August Interviews Crew - AOS Journey

[Wishing 1]

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year:) Congrats to all those with updates from biometrics to interview dates!

Yes I am getting prepared for the AOS interview on Tuesday! Oddly enough I have not been anywhere near as stressful about this one then the Montreal interview. Of course in a way this makes sense since we are together and really now all this is just necessary steps to complete the process.

I'm gathering all the items they ask for...if you at all kept your stuff from the Montreal interview together its pretty easy to get the pieces together. Just gotta make sure we get there on time and that we don't forget anything. In the letter they are very specific on bringing an original and copy of all documents so that's what I'll do.

As for AP, yes I did receive that in the mail this week as well as my EAD card. I don't know exactly what date it arrived as we had our mail on hold while we were away for the holidays. ALSO on the USCIS website the AP still says its in "Initial Review" but obviously its not cuz I have the papers in hand!! The AP was issued on December 21st according to the document though.

So wish us luck for our interview on Tuesday!!

[Wishing 1]

WELL now I am freaking out. When I first read the AOS form I through it was clear that it said if I had already submitted the medical examination and vaccination supplement that I did not have to bring any of this to the AOS interview. Now that I'm re-reading it and the VJ website I'm doubting myself and think I may have to go to a civil surgeon on Monday to get the I693 filled out!? Is this correct? Need help!

[Wishing 1]

Oh and I've decided I'm bringing every last one of our Christmas Cards we received this year as part of our proof of relationship...HAH! And I'm pretty sure I found an answer to the I-693 thing but if anyone else knows anything else let me know:)

Edited January 9, 2011 by Wishing

[Veronik 19]

User .......... AOS sent .... NOAs ...... Bio. App ... AP Result ..... EAD Result .... Inter./Transf. .... AOS Result ...... Card Revd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mandaNchris ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alaba ......... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Brenda2010 .... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Rose416 ....... 09/25/10 ... 10/08/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/22/10(a) ... 11/23/10(a) ... Int: 02/07/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Vero and Chris. 10/06/10 ... 10/18/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 12/14/10(a) ... 12/17/10(a) ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

J & J ......... 12/06/10 ... 12/13/10 ... 01/05/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Wishing ....... 10/11/10 ... 10/20/10 ... 11/12/10 ... 12/21/10(a) ... 12/21/10(a) ... Int: 01/11/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Valerie78 ..... 11/17/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 01/18/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

nickbits ...... 09/16/10 ... 09/24/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/16/10(a) ... 11/16/10(a) ... Int: 12/13/10 ..... -Approved!- ..... 12/23/10

Tater&####### .. 10/08/10 ... 10/19/10 ... 11/09/10 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

ken and kate .. 11/15/10 ... 11/23/10 ... 01/06/11 ... --- N/A --- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alright Wishing, I put in the same date on your AP as your EAD, just a detail at this point! Good luck on your interview tomorrow, you'll be fine!

I have been trying to find a job, and man, the market su**s! I've been applying left and right, and nothing yet!!! Something's gonna pop up, right?

I have a tax related question for everyone! When Chris files his taxes, what is more profitable for him? To file seperately? joint married? And does he have to include my canadian income in there? I worked in Canada until June '10...

Thanks for the help guys! I'm so confused about this!

Oh, Tater&#######, have you heard anything yet?

Edited January 10, 2011 by Vero and Chris

[Wishing 1]

User .......... AOS sent .... NOAs ...... Bio. App ... AP Result ..... EAD Result .... Inter./Transf. .... AOS Result ...... Card Revd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mandaNchris ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alaba ......... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Brenda2010 .... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Rose416 ....... 09/25/10 ... 10/08/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/22/10(a) ... 11/23/10(a) ... Int: 02/07/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Vero and Chris. 10/06/10 ... 10/18/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 12/14/10(a) ... 12/17/10(a) ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

J & J ......... 12/06/10 ... 12/13/10 ... 01/05/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Wishing ....... 10/11/10 ... 10/20/10 ... 11/12/10 ... 12/21/10(a) ... 12/21/10(a) ... Int: 01/11/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Valerie78 ..... 11/17/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 01/18/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

nickbits ...... 09/16/10 ... 09/24/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/16/10(a) ... 11/16/10(a) ... Int: 12/13/10 ..... -Approved!- ..... 12/23/10

Tater&####### .. 10/08/10 ... 10/19/10 ... 11/09/10 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

ken and kate .. 11/15/10 ... 11/23/10 ... 01/06/11 ... --- N/A --- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alright Wishing, I put in the same date on your AP as your EAD, just a detail at this point! Good luck on your interview tomorrow, you'll be fine!

I have been trying to find a job, and man, the market su**s! I've been applying left and right, and nothing yet!!! Something's gonna pop up, right?

I have a tax related question for everyone! When Chris files his taxes, what is more profitable for him? To file seperately? joint married? And does he have to include my canadian income in there? I worked in Canada until June '10...

Thanks for the help guys! I'm so confused about this!

Oh, Tater&#######, have you heard anything yet?

We are filing seperate taxes for 2010 just for simplicity, as I will I be filing of course in Canada and US...and I'm not sure how filing jointly in US will affect my Canadian tax return. Also I am going to file my Canadian and US taxes through an H&R block in Canada that I used last year. On the same note I had to file Cdn & US taxes last year also because I worked a few months on a TN visa in the US. So I might be a little different too...just to complicate my answer!

[Veronik 19]

Thanks Wishing! I think I'm going to call the 1-800 number for the IRS this week and figure it out. I'll post whatever they say on here, just in case it helps anyone...

