JULY 2015 Filers...

[KASH2011 382]

Any news about interview experience?

My update: Massive RFE Package was accepted

Sep 30 : EAD card mailed

Waiting period officially begins...

[medicalguy 11]

Had my interview yesterday. Unfortunately was not approved on the spot. The officer was extremely nice. She said she would have approved our case, but did not receive my "J1 file" from the proper department. She says it takes sometimes a lot of time before she gets that file. I have no idea what she means, but I supplied every single possible document, and she did not really need any documents from us. She did not know exactly when she will get that J1 file, but suggested to do an info pass in a month if we don't hear anything back, even contact a congressman if needed. She also had some questions about my wife's previous marriage, and said she may want to "look into it", even though we have written a full statement with everything we know. Why wouldn't she look "into it" before the interview?!

Can't believe what a pain in the neck the J1 is.... now I have to wait. I am glad that we were so lucky to get our interview so early, but now I fear that this was a curse in disguise, as I would have rather had an interview two months from now where the officer had all the documents needed and did look into all the details prior to the interview. Now our file will be on a shelf and who knows when she will look into it again, a month from now or 6 months from now. At least we are hopefully getting the EAD soon. Does anyone know the number to call to get the tracking number?

Edited October 2, 2015 by medicalguy

[goodbody 0]

Had my interview yesterday. Unfortunately was not approved on the spot. The officer was extremely nice. She said she would have approved our case, but did not receive my "J1 file" from the proper department. She says it takes sometimes a lot of time before she gets that file. I have no idea what she means, but I supplied every single possible document, and she did not really need any documents from us. She did not know exactly when she will get that J1 file, but suggested to do an info pass in a month if we don't hear anything back, even contact a congressman if needed. She also had some questions about my wife's previous marriage, and said she may want to "look into it", even though we have written a full statement with everything we know. Why wouldn't she look "into it" before the interview?!

Can't believe what a pain in the neck the J1 is.... now I have to wait. I am glad that we were so lucky to get our interview so early, but now I fear that this was a curse in disguise, as I would have rather had an interview two months from now where the officer had all the documents needed and did look into all the details prior to the interview. Now our file will be on a shelf and who knows when she will look into it again, a month from now or 6 months from now. At least we are hopefully getting the EAD soon. Does anyone know the number to call to get the tracking number?

This is not good. I dont know how their system works, but they should have made an effort to get it for review before the interview. It makes me worried as well as I was on J1 visa and completed J1 waiver

[neuroticbell 5]

Had my interview yesterday. Unfortunately was not approved on the spot. The officer was extremely nice. She said she would have approved our case, but did not receive my "J1 file" from the proper department. She says it takes sometimes a lot of time before she gets that file. I have no idea what she means, but I supplied every single possible document, and she did not really need any documents from us. She did not know exactly when she will get that J1 file, but suggested to do an info pass in a month if we don't hear anything back, even contact a congressman if needed. She also had some questions about my wife's previous marriage, and said she may want to "look into it", even though we have written a full statement with everything we know. Why wouldn't she look "into it" before the interview?!

Can't believe what a pain in the neck the J1 is.... now I have to wait. I am glad that we were so lucky to get our interview so early, but now I fear that this was a curse in disguise, as I would have rather had an interview two months from now where the officer had all the documents needed and did look into all the details prior to the interview. Now our file will be on a shelf and who knows when she will look into it again, a month from now or 6 months from now. At least we are hopefully getting the EAD soon. Does anyone know the number to call to get the tracking number?

I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll hear some good news soon though! Also, 1 (800) 375-5283 is USCIS's number and the number that I called as soon as my status online went to "Card has been mailed"

[medicalguy 11]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll hear some good news soon though! Also, 1 (800) 375-5283 is USCIS's number and the number that I called as soon as my status online went to "Card has been mailed"

Thanks a lot for the info. I guess we have to hit a snag to be grounded in reality. The J1 hardship waiver and the AOS process was so smooth until the interview, we got a spoiled a little bit. I called the number you supplied and they said there was no tracking number assigned to my card?! Not sure why... do I have to sign to get this card or is it delivered in the mail box?

Edited October 2, 2015 by medicalguy

[neuroticbell 5]

Thanks a lot for the info. I guess we have to hit a snag to be grounded in reality. The J1 hardship waiver and the AOS process was so smooth until the interview, we got a spoiled a little bit. I called the number you supplied and they said there was no tracking number assigned to my card?! Not sure why... do I have to sign to get this card or is it delivered in the mail box?

Mailbox, you do not have to sign for it. Did your status change to card mailed or is it still approved? Until the card is actually mailed, you won't be able to get a tracking number.

