August 2013 Filers for AOS

[ebie8 1]

damn. it sucks.

btw did you submit it as sealed ?

Yes I did... it was sealed when I submitted it. I also did checked that the doctor used the current verdion of the form. :-(

[mrjack 9]

My husband had his biometrics appointment on Wednesday at 10:00am at the West Sacramento Application Support Center (ASC). We left home in Sacramento at 9:10am, drove to West Sacramento, and arrived at the ASC at 9:20am. We scouted out the area where the ASC was located on the south side of the building and then drove around the block to Starbucks and waited there for the appointment. We drove back and went into the ASC 10 minutes early.

When we walked in and my husband handed the security guard, a tall grey haired man that looked about 60, the biometrics letter and his Costa Rican passport. The security guard pointed out that the name on the front page of the passport and the letter did not match, so we pointed out to him that the second page of the passport showed the name change. (My husband changed his name to my last name when we got married and had the Costa Rican consulate in Los Angeles amend his passport with the new name listed on the passport.) He asked who I was and I told him, “I’m his husband.” He asked us if we had the marriage certificate with us and we told him no. He told us to have a seat. A couple of minutes later the ASC manager, a middle aged well-dressed Hispanic lady, called my husband’s name. We walked over to where she was standing and she immediately looked at me and asked me who I was. I responded, "I’m his husband." She looked away and said, “Oh, I see.” She told us to go into the office on the right and have a seat. We sat down on a row of plastic chairs along the wall. She followed us in and sat behind her very large official looking desk. She asked my husband in English where we got married and if he had a marriage certificate with a seal on it. My husband didn’t understand what she was saying because of his limited English and I told her he is Spanish speaking. She asked me if I speak Spanish and I said yes. She gave me a rather surprised and doubtful look I assume because I am very Anglo. She again asked about the marriage certificate, but this time in Spanish. We both said that we left the marriage certificate at home and that we only live 10 minutes away. She said there was no rush, to take our time, and to be back before 3:00pm.

We drove home, picked up the marriage certificate and drove back to the ASC in 25 minutes. This time we handed the passport, the biometrics letter, and the marriage certificate to the guard. He took the documents and gave a clip board with a form on it to my husband and told us to have a seat to fill out the form and then return it to him. My husband filled out the form with my help since the form is in English and he handed back to the guard. The guard gave him a number and told us to have a seat and to wait for the number to be called.

I noticed there were multiple open kiosks that reminded me of the airport check-in kiosks[JR1] . There was a female employee, Caucasian, in her early 40’s at one of the kiosks and she was scanning the finger prints of an applicant ahead of us. Within a couple of minutes the employee called my husband’s number and we walked over to her station. She asked me to take a seat as only the applicant could be in the biometrics area. She smiled and seemed very pleasant. This was the first smile that I saw from any of the employees at this ASC. I took a seat in the chair nearest the kiosk where my husband and the lady scanning his finger prints were standing. I noticed that she scanned his fingers one by one rolling them over the surface of the screen and the machine gave out a nice little beep each time it successfully scanned a finger. That was over in a couple of minutes and she then had my husband take a seat in a chair at the end of the table next to the scanning kiosk and she took a digital picture of him. I noticed she also had him sign electronically on a screen and his signature appeared on the screen much larger than actual size since I could see it clearly from approximately 25 feet away. Soon the whole process was all over and we walked out of the ASC at 10:47am.

We learned from this experience that because of the name change, that even despite the addition of his new name to his passport, my husband will need to carry our marriage certificate when conducting official government business or travelling. I think even once he gets the Green Card he will still need to bring along the marriage certificate.

[JR1]

Sounded like a real hassle. The US used to amend passports for married names the same way. I wonder if there will be some USCIS interviewers that will give same sex marriages hassles in the interview phase? Likewise I wonder if some interviewers will give them an easy interview?

[mrjack 9]

Still waiting to receive the RFE. Medical exam got finished. My wife's skin test came back positive, big surprise. That didn't delay it since we knew ahead of time that would happen so we started the test before our appointment at the county health department.

