Notification of interview??

[Justine+David 218]

Hi guys, another question...(did anyone notice that you can no longer search by specific forum in the advanced search view? this is incredibly frustrating because when I type in the words "interview letter" it comes up with posts from all the forums on VJ, making it very hard to find what I want)

Anyway...

Are you just notified by a letter that you have your AOS interview? Is there any way to look it up online or a status change that you do have a letter? Any way to call the good old USCIS/DOS to ask what your interview date is?

Just asking because while we are getting legally married next week, we would like to apply for AOS in a short time, although our big wedding ceremony is on the opposite coast where all my family lives in September and we'll be in Hawaii for two weeks. I was just going to apply later on in August to ensure that we wouldn't have the interview before then, but David is applying for graduate school for a June 2011 entry (1 year masters in teaching) and the priority deadline is November 1st. I've talked with the university and they haven't really heard about K1s, not that I would expect them to but definitely have said that he cannot get in without a green card unless we apply for a F1 which would be silly and expensive (apparently you need all the money in cash including room and board upfront)...so it would probably be a lot less headache involved if we could try our best to get the green card sooner than later, although of course there are no guarantees of getting a green card within a certain amount of time...did I mention how much I'm not fond of immigration ??

However, if we apply within a couple of weeks, that would increase our chances of getting the green card before November 1st...I was thinking that if there was some way we could know that we had an interview coming up without checking our mailbox (since we'll be in Seattle/Hawaii), we could always take the chance and then pay for a flight back home immediately if we found out that we needed to do the interview during our honeymoon. At least our wedding is on a Saturday so that we won't miss that

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Your post is written in a very confusing manner. First, yes you can still search by specific forums. There is a "site discussion" thread and one new post started yesterday because the site was being updated and there were still bugs that were being fixed. This must have been one of them.

From what I understand from your post this is the situation:

- Legally married next week (June)

- Family wedding in September (staying there 2 weeks)

- November 1st is your "get my greencard deadline"

Yes you are notified by email of your interview date. If you will not be where your mail is, you MUST have someone checking your mail for you. Have them open the USCIS mail and tell you what it says. You are assuming you don't get an RFE for something. There are other reasons they send mail, you MUST MUST MUST absolutely have someone checking your mail. Sometimes they don't update online so this is the safest way.

Personally I would start getting the AOS paperwork together now. You cannot send it until you have a copy of the marriage certificate. Some people have had success if they take the signed licence to the court house themselves. if you're getting married IN the court house this could save time too. tell them its important you get the copy quickly.

If you file at the start of July you have FOUR months to get the greencard. This might not be enough time. If it's not, you need to speak to the school about what they need to prove his status. Is the AOS NOA1 enough, what about AOS approval? Is the EAD enough? Technically until AOS is approved your spouse is still an "international student". Filing ASAP gives you the best chance.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[besaangel 18]

From what I understand from your post this is the situation:

- Legally married next week (June)

- Family wedding in September (staying there 2 weeks)

- November 1st is your "get my greencard deadline"

Yes you are notified by email of your interview date. If you will not be where your mail is, you MUST have someone checking your mail for you. Have them open the USCIS mail and tell you what it says. You are assuming you don't get an RFE for something. There are other reasons they send mail, you MUST MUST MUST absolutely have someone checking your mail. Sometimes they don't update online so this is the safest way.

Vanessa is correct... The online notification isn't "reliable" to notify you of interview updates. Make sure there is someone that can retrieve your mail if you are no available... You need to decide if you guys can get married now and file the AOS (still go to Hawaii) but can get GC before November, or wait and might/might not get GC by November... Up to you guys but we wish you all the best

[Justine+David 218]

Thank you for your information; I guess I should have checked the site update forum to check for bugs before I posted this topic I'm usually very good with doing searches--no noob questions asked during the K1 process, I swear! Yes, it's a confusing situation...I still confuse myself sometimes about it

I don't think I can let someone check my mail due to personal circumstances, but maybe I could look into the post office forwarding all my mail to Seattle where my parents live for a time, although that of course has its own difficulties.

Can one not directly call the local office itself or USCIS/NVC/DOS for the interview date? I will do some searching around on VJ and call up our Fairfax office today.

