Anyone with J-1/ F-1 who filed for AOS (marriage-based) in 2016 & 2017?

[LaughingBuddha 64]

3 hours ago, DoubleZ said:

Is this an out of the ordinary super quick turn around or are processing times just great right now? 
I was expecting/heard on the grapevine that it was generally a year before an interview!

Hi, my personal feeling is that it highly depends on your field office workload + many other unknown stuffs.

You can check the "Immigration timelines"section on top of Visa journey we site , then choose "AOS", then select your field office,  and you will find a processing timelines of your local field office. I personally feel that this timelines are accurate.

Like my field office in San Bernadino, cases are proceeded generally from 3-6months.

Good luck!

Edited September 8, 2017 by LaughingBuddha

[lala52 25]

31 minutes ago, LaughingBuddha said:

Hi, my personal feeling is that it highly depends on your field office workload + many other unknown stuffs.

You can check the "Immigration timelines"section on top of Visa journey we site , then choose "AOS", then select your field office,  and you will find a processing timelines of your local field office. I personally feel that this timelines are accurate.

Like my field office in San Bernadino, cases are proceeded generally from 3-6months.

Good luck!

Yes, I agree. The EAD/AP will take the same for everyone applying at the same time nation wide. But your interview is scheduled based on you local field office. Many San Bernardino people have been receiving interviews before their EAD/APs are even processed. I'm in DC and it took 8 months to receive an interview notice. People in Houston, NYC, and the Bay Area seem to have even longer times. 

 

Congrats on getting your interview scheduled! The process will be over in no time ;-)

Edited September 8, 2017 by lala52

[LaughingBuddha 64]

1 hour ago, lala52 said:

Yes, I agree. The EAD/AP will take the same for everyone applying at the same time nation wide. But your interview is scheduled based on you local field office. Many San Bernardino people have been receiving interviews before their EAD/APs are even processed. I'm in DC and it took 8 months to receive an interview notice. People in Houston, NYC, and the Bay Area seem to have even longer times. 

 

Congrats on getting your interview scheduled! The process will be over in no time ;-)

Thank you for the congrats, actually It also could be waiting for a longtime after interview...anyway hopefully everything was ok for interview.

Good luck to all!:)

[niknik 92]

Recent update on our case! Checked our status online mindlessly like usual this morning hoping to see an update on our case.... Lo and behold, our interview has been scheduled for October 13! 

 

I was sure that our interview was going to be scheduled next year because of the processing times shown at the USCIS website. I hope it's not a fluke! Will be religiously waiting and checking for paper notice in the mail. 

 

[MSC]

F1 Visa AOS

PD - 05/31/17

NOA1 - 06/06/17

BIO - 06/27/17

Online Update: Ready to be scheduled for interview - 08/14/17

Online Update: Interview is scheduled - 09/12/17

Interview Date - 10/13/17

Field Office: San Jose, CA

EAD: ???

[sweetadams 138]

7 hours ago, niknik said:

Recent update on our case! Checked our status online mindlessly like usual this morning hoping to see an update on our case.... Lo and behold, our interview has been scheduled for October 13! 

 

I was sure that our interview was going to be scheduled next year because of the processing times shown at the USCIS website. I hope it's not a fluke! Will be religiously waiting and checking for paper notice in the mail. 

 

[MSC]

F1 Visa AOS

PD - 05/31/17

NOA1 - 06/06/17

BIO - 06/27/17

Online Update: Ready to be scheduled for interview - 08/14/17

Online Update: Interview is scheduled - 09/12/17

Interview Date - 10/13/17

Field Office: San Jose, CA

EAD: ???

Wow...this is pretty fast.....congrats on getting interview scheduled

[DoubleZ 2]

On 07/09/2017 at 9:10 PM, LaughingBuddha said:

Hi, my personal feeling is that it highly depends on your field office workload + many other unknown stuffs.

You can check the "Immigration timelines"section on top of Visa journey we site , then choose "AOS", then select your field office,  and you will find a processing timelines of your local field office. I personally feel that this timelines are accurate.

Like my field office in San Bernadino, cases are proceeded generally from 3-6months.

Good luck!

Thanks! My field office is San Antonio so looking at about 8 months.

Just got my biometrics appointment in the mail.

[LaughingBuddha 64]

57 minutes ago, DoubleZ said:

Thanks! My field office is San Antonio so looking at about 8 months.

Just got my biometrics appointment in the mail.

Great! Good luck!

[niknik 92]

14 hours ago, sweetadams said:

Wow...this is pretty fast.....congrats on getting interview scheduled

It was! My husband and I were surprised. Thank you! Hopefully things move forward for everyone else as well. (:

[cosmonauts 125]

Can't believe I'm finally writing this, today my green card was approved!

 

Our appointment was at 7:15am at the San Bernardino Field Office CA, we arrived at 6:45 but were let in at around 7.

We went through security (just like at the airport) and then up to the second floor.

