ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMedical Info
I have Type 2 diabetes, controlled by diet and lifestyle. It's a class B condition, so it isn't grounds for inadmissibility in and of itself. When I did my visa interview, in Vancouver in April 2009, my USC now-wife was unemployed, and the IO expressed some concern about how I was going to handle things with no immediate access to health insurance, but she admitted that this isn't any kind of cause for inadmissibility. I imagine that a non-trivial probability of having a major medical expense with no health insurance could trigger a denial based on likelihood of becoming a public charge, if one's symptoms and complications were severe enough. I told her I'm young and reasonably healthy and I had a 6 month - 1 year supply of metformin and test strips, and that seemed to satisfy her.

I was able to get a copy of my medical at the PoE (which is apparently quite unusual) and while it says I should follow up with a US doctor upon arrival, I was never told this by anybody, and my AOS was transferred to the CSC and granted in under 90 days with no interview, so the "follow-up AOS almost-denial" may just be a matter of having a really b*tchy AOS adjudicator by pure bad luck-of-the-draw.

As near as I could tell, the immigration medical did NOT take an A1C or even a blood glucose test - they just included the physician letter in my file and checked "Diabetes" on the checklist of possible conditions. I have no major [or even minor] symptoms, so if I hadn't brought the letter, they wouldn't have caught it. But trying to hide it would have been a bad idea - see below.

YAS8MIKE: The instructions I received for the medical in Canada was to bring a letter from my physician documenting "any CHRONIC [their caps] illness or MAJOR surgery." So yeah, if they tell you something like that, you need to tell them everything. It's just like anything else in US immigration - you have no rights, no privacy, and lying or misrepresenting the facts will always always always come back and bite you.

Edited by HeatDeath, 23 December 2010 - 05:09 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-12-23 05:06:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionForms: DS-156 and DS-156K
When I was going through Vancouver applying for my K-1 I emailed them to confirm whether they wanted a DS-156 or a DS-160, as I had found some conflicting instructions somewhere (I think in my Packet 3 vs. what they had on their website). They confirmed that they were not using the 160 for K visas. That was as of April 2009. It was also confirmed more recently by someone else here.

Montreal, OTOH, might be completely different, as this is exactly the sort of thing that varies a lot from consulate to consulate. So check with the specific consulate. Their opinion is the only one that matters at this stage.

Edited by HeatDeath, 02 January 2011 - 09:21 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-01-02 21:20:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionCanadian embassy

Montreal is the only embassy which does the CR1 - start preparing now for your trip to Montreal - you're not the firsta nd yes it's incredibly inconvenient for anyone out west.

Good that you found out the details now and have time to plan. Come join us in the Canadian forum - lots of helpful folks!

Could be worse, you could be in Winnipeg. :)

Almost equidistant between the two - incredibly inconvenient no matter which consulate you get!
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-01-07 11:34:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionSolo for the interview
There are 4 categories of consulates, regarding this matter:

A ) Consulates where it totally doesn't matter if your petitioner is present. Canada, Most of Western Europe, Australia, etc.

B ) Consulates where having your petitioner is a plus, but not having them is not a minus. Brazil is probably one of these.

C ) Consulates where not having your petitioner present is a red flag, ranging in severity from minor red flag to your-application-better-be-absolutely-airtight-otherwise. Many MENA countries fall into this category. China and Vietnam are in this spectrum too, I think.

D ) Consulates where no petitioner means no visa, end of story. Guyaquil in Ecuador, Lagos in Nigeria, maybe Casablanca.

Bear in mind that many consulates in C and D will not let you interview with your petitioner. Some won't let your petitioner into theinterview room. Some won't even let your petitioner into the consulate/embassy, but they still want/require proof that your petitioner is in the country with you at the time, and will consider it a significant red flag if you can't show them, for example, your petitioner's original passport, to demonstrate, even if they're not in the building, that they're in the country with you.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-01-28 11:59:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionHad to submit another I-134
For question 11, my wife checked "Intend" and wrote "I intend to marry him andhold property in common as husband and wife." It worked for Vancouver, Canada.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-02-25 21:08:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionBuying round trip flight
In answer to 2, buying a round trip ticket is perfectly fine, and will not create any negative impression with immigration at all. You've probably already read here why it's important to cancel the return leg once he's here, and as long he does that, a return ticket is perfectly fine.

