AOS March 2016 Filers

[sparkles_ 456]

You can check average timelines and similar timelines to yours on the Timeline section on this website.

Want to hear some funny stuff??

I'm the ONLY case file on VJ for the Charlotte office in 2016 doing AOS......ughhhhhh. Can't even compared as the last similar AOS was in 2014.

[fort knox 3]

I just got call from USCIS tier 2, I asked him how long after " case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" should I wait?

he said nobody knows and it is based on availability.

I asked why people filed after me they got their green card and it is almost 9 months I am waiting , he said it is based on circumstances.

[Linyahui 103]

Still no updates on our end, but at least there are some other couples in the Twin Cities who are still waiting, too. Our online status has been at "fingerprint fee has been received" since March and no interview scheduled. I would be surprised if our file has moved from the NBC to our local office. I call our congresswoman's office each week for an update and, so far, they have nothing to tell us. They submitted an inquiry to the congressional liaison on December 2 and said it can take 30+ days to hear something back.

I could have sworn the Tier 2 with whom we spoke in November told us that my husband had passed his background check because the Tier 2 put in a service request to recommend we be moved to the local office for interview.

My husband's EAD/AP card expires at the end of April 2017. When should we file for renewal? It sounds like the recommendation is 90+ days in advance of expiration. Any suggestions?

[Imani 105]

Nice! congrats. the interviewer said it was 2 years form the interview date, not 2 years from marriage that we could do ROC. Did I get that wrong?

No you did not get it wrong, once you are a permanent resident and still married for 2 years you can then lift the restrictions after two years of being a resident because they still need so see if the marriage is authentic... hence youd have to be interviewed again in 2 years.

[sparkles_ 456]

Still no updates on our end, but at least there are some other couples in the Twin Cities who are still waiting, too. Our online status has been at "fingerprint fee has been received" since March and no interview scheduled. I would be surprised if our file has moved from the NBC to our local office. I call our congresswoman's office each week for an update and, so far, they have nothing to tell us. They submitted an inquiry to the congressional liaison on December 2 and said it can take 30+ days to hear something back.

I could have sworn the Tier 2 with whom we spoke in November told us that my husband had passed his background check because the Tier 2 put in a service request to recommend we be moved to the local office for interview.

My husband's EAD/AP card expires at the end of April 2017. When should we file for renewal? It sounds like the recommendation is 90+ days in advance of expiration. Any suggestions?

It says 90 at minimum but 120 is recommended so you don't have any gaps of time and have to not work and wait. Ours expires end of May so we will renew end of January. Although the infopass lady wrote down the 90 day date for us, we won't be risking that. If I were you guys I would go ahead and file to renew is asap. You're within that 120 day window now. Edited December 20, 2016 by sparkles_

[Sticky 21]

We had our interview today in Holtsville, NY. We weren't approved. Husband has never been arrested or charged but was in the car with someone when he was 20 something years old. When she was affirming the questions he said well I don't think I ever got arrested but there was this one time... I tried to explain to him he wasn't arrested just because this other person was but he wanted to try and explain the event in case he had been given a ticket or something he didn't remember. The officer was extremely kind and professional. She seemed to genuinely like her job and spoke of some of the cases she has had over the years that made an impact. The buildings staff was friendly. And everyone's offices were decorated for the holidays. She did comment on my initial submissions. She said that I sent way to much stuff in which only leads to delays because they don't care about quantity only quality. She gave us an rfe to get the original final disposition of the case. Which I thought would be impossible because he doesn't even remember what year or where it was and the officer saw no indication of it on his FBI clearance. But I was able to have a friend look up the person he was with to get the info for us. So now we have the certified letter to send in. Here's to hoping it won't be another 9 months. I'm feeling pretty disappointed. I had planned to surprise him with tickets to see family for a Christmas gift. Guess I better start thinking of something else.

