, her boyfriend contacted police. The police said they had looked through the trail and could not find her, so it was initially thought of as perhaps a kidnapping. What was concerning to me is that they allowed the public to come to the trail and search, potentially contaminating the scene. We go to the trails and woodlands in the Bel Air area a lot, and after a few very frightening incidents, our list is growing smaller unfortunately and now we do not go walking/hiking without some sort of weapon. There were reasons to be suspicious of the boyfriend. He has a past criminal history, it was a very recent relationship. There were a few other suspects too - a creepy man was seen stalking women where she worked. There is also a homeless camp at the end of this particular trail. None of these panned out. Rachel was easily found by members of the public search party, within 24hrs of her going missing on the trail in a small tunnel, that is not very well-lit, but certainly open enough I have no idea why the police could not find her initially. While the police haven't mentioned the particulars of the case, it is said to be a brutal murder and rape. This is usually a busy trail, and no one questioned is said to have seen or heard anything. A few days later a creepy man claiming to have found her, was interviewed by the news and gave many horrific but confusing details to the press. Some of these 'details' continue to be falsely written today. They did not verify his story, and ultimately the police said this man was not only a grifter but he was lying for 'fame'. Rachel's family has tried very hard to enlist the public and media's help to find her killer. They have funds set up for her children. Have asked profilers to assist, and have had many charity events and held public pleas for help. The trail is now basically a memorial, and many from the town no longer feel safe walking. Some time later the police held a conference to announce that through DNA evidence, Rachel's killer was involved in a crime LA last year. We know little about the case as it involved the rape of a minor. But there was video of the suspect from behind - he appears to be Hispanic with some distinguishing features. As the weeks have gone on, it is possible the FBI has found links to another case in Chicago - and it is for this reason the police believe the suspect to be a serial killer or serial rapist. Rachel Morin left behind five children and a family that is desperate. Her killer is traveling and could be anywhere. Here are links to the case with videos of the suspect from the LA incident. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/11/rachel-morin-case-updates-criminal-profiler/70825144007/ https://www.fox5dc.com/news/rachel-morin-murder-maryland-sheriff-says-suspect-on-the-loose-could-strike-again https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/rachel-morin-memorial-walk-bel-air-PYYWZG7PPJFDJMJKMTNFRGPCJI/ https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/harford-county/detectives-pursue-leads-in-la-chicago-in-rachel-morin-murder-investigation-7Y7VTH4OEVE6XEARKOYSIK47XM/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/rachel-morin-funeral-and-memorial-fund