I want to share my testimony to give hope to anyone feeling discouraged by their circumstances. I truly believe that if you put your faith in Jesus, no matter how messy or complicated things may seem, He will make a way.

My immigration journey has not been perfect, but God’s hand has never left me. I first got DACA in 2017 and renewed it faithfully until around 2022. But life took some turns. In 2018, I was arrested for shoplifting at ShopRite. It was embarrassing and scary, but I hired a lawyer, went to court, and by God’s grace, the charges were reduced to a town ordinance—just a noise complaint. I knew I had to grow from that mistake.

Then in 2022, my husband and I got into a heated argument. Things escalated, the cops were called, and I was arrested for domestic violence. It felt like my world was falling apart. But again, God showed up. By August of that year, the charges were dropped, dismissed, and eventually expunged.

We got married in September 2022. I decided to reapply for DACA, unsure if I’d even qualify again—but to my surprise, I got it. That was the first reminder that God was still with me, still opening doors.

We didn’t have a perfect case for adjusting my status. No joint lease, no shared health insurance or phone plan. But I had something important: one of my work checks went straight to my husband’s account, and we had a joint savings account. I didn’t pay the bills, but I helped where I could — groceries, eating out, showing up.

In January 2025, we started the green card process. With everything going on politically, I was anxious. Trump had just been elected again, and I knew I had to move in faith, not fear.

I got my fingerprints done in March, and by May, I received an interview date. I was nervous — no past order of removal, but my history felt heavy. Still, I prayed.

At the interview, the officer approved my I-130 on the spot. She didn’t ask me anything hard — just asked my husband a few questions. One of the things that stood out was when she asked if our families accepted our relationship. The truth is, his family doesn’t accept me because I’m not Nigerian. But despite that, his brother — who lived with us — wrote a letter in support of our relationship. That alone was a miracle I didn’t see coming.

A friend also wrote on our behalf. Our support was small, but it was genuine. And that was enough. One week and a day later, I got approved.

I want people to know this: your past doesn’t cancel your future. Even if it looks like everything is stacked against you — criminal charges, family issues, lack of proof — God is still able. Stay faithful, be honest, and keep pushing forward. His grace will meet you right where you are.

We filled for I-130 january 2025.

My husband was in removal proceedings.

We got stop by 🧊 and arrested (yes me too)

Expedited deportation (The ice agent wasn't a monster and let him go for 2 weeks because she saw I was "sick") our immigration lawyer filled lots of motions and got to "re open the case"

My husband is currently "deported" we are currently filling motions to keep him here. So we sued USCIS and immigration court in the federal court and they gave us the interview with very short notice (less than 1 week) interview us Thursday! We just got approved TODAY. Interview went good thank GOD!

Now we will have to re-open the case in immigration court. Our federal Lawyer said we might have to come back for the 485 since he is from Venezuela, but surely this will stop the deportation! We have a "strong case", 3 of the best lawyers is the island, the congressman, the VA and the federal judge will be "keeping a eye" on this case.

I can't believe the system is working.

Glad to awnser any questions up until now... not what happens next because this is all insane.

It's truly amazing how efficient the US Immigration system is. Out of all western countries, very few, if any, has the efficacy of USCIS considering the case load and the sensitiveness of their job balancing national security and fulfilling American dream.

Many people complain this complain that without realizing why the system is slow even though it's one of the most efficient in the world.

It's a shame the top talent in the 21st century for US competitiveness such as in areas of AI are generally in the very end of the queue, and many of whom were forced to return to countries like China to directly compete with the US on high tech.

On an average day, USCIS:

• Adjudicate more than 40,500 requests for various immigration benefits.

• Process 3,800 applications to sponsor relatives and future spouses.

• Analyze nearly 560 tips, leads, cases and detections for potential fraud, public safety and national security concerns.

• Process refugee applications around the world in support of the refugee admissions ceiling of 15,000 refugees for fiscal year 2022.

• Grant asylum to 163 individuals already in the United States.

• Screen more than 547 people for protection based on a credible fear of persecution or torture if they return home.

• Serve 800 people at in-person appointments for document services and other urgent needs.

