David and Anna

Quoting your post again to say "THANKS!" We had our interview this morning and the Officer said he would review and let us know the decision via mail. I then asked about the travel question we have, and he said if we could wait he could review and approve our case while we waited and then give us the I-551 stamp before we left. So we did get the stamp today (and approved after 24 months of waiting for AoS). I had not heard of the I-551 stamp before your reply and thus we are very grateful to you for letting us know about this option.

Thank you for your reply here (and in my other question/thread) sharing your insights. Much appreciated.

just a word/phrase as in its the worst of the options I could foresee. And, it is of course. Removing the restriction on time outside the USA is something valuable to us.

My wife entered on a K-1 and we married and filed AoS within 1 month of her arrival. That was 26 months ago. We still have not had an interview. (however, that is not the topic here please). We do anticipate getting an interview soon and getting her GC (my understanding is it will be an unconditional one since we have been married for more than 2 years). Our AoS took more than a year longer than pretty much all of the couples that were in our cohort of K-1's we stay in touch with. My question is does the citizenship clock only start when she gets here GC? (Or does it start when she started living in the USA back when she entered on her K-1 or when we married or when we filed for AoS?) (my fear/understanding is that it only starts when you get the GC, so the past 2+ years of married living together in the USA don't count at all towards the 3 years rule for citizenship? So our long wait vs. our peers will also cause us to get her citizenship later than all of them too?)

My wife (the immigrant) needs to travel back to her home country later this month, in fact she wants to travel to Europe the day after our interview. I have searched the web without success trying to find out if this is allowed and also what the implications and concerns are of doing so...(since she won't know if she was approved or denied until she is out of the country and wouldn't have her GC if approved before she returns - so she would return on the EAD/AP combo card and her foreign passport). She has her EAD/AP combo card (and its valid until late this year). Her trip to Europe would be 3 weeks. Anyone have experience with this and/or know where I should look for guidance or regulations about this? Thanks.