[Linyahui 103]

We had our interview today in Holtsville, NY. We weren't approved. Husband has never been arrested or charged but was in the car with someone when he was 20 something years old. When she was affirming the questions he said well I don't think I ever got arrested but there was this one time... I tried to explain to him he wasn't arrested just because this other person was but he wanted to try and explain the event in case he had been given a ticket or something he didn't remember. The officer was extremely kind and professional. She seemed to genuinely like her job and spoke of some of the cases she has had over the years that made an impact. The buildings staff was friendly. And everyone's offices were decorated for the holidays. She did comment on my initial submissions. She said that I sent way to much stuff in which only leads to delays because they don't care about quantity only quality. She gave us an rfe to get the original final disposition of the case. Which I thought would be impossible because he doesn't even remember what year or where it was and the officer saw no indication of it on his FBI clearance. But I was able to have a friend look up the person he was with to get the info for us. So now we have the certified letter to send in. Here's to hoping it won't be another 9 months. I'm feeling pretty disappointed. I had planned to surprise him with tickets to see family for a Christmas gift. Guess I better start thinking of something else.

So sorry to hear that, Sticky. Did the officer indicate anything about a timeline after the interview?

[newyorkaos 15]

We had our interview today in Holtsville, NY. We weren't approved. Husband has never been arrested or charged but was in the car with someone when he was 20 something years old. When she was affirming the questions he said well I don't think I ever got arrested but there was this one time... I tried to explain to him he wasn't arrested just because this other person was but he wanted to try and explain the event in case he had been given a ticket or something he didn't remember. The officer was extremely kind and professional. She seemed to genuinely like her job and spoke of some of the cases she has had over the years that made an impact. The buildings staff was friendly. And everyone's offices were decorated for the holidays. She did comment on my initial submissions. She said that I sent way to much stuff in which only leads to delays because they don't care about quantity only quality. She gave us an rfe to get the original final disposition of the case. Which I thought would be impossible because he doesn't even remember what year or where it was and the officer saw no indication of it on his FBI clearance. But I was able to have a friend look up the person he was with to get the info for us. So now we have the certified letter to send in. Here's to hoping it won't be another 9 months. I'm feeling pretty disappointed. I had planned to surprise him with tickets to see family for a Christmas gift. Guess I better start thinking of something else.

Hope you resolve it soon and get a decision quickly...

[sparkles_ 456]

We had our interview today in Holtsville, NY. We weren't approved. Husband has never been arrested or charged but was in the car with someone when he was 20 something years old. When she was affirming the questions he said well I don't think I ever got arrested but there was this one time... I tried to explain to him he wasn't arrested just because this other person was but he wanted to try and explain the event in case he had been given a ticket or something he didn't remember. The officer was extremely kind and professional. She seemed to genuinely like her job and spoke of some of the cases she has had over the years that made an impact. The buildings staff was friendly. And everyone's offices were decorated for the holidays. She did comment on my initial submissions. She said that I sent way to much stuff in which only leads to delays because they don't care about quantity only quality. She gave us an rfe to get the original final disposition of the case. Which I thought would be impossible because he doesn't even remember what year or where it was and the officer saw no indication of it on his FBI clearance. But I was able to have a friend look up the person he was with to get the info for us. So now we have the certified letter to send in. Here's to hoping it won't be another 9 months. I'm feeling pretty disappointed. I had planned to surprise him with tickets to see family for a Christmas gift. Guess I better start thinking of something else.

If you don't hear anything after 30 days consider a congressional inquiry to remind the officer to finish you guys case

[newyorkaos 15]

Still no updates on our end, but at least there are some other couples in the Twin Cities who are still waiting, too. Our online status has been at "fingerprint fee has been received" since March and no interview scheduled. I would be surprised if our file has moved from the NBC to our local office. I call our congresswoman's office each week for an update and, so far, they have nothing to tell us. They submitted an inquiry to the congressional liaison on December 2 and said it can take 30+ days to hear something back.

I could have sworn the Tier 2 with whom we spoke in November told us that my husband had passed his background check because the Tier 2 put in a service request to recommend we be moved to the local office for interview.