They called our name at 7:40, the officer was extremely nice and we followed her to her office. She made me take an oath (not my husband, the USC)

She took my fingerprints again and a picture. Then proceeded to check both our birth certificates, marriage certificate, my passport.

She asked all the yes/no questions from the I-485, verified our address, asked about any children, about whether I was part of any organization, criminal records.

She asked how we met, where our first date was, how my parents felt about the wedding

Then, she asked for evidence of bonafide marriage. We gave her copies of bank statements, health and life insurance, car title and car insurance. She was happy that we had copies of everything but said she could have taken photocopies if we hadn't. She also asked about a lease agreement but my husband owns our house so it was ok not to have that.

After this, she asked about pictures. She was happy with our court house pictures, even though we had a "real/proper" wedding after (we had prepared a whole album) and photocopied them.

Laughingly said she didn't need to separate us and then proceeded to tell us we had been approved. She printed a letter confirming this and that in 90 days tops we should receive the card but that it usually takes about 3 weeks.

 

It sounds like a lot but we were out of the office by 8am. We were her first interview and she commented that she was happy to start her day on a happy note.

As we got into the car I received an update saying that card was being produced.

 

***We were never asked to show the approved I-612 waiver but we assume it's because they could check electronically since it's also a USCIS case. The lawyer we consulted with told us to be honest but if they didn't ask about something we didn't need to bring it up.

***They let people take their phones in the office, we weren't sure about this so we left them in the car.

[tato2017 41]

1 hour ago, tamaara said:

Can't believe I'm finally writing this, today my green card was approved!

 

Our appointment was at 7:15am at the San Bernardino Field Office CA, we arrived at 6:45 but were let in at around 7.

We went through security (just like at the airport) and then up to the second floor.

They called our name at 7:40, the officer was extremely nice and we followed her to her office. She made me take an oath (not my husband, the USC)

She took my fingerprints again and a picture. Then proceeded to check both our birth certificates, marriage certificate, my passport.

She asked all the yes/no questions from the I-485, verified our address, asked about any children, about whether I was part of any organization, criminal records.

She asked how we met, where our first date was, how my parents felt about the wedding

Then, she asked for evidence of bonafide marriage. We gave her copies of bank statements, health and life insurance, car title and car insurance. She was happy that we had copies of everything but said she could have taken photocopies if we hadn't. She also asked about a lease agreement but my husband owns our house so it was ok not to have that.

After this, she asked about pictures. She was happy with our court house pictures, even though we had a "real/proper" wedding after (we had prepared a whole album) and photocopied them.

Laughingly said she didn't need to separate us and then proceeded to tell us we had been approved. She printed a letter confirming this and that in 90 days tops we should receive the card but that it usually takes about 3 weeks.

 

It sounds like a lot but we were out of the office by 8am. We were her first interview and she commented that she was happy to start her day on a happy note.

As we got into the car I received an update saying that card was being produced.

 

***We were never asked to show the approved I-612 waiver but we assume it's because they could check electronically since it's also a USCIS case. The lawyer we consulted with told us to be honest but if they didn't ask about something we didn't need to bring it up.

***They let people take their phones in the office, we weren't sure about this so we left them in the car.

Congratulation!!!

[sweetadams 138]

1 hour ago, tamaara said:

Can't believe I'm finally writing this, today my green card was approved!

 

Our appointment was at 7:15am at the San Bernardino Field Office CA, we arrived at 6:45 but were let in at around 7.

We went through security (just like at the airport) and then up to the second floor.

They called our name at 7:40, the officer was extremely nice and we followed her to her office. She made me take an oath (not my husband, the USC)

She took my fingerprints again and a picture. Then proceeded to check both our birth certificates, marriage certificate, my passport.

She asked all the yes/no questions from the I-485, verified our address, asked about any children, about whether I was part of any organization, criminal records.

She asked how we met, where our first date was, how my parents felt about the wedding

Then, she asked for evidence of bonafide marriage. We gave her copies of bank statements, health and life insurance, car title and car insurance. She was happy that we had copies of everything but said she could have taken photocopies if we hadn't. She also asked about a lease agreement but my husband owns our house so it was ok not to have that.

After this, she asked about pictures. She was happy with our court house pictures, even though we had a "real/proper" wedding after (we had prepared a whole album) and photocopied them.

Laughingly said she didn't need to separate us and then proceeded to tell us we had been approved. She printed a letter confirming this and that in 90 days tops we should receive the card but that it usually takes about 3 weeks.

 

It sounds like a lot but we were out of the office by 8am. We were her first interview and she commented that she was happy to start her day on a happy note.

As we got into the car I received an update saying that card was being produced.

 

***We were never asked to show the approved I-612 waiver but we assume it's because they could check electronically since it's also a USCIS case. The lawyer we consulted with told us to be honest but if they didn't ask about something we didn't need to bring it up.

***They let people take their phones in the office, we weren't sure about this so we left them in the car.

Congratulations....

