AOS March 2016 filers/Part 2

[sparkles_ 456]

20 hours ago, Linyahui said:

 

We went to an InfoPass appointment back in February, which is when we were told by the officer there that we're on the interview waiver list. But when we called USCIS last month, we were told our file had been transferred to the local office, which seems to indicate we will need to attend an interview after all. (I've read that interview waiver cases never go to the local office). Correct me if I'm wrong, fellow March 2016 filers.

 

Another update: I filed a service request online via the USCIS website back in March. We just received the response via snail mail last week. It says that an officer is reviewing our case and there is no timeline as to when a decision will be made. It's all so opaque!! Is our case really in the St. Paul office? If someone is reviewing it, why doesn't the case show that it's been touched in our online account? 

 

A depressing thought just occurred to me: if our case was only JUST transferred to St. Paul, are we now at the back of the line for processing in the local office, which is averaging 11 months for i-485s?!?!! Do we now have to wait an additional YEAR to get an interview??

 

 

 

Noooooo, the local office processing time is total from NOA1. I know it doesn't help much because you guys are way outside of processing limits but you won't be waiting another year. I'm not sure how interview waivers work, but I think I remember hearing if you go transfer to the CSC or VSC you will get a waiver but local office transfer means you will most likely interview. But don't quote me on it! 

 

I think these replies to inquires we make are literally copy and paste, they all either say within the next 90 days, 6mo or no timeline can be given. And believe me, the 90 days/6mo might as well be no timeline because it was a damn lie for us. 

[Linyahui 103]

1 hour ago, sparkles_ said:

Noooooo, the local office processing time is total from NOA1. I know it doesn't help much because you guys are way outside of processing limits but you won't be waiting another year. I'm not sure how interview waivers work, but I think I remember hearing if you go transfer to the CSC or VSC you will get a waiver but local office transfer means you will most likely interview. But don't quote me on it! 

 

I think these replies to inquires we make are literally copy and paste, they all either say within the next 90 days, 6mo or no timeline can be given. And believe me, the 90 days/6mo might as well be no timeline because it was a damn lie for us. 

 

Thanks, Sparkles. I remember the officer saying it had been transferred to "the" local office, so of course now I'm wondering if that means CSC or VSC or "our" local office. Gaaaaaaaah. I guess there's nothing left to do but hurry up and wait. If we don't get a letter by end of June, we'll call again or make an InfoPass appointment.

 

So appreciative that several of the March 2016 family are still checking the forum after getting GCs...the May/June filers were a bust, haha. I'd rather continue to wait with you guys, as long as you're checking! 

[sparkles_ 456]

1 hour ago, Linyahui said:

 

Thanks, Sparkles. I remember the officer saying it had been transferred to "the" local office, so of course now I'm wondering if that means CSC or VSC or "our" local office. Gaaaaaaaah. I guess there's nothing left to do but hurry up and wait. If we don't get a letter by end of June, we'll call again or make an InfoPass appointment.

 

So appreciative that several of the March 2016 family are still checking the forum after getting GCs...the May/June filers were a bust, haha. I'd rather continue to wait with you guys, as long as you're checking! 

It means your local office. CSC and VSC would not be called local as they are not local offices at all. They are more like regional processing offices if that makes sense. 

 

I'm angry for you, your case should not have taken this long considering how basic it was. Are you close to your 2yr anniversary at all? It helped me to think that we would skip ROC once we were all said and done, and right onto the 10yr card.

[Linyahui 103]

34 minutes ago, sparkles_ said:

It means your local office. CSC and VSC would not be called local as they are not local offices at all. They are more like regional processing offices if that makes sense. 

 

I'm angry for you, your case should not have taken this long considering how basic it was. Are you close to your 2yr anniversary at all? It helped me to think that we would skip ROC once we were all said and done, and right onto the 10yr card.

Oh, $@%&. Well, if that's the case, looks like we'll have to interview after all.

 

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

If we're past background checks now, though, we can get our senator involved! Yay! 

 

Any recommendations as to how long we should wait until we contact the senator (again)? Previously, her office couldn't help because we were still in the background check stage, but now it should be fine. Allegedly, our case arrived in St. Paul in mid-April, so it's been about a month (and 439 days since we initially filed, but who's counting?) 

