March 2014 AOS Filers

[Anonymous885 44]

Got Potential Interview Waiver that dated June 27, 2014. I am going to herbinate for another 6 months even this is Summer lol.

[Super King 26]

VJers, I am so disappointed right now. Our interview was this morning and I have an RFE in my hand instead of a GC approval. I'm sorry - I just got so caught up in everyone's success stories that I believed mine would go as smoothly, especially because my husband and I have been together for close to 8 years.

We arrived at the Chatsworth, CA location around 10:20am (appointment was set for 10:30am). We popped our appointment letter into the drop box per office instructions and we sat down. My hubby got called to check in a few minutes later. We sat and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally, 2 hours later (12:20pm), we get called into the office. The IO wasn't unfriendly, but he was definitely all business. He proceeded to ask us for a variety of documents (originals of birth certificates, etc.). I showed him our SS cards with our new married name, as well as my bank cards and a bank document with our married last name. He asked for a joint bank account statement and it took me a while to locate it in my pile of copies from the papers we had already sent in with our petition. He pointed out that only my hubby makes purchases with the joint account. I told him I use my credit card for safety because it's safer with all the card-skimming going on. I do -however- pay for rent and other household bills with checks from the joint account.

He didn't even bother looking at my hubby's children's foreign birth certificates, which were a struggle to procure because one is from the Netherlands and the other is from Indonesia.

He looked at a variety photos and asked us some questions. I even supplied him with the invitation for the big wedding party we're having on July 19th, 2014 as well as a stack of RSVPs with fun, personal messages from our guests that we received. I pointed out that there's an official wedding website with online comments from friends. I really thought we were going to be okay.

But -NOPE- after 25 minutes, he sent us home with an RFE for MORE proof of bonafide marriage. We explained to him that now that we live at home with and take care of my parents, we don't have a formal rental lease anymore and my father's name is on our utility bill as well as on our car title because his credit got us 2.5% APR. He also wanted itineraries of our vacations together. Seriously???? What if we were like most people and have had NO money to fly anywhere and could only do road trips???

I know that it's not a big deal, but I'm so afraid that the documents we have scraped together won't be enough or they'll get lost in the pile of papers that disgruntled government officers are careless with, and I'm just sooooooooooooooooo tired of this whole process! I got really confident reading everyone's stories and believed we had this in the bag. I lost it on the way to the parking lot and have been crying ever since, not understanding how some couples -please don't anyone take offense- who have been together for short a time and barely know each other can get their GCs but someone I have loved since 2006 and been living with since Summer 2007 can't get one. I honestly think my IO was being a jerk because he wanted to go to lunch (his co-worker popped his head in to check up on him and our IO said he was "almost done" with us)!

We've put together what documents we could. We found old email itineraries (they'll have to do because I'm not sentimental with plane tickets - I travel for a living and I don't want the clutter), we found copies of our old lease from a house we rented from 2007-2011, we highlighted our car payment withdrawal from our monthly bank statement that matches the online car bill with my father's name and our home address, we already gave the IO a copy of our family car insurance that lists my husband as one of the beneficiaries and we're adding a copy of our health insurance acceptance letter that has both of our names on it. My hubby is going to take the papers to the office tomorrow morning instead of mailing them in (we have the option of either). The IO told us to have a copy of each thing we submit and have the front desk person date stamp each item so that in the slight chance they get lost, we have proof that we did bring them in.

So, I guess the moral of the story is: make sure you have tons of proof of bonafide marriage. If you're a unique couple like us who live with parents or with family and have no formal rental lease or utility bills under your name, maybe create a rental lease agreement and have the utilities transferred to your name. I thought this was going to be an interview where they ask you all kinds of personal questions to see if they can catch you in a lie. I felt like we were just filling in our application all over again, but in person.

Good luck to everyone who is still waiting. I hope someone can learn from my frustration.

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. I think you will get approved once you give them few more documents. I don't know if you have provided them affidavits or not but you can also submit affidavits. Notarized Letter from your parents saying you guys live with them at their home so you don't have utility bills or rental lease in your names will help also. Good luck, I will pray for you. Edited July 2, 2014 by Super King

[Dragonmermaid 3]

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. I think you will get approved once you give them few more documents. I don't know if you have provided them affidavits or not but you can also submit affidavits. Notarized Letter from your parents saying you guys live with them at their home so you don't have utility bills or rental lease in your names will help also. Good luck, I will pray for you.

Thank you, Super King. My Dad said he would sign an affidavit stating that we live with them and contribute to their household and we'll get it notarized tomorrow before my husband takes the papers to the USCIS office. We have a substantial stack of items now (the entire cellphone bill is 18 pages long!) - stupid IO is gonna' get what he asked for and THEN SOME! Lazy, grumpy jerk - wasting our tax dollars and sticking someone else with the job of going through it all!

