Scandi

Probably because they have no way of collecting the fee afterwards, if they do call you for a bio appointment.

No need to overthink anything, just scan your docs and upload them. If they have any questions they will ask you at the interview. Likely they won't care about your evidence at al since you already sent a lot with your ROC. Just upload a few docs, you can bring more to the interview if you want to.

So jealous, I would LOVE to have my own bedroom so I could get better sleep. 😭 Having a whole queen size bed to yourself is what dreams are made of.

Everyone I know that had travels scheduled after the interview, let the IO know at the time of the interview, so they wouldn't be called for an oath until they were back in the US again.

What do you mean by "during her stay here"? You make it sound like she has no plans on moving to the US, only staying briefly?

Legally she cannot work without having both SSN and a document allowing her to work (EAD in her case). My husband was self-employed and mostly working from home when I moved here and obviously I helped him with his work instead of just sitting around. Would've been super awkward staying in bed all day while he was working hard in the next room. 🤣

It's almost certain that you will have an interview for either the AOS or the ROC. Since you didn't have one for AOS you're very likely to have one for ROC instead. Only in rare cases both interviews are waived, so don't count on that happening. The interviews are super easy and nothing to worry about. I always loved the interviews when I went through the process, it was fun and very interesting. I would've easily had an interview at every step if I could choose.

Not sure I understood it correctly, but here goes.. So with your current joint bank account situation, your wife doesn't appear to be using it other than to transfer a fixed amount into it every month? IF that's the case, even if both of your names are on it (are they?), that's not considered a joint bank account in regards to what USCIS wants to see and won't help anything in regards to proving co-mingled finances. With joint checking bank accounts they want to see both of you actively using it, spending money via it etc. If her only relation to that account is putting a fixed amount of money into it every month, and not using it in any other way, that doesn't really prove anything. To USCIS, that could be her just paying off a personal loan she got from you, or her being your room mate and paying her part of the rent that way, or whatever. It doesn't help proving a bonafide marriage. Do you have savings accounts, money markets or other financial "savings" in both of your names? If you do, send proof of that.

You don't need to go to court if you want to take your spouse's last name, the marriage certificate is the name change document if you decide to take their name. You can for instance bring your marriage certificate to SSA and update your name today. For other types of name changes (ie first/middle name, not related to marriage), you need to either go through court or wait until you file the N-400. For USCIS however, since you already filed, it's a hit or miss trying to get them to update your info. Legally it's not an issue, you have the marriage certificate to prove your name change, but it's well-known making changes with USCIS (whether it's a name or an address) is usually a royal pain in the butt. So you greencard may or may not have your married name on it if you send USCIS a letter or bring it up at a potential interview. You haven't filled out your timeline so it's harder to know how likely you are to get an interview or not. I had a name issue with my AOS application and was lucky enough to get an interview, so I could fix the name issue right there and then.

It means adding as much evidence of a bonafide relationship as possible with the actual petition. Most of us hardly sent any evidence at all with the petition (other than proof of having met in person). We brought all the rest of our evidence to the visa interview at the consular stage, and we did fine because we interviewed in low-fraud countries. For high-fraud countries, many VJers will tell you to frontload the actual petition so the consular officer already has a lot of it on hand before the visa interview. Many times it appears that the CO has already made up his mind before the actual interview, and will refuse to look at any evidence you bring in person.

You should always expect to have your biometrics taken with every single petition you file. Some get their reused, but the normal is still to have new biometrics with every petition.

Yes we had to back then (2015), it's very possible things have changed since. Back then we had to fill out an additional form called G-325A, which I believe is not in use anymore. On that form it was asked for "Former husband/wife's" name, date of birth, date and place of marriage, date and place of divorce. It was difficult info to try to get a hold of tbh, so we just winged it. It was never an issue.