In answer to 1, many countries require "transit visas" for people of certain nationalities switching planes, even if they never leave the airport. Mexico may very well be once of these.

According to this: http://www.skyteam.c...travelinfo.html

Peruvians transiting through Mexico to the Us do not need transit visas if they are

departing from the same airport within 24 hours, by the same or the first connecting flight, without further intermediate landings in Mexican territory, and provided holding confirmed onward tickets and other documents for their next destination. Leaving the airport is not allowed. Stay in transit area is under airline custody.


Edited by HeatDeath, 09 February 2011 - 01:48 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-02-09 13:44:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionDS 230 Question #35
That was what I put. There was a line in my list-of-trips attachment that said "Numerous trips to Grand Forks between 1984 and 2005, all under 24 hours", or something very close to that.

The US consulates in Canada know that many Canadians go down to the US for daytrips on a regular basis and that no documentation is likely to exist. I wouldn't try this if I was from anywhere else, though. :)

Edited by HeatDeath, 09 February 2011 - 02:05 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-02-09 14:04:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionHow will beneficiary change of status from permanent resident to Citizen affect K1
It shouldn't, really. Once she gets her Canadian naturalization certificate, she should just call or email the Montreal consulate with her consulate case number, and advise them of the situation and ask if they need any additional documentation prior to the interview. They'll almost certainly want her to bring the new naturalization certificate to the interview, and may want a scan of it emailed in in the meantime, but that would be it. I can't see it affecting the K-1 approval in any way.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-03-17 13:40:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionI'm 18 and i need help.
It's a little hard to understand all of your questions. Let me see if I've got this right. If I read your post correctly [it's a little unclear] you lived in the US until shortly after you were 18. you may not have had any legal status at that time. You then left the US prior to 180 days after your 18th birthday, and are now attempting to reenter on a CR-2 visa.

If I've got this right, then I can try to answer some of your questions in general terms. Many of the questions you ask are specific to the country you are interviewing in.

The interviewing officer will be interviewing you. Depending on the country you are in, your parents would probably not be allowed to be present, and even if they were, the questions would still be directed primarily at you.

If you are currently over 18, your parents do not have to be present, and depending on the consulate, might not even be allowed to be present.

Interviewing officers are not usually hard on individuals unless there is some reason to suspect immigration fraud. That is much more common with fiancee and spousal visa cases than with yours. I wouldn't worry too much.

The consulates, I believe, will run your fingerprints through the FBI background check system, so if you ever had an encounter with US law enforcement, that would show. They also use it to confirm your identity at PoE and for subsequent filings with USCIS.

The medical exams will draw blood for some tests, do a chest x-ray, do a comprehensive examination of your body including your private parts looking for obvious symptoms of disease or drug use. They will also check your pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and do a basic vision test. In some countries they will do a skin test for tuberculosis. They will need a complete history of any vaccines you have had, and will require you to get any missing ones before they pass you.

No, you should not be scared and nervous. That never helps. Even if you have red flags on your case, and I don't think that you do, going in confident and optimistic is better than going in worried, nervous and shifty-like.

I would need a clearer timeline of when you were in the US, under what statuses, and when you left, to know if there are any serious red flags on your case, but from what I can tell, you seem to have a fairly straightforward CR-2 case, and I think your chances of getting the visa are quite good. If anyone else sees any red flags, they will chime in, but as near as I can tell, it looks ok to me. If I understand you correctly, it sounds as if you have done everything right, and that as long as you have documentary proof of your relationship to your USC father, you definitely qualify for a CR-2 visa [particularly since the petition was filed before you turned 18] and the interview should hopefully be basically a formality.

It will help other posters to answer you questions if you list out your story point, by point, timeline-style, and also tell us what country you are in now and will be interviewing in.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-04-01 19:29:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionWhich DS Form For A K1
These things can vary somewhat between consulates, but for a K-1 for Vancouver, Canada, I had to do a DS-230 (but only part 1), a DS-156, and a DS-156K. In some consulates the DS-160 is replacing the DS-156. I don't know if Columbia is one of those. Check any material they have sent you (if anything, yet) and check their website. Email or call them if it's doable. They'll give you the most authoritative answer.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-03-04 15:48:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionK1 Visa Vancouver - Application fee
When I did my interview (Vancouver, 2009), the consulate sent me a triplet of preprinted special ScotiaBank deposit slips. I had to go to a local ScotiaBank location, make the payment (US Cash, I seem to recall, but I could be wrong). They filled out and kept one of the slips, and I had to bring the other two to the interview.

