JD2

Self employed

Yes I put my company's name. Did you not have a company that you owned? if not, put self employed. Yes, write "financial consultant"

I'm sorry you are going through this. The ban won't be around forever. Trump won't be President forever. And, if the Democrats win in November, they may be able to extract concessions out of him even sooner (but who knows if they'll spend their political capital on the ban). Try to visit each other as much as possible. Prepare for the eventual move to the US. For example, my spouse started working with an architect on our house before even moving here. If you want to have kids, both of you get your fertility checked out, so if you have an issue you can start treatment now. Speaking from experience, you don't want to spend all this time apart, then when you are finally together and ready to build a family, you discover fertility issues. Just a few ideas.

Weird. Our receipt notice is not online nor did we get it by mail. I guess we don't really need it though.

I bank at a small local bank but they do these types of letters for me all the time for various non-immigration reasons. You might want to try to do another appointment and don't mention it's for immigration just describe what you need it to say.

Who did you request this from? Was it a relationship banker at a branch or a teller or did you call the 1-800 phone number? This should be a very simple letter they can write up for you on their letterhead. Relationship bankers do it all the time.

Same here. Our I-130 too. But who knows.

Only for spouse of petitioner. Does not apply to IR-5 cases. Per the I-130 instructions, you only need name change documents "If either you or the person you are filing for is using a name that is not the same name shown on the relevant documents" so no it does not affect things. BUT, at NVC stage, I believe your mom will have to submit her marriage certificate and divorce decree. I use Rush Translate. But, if you want to save money, anyone fluent in both English and the document language can do the translation provided they include a certification like this: I [typed name], certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the English and ________ languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled ______________________________. Signature_________________________________ Date Typed Name Address

Looking at the timelines here and reddit and Facebook, there seems to be a small subset of people who get interviews freakishly fast like under 4 months some even under 3 months.

Did you ever get your receipt notice on myUSCIS or by mail? We filed by paper too and only got a biometrics notice.

You are misunderstanding. What I'm saying is the fee reduction is very easy, you are not gaining much by not doing it, so it's equivalent to burning cash or donating it to charity. You said you wanted to pay full price "to avoid headaches." The "headache" is miniscule IMHO. I also said: Again, good luck to you.

if you want to burn some cash, give it to charity. but, to each their own. it's your money and time, you have your answer. good luck to you.

Why? It's so easy. I know someone who did it successfully. All you need is tax returns, which you're probably already submitting, or W-2s or paystubs. My colleague included all 3 to be safe and she got the fee reduction without issue.

I vaguely remember doing my wife's a few years ago. And, I remember uploading the digital photo and it printed automatically. Did you not upload it? I don't see anywhere on the VFS instructions where it says to paste 2x2 photo. Only upload.

My wife is using this set: But it is old. You need to print the new additional questions and add them. https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-uscis

Well he'll have to find someone else.

All he needs to do is find a qualified co-sponsor.

IMHO and with all due respect, he asked for immigration advice. I don't recall he ever asked for financial advice. That's none of our business.

Strongly consider getting married and doing a CR-1 instead.

Will the photo taken at biometrics be the photo used on the Naturalization Certificate?

Oh ok so everyone gets NBC

What service center did y'all get? I know it will go to our local field office eventually, but my spouse's biometrics notice lists NBC as the Service Center. We never got a Receipt Notice on myUSCIS but I'm assuming it will also say National Benefits Center when it comes in the mail.

Well I spoke too soon. Moments later we got an email notification, checked myUSCIS and saw the biometrics appointment letter. Feb. 17th.

So my paper filing is definitely slower.

The instructions are pretty clear: 3 years tax transcripts, 1 month of paystubs, and most recent W-2 for everyone in the household.