[medicalguy 11]

This is not good. I dont know how their system works, but they should have made an effort to get it for review before the interview. It makes me worried as well as I was on J1 visa and completed J1 waiver

Your situation may be entirely different. Also the officer seemed to have very few J1 cases in the past and may have not been as experienced with those cases. Hopefully your interview will be much smoother. Also I had a J1 waiver through hardship.

Mailbox, you do not have to sign for it. Did your status change to card mailed or is it still approved? Until the card is actually mailed, you won't be able to get a tracking number.

It changed to "card was mailed to me" yesterday, 10/1/2015. At least it will come to the mailbox. Thanks.

[DeKi 10]

As someone who is also adjusting from J-1, my impression is that the home residency requirement aspect is taken very seriously (I personally don't have it, but have been reading around). I'd guess that since you applied for a waiver, additional checks on that are being made -- that's probably what your "J-1 file" is about. Of course I agree with you that they should have completed all this BEFORE they called you in for the interview, but life (and the AOS/PR process in particular) is rarely so perfect. As with any bureaucracy, once you present a slightly different challenge to their routine, you know it's going to take longer and you'll have to be your own advocate to explain how it's still within "the rules". But as people who're used to being in that situation, we'll persevere, right? I'm sure you provided all he necessary information in the applications and your interview, so now just take a deep breath and arm yourself with patience. You should be getting the EAD any day now and this will allow you to go about your life while waiting.

(Slightly , but to tell you where I'm coming from on this: you should have seen the confusion at my J-1 institution when they had to switch my payments from a salaried position to a contractually paid one -- which had nothing to do with my status, but everything with how my project is funded. The international scholars' office got it and were very helpful, but human resources and payroll just lost it since -- as you say about your local office -- they simply did not have sufficient experience with such cases. I had to visit in person and send numerous emails explaining what is going on and what they need to do -- mostly not freak out.)

Fingers crossed for smooth (and reasonably fast) resolution for all of us!

[medicalguy 11]

As someone who is also adjusting from J-1, my impression is that the home residency requirement aspect is taken very seriously (I personally don't have it, but have been reading around). I'd guess that since you applied for a waiver, additional checks on that are being made -- that's probably what your "J-1 file" is about. Of course I agree with you that they should have completed all this BEFORE they called you in for the interview, but life (and the AOS/PR process in particular) is rarely so perfect. As with any bureaucracy, once you present a slightly different challenge to their routine, you know it's going to take longer and you'll have to be your own advocate to explain how it's still within "the rules". But as people who're used to being in that situation, we'll persevere, right? I'm sure you provided all he necessary information in the applications and your interview, so now just take a deep breath and arm yourself with patience. You should be getting the EAD any day now and this will allow you to go about your life while waiting.

(Slightly , but to tell you where I'm coming from on this: you should have seen the confusion at my J-1 institution when they had to switch my payments from a salaried position to a contractually paid one -- which had nothing to do with my status, but everything with how my project is funded. The international scholars' office got it and were very helpful, but human resources and payroll just lost it since -- as you say about your local office -- they simply did not have sufficient experience with such cases. I had to visit in person and send numerous emails explaining what is going on and what they need to do -- mostly not freak out.)

Fingers crossed for smooth (and reasonably fast) resolution for all of us!

I understand that it is not a perfect process. I just feel a tad frustrated because I drove 14 hours back and fourth, (my "local" office is a 7 hour drive, and two plane rides away), without a definite answer, and more importantly, doing an infopass and or another interview could mean days in lost work time, which is very difficult to do. I hope I don't have to do anything major and I hear something in the next two months...

[medicalguy 11]

Received EAD / AP in mail.

[KASH2011 382]

Received EAD / AP in mail.

Congrats!

[ashmed246 78]

It's been 11 days since my interview and even though my status was updated to card production a day after my interview, the status is still on 'welcome mail sent'. I haven't heard anything about the card being mailed. Is this something I should be worried about or its just a delay. Thanks in advance

[KASH2011 382]

It's been 11 days since my interview and even though my status was updated to card production a day after my interview, the status is still on 'welcome mail sent'. I haven't heard anything about the card being mailed. Is this something I should be worried about or its just a delay. Thanks in advance

It is probably a slight delay! You will get some updates soon.

[ashmed246 78]

It is probably a slight delay! You will get some updates soon.

Thanks!

[DeKi 10]

Just checking whether anyone here has any updates to report. I have been seeing some bursts of interview appointments announced on other threads and was wondering if any July work/student/tourist folks have gotten theirs too.

I personally am still waiting. It's been exactly 100 days since the receipt of my initial application and 65+ days since the receipt of my RFE response. My local office (Buffalo) doesn't have a ton of applicants who have signed up here, so it's hard to get a read on what timeline we should expect and the processing times on the USCIS site are ridiculously unreliable.