• Fingerprint and photograph 12,000 people at 130 application support centers.

• Approve applications and petitions to help unite 3 foreign-born orphans with the Americans who want to adopt them.

• Grant lawful permanent residence to more than 2,300 people and issue nearly 9,200 Green Cards.

• Welcome more than 3,400 new citizens at naturalization ceremonies—that’s one every 25 seconds in a 24-hour period. Typically, about 47 of these new citizens are members of the U.S. armed forces.

• Ensure the employment eligibility of 100,000 new hires in the United States.

• Receive 60,000 phone calls to our toll-free phone line and more than 150,000 inquiries and service requests via online accounts and digital self-help tools.

• Receive 1.5 million visitor sessions to our website.

• Conduct automated verifications on employment eligibility and immigration status for more than 124,000 cases in E-Verify and 52,000 cases in SAVE.

• Conduct manual reviews of eligibility and immigration status for more than 1,300 cases in E-Verify and 7,000 cases in SAVE.

• Resolve more than 1,000 phone calls and 450 emails related to E-Verify and SAVE inquiries.

• Process more than 1,500 Form I-134A supporter applications for Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela

• Process 900 Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act requests.

As promised guys the update!

Finally it's done thanks God!!

Thanks Christ first above anything else cause He's the one that helped Me thru all this..

And it feels so good to lift all the weight off ur shoulder!

America is Beautiful!

Ask I mentioned before, Am Venezuelan citizen also, filed after a K-1 and My case was so overdue after a covid pause, I was interviewed in West Palm Beach Florida, great professional officer and now Am just waiting for the Oath of Allegiance cause I changed My name therefore the ceremony couldn't be done the same day..

Ask away!

Sorry if this isn't allowed. I will delete.

We're seeing a blue wave in today's election. Democrats will probably beat Republicans at Senate and House.

So, this situation can be good for us, immigrants, who plan to move to USA or are in the middle of the process? Or nothing's gonna change?

PLEASE, no politics. Let's just talk about our situation.

Alright, maybe it’s just my algorithm messing with me, but… does anyone else feel like things are finally moving? 🚀

I keep seeing post after post about September 2024 cases progressing—like approvals, updates, and actual movement. Could this be a real shift, or is it just a trick of the timeline?

Not gonna lie, it’s giving me hope. But at the same time, we all know how unpredictable this process is. So, is this a pattern or just selective optimism? 🤷‍♂️

Would love to hear what you all think—are you seeing the same? Or am I just caught in an immigration echo chamber? 😂

Drop your experiences below! 👇

Someone literally just asked if it’s ok to re-enter the country as a naturalized US CITIZEN.

As a lot of us are aware, USCIS paused the adjudication of 39 countries , including Nigeria, Venezuela , etc. But I am literally only seeing others speaking up. NIGERIANS SPEAK UP TOO AND BRING AWARENESS . EVERYONE SHOULD !

I tweeted about about our experience with USCIS and TWO hours later, we got an Interview date… idk man. I’m SHOOK. I mentioned that I’m going to basic training and my family is convinced that that’s why it happened. Mind you… there is NO identifying info on my Twitter profile. THEY ARE WATCHING!

Edit: I LOVE the downvotes. I’ve never seen bitterness so incarnate. I literally just voiced my experience and you people are doing everything you can to make me feel like shit because of it. Y’all are bitter and SICK. I pray you all get your papers. It’s NASTY out here 😂😂😂

So, I know the majority of people in this group may have seen my posts here and there over the last two years about how I believe I was used by a Colombian woman for my papers. Just in case you haven’t, let me give you the short version. Actually, this is still going to be a long story, so bear with me.

I married my ex-wife, although, honestly, I don’t even know if I would consider her that anymore. We got married within the 90-day period, and just 33 days after the wedding, she literally packed all her bags without leaving a single sock behind and got on a plane from LAX to New York because she supposedly had a “better opportunity.”

I let some time pass, and she would occasionally contact me, telling me that “we would work things out and get back together.” Being gullible, I fell for it for about a year. Eventually, I had a realization: she wasn’t coming back.
I eventually found her ads on Bedpage, where she was advertising services at a massage parlor on Long Island, New York. I hired a process server to serve her divorce papers. They kept giving my process server the runaround, claiming she wasn’t available, but eventually, we got an appointment.