[niknik 92]

On 9/6/2017 at 9:21 PM, AAA0914 said:

Hello again! Do I submit only photocopies of the requirements to USCIS for my AOS packet? Which specific ones need to be original or certified cooies and which ones can be just photocopies? Thank you.

You can just send photocopies. When we we submitted our documents, majority of the documents were photocopies. Make sure to have the original on hand as they will verify the legitimacy of the photocopies you sent through originals when you go in for an interview. 

[LaughingBuddha 64]

On September 25, 2017 at 11:52 AM, tamaara said:

Can't believe I'm finally writing this, today my green card was approved!

 

Our appointment was at 7:15am at the San Bernardino Field Office CA, we arrived at 6:45 but were let in at around 7.

We went through security (just like at the airport) and then up to the second floor.

They called our name at 7:40, the officer was extremely nice and we followed her to her office. She made me take an oath (not my husband, the USC)

She took my fingerprints again and a picture. Then proceeded to check both our birth certificates, marriage certificate, my passport.

She asked all the yes/no questions from the I-485, verified our address, asked about any children, about whether I was part of any organization, criminal records.

She asked how we met, where our first date was, how my parents felt about the wedding

Then, she asked for evidence of bonafide marriage. We gave her copies of bank statements, health and life insurance, car title and car insurance. She was happy that we had copies of everything but said she could have taken photocopies if we hadn't. She also asked about a lease agreement but my husband owns our house so it was ok not to have that.

After this, she asked about pictures. She was happy with our court house pictures, even though we had a "real/proper" wedding after (we had prepared a whole album) and photocopied them.

Laughingly said she didn't need to separate us and then proceeded to tell us we had been approved. She printed a letter confirming this and that in 90 days tops we should receive the card but that it usually takes about 3 weeks.

 

It sounds like a lot but we were out of the office by 8am. We were her first interview and she commented that she was happy to start her day on a happy note.

As we got into the car I received an update saying that card was being produced.

 

***We were never asked to show the approved I-612 waiver but we assume it's because they could check electronically since it's also a USCIS case. The lawyer we consulted with told us to be honest but if they didn't ask about something we didn't need to bring it up.

***They let people take their phones in the office, we weren't sure about this so we left them in the car.

Congrats!!! 

[LaughingBuddha 64]

Today I had my interview with my husband and we got approved on the spot!:)

We had our interview at 8:55am in San Bernardino Filed Office, but we got called by around 9:20am.

 

The officer is a very nice and professional man.

We first took the oath and the officer assigned us the seats.

Then he letted us to show our ID (my husband's passport + driver license, my passport + work permit + driving instruction permit).

I feel like other than identity verification, an another important thing the officer was looking for is our current address on them.

 

Then He took the picture again for me, I though it should be a very important picture so I just asked him if I can smile, he said yes. And I just gave the camera a big smile:).

Then he asked us how we met? is this our first marriage? do we have kids? How long time we were dating each other before marriage?

In the same time he checked carefully our paperwork and signed or did a mark on different pages.

 

Then He asked us if we have any evidences to add? And we just put everything we had on the table (Originals + Copies): Joint names Bank Statements, Joint names Health Insurance card + medical bills, Joint car insurances, our photos of marriage, travels, families (but he didn't take any of our photos because he said we already submitted some in our original application package).

 

And then some questions in i-485: have you ever committed any crimes in the US? deportations? communists? No No No.

 

Then he just went out of the office to make the copies of our IDs. 

When he came back, he took a hole on my work permit and gave me the approval letter and said congratulations and I was approved to be a permanent resident here!:)

I am happy and my husband was tearful at that time! lol after the interview he told me that the moment that he saw the the officer stamped approved on our paperwork, he was full of emotions. Finally we can book our flights for our next year travel in China!:)

 

In 4pm the same day of my interview, the online status changed to "new card is being produced":)

 

 

My personal suggestions:

1 Be well prepared, get all the evidences of your bona fide marriage to the interview. especially bank, health, cars, to show that you are really financially and physically attached to each other.

2 Tell the truth. It is very very important.

3 If you are a bona fide couples, try to be relaxed, I feel like a lot of officers have been working on this position for many years, if it is true, and your status is eligible,then you should not have a problem:)

[cosmonauts 125]

12 minutes ago, LaughingBuddha said:

Today I had my interview with my husband and we got approved on the spot!:)

We had our interview at 8:55am in San Bernardino Filed Office, but we got called by around 9:20am.

 

 

My personal suggestions:

1 Be well prepared, get all the evidences of your bona fide marriage to the interview. especially bank, health, cars, to show that you are really financially and physically attached to each other.

2 Tell the truth. It is very very important.

3 If you are a bona fide couples, try to be relaxed, I feel like a lot of officers have been working on this position for many years, if it is true, and your status is eligible,then you should not have a problem:)

Yay San Bernardino office! Congratulations!

Very good suggestions too.