Jorge V

My wife got her passport same day at the Dallas Passport Agency without any problems in January. She simply called up, said she had travel within 14 days, and got an appointment. Took all of 5 minutes.

We didn't do anything to move along the case as processing times for our service center crawled up to like 24-30 months, so I wasn't able to request an update from USCIS since we were still within "normal processing times." As far as the extension goes, once our 18 month extension letter expired we began to request I-551 passport stamps as we needed to travel outside of the US frequently. The stamp is required for international travel once your letter expires as USCIS won't issue more extension letters and airlines won't let you board without proof of status. If you don't plan to travel then the I-551 stamp isn't required as you remain in status. If you do plan on traveling then you should call USCIS, say "infopass", and request an appointment for the passport stamp. Note that it takes 30-40 days to get an appointment so you shouldn't leave it to the last minute.

This thread hasn't had a post since March 2022, which makes me think we were one of the last June 2020 N400s to be approved. Here's our timeline Jun 2019 - Submitted I751, got 18 month extension letter Aug 2019 - Biometrics Sep 2019 - Status changed to "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" Jun 2020 - Submitted N400 Jan 2021 - Got biometrics reuse notice for N400 Mar 2021 - 18 month extension letter expired Mar 2021 - present - Got total of four I-551 passport stamps as we travel internationally frequently by calling and saying "infopass" Oct 2022 - N400 interview scheduled Nov 2022 - Combo interview Dec 2022 - Oath ceremony

I haven't kept up with this thread in a long time, but we finally had our I751 (and N400), approved. We might be one of the last June 2019 filers to get approved. Here's our timeline: Jun 2019 - Submitted I751, got 18 month extension letter Aug 2019 - Biometrics Sep 2019 - Status changed to "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" Jun 2020 - Submitted N400 Jan 2021 - Got biometrics reuse notice for N400 Mar 2021 - 18 month extension letter expired Mar 2021 - present - Got total of four I-551 passport stamps as we travel internationally frequently by calling and saying "infopass" Oct 2022 - N400 interview scheduled Nov 2022 - Combo interview Dec 2022 - Oath ceremony

Just to add to what others have said, your wife won't be eligible to apply for citizenship until 03-01-2024 at the earliest (90 days before her three year anniversary of becoming a permanent resident/"resident since" date on her card). This is assuming she remains married to you.

The Dallas field office is not currently allowing visitors. My wife has her oath in a few days and this is what it says: Who should come with you? - You may be limited in who may attend your appointment with you in person. If you do not speak English fluently and are eligible to take the appointment in a language other than English, you should arrange to have an interpreter come with you to the appointment or be available via phone. If you need a Sign Language Interpreter or Certified Deaf Interpreter, call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 as soon as possible. Your attorney or authorized representative may come with you to the appointment or be available via phone. If you have a disability and have an individual who assists you, that individual may come with you. No mention of anyone else being able to attend.

Mexico City used to process DCF, as did Monterrey (and maybe another one I'm forgetting), but it seems that changed during the added DCF restrictions in 2020. Others have chimed in to say that DCF can't be done on a tourist visa, but I did just that in 2017. This, too, was before DCF became more restrictive so things might have changed now. I'll note that I had been living in Mexico for 7 years on tourist visas by doing visa runs (leaving and re-entering every 6 months) so I was able to provide evidence of my living there (lease, bank statements, passport entry stamps). Back then I was able to call the embassy and the person on the phone seemed to indicate that it didn't matter, and that they would consider my case as long as I could prove I had been in the country for 3 months. Again, things might be different now. I'll also add that I did get apply for and get my mexican resident card just in case, bit I ended up not needing it as our case was approved before I received the card. The process to get residency was simple. I hired a lawyer and paid a total of around $600. Total process took about 6 weeks. If the embassy is unwilling to accept your case then you might consider just applying for Mexican residency, though that may not work with the timeline for your new job.

As others have mentioned, waiting 2+ years for I751 is common. We waited 3.5 years for ours. We also filed N400 as soon as we could, but it didn't seem to speed things up in our case. Here's our timeline in case it might help you: Jun 2019 - Submitted I751, got 18 month extension letter Aug 2019 - Biometrics Sep 2019 - Status changed to "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" Jun 2020 - Submitted N400 Jan 2021 - Got biometrics reuse notice for N400 Mar 2021 - 18 month extension letter expired Mar 2021 - present - Got total of four I-551 passport stamps as we travel internationally frequently by calling and saying "infopass" Oct 2022 - N400 interview scheduled Nov 2022 - Combo interview Dec 2022 - Oath ceremony

USCIS rescheduled our interview (not the day of, that sucks), and we didn't receive the letter for the new interview until about 5-6 weeks later. From what I've seen, 1-2 months is common when waiting for a new interview date, but it depends on how busy your field office is. I share your frustration with all the delays. Similarly we filed our I751 first and then N400 a year later, but had to wait much longer. Our I751 was filed in June 2019, N400 in June 2020, and we literally heard nothing until Sept 2022. We finally did our interview (I751 + N400) a few weeks ago, 3.5 years after filing the I751 and 2.5 years after the N400.