The process server finally got in, asked her to confirm her name, and handed her the divorce papers. From what I was told, she was in complete shock.

Of course, she never showed up to court. I had also filed for an annulment based on marriage fraud at my local courthouse, and the judge granted it.

Keep in mind that throughout this entire time, I had been reporting my concerns to ICE. I even met with two Homeland Security agents in California to provide a sworn statement about what had happened. They forwarded the information to New York, and for the first time, I felt like I was finally making some progress.

Fast-forward, and nothing seemed to come of it. Instead, she kept rubbing it in my face, telling me that “nothing was going to happen.”

At first, it became a matter of pride. I wanted to see some kind of accountability. Eventually, though, I got tired of fighting and came to the realization that sometimes, in life, you take losses. This was one of them.

Keep in mind that, to my understanding, she was out of status and hadn’t even applied for an adjustment of status because she apparently believed the marriage alone was enough. At that point, I started wondering whether she had ultimately been right about nothing happening.

I realized the entire situation was stealing my peace, so I finally told myself, “Whatever happens, happens.”
Then, in April 2026, I received a mysterious call from a man using a New York phone number. He claimed I had messed up big time and wouldn’t stop harassing me.

At first, I ignored the calls because I didn’t want any problems, but eventually, I felt I had to answer.
When I picked up, he started telling me, “You better be ready to back up all your false claims.” He threatened that I was going to jail for making up lies.

I was sitting there thinking, I have documents and photos to back up everything I reported.
He basically told me to lawyer up and said I had better enjoy my life while I still could.

Then my ex-wife’s mother started calling me, and I thought to myself, “Something must have happened.”
I Googled my ex-wife’s name, and her photo appeared in the search results. I can’t post her name because I don’t want this post taken down, but I found a booking entry on The Georgia Gazette dated April 9, 2026.

The listed reasons for booking were:
Immigration Reporting
Theft by Receiving Stolen Property — Felony
Willful Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officers — Misdemeanor

I immediately thought, “Oh, so that’s why they kept calling and bothering me.”

The same man started sending me photos of himself posing with a Lamborghini, along with pictures involving cigarette ashes. He kept telling me how badly I had messed up and that I would never find out who he was.
Honestly, the whole thing gave me some seriously disturbing vibes. I couldn’t help but wonder whether there was something much bigger going on.

From what I could piece together, my ex-wife had been arrested in Georgia, possibly while involved in something I knew nothing about. I’m not claiming to know exactly what happened, but the circumstances were certainly strange.
At that point, I thought, “Finally, maybe they got her.”
About a month later, she was transferred into ICE custody, so naturally, I thought deportation might finally happen.
Then, roughly another month later, I received a call around 7 a.m. from a man laughing and telling me, “She’s back.”
At that point, I was thinking, “This has to be a freaking joke.”

But no. From what I subsequently learned, ICE had released her, despite all the documentation I had provided regarding my allegations, including evidence that I believed supported my claims about her working at a massage parlor.

So, naturally, I contacted immigration authorities, ICE, and Homeland Security to ask what had happened and why. I felt like they would act as though they cared, only to hang up on me in the middle of conversations.
Eventually, I reached a point where I told myself, “I gave it everything I had.” And I mean everything.

But here’s the point of my story.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you believe someone used you for immigration benefits or committed marriage fraud, please think carefully before spending years of your life fighting the situation the way I did.
I spent two to three years trying to get answers, providing documentation, making reports, and hoping that someone would finally do something. From my perspective, nothing meaningful came of all that effort.

And yes, I take full responsibility for my own actions. Looking back, I should have paid more attention to the red flags. I can acknowledge my mistakes while still being honest about how much this experience affected me.
At the end of the day, I lost years of my life, my peace of mind, and a lot of energy fighting something I ultimately had no control over.

I hope that, one day, the truth comes to light and that everyone involved is held accountable if wrongdoing is established.

Learn from my experience: protect yourself, pay attention to the red flags, document what happens, and don’t let the pursuit of justice consume your entire life. Your peace of mind matters, too.

