NorthByNorthwest

I just looked back at my old pile of documents, I interviewed at the Tokyo embassy and did indeed have a TKY number in the welcome letter from the embassy, it was also written on the copy of the approved I-129F. If your fiancee is not in Japan, the theory fails...

This is the way to go, I did and had passport (and passport card) in hand 3 days after naturalization. When I was at the passport agency I overheard several people that were there to expedite regular applications that were already in progress but ran out of time due to travel and I believe they got their passports as well either same day or next. As long as you live close enough to an agency to be able go there twice over a few days and have the time to wait in line it's the fastest option by far. Once you have established to the call center agent that you have urgent travel you will get a time slot at the agency, but at least in Seattle that time slot doesn't really mean much, when you get there you'll wait in line for an intake agent to check that you have all necessary paperwork, then you'll get a number to wait for your turn at the counters to actually take your application. When you come back for pickup it's faster, but count on spending a few hours there for the first day.

Within Europe/Schengen your checked luggage always goes to your final destination regardless of point of entry into Schengen. You pass immigration at first point of entry but you only clear customs at destination.

Interesting, that was not the case for me in WA back in 2017, but things could certainly have changed since then or WA is just more lenient. If EAD is deemed sufficient in MI one could argue that EAD by itself doesn't grant you lawful status, you're still just in authorized stay while I-485 is in process, but perhaps it's seen as good enough for DL in those states?

This is a fuzzy area where lawful status is not the same as being in a period of authorized stay - here's some reading on the subject: https://www.murthy.com/2018/12/17/differences-between-lawful-status-period-of-authorized-stay-unlawful-presence-2/ This is also why you need to be paroled into the country (through I-131/I-512 Advance Parole) if you want to travel while your I-485 is pending. Different states handle this differently, coming to Washington from Japan I got lucky with my Japanese DL granting me an exemption from the test. Also, I was just able to get by with just enough documentation within the first 90 days while my I-94 was still valid, otherwise I might have had to wait for EAD as well. It might be worth asking if you can gather all the required documentation while your I-94 is still valid, but it sounds from the other Michigan folks like this might not work. I think I used something like these and scraped by with 10 days to spare: Social Security Card Swedish passport with K-1 visa and I-94 printout / still valid Swedish driver's license Japanese driver's license with translation/certificate from Japanese consulate

Cool, I didn't know that was a thing. Out of curiosity, what is that product/service called at Fedex?

#3 - as the immigrant, this would all be household effects: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/kbyg/customs-duty-info#:~:text=Household effects conditionally included are,books%2C implements%2C and instruments. Technically you're supposed to have owned everything at least a year, though I have not heard of that ever being verified. #4 - interesting question, for most people this tends to be used for container shipments arriving well after the immigrant has already arrived in the US and these forms are handled by the moving company. I would think sending 20-30 boxes by FedEx from the Netherlands will cost you well over $10,000 - have you looked at other options? For reference, 7 years ago I spent about $12,000 to get 17m³ worth of stuff from Japan to the US including packing on the Japan side with separate crating of a 70" TV and an expensive bike. If you have the money, by all means go with FedEx, but that's not a common way of doing it.

Yeah, it would be an improvement to not actually have to pay for biometrics if it is waived...

Not sure where I got UK from, I meant to say "pension income from home country" plus any other income from assets etc. You can claim a parent as tax dependent even if they are not living with you. There also seems to be a new law in California that does let you include a dependent parent on your Covered California plan, so you may be in luck: https://www.coveredca.com/support/before-you-buy/dependent-parents-or-stepparents/#:~:text=Beginning in 2023%2C a new,the health plan's service area.

In the vast majority of cases elderly parents can not be covered under children's health plans. He is not entitled to Medicare until he has been a resident for 5 years, and at that time he must pay into the plan, as of 2024 that will be $505 / month for Medicare Part A and at least $175 / month for Medicare Part B. If he has little or no income he would typically be eligible for Medicaid after 5 years as well, but California has less strict rules than most states. Depending on pension income from the UK he may qualify for Medi-Cal from day one.

I had to learn how to write cheques moving to the US, in Europe they went pretty much extinct 40 years ago and I never learned how to fill one out...

$1,225 is indeed the correct fee for I-485 from K-1. It wouldn't surprise me if the two separate money orders tripped you up here - someone at the lockbox intake saw one of them and spent all of 5 seconds concluding that the wrong fee was submitted without even looking for the other one. Did you list "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" as the payee?

Just to add to the above - current processing times for I-90 are showing 28.5 months so you will in all likelihood be a citizen before you ever see that replacement card, but you still need to file the I-90 (and pay the $540 fee...) to have proof of status.

