San Francisco, CA AOS

[Silmaril 8]

AJCM: congratulations on the end of a long journey! Best of luck to all of the rest of us still waiting.

 

There are signs that USCIS is moving faster, both for SF and SJ applicants. Two September 2019 filers from SF have, I believe, received interview notices! I wonder if the speedup is solely due to offloading cases to Sac/Fresno/SJ, or if there have been other efficiency improvements.

[AJCM 17]

On 1/15/2020 at 2:23 PM, Silmaril said:

AJCM: congratulations on the end of a long journey! Best of luck to all of the rest of us still waiting.

 

There are signs that USCIS is moving faster, both for SF and SJ applicants. Two September 2019 filers from SF have, I believe, received interview notices! I wonder if the speedup is solely due to offloading cases to Sac/Fresno/SJ, or if there have been other efficiency improvements.

Thanks @Silmaril
From my time observing and researching this, there definitely has been a speed-up, but as everyone here knows SF and a few other metro areas are still suffering from a big disparity in processing times vs other USCIS districts.

 

The last year or so, my best guess was a gradual speed-up due to (in no particular order):
1. Fewer people applying in general, and to SF Bay Area offices

2. Diversion of cases (by address/zip?) to nearby offices
3. Easing the (12/2018?) requirement to interview RoC/751 cases by default
4. Increasing usage of outright rejection notices due to "frivolous" filings (justification given by USCIS)

The biggest beneficiaries are probably cases that are diverted to SJ/SAC, but even the SF filers have seen processing times reduce by 4-6 weeks from the peak. Hope this trend continues.
 

[Olga&Jared 267]

My status changed today to ""Interview was Scheduled". I don't know where yet but I assume it's going to be SJ since we moved to Mountain View from SF in October and filed the change of address. Here's my timeline:

 

July 31: Filed for AOS (SF field office)

August 15: NOA1

September 6: Biometrics

October 9: Ready to be Scheduled 

November 1: Updated "Ready to be Scheduled" after filing change of address (SJ field office)

November 29: Got my EAD + AP card

January 16: Interview was Scheduled 

 

They definitely speeded things up! I wasn't expecting anything around this time. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Olga&Jared

[ofvila 13]

Hi!

 

We had our interview last Thursday in the San Jose field office. We originally filed in Manhattan on Dec 2018, but changed our address last September. 

 

The interview was quite straightforward, we got there 30 min before our appointment and our interview started right on time, it lasted like 30 min. The officer was really nice, she went through the whole application, asked for updated documents for lease, work, tax reports, took a couple of the pics we had brought and my medical and that was it. She told us she had everything she needed but needed some time to go through the new documents. We left and less than an hour after I got the notification that my green card had been ordered! 

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

 

 

[Vee_bay_bee 50]

Had my husband's interview in Santa Clara office on 1/24/2020. It was a pretty smooth process. We arrived about 45 minutes before our scheduled time (9:30 AM) and were called right on time. The wait was very minimal. We were in the interview room for appx. 30 minutes. 

The official was super nice.

1. We have traveled out of the country since my husband received his AP/EAD so he asked us for an updated 1-94. 

2. I got a new job since submitting my affidavit of support, so I provided him an updated form and new pay stubs/employment info.

3. He asked how we met, when we got engaged/married, what type of wedding (civil and religious) 

4. asked my husband for my DOB 

5. Asked for proof of joint accounts, assets, photos. We gave him our wedding photos and honeymoon, as well as bank statements, phone bill, and medical insurance. 

 

&  that was it. He notified us that we would receive a decision in the mail within 5 weeks. 

 

Can someone give me the website to check the status to see if anything has changed? Thanks! 

 

[iwir 337]

Got interview today at SJ field office in Santa Clara. The interview was okay although the officer was quite intimidating. I can tell if you don't speak English or you're the one who visit once and propose and have not much joint assets or from low income for fear of receiving public assistance, they might target you and grill you more to challenge if your relationship is legit. 

 

I just checked the card is being produced and I believe I should get the card within 2 weeks. My future employer is waiting for me to have my GC in hand and I'm sure they will be happy if I can show them I don't need employer's sponsorship and my green card is approved.

Edited January 28, 2020 by iwir

[iwir 337]

I also signed a statement letter which says if I ever receive public assistance  the government will charge it to my sponsor. I don't know if it's something new because I've never read anyone talked about it or they just didn't. The officer also stressed about sponsor must make sure the beneficiary will never receive any public assistance and she made an impression that my sponsor made ess than poverty line until we showed her the pay stubs and the benefits we got (life insurance, medical, vision, denral and health insurance). I guess this is because new broaden regulation that new immigrant can be denied if they will receive not only cash but also non cash public assistance?

[raptora 48]

Got our interview notice yesterday - we're scheduled for 2/25. 

USCIS received our forms in early June.

