February 2018 AOS Filers

[Richardson 92]

7 hours ago, Tluck said:

congratulations were you able to track the EAD?

Thank you, Yes I were able to track the EAD even though the case # for the GC were prompted error. The case # for the EAD was and still showing the received date when I checked but for the GC I was getting Validation error incorrect case numbers Which I no longer get now.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Richardson

[RaptureSongbird 533]

Hey everyone, sorry for being absent for a bit, was on a vacation to California.  Before we left we had received notification that our card had been mailed and would be delivered by USPS.  Since I had a feeling it would come while we were gone, I left a note for the mail carrier to please leave a pick up notice for the package and we would get it at the Post Office upon our return and to please not return it to the sender.  When I got home last night, I looked through the stack of mail that my friend had brought in for us while she was watching our cat and there was the envelope.  I was really surprised that our mail person just left the envelope without a signature or verifying the passport as I thought a signature would be required.  So, we now have green card in hand and this part of the journey is over for us.  We feel extremely lucky having gone through the Chicago Field Office and from submission to Green Card in hand was only 4 months.  I don't know how we got so lucky but it is such a relief to finally be at this point.  I hope that everyone here gets to feel this soon as you all have been great and supportive along this second part of our journey.  So, for now, we're done with USCIS and DHS for 1 year and 9 months until we apply for RoC.  I know the user defined error and lack of updates gets very frustrating but everything will come in time and the feelings of frustrations will be overcome and forgotten by the feelings of joy as you complete the process.  Of course I'll continue to be here and check up on everyone and I wish everyone the best of luck!

[Mike & Tuyen 598]

39 minutes ago, RaptureSongbird said:

Hey everyone, sorry for being absent for a bit, was on a vacation to California.  Before we left we had received notification that our card had been mailed and would be delivered by USPS.  Since I had a feeling it would come while we were gone, I left a note for the mail carrier to please leave a pick up notice for the package and we would get it at the Post Office upon our return and to please not return it to the sender.  When I got home last night, I looked through the stack of mail that my friend had brought in for us while she was watching our cat and there was the envelope.  I was really surprised that our mail person just left the envelope without a signature or verifying the passport as I thought a signature would be required.  So, we now have green card in hand and this part of the journey is over for us.  We feel extremely lucky having gone through the Chicago Field Office and from submission to Green Card in hand was only 4 months.  I don't know how we got so lucky but it is such a relief to finally be at this point.  I hope that everyone here gets to feel this soon as you all have been great and supportive along this second part of our journey.  So, for now, we're done with USCIS and DHS for 1 year and 9 months until we apply for RoC.  I know the user defined error and lack of updates gets very frustrating but everything will come in time and the feelings of frustrations will be overcome and forgotten by the feelings of joy as you complete the process.  Of course I'll continue to be here and check up on everyone and I wish everyone the best of luck!

Congrats on completing this portion of your journey.  My wife's GC will arrive tomorrow.  Of course, we are all tethered together and we'll be again during the RoC portion as well.

[S*UK 543]

7 minutes ago, Mike & Tuyen said:

Congrats on completing this portion of your journey.  My wife's GC will arrive tomorrow.  Of course, we are all tethered together and we'll be again during the RoC portion as well.

Hey! Congrats to you and @Keith & Monica and @RaptureSongbird on the green cards. I have my interview on Monday.

How long after interview did your cards get mailed out? And for ROC,  do you file for that 2 years from entry, marriage or green card date?

Thanks! 

[RaptureSongbird 533]

5 minutes ago, S*UK said:

Hey! Congrats to you and @Keith & Monica and @RaptureSongbird on the green cards. I have my interview on Monday.

How long after interview did your cards get mailed out? And for ROC,  do you file for that 2 years from entry, marriage or green card date?

Thanks! 

Good luck at your interview, I'm sure it will go well!

 

Our interview was on May 14th and the Green Card was mailed on June 13th, so almost a month later.  However, it can happen much quicker as some people are approved on the spot, get an update of approval on the trackers later that day, and have their green card within a week or less of the interview.  So, like everything in this process, nothing is consistent.  So, if you don't get approved on the spot, don't worry too much, you might have to wait a little bit of time like we did and then approval and green card will come!

