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Keep us posted—thanks!

Just wondering where the AKA name shows up? Is it in the Amendments and Endorsements (last) page or the main biographical data (first) page?

Thank you for the detailed information!

I asked around via private messages and a lot of people responded with their personal stories, which would make me think a 3:00 PM interview time isn't going to have a same-day interview. One person said that the same-day oath ceremonies at the San Francisco location are at 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM, though I am not speaking from experience and just passing on what they told me.

I'm out of my league in this thread. Thanks for all the info!

Thank you! This explains a lot. I think OP would be good to chime in on if he actually had two different marriages or if one of those was a sort of unofficial ceremony. Because that could cause problems if he has two marriage certificates. Also, is the idea that they would remain living abroad despite having residency in Oklahoma? USCIS will want to see that they are living in the U.S.

I don't know much about this topic but I just want to chime in to ask if formal adoption is even necessary. If your only aim is for her to be eligible for citizenship, doesn't she just need to be physically present in the U.S. and in the custody of her mom, your wife? I was under the impression that whether or not you formally adopt her has no bearing on that, but I leave it to the wisdom of the forum. If you want to do it for sentimental reasons, go ahead and research the possibility, but from an immigration perspective I think as the stepdad you're all set. Curiously following along to see what others say and willing to stand corrected.

Can I ask what time your interview was scheduled for, and if you have any more info about a 2:30 PM cut-off time? I'm trying to learn more about how San Francisco does it and am curious if the same-day oaths are given at specific times in groups, if it's per immigration officer and they just have a hard cut-off, or what. Thank you!

Replying to see if OP and @Flaflafla can loop back with their experience about if they had a same-day oath ceremony. Thanks!

So in the end did you have a same-day oath ceremony?

Also curious about this. On a related note, is this the only/main San Francisco Field Office thread for N-400? Most other ones are 30+ pages.

Hope it's okay to revive this thread but happy to post in another one if it's more relevant. Does the San Francisco Field Office still do same-day oath ceremonies? Now that things are basically post-pandemic I'm not sure if there is a solidified policy one way or another since a lot of the info shared is anecdotal.

Just a small update that I had the family member log in to her USCIS online account and she found a PDF in the Documents section dated the same day as her online N-400 submission mentioning biometrics reuse. So while she never got the physical letter in the mail, it looks like I was worrying for nothing. It would be nice if the regular case tracking mentioned biometrics reuse but at least now we know. For reference, the online account says there is an estimated six months until case completion, but I guess everyone here says that that part is never accurate, right?

I follow this for a family member and am surprised to see that her online status remains with "Your case is being actively reviewed" from the date of her submission, without even biometrics after nearly four months. How common is that?

Does the diplomatic posting abroad comment refer to the U.S. State Department? Can anyone chime in if that is presumably "qualifying employment abroad" to count as not breaking U.S. residency?

Thanks for the info—I will ask for a copy of the original agreement to see what it said. The lawyer indeed passed the local state bar exam.

A follow-up to let you know that they decided to pay the lawyer the cost to prepare the RFE response. Then, a few weeks ago, there was an RFE on his I-485 (requesting documents related to his F-1 status) and another RFE on his I-130 (proof of the good faith relationship). And again they are asking for $1,000. To me this strikes me as a reach since presumably a well-prepared application would have these things front-loaded and the RFEs demonstrate the gaps in the lawyer's initial application preparation. I am encouraging them to ask the lawyers to prepare the RFE responses for free for this reason, but since I had this thread up from the first RFE I wanted to get the forum's opinion on how common this is among law firms and get a sanity check if it's crazy to be requesting money (or at least, this much money).

Hopefully my question is straightforward—a family member is keeping me up to date on her husband's case, who just received EAD approval (the card should be arriving in a week or so, I suppose) and Advance Parole approval. This is my first time seeing an I-512L Advance Parole form, and when I search the forum a lot of the posts are over ten years old. Am I wrong in thinking that a lot of approved I-131 cases are simply rolled into the "combo card" where the recipient doesn't get a separate Advance Parole document? For what it's worth, checking his cases, the EAD was approved on February 22nd, and the tracking said the card was produced today on February 28th. On the AP side, it says it was approved on February 23rd and produced on the 24th. Is this a case of strange timing where they were considered separately? If the AP had been approved before the EAD, does that mean it would have resulted in a combo card? He is still waiting for the EAD in the mail, but seeing that the AP paper arrived in the mail it seems like there would be no point in USCIS issuing that if they know they were about to issue the EAD a few days later. Also, he has a single copy of the I-512L Advance Parole form and I see old forum posts referencing that there should be two originals. Is there a problem or should there be a single? Finally, if the EAD that arrives in a few days says "Not valid for re-entry to the U.S." at the bottom but he has the just-received AP document, he can take those two items along with his foreign passport to leave the U.S. and then re-enter, right? Does it have to be an emergency or can it be for any reason? Thank you! Edit: Adding here that after googling around I have come to understand that in or around 2022, USCIS started decoupling the work permit and advance parole applications to speed along processing and therefore no longer issue combo cards, which answers all of my questions except if there are supposed to be one or two originals of the Advance Parole document. Leaving this up for reference and hoping someone can let me know if there is indeed only supposed to be one I-512L included in the mailing.

I casually help friends with immigration-related questions and my friend (green card holder) and her husband (applying for AoS on the basis of the spouse of an LPR). The application just got an RFE from USCIS saying that his wife doesn’t make 125% of the poverty level and they need a co-sponsor. She is pulling out the documents they filed with and unless I misunderstood something she makes more than double that amount. I have asked her to clarify what income/taxes she submitted with his application when they submitted it in late 2021 (so presumably her 2020 taxes), but regardless the lawyers they used are asking for a lot of money to draft a response and I can’t find logic in needing to pay for this. Either she made enough money when they originally submitted and USCIS committed an error, at which point it should be so easy for the lawyer to resend the evidence they already have on file with a boilerplate letter, OR the lawyers themselves messed up if she didn’t make enough money and they didn’t tell them to get a co-sponsor before filing. They want nearly a thousand dollars to begin drafting a response and I want just a bit of context so I can encourage this sweet couple to advocate for themselves in the most accurate and appropriate way possible since I think this RFE would or should fall under the umbrella of his AoS application and not incur a large cost. Thanks for any advice!