Doing this was part of the Packet 3 checklist. The checklist said you had to do this before they would give you an interview date, but I wrote on the checklist I faxed back that I would do it once the date was arranged [per some advice I read here]. They said they weren't fussy about the timing as long as I had the stamped slips at the interview.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-04-15 11:48:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionNo vaccinations ever - how will this affect the medical??
Manitoba Public Health, similar to the UK NHS, wouldn't give me TDap because I'm out of the age range when they normally administer it. The panel physician in Vancouver was familiar with this problem, and had a process and arrangement in place for applicants to get it from a travel clinic on the day of the immigration medical. The panel physician in London may do something similar, if you contact them in advance.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-05-12 11:32:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionWhat are the higher fraud countries?Scale from highest to lowest.

This is purely personal opinion, but I think the scale runs:

  • Canada.
  • Any VWP country.
  • The entire rest of the world, in descending order of GNP (the lower the GNP, the more suspicious the consulate will be, by default).
  • Nigeria.

Ecuador is something of an outlier - the US consulate in Guyaquil is apparently incredibly suspicious and difficult to get through, somewhat out of proportion to the country's GNP.

 

Cases are handled pretty much the same. It's not that they take longer to process (though applicants from the Middle East and North Africa countries are much more likely to get Administrative/Additional Processing - extra security and background checks after their interview that can take weeks or months). It's more like they need much more and higher quality relationship evidence and evidence of meeting, and they frequently need to have the US citizen petitioner present at the interview (or at least in the country).

 

K-1 Applicants from higher fraud countries will often benefit significantly from including significant amounts of extra relationship evidence with their I-129F petition (a practice called frontloading - do a search on here for the term).


HeatDeathMaleCanada2013-07-15 13:57:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionVANCOUVER K1 INTERVIEW?

There were plenty of USCs when I went in 2009 for my interview in Montreal.

Half the people there had brought their USC husband / fiance(e) with them to the interview.

There was standing room only in the waiting room after I left my interview box(early morning).

Its no joke the waiting rooms are small, and there are TONS of people in there. But USC is always welcome in the US embassy. Not always allowed IN the room for the interview(depends on interviewer and their mood) but you can go in the waiting room upstairs with your significant other and sit with them(if theres a chair free).

+1 above.

I interviewed in Vancouver in 2009 as well. It wasn't very busy when I went (early afternoon on a Wednesday), but there were at least a couple of US citizen petitioners in there. It wasn't just Canadians by any stretch. I don't know if they'd let the petitioners up to the interview booths (I never saw a secondary interview room) but it certainly seemed as if petitioners were being let up to the waiting room easily enough.

Edited by HeatDeath, 14 April 2011 - 01:02 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2011-04-14 13:01:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionMarriage date is after date we can file
It's becoming much more common. I would say a very substantial percentage of the October 2009 AOS filers have or will have received their green card within 90 days of their marriage. It may be a good idea to make sure this point is properly emphasized in the citizenship guides going forward, if it isn't already.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-01-24 20:11:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhen to file for citizenship

if you move to anther state , you will have to wait 3 months before you can file you papers. you have to wait 3 months for you can be elegible for continues risidents.
Good luck

Even at that, it's still a good idea to wait until after the move to file. Moving while you have a USCIS filing pending can dramatically, and completely unnecessarily, complicate things. [They aren't very good at tracking changes of address mid-stream :) ] Unless there is some pressing time limit you want or need to be naturalized by (and the only possible cause would be wanting to make a pending presidential election, which isn't the case here) then it definitely makes sense to do the move and, if necessary, wait another couple of months.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-02-27 13:02:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionRFE

Should I panic?

