January 2014 AOS Filers

[topoftherock2013 23]

Nice to see some of you moving forward. I'm in Chicago and its taken almost 6 months but finally this morning we got an Interview Date for August 12. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. :-)

The feedback all of you have posted on this site is invaluable and a tremendous help. Thank you to everyone and I will definitely post our experience after the interview.

Good luck to everyone waiting.

congrats! great news

No updates for us still, in acceptance stage since early Jan.

[silentplummet 3]

My wife, 6 month old, and I went for our I-485 interview this morning. We were somewhat lucky to get a 7:30 AM slot, so we were the first ones in the building and the first ones to get our interview.

The IO was friendly and knowledgable. He led us back to an office where he swore us in and first went over the I-485 form itself. He asked my wife to state her name and her address, her parents' names, some personal data, then asked her the "Have you ever" questions to which she answered no. Apparently we forgot to check the no box next to polygamy, which he helpfully filled in.

We didn't look at the vaccination record, which we submitted as form DS-3025 as part of her health examination from the K1 visa process. Of note, she was marked as "not indicated" for some of the vaccines due to her pregnancy, which had clearly concluded as of the interview date, but the IO didn't seem to take issue.

Next he asked for our daughter's birth certificate, and filled her name in on the form, since she was born between our filing date and interview date. I submitted a county tax appraiser's record on the house I put up as assets for the I-864 since my income wasn't high enough for the poverty cutoff. They gave me hell about this same evidence at the K1 visa interview in Tokyo (he was a total ######) but the IO today didn't seem very concerned.

We had had an RFE for my wife's birth certificate, despite submitting it with the original filing, a fact which he remarked to be odd, unprompted, and I agreed. Since my wife is Japanese, she had a new family registry since marrying me, which I volunteered along with my translation and translation certificate.

After that, he explained that we were approved and would receive our GC in the mail within roughly a week and a half. He told us that most people were getting it in 4 days, but that he tells everyone a week and a half. I drove home and a few hours later the USCIS website status updated to "making card".

Overall it was completely smooth sailing. He didn't even look at the 150 or so photos we indexed, or ask for any evidence of a good faith marriage (I guess the baby was enough). Your mileage may vary.

Edited July 15, 2014 by silentplummet

[silentplummet 3]

I also want to add that we didn't get an I-551 in her passport. I asked about it, but the IO said they don't really do that anymore since the card production is so fast now. He said it used to take a long time, up to 6 months. Anyway, the website says our status is "Card/Document Production" now so I guess we are good to go! Good luck to the rest of the January filers! It will be over soon.

[NikeS 49]

Congratulations.

[topoftherock2013 23]

I also want to add that we didn't get an I-551 in her passport. I asked about it, but the IO said they don't really do that anymore since the card production is so fast now. He said it used to take a long time, up to 6 months. Anyway, the website says our status is "Card/Document Production" now so I guess we are good to go! Good luck to the rest of the January filers! It will be over soon.

congrats! really good news some interviews have been reported to be quite scary recently, so I'm sure you've helped calm some nerves in here by posting your smooth experience!

All the best.

[MaleAlpha 314]

Hi everyone. Wow! It's been such a long time since I came up here. I miss everybody and the activity that was always here. The wait for interview for me has been very long. Ever since 02/19/2014 when I got the notification for an interview being scheduled, I never heard anything from USCIS for 5 months till this morning when I was getting ready to go to work and I received a that my interview notice had been mailed and was scheduled for August, 21. That is exciting news and I'm happy this journey is finally coming to an end.

Good thing though is work has been keeping me very busy and made the wait a lot more easier. I just finished my contract of 3 months and got hired full time with benefits so I guess its all good. And just to add to it, my using an EAD made no difference in anything. Good day to everyone and God bless us all!

[vivalagloria 3]

Fellow January filer here… we got a letter back in May saying that we potentially qualified for an interview waiver but that the NBC was running behind schedule with approvals and that if we haven't heard anything in 6 months from that letter, only then should we contact them to follow up.

I was really hoping to travel back to the UK at the end of September, though.

