After 11 months, case transferred to Newark Field Office - what to do about no timetable?

[Dpeter736 4]

Awesome at least you know it almost over. I hope i get my letter soon!

[Dark2013 26]

Update: we received a letter from USCIS telling us that we are scheduled for an interview in Newark, NJ on Tuesday, October 8. Looks like my estimate based on the Newark Field Office's stats on http://dashboard.uscis.gov/ was correct!

October can't come quick enough! We just want this whole process to be over!

You are really lucky.... I am still waiting and based on your info, this won't be before 15months.... I wish you good luck and keep us informed.

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

Awesome at least you know it almost over. I hope i get my letter soon!

Yeah, I guess so. But don't worry -- USCIS still managed to screw me, the US citizen husband. The date of our interview just so happens to overlap with a science conference I'm scheduled to attend at the National Institutes of Health, which means I won't be able to meet with scientists there who might want to hire me. Basically, I'll miss the job interview, the main reason I wanted to go. We thought about rescheduling, but found out we'd be put at the back of the line again!

You are really lucky.... I am still waiting and based on your info, this won't be before 15months.... I wish you good luck and keep us informed.

I hope I am wrong with my calculations. I've been waiting for the site to update with July's numbers. Maybe Dallas will pick up the pace soon! We will all get there sooner or later, it's just a matter of how to stay sane while we wait!

Edited August 30, 2013 by Karen_and_Jay

[Steve D. 22]

Yeah, I guess so. But don't worry -- USCIS still managed to screw me, the US citizen husband. The date of our interview just so happens to overlap with a science conference I'm scheduled to attend at the National Institutes of Health, which means I won't be able to meet with scientists there who might want to hire me. Basically, I'll miss the job interview, the main reason I wanted to go. We thought about rescheduling, but found out we'd be put at the back of the line again!

Once again, the NSA is listening to your calls and reading your emails.

[pinkytoes 0]

Yeah, I guess so. But don't worry -- USCIS still managed to screw me, the US citizen husband. The date of our interview just so happens to overlap with a science conference I'm scheduled to attend at the National Institutes of Health, which means I won't be able to meet with scientists there who might want to hire me. Basically, I'll miss the job interview, the main reason I wanted to go. We thought about rescheduling, but found out we'd be put at the back of the line again!

I hope I am wrong with my calculations. I've been waiting for the site to update with July's numbers. Maybe Dallas will pick up the pace soon! We will all get there sooner or later, it's just a matter of how to stay sane while we wait!

Yesterday I found out that we are in line for an interview in the Newark Field Office too, we don't have a date yet but I'm assuming is going to be after yours since we sent everything after you and I'm a november 2012 filer. Please let me know how yours goes...

I have like 10 pages of possible questions that I printed because he always gets my birthday wrong and it's clueless about certain things in the house because I take care of the bills.

[sapahm 0]

Update: we got the I-551 stamp on Karen's passport and a little information from the Newark office today. We found out that the case was transferred from the Vermont Service Center to the Newark Field Office on May 29, which was after we responded to the RFE (May 4) but before we did a service request by phone (July 15). The USCIS agent told us that we are already in the queue for an interview, and he estimated we will hear back from the USCIS in 30-60 days about when our interview will be scheduled. He also said that the USCIS is not delayed because of the sequester since they are a fee-based organization and said the Newark office has added more people so hopefully we will be interviewed quicker. So sadly after all that, we still probably have another 2-3 months.

Thanks for the tip. I had read that elsewhere, and we've thought about it, but I'm not sure Karen is ready to apply for citizenship yet.

Has your case been transferred to Newark too? Karen's extension was set to expire on Nov. 2 2013, but now it's extended until August 2014.

Could you share how your interview experience was? Did you have a Stokes interview (where they interrogate each spouse separately)? Now you've got me a little nervous! Everything I've read was how easy the interview was and how we have nothing to worry about.

Are you also at the Newark Field Office?

Thanks for the info!

Hi Karen & Jay...

Gone through your posts... Mine is also the similar case except that I filed the I751-waiver alone myself due to divorce... My file was scheduled for the Interview at the Newark Local office after sending my reply to the RFE in May 2013.... In June 2013, I took the Infopaas at the Newark office and asked about the status of my case and the IO said the same thing to me that it's going to take 5-6 months to schedule for the interview as my file is still in the line for the scheduling of the interview and when I asked him why this much time... he said, becasue we don't have that many officers who take the i751 interviews and there are many files which are still pending... But after 3 weeks I received a Interview scheduled mail from the Neward USCIS office and my interview was on August 20th 2013... Here are the details of the interview...

