January 2010 AOS Filers

[MARM 7]

We had my husband's AOS interview today in Chicago, he is approved! :dance:

My interview experience isn't as long as Calypso's, nor is it as exciting , but here is the review:

We arrived at 101 W Congress Parkway at around 7:45 for a 9:00 AM interview appointment. Screened through security, and up the escalators to the receptionist on the second floor, who took our interview letter and gave us a beeper/pager with a unique # and kept and wrote the same # on the interview letter. We sat down in a room that wasn't so full of people but did have the capacity to hold about 100 interviewees. At 8:08 AM, our pager buzzed and as we stood up to head for the door which led to the adjudicator's offices, the IO officer walked out with a sheet of paper in our hands and confirmed my husband's last name. Then instead of going through that door, she walked us toward the back, which was the "restricted entrance/exit" marked for personnel only. She led us both into her office and had us both swear an oath to tell the truth with our right hands raised before we sat down. Then we sat down and she immediately asked for our gov issued IDs and passports and my husband's I-94. We presented the documents to her and she shuffled through some paperwork in our huge, thick file (which I was surprised to see had all my husband's K-1 interview forms in it as well). She handed us an official copy of the appointment notice for our records (we already made a copy of the one we submitted to the receptionist beforehand, but gladly took it from her anyhow). It was silent for a while as she searched for some information, and then she asked only the following questions of my husband:

The formal "have you ever been..." questions (not all of the ones on the page, just 3) And then she asked my husband and I to sign and date a form.

Were you born in Pakistan?

Were you a resident of the UK?

When did you last enter the US?

Have you gotten your EAD? (no, he has not)

And then she asked a few more questions, not specifically directed at either one of us so we answered together:

So you met online?

Did you have a big wedding?

Do you have any children?

Who is first name, last name? (my mother, my husband's mother-in-law)

And after shuffling through some more paperwork, she asked of my husband, "So you had your medical done at the time of your visa application?" Which he did, but he had his vacc.s done later and transcribed here in the US by a CS. She thought she couldn't find the medical so she asked me for a copy and just as I was about to give her a copy of the medical I had brought with me, she found the medical in his file. So nothing to worry about.

Then after going through our file again, she asked, "Is there anything you would like to give me to add to your application?"

At this point my husband showed her our photo albums, but she merely glanced at one of them, she didn't take them into her hands at all, and she declined to take pictures out of there for our application when I told her she could take pictures out of there for our file. I proceeded to give her copies of our bank statements, safety deposit box accounts, living arrangements affidavit, and showed her proof of joint address (in the forms of letters addressed to both of us and my husband). She only took copies of the living arrangements affidavit and the bank accounts, safety deposit box accounts, nothing else.

Then she told us, "Today, I am approving your(my husband's) residency in the United States. Two years from now, you will be eligible to lift conditions. You will be able to apply for a new SS card once you get the green card in hand. Expect to receive your green card within two weeks at your home address. If you get the EAD document at home, send it back to us and you no longer will be needing it." And we said, "thank you" (We were so happy!) and she led us out back to the main waiting area.

The actual interview part took literally 5-6 minutes of time in total.

We were home by 9:45

And now we are going out to celebrate! No more USCIS for two years! :dancing:

Good luck to everyone else, we will never cease to be strong supporters and members of VisaJourney!

[Laura & Kyle 16]

Congratulations, Marm That is wonderful!!!

[Calypso 464]

Congratulations MARM!

[cherryblossom2010 0]

Congrats MARM!! And thank you for the interview details

We had my husband's AOS interview today in Chicago, he is approved! :dance:

My interview experience isn't as long as Calypso's, nor is it as exciting , but here is the review:

We arrived at 101 W Congress Parkway at around 7:45 for a 9:00 AM interview appointment. Screened through security, and up the escalators to the receptionist on the second floor, who took our interview letter and gave us a beeper/pager with a unique # and kept and wrote the same # on the interview letter. We sat down in a room that wasn't so full of people but did have the capacity to hold about 100 interviewees. At 8:08 AM, our pager buzzed and as we stood up to head for the door which led to the adjudicator's offices, the IO officer walked out with a sheet of paper in our hands and confirmed my husband's last name. Then instead of going through that door, she walked us toward the back, which was the "restricted entrance/exit" marked for personnel only. She led us both into her office and had us both swear an oath to tell the truth with our right hands raised before we sat down. Then we sat down and she immediately asked for our gov issued IDs and passports and my husband's I-94. We presented the documents to her and she shuffled through some paperwork in our huge, thick file (which I was surprised to see had all my husband's K-1 interview forms in it as well). She handed us an official copy of the appointment notice for our records (we already made a copy of the one we submitted to the receptionist beforehand, but gladly took it from her anyhow). It was silent for a while as she searched for some information, and then she asked only the following questions of my husband:

The formal "have you ever been..." questions (not all of the ones on the page, just 3) And then she asked my husband and I to sign and date a form.

Were you born in Pakistan?

Were you a resident of the UK?

When did you last enter the US?

Have you gotten your EAD? (no, he has not)

And then she asked a few more questions, not specifically directed at either one of us so we answered together:

So you met online?

