Scandi

Totally, the best advise. While some have luck doing it after marriage, many don't. So definitely the best course of action to focus on applying for a SSN as soon as you land in the US, you only have a limited time to do so. After that you have no choice but to wait for the EAD which can take many, many months.

Is there a reason she doesn't have a SSN?

Refused means he was refused the visa, but he can still be approved once the embassy gets all the documents they need. I had the same exact thing happen to me, there were hardly any available appointments for the medical, so I had to take what was available. I had my medical on August 18, and the interview was on August 22. When I left the interview my status changed to "refused" because they hadn't received the medical report yet, it took the usual 2 weeks for them to get it. Once they received it on September 1, my status changed to "issued" the next day. It's normal. The other K-1 applicant that was at the embassy at the same time as me hadn't even done his medical yet, he went for his interview before even having a scheduled medical appointment. 😄

Two very different things. 1. To not loose her LPR status: She can stay outside of the US for up to 1 year without a re-entry permit, she will not loose her greencard if she still has ties to the US (valid drivers license/ID, name on lease/deed, insurances etc). 2. To naturalize: If she plans on filing for citizenship in a near future, then trips of 6 months or longer in a row in the last 3/5 years are considered "breaking the continuous residency", so preferably she shouldn't stay outside for 6 months or longer. BUT, if she doesn't plan on naturalize (anytime soon) then this rule doesn't affect her at all if she decides to stay outside of the US for up to 1 year. Also, it IS possible to naturalize even if you have been outside of the US for more than 6 months in a row - but it is your burden to prove to USCIS that you didn't break your continuous residency by showing evidence that you kept your ties to the US.

For the i-751, yes, absolutely. Just like the OP, your spouse had a combo interview as well. VERY important for the USC spouse to come along for that (even in the cases it turns out they're not "needed"). Whether the i-751 is a stand-alone interview, or it's combined with an N-400 interview doesn't matter - the USC spouse should always be there in those scenarios.

When you have a pending i-751, your spouse should ALWAYS attend the interview with you - even if you don't receive an interview letter for the i-751 but only for the N-400 (this is the most common scenario, most people only get a letter for the N-400 and nothing for the i-751, but they get interviewed for both at the same time). I too am curious to see the denial letter/reason for the i-751 - it seems a bit extreme to terminate your status just because your wife didn't attend, when they could have rescheduled your interview instead. While yes, they absolutely CAN do that, it still seems unusual. Are you and your spouse no longer living together? Did you give the IO enough evidence of your marriage? Did it seem the IO suspected the marriage wasn't bonafide? Your N-400 is a non-issue here, the N-400 denial is solely based on your i-751 denial.

A combo (i-751 and N-400) interview is a completely different matter. If you have a pending i-751 the spouse should absolutely ALWAYS be there, doesn't matter that you only receive an interview letter for the N-400 and not the I-751.

Go back home and have your spouse start the process of getting you to the US. And do NOT hire a lawyer, at least not without reading up about the process yourselves first. Because here on VJ, we see tons of posts about lawyers messing things up, you and your spouse should instead read up on the process and do everything yourselves. Nobody cares as much about your future than you do yourselves.

For the N-400 alone - in most cases the spouse is not allowed to attend, no. My husband wasn't even allowed in the waiting room, they sent him down to the first floor lobby.

Not in California, here they grab random names from the DMV registry. So basically anybody who has a state ID and /or driver license can get the jury duty letter (hence why so many greencard holders get it too, despite not being able to vote - I think I got the letter 2 or 3 times as an LPR). I have never registered to vote and has been called a few times both before and after becoming a citizen (almost yearly?). Here in CA you have one week where you need to report to the website (or by phone) every single day for that entire week. If you're not getting called for an interview during that week, it counts as if you completed your jury duty and can't be called again in another 12 months.

Huge issue, you have to leave your SEALED envelope with CBP at POE, even if they forget to ask for it. CBP sends it to USCIS and it's added to your file. Seems doubtful CBP would accept an opened envelope as that means you could've messed with it - but definitely worth a try, so go to your POE and explain the issue. For the medical, you should always ask the doctor for a copy of the DS-3025 when you're at your medical appointment, or they could also send you a copy afterwards. I asked for a copy of the entire medical results (not just the vaccination work sheet) and they sent it to me the same day they sent the original to the embassy. Too late for you, and you have much bigger issues now, but may be important info for someone else reading this.

No, only the passport is affected by what service you choose, the naturalization certificate is not. It can take 2 days, it can take 2 months. There's no specific timeline, it's all over the place. All everyone can do is wait.

Back in 2021 I received my passport on a Saturday and got my naturalization certificate the following Tuesday, so just a couple of business days apart. There's no tracking for the certificate, no emails, no messages - nothing. It just shows up in your mailbox one day, in a yellow manila envelope.

I'm also wondering when OP got married to the applicant.. was it before or after the REAL divorce happened?

There's no such law right now. Is there a reason you never registered your marriage?

Seems common, we see posts about this fairly often here on VJ. I haven't yet heard of anyone who never managed to get an appointment, it just took a little while. Keep checking - often. They likely have a certain schedule and open up new appointments on certain dates, and you can also find cancellations here and there if you check often enough.

It's literally the easiest part of the entire immigration journey. But she doesn't have to become a citizen, there's no citizenship requirement. She can keep being a greencard holder.

It's for people who "snuck across the border" without inspection at a POE and who have lived here for like 10 years or more. For people who were inspected on their way in, they can marry and adjust status.

OP is basing it on the "estimated time to completion" that you see in your online account. Those dates are always wrong, so not sure why OP is worried about that. OP: Count on the entire process taking 1,5 year - be happy if it goes faster. 6 months is nothing - stop comparing to other applicants or you will drive yourself nuts. Even at the same field office the processing times can vary greatly from applicant to applicant. Sit back and relax, it'll happen eventually. My process took 10 months, others at the same field office applied after me and became citizens before me. Others waited for close to 2 years.

Yes, easiest thing here in California. Like you said, takes a minute (if that).

Only needed to fill out the questionnaire. Once done I received e message in the jury duty portal saying I was disqualified for jury duty. No they did not ask for proof of anything.

I think I received three of them during the years I was a greencard holder, and have received one since becoming a citizen. It's super easy here in California, I just go online and fill out the questionnaire that decides if I'm eligible for jury duty or not. When answering "no" on the question about being a citizen, I was automatically disqualified and there was nothing else that needed to be done. Smooth and easy.

No, you don't need to show any documents/reports. I didn't bring my conditional greencard, only my 10 year one, it was never an issue. They asked, and I said I couldn't find it. That was it. I did find it later on, now storing it as a nostalgic memory with the few immigration papers I decided to keep.

Never an issue for us, the day we got married was the day we started sharing everything - including money, bank accounts, savings etc. So even if I couldn't work at the time, everything was OURS, not just his.