Scandi

That's why you write (or stamp) your A-number on every page, that way there's no question which file the papers belong to in case they were to get separated. I too put my A-number on every single page, upper corner.

Perfectly normal. Nobody is being approved at the interview, you're only approved once the status says "issued". All of us go through some form of AP afterwards, for me it was almost 2 weeks but that was to wait for the medical results. My status changed from Ready to AP back to Ready and finally to Issued. The changes are good, means they're working on/looking at your case. The reason for the delay could be anything really. Could also be that something has happened at the embassy, maybe one employee got sick and they're now out one person and therefore a bit behind etc.

It can go either way, in regards to delays or not. In my case for instance, I was with WAC too and I knew I wasn't going to get an interview (had one for AOS), had I filed my N-400 while my i-751 was still pending it would've very likely delayed my case with another 10 months. My i-751 was approved after 1 year from filing, had I filed the N-400 a few days prior to that it's likely my i751 would've been stopped in its tracks and sent over to NBC to just sit there and wait for my N400, instead of being approved a few days later at WAC. My N-400 took a little over 10 months, so it would've been a 10 month delay for me if my i-751 had to wait for my N-400.

Why did you file the i751? You must've been married for more than 2 years by the time you got your first greencard?

Congratulations to the visa! I read the whole post and it seems your wife had a very normal visa interview, especially for certain embassies. Didn't see anything odd about what you described. In Sweden, the US spouse has to call beforehand and ask to be put on a list. You don't get into the embassy if you're not on the list.

Perfectly normal. Maybe you gave them documents during the interview that they need time to review before giving the approval, or it could be so simple that the person who interviewed you isn't allowed to make decision, s/he will have to bring your case to a supervisor for a final decision.

Never had an issue with Windows, Internet Explorer (or Edge or what the heck it's called these days) or downloading the form and fill it out afterwards. Never had an issue with any of the USCIS forms I have filled out (and it's been quite a few through the years). The only issue was that my names were just too many and too long to fit into certain boxes, so I just hand wrote those with a black ink pen. Worked like a charm.

One Swedish guy I know of only received his conditional greencard a week before he was due to file for ROC. 😄

Yup, if the state is a one and only district then it's not an issue. If the state has several different districts then it may be an issue moving from one to another.

It's not 2 years and 9 months from the date the greencard was approved (or the date of entry, as in your wife's case), it's 3 years minus 90 days. Filing one single day too early will get the petition denied, so it's very important to understand the difference between 2 years and 9 months, and 3 years minus 90 days. With that said, nobody can tell you how long it will take for the N-400 to be processed an approved. It differs a lot between field offices, between IOs and between petitions. In the beginning of 2021 when we were still affected by covid, my application took 10,5 months in Los Angeles, while other applicants who filed after me waited for only 5 months and became citizens before me, and others waited for well over a year. Same field office, completely different timelines.

Even if it's the same state it can still be a different USCIS jurisdiction. Here in CA for instance, we have several different jurisdictions and field offices, I believe you have to have lived in the same jurisdiction for 3 months before filing. If I were you I'd go by the zip code, if both the zip codes show the same field office, you should be ok to file if you have been in that jurisdiction for 3 months, even if you have moved apartments within in that jurisdiction.

As an immigrant myself, I would be terrified if my USC husband was terrified of signing the form.

There is a well-known time glitch with the online filing and online account, which is why people are advised to not file on the day they become eligible to avoid future headaches. The update is very likely the acceptance of your case, which comes with a receipt notice.

I think the issue is that some i-751 get transferred, and some don't - customer service, service centers and field offices don't communicate very well at all with each other. We mainly see this when you try to reschedule an interview appointment with customer service, they confirm and everything seems great until the field office didn't get the notice and denied your case for failing to show up to your interview. You never know what will happen in your case until you go to your interview. My guess, and it's just a guess, is that the IO at your field office doesn't look at your case until very close to your interview, possibly the day before or day of your interview. By that time, when they finally see your request to have a combo interview, it's too late to have the i-751 file transferred anyway (yes, they do send the whole physical file). But I would certainly give it my best try and add that request anyway, you've got nothing to lose.

Correct, the CR-1 visa is the way to go. That would also remove the issue of the US citizen not being able to support their spouse down the road - once the visa is issued, the i-864 isn't an issue anymore. For the K-1, once the visa is issued you still have a loooong way to go and USCIS can absolutely ask for an updated i-864 by the time of the interview (which can be two+ years after filing, of course).

The fastest way is to apply at a passport agency as compared to a USCIS location. But those appointments are hard to come by and are only for those who have travel booked within 72 hours (I believe it is), that doesn't seem to apply to you, you didn't mention that you have plane tickets to prove any urgent travel.

Yeah makes sense that it's a very new thing, since most of us didn't get any extension, and that was obviously pre December. Thanks for the info, I learned something new.

Same, no extension with the N-400 - but I didn't need one as I already had my 10 year greencard on hand. That said, if there was an extension likely they would send the exact same letter to everyone, not just those whose greencard had expired or was about to expire soon. No such letter was sent to me at any point. Must be a very new thing.

No he will not receive an extension letter for filing the N-400. The N-400 does NOT come with an extension letter unless something has changed in the last few months or so. USCIS does however send out a 48 month extension letter for the i-751 these days, some will get it automatically, while others may have to request it and may be lucky to actually receive it. This extension letter has nothing to do with the N-400.

I suggest you start the application now, that way you get an idea of what it looks like as compared to the paper form. That way you will also see what they ask for, and what documents you need to upload. There is zero rush, like previous posters have said - you have 30 days before your application gets deleted, and if you need more time you just change something little and save, then you get 30 new days (so technically you can do this for however long you want, just make sure to "update" it every 29th day or so). So start now, fill everything out and by the end of it you will get to the upload section.

I filed under the 3 year rule and did it online. So smooth and easy, I felt that the paper form looked a lot more complicated. The online form removes questions that don't apply to you and you can add as many previous addresses and work places as you like, without having to create extra supplements as you would have to with the paper form. Uploading documents was very easy, the payment section was super smooth, never had any issues with glitches etc. Highly recommend filing online.

There are many of us who decided to go the K-1 route and really regretted it. And that was back when the K-1 was actually many months faster, which was pretty much the only reason to choose it over the CR-1. Today the K-1 is even slower than the CR-1 in many cases, so not even that is an argument to choose the K-1 anymore. If you decide to go for the CR-1 you will obviously not get the money back that you already spent, but you know that. Even so, it's still worth starting over with a CR-1 imo.

No it doesn't matter if you file jointly or separately, that's a personal choice and not an immigration issue at all. Your spouse's SSN and your address is the same and will show on both your return transcripts, that's what USCIS want to see. So instead of sending a joint tax transcript to USCIS, you send both your and your spouse's return transcripts if you file separately. That's all, no difference otherwise.

You can always write a note in a Word document and upload that, in case you feel that there is nothing else you can upload. That way you can also explain the lack of "evidence".

I was thinking the same, OP didn't even mention the most important form i-130 or the supplement i-130A. Definitely need A LOT more research done, especially if he doesn't trust the "specialist's" advice.