Did you have a big wedding?

Do you have any children?

Who is first name, last name? (my mother, my husband's mother-in-law)

And after shuffling through some more paperwork, she asked of my husband, "So you had your medical done at the time of your visa application?" Which he did, but he had his vacc.s done later and transcribed here in the US by a CS. She thought she couldn't find the medical so she asked me for a copy and just as I was about to give her a copy of the medical I had brought with me, she found the medical in his file. So nothing to worry about.

Then after going through our file again, she asked, "Is there anything you would like to give me to add to your application?"

At this point my husband showed her our photo albums, but she merely glanced at one of them, she didn't take them into her hands at all, and she declined to take pictures out of there for our application when I told her she could take pictures out of there for our file. I proceeded to give her copies of our bank statements, safety deposit box accounts, living arrangements affidavit, and showed her proof of joint address (in the forms of letters addressed to both of us and my husband). She only took copies of the living arrangements affidavit and the bank accounts, safety deposit box accounts, nothing else.

Then she told us, "Today, I am approving your(my husband's) residency in the United States. Two years from now, you will be eligible to lift conditions. You will be able to apply for a new SS card once you get the green card in hand. Expect to receive your green card within two weeks at your home address. If you get the EAD document at home, send it back to us and you no longer will be needing it." And we said, "thank you" (We were so happy!) and she led us out back to the main waiting area.

The actual interview part took literally 5-6 minutes of time in total.

We were home by 9:45

And now we are going out to celebrate! No more USCIS for two years! :dancing:

Good luck to everyone else, we will never cease to be strong supporters and members of VisaJourney!

[sciencenerd 56]

So cool to read people's interview experiences! Congrats on the approvals!

We finally got our interview appt letter today - so excited! Our interview will be on May 4th - now we just have to finish compiling documents and photos to bring with us. For anyone else who is obsessed with checking their status online, our I-485 has not been touched since 3/5 and is still in "RFE" status. It's probably better so I stop checking it a million times a day .

[kensue 0]

So cool to read people's interview experiences! Congrats on the approvals!

We finally got our interview appt letter today - so excited! Our interview will be on May 4th - now we just have to finish compiling documents and photos to bring with us. For anyone else who is obsessed with checking their status online, our I-485 has not been touched since 3/5 and is still in "RFE" status. It's probably better so I stop checking it a million times a day .

Do you know if fingerprints are required for travel permit or can it be approvaled without fingerprints, I am in a tough situation

[victorious 0]

We had my husband's AOS interview today in Chicago, he is approved! :dance:

My interview experience isn't as long as Calypso's, nor is it as exciting , but here is the review:

We arrived at 101 W Congress Parkway at around 7:45 for a 9:00 AM interview appointment. Screened through security, and up the escalators to the receptionist on the second floor, who took our interview letter and gave us a beeper/pager with a unique # and kept and wrote the same # on the interview letter. We sat down in a room that wasn't so full of people but did have the capacity to hold about 100 interviewees. At 8:08 AM, our pager buzzed and as we stood up to head for the door which led to the adjudicator's offices, the IO officer walked out with a sheet of paper in our hands and confirmed my husband's last name. Then instead of going through that door, she walked us toward the back, which was the "restricted entrance/exit" marked for personnel only. She led us both into her office and had us both swear an oath to tell the truth with our right hands raised before we sat down. Then we sat down and she immediately asked for our gov issued IDs and passports and my husband's I-94. We presented the documents to her and she shuffled through some paperwork in our huge, thick file (which I was surprised to see had all my husband's K-1 interview forms in it as well). She handed us an official copy of the appointment notice for our records (we already made a copy of the one we submitted to the receptionist beforehand, but gladly took it from her anyhow). It was silent for a while as she searched for some information, and then she asked only the following questions of my husband:

The formal "have you ever been..." questions (not all of the ones on the page, just 3) And then she asked my husband and I to sign and date a form.

Were you born in Pakistan?

Were you a resident of the UK?

When did you last enter the US?

Have you gotten your EAD? (no, he has not)

And then she asked a few more questions, not specifically directed at either one of us so we answered together:

So you met online?

Did you have a big wedding?

Do you have any children?

Who is first name, last name? (my mother, my husband's mother-in-law)

And after shuffling through some more paperwork, she asked of my husband, "So you had your medical done at the time of your visa application?" Which he did, but he had his vacc.s done later and transcribed here in the US by a CS. She thought she couldn't find the medical so she asked me for a copy and just as I was about to give her a copy of the medical I had brought with me, she found the medical in his file. So nothing to worry about.

Then after going through our file again, she asked, "Is there anything you would like to give me to add to your application?"

At this point my husband showed her our photo albums, but she merely glanced at one of them, she didn't take them into her hands at all, and she declined to take pictures out of there for our application when I told her she could take pictures out of there for our file. I proceeded to give her copies of our bank statements, safety deposit box accounts, living arrangements affidavit, and showed her proof of joint address (in the forms of letters addressed to both of us and my husband). She only took copies of the living arrangements affidavit and the bank accounts, safety deposit box accounts, nothing else.

