New York City AOS timeline & Interviews

[siasimba 9]

Yeah, it is very odd to me as well as to why some individuals get their interviews quicker than others.

"Little_my" I am in a similar situation as you. My wife and I have already planned something really big in August, costing us about 50k. So I am hoping that our appointment won't be in august but either way earlier or later.

At the same time... you should be glad that you got an interview so quickly. =)

[bricejustin 0]

Hi Friends,

I filed our application on OCTOBER 21.

I am really getting worried about this.

Are there other people on the same boat as I am?

Any September/ October / November filers who does NOT have an appointment yet?

Thanks!

[Little_My 464]

Siasimba: I definitely am happy about our case moving along quickly, even though this appointment time is beyond inconvenient for us.. but, as I said, we will just find a way to make it work somehow. I really don't want to risk all the trouble that might come from trying to re-schedule it. The sooner we have it over and done with, the sooner we can relax for the next two years.

Is there anyone here who has had an interview at the NYC field office - do they give out the I-551 stamps if the interview is approved on the spot? That is the other issue we have to now consider - when I buy out tickets from Helsinki to NYC, how soon after the interview can I have the return flight? Are they approving people on the spot these days at all, or do they usually send you home to wait for the official approval notice? Of course I know that we cannot be 100% we'll be approved, but I think our case should be pretty straight forward with no red flags - together for 4 years, I come from a very low fraud country, plenty of proof, living together in NYC for two years and so forth. So, assuming they will approve us, have people who have interviewed at NYC office gotten stamps lately?

[girlisima 0]

You should call the uscis service number and put in a service request and write a letter to the comgressperson, maybe that will put attention on your case. It should help if you are 2 days away from the uscis processing date and your noa is oct 21. You are the only one from oct filer left on this forum. Everybody else waiting is from nov.and later.

Hi Friends,

I filed our application on OCTOBER 21.

I am really getting worried about this.

Are there other people on the same boat as I am?

Any September/ October / November filers who does NOT have an appointment yet?

Thanks!

[Karisha 0]

Hi Friends,

I filed our application on OCTOBER 21.

I am really getting worried about this.

Are there other people on the same boat as I am?

Any September/ October / November filers who does NOT have an appointment yet?

Thanks!

Hi, we are on the same boat as you are! We are November filers, and still do NOT have an appointment for interview!!! Our USCIS Received Date is November, 3rd....

[noxreallyxhonest 0]

It's kind of upsetting to hear of much more recent applications getting interviews already.... this wait is painful, i can only think if we had waited to apply for AOS it would've been quicker....

all i'm hoping for now is that this time next month i should have heard something and should be waiting for the interview day itself

[siasimba 9]

Bricejustin... I am filer from Nov and still waiting. There are plenty of people here who have already gotten their interviews and such, all filing after us. I am happy for those, but also hope people who filed during these times will chime in and let us know as well.

I am assuming all people from September already received their interviews. I believe you may be the only one left or also another person on this forum with an October filing date.

Goodluck to all... we have to wait for another 3 weeks or so till the next update.

[Little_My 464]

Does anyone here have any theories as to how the field offices determine the interview dates and what plays into a short / long wait time between getting your EAD and getting your interview appointment? It seems to be entirely sporadic - others, filing in the same location (like myself) get their interviews within 3-4 months from filing, while others wait 8-10 months. It seems entirely arbitrary, but I am sure there is some explanation behind this.

Personally, I know our case should be fairly simple one - Finland is probably one of the countries with the lowest number of fraud attempts in terms of immigration, it is pretty obvious I am not trying to immigrate here to get better benefits, and me and my husband have been together for over 4 years with plenty of evidence to show for it. And this is not to imply that anyone else here would be attempting to immigrate for any other purpose than love and the desire to be with the person you want to spend the rest of your lives with -- what I mean to say is that maybe the background checking what goes on behind closed doors is done faster in some cases than others. Then again, Siasimba is from Canada - also, I'd imagine, a low fraud country, with better benefits, universal health care and cheaper education than U.S. etc.. And still waiting to get an interview, after filing in November - about 4 months before we did.

