August 2017 AOS Filers, Part II

[little immigrant 801]

USCIS received our case August 1st 2017. We did our medical in April 2017. Should we redo it before the interview? We're still waiting on a date but the notice usually gives us about a month before the interview. 

[Canelita 166]

8 hours ago, dnkwame417 said:

Yeah those processing times are a joke. I checked about a week ago and my local office were working on May 2017 cases and just late last week i checked and they are now working on 2016 cases. I mean HOW???

They said they will improve USCIS page I think is worst before I use to know the exact date on the cases they were supposedly working, now the only thing I know is how many months could take to process a case. The improvements they did it was just to benefit themselves expanding the processing times so we don't bother them . Now they can say processing times are normal you Just got to wait your turn. 😏 

[Canelita 166]

2 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

I'm also debating on calling them. I'd like to know if our case has been transferred to the field office or is still waiting to be scheduled for an interview. Half of me can't be bothered but the other half says to call. After all, the only reason our EAD got approved was because I contacted my senator who managed to get them to look at our case.

Did you call them? I haven't call yet. Yes same reason I goty EAD my congresswoman really helped me.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

 

6 minutes ago, Canelita said:

Did you call them? I haven't call yet. Yes same reason I goty EAD my congresswoman really helped me.

Nope, I was thinking about doing it today but I got busy and now it is almost 6 pm. I'm planning on calling tomorrow and will update here. I'm not sure if they will be helpful but I've decided to give it a shot.

[Canelita 166]

8 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

 

Nope, I was thinking about doing it today but I got busy and now it is almost 6 pm. I'm planning on calling tomorrow and will update here. I'm not sure if they will be helpful but I've decided to give it a shot.

OK let us know . I might call them too.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

 

18 hours ago, Canelita said:

OK let us know . I might call them too.

So I tried to call. The first time, the call just dropped as they were trying to transfer me to a rep (lol!). I called again just now and the level 1 rep wouldn't tell me anything useful except that I'm still within the normal processing times. I didn't feel like insisting on talking to a level 2 rep, so I just said thanks and hung up. I'm pretty sure level 2 representatives can see if your case is still at the NBC or have been transferred though.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

20 hours ago, little immigrant said:

USCIS received our case August 1st 2017. We did our medical in April 2017. Should we redo it before the interview? We're still waiting on a date but the notice usually gives us about a month before the interview. 

I'd say to just wait until you know for sure when the interview is. 

[little immigrant 801]

1 hour ago, mushroomspore said:

I'd say to just wait until you know for sure when the interview is. 

Yes I will wait until we get the mail but still by then the medical will have expired no? Should we then renew it before we go to the interview (when we know the date of course)?

[Hamilton 511]

32 minutes ago, little immigrant said:

Yes I will wait until we get the mail but still by then the medical will have expired no? Should we then renew it before we go to the interview (when we know the date of course)?

I would search on VJ to see what others in that situation have done, but I'd be inclined to go to the interview without redoing the medical. The interview letter itself just says to bring "a completed medical exam (unless already submitted)". If the officer conducting the interview thinks it's necessary to have an updated medical, they could give you an RFE then. I think this happened with @GoodVibesOnly... and she got approved quickly after submitting a new medical.

[Hamilton 511]

2 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

 

So I tried to call. The first time, the call just dropped as they were trying to transfer me to a rep (lol!). I called again just now and the level 1 rep wouldn't tell me anything useful except that I'm still within the normal processing times. I didn't feel like insisting on talking to a level 2 rep, so I just said thanks and hung up. I'm pretty sure level 2 representatives can see if your case is still at the NBC or have been transferred though.

It's funny how we need to talk our way around the level 1 reps to get any real information.

 

I was reflecting on my AOS journey, and I discovered something that likely helped speed the process along. In December, when I was panicking about my AP, my wife had called USCIS and a Tier 2 officer had opened a "general inquiry" on the 485. That general inquiry lay untouched for months, and was finally picked up in April. Three business days later, I got a notification that my interview had been scheduled.

 

I guess it's probably too late to submit a general inquiry for your 485 (since it'll probably be several months until it's seen), but it's a route you could explore. The real challenge is reaching a Tier 2 officer. They also definitely know when it's at the NBC versus local office (I had a long chat with a really friendly Tier 2 officer who told me what he could see in the system).

[mushroomspore 3,044]

35 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

It's funny how we need to talk our way around the level 1 reps to get any real information.