What does my sig say? :)

No, you should not panic. Even if it's a real RFE, and not a biometrics letter, it is still no cause for panic. RFE's are a very straightforward, unambiguous process. They send you a letter telling you what they need, and you become despondent, sever all of your human relationships, and two fingers, go off the grid, and hide in a cabin in Montana for 13 years read the letter carefully, and send them what they want. At worst, your case is delayed by a week or two. Don't worry about it :)

As I wrote elsewhere, in immigration matters, think like a glacier. Calm, cool, and collected. It doesn't matter how slow the process is - you may only move one or two feet forward in a year. But no force on the planet can stop you. Mountains crumble beneath your unstoppable power. Slow, steady, and unstoppable - that's the key.

Edited by HeatDeath, 26 February 2010 - 03:58 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-02-26 15:58:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionAfter being naturalized...
The social security police won't come and drag you away or anything :), and even if they give you a new card it won't look any different. So there's no crushing needto update your status with the SSA, that I'm aware of. It might be a good idea, as it might affect the way they collect SS payments or regulate payouts. I don't know for sure.

But they DO ask you to notify them every time your immigration status changes. That would definitely include naturalization. They probably have a reasonable reason to want to have up to date info on your status, but I don't know what it is. Whether you want to do what they ask is pretty much up to you. There probably aren't any really important consequences either way.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-03-02 21:28:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionNew Social Security Card

Hehehe, that was me! I just got my citizenship in August of 2009 and got my new SSA card in September of 2009, not several years ago. My original SSN card was from 2004, though so perhaps the more recent SSA cards look like my new one. My new one has USA written in Gold on the bottom and the date it was issued printed right above it. My old one has an unbroken bar on the bottom, no USA and no date of issue. On the 'removable' part of the new card there is a band with squares of alternating colours with each third square having an X on either side of a large green rectangle that is not on the old one. There is also additional instruction information on the back of my new card.

These particulars match both of my SS cards - My PR SSC issued in December 2009 after I received my two-year GC, and the K-1 holder SSC issued in July 2009 two weeks after I entered on my K-1. Both of my cards are printed on the SSA-3000 form, October 2007 revision, and are totally identical except for the red control number on the back, the specific placement of the security dots embedded in the paper, the font my name, SSN and address are printed in, and the presence of a "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION" legend on the earlier card. Both have "USA" written in a reflective gold-ish ink at the bottom center, breaking the blue bar there, and both have the printing test pattern described by Kathryn on the top right hand corner of the removable part. The writing on the backs of both is identical as well.

It sounds like Kathryn's older card was issued prior to October 2007, and that that explains the differences between her PR unrestricted SSC and her post-citizenship unrestricted SSC.

I therefore conclude that unless the SSC-3000 blank SSC form is revised prior to my naturalization, that the SSC I will be sent after my naturalization and status update with the SSA will be identical, except for it's date of issue, to my current unrestricted PR SSC.

Edited by HeatDeath, 13 March 2010 - 04:08 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-03-13 16:05:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionNew Social Security Card

Hello,

My wife became a citizen on 02/24/2010 and she went to SSA office in Rockville , MD 2 days later. She was sworn in at the social security office and she was told that it would take them 4 weeks to verify if she was really a citizen or not. She also submitted a copy of her naturalization certificate.

Yesterday, We received a letter stating that her new card was ordered . Today , she received her new card.

Just wanted to share.

Bradam

Does the new card look different the the one she got when she passed AOS and told them she was a PR? I know one of the moderators says her "citizenship SSA card" is different, but she got her citizenship SSA card several years ago. I'm wondering if this is still the case?
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-03-12 19:50:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionDo they take your green card at the citizenship test? PLEASE HELP!!!!
My understanding is that they don't take it until the oath ceremony.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-03-15 20:04:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionUnderstanding the Reading & Writing section of the test
The reading and writing test is ridiculously basic. They dictate a sentence to you that you have to write out. And they make you read a sentence. There's no word scramble. That list of words is the sum total of the English language you need to know to become a US citizen. The spelling and grammar displayed by your post above shows a level of literacy light years beyond the minimum threshold tested for by USCIS.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-04-13 01:10:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionBecome a US Citizenship without doing exam
"What city was named after George Washington?"?!? That's even worse than "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" :lol:

Seriously, those two questions should be included in the USCIS Civics tests. I mean it. They wouldn't even have to count. They could be secretly flagged on the examiner's computer as "Wrong answers here don't count." Just for s**ts 'n' giggles. Just to show that the Federal Government has some humanity remaining in it's monstrous and twisted soul. That would be so great. :)

Let's start a petition! Who's with me? :)

Edited by HeatDeath, 29 April 2010 - 10:43 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-04-29 22:42:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhen does the 3-year "countdown" begin for a marriage-based case?
There are a number of conditions that need to be satisfied in order to apply for citizenship, and the ways they interact can become complex. The two conditions here are the length of marriage condition, and the continuous residency condition. Length of marriage must be over 3 years for someone who got their green card through marriage. Continuous residency must also be 3 years.

