Minneapolis-St. Paul MN Office AOS Filers

[itsdonealready 13]

@USC4SPOUSE Maybe they were preparing for office relocation back then?

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

4 hours ago, itsdonealready said:

@USC4SPOUSE Maybe they were preparing for office relocation back then?

I admire and respect your patience. Had they been preparing for office relocation, wouldn't you agree that it would or should be impossible to tell when that happened? It seems like there was little foresight and they just hoped for the best. 

[itsdonealready 13]

20 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

I admire and respect your patience. Had they been preparing for office relocation, wouldn't you agree that it would or should be impossible to tell when that happened? It seems like there was little foresight and they just hoped for the best. 

Guess for people located near this office, patience is a must-have haha .... from what I have heard the relocation was wrapped-up at the first half of 2017 (April), and that is why I thought they were going through a preparation process in the later half of 2016. Anyway, my case has been pending for 224 days and I need to have loads of patience for the next 200 days of wait .... lol

Edited May 10, 2018 by itsdonealready
typo

[MapleLeaf29 247]

On 4/15/2018 at 1:56 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

Interesting. I hadn't noticed that the Case Inquiry date is updated daily. I keep waiting for the processing times to be updated but it hasn't happened. It's supposed to every 2 weeks. 

As you all probably know by now, USCIS requires in-person interviews for all employment-based adjustment of status petitions. Just recently, on another site, several people, who filed for marriage based AOS, got notifications for interview rather early. Oddly enough, the notification referred to the interview as an employment-based AOS interview. Upon contacting USCIS, Level 2 officers confirmed they were in fact scheduled for interviews and reassured the callers, they were classified as marriage based AOS. They called it a "glitch". This so called "glitch" shortened the expected processing time from 15 months to 5 months.

In New Jersey, someone else reported getting their interview scheduled for a Saturday. Upon calling USCIS, the applicant found out this field office is doing that in order to keep up with the interviews for both family & employment based AOS petitions. I wonder if this is something the Minneapolis office would even think of doing. 

We have heard that the interview is often waived for family-based AOS, and we have also heard that the policy has changed and everyone filing for AOS (whether family-based or employment-based) has to have an interview.  So far, all of the recent family-based filers that I have talked to have had an interview.  We filed in June of 2017, so we are hopeful that we will have my husband's interview this summer.  Does anyone know if it makes a difference when you received your EAD/AP card?  It took a really long time for our card to be processed, and we're not sure if this pushed us further down the queue. 

 

Also, does anyone have a recommendation for an office to renew the medical exam?  There's a huge list of USCIS-approved doctors, but I've called the office closest to our house several times and they have never gotten back to me.  

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

38 minutes ago, MapleLeaf29 said:

We have heard that the interview is often waived for family-based AOS, and we have also heard that the policy has changed and everyone filing for AOS (whether family-based or employment-based) has to have an interview.  So far, all of the recent family-based filers that I have talked to have had an interview.  We filed in June of 2017, so we are hopeful that we will have my husband's interview this summer.  Does anyone know if it makes a difference when you received your EAD/AP card?  It took a really long time for our card to be processed, and we're not sure if this pushed us further down the queue. 

 

Also, does anyone have a recommendation for an office to renew the medical exam?  There's a huge list of USCIS-approved doctors, but I've called the office closest to our house several times and they have never gotten back to me.  

Interviews are almost always waived for family based petitions, if marriage to a US citizen is not the basis of it. My mother's 10 year card arrived in the mail. I filed for her AOS in 2005. Six months later, her white green card arrived. *They were white back then.

K-1 visa AOS petitions used to have their interview waived almost always. According to USCIS, they are interviewing every k-1 AOS petition received after April 17th, 2018. The reality is that not every k-1 AOS couple is getting an interview. A friend of mine got his green card in the mail sometime in February - k-1 AOS petition. Being selected for an interview does seem to make it go faster for some. 

Combo cards are processed on a different "production line". That wouldn't delay getting an interview appointment. Minneapolis Field Office is just slow and lazy. That's all there is to it. Other offices are cranking out green cards in 90 days.

 

As far as your medical, I would look cross reference the list of civil surgeons in your area with the list of in-network physicians through your insurance plan. The visit may even be covered. 

[MapleLeaf29 247]

If the interview is waived, will we still get an RFE because my husband's medical has expired?  (It expired in April.)  Is there a way we can send the updated medical to USCIS?

Edited May 25, 2018 by MapleLeaf29

[cool_beans 6]

Have any April or May i-485 filers received interview notices yet? We filed on May 10th of 2017 and still haven't heard anything.

[Vik77 3]

Just checking up on this, we filed 22 May 2017.

 

My medical would of expires in January 2018, do I need to do another medical or do I wait for uscis to reach out to me first. 

 

Furthermore, do I need to pay again for a whole new medical? 

 

 

Does anyone know the specific date for Minneapolis-St Paul they are working on right now? 

 

[Mar_31 5]

On 5/24/2018 at 4:58 PM, MapleLeaf29 said:

We have heard that the interview is often waived for family-based AOS, and we have also heard that the policy has changed and everyone filing for AOS (whether family-based or employment-based) has to have an interview.  So far, all of the recent family-based filers that I have talked to have had an interview.  We filed in June of 2017, so we are hopeful that we will have my husband's interview this summer.  Does anyone know if it makes a difference when you received your EAD/AP card?  It took a really long time for our card to be processed, and we're not sure if this pushed us further down the queue. 

