Jonathan_ATC

Hey y'all!

(Yes, I know this is a marriage-based visa group. This is related to the
whole process, as some of the readers WILL eventually attempt to gain US
citizenship. My wife came in on a K-1. I spent over 2 years in this group
helping people and built an extremely helpful website for the K-1 process.
The site still exists, on another server and continues to help K-1
applicants.)

Just wanted to update everyone on how my wife is coming along on
naturalization.

A friend of hers had her Natz interview in May and got sworn in, in June.
Same office we used. Upon contact, we find out they are processing Dec.
2003. Does this make sense? No. It does not. So we have been waiting
since June to hear from them.

Finally, after waiting 3 months, my wife called to find out what was the
hold up. They punished her for her call by now insisting that she come in
for fingerprints AGAIN. This will be her 7th set of fingerprints in the
whole process. I guess she must be a terrorist type, flagged for abuse.
Hard to believe. You gotta love the way the US govt. treats people who want
to become citizens.

The truth of the matter? Conspiracy theory or real life reality? Are they
holding off on swearing people in until AFTER the presidential election
because they know that immigrants typically vote Democrat? They have done
the opposite when a Democrat has been in the office. When there is a
Democrat in the office, they expedite Natz. swearing in ceremonies.
Paranoid? I think not.

Now, we are not certain she even wants to become a citizen of a country that
treats people this way. What a crock. They already approved her for Natz
and we were waiting for the notice to come to the ceremony. As it is now,
we have made 3 trips to JAX to get her the citizenship. It costs us EACH
two days off work and a night in a motel each time we have to go. We are
not wealthy by any means and it ends up costing us about $350 each time we
go.

If they had given her the swearing in ceremony in the same amount time as
her friend, she would be sworn in by now and fingerprints would not be an
issue. Then to lie to her and say that they are currently processing Dec.
2003 when a person who had her Natz interview at the same office in May got
her swearing in on June. All they did was change their name, they did not
improve any by any means.

To top it all off, not only does she need to go this time for fingerprints,
she'll have to go back for the swearing in ceremony. Another $700 down the
drain. So far this Naturalization has cost us over $1500 in fees and costs
associated with travel, lodging and time missed at work.

I think it is outrageous that they need MORE fingerprints. What did they do
with the old ones. (All 6 of them!) Fingerprints don't change much and they
can just use the old ones to see what horrible crimes my sweet wife has been
up to. (Working full time gives her all kinds of time to dream up the
terrible crimes. hahahaha!)

Anyone here know why they needed new fingerprints? They told her that her's
would be a year old in October and she would not get the swearing in until
later so they need new prints.

Anyone hear of them flagging people for fingerprints or more evidence for no
reason? She is NOT from an Arab nation, nor is her home country known for
terrorists. What gives? They are obviously lying to her since we know that
they were processing May in May.

Anyway, just wanted to let know, those of you who care about our situation,
what is going on.
--
Jonathan_ATC

Rete

Hi Jonathan a/k/a AlextheCat

Sorry to hear of her difficulties with naturalization. As for the fingerprinting issue, they are good for only 12 months so if they were taken 13 months ago, then yes, new ones are required. But for the fingerprinting issue, why does she have to travel so far? Isn't there a biometrics center closer to you that she can do in a day trip? Have you tried calling the infamous misinformation 1-800 number? Jim, too, has been fingerprinted so often we joke about his loops and swirls have accumulated so much ink over the years that they are not unidentifiable.

A suggestion would be to call your local political representative. It is an election year and they want all the votes they can gather for Bush's big brother and might be able to pull a few strings to get her sworn in so that she is eligible to vote.

While she might want to chuck it all and not continue on, urge her to do it if only to have the security of that paper in your fireproof security box and knowing that you never have to deal with USCIS again.

FYI, Jim has been a US citizen since December, 2003. He has already voted in a local election and a national primary and looking forward to this November's presidential election.

If you haven't posted your wife's experiences to Kamya, I urge you to do so. It is just what the experience pages need, problematic situations so that others will know what can possibly go wrong.

