May 2017 AOS Filers

[dannydan 32]

Just got back from visiting home using AP. Easy as a breeze. 

[EMBELL_17 102]

No update online but received letter in mail telling me I have an interview on January 23!!!

[Jeilvi 24]

1 hour ago, EMBELL_17 said:

No update online but received letter in mail telling me I have an interview on January 23!!!

Congrats!!

[BaltimoreFiler 37]

Hey Guys

 

I have my interview next month, I’m a July 3rd filer in Baltimore

 

I received the interview letter today, no case status update online.

 

my question is, now that I have an interview date, does that mean my Background checks have been completed.

 

I have seen stories where people have had the interview but not approved  cos the background check isn’t back.

[Hawksquill 151]

Got back from Christmas at my parents to find his green card arrived!  We're so relieved.  Mailed everything May 11 with a May 15 priority date, so not at all a bad timeline.  It felt like a long wait though!

 

Now we don't have to think about immigration until he's eligible for ROC September 15, 2019!!

[Lupigirl 67]

13 hours ago, Hawksquill said:

Got back from Christmas at my parents to find his green card arrived!  We're so relieved.  Mailed everything May 11 with a May 15 priority date, so not at all a bad timeline.  It felt like a long wait though!

 

Now we don't have to think about immigration until he's eligible for ROC September 15, 2019!!

That’s awesome!  What a happy start to the new year!  I filed May 1st and still have no updates at all, so your timeline is excellent.  Going by the published processing times, it looks like I still have a couple months to wait.

[MandyAlex 32]

Yay! Just received the AOS interview letter in the mail, its scheduled for Jan 28 in Orlando. For those that already had their interviews, do we need to bring the Birth Certificate for the beneficiary to the interview even though one was submitted with the I-485 application? The NOA letter says to bring the medical/vaccines Form I-693 and Affidavit of Support Form I-864 UNLESS ALREADY SUBMITTED, but how about the Birth Certificate?

Edited January 4, 2018 by MandyAlex

[Tierpolizistin 0]

On 12/31/2017 at 4:31 PM, Lupigirl said:

That’s awesome!  What a happy start to the new year!  I filed May 1st and still have no updates at all, so your timeline is excellent.  Going by the published processing times, it looks like I still have a couple months to wait.

Hi, Arizona resident here as well. My husband is from Germany, and we also filed in May. USCIS lost our EAD paperwork and only admitted it after numerous complaints from me, and they ignored the congressman and senator who tried to intervene on our behalf. I finally involved the USCIS ombudsman who learned that they lost our paperwork for the EAD, so 151 days later, they were made to issue one on a Saturday and overnight it. They had also screwed up on our Green card filing and lost some of that paperwork too, so we had to re-submit, and they were supposed to expedite the green card process since their error caused a delay. And of course...still crickets chirping over here. His AZ driver's license is only good until June without the green card, so based on prior experience with USCIS and their incompetency, I am of course concerned. Other states are filing MUCH faster than AZ...however, I know of several other K1 visa holders in AZ who filed much later than May 2017 and they already have then green cards. So there seems to be no system for how USCIS processes things.

[Hawksquill 151]

18 hours ago, MandyAlex said:

Yay! Just received the AOS interview letter in the mail, its scheduled for Jan 28 in Orlando. For those that already had their interviews, do we need to bring the Birth Certificate for the beneficiary to the interview even though one was submitted with the I-485 application? The NOA letter says to bring the medical/vaccines Form I-693 and Affidavit of Support Form I-864 UNLESS ALREADY SUBMITTED, but how about the Birth Certificate?

It was on the list of required documents and not included in the "unless already submitted" category, so we brought the original and a copy.  They didn't take the copy and they just flipped through our folder of original documents, so I'm not sure if there would have been a problem if we didn't have it.

 

When in doubt, we just brought whatever we could.  Better to have too much than not enough.

[MandyAlex 32]

11 minutes ago, Hawksquill said:

It was on the list of required documents and not included in the "unless already submitted" category, so we brought the original and a copy.  They didn't take the copy and they just flipped through our folder of original documents, so I'm not sure if there would have been a problem if we didn't have it.

 

When in doubt, we just brought whatever we could.  Better to have too much than not enough.

