February 2018 AOS Filers

[JayDGODITRUST 132]

On 5/31/2018 at 6:17 PM, isa_bella said:

With the surprisingly early interview notices from some of y'all, does that mean the processing times on the website are not reliable anymore? Should I be hopeful? It feels like a lottery. Haha. 

I should probably think so because when I look it has to be something like that or even closed to that. Watching those processing times online will drive anyone insane.😵😵😵 I looked a few times and stop looking but surprisingly I’m in for interview I just hope things speeds up for everyone here and we can all be posting some great positive news to help new comers in VJ

[Nikolet Kamenov 77]

So guys i got one of those annoying emails that there are still no updates at this time but this time it says that they last took action on my case May 21!!!! (Before that it used to say March 9th)So it seems that things are moving... i will watch out for something in the mail but it might be just an action not a notice

[Caribbeanchild 6]

Any recent first time EAD approvals?

[yilunhua 15]

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my interview experience with all of you: 

 

They received my application on 21st Feb, and I received the interview notice on the last week of April. The interview was scheduled at 10am, 31st May at LA office. 

 

We arrived 40 mins early. The line wasn't too bad so we quickly finished the security check.  After the security check we went straight to the 8th floor to check in. It was a huge room with a few people waiting in the waiting area. They had a a few windows for check in, all you need to do is to give them the letter and then do finger print again. Then they will ask you to wait in the waiting area. 

 

Around the waiting area, there are a few doors. When waiting, you will see officers coming out and call people's names. That officer will be the one conducting the interview. We got called a few mins past our scheduled interview time by a lady. She had hearing impairment so there was a interpreter that joined us for the interview. We had a little difficulty understanding what she said but she was a super nice lady and she made sure we understood all of her questions fully. At first she asked us to show our driver's license, and then take a vow to show that you understand the consequences of a fake marriage. All we did was to answer yes after she read out everything.

 

When the interview officially began, she first pull out our I485 and asked my husband (while me being present) my full name, age, date of birth, places of birth , when we got married and where. She placed a check mark on I485 one by one to verify, and asked me my full name, age, date of birth, places of birth , when we got married and where as well as my husband's full name, age, date of birth, places of birth. She checked if everything we said matches with each other's response and the information on I485. My city is very hard to remember for my husband and he never really asked while we were dating but I am so glad he took the time to memorize it. We were surprised that those were the only questions that she asked about our marriage. Next she went to the next section which is "have you ever" questions such as have you ever been in a communist organizations such and such. Those are listed on I485 and I believe most of us answered no. If you answer yes on the form, you better consult with a lawyer, and if you accidentally answer yes on your interview, god bless you. 

 

After that section, she asked us for our passport, birth certificates for both, marriage certificate, and health exam results, and she checked very carefully on the original and the copies in the package that we first submitted to USCIS. She also asked for copies for all of above mentioned. I forgot to make a copy for my husband's passport but she was super nice and told me she would make one for me. After that the biggest part came. She asked us for supporting documents about our marriage. We had spent 125 dollars consulting with our lawyer and she told us to prepare lease agreement, joint checking account, joint saving account, joint credit card bills, water and power, internet, health insurance, auto insurance, a bunch of pics and any other proves. If anything that we learned from that expensive $125 consultation is that you could get a hole punch and punch two holes on the header area of all of the copies since those will go to their folder, also highlight your both name and address so that the officer won't have time to think of more questions while punching holes for you or spend half an hour searching for your both names. When you hand out the supporting documents, don't wait till they request each one. Just be firm and assertive and give all to them one by one like bang bang bang. Anything that they don't want they will give back to you. She took a look at our photos and didn't take any. But she made a joke about our common interest in six flags. It was not that funny but still better than a completely dry interview. 

 

After all of these she went out to make copies for my husband's passport and our driver's licenses. She came back and typed on her computer. After a little while the result came out. She told us we had to wait maximum 90 days since they still need to do my background check. If we couldn't get result after 90 days we should make a infopass appointment. I was quite disappointed and felt quite low for the rest of the day. My husband knew that and he quietly washed all the dishes at home 

 

But magic happened today, three days after our interview, the status showed that the card is in production. So they have approved my green card. 

