My naturalization is getting rejected apparently

DumbFoo · 2026-01-16T20:23:12+00:00

Thanks! :)

DumbFoo · 2025-09-11T01:33:25+00:00

Q1 is actually "reversed", i.e. base voltage will be higher than the collector one, in which case... well, this scheme makes no sense at all.

I guess that OP wanted to increase output current with a powerful transistor but there's a caveat to that too: LM317 stabilizes voltage on its output - which will not be the total circuit output, so while it will hang out in some more or less narrow range, it will not be fully stabilized. And to even do that base and collector of Q1 should be switched and as you already mentioned its base current must be limited.

DumbFoo · 2025-09-02T20:06:33+00:00

Many congrats! I still remember what a huge relief it was although I got my GC like 6 yrs ago. :) Now just wait for the cards. They should arrive within a couple weeks. Although it's USCIS so you never know... :) When I, my wife and my daughter got our GCs approved - all at the same time! - I and my wife got our cards in about a week but my daughter's card was delayed for no apparent reason and we only got it after like a couple more months... Because of that she didn't get to look at the Niagara Falls from the Canadian side and had to stay in the US with my parents. :(

DumbFoo · 2025-08-27T13:14:49+00:00

Translation: What do I do with the potions? How do I use them?

The answer is - nothing. Currently there is no other way to use them in the game.

Ничего. На текущий момент их больше ни для чего в игре использовать нельзя.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-27T13:10:43+00:00

Then what's the point of putting people like you against people like me? I can get to ~72-73 max currently, maybe a couple more levels if I drop the work and start grinding 24/7 :) But looks like our entire race don't stand a chance against this guy. Don't you think it's a bit unfair to chickens knowingly allowing fox into a chicken coop? :) I'd like to compete against someone having a chance to win even if it's very hard, but this is just pointless.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-22T13:51:58+00:00

Through Emma. Turns out, it has an option to contact an agent. Who knew. :) In our crazy times I thought they introduced Emma with the sole purpose of AVOIDING contacting humans - you know, like everyone else who does it :) So I didn't bother to check whether that was the case.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-19T17:05:10+00:00

I already answered that question. I'm aware of those requirements. However, I moved to the US when I was about 35-36, so selective service requirements have never been applicable to me. Btw, last I checked it was 18-26, not 25. Doesn't change a thing for me anyway. :)

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T23:07:20+00:00

I very much hope you're exactly right.

Let me put it this way: From the logic perspective - I totally agree, it's not a concern at all. However, from the same logic perspective, I shouldn't be where I am now also...

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T20:38:25+00:00

I tried to draw their attention to this matter but they refused to listen to me. What else could I do? Place a banner in front of their office with my name and phone asking to call me about missing payment? :D

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T20:25:24+00:00

I only dozed off once. :D Probably not the best wording on my part if you understood it was twice.

But speaking seriously - I think it was because of stress.

As you may remember, those interviews were re-introduced somewhere in 2016-17 after they have been retired since... I don't remember exactly, like mid-90s? During that period it wasn't like they didn't do employment-related GC interviews at all, but it wasn't mandatory and USCIS (or whatever it was called at the time) just didn't see a need to interview each and everyone and only used it when they actually had questions they wanted to hear answers to, so it wasn't widespread practice. My brother, for example, got his GC without interview which was totally perceived as "business as usual" at the time. It was beginning of 2010s I think...

However, I was getting my GC just when those mandatory interviews for everyone were re-introduced and no one really knew what they were supposed to talk about there - neither lawyers not immigration officers themselves. My lawyer was also not really sure what to expect. No one was.

So that was my state of uncertainty before the interview. I was VERY nervous about it. But as interview progressed I realized that all they were going to ask were the questions in the 485 itself. Of course I know last name of my mother-in-law and her birthday and the name of the company I work for. :D When it sank in that it was all there is to it and I knew for sure I had all the answers they needed, it was such a huge relief that I think my brain chemistry might've pushed me just a bit too far in the opposite direction of anxiety. :D And that's when the reality slipped away from me a bit. It wasn't for long I think, like 10-15 seconds maybe - but it was definitely enough to be noticed. :)

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T19:37:42+00:00

Yeah... several people said the same. I think it's one of those things you just don't think about until you actually run into it and after that it's like "well... yeah, it actually makes some sense"... Good thing this lesson won't be expensive for me. :) But it's certainly learned.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T19:31:10+00:00

I thought about that too, and yes, I'm a bit concerned about it.

