NorthByNorthwest

Not entirely true since they will be able to buy into Medicare after being legally present in the US for 5 years, at that point they become eligible to sign up for Medicare for the full premium. This is currently $506/month/person for Medicare Part A and $165/month/person for Part B. They would both need to sign up as soon as they become eligible, or there would be additional monthly penalties if they ever want to sign up later. In most states they will not be eligible for Medicaid until being present for 5 years either, and even then probably not if they are part of your household since your income will likely be too high. In summary, after 5 years you'll have to pay at least $1,500/month for basic Medicare for the two of them, and that's before any copays and deductibles. During the first 5 years you would have to buy private insurance that will likely cost at least $3-4,000/month for the two of them, also before copays and deductibles.

I also applied under the 5 year rule even though I came on K-1 (3-year mark happened in the middle of COVID so I was in no rush for any interview). The only thing I uploaded was front and back of 10-year GC and marriage certificate, no need to include anything they don't ask for.

Interesting thread, I did same-day oath and it never even occurred to me to wear something other than my everyday clothes, which in February was jeans and a warm sweater. "You'll be in front of a judge" - not even close in my case, a regular USCIS employee getting through the last oath ceremony of the day. There were perhaps 50 new citizens in my session and 10-20 family members, I think I spotted one or two suits. I reckon the mood would be a bit more festive in the larger dedicated oath ceremonies though. Like some folks in this thread I brought old conditional GC and EAD, but they told me to keep those, so I guess YMMV.

Hopefully you are fully mentally prepared for no work and no travel for 7-8 months once you get to the US. I was in that exact position when I moved, and back in 2017 it was "only" 4 months wait for EAD/AP - I was still climbing the walls. I transfered within the company and had my work all ready to go as soon as I got the EAD, but it was still pure agony, especially since I went from multiple international trips/month to nothing at all while I was waiting. At least I took up yoga for a few months... Best of luck!

The only time I've seen this in actual use has been with people from China and Taiwan that may have both a Chinese and an English name - in those cases they can get an AKA note stamped/written on one of the passport pages. I have not seen this with US passports, AFAIK people in that situation typically pick one of the names and stick with that on all official documentation.

2.5 hours is the bare minimum I'd consider even when traveling with NEXUS/Global Entry and having carry-on only, especially in the post-COVID world where flights tend to be pretty full and just getting off the plane takes longer than usual. I'd take a look at flightradar24.com or similar to see the on-time performance of your particular flight for the past week. That will give you an indication of how things are in general, though it doesn't take much in terms of bad weather to lose an hour just like that. Likewise if things flow you could easily arrive an hour early if you're lucky. Let's say the flight lands on time and parks at the gate just at your scheduled time, unless you're in business class expect at least 15 minutes just to get off the plane. Another 10 minutes to get in line in immigration. Depending on how many other planes come in at the same time you can easily have a few hundred people in line before you, another hour easily passes. If you have to go to secondary by this time chances are plenty of others are in line there and that could take another hour. Once you're through, collect bags, go through customs, recheck bags and get to your domestic gate, say another 15-30 minutes. When I entered on K1 from Japan (POE Seattle) I was in business class and through immigration in 5 minutes simply because I was the first off the plane and no other widebodies came in at the same time. The paperwork check was really just a formality since you would not have the visa in hand if things were not in order, you have nothing to worry about. . TL;DR - if everything lines up you can definitely make it in 2.5 hrs, but rather high likelihood that you won't... If you have a choice, get seats as far up front as you can since that gets you off the plane faster.

Just to emphasize what the others already said - don't bother filing under the 3-year rule, file under the 5-year rule - less documentation required.

I did a same-day oath roughly an hour after my approved interview, so I assume they have the required printers there. In fact I think it's mainly the paper stock that is special.

This seems to be a bit of a gray zone - the DS-11 passport application form will ask you if you have ever been married but offers no choice that really fits your situation other than assuming annulment = the marriage never happened. To ensure the naturalization certificate does not have conflicting info with DS-11 your best bet is to get the certificate corrected. Unless you're in the last oath ceremony of the day chances are good they'll be able to give you an updated one the same day. Since you hand in your green card at the ceremony, the naturalization certificate is your only proof of status at that point, so I don't think they'll send you home without it.