Probably not an issue. We didn't even get the ex wedding/marriage date right, we just guessed. The divorce date was on the decree, but not the wedding date. It was never an issue. We put down the name that was in the divorce decree, which was her maiden name since she decided to go back to that name in the divorce.

I have seen the same thing in one of the Swedish groups I'm a member of on Facebook. They got married, filed the i-130 and then afterwards moved to the US and AOS'ed here, all on the advice of lawyers. They were also honest with CBP and that wasn't an issue, they were let in just fine. No idea how that happens, but it does.

Yeah it was a smooth process, I only needed my EAD (and possibly foreign passport and SSN, don't remember about those two) to get a state ID, that was long before I became a greencard holder. California is easy, but they still required me to prove my status in the US (EAD was enough before getting a greencard).

I waited 8 months to update my info with SSA (you never get a new SSN btw, it's always the same). I applied for my passport about 2 weeks after my oath. Both passport and SSA went really smooth, no hick-ups (other than the fact that SSA didn't allow in-person service at the time due to the pandemic, hence why waited 8 months for them to "open" so I could go in person). If it was today, I'd do the SSA first as it's so quick and easy - I also changed my name when I became a citizen, so I used my certificate with the name change document to update my name with SSA. They asked for and took copies of absolutely everything, not just my passport (that had my new name on it, of course).

My state (California) has always cared about my legal status too when I have applied for or renewed my license (my application even ended up at the "presence unit" when I tried to renew without sending a copy of my ROC extension letter). But not once have they scanned it. Nowhere, not at DMV, the doctor or elsewhere where I have used it as a regular ID. Scanning the greencard is something I have never encountered, they have only looked at and used the info on it, just like they have done with my DL and/or state ID. No scanning.

Sounds strange, never heard of anybody having to scan a greencard, other than possibly at airports. Grocery store, doctors etc just look at it for identification, they don't scan anything. Neither has DVM every time I have used my greencard there.

The US does not make you get rid of other citizenships when you become a US citizen. The US simply ignores other citizenships.

They don't take the greencard at the interview, only at the oath. If your interview is close to the travel date, you ask to have the oath ceremony scheduled at a later date. A lot of Swedes in the FB group I'm in have requested to have their oath ceremonies scheduled after they come back from their vacation - I haven't yet seen a case where there was an issue with that.

Since you came on a CR-1 you're almost guaranteed to get an interview for your i-751 - so file the N-400 so you can have both interviews in one. No reason to wait and have two separate interviews. For the interview you just need to keep checking your online account where you will find the date and time once scheduled - you usually get 4-6 weeks notice when you're scheduled for an interview. So unless you're planning on staying abroad for a longer period of time, it shouldn't be an issue to be back in time for the interview.

When you choose to file your N-400 via mail (which you can, but I don't recommend it) you later on receive a letter explaining how to set up an account and get a login code etc, which is what you have read about. If you file your N-400 online you don't get a letter like that since filing requires you to create an account on your own if you don't already have one. Once you file online, an account number will be generated (ie you don't have one before filing) and you will find it on your acceptance letter (found under the documents tab in your online account).

Like I said in my previous comment (you're welcome to go back and read it again), you have an online account number if you have filed a petition ONLINE before. Only you know if you did or not. The i-751 was not filed online at least.

It always surprises me when people who pay others (lawyers or other services) to do the work for them, still come to VJ to ask their questions. You'd think whoever they hired would know these things, otherwise it seems like wasted money? Yes you will definitely need the divorce decree. USCIS want to make sure the marriage ended, to make sure your current marriage is actually valid. If your first marriage never ended then that invalidates all "marriages" after that. Since your memory is fuzzy, are you sure you actually got divorced? Legally?

From what I understand you only receive a USCIS account number number if you file a petition online - and I don't think the i-751 is even possible to file online, only via mail. So therefore you likely don't have an account number yet. Once you file your N-400 online you will be given a number by USCIS, it will be on the acceptance letter (NOA1).