 

Also, does anyone have a recommendation for an office to renew the medical exam?  There's a huge list of USCIS-approved doctors, but I've called the office closest to our house several times and they have never gotten back to me.  

Ww are in the same boat. 

I am still waiting ...

[itsdonealready 13]

20 hours ago, Vik77 said:

Just checking up on this, we filed 22 May 2017.

 

My medical would of expires in January 2018, do I need to do another medical or do I wait for uscis to reach out to me first. 

 

Furthermore, do I need to pay again for a whole new medical? 

 

 

Does anyone know the specific date for Minneapolis-St Paul they are working on right now? 

 

Yes you would have to redo your medical and pay for it again, but I would suggest waiting until you receive an interview notice.

BTW I filed Sep/Oct 2017 and my attorney told me I would not receive an interview notice until Jan/Feb 2019, just FYI

On 5/26/2018 at 7:54 PM, cool_beans said:

Have any April or May i-485 filers received interview notices yet? We filed on May 10th of 2017 and still haven't heard anything.

Good luck! Hope you receive an interview notice soon

[Vik77 3]

46 minutes ago, itsdonealready said:

Yes you would have to redo your medical and pay for it again, but I would suggest waiting until you receive an interview notice.

BTW I filed Sep/Oct 2017 and my attorney told me I would not receive an interview notice until Jan/Feb 2019, just FYI

Good luck! Hope you receive an interview notice soon

Would I receive an RFE first then the interview notice or once I have the interview notice then go and get the medical done prior?

 

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

On 5/29/2018 at 5:50 PM, Vik77 said:

Just checking up on this, we filed 22 May 2017.

 

My medical would of expires in January 2018, do I need to do another medical or do I wait for uscis to reach out to me first. 

 

Furthermore, do I need to pay again for a whole new medical? 

 

 

Does anyone know the specific date for Minneapolis-St Paul they are working on right now? 

 

The dates don't add up. The I-693 report may be valid for up to 2 years, if you time it properly. You have one year to submit your I-693 from the date of the exam. Then, it is valid for an additional year for adjudication purposes. In other words, the I-693 remains valid for another year from the date that USCIS receives it. If the case is adjudicated a year and one day after the I-693 is received by USCIS, then the I-693 is considered expired. 

Most people use up the initial one year window to submit, and submit it with the AOS package. It's best to follow USCIS directions, and either wait for an RFE or interview notice, to get the medical exam. The timing is different for k-1 visas since most interviews were waived until recently. 

In your case, I am guessing that your medical was done sometime in January 2017. Then filed May 22nd, 2017. That means your I-693 was valid May 22nd, 2018 - assuming that USCIS received the I-693 on May 22nd, 2017.

If you go to the same physician, they will transcribe most of the same information from the expired form onto a new I-693. Vaccinations should also be current +/- seasonal vaccines.  So you should not be charged an exorbitant amount if all they're doing is transcribing, and redoing Syphilis, TB & gonorrhea testing.

 

Processing times are 14.5 months for 50% of cases, and 23.5 months for 93% of the cases. It's easier to just move elsewhere, really. 

 

[Vik77 3]

24 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

The dates don't add up. The I-693 report may be valid for up to 2 years, if you time it properly. You have one year to submit your I-693 from the date of the exam. Then, it is valid for an additional year for adjudication purposes. In other words, the I-693 remains valid for another year from the date that USCIS receives it. If the case is adjudicated a year and one day after the I-693 is received by USCIS, then the I-693 is considered expired. 

Most people use up the initial one year window to submit, and submit it with the AOS package. It's best to follow USCIS directions, and either wait for an RFE or interview notice, to get the medical exam. The timing is different for k-1 visas since most interviews were waived until recently. 

In your case, I am guessing that your medical was done sometime in January 2017. Then filed May 22nd, 2017. That means your I-693 was valid May 22nd, 2018 - assuming that USCIS received the I-693 on May 22nd, 2017.

If you go to the same physician, they will transcribe most of the same information from the expired form onto a new I-693. Vaccinations should also be current +/- seasonal vaccines.  So you should not be charged an exorbitant amount if all they're doing is transcribing, and redoing Syphilis, TB & gonorrhea testing.

 

Processing times are 14.5 months for 50% of cases, and 23.5 months for 93% of the cases. It's easier to just move elsewhere, really. 

 

So I had my medical Jan 2017 and then got married/ file AoS and did i693 in May 2017 

 

I attached my i693 with my AOS so that is expired I guess? 

 

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

4 hours ago, Vik77 said:

So I had my medical Jan 2017 and then got married/ file AoS and did i693 in May 2017 

 

I attached my i693 with my AOS so that is expired I guess? 

 

Yes, it is expired as of May 22nd 2018 - if that is exactly 365 days. It's happened that ISOs will check in with a supervisor to OK an I-693 that is expired by a few days or so.

I would suggest pulling up a list of physicians that are in-network on your insurance plan. Then, cross-reference that list with the list of Civil surgeons in your area. That way the visit would be covered, as well as the lab tests. 

 

[Vik77 3]

1 hour ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Yes, it is expired as of May 22nd 2018 - if that is exactly 365 days. It's happened that ISOs will check in with a supervisor to OK an I-693 that is expired by a few days or so.

I would suggest pulling up a list of physicians that are in-network on your insurance plan. Then, cross-reference that list with the list of Civil surgeons in your area. That way the visit would be covered, as well as the lab tests. 

 

At what point should I do this, once I receive an interview date?