Just Jenney

Wow, I can hardly believe it, but we sent off Mark's N-400 application in the mail today.

Even MORE unbelievablly, I only posted ONE question about it before completing and compiling everything before mailing it! Pretty amazing, huh?

If you're wondering -- Rete, Meauxna, et al -- yes, I was highly anal-retentive when putting everything together. Naturally, Mark didn't do anything except get his photos taken -- after much nagging, of course -- and sign the application and cover letter. But being the control freak that I am, I feel very confident that everything is in order. If I had left it to him, it wouldn't get done any time soon, that's for sure!

I probably submitted too much documentation, but as always, I wanted to be thorough. For those who are interested, below is a list of what was included in Mark's N-400 packet. Anything with an asterisk (*) was required per the N-400 instructions. If it says "Copies of..." that means one copy for each year stated, not copies for each month of each year stated (even I'm not THAT bad!):

Cover letter
N-400 Application*
Check for $400 ($330 application fee, $70 biometrics fee)*

IDENTIFICATION & PERMANENT ADDRESS DOCUMENTATION
Two passport-sized color photographs of Mark*
Copy of Mark's Permanent Residence Card (front & back)*
Copies of Mark & Jenney's Virginia driver licenses

MARITAL DOCUMENTATION
Copy of spouse Jenney's U.S. birth certificate*
Copy of current marriage certificate*
Copy of divorce certificate proving termination of spouse Jenney's prior marriage*

JOINT TAX RETURN DOCUMENTATION
Copy of first page of our 2006 joint tax return (electronically filed in March 2006)*
Official IRS tax transcripts of our 2005, 2004 and 2003 joint tax returns*

JOINT DOCUMENTATION
Copy of our consumer loan agreement (2007)
Copy of our auto loan agreement (2004)
Copies of USAA checking account statements (2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)
Copies of ING Savings Account online statements (2007, 2004)
Copy of our United Health medical insurance cards
Copies of auto insurance policy, showing both names (2007, 2004)
Copies of our apartment leases (2007, 2005, 2003)
Copies of our auto registration cards (2007, 2006)
Copy of Dominion Virginia Power bill (2006)
Copy of Spring Long Distance phone bill (2003)


On the upper right-hand corner of each copy I put a sticker that said, "N-400 Application / Mark [Surname] / A# 123456789" printed in red ink. I also highlighted our names, address and dates on each document as well to make it easier for them to find the information quickly. I tried to mostly include documentation that we've collected since last year, since Mark's I-751 application was submitted in April 2006. I did throw in a couple of things I found from earlier on, like the Sprint bill from 2003.

Anyway, it's finally done and in the mail. The cool thing is that it's almost exactly four years to the day from when Mark got his K1 visa -- March 24, 2003. We didn't plan it that way, it just happened that way.

I'm sure I'll post updates as they come along. Wish us luck!

~ Jenney

meauxna

Whooo!

I didn't see copies of the bloodwork included there.. did you just forget to type it?

stoopid quick post feature..

Just Jenney

Oh, did I say the "N-400 Application" stickers I put on the copies were PRINTED in red INK? I misspoke...

~ Jenney

AdobePinon

Yep, looks like you have your 17 pieces of flair.

Good luck!

Rete

And the pound of flesh?

Taterbug

And the 100 gallons of blood, sweat, and tears too.

Just Jenney

Yeah, but it's all worth it!

I do have one tiny question, though. I know posted processing dates are unreliable, but Mark was asking me for a ballpark timeframe the other day and I wasn't able to find one. I could only find the processing dates for our Norfolk district office -- not for Vermont, which is where it goes first. Any ideas of where I could find the VSC N-400 processing dates?

Or a ballpark idea of how long N-400s are taking these days going through VSC. I'm guessing around 6-8 months, sound about right?

~ Jenney

Rete

You go by the Norfolk district office. Vermont receives the petition, sends the NOA, sends the bio appointment and then is a holding tank until the Norfolk office is ready to schedule an appointment.

Just Jenney

Ok, so Mark got his NOA on Friday, and got his biometrics appointment notice today, scheduled for next Wednesday, April 25th. Was that fast, or is this normal timing? We were a bit surprised!

~ Jenney

AdobePinon

About normal. The rest of it takes forever.

Rete

Probably none left to do a workup on. USCIS, the vampire, had drained it all.

BTW Jenney did you sign as the one who completed the form? I did when I completed Jim's forms

Just Jenney

Yep, did that. Too bad I can't earn a commission off all of my hard work -- I'm making a citizen out of this man, after all!

It turns out that Mark might not be able to get next Wednesday off to attend his biometrics appointment. When I talked to him last (early this morning), he said that several coworkers had already requested that day off well in advance, so he doesn't think he can get the time off with such short notice. The problem is that, if he reschedules, he'll have the same problem: An appointment notice that just shows up one day, which could again give him only few days' notice. He can't keep rescheduling this indefinitely and just hope that the next notice gives him the 3-week advanced notice that he needs.

Unfortunately I have a feeling that Mark isn't going to try to persuade someone to switch days off with him, even though this is a pretty big damn deal. He just doesn't operate that way; he thinks he's rocking the boat. There's not much I can do about that, save calling his boss behind his back, which I'm not going to do. So, I'm not sure what's going to happen.

~ Jenney

meauxna

That's seems normal to us. The biometrics letter was dated one week after the receipt NOA & the appointment was quick.

Now what you want to hope for is a quick name check clearing. Word is they are holding setting an appointment until all checks are in.

Noorah101

Maybe now that you have the appointment letter, you can do a walk-in sometime earlier than the scheduled appointment? I think the ASC offices that do the biometrics are pretty lenient. And as long as you have the letter, I imagine they'll go ahead and do it earlier, if you sweetly explain he couldn't get that particular day off. Might be worth a try, eh?

Rene

James Box

I received my biometrics appt notice yesterday. I'm scheduled for next Tuesday.

Luckily for me the local CIS office is in the same building that I work in. I just need to go 6 floors down for my appointment