My husband's EAD/AP card expires at the end of April 2017. When should we file for renewal? It sounds like the recommendation is 90+ days in advance of expiration. Any suggestions?

Hi I have been following your case for a while, our PD is March 9 but from NYC. No updates too. My question is, do you get notified if your case has been moved to local office for scheduling of interview? I raised an inquiry for our case and got a response in November saying that the local office is scheduling an interview. However, when I spoke to a tier 2 last week, he said it's still in NBC and when I check the status it still says last update in May.

I no longer look at the processing times, it drives me crazy. I think I developed some sort of anxiety because of this.

[Linyahui 103]

Hi I have been following your case for a while, our PD is March 9 but from NYC. No updates too. My question is, do you get notified if your case has been moved to local office for scheduling of interview? I raised an inquiry for our case and got a response in November saying that the local office is scheduling an interview. However, when I spoke to a tier 2 last week, he said it's still in NBC and when I check the status it still says last update in May.

I no longer look at the processing times, it drives me crazy. I think I developed some sort of anxiety because of this.

As Sparkles said, it's likely that a bunch of us will receive interview notices after the new year. Seems like things really slow down between Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in many sectors, federal agencies included. I'm not sure whether couples are notified once the case has moved to the local office. Based on VJ posts, it looks like some people see their online status change to "interview ready to be scheduled" once their case arrives in the local service center, while others see that status change and then wait for months and months. Still others (like us) have seen absolutely no change in the online status since filing in March. I think it's just a total crapshoot, but there is nothing we can do about it. Sometimes, accepting that reality can reduce anxiety, versus checking statuses and calling USCIS every day. We really have no control over the process and it can be kind of calming to accept that. Doesn't mean we shouldn't advocate for ourselves with Congressional inquiries and whatnot, but also to keep a more zen peace of mind by settling in for a long wait and trusting the process.

[trudi 1,317]

Want to hear some funny stuff??

I'm the ONLY case file on VJ for the Charlotte office in 2016 doing AOS......ughhhhhh. Can't even compared as the last similar AOS was in 2014.

We are in NC, and our local field office is Charlotte (April 2016 AOS from K1) we got lucky and our file was sent to Texas for processing and approved without interview

I hope you get good news soon

[fort knox 3]

We are in NC, and our local field office is Charlotte (April 2016 AOS from K1) we got lucky and our file was sent to Texas for processing and approved without interview

I hope you get good news soon

I think one key factor to be judged by USCIS is that which country you are coming from.

[sparkles_ 456]

I think one key factor to be judged by USCIS is that which country you are coming from.

This is true too. However, I searched about the NC local offices....and going years back, it seems to take its time on those adjusting from other vias types besides k1. Another of my whiny forum posts about the background check saw someone give me a reality check, though. Looking at the embassy in Morocco, it is a black hole of wait times for background ad security checks. I was silly to expect anything different just because he is adjusting while in the country.

I'm not going to give it my worry til January when we start renewing the EAD.

[Sticky 21]

When I asked how long she explained that she could not give an answer. She pointed to three card board boxes and explained that they do not keep the files in the office once they review and complete the interview if an rfe is issued. It is sent back to storage at the end of the day for pending cases or else where for complete cases. When you send the document or whatever item was requested in the file gets pulled and reviewed by someone who determines if it is what was asked for and then reassigned to someone for review. Which is sometimes the same ISO and sometimes not. is I asked if I had to send it through mail or could I drop it off and she said probably better to send by mail because the sorting room is more organized and systematic then leaving it at a window and hoping it gets where it should because again they would not know who the case would be reassigned to later on. Well on our way back from picking up the certified letter I told husband to stop at the office so I could take a chance and see if the person at the window could ask the ISO if I could give her the document. The man took it and came back and said he gave it to the officer. So I asked if I should mail it too and he jokingly said no you don't want to confuse the system more than it already is and said she was in an interview but he put it in her hand and she said she knew what it was and would take care of it. About a half hour later I got a text that said case approved followed by card is being produced.!!!

Edited December 20, 2016 by Sticky