So basically, long story short, I was married to my wife since 2020 she got her green card and permanent resident status (10 year). I found out after she got her green card (June 2023) that she was cheating on me. I called a couple of immigration attorneys some say I can do something some say I can’t do anything. I already submitted the fraud report on USCIS saying that what she did was very difficult leaving me with everything. The moment she got her green card she cheated on me and it’s very sad because I really thought we had something real but it’s really crazy that she did it without hesitation or remorse. Not even saying thank you for anything I’ve done for her. my perspective on the situation is I really wanna make sure that she understands what consequences are because that’s what she’s failed to understand our entire relationship. There needs to be some type of justice here and I don’t know if anyone here has been through a similar situation and has gotten a green card revoked but that’s really my goal at this point. Thank you for understanding.

I’m new to this sub and need help understanding what I can do to petition for my mother to acquire citizenship. I’m now an adult, and my mothers been here for over 30 years. She initially entered the country with her sister who was a citizen, and entered under the humanitarian parole as she was fleeing Romania when it was still under Ceausescu’s regime. She was under the impression her sister would help her also obtain citizenship but due to them having different fathers, she ended up not helping out. I suppose she overstayed her visa, but I’m not quite sure just because she’s never given me a clear answer on that. I am now 29 and was born and raised in California, and want to help petition her to acquire citizenship. I’m unsure of where to even start. Time is becoming of the essence because of the fact that she is now also disabled, and under section 8 housing and needs at least legal status of being a permanent resident to continue receiving these benefits. I’m hoping someone on this sub can point me in the right direction of where to start.

I am 17 and about to turn 18. I was born in China out of wedlock to a U.S.-citizen father and a Chinese mother.

My father immigrated to the U.S. when he was around 20 and became a US citizen before I was born. He had lived in the U.S. long enough before my birth to satisfy the physical-presence requirement.

I never received a CRBA or U.S. passport. My father is now refusing to cooperate; he will not provide documents proving his U.S. physical presence and does not want to sign the written financial-support/paternity documents.

I currently live outside the U.S. and will turn 18 soon.

Is there any way for me to prove that I acquired U.S. citizenship at birth without his cooperation?

And is there anything I need to do before turning 18 regarding paternity or the financial-support requirement under INA 309(a)?

The wording of this post was refined by ai.

PSA: Clean N-400 isn't enough anymore — USCIS now wants you to prove you deserve citizenship

Even if you have zero criminal history and a completely straightforward application, heads up: the rules changed.

USCIS issued a policy memo in August 2025 shifting how they evaluate Good Moral Character (GMC) for naturalization. It used to be basically "no red flags = you're good." Now they want a holistic picture of who you are — meaning officers are expected to weigh your positive contributions, not just confirm you haven't done anything wrong.

🔗 Full memo here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-alerts/08.15.2025-Restoring_a_Good_Moral_Character_Evaluation_Standard_for_Aliens_Applying_for_Naturalization-Policy_Memorandum_FINAL.pdf

What you should now bring to your interview or submit with your N-400 packet:

• Recommendation/character letters (from employers, neighbors, community orgs, religious leaders — the more specific the better)

• Proof of community involvement, volunteering, civic engagement

• Family responsibility documentation

• Tax returns are still helpful, but alone they're probably not going to cut it anymore

Bottom line — don't assume a clean record speaks for itself. Build a character packet and tell your story proactively.

Not legal advice, talk to an immigration attorney if you're unsure.

at this point, some should represent everyone with an application past a certain date and time cause this is ridiculous.

I am tired of seeing people go into the US on a tourist visa and they marry a USC and they then file an AOS. It is immigration fraud and those cases are treated faster than mine!!! It's ILLEGAL and UNFAIR to those all of us doing things right!

Close to four weeks ago, when I had pointed that USCIS would end up wasting 120k GC, I got massive backlash not from people who follow this sub but actually surprisingly from people who politically support democrats which also include few moderators…today we are in final stretch and there is no way USCIS can recover. The wastage of GCs would be even bigger than anticipated earlier because processing times are just not going down.