Wishing her a speedy and successful conclusion to her USCIS journey.

Rete a/k/a Rita

Rete

BTW they are needed because during the last 12 months past crimes might have been unearthen and just now on her record.

Rete

Wolfie

Hey Jonathan. I was wondering why I hadn't seen your name lately. Nice to
here things are moving along at least. We are in almost the same place,
waiting for Nat. interview. Funny tho, the time doesn't really seem to
matter much any more.

I can believe the Conspiracy theory...from what I have read about this
administration anything is possible. I certainly hope it isn't the case. I
think she has done only three sets of FP's. and she is from a Muslim nation.
I hope we don't need more.

Anyway, nice to hear from you and good luck.

Wolfie (awoooo!)
"Jonathan_ATC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ink.net...
    > Hey y'all!
    > (Yes, I know this is a marriage-based visa group. This is related to the
    > whole process, as some of the readers WILL eventually attempt to gain US
    > citizenship. My wife came in on a K-1. I spent over 2 years in this
group
    > helping people and built an extremely helpful website for the K-1 process.
    > The site still exists, on another server and continues to help K-1
    > applicants.)
    > Just wanted to update everyone on how my wife is coming along on
    > naturalization.
    > A friend of hers had her Natz interview in May and got sworn in, in June.
    > Same office we used. Upon contact, we find out they are processing Dec.
    > 2003. Does this make sense? No. It does not. So we have been waiting
    > since June to hear from them.
    > Finally, after waiting 3 months, my wife called to find out what was the
    > hold up. They punished her for her call by now insisting that she come in
    > for fingerprints AGAIN. This will be her 7th set of fingerprints in the
    > whole process. I guess she must be a terrorist type, flagged for abuse.
    > Hard to believe. You gotta love the way the US govt. treats people who
want
    > to become citizens.
    > The truth of the matter? Conspiracy theory or real life reality? Are
they
    > holding off on swearing people in until AFTER the presidential election
    > because they know that immigrants typically vote Democrat? They have done
    > the opposite when a Democrat has been in the office. When there is a
    > Democrat in the office, they expedite Natz. swearing in ceremonies.
    > Paranoid? I think not.
    > Now, we are not certain she even wants to become a citizen of a country
that
    > treats people this way. What a crock. They already approved her for Natz
    > and we were waiting for the notice to come to the ceremony. As it is now,
    > we have made 3 trips to JAX to get her the citizenship. It costs us EACH
    > two days off work and a night in a motel each time we have to go. We are
    > not wealthy by any means and it ends up costing us about $350 each time we
    > go.
    > If they had given her the swearing in ceremony in the same amount time as
    > her friend, she would be sworn in by now and fingerprints would not be an
    > issue. Then to lie to her and say that they are currently processing Dec.
    > 2003 when a person who had her Natz interview at the same office in May
got
    > her swearing in on June. All they did was change their name, they did not
    > improve any by any means.
    > To top it all off, not only does she need to go this time for
fingerprints,
    > she'll have to go back for the swearing in ceremony. Another $700 down
the
    > drain. So far this Naturalization has cost us over $1500 in fees and
costs
    > associated with travel, lodging and time missed at work.
    > I think it is outrageous that they need MORE fingerprints. What did they
do
    > with the old ones. (All 6 of them!) Fingerprints don't change much and
they
    > can just use the old ones to see what horrible crimes my sweet wife has
been
    > up to. (Working full time gives her all kinds of time to dream up the
    > terrible crimes. hahahaha!)
    > Anyone here know why they needed new fingerprints? They told her that
her's
    > would be a year old in October and she would not get the swearing in until
    > later so they need new prints.
    > Anyone hear of them flagging people for fingerprints or more evidence for
no
    > reason? She is NOT from an Arab nation, nor is her home country known for
    > terrorists. What gives? They are obviously lying to her since we know
that
    > they were processing May in May.
    > Anyway, just wanted to let know, those of you who care about our
situation,
    > what is going on.
    > --
    > Jonathan_ATC


---
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Jonathan_ATC

Hello!