 

We just celebrated our one-year anniversary in February, and I'm hoping this doesn't drag out past next February...

[trudi 1,317]

3 hours ago, Linyahui said:

Oh, $@%&. Well, if that's the case, looks like we'll have to interview after all.

 

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

If we're past background checks now, though, we can get our senator involved! Yay! 

 

Any recommendations as to how long we should wait until we contact the senator (again)? Previously, her office couldn't help because we were still in the background check stage, but now it should be fine. Allegedly, our case arrived in St. Paul in mid-April, so it's been about a month (and 439 days since we initially filed, but who's counting?) 

 

We just celebrated our one-year anniversary in February, and I'm hoping this doesn't drag out past next February...

It's frustrating when the process makes no sense

 

I don't know if it'll help ( or just add to the confusion ) my file was sent to 'my local office' except it was sent to Texas and we live in North Carolina!

Anyway it was reviewed there ( I got an RFE from Texas ) and I was approved without interview - I'd ask tier 2, your senator or at infopass for the physical location of your file, you can still be approved without interview

[sparkles_ 456]

8 hours ago, Linyahui said:

Oh, $@%&. Well, if that's the case, looks like we'll have to interview after all.

 

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

If we're past background checks now, though, we can get our senator involved! Yay! 

 

Any recommendations as to how long we should wait until we contact the senator (again)? Previously, her office couldn't help because we were still in the background check stage, but now it should be fine. Allegedly, our case arrived in St. Paul in mid-April, so it's been about a month (and 439 days since we initially filed, but who's counting?) 

 

We just celebrated our one-year anniversary in February, and I'm hoping this doesn't drag out past next February...

I would do the senator ASAP.

[Linyahui 103]

5 hours ago, trudi said:

It's frustrating when the process makes no sense

 

I don't know if it'll help ( or just add to the confusion ) my file was sent to 'my local office' except it was sent to Texas and we live in North Carolina!

Anyway it was reviewed there ( I got an RFE from Texas ) and I was approved without interview - I'd ask tier 2, your senator or at infopass for the physical location of your file, you can still be approved without interview

 

58 minutes ago, sparkles_ said:

I would do the senator ASAP.

 

Thanks, Trudi and Sparkles. We'll get into June and if we still have radio silence, we'll go from there. Probably start with a phone call to a Tier 2. 

[msmontader 10]

Ok so i got the RFE and they require my birth certificate from my home country. However, My passport birthdate has January and my birth certificate has July. The passport is wrong and the agency that issued my passport made the mistake but they never fixed it although i bugged them many times. All my IDs here and application is in January because of my passport and my AOS application is in January. So what should i do now in this case ? just send my birth certificate and hope for the best or should i contact an attorney and arrange an explanation ?

[sparkles_ 456]

25 minutes ago, msmontader said:

Ok so i got the RFE and they require my birth certificate from my home country. However, My passport birthdate has January and my birth certificate has July. The passport is wrong and the agency that issued my passport made the mistake but they never fixed it although i bugged them many times. All my IDs here and application is in January because of my passport and my AOS application is in January. So what should i do now in this case ? just send my birth certificate and hope for the best or should i contact an attorney and arrange an explanation ?

How many days do you have to respond? It is either 30 or 90.....if 90, get up with a lawyer when you can within the next 6wk.....if 30, make some phonecalls now and get someone who works on an hourly payscale versus fully retaining them.

Edited May 30, 2017 by sparkles_

[msmontader 10]

10 hours ago, sparkles_ said:

How many days do you have to respond? It is either 30 or 90.....if 90, get up with a lawyer when you can within the next 6wk.....if 30, make some phonecalls now and get someone who works on an hourly payscale versus fully retaining them.

Thank you for answering Sparkles. 
They gave me 90 days to respond to the RFE. I contacted my previous lawyer and he advice me to just submit the birth certificate and get an explanation letter from the Iraqi Embassy in the U.S. I contacted another lawyer here in the bay area and she told me to get back with me tomorrow. The good news is i have a friend that works at the Iraqi embassy and i explained my issue with him and he said he can get me an explanation letter regarding my birthdate. The bad news is i am really scared from this whole situation. 