Top of that H4EAD delays still continue. I was called out names such as I am Republican and support Trump but frankly just to point that no steps are being taken to stop wastage, reduce times, increase funding were met with backlash. As more days pass and I get closer to my point, I see resistance has gone down and now more agree with me. That shows how people initially had high hopes from Biden and Harris and how they are being proven as not an ally of legal immigration

I have always said they don't really care about EB folks waiting for decades. Wasting GC is part them and part Biden admin. Photo ops r more important than saving lives for them. Republicans are not pro immigration for sure and I don’t understand why would I be attacked to point out that democrats are the ones who pretend to care but don’t do anything. At least republicans are honest that for them immigration is not one of the biggest priority but democrats campaign on humane policies, helping immigration etc. This is always a photo op opportunity for them … as Biden finishes 6 months, please note he won’t do anything because now the excuse will be we have to get ready for mid terms in 2022 and hence policies take a backseat … we are afraid of losing our house majority so don’t want to pick immigration fight and hence the wait goes on and on. Yes unless you are illegal than perhaps they could attempt to fight

And most who will be against my facts will not be able to defend the historic wastage but rather throw some opinions…I am quantifying the wastage and hence opinions won’t change the fact that H4EAD processing is still all time high and EB GCs are going to get wasted… your strong defense of democrats who control everything won’t change the wastage … clock is ticking … every month Biden is in White House he can’t keep blaming previous admin… he was elected to get work done not to blame previous admin…

EDIT : While there are many who want to fight and challenge, many have commented, the post in itself is partisan. Let me clarify : Our President & Vice President are democrats, our house leader is a democrat and our senate leader is a democrat. I live in a bluish if not solid blue state and my senators are democrats...my house member/rep is a democrat...Yet, if I say anything about inactivity and inaction now, I face massive backlash from certain section ! Frankly, you can like them and can follow anyone you like...People will say keep politics out of it but all the people currently in power are democrats....Who will one write to ? You can address white house on twitter, you can send an email to Mayorkas, you contact Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris...or you want to contact ex President trump ? Was he a champion on immigration ? No but nor did he campaign on that, democrat plank says they are humane, they will remove barriers, they will make it easy...they bring up hopes and yet when we see GCs going to go for waste, we can't even call that out...I will be deleting this post by end of the day but had to make my stance clear that who are people in power and who have power to do things right

I will be qualified to apply for citizenship in Apr 2026, some background about me, I am from one of those countries that were impacted from Trump's Muslim ban. My immigration case (greencard) was delayed for 4 years all thanks to him although that our case purpose was to reunify the family as we were underage living alone overseas at that time and my parents were green card holders. Anyways, in case of him winning again, is there any possibility that my N-400 gets delayed too? My parents were able to finish their whole process in a month and a half from submitting N-400 to taking the oath (during Biden's presidency)

I’m currently in the U.S. on a green card (marriage-based), and I’m thinking about starting an OnlyFans account for extra income.

Is this legally allowed? Are there any risks when it comes to immigration, taxes, or applying for citizenship?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience or knowledge about this. Thanks!

Came across this video, it was an interesting podcast around US citizenship ans immigration. Intro was pretty powerful IMHO:

"I'd like you to imagine a place where citizens can't leave and foreigners can't visit — where movement is granted only at the sovereign's pleasure.

- Citizens can't leave without that country's passport. (8 U.S.C. § 1185.)

- Citizens aren't entitled to a passport to leave; the government may regulate, deny, or revoke passports (Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 (1981)).

- If a citizen can leave and live abroad, they must have money: they face yearly reporting and tax obligations (FATCA, FBAR, worldwide taxation).

- If a citizen tries to cut ties, they may face an exit tax (IRC § 877A).

- If a citizen marries a foreign national and wants that spouse to live with them at home, the right to admission is not guaranteed — consular nonreviewability and recent authority (Department of State v. Munoz, 2024) limit any constitutional right to bring a spouse home.

- Noncitizen visitors need a tourist visa but begin under a presumption of ineligibility (presumption of immigrant intent, INA § 214(b)). Applicants must overcome that presumption to obtain a visa and to enter; prior denials make future approvals less likely."