My understanding is that you can apply up to 90 days before the residency requirement has been met, but the 3 years of marriage must have been met at the time of application. Normally this is not an issue since historically, it was almost unheard of for a K-1 entrant to get their green card within 90 days of their marriage - so 90 days before the GC 3rd year anniversary would normally always be after the 3rd marriage anniversary.

In recent months, however, more and more K-1 people have received their GCs within 90 days of their marriage. I did, for example. I was married September 12, 2009, and my GC says resident since December 1, 2009. So even though the residency requirement says I should be able to apply 90 days before December 1, 2013, I actually have to wait a couple of weeks, until September 13, 2013, because I will not have been married long enough at the 90 days minus date.

The USCIS Guide to Naturalization has a big flow chart to walk people through these conditions, and how they interact. It can be found here. http://www.uscis.gov...ticle/M-476.pdf

The flowchart starts on page 21 of the pdf. I would also draw your attention to the box at the bottom of page 25 of the pdf.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-01 08:45:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionUS citizen application

thanks HeatDeath, you clarified that out, so I would send my application by July for the removal and Naturalization by August or so to come up with the 90 days range

Removal of Conditions - 90 days before TWO years after "Resident Since" date on green card.
Naturalization - the latter of:

A ) 90 days before THREE years after "Resident Since" date on green card, or

B ) your third wedding anniversary.


Just to clarify.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-02 22:51:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionUS citizen application

If an applicant got her GC based on marriage, how can she be married less than the "resident since" date? Exactly.

So, once again, the duration of the marriage or the marriage anniversary in any such case is completely irrelevant even for naturalization purposes. The applicant can be married for 3-1/2 years, 6 years, 21 years, or over 50 years, what matters is only the resident since date on her Green Card.

If an applicant gets their green card based on a spousal visa, that is entirely correct. It is also true for any person who has been married for longer than 3 years. I agree completely. Chances are we are talking at cross purposes, and arguing over a minor piece of semantics, but getting a green card based on adjustment of status from entering on a fiance visa and marrying is still just as much getting a green card "based on marriage" as the other cases you mention, and that is what I'm talking about.

This is what my experience was. I was married September 12, 2009, but my GC says "Resident Since" December 1, 2009. Ninety days prior to 3 years of continuous residence for me will be September 2, 2013. Based only on the continuous residence criterion, I would be eligible to apply for naturalization on that date, but I will not have been married 3 years at that point, so I will have to wait the extra few days until September 13, 2013, my third wedding anniversary, to file for naturalization.

Most people who enter on K-1s have, historically, had a "Resident Since" date on their GC substantially more than 3 months after their wedding date. That makes their "90 days short of 3 years of continuous residence" date fall after their 3rd wedding anniversary, so historically, the distinction hasn't mattered. But there is a growing class of relatively recent K-1 entrants, myself among them, whose date of eligibility for naturalization is affected by the date of their third wedding anniversary, and not only the date of the third anniversary of their US residence.

Do you see what I'm saying?

Edited by HeatDeath, 02 June 2010 - 01:20 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-02 01:18:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionUS citizen application

When we are talking here about the 2-year anniversary for Removal Of Conditions and the 3-year anniversary for Naturalization, we are referring to the date you became a Green Card holder. Your marriage anniversary has NOTHING to do with this. Some people have been married for many years before getting a Green Card. Look at the front of your GC: the "Resident Since .... " is the date that matters for all of this.

You marriage anniversary is completely irrelevant to Removal of Conditions, agreed. But for naturalization, your marriage anniversary is important. To quote the pdf I linked to above, page 21, left hand column, second box down, under "Type of Applicant" -

If you are at least 18 years old and:
Are currently married to and living with a U.S. citizen;
and
Have been married to and living with that same U.S.
citizen for the past 3 years;
and
Your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the past 3 years.