[sparkles_ 456]

10 hours ago, msmontader said:

Thank you for answering Sparkles. 
They gave me 90 days to respond to the RFE. I contacted my previous lawyer and he advice me to just submit the birth certificate and get an explanation letter from the Iraqi Embassy in the U.S. I contacted another lawyer here in the bay area and she told me to get back with me tomorrow. The good news is i have a friend that works at the Iraqi embassy and i explained my issue with him and he said he can get me an explanation letter regarding my birthdate. The bad news is i am really scared from this whole situation. 

If you can get the letter, just my two cents as a non-lawyer person.....you will be fine. USCIS is all about reasonable explanations. I would wait for the other lawyer, if both are saying roundabout the same thing then proceed as told with the letter and birth cert. Don't be scared, I think that there is nothing that can't be worked out regarding USCIS things as long as you remain calm and proceed with truth. Mistakes happen, human error is real and they know this, hell once upon a time my own driver license got goofed and I was listed as a full 2yr older than I really was.

[PaddyGirl13 75]

21 hours ago, msmontader said:

Ok so i got the RFE and they require my birth certificate from my home country. However, My passport birthdate has January and my birth certificate has July. The passport is wrong and the agency that issued my passport made the mistake but they never fixed it although i bugged them many times. All my IDs here and application is in January because of my passport and my AOS application is in January. So what should i do now in this case ? just send my birth certificate and hope for the best or should i contact an attorney and arrange an explanation ?

 

I'd certainly talk to the lawyer, I'm sure a clerical error on your passport can be rectified and a letter will help, but be prepared to answer why you also put the incorrect date on your application and didn't alert them to the issue then.

The instructions from the i-485 form state: "If you willfully or knowingly falsify or conceal a material fact or submit a false document with this request , we will deny the benefit you are filing for, and may deny any other immigration benefit."

Were your previous visas applied for and issued on the wrong date of birth?

I hope I'm not coming across as negative but there is a real possibility this is going to turn out to be a bigger issue than you'd want it to be.

 

[Linyahui 103]

Hey, March family. I am in need of some advice and a little bit of a morale boost today.

 

Since my last update about six weeks ago, we haven't heard anything from USCIS and the case status hasn't been updated in our USCIS account. I want to call USCIS again to confirm where our file is now physically located, because I'm having some doubts about whether it's actually been transferred to our local office as we were told at the end of April. Wouldn't we have heard something by now? However, my husband feels like we are bothering USCIS when we call and (I think) fears that our monthly calls will somehow affect the case outcome. That is silly, to me, but since he needs to give his consent for the officer to speak with me about the case, I want to respect his wishes and not call for awhile. BUT IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY NOT HAVING ANY UPDATES!!! What do you all think?

 

The second thing is how I can better support my husband through this ongoing transition to life in the U.S. In Taiwan, he was the assistant director of an international education center and was involved in a side business with his best friend, which he was really passionate about. Now he's teaching Chinese part-time at a local high school and hates it. Not to mention the salary is not great and there are no benefits associated with the position. I'm feeling some stress because my job is our steady income and is used for paying rent and all bills, while we are trying to build some savings from his. He's been applying to jobs all over the country (as have I) with little to no success. We're both feeling a bit down with no progress on the green card, no updates, and inability to move forward with getting a bigger place, a dog, thinking about kids, etc. due to wanting to be smart about our finances right now.

 

How do you all deal with this everyday life stuff? 

[sparkles_ 456]

5 hours ago, Linyahui said:

Hey, March family. I am in need of some advice and a little bit of a morale boost today.

 

Since my last update about six weeks ago, we haven't heard anything from USCIS and the case status hasn't been updated in our USCIS account. I want to call USCIS again to confirm where our file is now physically located, because I'm having some doubts about whether it's actually been transferred to our local office as we were told at the end of April. Wouldn't we have heard something by now? However, my husband feels like we are bothering USCIS when we call and (I think) fears that our monthly calls will somehow affect the case outcome. That is silly, to me, but since he needs to give his consent for the officer to speak with me about the case, I want to respect his wishes and not call for awhile. BUT IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY NOT HAVING ANY UPDATES!!! What do you all think?