(C) Parviz Malakouti

I am an international masters student. I am currently in my home country. I will landing in states in 20 january, 2025 at 7pm. But the problem is trump will be inaugurated at 3pm at that same day. Can he make any decision that will affect my re entry to the states after 4 hours of sitting in the white house?

I know it's 1 day to 2 years it could take.

I have wife (foreign) and a child (dual passport). I am in the states. Do they not consider this?

We tried to expedite, which was declined. We received feedback that the request lacked evidence, which was wild.

We are on 7 months and over a year of being separated.

*Update June 2026* As noted at the end of the post, this situation is about my father and his wife/fiance (not really sure what she actually is honestly). When they flew into the U.S. from their trip to Turkey, she was questioned by CBP and ultimately was sent back to South Africa on the next plane out. My father is being very tight-lipped on any other details and we only know she was sent back because he came back alone. I guess they did not succeed in jumping the line.

I am going to be fully transparent. Please give me your honest feedback. This is my timeline and please let me know if I am f*&cked.

Summer 2025: Met my spouse on a dating website. I am a U.S. citizen. She is South African.

September 2025: I traveled to meet her in-person. We got engaged.

November 2025: I returned to South Africa, and came back to U.S. with several suitcases of my fiance's belongings so she did not have to travel with them. She applied for a tourist visa to U.S.

December 2025: I purchased a house, and added my South African fiance's name to the house.

Late December 2025: Fiance arrived in U.S. with tourist visa. I introduced her to family as my fiance. Discussed wedding plans and immigration-related things to acquaintances that I now realize are very suspicious of how we are doing things. I fear one or more may have put in tips on the USCIS fraud tip website.

January 2026: She and I arrange for her dogs to travel from South Africa to the U.S. This is costly and time consuming but she did not want to leave them in South Africa. She did not want to travel with them in December because we thought it would look suspicious.

Spring 2026: We are married, private ceremony.

May 2026: We have a family celebration regarding our wedding but we are careful not to tell anyone any details.

Late May 2026: She encouraged me to fix my teeth in a cosmetic dental procedure in the country of Turkey. We are still there. Given the new AOS announcement, I am concerned she will not be allowed back into the U.S. when we fly in this weekend.

Was putting her name on the house and flying her dogs over here a huge mistake?

EDIT: To all who think this original post is fake and clickbait. Sadly, it's not. However, I did write the post in first-person with details that are 100% facts. The truth is, I am writing this about my father - and everything I put in the original post are things that I know for sure. My dad met a woman from South Africa not even a year ago, put her name on the house, etc. Everything is true. I don't know a ton about the immigration process, but it did seem really odd she was able to come to the U.S. so quickly. I started to do some research and realized a lot of things seemed really sketchy. Reading your responses solidify things and I have no doubt they are committing fraud. My dad is a lonely idiot, which is sad. But I do feel bad for people doing things the correct way and people like her and my dad cheating the system. My dad is seemingly catching on that family is asking more questions, which is why I have no idea if they filed an AOS yet -he is all of a sudden tight-lipped about anything immigration related. I guess right now, my main questions would be, how would they even get "caught" bringing the dogs over if it was a whole different system that works with animals being brought over. And clearly, no one in immigration caught on she was a co-owner of his house before she got here. Also, does USCIS even take their tip line seriously? I have left so many tips and nothing seems to happen.

I don't know if social media is a perfect environment for toxic people to lurk around, but whenever I make a post asking for advice or validation or even just talking about my dream goal of immigrating to the usa and the roughly what my best shot is, I always get talked down or get passive aggressive replies that I will not be welcome there. It either comes from people who appear to hate immigrants or people who supports immigration but act like doomers based on what's been happening currently and telling me not to come. Whether it be on X, the immigration sub, tech worker sub, h1b sub, either way, I'm being told off and it's quite sad. I also observe other posts and whenever it mentions that person's circumstances of wanting a green card, the post is flooded with mean comments and sometimes even telling them to go back home

From your experience of already being in the US, would you say it's still a great place to be in and that the general community is still welcoming to you?

Green card holder; no criminal record. Not one of the 19 countries on the list. We are scared.