AOS interview

[Jumper]

Well we had our AOS interview yesterday.
i may have posted the long sequence but cant remember..forgive me if  it's a duplicant rant

after filing the  I 751? almost a year? ago.. getting the BCIS letter of reciept and subsequint
infamous "yellow letter"  request for her temp GC
(with the BCIS issue of a letter of travel and one year GC extension)

we recieved a letter about 3 months ago informing us that the BCIS needed further proofs of a bonifide marriage and then listed such proofs i could send in..

hey many of you all likely know the drill?

joint bank accounts
joint IRS filings..
mortgage , rents agreements, or other loans in both names..
credit cards or utility bills in both names..
notorized affidafidts from friends citing the nature of your relationship..
family photos..
pasport photos
copies of IDs

birth certificates of any children..

and of course the ultimate absurdity*
"divorce decree if applicable"
(*as if you divorce you do not need to wait the 2 years to file for  AOS)

anyway under each one that would be normal of a married couple
(excepting the birth certificates and divorce decree)
the BCIS had notated in thier letter that i did NOT need to include that info as i had already sent it in!

amusing really.
(well if you are amused by the BCIS stupidity that is)

it went on to say that without further "proofs" as listed
they could not be sure of a favourable consideration of our request on AOS.

my reply was rather pointed ..
that i indeed had already provided all proofs as they had NOTED, other than birth certificates of children which we do not have yet, but are trying..
and of course had failed miserably to supply any relevent divorce decree. 

and they were welcome and invited to live with us for any duration to make such an important decision with some real knoweldge of the relationship instead of joint DirecTV bills.(with Riusski channels)

if they foolishly declined such a generous offer,that  we were welcome to an interview,
 and could perhaps manage a pregnancy attempt
*in office* to satisfy any officers unfavourable musings from the popundurence of already supplied information.

my buddy when reading it stated..
"are you actually sending this reply?"

me? "absolutely ..there is nothing wrong in my reply..its accurate and reflects the sillyness of their own letter to us..
 F them!"

him: "AJ you should just type them a bold font "F you".. instead...
 as that whats your telling them anyway LOL"
 

anyway..
i was fully ready for a somewhat weird interview ..
and had heard some wacky stories of officers asking rude questions or making odd off hand comments..

i had already advised a buddy to be prepared to post bail LOL
and went in with the plan of being nice but diffinantly not allowing any rude or strange comments to float by in anyway.

 
refreshingly our interview was straight foward , to the point, cordial, and simple.

he asked the normal . name age address questions,
 looked over some paper/proofs i had brought..
noted that all was in order and was well documented and organized..

 I mentioend they were simply copies of the stuff i had sent in three times now..
he laughed and said "i know"

then he asked my wife if she had a cold (she had coughed)
mentioned that i dint look even close to my age..( i think he was hitting on me   )
and that we were a nice family and had passed the AOS interview and would recieve an official letter from the BCIS in time.

that was it.

much todo about nought.

but we have known other couples supplying much less info ,,
 and the AOS granted and permanent G card just arriving in the mail without interview..
guess we were lucky or something.

[jb]

AJ,

Congrats on getting over the last major hurdle.

As an "oh BTW", will she elect to go for the blue passport in 3 years?

[David1963]

AJ, was this for her GC or for removal of conditions?

I remember you've been married for awhile, I thought you would be at the removal of conditions which means she could get her passport in a year or so.

[jb]

David,

It's two years and nine months from the date of issue on the Permanent Green Card to application for citizenship.  That may mean another year's wait, another interview, etc., before approval, and taking the oath of allegiance.  Only after that can a new citizen apply for the US passport.  It is often a 5 year ordeal to getting the blue passport, not counting the time it takes to get through the AOS,  all in all, you may be talking about 6-7, even 8 years total from the time she first sets foot on USA soil..

[Jumper]

David-
she has had a temporary GC since her arrival over almost three years ago.

This was the AOS to remove those conditions,
 and make it a permanent resident GC.



jb-

If you ask her that now, she says no.. that she isnt really interested in becoming a US citizen.Or rather,
not interested enoungh to go thru the process is more accurate?
It's just not a big deal either way to her at the moment..
Just not a pressing item if you follow me?

to be honest i think in time she will want to do so,
as the advantages would seem worth the small effort it would take and small things/  situations would be simplier /easier with a blue passport instead of a brown one.

[Jumper]

yes,
 i would say jb is very accurate on 5 to 7 years being average and realistic times to have a blue passport..

(i'm thinking in my wifes case it  would take about 7,
 5 would be if everything went very very smoothly. )

[David1963]

Thanks, during her GC interview they said she should have her passport in 3 years.  I guess that is optimistically if all the planets are aligned.

[William3rd]

Hint, hint- From the issuance of the approval for residency status
(whether CR or permanent status) an LPR whose GC is based on marriage to a USC-so long as the marriage is still viable- can first apply for Naturalization in the 90 days prior to the third anniversary of the initial approval.

Practice pointer( for those with long delays in 751 processing) is to apply for USC at the first opportunity. They then have to complete the 751 more expeditiously.

[jb]

William,

If what you say is true, then the USBCIS is putting out bad information.  (who would have thunk it)

According to the instructions on the N-400;  http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400ins.pdf

As you can see, the instructions on the N-400, 2nd paragraph, under "Who Should Use This Form?", it states the clock starts ticking with the issuance of the "Lawful PERMANENT Residence"  Not the Conditional Residence.  If the N-400 is worded correctly, then it's more than possible for the wife to be in country for up to 3+ years before she gets the permanent GC, and then it's 3+ years on to citizenship from there.  That's how I came up with the 6 or 7 years that I stated up thread.

I'm not disputing that there may Lawyerly way around the rules, just stating what I read from the BCIS forms.

[William3rd]

conditional residency IS lawful permanent residency

[William3rd]

So long as the application is filed to continue the 2 years, residency continues. The fact that they dont adjudicate it in a timely fashion is not the alien's problem.

On another note, where problems arise is when a good faith marriage is breaking down. How is the 751 filed if a divorce is pending? How is it adjudicated when one party will not show up for the interview or wont sign the petition jointly? Answer-late filing when the divorce is finaled. Residency never terminates even though it is supposed to terminate after two years by not filing on time. Longest one we ever filed was 2 years late. Explanation- in the middle of divorce so that the spouse had to wait bc they would deny a joint filing and the marriage is required to have terminated.

[jb]

Sorry to hound you on this technical issue, but apparently the USBCIS does not feel that a conditional residence is the same as a LPR.  I refer you to  http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?dockey=3693106294d411cef29942363eb0d189, whereby the Service is advised regarding the issue of fraudulent marriages.  From the tone of this section of the handbook rules, it seems to me that Permanent Status is preferred when push comes to shove.  While you may be technically correct, it looks more likely that a citizenship application by a conditional resident may be placed aside for a period equal to Permanent residence before it will be acted upon.

Just the way I read it.