I appreciate your prayers. I've been holding my breath up until this moment, so now I'll just let go and let the cards fall where they do. Our official wedding party is on July 19th and it's DIY so we have A TON of things to do for it. We don't need this stupid GC drama bringing us down right now. We were just hoping to have the GC in our hot little hands just so we would NOT feel the weight of it over our heads as we repeat our vows in front of 200 of our friends and loved ones.... If you marry an American, you don't have to worry if your spouse can stay in the country. People just don't know how we suffer with this uncertainty.

[Super King 26]

You guys will do fine, and if there isn't deadline by tomorrow, just wait for a couple of days or at least a day so you can submit any minor or any evidence you can think of.

About phone bills, I submitted them during my interview but I submitted only 1st 3 pages showing both of our names and numbers of each bill. ( Each bill was 12-16 pages long but I submitted 1st few pages only )

Don't let stress ruin happiness and excitement of upcoming wedding party ( I know its easier said than done ), this time shall pass by tomorrow. Hope you guys have a wonderful wedding party. Good Luck.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Super King

[Dragonmermaid 3]

You guys will do fine, and if there isn't deadline by tomorrow, just wait for a couple of days or at least a day so you can submit any minor or any evidence you can think of.

About phone bills, I submitted them during my interview but I submitted only 1st 3 pages showing both of our names and numbers of each bill. ( Each bill was 12-16 pages long but I submitted 1st few pages only )

Don't let stress ruin happiness and excitement of upcoming wedding party ( I know its easier said than done ), this time shall pass by tomorrow. Hope you guys have a wonderful wedding party. Good Luck.

You're a sweetheart. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words, as well as your sound advice.

[Super King 26]

You're a sweetheart. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words, as well as your sound advice.

You are welcome. The least fellow March AOS filers could do.

[sparrowone 2]

Applied on 22nd march and NOA date was 27th of March.

oh wow i applied the same date. so how long do you think its gonna take to get the GC after the letter?

[jeffkadrliktorr 99]

Applied on march 12th. Got potential interview waiver case letter this Monday. Based on research this doesnt seem to be a good thing. Le sigh :/

[Lillyryu 0]

VJers, I am so disappointed right now. Our interview was this morning and I have an RFE in my hand instead of a GC approval. I'm sorry - I just got so caught up in everyone's success stories that I believed mine would go as smoothly, especially because my husband and I have been together for close to 8 years.

We arrived at the Chatsworth, CA location around 10:20am (appointment was set for 10:30am). We popped our appointment letter into the drop box per office instructions and we sat down. My hubby got called to check in a few minutes later. We sat and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally, 2 hours later (12:20pm), we get called into the office. The IO wasn't unfriendly, but he was definitely all business. He proceeded to ask us for a variety of documents (originals of birth certificates, etc.). I showed him our SS cards with our new married name, as well as my bank cards and a bank document with our married last name. He asked for a joint bank account statement and it took me a while to locate it in my pile of copies from the papers we had already sent in with our petition. He pointed out that only my hubby makes purchases with the joint account. I told him I use my credit card for safety because it's safer with all the card-skimming going on. I do -however- pay for rent and other household bills with checks from the joint account.

He didn't even bother looking at my hubby's children's foreign birth certificates, which were a struggle to procure because one is from the Netherlands and the other is from Indonesia.

He looked at a variety photos and asked us some questions. I even supplied him with the invitation for the big wedding party we're having on July 19th, 2014 as well as a stack of RSVPs with fun, personal messages from our guests that we received. I pointed out that there's an official wedding website with online comments from friends. I really thought we were going to be okay.

But -NOPE- after 25 minutes, he sent us home with an RFE for MORE proof of bonafide marriage. We explained to him that now that we live at home with and take care of my parents, we don't have a formal rental lease anymore and my father's name is on our utility bill as well as on our car title because his credit got us 2.5% APR. He also wanted itineraries of our vacations together. Seriously???? What if we were like most people and have had NO money to fly anywhere and could only do road trips???

I know that it's not a big deal, but I'm so afraid that the documents we have scraped together won't be enough or they'll get lost in the pile of papers that disgruntled government officers are careless with, and I'm just sooooooooooooooooo tired of this whole process! I got really confident reading everyone's stories and believed we had this in the bag. I lost it on the way to the parking lot and have been crying ever since, not understanding how some couples -please don't anyone take offense- who have been together for short a time and barely know each other can get their GCs but someone I have loved since 2006 and been living with since Summer 2007 can't get one. I honestly think my IO was being a jerk because he wanted to go to lunch (his co-worker popped his head in to check up on him and our IO said he was "almost done" with us)!

We've put together what documents we could. We found old email itineraries (they'll have to do because I'm not sentimental with plane tickets - I travel for a living and I don't want the clutter), we found copies of our old lease from a house we rented from 2007-2011, we highlighted our car payment withdrawal from our monthly bank statement that matches the online car bill with my father's name and our home address, we already gave the IO a copy of our family car insurance that lists my husband as one of the beneficiaries and we're adding a copy of our health insurance acceptance letter that has both of our names on it. My hubby is going to take the papers to the office tomorrow morning instead of mailing them in (we have the option of either). The IO told us to have a copy of each thing we submit and have the front desk person date stamp each item so that in the slight chance they get lost, we have proof that we did bring them in.

