OldUser

I believe L-1s are dual intent visas, just like H-1B. So shouldn't be an issue.

I don't see how it delays process. Yes, if OP submits questionable or ambiguous evidence of random chats this could create more issues. But again, this is not quality evidence to begin with.

I doubt anybody could produce 1000 pages of quality evidence for I-129F. At the same time, if it's all relevant and legit, why not... Make them work for $$$. But seriously, if case is put together well, and evidence is indexed, officer may not even need to read every line of every page. They'll pick what they want to see based on index.

Alright then, as promised, report from new US citizen 🤠 Had an interview in the morning. Had a long wait (approx an hour) in the waiting area. Glad my lawyer was with me, since she kept listening to my name being called while I went to the restroom and also was a great source of entertainment (OK, not only entertainment, we went through questions few more times). Got called by a IO lady, she was about 30-35 y.o. She welcomed me and my attorney, told there's going to be trainee in the interview, then took to the room. After swearing in, she asked for my passport, GC, DL. Confirmed my name. Then she went through civics questions, it was a breeze. Same reading / writing on tablet. I got all 6 questions right, so she resumed with N-400 application. She confirmed few personal questions, address, work etc. Interestingly enough, she (I feel like) made a couple of mistakes on purpose reading my travel dates and other dates on form. For example, she said "so you were back from Italy on September 6th, 2024?" But I knew it was September 10th, so I answered "No officer, it was September 10th". Then she apologized for reading incorrectly. And it was 2-3 questions like it. The she asked me how many times I was married, and more importantly, who lives at my address. When I replied "Just me and my wife", she asked whether anybody else lived with us. When I said "No", she proceeded asking about whether at any point me my wife lived apart. At that moment my attorney immediately jumped in, and pretty much told IO it's a 5 year rule application, and these questions are irrelevant. IO got visibly dissapointed (😃), proceeded with Yes and No questions. After those questions I double checked my answers and details on tablet and signed it. Then IO was pleased to announce I passed the exam and the interview. She also told me they had same day ceremony available about 1.5 hrs later. I surely agreed 😃 The longest wait in my life was sitting in the other area for 1.5 hrs, mostly starring at US and DHS flags. I kinda reflected at that point and thought that paying a lawyer wasn't a bad idea, even though my case was easy and straightforward. I brought about 400 pages of various evidence including marriage bonafides. I brought all J1, work visa docs, marriage cert for our marriage, divorce papers for my wife's prior marriage, her naturalization cert, all passports and IDs, my naturalization cert from other country, my birth cert and translations. Essentially I was ready to fight to the end, no matter what they would have asked I had it. But I feel like my lawyer helped keeping interview short and focused. All and all, I feel like it took about 15-20 mins max. Eventually, me and other folks got in a different room, had our GCs taken away, and read the oath together! After ceremony we got naturalization certs and checked the details before leaving. I'm super happy the way everything went. I'll keep disagreeing with anybody who says N-400 is the easiest part. No, officer could have made it hell if I wasn't prepared, went without a lawyer, wasn't confident or didn't listen carefully. Good luck to everybody still waiting ! Next stop - need to apply for passport 😃

Sorry it went the way it went. You probably needed to involve lawyer from the start and have them accompany your mother to interview too. They would have pointed out whether N-648 was sufficient or not.

Doesn't hurt

I don't recommend trusting MyProgress estimates. It's never accurate.

Agreed, 17-18 is more like it

No estimates are accurate

Yes, it is sadly outdated. Not sure how to propose edits to it. I-131 and I-765 are no longer free.

Awesome news @top_secret! So essentially, you clicked the link above and selected "Update documents in my account"? The just uploaded bio page of US passport? Was there anything else you uploaded or did?

No plans to file N-400? He could have naturalized by now if filed N-400 in 2024, year later after his I-751.

Unless you had joint lease etc you didn't live together. Short visits don't count.

I think games with taxes is what causes USCIS ask for joint sponsors, ask for more docs and the latest tax return transcripts. If we all recommend to be transparent and honest with government dealing with immigration, then why do we have this double standard when it comes to taxes? IMHO if married, I'd always recommend filing as MFS or MFJ. If it means inconvenience and paying more to government for that year - so be it. Filing single when married is tax fraud really...

No issue

Ideally, context should be provided. After all, adjudicator is a stranger who never saw or met you. The most valuable pics are of couple with their relatives and friends. With more than 2 people on photo it becomes challenging to understand who is who.

Average time for I-130 is 17 months nowadays. So you're few months away from hearing something.

What's the living arrangement? Do you have joint lease? Do you both contribute and use money from joint account? Can he add you to his health insurance (since it's risky to be uninsured in the US and it's good evidence)?

Single is not an option when you're married. Also, it's smaller tax break when filing as single, not sure why you want to shoot yourself in the leg immigration and tax wise.

Do you want to test your luck? I didn't have any prior issues with law and still had a lawyer filing AOS and present at my interview.

Then submitting more shouldn't be an issue? You're not printing anything

You're uploading digitally, right? Or you're filing on paper?

N-400 cannot be approved without I-751 approval. It's not guaranteed, but usually N-400 makes USCIS decide both cases together

Depends on your comfort level. There's been cases when officer said "We don't have your I-751 file" or "We don't have enough evidence", e.g sometimes USCIS loses evidence. If you bring everything, you'll be bulletproof. At the same time, you may be never asked for much evidence going back.

Then everything proving bonafide marriage, such as: - Tax return transcripts showing you filed taxes jointly - Joint lease(s) and or mortgage statements - Utility bills in both names - Joint bank account statements - Copies of IDs / DLs showing same address - Birth certificates of any children born in this marriage - Flight and hotel reservations showing both names - Receipts for big purchases showing both names - Car and/or health insurance policies showing both names - Wills listing spouses - Printouts of retirement plans / brokerage accounts showing spouse is listed as beneficiary - Affidavits from friends and family - Joint memberships - Many more