Minneapolis-St. Paul MN Office AOS Filers

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

41 minutes ago, Colorred said:

That makes sense, makes me feel a little better understanding some of the logic to this process. 

I bet elections coming round the corner chances priority for processing to those waiting for naturalization. But that’s great news about the new hires, looking forward to faster processing  

 

thanks for your response 

another, side question, I have my current drivers license in my maiden name I want to update my last name to my married name, do you know or does anyone know if I can still use my I-20 to renew it (valid til 2020) or do I have to wait to get EAD to update my lastname on my drivers license 

You should be able to update it now if you are maintaining F-1 status. That should not be an issue. I would not do it with the EAD because it's only good for 1 year. Minnesota does status checks, though. So even if your DL expires in 2020,  you may have a status check in e.g., January 2019.

[mysticdolphin95 431]

On 10/21/2018 at 11:38 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

By the way, was your husband able to extend the Driver's license with the combo card? The best time to go to that DMV on Lake St & Chicago is right before it closes on Fridays. Show up around 5pm and they will help you right away. 

We haven't actually tried yet; it doesn't expire until March and it looks like we might be moving out of state in a few months, so not sure if he'll even need to.

[itsdonealready 13]

Just an update that now the physical examination report won't expire for 2 years.

[JilySeth 30]

Hi everyone! I just had my AOS, EAD, AP sent last October 14, 2018. it was received Oct 16, via UPS. I  received receipt notice via text Oct 24.

I read all of your posts on this forum and some are still waiting for a year now. And i feel like I need a lot of patience again on this one. My K1 visa took almost a year of process in the Philippines. I thought greencard is faster. And according to your posts here, Minneapolis is the slowest. :(:(:(

Im glad i found this forum. At least I am not going to go through this waiting period alone.

I noticed in my I-693 though that it is going to expire in two years. I got my medical Feb 26-27, 2018 and scheduled my interview with the US Embassy in Manila in March 1. I got married June 30, 2018 here in Minnesota but just filed my AOS three months after due to some taxes my husband has to file since he is his own employer for two years and change job just last year.

Now, the waiting game begins.

[mysticdolphin95 431]

On 10/25/2018 at 10:25 PM, itsdonealready said:

Just an update that now the physical examination report won't expire for 2 years.

Well, that's not quite the whole story.  The new policy is that the I-693 won't expire for 2 years if it was signed by the civil surgeon 60 days before submission.  My husband's I-693 would fall into this new validity category as it was signed in the end of January and we submitted AOS in mid-March.  However, it seems like lots of people are slow to file AOS and thus wouldn't have 2 years - I'm assuming they'd still fall under the old 1-year rule.

[Chelleyandaaron 528]

Infopass: has anyone successfully managed to get an infopass appointment? My AP expires on Dec 17th and I reapplied in early July but my EAD form was returned to me and I had to reapply so my receipt date for that is August 1st. I have flights booked for Dec 22nd to Jan 4th to go home - I haven’t seen my family since my wedding. My daughter has been ill (she is 21 And lives in Ireland) and my parents are flying from their home in Greece - it is my father’s 70th birthday on Dec 29th.

i thought I would have my GC interview around October/November this year going by processing times when I applied for AOS - but nothing yet. 

I am going to try to expedite on financial and humanitarian grounds (cost of flights, cost of taking unpaid leave to travel next year if I can’t go at Christmas, daughters illness, father’s birthday).

How do I get an infopass appointment? They are booked for the next two weeks every time I check.

Thank you for any useful contributions.

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

6 hours ago, Chelleyandaaron said:

Infopass: has anyone successfully managed to get an infopass appointment? My AP expires on Dec 17th and I reapplied in early July but my EAD form was returned to me and I had to reapply so my receipt date for that is August 1st. I have flights booked for Dec 22nd to Jan 4th to go home - I haven’t seen my family since my wedding. My daughter has been ill (she is 21 And lives in Ireland) and my parents are flying from their home in Greece - it is my father’s 70th birthday on Dec 29th.

i thought I would have my GC interview around October/November this year going by processing times when I applied for AOS - but nothing yet. 