Thanks for the reply. We are having a little bit of trouble securing the birth certificate, we mailed the original with the petition and hopefully, they should have it in the file. Was wondering how strict they are when one isn't available, we are trying to get another one sent from her native country and hoping  gets here on time for our end of month interview. We are really hoping this does not create an issue and additional delay. 

[BaltimoreFiler 37]

Just now, MandyAlex said:

Thanks for the reply. We are having a little bit of trouble securing the birth certificate, we mailed the original with the petition and hopefully, they should have it in the file. Was wondering how strict they are when one isn't available, we are trying to get another one sent from her native country and hoping  gets here on time for our end of month interview. We are really hoping this does not create an issue and additional delay. 

In terms of interview, how rare is it to be approved on the day, I am seeing s lot of people who have been given the 120 days decision, and then getting approved 3/4/5 days later 

[Lupigirl 67]

7 hours ago, Tierpolizistin said:

Hi, Arizona resident here as well. My husband is from Germany, and we also filed in May. USCIS lost our EAD paperwork and only admitted it after numerous complaints from me, and they ignored the congressman and senator who tried to intervene on our behalf. I finally involved the USCIS ombudsman who learned that they lost our paperwork for the EAD, so 151 days later, they were made to issue one on a Saturday and overnight it. They had also screwed up on our Green card filing and lost some of that paperwork too, so we had to re-submit, and they were supposed to expedite the green card process since their error caused a delay. And of course...still crickets chirping over here. His AZ driver's license is only good until June without the green card, so based on prior experience with USCIS and their incompetency, I am of course concerned. Other states are filing MUCH faster than AZ...however, I know of several other K1 visa holders in AZ who filed much later than May 2017 and they already have then green cards. So there seems to be no system for how USCIS processes things.

Wow.  What a nightmare for you.  This process is stressful in so many ways.  I thought the drivers license was based on the EAD expiry date? It does seem like K-1 filers get their AOS interviews way quicker. Life has been much easier since I got my EAD, but I just want the whole thing done.  

I hope you don’t have to wait too long for your green card!

[BaltimoreFiler 37]

Hey Guys 

 

My AOS Marriage based interview is the start of next month in Baltimore

 

My PD is July 3rd

Biometrics 22nd August

Interview February 1st

 

How did people organize actual photos they took, i don't want to take loads in a random order, the way i was thinking is this 

 

Wedding Pictures

Engagement Pictures

Photos with family

Photos with friends 

Photos of me and my spouse

 

In 5 zip lock bags with the date and year wrote on the back of them

 

Or does anyone have a better suggestion

 

Thanks

[spanwilder 8]

Dear all, 

We had our interview at Boston field office today and thought I would share our experience. My wife's appointment was at 7:15 (dependent) and mine at 8:15, but the officer took us both together at right around 7:15. She seemed very pleasant and the first thing we had to sign was a waiver saying that we were OK being interviewed without our attorney. She did ask us quite a few questions about each other to make sure we really knew each other but we have been married for 11 years and there were no surprises for either one of us; date of marriage, spouses full name, phone number, what did she do in India, her parents' names, how did we meet, how did I propose, what kind of research do I currently do, etc were all pretty standard and prepared for.

We did bring with us all the copies of everything, but the officer just took our passport and EAD cards and made copies herself. The only thing she asked for was my employment letter and we had it handy so no issues there either. We were a bit nervous about birth certificate in our language, English translation, etc but she didn't even ask us anything about that.

We were done in about 30-40 minutes. Everything seems positive, but....no sigh of relief until we have the card in hand which is anticipated in 2-3 weeks. I guess everyone here knows the feeling.

I wish all the best to all my fellow May filers!

[Hawksquill 151]

On 1/4/2018 at 3:21 PM, BaltimoreFiler said:

In terms of interview, how rare is it to be approved on the day, I am seeing s lot of people who have been given the 120 days decision, and then getting approved 3/4/5 days later 

I've read stories on VJ of IOs telling couples they've been approved at the end of the interview, but don't get upset if that doesn't happen.  We got handed a piece of paper saying they were "unable to make a decision at that time" and our case was being "continued," which really freaked us out.  Then we got an approval notice 4 days later dated the day of the interview, and when we got his green card his residency begin date was the date of the interview.   The IO must have known he was going to approve us when he gave us that piece of paper, he just didn't say anything.