Well, Che-Ning braved Hurricane Ivan and went to Jacksonvile on Tuesday.

She arrived an hour early and really needed to use their restroom. (There
are no public restrooms or gas stations nearby.) So, she went up to the
door and told the guard her situation. He told her she could go ahead and
go in and get the fingerprints done early. She was so happy about that. 15
minutes later, she was done. a 6 hour round trip for 15 minutes! You would
think that they could make it take longer. Hahahaha!

At any rate, she was able to do it in a half day and only missed half a day
of work. I did not go and therefore did not miss any work. This worked
out, but I was terribly worried about her getting lost or whatever without
me. (She is terrifically competent, I just worry because I am a man.
Haahah!) She did miss her exit and got lost for a few minutes, but soon
found her way back and found the INS office. We had been there several
times before, but we have to "find" it every time as it is in a difficult
location to find from the highway.

So, she got her fingerprints done. Hopefully they are good and she won't
need to come back Hopefully she will get her swearing in ceremony before
another 13 months goes by so she won't have to do this again. Of course,
she will have to go back to Jacksonvile for the swearing in ceremony if they
don't have one scheduled in our city at the right time.

Anyway. This having to get fingerprints taken again made Che-Ning so mad
that she braved the Hurricane Ivan to go over there and get it over with.
The notice said if she could not make that appointment time, she could go
any Wednesday after 3 pm. She just wanted to get it over with, so she went
ahead and went to the appointment time.

On the way back, there was an accident on I-10 and she had to sit for 2
hours until they had everyone on the highway TURN AROUND and go to the last
exit and get off. She went slowly on HWY 90, which runs parallel to I-10,
until the next entrance to I-10. So, a 2.75 hour trip became a 5 hour
trip. She came home, tired. But she came home. That is what mattered to
me.

Thanks to Rete and Woolfie (awooo!) for your comments. I appreciate it.