I am going to try to expedite on financial and humanitarian grounds (cost of flights, cost of taking unpaid leave to travel next year if I can’t go at Christmas, daughters illness, father’s birthday).

How do I get an infopass appointment? They are booked for the next two weeks every time I check.

Thank you for any useful contributions.

As you may know, there are different types of parole. To expedite, you would call the main USCIS number and explain that you are calling to expedite your advance parole application. I would limit it to "humanitarian reasons". Your daughter's illness. I would then present evidence of that when they request it. 

 

The advance parole you would get via Infopass is Emergency Advance parole. You would bring the I-131 application filled out along with the $575 fee. Again, I would limit the reason to humanitarian reasons - your daughter's illness. The criteria is very specific and your father's birthday/financial hardship do not fall under any of the criteria. Including them would take away credibility from your daughter's illness. 

 

I would start by calling USCIS and placing the request to expedite. You may also enlist the help of your Senator. Both are seeking re-election on November 6th. They will be more than happy to help you - I am sure. 

 

Note: the best time to secure an Infopass appointment is right at midnight. I would enlist the help of your husband and use two computers or several computers and phones. Do not use chrome. Use firefox. I am not sure why it works best, but it does. 

 

All the best,

 

USC4SPOUSE

[MelandJason 60]

Hi guys, I'm sorry for not commenting on my progress, what happened is that I decided to get away from the groups and forums a bit since it's a lot of stress to go through this process that is out of our control; I know that maybe many are not religious but in my case I am a person who believe a lot on the ways of God and I know that everything will come at the right time, that's how it has been all my life.

 

Here is my update:

• My PD is February 01
• Biometrics facts march 07
• Case ready to schedule interview March 14 (this update only appeared on the DHS website in September)
• EAD approved June 20
• SSN received June 29 
• EAD received June 30

 

We are collecting more evidence and waiting to have an interview I am very happy for those that already had their interviews and finished this process and for the others as our selves the will come sooner or later.

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

1 hour ago, MelandJason said:

Hi guys, I'm sorry for not commenting on my progress, what happened is that I decided to get away from the groups and forums a bit since it's a lot of stress to go through this process that is out of our control; I know that maybe many are not religious but in my case I am a person who believe a lot on the ways of God and I know that everything will come at the right time, that's how it has been all my life.

 

Here is my update:

• My PD is February 01
• Biometrics facts march 07
• Case ready to schedule interview March 14 (this update only appeared on the DHS website in September)
• EAD approved June 20
• SSN received June 29 
• EAD received June 30

 

We are collecting more evidence and waiting to have an interview I am very happy for those that already had their interviews and finished this process and for the others as our selves the will come sooner or later.

It's very possible that you may get your interview soon. A very reliable source told me that someone with PD 12-07-17 was recently scheduled for a mid November interview. Apparently, the field office has hired more staff and those new folks are interviewing cases already.

 

 

[Chelleyandaaron 528]

15 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

It's very possible that you may get your interview soon. A very reliable source told me that someone with PD 12-07-17 was recently scheduled for a mid November interview. Apparently, the field office has hired more staff and those new folks are interviewing cases already.

 

 

I do hope this is true. My PD is September 15th 2017 and when I applied, average wait time was 13 months. I can see People ahead of me and after me getting their cards and I am fretting now just hoping to have my AP renewed in time to see my family at Christmas.

[Chelleyandaaron 528]

17 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

As you may know, there are different types of parole. To expedite, you would call the main USCIS number and explain that you are calling to expedite your advance parole application. I would limit it to "humanitarian reasons". Your daughter's illness. I would then present evidence of that when they request it. 