 

Above is my experience just for your reference, I know everyone's case is different and the officer is different too. If you really need help with prep, you should consult your lawyer. I know this whole process is super stressful and I hope all of you get your green card as soon as possible and live happily ever after in the US. 

 

(PS: Please don't be rude or question your officers questions during the interview, if you feel uncomfortable answering it you can tell them but don't start a fight. My best friend's husband almost started a fight with the officer and it took her a year and half after the interview to get her green card. Not worth it!)

Edited June 4, 2018 by yilunhua

[tzbazin1 8]

On 5/29/2018 at 5:15 PM, JayDGODITRUST said:

Thanks much I’m prepared already just have to go over my checklist and sectionize everything how’s it going for you?

Great! Just so thankful we're to this point!

[isa_bella 41]

To those who have no EAD yet and can't work, how do you spend your extra time? I take college classes but i still have plenty of free time :(. I plan on applying for volunteer work. 

Edited June 6, 2018 by isa_bella

[JayDGODITRUST 132]

6 hours ago, tzbazin1 said:

Great! Just so thankful we're to this point!

Great I’m glad you holding on the finish line is close don’t worry trust and believe it’s gonna come 

[JayDGODITRUST 132]

On 6/4/2018 at 5:26 PM, yilunhua said:

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my interview experience with all of you: 

 

They received my application on 21st Feb, and I received the interview notice on the last week of April. The interview was scheduled at 10am, 31st May at LA office. 

 

We arrived 40 mins early. The line wasn't too bad so we quickly finished the security check.  After the security check we went straight to the 8th floor to check in. It was a huge room with a few people waiting in the waiting area. They had a a few windows for check in, all you need to do is to give them the letter and then do finger print again. Then they will ask you to wait in the waiting area. 

 

Around the waiting area, there are a few doors. When waiting, you will see officers coming out and call people's names. That officer will be the one conducting the interview. We got called a few mins past our scheduled interview time by a lady. She had hearing impairment so there was a interpreter that joined us for the interview. We had a little difficulty understanding what she said but she was a super nice lady and she made sure we understood all of her questions fully. At first she asked us to show our driver's license, and then take a vow to show that you understand the consequences of a fake marriage. All we did was to answer yes after she read out everything.

 

When the interview officially began, she first pull out our I485 and asked my husband (while me being present) my full name, age, date of birth, places of birth , when we got married and where. She placed a check mark on I485 one by one to verify, and asked me my full name, age, date of birth, places of birth , when we got married and where as well as my husband's full name, age, date of birth, places of birth. She checked if everything we said matches with each other's response and the information on I485. My city is very hard to remember for my husband and he never really asked while we were dating but I am so glad he took the time to memorize it. We were surprised that those were the only questions that she asked about our marriage. Next she went to the next section which is "have you ever" questions such as have you ever been in a communist organizations such and such. Those are listed on I485 and I believe most of us answered no. If you answer yes on the form, you better consult with a lawyer, and if you accidentally answer yes on your interview, god bless you. 

 

After that section, she asked us for our passport, birth certificates for both, marriage certificate, and health exam results, and she checked very carefully on the original and the copies in the package that we first submitted to USCIS. She also asked for copies for all of above mentioned. I forgot to make a copy for my husband's passport but she was super nice and told me she would make one for me. After that the biggest part came. She asked us for supporting documents about our marriage. We had spent 125 dollars consulting with our lawyer and she told us to prepare lease agreement, joint checking account, joint saving account, joint credit card bills, water and power, internet, health insurance, auto insurance, a bunch of pics and any other proves. If anything that we learned from that expensive $125 consultation is that you could get a hole punch and punch two holes on the header area of all of the copies since those will go to their folder, also highlight your both name and address so that the officer won't have time to think of more questions while punching holes for you or spend half an hour searching for your both names. When you hand out the supporting documents, don't wait till they request each one. Just be firm and assertive and give all to them one by one like bang bang bang. Anything that they don't want they will give back to you. She took a look at our photos and didn't take any. But she made a joke about our common interest in six flags. It was not that funny but still better than a completely dry interview. 