So, I guess the moral of the story is: make sure you have tons of proof of bonafide marriage. If you're a unique couple like us who live with parents or with family and have no formal rental lease or utility bills under your name, maybe create a rental lease agreement and have the utilities transferred to your name. I thought this was going to be an interview where they ask you all kinds of personal questions to see if they can catch you in a lie. I felt like we were just filling in our application all over again, but in person.

Good luck to everyone who is still waiting. I hope someone can learn from my frustration.

I am so sorry to hear that. Since I read your story, I haven't been confident at all. Because me and my husband just graduated last year. And he doesn't have much time and money to take a trip. So we normally just watch tv shows together or have his friends come over and have drinks. The only pictures that we have right now are the pictures from the marriage day with his parents. We don't have my name on his apartment lease because we had to pay more if we did that. The joint evidences that we have are health insurance, dental insurance and joint credit cards.

My interview is next thursday and I'm so nervous and worried that the evidences we have aren't enough

[Dragonmermaid 3]

I am so sorry to hear that. Since I read your story, I haven't been confident at all. Because me and my husband just graduated last year. And he doesn't have much time and money to take a trip. So we normally just watch tv shows together or have his friends come over and have drinks. The only pictures that we have right now are the pictures from the marriage day with his parents. We don't have my name on his apartment lease because we had to pay more if we did that. The joint evidences that we have are health insurance, dental insurance and joint credit cards.

My interview is next thursday and I'm so nervous and worried that the evidences we have aren't enough

Lillyryu, you might get lucky and not have a jerk of an IO like we had. I thought being together for almost 8 years would work in our favor, but it worked against us because our IO must've thought: "Well, they've been together so long, they should have more proof!" Jerk move, seriously. I almost wish we didn't have any of our vacation photos because then he wouldn't have asked for ticket stubs! I think your IO will understand that you are new graduates and you are building your lives together so you won't have vacation proof just yet.

I read that notarized affidavits are good so if you can get several of those, from friends and parents, etc. - this may help. The health insurances and credit card are good evidence as well. Don't forget your joint bank account and make sure you both have made purchases with it! Also, maybe print out popular Facebook pages and statuses that your friends have liked and commented on? Do you have any mail that has been addressed to you both?

My hubby reminded me that RFEs are not the end of the world (I realize that today now that I have calmed down)! The RFEs the IO wants from us are pretty simple, although not really necessary in light of all the other evidence we provided. Again, our IO was being a pain because he wanted to go to Del Taco!

Good luck to you and please keep us posted! The advice we get from here is so valuable! :-)

Edited July 2, 2014 by Dragonmermaid

[DaPoets 1]

Just joined the waiver club last week. AOS EAD/AP submitted in March and quickly received the EAD/AP in 6 weeks.

Is there a process for expediting the AOS?

[Lillyryu 0]

Lillyryu, you might get lucky and not have a jerk of an IO like we had. I thought being together for almost 8 years would work in our favor, but it worked against us because our IO must've thought: "Well, they've been together so long, they should have more proof!" Jerk move, seriously. I almost wish we didn't have any of our vacation photos because then he wouldn't have asked for ticket stubs! I think your IO will understand that you are new graduates and you are building your lives together so you won't have vacation proof just yet.

I read that notarized affidavits are good so if you can get several of those, from friends and parents, etc. - this may help. The health insurances and credit card are good evidence as well. Don't forget your joint bank account and make sure you both have made purchases with it! Also, maybe print out popular Facebook pages and statuses that your friends have liked and commented on? Do you have any mail that has been addressed to you both?

My hubby reminded me that RFEs are not the end of the world (I realize that today now that I have calmed down)! The RFEs the IO wants from us are pretty simple, although not really necessary in light of all the other evidence we provided. Again, our IO was being a pain because he wanted to go to Del Taco!

Good luck to you and please keep us posted! The advice we get from here is so valuable! :-)

Thanks. And you do the same. God bless you

[Plato2000 0]

FIngerprint fee was received on the 29th March 2014

Biometrics for AOS at ASC done in April 25th

EAD received June 11th

When am i likely to get an interview date?

and yes, im adjusting from the K1 status??

answers and thoughts are highly welcome

[Anonymous885 44]

FIngerprint fee was received on the 29th March 2014

Biometrics for AOS at ASC done in April 25th

EAD received June 11th

When am i likely to get an interview date?

and yes, im adjusting from the K1 status??

answers and thoughts are highly welcome

What is your status on I-485? Is it Initial Review or Testing and Interview?

If your status is still at Acceptance or Initial Review, then you might get potential interview waiver.

If your status is at Testing and Interview, then you just wait for your local office to schedule an appointment.

[LynLyn120 3]

I got my waiver letter last June 10. Another 6 months of waiting. Maybe less or maybe more.