Then she told us, "Today, I am approving your(my husband's) residency in the United States. Two years from now, you will be eligible to lift conditions. You will be able to apply for a new SS card once you get the green card in hand. Expect to receive your green card within two weeks at your home address. If you get the EAD document at home, send it back to us and you no longer will be needing it." And we said, "thank you" (We were so happy!) and she led us out back to the main waiting area.

The actual interview part took literally 5-6 minutes of time in total.

We were home by 9:45

And now we are going out to celebrate! No more USCIS for two years! :dancing:

Good luck to everyone else, we will never cease to be strong supporters and members of VisaJourney!

Congrats Marm! and thanks for sharing!

[victorious 0]

Do you know if fingerprints are required for travel permit or can it be approvaled without fingerprints, I am in a tough situation

I don't know about that but I know that you need to have your advance parole approval before you left US if you dont have green card yet.

[piscesforever 1]

For anyone else who is obsessed with checking their status online, our I-485 has not been touched since 3/5 and is still in "RFE" status. It's probably better so I stop checking it a million times a day .

Thanks for sharing. I have noticed too that they haven't updated the cases online recently. Btw, congrats on your interview appt. And I usually check this thread for interview experiences. Thanks and congrats

[Andrelle 1]

Congratulations Marm!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

[menina 50]

Congratulations Marm!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Only 6 hours til interview time. I am heading off to work soon and dropping husband off for school. We will be leaving early for the interview--luckily it is nearby our home. Good luck tomorrow Fatima and to everyone else who has interviews soon.

[Miranda&John 0]

Only 6 hours til interview time. I am heading off to work soon and dropping husband off for school. We will be leaving early for the interview--luckily it is nearby our home. Good luck tomorrow Fatima and to everyone else who has interviews soon.

Good luck menina! Let us know how it goes!

[Jack B. Nimble 1]

Interview yesterday (3/30/10) - Atlanta GA office - Approved.

Review:

Arrived at 145pm (appt time 215pm). Went through security line and items were found in wife's purse that had to be returned to the car. Within the 2 mins she was gone the line grew by 20 people. She was waived through by the first guard to go ahead of line, since she had cleared. Second guard who was double checking persons setting off detector, started yelling "Where are you going?" Set my USC wife's nerve on edge and made her stomach turn. After minor accosting at the security check-in based on the serious mis-communication of the entire security check-in staff on first floor she was convinced we're going to be interrogated based on the check-in approach at the security check.

Went to 2nd floor, checked in at 157pm at window then instructed to go to 3rd floor and check-in at another window. Sat around for about 10 mins before interviewer called our names. Never really got her name, but was pleasant and not aggressive in any way.

Swore us in, check driver licenses, got my passport and I-94. Verified our date of births, SSN, addresses, parents name. Asked how we met, wife answered, from college in 2001 at a National Society of Black Engineers meeting. IO was pleasantly surprised and asked...so you both are engineers and from 2001 is a long time. As she jotted notes, she gave the impression that we were done and just wanted quickly move through the other formalities. Asked if we had any evidence we'd like to show of our marriage. Showed lease with both names, joint bank account statements, recent vacation travel together over December, joint car insurance, joint 2009 tax return, Disney ID cards from proposal trip in July 2009, a few memorable ticket stubs of shows we attended (circus, orchestra). We had no wedding photos to show as we did a civil marriage with a ceremonial marriage in June. She didn't asked, we didn't tell. But had wedding planning items in folder as backup. But did show usual couple photos over the past 2 years, which she kept about 3 from our engagement photoshoot.

She grabbed her little green Approved stamp, and stamped both I-485 and I-130 form, and said, you are now a permanent resident and will receive your card within 3-4 wks. Explained conditional removal process. Walked us to the door and said have a nice day.

Didn't ask for the EAD or AP (which I'll need since I'm out of the country next week). Got in the car and wife said...hmm...that was easy (while looking for the Red Staples button). Spent about 40 mins in the building. My wife was entertained by the office across from our IO office where three IOs were talking loud enough to know that they were tearing apart someone's application that appeared riddled with inconsistent information.

See you guys January 2012.

Good luck and blessings to everyone else on their upcoming interviews!

[F & J 21]

@ MARM

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you! After all you've been through, you deserve a fast, smooth approval! ^___^

@ Jack B. Nimble

Yay!!! Congratulations!!! ^___^

Only 6 hours til interview time. I am heading off to work soon and dropping husband off for school. We will be leaving early for the interview--luckily it is nearby our home. Good luck tomorrow Fatima and to everyone else who has interviews soon.

GOOD LUCK MENINA!!! I hope you have a fast and easy interview!!! *HUGS*

And thank you so much - I'm getting a bit antsy. We have an early morning interview and will be leaving at around 4:30 AM tomorrow for the over 3 hour drive to the Detroit office. My hubby wants me to go to bed early tonight so I can rest up but I don't know how I'll be able to sleep! @_@ I've been looking through all our paperwork every few hours just to make sure we don't forget anything. @_@ LOL.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Fatima and Jim

[Andrelle 1]

Good luck Fatima and Jim on your interview!!!

Edited March 31, 2010 by Andrelle