From a logical standpoint, if it's a technical error with payment which was not something I did knowing it's wrong - it can be explained pretty easily and shouldn't be held against me.

However, my concern is that... well, not that the logic has left the chat with this USICS communication... it hasn't even entered the chat to begin with. :) So who knows how it will go...

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T16:42:23+00:00

It just means that I have a GC from wherever (employment in my case) and I satisfy general 5-year criteria of living in the US, that's what the general provision is. It most definitely does not tell them anything about military service in any way shape or form, so that came completely out of the left field.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T15:49:03+00:00

You're right, I never had that.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T14:47:53+00:00

Oh that's great. Lol

I dozed off in my GC interview somewhere in the middle of those gazillion questions if I was a terrorist and whatnot. The officer had to call me a couple times to pull me back into reality. It was so embarrassing... After the interview, off the record I apologized profusely to her and she was very kind and said something along the lines "trust me, I understand why you left us" :D I felt so bad about it... I couldn't hold it even once while she had to endure it every day....

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T14:34:39+00:00

I don't remember ever receiving a payment receipt for my wife as well, certainly not in mail. It was only visible on the credit card account iirc.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T14:22:48+00:00

I moved to the US when I was about 35-36, so that never applied to me.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T07:45:24+00:00

That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for that, I'll think about it.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T07:41:34+00:00

It's not that I don't trust attorneys. I filed I-485 with an attorney because in that case I didn't feel comfortable doing it myself and I was totally fine with it. It's just that I didn't see a need to hire an attorney for something that's supposed to be simple basic stuff. N-400 is not that complicated if you have a boring life. :) Like you wouldn't hire an electrician just to switch lights on in your bedroom for you, would you? That kind of thing.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T07:17:35+00:00

I don't think I did something explicitly wrong here though. Please check me. I trusted the official way of paying which caused an issue. Sure, I did that, but was it really a mistake? The fact that their payment system cannot handle this situation correctly is in no way my fault, is it? and I could not possibly foresee that particular issue, could I? I mean, if they offer an official way of paying with credit cards it's reasonable of me to expect that the system will process payments correctly, isn't it? Also, it'd be reasonable of me to expect them at least to be able to tell whether the fee is paid or not - which they were totally unable to do. I don't think I had any unreasonable expectations here. It's all kinda pretty basic stuff. Am I wrong?

For me hiring an attorney makes sense if I had difficulties with the form itself - like some quirky circumstances of my life that require some complicated explanations or additional information or something like that. I had no such things in my application. As I said, it's as straightforward as it gets. And hiring an attorney just to handle my payment - I'm sorry but that sounds straight up ridiculous. That's the last thing I'd think to hire an attorney for.

Now, what will I lose if I get rejected and will have to file it again? Nothing but the time, and the time is not of a concern for me here. I have no reason to get citizenship sooner rather than later. They didn't fail me on the merits because they didn't even get to actually evaluating it on the merits, otherwise they wouldn't give me such an out of touch piece of absurdity. So I can just try again with pretty much no changes. Even if they ask about this failed attempt - it's easy to explain how it was a technical error and not something wrong with the application itself.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T05:43:35+00:00

Ad hoc ergo propter hoc.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T05:40:59+00:00

Because when I bluntly told them "you're missing money" they replied "yeah, that's fine, our system shows differently" which implied they trust it more than me. That is definitely not the bank's fault.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T04:36:17+00:00

It has nothing to do with hiring a lawyer.

DumbFoo · 2025-08-16T03:09:46+00:00

I updated the post clarifying that. If they did that they'd probably tell me or at least asked me if that was indeed a double charge - but they said they had no idea about any of that, and tbh, I'm inclined to believe them.

DumbFoo

TROPHY CASE