 

I was reflecting on my AOS journey, and I discovered something that likely helped speed the process along. In December, when I was panicking about my AP, my wife had called USCIS and a Tier 2 officer had opened a "general inquiry" on the 485. That general inquiry lay untouched for months, and was finally picked up in April. Three business days later, I got a notification that my interview had been scheduled.

 

I guess it's probably too late to submit a general inquiry for your 485 (since it'll probably be several months until it's seen), but it's a route you could explore. The real challenge is reaching a Tier 2 officer. They also definitely know when it's at the NBC versus local office (I had a long chat with a really friendly Tier 2 officer who told me what he could see in the system).

I was totally trying to figure out what I could say to just get the level 1 rep to transfer me to level 2, haha! By the time I got connected, I couldn't be bothered. I'll try again later this week. Thanks for the tip too. I'll definitely ask about that.

[GoodVibesOnly 206]

56 minutes ago, little immigrant said:

Yes I will wait until we get the mail but still by then the medical will have expired no? Should we then renew it before we go to the interview (when we know the date of course)?

 

21 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

I would search on VJ to see what others in that situation have done, but I'd be inclined to go to the interview without redoing the medical. The interview letter itself just says to bring "a completed medical exam (unless already submitted)". If the officer conducting the interview thinks it's necessary to have an updated medical, they could give you an RFE then. I think this happened with @GoodVibesOnly... and she got approved quickly after submitting a new medical.

Hey @little immigrant that's correct We went to the interview knowing that there was a chance of the IO giving us a RFE to redo my medical.

The logic was to only redo it if we were certain that we would need it (it could save us ~US$600 if we didn't need a new one), and the IO is the only one who has the answer -- we also discussed this with a T2 officer just to make sure.

Once at the interview, one of the first things the IO mentioned was about redoing my medical.

Some IOs give you a RFE right there, some others mail it to you, which was our case and took a little longer to come in the mail (a week maybe?).

 

We received the I-130 approval before sending the new medicals (about a week later after the interview) and the I-485 approval shortly after they received the updated form. Not sure if they always approve the I-130 before the I-485, I guess it all depends on the officer making statuses updates.

 

Chances are you won't be needing a new medical unless your interview comes in super late. My medical was old and needed to include a new test but I think most people here probably won't need to redo it.

 

Good luck!!
 

 

[GoodVibesOnly 206]

25 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

I was totally trying to figure out what I could say to just get the level 1 rep to transfer me to level 2, haha! By the time I got connected, I couldn't be bothered. I'll try again later this week. Thanks for the tip too. I'll definitely ask about that.

Also try "Verifying your current Address" (or other Personal Information) since Tier 1 support doesn't have any personal information from you, they cannot do this without a T2.

I think you mentioned that your communication broke while waiting to be transferred. "Hi, sorry I was being transferred to a T2 officer to verify my (home address/personal data) but the communication broke, could you please transfer me back again?"

It should be enough of a reason to want to verify your personal data and make sure everything is still in order (and in case they wonder why... I don't think this should rise their eyebrows and should be an easy thing to just transfer you).

If you get a very unsupportive T1 rep and you really want an answer, just move quickly to the next one lol. I don't think they keep a record of how many times we call.

[PR&PR 325]

Hey @mushroomspore & @Canelita, once your interview is ready to be scheduled. it means it's at or getting to your local office for them to finally schedule it ...At least that was my understanding and what I have been told by tier 2...

[little immigrant 801]

5 hours ago, GoodVibesOnly said:

 

Hey @little immigrant that's correct We went to the interview knowing that there was a chance of the IO giving us a RFE to redo my medical.

The logic was to only redo it if we were certain that we would need it (it could save us ~US$600 if we didn't need a new one), and the IO is the only one who has the answer -- we also discussed this with a T2 officer just to make sure.

Once at the interview, one of the first things the IO mentioned was about redoing my medical.

Some IOs give you a RFE right there, some others mail it to you, which was our case and took a little longer to come in the mail (a week maybe?).

 

We received the I-130 approval before sending the new medicals (about a week later after the interview) and the I-485 approval shortly after they received the updated form. Not sure if they always approve the I-130 before the I-485, I guess it all depends on the officer making statuses updates.

 

Chances are you won't be needing a new medical unless your interview comes in super late. My medical was old and needed to include a new test but I think most people here probably won't need to redo it.

 

Good luck!!
 

 

Thank you so much for the response. Yes cost is one factor why I'm considering not doing it unless told otherwise at the interview. I'm glad you got approved quickly after submitting yours.