Again, thanks for the helpful info! I've had a break from all the bureaucracy that comes with immigration since we got David's visa in early April and I guess my mind had started to block out how inefficient and frustrating this system can be. I mean, it's enough trouble that one can't re-schedule the interview date, so if it happens to be on a day that I am on shift at the hospital, I'll have to ask special permission from my manager to use vacation time in such a short amount of period. I don't see why they can't just say that you're eligible for an appointment, please sign up for one online within a 2 week period...UGH. Sorry, just venting.

David is here now and he's worth all the annoyances!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Thank you for your information; I guess I should have checked the site update forum to check for bugs before I posted this topic I'm usually very good with doing searches--no noob questions asked during the K1 process, I swear! Yes, it's a confusing situation...I still confuse myself sometimes about it

I don't think I can let someone check my mail due to personal circumstances, but maybe I could look into the post office forwarding all my mail to Seattle where my parents live for a time, although that of course has its own difficulties.

Can one not directly call the local office itself or USCIS/NVC/DOS for the interview date? I will do some searching around on VJ and call up our Fairfax office today.

Again, thanks for the helpful info! I've had a break from all the bureaucracy that comes with immigration since we got David's visa in early April and I guess my mind had started to block out how inefficient and frustrating this system can be. I mean, it's enough trouble that one can't re-schedule the interview date, so if it happens to be on a day that I am on shift at the hospital, I'll have to ask special permission from my manager to use vacation time in such a short amount of period. I don't see why they can't just say that you're eligible for an appointment, please sign up for one online within a 2 week period...UGH. Sorry, just venting.

David is here now and he's worth all the annoyances!

Ooo I'm about to upset you more. Government mail CANNOT be forwarded. If you had a forward set up on your mailbox government mail with be returned to sender (one of the reasons we waited until after we moved to file AOS).

You MIGHT be able to find out about the interview a different way, but the RFE's (if you get them) you can't. You will definitely need someone to be checking your mail. Perhaps another idea is to set your mailing address as somewhere "safe" when you send the paperwork? Do you not have a friend you could have picking up your mail? USCIS mail is very obvious (says it in the top corner) so you could let them just open that stuff. It's not usually very personal looking.

[Justine+David 218]

Update:

Called USCIS, monkey-d around with the first-level agent who kept saying, "I am not authorized to answer that kind of question" (can we call you to ask when the interview date is assigned?) for about 5 minutes until he gave up and sent me to someone who knew what they were talking about (well, we can only hope ) and basically because of confidentiality reasons, no, you can't call to ask when the interview date is.

I think what got the guy to pass the buck was when I asked him what the reliability rates for the online updates that tell you when your interview is He started to sound pissed off, although he did wish me a good day and to not hesitate to call USCIS again for any other questions

The local office does not have a phone number listed on the website nor is USCIS allowed to give me their phone number. However, I can make the ever-infamous infopass...

What a can of worms this is turning out to be...I think I'll ask the university about the NOA1, though, V&T, that is a good idea...I'm afraid I'm going to have to argue quite a bit though. Ah, well. It'll help gear me up to fight with the SSN office next week when we try for David's SSN

[Justine+David 218]

Ooo I'm about to upset you more. Government mail CANNOT be forwarded. If you had a forward set up on your mailbox government mail with be returned to sender (one of the reasons we waited until after we moved to file AOS).

You MIGHT be able to find out about the interview a different way, but the RFE's (if you get them) you can't. You will definitely need someone to be checking your mail. Perhaps another idea is to set your mailing address as somewhere "safe" when you send the paperwork? Do you not have a friend you could have picking up your mail? USCIS mail is very obvious (says it in the top corner) so you could let them just open that stuff. It's not usually very personal looking.

Good to know!! Would not want to find that out the hard way!

Unfortunately, I don't really know anyone in this area and all my family are on the west coast. I suppose I could try some awkward neighbor introductions, "Hey...can you check my mail for me while I'm gone and let me know if the government says my foreign fiance has an immigration interview?" but I know absolutely none of them (I work the night shift so I'm usually in bed when they go to work, I'm assuming), so I can't really judge their do-gooder personality if they have one. I do have some casual friends, but it'd be a big burden to ask for them to come to my apartment complex every day. Le sigh. My good friends live all over the country and we meet up for various events throughout the year and are in close contact online; closest ones are in NYC. Sorta sounds a little pathetic, but since I'm posting this in an online forum, I hope I won't be judged too harshly Now, if I was still in Seattle, wouldn't be a problem because I have plenty of old college friends and my family is there, but it's been hard meeting people my age working the swing shift at a hospital unit where most of the nurses are over the age of 40 when I'm only 24. They're awesome and we get along great, but they have their own life situations, busy with their kids and families.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Justine+David