 

[May531 22]

Sharing our timeline as SF Filers 

 

Sept 6: Filed for AOS (SF field office)

Sept 9 : NOA1

October 4: Biometrics

Nov 1: Ready to be Scheduled 

Jan 10: Interview was scheduled 

Jan 22: New Card is being produced 

Jan 23: Card was approved for both EAD and AP

Jan 24: Card was mailed to me

Jan 27: Card was picked up by the USCIS

Jan 29: Expected Delivery of Card

Feb 14: Interview at Santa Clara San Jose office 

 

Is SSN coming with the card? Just a little and waiting game is gonna be over soon. I’m so thankful with VJ for all the help, save a lot of money from getting an attorney. ☺️

 

[Visa4menow 1]

Had interview in Sacramento field office today  It was a pretty smooth process. We arrived about 30 minutes before our scheduled, after checkin, we had to wait about an hour for getting called in office for interview. Interview lasted for about 30 minutes.

We were given oath and she started with going through I-130 application. First confirmed SSN of petitioners and went through the complete form,  then asked questions about where met and when did we got engaged/married. Then asked full name of spouse and birth date and address. 

  

Then she proceeded with I-485 application. First confirmed beneficiaries SSN and then asked full name, dob, address and long list of yes/no questions on I-485, answered No to all of them.

Then she asked if we would like to submit any additional proof of marriage, Provided with joint bank accounts , photos, utility bills, affidavit from family and friends, she kept it all. 

Then she told us if time permits she will review our file today and everything looks good so far, so expect green card in mail within 5 weeks.

And then walked us out of her office. 

By the time we came out of office I already got texts about interview being done and review is needed. Within 30 min. after that I got another update saying "Card is being Produced". 

 

Overall it was very smooth process, except an hour of wait.

Thanks to VJ community for all the information/experiences, It was very helpful throughout the process. 

[Hemutian 68]

1 hour ago, May531 said:

Sharing our timeline as SF Filers 

 

Sept 6: Filed for AOS (SF field office)

Sept 9 : NOA1

October 4: Biometrics

Nov 1: Ready to be Scheduled 

Jan 10: Interview was scheduled 

Jan 22: New Card is being produced 

Jan 23: Card was approved for both EAD and AP

Jan 24: Card was mailed to me

Jan 27: Card was picked up by the USCIS

Jan 29: Expected Delivery of Card

Feb 14: Interview at Santa Clara San Jose office 

 

Is SSN coming with the card? Just a little and waiting game is gonna be over soon. I’m so thankful with VJ for all the help, save a lot of money from getting an attorney. ☺️

 

Wow! From Filing to interview in just over 5 months? Or are the Sep/Oct/Nov dates from 2018?

[May531 22]

4 minutes ago, Hemutian said:

Wow! From Filing to interview in just over 5 months? Or are the Sep/Oct/Nov dates from 2018?

It’s from 2019 

[Hemutian 68]

Just now, May531 said:

It’s from 2019 

So...

Sept 6 2019: Filed for AOS (SF field office)

Sept 9 2019 : NOA1

October 4 2019: Biometrics

Nov 1 2019: Ready to be Scheduled 

Jan 10 2020: Interview was scheduled 

Jan 22 2020: New Card is being produced 

Jan 23 2020: Card was approved for both EAD and AP

Jan 24 2020: Card was mailed to me

Jan 27 2020: Card was picked up by the USCIS

Jan 29 2020: Expected Delivery of Card

Feb 14 2020: Interview at Santa Clara San Jose office 

 

Is that correct?

I'm amazed. Do you have any idea how your case got processed so fast?

I thought the average wait time for AOS at California field offices right now is at least 1 year, yet you managed to do it in less than 6 months!

 

[May531 22]

6 minutes ago, Hemutian said:

So...

Sept 6 2019: Filed for AOS (SF field office)

Sept 9 2019 : NOA1

October 4 2019: Biometrics

Nov 1 2019: Ready to be Scheduled 

Jan 10 2020: Interview was scheduled 

Jan 22 2020: New Card is being produced 

Jan 23 2020: Card was approved for both EAD and AP

Jan 24 2020: Card was mailed to me

Jan 27 2020: Card was picked up by the USCIS

Jan 29 2020: Expected Delivery of Card

Feb 14 2020: Interview at Santa Clara San Jose office 

 

Is that correct?

I'm amazed. Do you have any idea how your case got processed so fast?

I thought the average wait time for AOS at California field offices right now is at least 1 year, yet you managed to do it in less than 6 months!

 

Yes that’s correct. We’re so glad of how our case processed. Maybe one of the reason is we didn’t have any RFE. And I’ve seen that a lot of SF filers case are moving faster now.

[ale07 51]

Case updated today to Interview Was Scheduled! 😮 EAD and AP combo card will be arriving Monday. I wasn't expecting to hear back from them so soon, since we filed in September 2019. I'm interested to see if the interview will be in the San Francisco office or whether they'll send it to Sacramento or San Jose office.