 

Oops, editing to answer the RoC question.  You need to file for RoC within 90 days before the date of your card expiration.  The card expiration is 2 years from the date of the card being approved/produced.  On our Green Card the Resident Since date is 06/08/18, the day that our case was listed as approved online, with the expiration date of 06/08/20.  I already did a date calculation and found that March 9th, 2020 is the first day in that 90 day window that they can receive our application and I plan on having that in their hands at that point since it's taking so long for RoC now (12-18 months).

Edited June 21, 2018 by RaptureSongbird

[S*UK 543]

10 minutes ago, RaptureSongbird said:

Good luck at your interview, I'm sure it will go well!

 

Our interview was on May 14th and the Green Card was mailed on June 13th, so almost a month later.  However, it can happen much quicker as some people are approved on the spot, get an update of approval on the trackers later that day, and have their green card within a week or less of the interview.  So, like everything in this process, nothing is consistent.  So, if you don't get approved on the spot, don't worry too much, you might have to wait a little bit of time like we did and then approval and green card will come!

Thank you! I'm so nervous for the questions and worried we don't have enough 'joint assets'. But hey, I'm 23 and have been married for 4 months... how much can they expect! We went to open a joint bank account after marriage. Unfortunately the visa was expired and the bank wouldn't let us open anything without valid immigration doc. We rent, so have that joint lease. And then I'm enrolled into his military plans as a dependent for everything. Hopefully it's enough. 

Thanks for that info! Patience is key with everything USCIS related I guess... 12-18 months is gonna be a killer 

Edited June 21, 2018 by S*UK

[RaptureSongbird 533]

2 minutes ago, S*UK said:

Thank you! I'm so nervous for the questions and worried we don't have enough 'joint assets'. But hey, I'm 23 and have been married for 4 months... how much can they expect! We went to open a joint bank account after marriage. Unfortunately the visa was expired and the bank wouldn't let us open anything without valid immigration doc. We rent, so have that joint lease. And then I'm enrolled into his military plans as a dependent for everything. Hopefully it's enough. 

Thanks for that info! Patience is key with everything USCIS related I guess... 12-18 months is gonna be a killer 

The IOs seem to be pretty good at understanding that it's hard to have a lot of "joint assets" after being married for such a short period of time.  Luckily we were able to get my partner his SSN and open a joint bank account together with no issues with our bank and brought those statements with us.  I've read a few posts on here where IOs are most interested in seeing proof of living together so the joint lease is going to be a major asset for you.  If you happen to also be on any utility bills (electric, water, phone, etc.) bring those as well.  Also being a dependent/beneficiary on the military plans will be another strength.  Be sure to bring additional photos of the two of you together, along with any photos that you might have with the two of you with friends/family since going through the K1 process and arrival, as some IOs like to see photos while other IOs don't really care about photos.  Preparing for the interview can be hard as you have no idea what the IO might prefer, what their personality might be like, and what documents they prefer but if you bring the originals and a copy of as much as you can, you'll do just fine. 

 

In terms of the questions, don't worry too much about those either.  You are going to go through some/all of the Yes/No questions on the I-485, probably be asked about how you met, when you saw each other in person, information about each other, wedding, etc.  If either of you aren't great with dates, I would suggest refreshing your memory on those as our IO did ask for the specific date my partner entered on a K1, the dates of most of my visits, when we first started talking/met online, the date of the proposal, and the wedding date.  None of the questions should be out of left field and, if you're not 100% sure on a date, you can do what I did and say "I don't want to tell you a wrong date, I believe my second visit was from October 23, 2016 to November 5th, 2016 but if you would let me double check my papers, I can confirm those exact dates" which our IO was fine with and I think appreciated the honesty instead of giving a bad/wrong answer that then had to be corrected.

[S*UK 543]

2 minutes ago, RaptureSongbird said:

The IOs seem to be pretty good at understanding that it's hard to have a lot of "joint assets" after being married for such a short period of time.  Luckily we were able to get my partner his SSN and open a joint bank account together with no issues with our bank and brought those statements with us.  I've read a few posts on here where IOs are most interested in seeing proof of living together so the joint lease is going to be a major asset for you.  If you happen to also be on any utility bills (electric, water, phone, etc.) bring those as well.  Also being a dependent/beneficiary on the military plans will be another strength.  Be sure to bring additional photos of the two of you together, along with any photos that you might have with the two of you with friends/family since going through the K1 process and arrival, as some IOs like to see photos while other IOs don't really care about photos.  Preparing for the interview can be hard as you have no idea what the IO might prefer, what their personality might be like, and what documents they prefer but if you bring the originals and a copy of as much as you can, you'll do just fine. 