I did mine in Tokyo 7 years ago, I think I was asked one question about how long I had been in Japan, that's pretty much it - no questions about the relationship. Japan is not exactly a high-fraud country so perhaps a bit less scrutiny than other places. I do seem to recall they told me on the spot that I was approved and that I'd get my passport back (by Yamato courier) within a day or two.

When I updated my Nexus at an enrollment center after naturalizing they wanted to see the naturalization certificate as well as my new US passport, but YMMV. As soon as you've done the in-person update and your new documents show up on the TTP site you can request a new Global Entry card that shows your US citizenship, just select "Citizenship change" as the reason.

As others have pointed out - this will get very expensive. For US citizens/residents there is a requirement for medical insurers to offer insurance even with pre-existing conditions - this does not apply to travel insurance for foreigners. Chances are you will not be able to buy any insurance that covers his current medical conditions, much better to spend the same money on home country treatment.

Just like with Global Entry, the system does work immediately. If there's not a 1:1 face match with sufficient confidence you get flagged as such and present your documents for examination the old-fashioned way.

No issues whatsoever. However, some people focus so much on the N-400 process that they don't realize that the second you take the oath (and hand in your green card) you can no longer travel outside the country until you get a US passport, which can take several months unless you live close to a passport agency. Do keep that in mind since the N-400s are moving pretty fast this year.

It will probably vary by location, but I got my notice (in the online system) roughly 6 weeks before the actual interview date. The paper copy didn't arrive until almost two weeks later (4 weeks before the interview) and I never got any notification from the online system that the status had changed, so it might be worthwhile logging in to check every now and then. My biometrics were reused so no relation to the timing there. Overall for me it took 10 weeks from application to interview being scheduled (so 16 weeks to actual interview date).

As the others have stated, everything will depend on your local office, and once you get the notice it varies how far out the interview is scheduled. For example, most recent cases discussed on VJ for the Seattle office have received notices with the interview scheduled roughly 6 weeks out, but there have also been cases of people getting as little as 3 weeks advance warning. My advice would be to not make any plans that keeps you away for any extended periods while waiting for the interview unless it's for a family emergency, it's just not worth the added complexity of rescheduling with unknown delays. At the very least, ensure you can be back in the US at two week's notice if needed, that should be a pretty safe option.

We brought zero photos and didn't include any with the application either. The officer browsed through our file while muttering "Good, good, solid...no photos?" at which point we responded, "Nope, we're not really part of the selfie generation". That made the officer chuckle, he just responded "Yeah, me neither..." and that was pretty much it after a basic question on how we met. I can see photos playing a small role if the rest of the evidence is weak, but otherwise not very useful.

You have to get an InfoPass appointment to get an I-551 stamp in your passport. You might need to bring the I-90 receipt for this along with passport and other ID.

Interestingly you can actually use Global Entry in NEXUS lanes going into the US from Canada, but not the other way around...

I don't know about IAH specifically, but when I naturalized a few months ago I showed documents at Blaine, but had to handle the Canadian side by email. In any case they will most likely want to see your naturalization certificate (original) in addition to the passport, so I suggest bringing it. As soon as the naturalization cert/passport shows up in your TTP profile you can request a new card on the site with "Citizenship change" as reason.

Interesting, I didn't know thas was an option for the US side updates. I'm just 20 minutes from Blaine myself so it's just as easy to drive over, but that's a great option for those living far from an enrollment center.

Blaine, WA. They have Canadian officers there as well for NEXUS interviews and sometimes they can update the Canadian systems for you on the spot, other times I've had to email scanned documents to CBSA. That step does not apply to Global Entry though.

Not sure how the system works internally - some fields can be updated online, others need to be done in person. For extension letter (and later on updating citizenship) I had to do it in person. The good thing is that you don't need an appointment for updates like this, you can just show up at the enrollment center, my local one even has a dedicated line for basic updates.

I updated my NEXUS based on extension letter when I had a pending I-751 - that could not be done online though, I had to go to an enrollment center. NEXUS has an extra step compared to Global Entry though since all changes need to be made in both US and Canadian systems. Global Entry should be more straightforward...

To add to this: as noted I-864 is not a factor in ROC, but even so the I-864 can not be withdrawn once its associated petition (I-485) has been approved, and a divorce does not terminate the I-864 obligations.