Update of my I751 Waiver (Divorce) filing... Received RFE in Febraury 2013.. Sent the RFE with few documents in April 2013... Called USCIS customer care number and requested the customer representative to transfer my call to the next level Immigration Officer and came to know from him that my file has been scheduled for the Interview....

Received the Interview notice in July 2013... and the Interview date was scheduled on August 20, 2013 at 10:30 AM....

20th August, 2013 - Went to the Interview with my attorney at 9:00AM.... Called for the Interview at 1:00PM (As there were quite people who were scheduled for the interview on that day and also there were few people who were scheduled for the Oath ceremony for the Citizenship on the same day... So, thinking might be that could be the reason why it took that much time...

Anywayz... Officer came out and called my name and took us to room... Before I sit.. he asked me to raise my hand and took the Oath... then we sat... he opened my file and start looking at my file... Looks like he didn't get a chance to look at my file before that... but, my attorney asked the officer that did he got a chance to go through the file, to which he replied... Yes... I just look at it for 20 mins...

He started asking me the questions like... where I'm living right now, My current address, My name, When I filed i751, when did the divorce took place, did you guyz travelled any where while in the married, why I have less documentation ( to which I replied that as the marriage was very short, so, we didn't had that many evidences of living together)..., R U married right now, Name of my current wife, Date of my current marrriage, Status of my current wife....

Everytime I reply to his questions, he was noting down in the computer...

The other questions which I think were the red light and I didn't get the chance to explain the reason behind that was:

- Who filed for the divorce ( I replied, My wife but didn't get a chance to give him the reason behind this as he wasn't interested in knowing the reason)

- When was the last time when you saw your wife (I replied, when I left to California... to which he said... So, you left her... and when I wanted to give the reason, he moved to the other question)

And I remember he noted that in the computer...

And the last questions were, Have you any time got arrested or got deported or got arrested in any country... To all of those questions, my answer was... NO...

Then he said... Ok! you will here from us in 4-5 weeks...

That's it and he got up... While going out, my attorney asked the officer that whether he had any interviews after me... to which he said.. No, this was the last one... and we went out...

After coming out, I asked my attorney about how the Interview went.... To which, he said that the Officer was asking for the more documentation to approve the case, but as we didn't had any more documents, So, not sure what decision they might be making...

It's 4 weeks now and still didn't hear anything from them...

Hope this helps to those who are expecting for their interviews...

Also, Please give me any updates or anything regarding the interview results which took more time for the decision... and also plzzz pray for me...

[Bibi and Beebti 4]

Hi All,

We're in a similar situation except we haven't really been waiting that long, but definitely past the 6-month mark. We applied in Jan, got called for biometrics in Feb, then heard nothing till July, and went in for a 2ND Biometrics in beginning August. So it's been about 8 months and we're still in the 'biometrics phase' and initial review.

From your experience do you recommend we take any action at this point so as to push USCIS to handle our case sooner than later? E.g info-pass appointment, or call to ask for info on delays...I'll be traveling in December and hope to have heard from them before then. what's the best course of action to take to encourage them to tackle our file sooner than later?

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

Yesterday I found out that we are in line for an interview in the Newark Field Office too, we don't have a date yet but I'm assuming is going to be after yours since we sent everything after you and I'm a november 2012 filer. Please let me know how yours goes...

I have like 10 pages of possible questions that I printed because he always gets my birthday wrong and it's clueless about certain things in the house because I take care of the bills.

We had our interview and passed! It wasn't really hard at all, minus all the waiting and the nerves just to get it over with! The only questions he asked us were when did we meet, when did we visit the Philippines, what is our address, and what trips have we taken together. We brought tons of evidence, but all he wanted to see was photos from our trips. Bring lots of photos! Good luck!

Once again, the NSA is listening to your calls and reading your emails.

I wasn't really worried about that. Complaining about incompetent government isn't a crime. If anything, our case is airtight, so bringing attention to it could have only gotten us accepted quicker!

Gone through your posts... Mine is also the similar case except that I filed the I751-waiver alone myself due to divorce... My file was scheduled for the Interview at the Newark Local office after sending my reply to the RFE in May 2013.... In June 2013, I took the Infopaas at the Newark office and asked about the status of my case and the IO said the same thing to me that it's going to take 5-6 months to schedule for the interview as my file is still in the line for the scheduling of the interview and when I asked him why this much time... he said, becasue we don't have that many officers who take the i751 interviews and there are many files which are still pending... But after 3 weeks I received a Interview scheduled mail from the Neward USCIS office and my interview was on August 20th 2013... Here are the details of the interview...