Did anybody else here get that letter??

[vbtwo 54]

Fellow January filer here we got a letter back in May saying that we potentially qualified for an interview waiver but that the NBC was running behind schedule with approvals and that if we haven't heard anything in 6 months from that letter, only then should we contact them to follow up.

I was really hoping to travel back to the UK at the end of September, though.

Did anybody else here get that letter??

A bunch of people did. We received our green card about 2 months after we got the letter, so it might not take the 6 months that they say. Did you apply for AP together with the green card? If so, you can use that to go to the UK. You can even apply for it now, it's free with a pending AOS. It should not take more than 2 months to receive it.

[vivalagloria 3]

Hi vbtwo, thanks for your reply and congratulations on getting your AOS completed!!

I didn't apply for AP because when I looked into it I thought it wasn't for regular visits, only for family emergencies and stuff like that. Am I wrong in thinking that?

[vbtwo 54]

I didn't apply for AP because when I looked into it I thought it wasn't for regular visits, only for family emergencies and stuff like that. Am I wrong in thinking that?

You can use it for any reason. We just put in visit family as the reason and it was approved no problems. When you use it to come back, nobody even asked us why we left or anything. It's the really urgent emergency AP that you can get really quickly with an appointment that requires a true emergency.

[relshamy 11]

Hi guys. I got an interview waiver letter in April but hear nothing ever since. I contacted my congressman office and they said that my case has been transferred to a local office. Is that normal? I thought cases only get transferred if there will be an interview. Any advice would be great. Thanks and congrats to all who got approved!

[vbtwo 54]

Hi guys. I got an interview waiver letter in April but hear nothing ever since. I contacted my congressman office and they said that my case has been transferred to a local office. Is that normal? I thought cases only get transferred if there will be an interview. Any advice would be great. Thanks and congrats to all who got approved!

Yes, having it at local office means an interview. Local offices do not process interview waivers. It's possible that they decided an interview is necessary and sent it to the local office. As the letter says, it's only a potential interview waiver. It's also possible that the congressman's office is wrong. In any case, Apr-Jul is not long enough to have them do anything really. The letter said it could take 6 months.

[relshamy 11]

Yes, having it at local office means an interview. Local offices do not process interview waivers. It's possible that they decided an interview is necessary and sent it to the local office. As the letter says, it's only a potential interview waiver. It's also possible that the congressman's office is wrong. In any case, Apr-Jul is not long enough to have them do anything really. The letter said it could take 6 months.

Thanks for the reply. I actually re-read one of the replies to uscis to my congressman office and it seems that interview waiver cases DO get shipped to local offices. This was the email:

A review of our systems shows that Case MSC ******, Form I-485 received **** for ***** has been identified as a possible interview waiver case and is currently being held at the NBC pending a field office review. The interview waiver cases are being shipped to the local USCIS field offices based on field office capacity. At this time the processing time is approximately 9-12 months.

So if I understood correctly, according to this email, it's normal that our case got sent to the local office, correct?

[topoftherock2013 23]

Hi everyone. Wow! It's been such a long time since I came up here. I miss everybody and the activity that was always here. The wait for interview for me has been very long. Ever since 02/19/2014 when I got the notification for an interview being scheduled, I never heard anything from USCIS for 5 months till this morning when I was getting ready to go to work and I received a that my interview notice had been mailed and was scheduled for August, 21. That is exciting news and I'm happy this journey is finally coming to an end.

Good thing though is work has been keeping me very busy and made the wait a lot more easier. I just finished my contract of 3 months and got hired full time with benefits so I guess its all good. And just to add to it, my using an EAD made no difference in anything. Good day to everyone and God bless us all!

Hi !! good to hear from you!

Very good news your end! glad its all going so great

congrats..!

[relshamy 11]

So just an update. I got a notice for Request of Evidence just this morning when I checked my status. I still don't know what it's for since I have to wait for it to get mailed. But just a question, most of the RFE's I see people getting is early on even before bio metrics and such. We finished our bio metrics, got approved for AP and EAD, and got interview waiver in April Any ideas what it could possibly be at this stage?