If you meet all of these characteristics, then you are in a certain category of people who may be eligible to apply for naturalization. If you have not been married for the past three years - i.e. if your 3rd wedding anniversary has not yet occurred - then you are not eligible to apply for naturalization under this category. Unlike the case with RoC, whether or not a particular wedding anniversary has occurred does matter for naturalization.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-01 19:06:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionUS citizen application
Assuming you have maintained continuous residence, and all other things being equal, you can apply for naturalization on the later of: 90 days prior to 3 years after the "Resident since" date on your green card, or your third wedding anniversary.

Edited by HeatDeath, 01 June 2010 - 08:50 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-01 08:49:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion
Immigrate2us.net is another immigration discussion board similar to VisaJourney, except that where we specialize in general procedural issues for normal or near-normal cases (which is itself very important, don't get me wrong! - these can be tricky enough as it is! :) ), they specialize in issues surrounding waivers, bars, and entry-without-inspection's. OP's friend would be well advised, along with getting a lawyer, to spend several hours there reading everything she can find about EWI's and normalization of status.

From what I understand, applying for naturalization is a bad idea if you have an off-the-grid illegal spouse. The N-400 will want full contact and immigration status information for the spouse. Responding truthfully will definitely bring him to the unwelcome attention of the federales, and lying on the form will, when (not if!) caught, undo all of the immigration progress she's made, and could even get her deported. Some sort of deep legal magic will definitely be needed to normalize his status, and in her shoes, I would not voluntarily have any further dealings with USCIS until that was taken care of.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-22 10:36:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion

If he came illegally, there won't be any adjustment of status, she better not waste the money.

Well that depends on what kind of "illegally" he came in on. If he crossed a fence or got smuggled in, that's entry without inspection and milimelo is right - that's a showstopper: no AOS for you.

If he came in on some kind of short term nonimmigrant visa and vanished into the crowds, that's a different story. He's still just as illegal, and it's still a flagrant violation of the law, but visa overstays are generally forgiven (or perhaps it's more accurate to say the law mandates no non-waiverable penalty) for immediate relatives of US citizens.

Overstaying a visa, marrying a USC, and adjusting status is far from unheard of, and while it's illegal, dangerous (in terms of possible life disruption if caught), and massively inconvenient, it is doable. Entering without inspection, on the other hand, just totally screws up any realistic chance of ever normalizing your status, pretty much forever (or at least until you return home, serve out your 3 or 10 year bar, and reenter under a legal status).
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-20 23:50:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion about Citizenship
I had been under the impression that the three-year rule only applied to someone who obtained their residency via marriage, but I think you're right. The Guide to Naturalization seems to imply that the three-year rule applies to anyone who is married to and living with a USC, and has been for three years, regardless of the origin of their residence status.

So if a person acquired US residency independently, and married a USC a year later, they should, if I read this right, also be able to apply for citizenship right after their third wedding anniversary, shaving a full year off from when they would otherwise be eligible. Interesting.

Edited by HeatDeath, 18 August 2010 - 03:45 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-18 15:42:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion about Citizenship
For most people, historically, the distinction has been irrelevant. The processing times for AOS caused the GC residence date for K-1 people to be significantly more than 90 days after their wedding date. They had therefore always been married more than 3 years at the 3-years-of-residence-minus-90-days date.

But because USCIS has gotten so much faster, there is a growing group of K-1 people, myself among them, who received their GC within 90 days of their wedding, and will therefore not have been married for 3 years at the 3-years-of-residence-minus-90-days date. For us, the earliest date we can apply for citizenship is the day of (or one day after) our 3rd wedding anniversary, even though that date occurs after the 3-years-of-residence-minus-90-days date.

Make sense?
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-18 11:35:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion about Citizenship

this is incorrect.

No, it's not. Read the box at the bottom of page 22 of the PDF.
You can apply 90 days before the 3 or 5 year residence requirement is met, BUT you MUST [their word] be married 3 years before you file.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-17 17:39:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestion about Citizenship

eligibility window opens 90 days prior to the 3rd year anniversary.

elibibility window opens on the later of:
A ) 90 days prior to the third anniversary of your "Resident since date", and
B ) your third wedding anniversary.