Y'all take care now, y'hear?
--
Jonathan_ATC
"Wolfie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ...
    > Hey Jonathan. I was wondering why I hadn't seen your name lately. Nice to
    > here things are moving along at least. We are in almost the same place,
    > waiting for Nat. interview. Funny tho, the time doesn't really seem to
    > matter much any more.
    > I can believe the Conspiracy theory...from what I have read about this
    > administration anything is possible. I certainly hope it isn't the case. I
    > think she has done only three sets of FP's. and she is from a Muslim
nation.
    > I hope we don't need more.
    > Anyway, nice to hear from you and good luck.
    > Wolfie (awoooo!)
    > "Jonathan_ATC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ink.net...
    > > Hey y'all!
    > >
    > > (Yes, I know this is a marriage-based visa group. This is related to
the
    > > whole process, as some of the readers WILL eventually attempt to gain US
    > > citizenship. My wife came in on a K-1. I spent over 2 years in this
    > group
    > > helping people and built an extremely helpful website for the K-1
process.
    > > The site still exists, on another server and continues to help K-1
    > > applicants.)
    > >
    > > Just wanted to update everyone on how my wife is coming along on
    > > naturalization.
    > >
    > > A friend of hers had her Natz interview in May and got sworn in, in
June.
    > > Same office we used. Upon contact, we find out they are processing Dec.
    > > 2003. Does this make sense? No. It does not. So we have been
waiting
    > > since June to hear from them.
    > >
    > > Finally, after waiting 3 months, my wife called to find out what was the
    > > hold up. They punished her for her call by now insisting that she come
in
    > > for fingerprints AGAIN. This will be her 7th set of fingerprints in the
    > > whole process. I guess she must be a terrorist type, flagged for
abuse.
    > > Hard to believe. You gotta love the way the US govt. treats people who
    > want
    > > to become citizens.
    > >
    > > The truth of the matter? Conspiracy theory or real life reality? Are
    > they
    > > holding off on swearing people in until AFTER the presidential election
    > > because they know that immigrants typically vote Democrat? They have
done
    > > the opposite when a Democrat has been in the office. When there is a
    > > Democrat in the office, they expedite Natz. swearing in ceremonies.
    > > Paranoid? I think not.
    > >
    > > Now, we are not certain she even wants to become a citizen of a country
    > that
    > > treats people this way. What a crock. They already approved her for
Natz
    > > and we were waiting for the notice to come to the ceremony. As it is
now,
    > > we have made 3 trips to JAX to get her the citizenship. It costs us
EACH
    > > two days off work and a night in a motel each time we have to go. We
are
    > > not wealthy by any means and it ends up costing us about $350 each time
we
    > > go.
    > >
    > > If they had given her the swearing in ceremony in the same amount time
as
    > > her friend, she would be sworn in by now and fingerprints would not be
an
    > > issue. Then to lie to her and say that they are currently processing
Dec.
    > > 2003 when a person who had her Natz interview at the same office in May
    > got
    > > her swearing in on June. All they did was change their name, they did
not
    > > improve any by any means.
    > >
    > > To top it all off, not only does she need to go this time for
    > fingerprints,
    > > she'll have to go back for the swearing in ceremony. Another $700 down
    > the
    > > drain. So far this Naturalization has cost us over $1500 in fees and
    > costs
    > > associated with travel, lodging and time missed at work.
    > >
    > > I think it is outrageous that they need MORE fingerprints. What did
they
    > do
    > > with the old ones. (All 6 of them!) Fingerprints don't change much and
    > they
    > > can just use the old ones to see what horrible crimes my sweet wife has
    > been
    > > up to. (Working full time gives her all kinds of time to dream up the
    > > terrible crimes. hahahaha!)
    > >
    > > Anyone here know why they needed new fingerprints? They told her that
    > her's
    > > would be a year old in October and she would not get the swearing in
until
    > > later so they need new prints.
    > >
    > > Anyone hear of them flagging people for fingerprints or more evidence
for
    > no
    > > reason? She is NOT from an Arab nation, nor is her home country known
for
    > > terrorists. What gives? They are obviously lying to her since we know
    > that
    > > they were processing May in May.
    > >
    > > Anyway, just wanted to let know, those of you who care about our
    > situation,
    > > what is going on.
    > > --
    > > Jonathan_ATC
    > >
    > ---
    > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
    > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
    > Version: 6.0.754 / Virus Database: 504 - Release Date: 9/6/2004

jeffreyhy

Jonathan,

Hi, it's good to hear from you again.

Please don't let the frustration get to you and cause Che-Ning to 'cut off her nose to spite her face'. There are tangible benefits to US citizenship. If those benefits have value to Che-Ning she should continue to pursue them.

Good luck the rest of the way.

Regards, JEff

Jonathan_ATC

    > Jonathan,
    > Hi, it's good to hear from you again.
    > Please don't let the frustration get to you and cause Che-Ning to 'cut
    > off her nose to spite her face'. There are tangible benefits to US
    > citizenship. If those benefits have value to Che-Ning she should
    > continue to pursue them.
    > Good luck the rest of the way.
    > Regards, JEff
    > --
    > Of course, the Internet also tells us that hot naked women want to
befriend us, so we can't be 100% sure about everything we read there. (Dave
Barry)
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

JEff,

Good to hear from you again, as well. Yes, we know there are benefits of
citizenship that far outweigh the hurdles over which she must jump. I
begged her to go for citizenship. She was not that excited about it until I
told her that she could vote and that seemed to get her moving on the
subject. I mean, if she is going to live here, she might as well be able to
vote. We also like the fact that she can't get deported once a citizen.

I'll let everyone know once she gets sworn in.

BTW, what is the URL for the site to record our experiences? I have been
out of touch for too long and the computer that held all my immigration
bookmarks has long since bit the dust.

Thanks for your comments, JEff.

Jonathan_ATC

Rete

Jonathan

Now you have to teach her to push that Chad all the way through for her vote to count.

BTW did you ever replace Alex the Cat?

Rete

meauxna

http://www.kamya.com/interview/intro.html

You'll have to check the internal links to make sure you're in the Natz section.