Yeah, it was hit or miss for me - the actual interaction with the officer in secondary (in airports) never took more than a minute or two, it was waiting for my turn that tended to take time if many international flights came in at the same time. Entering on AP at the Canada/US land border were the only times I've ever had bad experiences with CBP staff. It happened more than once that they were outright rude about having to go through the extra steps related to admitting me on AP and being overall snarky about it like "AP is not for leisure travel, you know, we might not let you in next time". I stuck with "I'll keep that in mind sir" and never had any issues beyond that, I estimate I entered about 10 times while on AP.

When you enter on AP you could technically be denied, in practice the only real risk of getting refused entry is if you're stayed outside the country for an extended period and was found to have abandoned your I-485 while you were away, for example if you missed an appointment for biometrics or interview, or if you did not respond to an RFE. As long as you're only away for a few weeks at most you should be fine. It is also worth noting that when you enter the US on AP you will most likely end up in secondary inspection every single time, so allow extra time when booking connecting flights. Personally I'd allocate a minimum of 4 hours for connections while on AP.

Expect questions on how you met, how you got married and how you're living together since getting married. You may also get asked personal details about each other and extended families to show that you have a real relationship.

Since the approvals tend to get done pretty quickly now, don't get caught off guard if you have international travel plans around the April-June time frame - the second you take the oath you hand in your green card and you then need a US passport to be able to leave and reenter the country. That can take months if you apply using the slowest route, but the good news is you can also get one the next day if you have urgent travel and live close to a passport agency.

Just to clarify - depreciation is something you claim yearly against the income from the rental, so this can't wait until you sell them. Your tax advisor will help you use the correct depreciation schedule and apply it yearly, it is complicated enough for US rental income, and worse for foreign...

If you get a CPA they'll help, but don't forget to take the proper depreciation on the rental properties - the day he sells the properties IRS will automatically assume he's taken the depreciations and assess the depreciation recapture accordingly even if he never claimed any depreciations.

My ceremony had people in jeans and shirt, suits, sweaters, the whole spectrum. Totally up to you. If you have traveled outside the US since you filed the N-400 you may want to bring the details of those trips. I had two trips, but the officer already saw those on her computer and added them as we were speaking.

Is this a trip for them to enter the US on K-1? If it is it could either be smooth sailing where the initial officer handles everything, or she could end up sent to secondary screening even if the entry is just a formality. That can easily eat up an hour or more in the morning when many APAC flights get in. Personally, 2 hours is the shortest layover I'd consider for myself even traveling in business class (getting off the plane first) with Global Entry, knowing the layout of the airport, and being familiar with the process of retrieving and rechecking luggage. I would not recommend it for inexperienced travelers.

I visited the US on ESTA (for work) the week before my scheduled K-1 interview in Tokyo, zero issues. If anything, having that interview scheduled was a pretty compelling reason for me to go back, but it didn't even come up. By then I had a total of 20+ visits to the US on ESTA, they might have more questions for a beneficiary with very few or no prior US visits, but I don't see why they'd throw up roadblocks for someone that has gone through the hoops up to that point.

I should correct myself - I wrote "after petition is approved" above but the priority date starts as soon as your I-130 petition is properly filed/accepted. The timer for visa availability will run concurrently with the petition approval. However... The processing tool only shows how long it takes for the petition to get approved, but it's really the visa bulletin that tells the story of when a visa will be available. I also forgot to mention that the dates in the bulletin have not moved much in recent years. For example in the three years between January 2021 and January 2024 the F1 Priority Date for all chargability areas has only moved from 15 Sep 2014 to 01 Jan 2015, and in the same time F4 PD has only moved from 08 Oct 2006 to 22 May 2007 so there's a huge backlog - that's why there's so much uncertainty with the timelines. You have to look at the bulletins over time to get a sense for how the categories are getting processed.

Unmarried child over 21 = F1 - at least 9 years once petition is approved, will she stay unmarried that long? If she marries she moves to F3 which adds 6+ years. Sibling = F4 - at least 17 years once petition is approved. Dates from latest visa bulletin: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-january-2024.html In other words - your mother petitioning will most likely be faster. Hopefully your mother is in good health but a lot can happen in the 10+ years the process will take - safest bet would be for the both of you to petition. There is no issue having multiple petitions for the same person.

I don't have any personal experience with the domicile part, but I'm sure there are others on the forums that do. At the end of the day, the domicile requirement is only there to qualify you as an I-864 sponsor. As long as you meet the income requirements and can show you'll have your primary residence in the US by the time the beneficiary enters the country your background looks pretty solid. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/i-864-affidavit-faqs.html#aos18