 

The advance parole you would get via Infopass is Emergency Advance parole. You would bring the I-131 application filled out along with the $575 fee. Again, I would limit the reason to humanitarian reasons - your daughter's illness. The criteria is very specific and your father's birthday/financial hardship do not fall under any of the criteria. Including them would take away credibility from your daughter's illness. 

 

I would start by calling USCIS and placing the request to expedite. You may also enlist the help of your Senator. Both are seeking re-election on November 6th. They will be more than happy to help you - I am sure. 

 

Note: the best time to secure an Infopass appointment is right at midnight. I would enlist the help of your husband and use two computers or several computers and phones. Do not use chrome. Use firefox. I am not sure why it works best, but it does. 

 

All the best,

 

USC4SPOUSE

Thank you so much for your very detailed and useful response.

i was going to include financial loss as it is one of the criteria listed on the USCIS website. I have contacted my daughter and asked her to request letters from her health professionals. Her doctors have not been very helpful in this regard but other health professionals she sees, might be. 

Following your information I will cite my daughters illness as my reason to expedite and include evidence of the non-refundable tickets we have booked.

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

3 hours ago, Chelleyandaaron said:

I do hope this is true. My PD is September 15th 2017 and when I applied, average wait time was 13 months. I can see People ahead of me and after me getting their cards and I am fretting now just hoping to have my AP renewed in time to see my family at Christmas.

Another very reliable source, who lives in California, relayed this information from an Immigration Services Officers during an Infopass appointment. The way they select cases to interview is a bit random - luck of the draw. They select cases from the "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" pool. In addition, they do not necessarily look at priority dates. Or at least the system does not prompt them to. So there is a good chance they may select a case with PD 12-07-17, even though your case with 09-15-17 is still sitting there. 

 

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

3 hours ago, Chelleyandaaron said:

Thank you so much for your very detailed and useful response.

i was going to include financial loss as it is one of the criteria listed on the USCIS website. I have contacted my daughter and asked her to request letters from her health professionals. Her doctors have not been very helpful in this regard but other health professionals she sees, might be. 

Following your information I will cite my daughters illness as my reason to expedite and include evidence of the non-refundable tickets we have booked.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume1-PartA-Chapter12.html

You may still include it or mention financial loss. Just make sure that you state your case in a clear and concise manner. Alternatively, sometimes people mention financial loss to the Senator and not to USCIS. That approach has worked for many. The key is to submit a request that is logical and not cluttered with statements that do not fully support your claim. 

 

 

[October20 8]

Hi everyone, I’m a new member in here but I have spent awhile  to follow every single post in the group. My pd: 10/20/17, and my I-485 just updates “case is ready for interview” for couple days ago. The reason for this updating is I’ve called for the USCIS several times a month. When I talk to them I said “ I want to speak to level 2”, they will explain what actions they just do or did for your case. When I called them I mentioned about the case has pd 12/7/17 already scheduled for the interviews. They said they will work on my case again and I just need to wait. Then, I saw the changing on case in few days ago. Hope this information is helpful 

Edited October 31, 2018 by October20

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

 

2 minutes ago, October20 said:

Hi everyone, I’m a new member in here but I have spent awhile  to follow every single post in the group. My pd: 10/20/17, and my I-485 just updates “case is ready for interview” for couple days ago. The reason for this updating is I’ve called for the USCIS several times a month. When I talk to them I said “ I want to speak to level 2”, they will explain what actions they just do or did for the case number that you have given them. When I called them I mentioned about the case has pd 12/7/17 already scheduled for the interviews. They said they will work on my case again and I just need to wait. Then, I saw the changing on case in few days ago. Hope this information is helpful 

This just got even more interesting. If I am understanding correctly, you are saying that your I-485 was just updated to "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview"? You had otherwise no updates on I-485 since your PD? 

 

I think your experience supports the fact that there may be a luck-of-the-draw element playing a large role here. 

 

All the best, 

 

USCFFS