[Wishing 1]

We were approved at our AOS interview, yay! The IO even commented that we did a great job on our file, lots of pictures, was a straight forward file to review:) whoot whoot once have the card in mail done with USCIS for 2 years!

[Veronik 19]

Oh my God!!! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy it all went well for you guys! Will you be ok with giving me details of the interview if I have one too? Congrats again!

User .......... AOS sent .... NOAs ...... Bio. App ... AP Result ..... EAD Result .... Inter./Transf. .... AOS Result ...... Card Revd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mandaNchris ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Alaba ......... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Brenda2010 .... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... xx/xx/xx ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Rose416 ....... 09/25/10 ... 10/08/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/22/10(a) ... 11/23/10(a) ... Int: 02/07/11 ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Vero and Chris. 10/06/10 ... 10/18/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 12/14/10(a) ... 12/17/10(a) ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

J & J ......... 12/06/10 ... 12/13/10 ... 01/05/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

Wishing ....... 10/11/10 ... 10/20/10 ... 11/12/10 ... 12/21/10(a) ... 12/21/10(a) ... Int: 01/11/11 ..... -Approved!- ..... ------------

Valerie78 ..... 11/17/10 ... 11/24/10 ... 01/18/11 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

nickbits ...... 09/16/10 ... 09/24/10 ... 10/28/10 ... 11/16/10(a) ... 11/16/10(a) ... Int: 12/13/10 ..... -Approved!- ..... 12/23/10

Tater&####### .. 10/08/10 ... 10/19/10 ... 11/09/10 ... ----------- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

ken and kate .. 11/15/10 ... 11/23/10 ... 01/06/11 ... --- N/A --- ... ----------- ... ------------- ..... ----------- ..... ------------

[Veronik 19]

Update on the tax question:

Alright, I called the IRS to ask questions about what to do with the tax returns, and here's what I found out

- While waiting for the Green card, we are 'nonresident aliens'

- You may file married seperately, and in this case, if you have no US income whatsoever and have not paid anything to the IRS you are NOT require to file taxes

- If you file married jointly and your joint income is higher than 18,000$, you are required to file. If you choose this option, you need to write a statement that both of you will sign in which you state that you are "taking election to be treated as a resident".

This may seem obvious to some of you guys, but man I was at lost with all this! And you don't need to put a copy of your T4 to prove your canadian income or anything...Which is kinda weird, I mean, how will they be able to verify the amount is correct?

Hope this helps!

[J & J 3]

We were approved at our AOS interview, yay! The IO even commented that we did a great job on our file, lots of pictures, was a straight forward file to review:) whoot whoot once have the card in mail done with USCIS for 2 years!

Congrats Wishing, That is great news! I can't wait to hear a full review too:)

Update on the tax question:

Alright, I called the IRS to ask questions about what to do with the tax returns, and here's what I found out

- While waiting for the Green card, we are 'nonresident aliens'

- You may file married seperately, and in this case, if you have no US income whatsoever and have not paid anything to the IRS you are NOT require to file taxes

- If you file married jointly and your joint income is higher than 18,000$, you are required to file. If you choose this option, you need to write a statement that both of you will sign in which you state that you are "taking election to be treated as a resident".

This may seem obvious to some of you guys, but man I was at lost with all this! And you don't need to put a copy of your T4 to prove your canadian income or anything...Which is kinda weird, I mean, how will they be able to verify the amount is correct?

Hope this helps!

Thanks for posting the tax information for us to see. I think we might get ours done professionally just to take the worry out of it. It confuses the heck outta me..hehe

[Veronik 19]

Thanks for posting the tax information for us to see. I think we might get ours done professionally just to take the worry out of it. It confuses the heck outta me..hehe

Gosh I wish I could do that too, but Chris hates to have someone else do something "he can do himself" I guess I'm SOL on that one...

[Wishing 1]

Hhhhm where do I post my AOS interview...is there an official place?

[Wishing 1]

Alright I've posted my review under AOS interview reviews of course and thought I'd copy paste it here for all of you as well. Enjoy!

We arrived just on time for our interview, security on the ground level checks your interview letter and ID and you go through a metal detector. Then elevator to the 3rd floor. We placed our letter in a basket by a window and then sat down waiting to be called. Only a few minutes went by before we were called by a female IO and led into her office. She instructed us to remain standing in front of our chairs and we swore an oath (true testimony etc.). Then we sat down, she had our file on her desk and started flipping through it. Asked my husband his name, address, birth date, parents names etc. Then asked me the same questions. Asked us for our original birth certificates, marriage license, social security card...and perhaps a couple other things. She reviewed the I-485 paperwork questions and verified some answers on my forms (like POE I had put Chicago but in fact the POE was in Ottawa, Canada with pre-clearance)...verified some other questions (telephone numbers etc.) then had me sign the "changes". Then she asked for relationship evidence, we handed her rental agreement, bank statements, health insurance, car insurance all with both our names on. Also brought about 20 photos from our wedding as well as the past 5 months since I've arrived (Christmas, hikes etc.). She looked at EACH ONE individually. We also brought ALL our Christmas cards we had received from family and friends. Also she looked at EACH envelope. She asked us to select just a few pictures from our pile to place in the application and she went to go make a few photocopies. When she came back she told us we are approved and to expect the Green Card in mail within 2-3 weeks! She also mentioned that our case was pretty straight forward and that we did a great job on all the paperwork! We thanked her, were so happy to be done and left! All in all was an almost stress free experience! So happy to be done with USCIS for 2 years...until Removal of Conditions!

[mandaNchris 3]

Congrats Wishing. Glad to see your interview went so well.

[Veronik 19]

Great review Wishing! Still seems a little stressful to me!!! And we thought we were done with questionning I'm glad it went so well, congratulations again!