Assuming you haven't left the US for an extended period of time.

There are more wrinkles than that, even. download the "Guide to Naturalization", M-476, and read it carefully.

http://www.uscis.gov.../PDFs/M-476.pdf
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-17 17:02:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionQuestions

Hi,

Thank you for your information. If I apply for the reentry permit, wont that restart my clock? I can apply for citizenship 3 years after the green card.

If I apply for the reentry permit, I won't be able to apply for citizenship while i'm abroad right?


Applying for the reentry permit will not restart your clock.

Chapter 4 of the Guide To Naturalization explains this in detail. It's a little complex. :)

http://www.uscis.gov...le/chapter4.pdf

The upshot, as I understand it is: being outside the US for more then 18 months total out of your first 3 years as a PR pauses the clock on when you can apply for citizenship. You need 18 months of non-continuouse physical presence in the US before you can apply.

But, and this is the kicker, you also need 3 years as a PR without leaving the US for longer than 6 months.

So if you make many many small trips outside the US, none longer than 6 months, but totalling over 18 months, that will delay your eligibility for citizenship by however much longer than 18 months you were outside the US.

But, if you stay outside the US for more than 6 months on any given trip, that resets your eligibility clock, and you will have to wait another 3 years (without any trip outside the US lasting longer than 6 months) to be eligible for citizenship.

Many PRs planning to stay outside the US for extended periods of time think to make periodic trips back to the US to preserve their PR status. This won't work. Living abroad for an extended period of time and making short trips back will not preserve your PR status. You need a reentry permit for that.

However, coming back for a few weeks every 6 months looks like it will [probably] prevent your citizenship eligibility clock being reset.

As further detailed in chapter 4, you must have been living in the USCIS district in which your are applying for naturalization for at least 3 months before you are eligible for naturalization. So no, I don't think you can apply for US citizenship from abroad.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-10-15 12:05:00
US Citizenship General Discussioncitizenship certification
I seem to recall reading in a thread here way back when: somebody was complaining loudly about the passport "Country of Birth" requirement, as she was a Canadian citizen [and newly minted US citizen] but her country of birth was some undisclosed third-world hellhole she hadn't been to since infancy and wanted no part of, and she resented having it listed in her US passport. Not entirely unreasonable.

Anyway she chased getting that info changed fairly high up the US Passport powers-that-be hierarchy, and ended up getting a reply that they'd be perfectly happy to not include it, but it's an international treaty obligation to have it and they're stuck with it.

Edited by HeatDeath, 29 October 2010 - 08:44 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-10-29 20:43:00
US Citizenship General Discussioncitizenship certification
A US passport is full proof of US citizenship. He shouldn't actually need anything else in normal day-to-day life.

To get a Certificate of Citizenship, he would need to file a form N-600 with USCIS.

If your brother qualifies for citizenship under section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the form must be filled out by your Dad, since your brother is still a minor.

Under the new section 320, children automatically derive U.S. citizenship at the time that they satisfy all of the following three conditions: (1) at least one parent of the child is a U.S. citizen, whether by birth or naturalization; (2) the child is under 18 years of age; and (3) the child is "residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence."


http://www.nilc.org/...tzshp/nc035.htm

http://www.uscis.gov...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Edited by HeatDeath, 28 October 2010 - 01:17 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-10-28 01:15:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionAbout Bio.
They just changed this. See the news item on the front visajourney.com page. Starting in a few days, if they haven't already, they're going to start using biometrics photos for Naturalization Certificates instead of the passport photos.

They're still gonna make us send passport photos for some reason. Backups, I think, according to their FAQs.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-10-29 21:02:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionHow to report person who got greencard then citizenship with false documents?
"Return not evil for evil. Vengeance is mine, I shall repay. Thus sayeth the Lord."

Just sayin'.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-10-27 19:44:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionOld citizenship??
Wow. I would have thought that being stripped of one's citizenship would be accompanied by a lot more due process, especially in Western Europe. I stand corrected.

I'm glad I'm Canadian.

Edited by HeatDeath, 07 November 2010 - 06:51 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-11-07 18:50:00