FeelingYoung66

Thank you Fr8dog. Your explanation seems plausible.

I guess things have changed. This I-751 approval letter specifically says that she will be getting the new permanent resident green card. It mentions no other possibility. "You should receive a new Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551, also known as a Green Card) within 60 days." It goes on to say.. "You should not travel outside the United States until you receive your new Green Card, as you may have difficulty reentering the United States."

The approval letter says otherwise.. "You should not travel outside the United States until you receive your new Green Card, as you may have difficulty reentering the United States."

My wife recently had her I-751 ROC interview which was combined with her N-400 naturalization interview. Happy to say that she easily passed them both and we are now awaiting an oath ceremony date. About a week after the interview, she receives official notification in the mail (an I-797 NOA letter) saying that her ROC is approved and that a new green card will be sent. The letter also specifically states that she should not travel outside the country at this time because she may have difficulty getting back in. Does anyone know why this is the case? She still has possession of her expired two-year GC and the four-year extension letter that has about a year and a half left on it. So, is that four-year extension letter now suddenly no-good? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment on this.

Oops.. forgot that part. Yes.. approved on both. We were comfortable in the interview from the start. Some other things that might have made the officer's decision an easy one.. 1) We're older than most K1 couples. I'm in my late 60's and my wife in her late 50's. 2) We dressed nicely. Business casual. I was shocked at how some of those in the waiting room were dressed for their appointments. One guy in a old t-shirt that wasn't even tucked-in. 3) My K1 spouse is from Canada. which is a very low-fraud country. Probably the lowest. 4) We had good quality photos documenting our relationship over a 12 year period. (Marriage was five years ago.) 5) Our three-inch binder of "evidence" was well organized with lots of cover sheets that said what the next page was. Everything (originals and copies) were in clear plastic protectors. The examiner never even got to the end of the binder where the affidavit letters were. It was also a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend. Goverment employee's are always in a happy mood on such days. Again PeteC78.. your preparation as you have described it is fine. Way more than adequate. Relax and enjoy your interview. Check back with us when it's done.

An update on this thread. The inquiry I sent on June 29th to try to stir the pot might well be the reason why we finally got some action. A letter was sent to us on July 25th with a I-751/N-400 combo interview date of August 29th. The interview itself was a cinch (we were prepared) and were now awaiting my wife's oath ceremony date. So the I-751 submission ended up taking 27 months and the N-400 took about 13 months.

In my opinion you shouldn't be worried at all. You have an abundance of strong evidence. Have some faith in what you have prepared. You're good to go. Want more reassurance? My wife's combo I-751/N-400 interview was just two days ago. (3-yr rule on the N-400) For the I-751 we had no joint financial accounts of any kind to show (we each have our own separately) and the house we live in, purchased after marriage, is in my name only. Utilities are also in my name only. No wills, and no POA's. Otherwise, we did have much of the same evidence that you have but with five years of joint tax return transcripts downloaded from the IRS's website as opposed to your two. The examiner never even brought up the topic of the house deed or of any financial accounts, joint or otherwise. Most of these guys realize that this is 2025, not 1985, and that spouses now often keep their finances separate. The examiner did keep copies of joint insurances (house and auto) and a joint car lease agreement. Also kept our tax transcripts. And that was pretty much it financially. He was more interested in how we met and our life story since then. He liked our photos showing travel together and at family group events like Thanksgiving and such. Don't let anyone tell you that photos aren't helpful in an I-751 application and interview. They carry more weight than you might think. Good luck to you, and for Pete's sake... just relax. Speak the truth and you'll pass with flying colors.

PeteC78.. I had a good chuckle reading your post. What are you worried about? IMO your evidence is overwhelming.. likely far beyond the average I-751 applicant.

bengal17 & MelOe Did either of you have a pending N-400 application that was already received by the USCIS when your I-751 was approved without an interview? Also.. what Field Office please?

If you don't get any traction, mandamus might be the next step to consider. A lot of trouble and expense to file the petition and from what I read the burden is on you to convince the judge that you're being wronged in some manner and that you have exhausted all other means of finding a solution. This is from an article I read online from a lawfirm that specializes in Mandamus. You have exhausted all other administrative remedies, indicating that you have pursued every available option, such as appeals, reconsiderations, or other administrative procedures, without achieving a satisfactory resolution to your issue.

Can you send an inquiry? Did you move since filing? Yes OldUser, as I mentioned in my text I sent the inquiry today. Also added our joint 2024 Federal Tax Return transcript. They now have five years worth of tax returns. No, haven't moved. They have our correct address, email address, and phone number. There is nothing out of the ordinary about our application. It's about as plain vanilla as they come.

Filed our N-400 online 07-31-24. Receipt was immediate and we received the NOA letter a week later. Since then.. nada. USCIS's own estimate at the time was 7 months so we thought we would hear something by February '25. It's now the end of June. The Dallas field office is currently running 8 months for 80% of the cases so we are well outside the normal processing time. I went ahead and sent in the "Case Inquiry" today. Does anyone know if the Dallas office does combined N-400/I-751 interviews? Conditions.. Dallas field office 3yr rule N-400 sent online 07-31-24 I-751 was sent in April 2023. Still pending Case status on both the N-400 and I-751 is "Being Actively Reviewed", which of course means little.

Filed our N-400 online on July 31, 2024. The usual receipt acknowledgment and biometrics reuse letters were immediate. Like many others we were a bit lazy about filing as we could have done so as early as June 24th (GC anniversary date) or even up to 90 days earlier than that I suppose. The initial time estimate given was 7 months but dropped to 6 the next day. Our field office is Dallas which from all evidence is perhaps the busiest one in the country, so 6 months is probably about right. We envy those who are getting interviews much sooner than that. Btw.. I am a naturalized citizen myself and still remember my citizenship "interview" in downtown Dallas in February 1978. It was at about 3:00pm on a cold Friday afternoon in an old decrepit government building and it seemed like the interviewer and I were just about the only ones there. He looked like he had been doing this for a long time and was nearing retirement. His questions about government were basic at first but got progressively more difficult. Since I had lived in and was educated in the US from an early age, I was pretty much acing the test. He got a little frustrated that he couldn't stump me and finally asked me to name as many members of Jimmy Carter's cabinet as I could. (Carter was president at the time.) After I had named five or six of them he finally waved his arms and asked me to stop. He then chuckled and started signing things in front of him on his desk. Then he suddenly looked up at me and said "Son, you're more American than most American's!" We laughed (mine was more a sigh of relief) and I took the oath of allegiance the next month. I'm 70 years old now and that interview has always been a favorite memory of mine. I will be so proud of my K-1 wife (from Canada) when she gets to vote for the first time in an American election.