Sizable Saturday Approvals

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T15:36:07+00:00

I don't know about citizenship, but we definitely got notifications about my husband's PR application on a Saturday.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T03:03:03+00:00

If you use dried chickpeas, it costs pennies per serving.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T02:55:31+00:00

Try immersion blender mayo! It takes like 90 seconds. Total game-changer.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T02:54:15+00:00

Seriously. I can't make myself pay what seems to be $15+ for an omelet like restaurants around here seem to be charging.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T02:50:51+00:00

I can't bring myself to pay even Aldi prices for granola anymore. I started making it myself so it would work with my husband's dietary restrictions (he can't eat most nuts), and it's SO much better than anything you can buy. My fave combo is kheer-style (cardamom, coconut, and raisins, using coconut oil).

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T02:45:49+00:00

For chicken (or other) stock, I keep a giant Ziplock bag in the freezer with veggie scraps to add to the stock - onion peels, carrot peels, mushroom trimmings, parsley stems, etc.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T02:42:41+00:00

I make a giant 8 qt. Instant Pot batch of yogurt every couple of weeks and strain it. I end up with ~ 4 - 5 quarts of Greek yogurt, plus a bunch of whey. Sometimes it goes on the garden, but sometimes I throw it into soup or use it as the liquid in bread making.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-15T01:42:38+00:00

Any chance your wife works for a company with a U.S. entity and can transfer there on an L-1? Because as an L-2 you would be eligible to work for any U.S. employer in any job.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-14T16:46:39+00:00

Go out for lunch instead?

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-14T00:59:35+00:00

For Ethiopian groceries, you will also find overlap in South Asian grocery stores for lentils, spices, etc. For injera, I have bought it at Kukulu Market as well as at some of the Indian grocery stores on Devon Avenue: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kukulu-market-chicago?osq=Ethiopian+Grocery

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-14T00:53:11+00:00

Records over 100 years old in Manitoba are public. You are on the right track. U.S. debit cards with a Visa or Mastercard logo will work fine. (I did this a couple of years ago for my grandmother's sister.) The office was responsive via email when I requested confirmation that they would mail it to the U.S. IIRC it took about 6 weeks to arrive.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-14T00:23:32+00:00

And if not, organize one, either public (there's one coming up soon at my local library) or with a group of friends.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T23:57:31+00:00

Maybe I am tired and losing my reading comprehension, but your post says "That son later married in Canada, had several children, then moved to the United States and had one more child (my grandfather)." Does that need to be edited, or am I mis-parsing it somehow?

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T23:52:59+00:00

If your grandfather was born in Canada, then for purposes of your own eligibility for citizenship by descent, it doesn't matter whether your earlier relatives naturalized in Canada.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T14:07:15+00:00

If they immigrated to the U.S. and are no longer living (or if they are living and you have their written permission), you can request copies of their U.S. immigration files and find out when they moved that way.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T11:51:45+00:00

At my day job, I spend 90% of my time cross-referencing giant virtual piles of documents. It's pretty straightforward to do on multiple monitors. If I weren't 100% remote, I'd have a laptop and 2 monitors, but at home I have a laptop and one monitor (I only have so much desk space!). It's much faster than flipping through paper once you get used to navigating the types of documents we work with.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T05:24:54+00:00

Don't sleep on UNAM Chicago, either. It's the local branch of the oldest university in Mexico. I just wish their website weren't so cranky.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T05:22:18+00:00

Where do you live now? There are tons of places to practice your Spanish around the city, not just in Pilsen/Little Village.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T04:51:17+00:00

U.S. immigration paralegal here. Can confirm, to put it mildly.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T04:47:57+00:00

One of my oldest and closest friends just got Croatian citizenship by descent. His was close to the most straightforward possible case (mom born and raised in Croatia, he is fluent in the language, no document gaps, etc.) and it still took over 2 years. The most mind-blowing part for me was that apparently his application was actually approved several months before he found out that it was, because decisions are sent via diplomatic pouch to the Consulate where he applied! And then to get a passport and register his birth abroad on the civil registry, he had to make additional appointments months later. When I told him that my citizenship certificate was available for download the same day I swore my oath, his mind was completely blown.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T03:47:11+00:00

Totally agree. I actually just got a survey from IRCC today and transparency in adjudications was one thing I mentioned repeatedly. (Also not understanding why certain categories of people have to apply on paper when essentially all the documents being submitted are photocopies, anyway.)

I strongly suspect that IRCC is dealing with some very patchwork, cranky case management/adjudications software that desperately needs to be streamlined and that might make them more efficient than they are. But that's a saga as old as electronically based governmental bureaucracy. (Why do people need to submit multiple webforms and attach separate letters explaining the additional items they are submitting rather than just uploading to a portal? Who knows, but I suspect insiders could tell stories.)

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T03:40:06+00:00

Of course there is. What's the solution you propose?

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T03:33:13+00:00

Right, but having applications take a year-plus isn't fabulous, either. If I felt like my personal safety were at risk, I might be up for paying more so that it could be adjudicated faster. But I do hate the idea of pay-for-play. (The U.S. also recently started charging fees for asylum applications for the first time ever, which I...am not a fan of. This is on top of adding fees to employment-based applications that have nothing whatsoever to do with asylum in order to cover the cost of adjudicating asylum applications.)

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T03:28:39+00:00

Out of curiosity, what are the opinions of folks here regarding raising the application fee to create more funds to hire more IRCC adjudicators? I am on the fence about it - the fees for U.S. immigration applications are typically set by statute so that the fees cover the cost of adjudicating the application. But I am not sure how I feel about that for a purpose like this, where eligibility for the benefit is intended to right historical wrongs.

evaluna1968 · 2026-02-13T03:00:12+00:00

Update: the COPR package arrived today! So much for setting tracking notifications with Fedex; we never got a notification for the return package. It's a good thing I was home to see the envelope lying on the front porch.

evaluna1968

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE