Wouter

Hi, no she has been here with me for all this time. However, the issue doesn't seem to be residence in the US but the reasons for denial is: not enough time living in 'marital union'. We have been married for over five years but didn't physically live together until the immigrated on her CR1 visa, as so many CR1 couples have. Your question actually highlights that there tends to be much more attention on this residence requirement but I have not read anything before about the marital union requirement and that people get denied on that (but that is my mistake because it is clearly part of the requirements). So let this be a word of caution to others that come through the CR1 path. Fortunately it's not a major problem, she still has her PR status. We just have to file the same application again and pay again and then it should be fine. W

OK yes thanks. We can just refile now basically. So I conclude that this 90 day rule is basically useless for people coming in on a CR1 and even causes some confusion. Even though it explicitly allows 90 day early filing for residency it does not allow 90 day early filing for marital union (which for CR1 situations is usually one and the same). Sadly it doesn't mention 'marital union' anywhere but I realize it falls under 'all other requirements'. Thanks everyone. We will just file again soon.

Hello, I am confused and frustrated, She was just notified that her N400 application was denied because "at the time of filing Form N-400, August 18, 2024, you have been living in marital union with your U.S. citizen spouse for 2 years 9 months and 5 days". We have been married since 02-02-2020. We applied for a CR1 visa shortly after and like so many my wife stayed in her home country while I waited in the US. When the CR1 was finally approved and issued she entered the US on 11-13-2021 which was also the date on her temporary 2y green card. We filed for removal of conditions before 11-13-2023 and this was approved and she received her permanent 10y green card without problems. On 08-18-2024 we filed her N400 application for US citizenship, which is 88 days ahead of the 3 year mark of my wife being here with me, under the assumption the 90 day early filing rule would allow this. She just had her interview on 12-11-2024 and was denied as I mentioned above. Not because her residence in the US at time of filing was less than 3 years but because she hasn't been living in "marital union" with me for 3 years at time of filing! Don't those two things go together for every CR1 situation? How can you be allowed to file 90 days early but then get denied because you didn't live together with your spouse for the full 3 years at time of filing? It does say that you can request a hearing to overcome the grounds of this denial, but we would probably need a lawyer to help us with that and I have my doubts this would be successful. Should we just file the N400 again now that it definitely has been more than 3 years?

APOLOGIES: I made a crucial typo in the original post (which I can't edit). We filed on August 18th!

I don't understand this reply. I filed August 18th so clearly three days after August 15th. Even a week after would not have changed the fact that it was less than exactly 3 years. Of course in hindsight it would have been better to wait for the 3 year mark on Nov 11th 2024 but what is the 90 day rule for then? As I mentioned, the denial is not because she did not meat the residence requirement, but for less than 3 years 'living in marital union': even if we were on a trip outside the US we would still be in marital union.

Hello, I am confused and frustrated, She was just notified that her N400 application was denied because "at the time of filing Form N-400, August 18, 2024, you have been living in marital union with your U.S. citizen spouse for 2 years 9 months and 5 days". We have been married since 02-02-2020. We applied for a CR1 visa shortly after and like so many my wife stayed in her home country while I waited in the US. When the CR1 was finally approved and issued she entered the US on 11-13-2021 which was also the date on her temporary 2y green card. We filed for removal of conditions before 11-13-2023 and this was approved and she received her permanent 10y green card without problems. On 08-13-2024 we filed her N400 application for US citizenship, which is 88 days ahead of the 3 year mark of my wife being here with me, under the assumption the 90 day early filing rule would allow this. She just had her interview on 12-11-2024 and was denied as I mentioned above. Not because her residence in the US at time of filing was less than 3 years but because she hasn't been living in "marital union" with me for 3 years at time of filing! Don't those two things go together for every CR1 situation? How can you be allowed to file 90 days early but then get denied because you didn't live together with your spouse for the full 3 years at time of filing? It does say that you can request a hearing to overcome the grounds of this denial, but we would probably need a lawyer to help us with that and I have my doubts this would be successful. Should we just file the N400 again now that it definitely has been more than 3 years?

Thank you! We will go with listing both children as 'stepchild'. For the second part of my question, regarding the tick box 'Are you providing support for this child?'. I would think she should tick 'no' because SHE is not providing the support (it is me who is providing the support). Does this make sense? Any advice or insight into this will be much appreciated! Wouter

Hello, I am a USC and my wife is LPR and has her 10y GC. On August 15th we can submit her N-400 application for naturalization (90 day early filing). I have a few questions about N-400 Part 6: Information About Your Children. I have two children from a previous marriage. I don't have much interaction with them, and they live full-time with my ex-wife. As part of the divorce decree, and as I should, I pay monthly child support payments to my ex-wife. My current wife has basically no interaction with them. My questions: Are my two children considered my wife's stepchildren, and as per the N-400 instructions should they be listed in the Part 6 'About Your Children' section? If yes, then how about the question 'are you providing support for this child?': I am paying support out of my own money, and my wife is not involved in these child support payments. Or since we are married is she considered to be providing support, and do we need to include proof of my child support payments? Thanks, Wouter

Wow I am surprised that it takes that long for so many people. We filed I-751 on 08-16-2023 and got the approval 03-27-2024, so just over 7 months. (Interestingly without interview, the approval letter just showed up in the mail and the 10 year GC a few weeks later)

Hello @blakezero, Currently, US citizens do not need a Schengen visa for any of the Schengen area countries, and can stay for up to 90 days. (It does look like that from November 2023 US Citizens will need to register with ETIAS before they can travel to the Schengen zone). Regarding the time it may take to get the passport (with the visa) back from the US embassy in Warsaw, my wife had her interview in October 2021 and at that time everyone got their visa back the next day, but as @Simplytex mentions, this may have changed and it may take longer now. So not a bad idea to plan for a possible longer time. He is also correct that technically there is no requirement how much time you should spend in the visa issuing Schengen country, but the purpose of a Schengen visitor visa is to visit the country for which you have the visa. It is common for the immigration officer at entry of a Schengen country to ask the purpose of the visit. Of course it is important to answer truthfully, so when you answer that you will not even be spending a day in the issuing country and that your intention is to travel onwards to another country almost immediately, I do believe there is a risk that the immigration officer will flag this as possible abuse, and could argue that you should have applied for the Schengen visa of your destination country. (Perhaps I am too concerned about these things, and there may be people who have had no problems spending less than a day in the Schengen visa issuing country. So this is just my estimation and opinion.) All the best! Wouter

Hi! Congrats on getting the interview scheduled, but now that the waiting is over you suddenly have to hurry to get everything organized, I know how it is. To answer your questions: - you will get the passport with the visa back the next day after the interview - you can fly straight from Poland to the USA if you want. You can also fly back via Turkey but that is not necessary. - you also mention a Schengen visa and yes, your wife's mother will need a Schengen visa to be able to enter Poland. Does she already have one, perhaps from Spain since you are flying through Spain to Poland? If not then that will be something to get as soon as possible. - Don't forget that you will also have to organize the medical examination. I believe this can be done ahead of time in Moscow or you can do it in Warsaw or even in Krakow. Let me know if you want any more information on anything. Good luck! Wouter P.S. Could you fill in your timeline? I would be interested to hear how long it took to get the IR5 visa.