Jonathan_ATC

    > Now you have to teach her to push that Chad all the way through for her
    > vote to count.
    > BTW did you ever replace Alex the Cat?
    > Rete
    > --
    > I'm not an attorney. This disclaimer is valid in NYS!
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Rete,

Thanks for asking about AlixTCat. No, we never did replace him. We have
another cat named Shaddeaux that came to live with us while we still had
Alix. They were good buddies. It was really, really hard on him when Alix
was killed by the rogue dogs. He saw it happen. The thing is, we adopted
another dog who's name was also Shadow. Shaddeaux and Shadow HATED each
other from day one. It was strange... Alix was not afraid of the dog and
the dog liked Alix fine. But the dog is not able to keep from chasing
Shaddeaux and Shaddeaux cannot help but run.

Well, now that Alix has died, Shaddeaux is very lonely, so we might get
another cat. We really can't afford any more VET bills right now, so that
idea is on hold. Shaddeaux now lives with some neighbors because he is so
deathly afraid of our Cockapoo who WAS also named Shadow. They feed him
well, he is a little fatty. We take care of the vet bills and they keep him
in food and shelter and loving.

Shaddeaux waits every day for Che-Ning to come home and give him some
treats. When the Cockapoo sees him, a chase ensues! We try to make sure
that they don't see each other.

Thanks again for remembering AlixTCat. He was a big part of our lives for
13 years. If he hadn't been sickly, he would not have been caught by the
dogs and killed. I guess it was his time to go. We just wish it had not
been in such a violent way.

BTW, we don't have Chads here in our local area. They use the
bubble-in-your-answer sheets and then scan them. Much more efficient. That
is only in the old-fashioned areas of FL where they still have Chads. (and I
think they replaced them after the last fiasco.) So, I'll tell her to mark
all answers darkly. It doesn't look like she'll get sworn in before the
presidential election. You know my conspiracy theory about that one, so
I'll keep quiet about that.

Take care,
--
Jonathan_ATC

meauxna

I can surely appreciate a cat named Shaddeaux!
My condolences on your Alix. My own Alex finally succumbed to old age last year after 18 years as my best pal.
Funny thing is, the kitten I had gotten to keep him company in his late years has become an entirely new cat now that she's an only. She's fun, but I do miss my ole Al some days...

vinnic

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the time you put into your informative web site. We referred to it many times during our journey, and I can happily say that my husband finally received permanent residency last month without any major hassles along the way. Good luck on your wife's naturalization - perhaps we'll be going down that lane in the future.

Jonathan_ATC

"vinnic" <member21710@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
<snip previous messages>
    > Just wanted to say thanks again for all the time you put into your
    > informative web site. We referred to it many times during our journey,
    > and I can happily say that my husband finally received permanent
    > residency last month without any major hassles along the way. Good luck
    > on your wife's naturalization - perhaps we'll be going down that lane in
    > the future.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

I just want to thank YOU for the thanks. I put several years into the K-1
process and helping people. It is nice to be appreciated for my efforts.

Remember that all the information from my old site, plus a whole lot more,
is still available at:
http://www.translplanted.org

Transplanted.org's FAQ
http://www.transplanted.org/modules....d.org+Main+FAQ
--
Jonathan_ATC

sphyrapicus

Greetings Jonathan,

Thanks for sharing your wife's experience. It brings back memories of our trips to JAX from TLH. We never used to stay the night - we headed out early and made the trip back the same morning. Can't say we miss the TLH summers too much.

Please note the typo in the link you provided "transplanted" - delete the first "l"

Go 'noles!

Mike Jones

Jonathan,

Good to see some news about y'all. You sound a little bummed about the
efficiency/intelligence of the bureaucracy. Hang in there brother.
My sweetheart Nina and I will be married for seven (7) years on Oct 10. She
has recently announced to me that by the next presidential election, she
WILL be able to vote. That means she has decided to go for Natz...finally.
Thats about it from here. Take care.

Mike (ex faq guy)