Ok for int'l travel while waiting for GC interview notice or waiver notice?

[gursha 9]

Hi All,

My husband entered on a K-1 visa from Ethiopia, and we included his young son as a K-2 follow to join. We received my husband's EA/AP combo card on June 24 and would like to go get his son as soon as possible (they have been apart for 6 months andit will be a long journey). We have not received any notice by mail, text, or email regarding a GC interview or interview waiver. If my husband is out of the country when the GC interview is scheduled, is it possible to reschedule the interview? If it is possible to reschedule the interview, does anyone have any experience regarding how long it would then take to reschedule the interview and/or if rescheduling will potentially be a "strike" against my husband during the interview?

I-485, I-765, I-131 received April 2

I-485, I-765, I-131 notice date April 10

Biometrics - May 4

Call to USCIS for service request - June 17

EA/AP notice date June 18

EA/AP combo card received June 24

Thank you in adance for your advice!

Edited June 28, 2015 by gursha

[JR loves JR 196]

My advice would be to look at your local office's processing times and decide from there. Or you can wait until you actually get a waiver letter or an interview notice. I was looking at waiver timelines and found that 4 months (from file to waiver notice received) seemed to be quite normal. That means you might have about one more month until you might get the notice of potential waiver. My husband traveled last month (one week after getting his AP in the mail). We thought the sooner the better... less likely to miss an interview (Minneapolis seems to be about a year from file to GC) and we didn't have to worry about getting time off work since he didn't have a job yet. No one questioned why he was traveling so soon. Good luck with your decision and his travels.

[clairegie 265]

I agree with the previous poster's suggestion about checking your USCIS local office's processing time. However, if your case is like mine, there's a chance that your case might be processed in another office. How long does your husband need to get his kid and come back?

[gursha 9]

Thank you both very much for your suggestion. Just confirming that you mean check the field office menu here https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do? I'm not sure if the case is being handled by the Baltimore MD or Washington DC office (we live in MD directly over the border from DC) but one states Aug 2014 and the other Oct 2014 for I-485s. However, is this the timeframe for interviews or to actually receive the GC?

We calculate that it will take around 5-6 weeks total. 3 weeks to travel the grandparents to retrieve his son (very rural) and then travel back to their village (rural) to say final farewells/collect personal items. Then they will have to return to Addis for another 15 days for his son to take a 2nd medical exam (in Ethiopia the medical exam is valid only for 6 months and due to the processing delay for the EA/AP, we have just passed the 6 month mark).

Does anyone have a sense about how far in advance USCIS schedules the interviews (eg 1 month from date on letter?)? This may help us plan.

[clairegie 265]

Thank you both very much for your suggestion. Just confirming that you mean check the field office menu here https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do? I'm not sure if the case is being handled by the Baltimore MD or Washington DC office (we live in MD directly over the border from DC) but one states Aug 2014 and the other Oct 2014 for I-485s. However, is this the timeframe for interviews or to actually receive the GC?

We calculate that it will take around 5-6 weeks total. 3 weeks to travel the grandparents to retrieve his son (very rural) and then travel back to their village (rural) to say final farewells/collect personal items. Then they will have to return to Addis for another 15 days for his son to take a 2nd medical exam (in Ethiopia the medical exam is valid only for 6 months and due to the processing delay for the EA/AP, we have just passed the 6 month mark).

Does anyone have a sense about how far in advance USCIS schedules the interviews (eg 1 month from date on letter?)? This may help us plan.

Call USCIS Tier 2 so you can get more details about your case. When I called them, they were able to give me a timeframe ("It's with an officer, it will take 30 days max at this point"). From what I've seen on here, some people get notified of their interview 2 weeks before, some 1-2 months before. It really varies. Call USCIS so you know where you're at.

Regarding the USCIS local office handling your case, we really cant tell if your case is even being processed in your local office. I live in North Carolina and my case was processed by Memphis, TN instead of my local Raleigh office.

Edited July 1, 2015 by iammrsregie

[gursha 9]

Call USCIS Tier 2 so you can get more details about your case. When I called them, they were able to give me a timeframe ("It's with an officer, it will take 30 days max at this point"). From what I've seen on here, some people get notified of their interview 2 weeks before, some 1-2 months before. It really varies. Call USCIS so you know where you're at.

Regarding the USCIS local office handling your case, we really cant tell if your case is even being processed in your local office. I live in North Carolina and my case was processed by Memphis, TN instead of my local Raleigh office.

Thank you for your advice iammrsregie. Fingers crossed I will receive some info from the Tier 2.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Fam.based AOS to Fam.based AOS Progress Forum~

~Inquiry about case status~

[panssey 7]

Also, if the interview is scheduled and the person is outside the USA, it's possible to reschedule. Though it will make the process of adjusting the status (getting a green card) longer.