[Vivi6 12]

How long will you be away for? because RFEs might have to be answered in a month usually. The biggest problem is the bionetrics appointment (where they take fingerprints and picture). He has to show up, or after his second notice they will abandon the application. So I really think- as other people say- you NEED to find someone you can trust to check your mail. Maybe by the time you go to Seattle+Hawaii biometrics will be completed but you might still get RFEs

My advice is:

-Start gathering the necessary documents for AOS. Read the guides here: My link they are always very helpful. You will know what you have and what you are missing. If you got a co-sponsor on the K1 affidavit and still need one, remember your cosponsor has to give you tax returns for the past 3 years, i.e. 2007, 2008, and 2009. If you are the sponsor, then submit your tax documents. This is something you can start collecting now.

-Get married, get the marriage license asap (In my experience you still have to wait around 6 days minimum even if you go take the license by yourself at least in Califronia...) and file for AOS hopefully by the end of the month/beginning of July. TRIPLE check your application. That will lower the chances of an RFE.

-If you do this, you will for sure receive a notice for biometrics by the beginning of August. Have David try to do a walk-in at your local office- maybe reasearch on VJ to see if other people were successful, I am pretty sure I've read about the Alexandria office before.

-Looks like most AOS cases are approved between 3 and 4 months. If your case goes to CSC, you most likely be approved without an interview. Also, Advance Parole and EAD are approved between 60 and 70 days.

I think if you apply at the beginning of July you have good chances of being approved before October so the school problem will be solved. The only wild card is the interview, they mail the notice approximately 1 month before you have to show up. On the other hand most cases that go to CSC are transfered within a month or so and in that case no interview (and they notify you via mail if they transfer your case- also via email when their system works). What are the exact dates you'll be gone?

One more piece of advice...NEVER waste your time calling USCIS unless your case it truly out of processing times or you have an emergency...they are too incompetent enough to give the info that you requested and most times they read off a script. I trust VJ much more...

[Justine+David 218]

Thanks Vivi! Yes, I am a very fastidious person with this immigration stuff (read 80 pages of the UK interview thread because my obsession with getting everything right) and we have just about all our duck's in a row for that (don't need a co-sponsor, have the affidavit stuff, i-94, g325a, etc etc ready); just need the marriage license and we went to the office today to get it and will be married next Monday.

I didn't know they gave you a month notice for the interview! That might solve all the problems...we leave for Seattle on September 7th and get back September 29th, so if we got the notice on September 8th, it wouldn't be until October 8th, in theory...of course we could get the interview date before then and it would be right in the middle of our vacation...but on the bright side we would know about it beforehand while we change our flights, so it wouldn't be as rude a surprise instead of scrambling to leave Hawaii on our honeymoon...and I'm guessing we can't have the interview in Hawaii I will definitely do more searches on this...

For RFEs, the month required thing would solve this issue too...and if we apply relatively soon, I think we would get the RFEs at least within 3 months in any case, which would be before we leave.

Btw, I am well-aware of USCIS and know it as the misinformation line, so don't worry I have had a few show-downs with DOS as well with them giving me incorrect information, not to mention the US Embassy in London (great story: in order to ask them a question, you call them up while paying $15 for the privilege every 7 minutes to ask for an e-mail code of the week. This code lets you e-mail them without it being deleted and they usually answer your question in a few hours. We had a problem getting the actual visa in hand and when I called them and asked for the e-mail code, the lady said that there is no such thing as an e-mail code...then I explained the situation to her and she promptly gave it to me )

Oh, US immigration, you never fail to make things irritating One thing to count on, right? Better to know your enemies than not at all?

**disclaimer to possible US officers reading this: that was sarcasm and is a joke. I would never consider US immigration to be my enemy

Can't wait for David to apply for his citizenship!

Edited June 17, 2010 by Justine+David

[menina 50]

We had about a month's notice for our interview letter. However, you will need to complete biometrics before that. We only had about 10 days notice for that. Some people get more notice, and it takes longer if your office has a lot of people to process. In some offices you can also do an early walk-in. We filed mid-January and had our biometrics about a month later. So, most likely you wouldn't have any trouble getting back before an interview can be scheduled, but you might need to come back early for biometrics. I would still suggest applying as early as possible in order to hopefully have an approval in time to apply for school. Good luck to you!