I guess all we are waiting for is the RFE to arrive in the mail so we can express mail it back to them.

[X & Z 4]

Did early walk-in biometrics today. I arrived there @ 1:50PM. The person @ ASC asked me to come back at 3:30PM. Things were smooth.

[TicoLover 17]

Sounded like a real hassle. The US used to amend passports for married names the same way. I wonder if there will be some USCIS interviewers that will give same sex marriages hassles in the interview phase? Likewise I wonder if some interviewers will give them an easy interview?

Yes, it was a hassle and I'm not sure if the ASC manager would have acted exactly the same with an opposite-sex couple. Maybe they would have asked for the marriage certificate from anyone that changed their name since that is the legal document that changed my husband's last name. The Costa Rican consular in LA said this was the first time that a man had changed his last name because of marriage there. So, it could be the ASC manager had a hard time understanding why a man changed his last name on a marriage certificate. And I'm wondering about the interviews too. It looks like it's taking about 70 days from application date to interview date , so that means if the first same-sex applications were accepted July 1, the day that Janet Napolitano gave the order to start processing the applications after the SCOTUS struck down the part of DOMA prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriages, then the first interviews should have been scheduled for this week or next week.

[TicoLover 17]

We received text and email early this morning of our interview date (10/15/2013). Our appointment notice has been mailed today.

congratulations! That means we should get our interview scheduled for about October 21 if we are about on the same timeline but applied 4days after you.

[binational 2]

WOW! YAY!

Yah! Thanx! Very happy.

[binational 2]

congratulations! That means we should get our interview scheduled for about October 21 if we are about on the same timeline but applied 4days after you.

Keep us updated! We hope the interviews go smoothly for us all. We'll be legal residents, and be at home! No school requirements, no visa requirements.

[X & Z 4]

Yes I did... it was sealed when I submitted it. I also did checked that the doctor used the current verdion of the form. :-(

Not sure what happened. Really strange.

Just curious .. Did you get your biometrics appointment schedule ?

[mrjack 9]

Yes, it was a hassle and I'm not sure if the ASC manager would have acted exactly the same with an opposite-sex couple. Maybe they would have asked for the marriage certificate from anyone that changed their name since that is the legal document that changed my husband's last name. The Costa Rican consular in LA said this was the first time that a man had changed his last name because of marriage there. So, it could be the ASC manager had a hard time understanding why a man changed his last name on a marriage certificate. And I'm wondering about the interviews too. It looks like it's taking about 70 days from application date to interview date , so that means if the first same-sex applications were accepted July 1, the day that Janet Napolitano gave the order to start processing the applications after the SCOTUS struck down the part of DOMA prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriages, then the first interviews should have been scheduled for this week or next week.

My guess is that you were hassled. I highly doubt that a woman with an amended passport would have been hassled the same way. Irregardless of how one feels about same sex marriage(I'm strongly against it), officials who CHOOSE to work in the government need to enforce rules equally for all. Despite my own personal stance on the issue, I got irritated reading the hassle you and your partner went through. Just more government BS from people out to make lives more difficult than they need to be,

And by the way, men changing their name to their wives last name has been ongoing since at least the 1980's. I actually know of two friends who did it. While not common place, there are plenty of times when it has happened and government workers have undoubtedly run into it in the past.

[ebie8 1]

Not sure what happened. Really strange.

Just curious .. Did you get your biometrics appointment schedule ?

I havent received the biometrics yet

[X & Z 4]

I havent received the biometrics yet

They must have misplaced it. I gues Uscis should allow electronic submission of forms and supporting documents.

[rohandlulu 22]

Got our letter for Biometrics today, appt isn't until 10/1..really hoping we can do a walk in...want to hurry and be done!

[A25lr 0]

09/14/2013 received my appt letter for biometrics. Appt date is for 09/30/2013

I'm not sure if I want to do a walk-in.

[Pamala Bull 4]

received a RFE on 2013-09-09

Still havent received it in the mail yet.Is this normal?

They wont tell me any info on the phone ...

What can i do?