Update of my I751 Waiver (Divorce) filing... Received RFE in Febraury 2013.. Sent the RFE with few documents in April 2013... Called USCIS customer care number and requested the customer representative to transfer my call to the next level Immigration Officer and came to know from him that my file has been scheduled for the Interview....

Received the Interview notice in July 2013... and the Interview date was scheduled on August 20, 2013 at 10:30 AM....

20th August, 2013 - Went to the Interview with my attorney at 9:00AM.... Called for the Interview at 1:00PM (As there were quite people who were scheduled for the interview on that day and also there were few people who were scheduled for the Oath ceremony for the Citizenship on the same day... So, thinking might be that could be the reason why it took that much time...

Anywayz... Officer came out and called my name and took us to room... Before I sit.. he asked me to raise my hand and took the Oath... then we sat... he opened my file and start looking at my file... Looks like he didn't get a chance to look at my file before that... but, my attorney asked the officer that did he got a chance to go through the file, to which he replied... Yes... I just look at it for 20 mins...

He started asking me the questions like... where I'm living right now, My current address, My name, When I filed i751, when did the divorce took place, did you guyz travelled any where while in the married, why I have less documentation ( to which I replied that as the marriage was very short, so, we didn't had that many evidences of living together)..., R U married right now, Name of my current wife, Date of my current marrriage, Status of my current wife....

Everytime I reply to his questions, he was noting down in the computer...

The other questions which I think were the red light and I didn't get the chance to explain the reason behind that was:

- Who filed for the divorce ( I replied, My wife but didn't get a chance to give him the reason behind this as he wasn't interested in knowing the reason)

- When was the last time when you saw your wife (I replied, when I left to California... to which he said... So, you left her... and when I wanted to give the reason, he moved to the other question)

And I remember he noted that in the computer...

And the last questions were, Have you any time got arrested or got deported or got arrested in any country... To all of those questions, my answer was... NO...

Then he said... Ok! you will here from us in 4-5 weeks...

That's it and he got up... While going out, my attorney asked the officer that whether he had any interviews after me... to which he said.. No, this was the last one... and we went out...

After coming out, I asked my attorney about how the Interview went.... To which, he said that the Officer was asking for the more documentation to approve the case, but as we didn't had any more documents, So, not sure what decision they might be making...

It's 4 weeks now and still didn't hear anything from them...

Hope this helps to those who are expecting for their interviews...

Also, Please give me any updates or anything regarding the interview results which took more time for the decision... and also plzzz pray for me...

We wish the best for you -- what happened? It's been 6 or 7 weeks by now...

We're in a similar situation except we haven't really been waiting that long, but definitely past the 6-month mark. We applied in Jan, got called for biometrics in Feb, then heard nothing till July, and went in for a 2ND Biometrics in beginning August. So it's been about 8 months and we're still in the 'biometrics phase' and initial review.

From your experience do you recommend we take any action at this point so as to push USCIS to handle our case sooner than later? E.g info-pass appointment, or call to ask for info on delays...I'll be traveling in December and hope to have heard from them before then. what's the best course of action to take to encourage them to tackle our file sooner than later?

I'm not sure I'm qualified to tell you what to do to get approved any quicker.

For your travel, I can recommend you schedule an InfoPass appointment with your local USCIS office so you can get an I-551 stamp on your passport, which extends your green card's expiration date while the USCIS is working on it and allows you to return to the US after your travel. Unfortunately for us, Karen may not actually receive her new green card until we are in the Philippines!

[sapahm 0]

We had our interview and passed! It wasn't really hard at all, minus all the waiting and the nerves just to get it over with! The only questions he asked us were when did we meet, when did we visit the Philippines, what is our address, and what trips have we taken together. We brought tons of evidence, but all he wanted to see was photos from our trips. Bring lots of photos! Good luck!

I wasn't really worried about that. Complaining about incompetent government isn't a crime. If anything, our case is airtight, so bringing attention to it could have only gotten us accepted quicker!

We wish the best for you -- what happened? It's been 6 or 7 weeks by now...

I'm not sure I'm qualified to tell you what to do to get approved any quicker.

For your travel, I can recommend you schedule an InfoPass appointment with your local USCIS office so you can get an I-551 stamp on your passport, which extends your green card's expiration date while the USCIS is working on it and allows you to return to the US after your travel. Unfortunately for us, Karen may not actually receive her new green card until we are in the Philippines!

Hi Karen_Jay,

No, I didn't hear anything from them... don't know why they are taking so much time.... Last week I went to the Newark USCIS field office and as per the IO, it seems it's still pending with the Interviewing Officer and when I ask him why this is taking so long, he said, the Officer have got 90 days to make a decision....