 

The second thing is how I can better support my husband through this ongoing transition to life in the U.S. In Taiwan, he was the assistant director of an international education center and was involved in a side business with his best friend, which he was really passionate about. Now he's teaching Chinese part-time at a local high school and hates it. Not to mention the salary is not great and there are no benefits associated with the position. I'm feeling some stress because my job is our steady income and is used for paying rent and all bills, while we are trying to build some savings from his. He's been applying to jobs all over the country (as have I) with little to no success. We're both feeling a bit down with no progress on the green card, no updates, and inability to move forward with getting a bigger place, a dog, thinking about kids, etc. due to wanting to be smart about our finances right now.

 

How do you all deal with this everyday life stuff? 

My husband thought the same. I told him that my fee money, and everyone else's comes with unlimited costumer service til completion.....and that I would rather over call than under call and let a mistake or error grow in the downtime. There were some days when I expected them to magically know my name/voice combo from calling so much LOL. IMO, at this point you should go make an infopass and ask for the floor supervisor (I cant remember if you did this already) and ask that person what the hell is happening. The window people only know about 1/2 of what we really need. We also had issue with jobs and the EAD, a lot of employers seemed to have the notion in their heads already that it needs employer renewing, and there you go, right into the circular file.

 

Have you considered moving to a more Taiwanese populated area? I've made the move across the country 3 times in my life, from NC to Alaska, back to NC, to WA state and east coast again. Every time I could not find a job in advance so I went with money and a pre-rented one bedroom. It seems that getting a job offer out of state is a dying thing, sadly. I took a loan for one of the moves and it repaid itself quickly in quality of life. In fact.....we are probably going to be making ANOTHER big move by year's end I hope. I can say if you relocate that way, you have to accept that you will live small for 6mo-1yr but it isn't horrible, you will upgrade quickly after that dwell time. The reason we are moving by the way, is almost the same. My husband has a ####### job, no benefits, it is ruining his mental health and his mental health is linked to mine. Don't knock paid plasma donation either. We can get an easy and basically free 550$ a month to bank into moving money. I'm aware it sounds kind of low class but money doesn't grow on trees, gotta get it somewhere.

 

We are forming a written, step by step plan for the rest of the year, with small things and major things we can do as well towards moving. @Linyahui I need to seek you out on FB to keep in touch! Anyone from our March group really, God knows we have seen each other through a lot at this point.

Edited June 7, 2017 by sparkles_

[elikhom 7]

22 hours ago, Linyahui said:

Hey, March family. I am in need of some advice and a little bit of a morale boost today.

 

Since my last update about six weeks ago, we haven't heard anything from USCIS and the case status hasn't been updated in our USCIS account. I want to call USCIS again to confirm where our file is now physically located, because I'm having some doubts about whether it's actually been transferred to our local office as we were told at the end of April. Wouldn't we have heard something by now? However, my husband feels like we are bothering USCIS when we call and (I think) fears that our monthly calls will somehow affect the case outcome. That is silly, to me, but since he needs to give his consent for the officer to speak with me about the case, I want to respect his wishes and not call for awhile. BUT IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY NOT HAVING ANY UPDATES!!! What do you all think?

 

The second thing is how I can better support my husband through this ongoing transition to life in the U.S. In Taiwan, he was the assistant director of an international education center and was involved in a side business with his best friend, which he was really passionate about. Now he's teaching Chinese part-time at a local high school and hates it. Not to mention the salary is not great and there are no benefits associated with the position. I'm feeling some stress because my job is our steady income and is used for paying rent and all bills, while we are trying to build some savings from his. He's been applying to jobs all over the country (as have I) with little to no success. We're both feeling a bit down with no progress on the green card, no updates, and inability to move forward with getting a bigger place, a dog, thinking about kids, etc. due to wanting to be smart about our finances right now.

 

How do you all deal with this everyday life stuff? 

Hi,

Sorry to hear you case is still stuck somewhere.We haven't heard about ours either but at least my wife got her AP and EAD extensions fast.

 

Has your husband thought about going back to school to do a Masters or something similar? If his degrees are only from Taiwan I can imagine why he's having a hard time finding a good job here.

I came to the US 16 years ago (I'm a citizen now) and my college degree was pretty much useless here even though it was the top school in my country. The university I attended for my masters degree gave me tuition waiver plus a small salary working as a teaching assistant so I didnt have to take any loans, and masters are only 1.5 to 2 years long. I didnt have any problems finding a good job afterwards.

 

Might be an option worth looking into. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by elikhom