 

After all of these she went out to make copies for my husband's passport and our driver's licenses. She came back and typed on her computer. After a little while the result came out. She told us we had to wait maximum 90 days since they still need to do my background check. If we couldn't get result after 90 days we should make a infopass appointment. I was quite disappointed and felt quite low for the rest of the day. My husband knew that and he quietly washed all the dishes at home 

 

But magic happened today, three days after our interview, the status showed that the card is in production. So they have approved my green card. 

 

Above is my experience just for your reference, I know everyone's case is different and the officer is different too. If you really need help with prep, you should consult your lawyer. I know this whole process is super stressful and I hope all of you get your green card as soon as possible and live happily ever after in the US. 

 

(PS: Please don't be rude or question your officers questions during the interview, if you feel uncomfortable answering it you can tell them but don't start a fight. My best friend's husband almost started a fight with the officer and it took her a year and half after the interview to get her green card. Not worth it!)

Congrats to you on your process towards being a resident. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[seagull242 6]

Hello all!

 

I haven't posted before but have lurked and received lots of help so I wanted to give everyone my process overview. Had my interview yesterday and was approved!

 

F-1 Viso holder married to USC for 2.5 years, Local field office Detroit

02/20/18 - Sent application

02/28/18 - NOA

04/04/18 - Biometrics received

04/20/18 - Interview Scheduled

06/08/18 - Interview and approval

 

So for the interview, we only arrived just on time and were pretty worried. We hit some pretty bad traffic on the way there. But we got in, IO called our name and led us back to her office. She had us stand and take the oath. Then we sat, I did my biometrics and pictures then we started the interview.

 

We were a little nervous because there were some questions we missed: I didn't know his parents' birthdays but husband didn't know them either! We messed up some years of like moving in and moving out of various apartments. IO was very nice about it and joked around like "Uh oh, you better remember the next anniversary!" She asked for originals of our documents and made notations on the copies we submitted with our application: Marriage certificat, birth certificates, passports and my husband's drivers license. During I-485 overview she made one change on application, I got a traffic ticket for expired license plate and didn't think that counted for the question of "ever been arrested, received a citation etc." but she just wrote it.

 

Next snag we ran into that really made us feel liked we wouldn't get approval was that our evidences were thin. I didn't bring our W-2s, only our tax return (didn't think we needed it, silly me), lost our most current lease so we only had last year's, she asked fro previous leases and more bank account statements but we didn't have those either. IO seemed very disappointed in us

 

After, she said that we would hear a decision in the mail and if she needed more documents she would ask for them through the mail. We thought that we had a poor interview. BUT once we got home I got an email saying that my card was in production only 1 hour after our interview! So on to 10-year permanent green card.

 

Hope this gives people hope! My advice is to be way more prepared than we were for the interview but also if your marriage is the real thing IOs can tell.

 

Good luck everyone!

Edited June 8, 2018 by seagull242

[A&H2018 146]

Dec19-2017 keep pushing back date and then forward then back...its comical...

[Jpx3 14]

Hi! 

 

Is any one here from Boston field office? Curious your timeline.

[Nikolet Kamenov 77]

1 minute ago, Jpx3 said:

Hi! 

 

Is any one here from Boston field office? Curious your timeline.

Hi! I am with Boston office... nothing after fingerprints... still waiting on everything

[Jpx3 14]

5 minutes ago, Nikolet Kamenov said:

Hi! I am with Boston office... nothing after fingerprints... still waiting on everything

Ugh hopefully you will hear something soon. I’m actually a May filer but was curious to see how the Boston office was moving.

[Nikolet Kamenov 77]

1 minute ago, Jpx3 said:

Ugh hopefully you will hear something soon. I’m actually a May filer but was curious to see how the Boston office was moving.

Thank you! Yea.. it sucks what are you adjusting from? Im from B2 

[bostonfilerca 35]

2 hours ago, Jpx3 said:

Hi! 

 

Is any one here from Boston field office? Curious your timeline.

Hi, Boston field office! Nothing since my fingerprints either. Timeline is in my signature