Anyways. This is just me pondering. It just seems so.. arbitrary, like I said. And weird. And, also unfair. I personally have nothing to complain about so far, but I can also imagine what I would feel like if I had been waiting for an interview appointment for 6-8 months, and then I'd see others who filed months after us getting their interviews in no time. But, maybe trying to make sense and apply logic to this process is just not worth it..

[EmmillJ 1]

Many, many thanks to whoever started this topic as it's helped me a lot. It was hard reading the May AOS posts and seeing so many people receive their NOAs, as happy as I am for them I wondered why we couldn't even get the first correspondence from USCIS. I've called them twice after 30 days had passed and the second time the agent explained that they are backed up and we should wait 2 more weeks before getting concerned.

Did any of you guys have a long wait time before getting your NOA (more than 40 days)? So far all of the timelines I've checked received a notice within 2 weeks.

[siasimba 9]

Little_my - I am also pondering on the same question you have as well. It puzzle me much to think about why some people get their interviews quicker than others. There are many speculations but I am not sure if anyone here actually knows the truth unless if they actually work for USCIS. I am only assuming that each case gets sent to specific agents and their team. The team work with each case as it comes along. If a member gets sick, or the team is backed up, the files will still remain in their custody and for their management. Of course if new applications are being submitted, it will NOT go to the team that is already backed up, but to another team that is up to date, which could explain why some filers gets it sooner than others. Again, this is just MY assumption.

an analogy would be waiting at a physician office. If there are 2 physicians working and each have 20 patients... if physician A works really quick, then his 20 patients get seen very quick whereas if physician B gets bogged down by patient#3, then the rest of his patients will be behind as well. Since each are responsible for their share of 20 patient each, physician A, may or may not take patient's from physician B.

EmmillJ - I started this thread awhile ago because I thought I was the only one who filed in NYC and not getting all of my notices in time or interview in a timely fashion. After going on with this thread for a few months, it seems that I am not the only one. My NOA did not take that long... I am not sure anymore on how to speculate NYC field offices as their timing is very very odd. But you should be glad to know that time of getting NOA1 and interview varies. Gooduck to you and your journey.

Anyone who has been through the process in NYC, please chime in to help and/or alleviate stress from the rest of us with your information.

[EmmillJ 1]

Siasamba- What you're saying makes sense. When I want to get frustrated with the process I remind myself that these are people that are reviewing our files, not automatons and that, I believe, eventually works out in our favor (even if it takes a bit longer).

And NYC must have more cases than most other field offices, if not the most. I don't think that would lead them to having more officers, just longer waiting times. (Can you imagine having to process all of those applications??)

I didn't know that someone could get through the process in 3-4 months before VJ. My older relatives sure didn't get processed that quickly and, to answer your question Little_My, they were adjusting status from H1B visas issued to them from England and Canada. Both, like you mentioned, low fraud countries with better benefits but....? Surely didn't help them get processed any faster in NY.

[doctorbeat 6]

We applied in March and got our appointment letter yesterday, it's on July 21st.

However, we live on Long Island, and our interview is at the Holtsville field office, not the NYC one.

Edited June 18, 2011 by doctorbeat

[EmmillJ 1]

We applied in March and got our appointment letter yesterday, it's on July 21st.

However, we live on Long Island, and our interview is at the Holtsville field office, not the NYC one.

Congrats and good luck!

[brklny 2]

I got an email notice today for interview on July 27th. I live in Brooklyn, and checking online my local office is Federal Plaza. I guess things are finaly moving along in NY as well.

[moSu 0]

New Yorkers are finally moving.. All the best and GooD Luck to all the people who has upcoming interviews!

Nervous for you guys ^____^