 

In terms of the questions, don't worry too much about those either.  You are going to go through some/all of the Yes/No questions on the I-485, probably be asked about how you met, when you saw each other in person, information about each other, wedding, etc.  If either of you aren't great with dates, I would suggest refreshing your memory on those as our IO did ask for the specific date my partner entered on a K1, the dates of most of my visits, when we first started talking/met online, the date of the proposal, and the wedding date.  None of the questions should be out of left field and, if you're not 100% sure on a date, you can do what I did and say "I don't want to tell you a wrong date, I believe my second visit was from October 23, 2016 to November 5th, 2016 but if you would let me double check my papers, I can confirm those exact dates" which our IO was fine with and I think appreciated the honesty instead of giving a bad/wrong answer that then had to be corrected.

Thanks that helps a lot.

Our apartment lease is utilities included so unfortunately that's not something we have.

But yes, we have a ton of pictures from Christmas with his family, and with my family from our Florida vacation this summer. 

We also have a power of attorney document from him to me since he's deploying next month. If that isn't evidence of at least trust, I don't know what is! Haha

Oh jeez, I visited so many times I don't even remember. Better get refreshing on that then.

[Keith & Monica 986]

11 minutes ago, S*UK said:

Thanks that helps a lot.

Our apartment lease is utilities included so unfortunately that's not something we have.

But yes, we have a ton of pictures from Christmas with his family, and with my family from our Florida vacation this summer. 

We also have a power of attorney document from him to me since he's deploying next month. If that isn't evidence of at least trust, I don't know what is! Haha

Oh jeez, I visited so many times I don't even remember. Better get refreshing on that then.

You'll do fine.  Honesty is always the key.  Try your best to be relaxed and be yourselves with each other.  They will be able to see that you love each other and that it is real.  If you get lucky like we did, you will get someone that has been doing this awhile and has an instinct about it.  Good Luck.

[S*UK 543]

13 minutes ago, Keith & Monica said:

You'll do fine.  Honesty is always the key.  Try your best to be relaxed and be yourselves with each other.  They will be able to see that you love each other and that it is real.  If you get lucky like we did, you will get someone that has been doing this awhile and has an instinct about it.  Good Luck.

Thank you. Yes honesty is definitely the key in this entire process. I'll let you all know how it goes on Monday

[kbhq 4]

Good news everyone, I got my interview scheduled today. Here is my experience so far:

 

F1 TO AOS

 

NBC

 

PD: 02/13/2018

We received your case update on USCIS website 02/23/2018

RFIE Recevied (Forgot to add the original birth certificate) 03/12/2018

Biometrics scheduled and done 03/20/2018

RFIE Response received, your case is no longer on hold 03/21/2018

Service Request for I765 (No replies or updates received) 04/29/2018

 

And yesterday morning (06/20/2018) I saw the interview schedule update on the case status website, but it hasn't been updated on my applicant page for some reason. I'm just hoping it can't be a false alarm and I'm waiting to receive the mail and learn my interview date! Also wanted to add that I never got an error while checking the case status, it always said Fingerprint Review Was Completed until yesterday.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by kbhq

[RaptureSongbird 533]

1 hour ago, S*UK said:

Thanks that helps a lot.

Our apartment lease is utilities included so unfortunately that's not something we have.

But yes, we have a ton of pictures from Christmas with his family, and with my family from our Florida vacation this summer. 

We also have a power of attorney document from him to me since he's deploying next month. If that isn't evidence of at least trust, I don't know what is! Haha

Oh jeez, I visited so many times I don't even remember. Better get refreshing on that then.

All of your evidence sounds great.  I'm sure the two of you will do just fine.  Just remember to breathe, answer honestly and to the best of your ability, and you'll do just fine.  Again, don't fret too much about the dates, you can always refer to anything you bring with you to the interview.  Just relax and keep us updated!

[Mike & Tuyen 598]

3 hours ago, S*UK said:

Thank you. Yes honesty is definitely the key in this entire process. I'll let you all know how it goes on Monday

Best of luck to you both

[Berehilina 39]

It look like it is moving. My case status is updated saying interview date has been scheduled. But nothing on EAD

[Keith & Monica 986]

Monica received her GC yesterday.  So Happy!!!!!