August 2017 AOS Filers, Part II

[Canelita 166]

On 3/6/2018 at 4:42 PM, GoodVibesOnly said:

AND OMG I ALSO THOUGHT THIS DAY MAY NEVER COME BUT:

 

After waiting for 214 days (EAD)... this is my latest update as of today

 

”New card is being produced” 

 

🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

 

!!!!!!!! *dance of victory* !!!!!!!!!!

 

It feels SURREAL man 

 

THANK YOU to everyone who shared this journey and provided help, tips and good vibes all the way. 💜

Awesome 🎉🙌🏼😊 Congrats .

[T_P 872]

21 hours ago, spazkles said:

Hello,

 

I need advice on whether or not to cancel/reschedule my wedding celebration in France (!!!) that is supposed to take place at the end of May. My husband and I booked plane tickets months ago and are supposed to leave the US on May 10th. I still do not have my EAD/AP...

 

Here is my timeline:

August 15th: applied for AOS, AP, EAD, and Petition for spouse (my husband is a US citizen and we got married last July in the US. I had a tourist visa, but we decided to get married last minute instead of going back to Europe as planned)

Mid September: biometrics appointment

February 27th: received request for initial evidence asking for extra financial evidence from my sponsor

March 3rd: we replied to the request, my attorney said she received the confirmation they received it on the next day

 

Like many in this thread, this whole situation is making me extremely anxious and depressed. It would be absolutely awful if we had to cancel our wedding in France, on a personal level and also on a financial one. 

 

So do you think there is a chance that I'll get my AP in time to leave the US on May the 10th? Or should I just cancel the whole trip now to save the little money I can?

 

Hi @spazkles hope you are doing well. First of all, we all understand all dificult it is to be waiting for the EAD/AP for a such long time, but keep in mind that receiving the RFIE in this case doesnt help much. So it is good that you guys already sent this over to USCIS and they have received it. 

 

While there are chances that you get your EAD/AP before the May 10th, I would strongly recommend you to start creating your plan B and C, meaning

 

What is you dont receive?

1- Do you reschedule your wedding in France to a later time? How much money and effort would that cost/take?

2- Do you cancel everything and wait until you receive your AP? How much would that cost?

 

To be fair, it is a bit of a weird situation because I think I would do the same, applying for my AOS back in August I would automatically assume receiving my EAD/AP before  May for sure, specially with so much info out there stating 90 days or 110 days. I dont blame you.

 

But now, its time for a plan B or even C....

 

Like sombory already said, engage your congressman, write him, explain your situation. Lot times your lawyer (unfortunatelly) isnt the best person.

 

Wish you luck

[Hamilton 511]

58 minutes ago, borodine01 said:

so USCIS finally look at one of my SR and stated that I should hear from the within 60 days. The case is under review, I'm not holding my breath, I guess that still something. Mind you they closed the SR.

Not to discourage you, but I got this back in December and I did not hear within 60 days... I was still waiting. The SRs are meaningless. If Rubio isn't helping you, contact the other Senator (link I sent you). 

[Hamilton 511]

15 minutes ago, T_P said:

Hi @spazkles hope you are doing well. First of all, we all understand all dificult it is to be waiting for the EAD/AP for a such long time, but keep in mind that receiving the RFIE in this case doesnt help much. So it is good that you guys already sent this over to USCIS and they have received it. 

 

I agree that plan B and C would be useful, but I don't think the RFIE is bad here. I think it's actually good. So many of us Aug filers got RFIEs in Feb, and we're now getting our EADs really fast after sending a response. I wouldn't be surprised if @spazkles gets her/his card within a month. 

 

Plan B could be - contact EVERYone possible to speed up the AP, and wait until early April to receive it (deadline to cancel wedding stuff). If you don't have the card by then, schedule an InfoPass and go beg them to give you an Emergency Parole. If they refuse, then cancel the wedding stuff.

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Hamilton

[spazkles 20]

Thank you to all who replied to my post, I was losing hope but you all made me feel a little better.

 

I filled the form for my senator this morning. My attorney contacted him but I replied on my own as I think it might have more impact.

 

I did not think it was possible to ask for an emergency AP, but it's good to know that that option exists. I'll definitely try that if nothing else works.

 

The plan is to try to move the wedding to September if my parents can get refunds from their vendors (everything is paid for haha. It's not an extremely expensive wedding, but it's definitely a lot for my parents and my husband and I are buying a house at the moment so we won't be able to help :/) But hopefully we won't need to do all that and I'll be the happiest bride in the world in Europe   

[T_P 872]

17 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

I agree that plan B and C would be useful, but I don't think the RFIE is bad here. I think it's actually good. So many of us Aug filers got RFIEs in Feb, and we're now getting our EADs really fast after sending a response. I wouldn't be surprised if @spazkles gets her/his card within a month. 

 

Plan B could be - contact EVERYone possible to speed up the AP, and wait until early April to receive it (deadline to cancel wedding stuff). If you don't have the card by then, schedule an InfoPass and go beg them to give you an Emergency Parole. If they refuse, then cancel the wedding stuff.

 

@Hamilton RFIE isn’t bad? I’m not entirely sure I understand what you mean. Would you rather wait 200 days to have your EAD/AP having to deal with supporting docs versus knowing that everything you submitted all together was enough?

 

Unless you have absolutely nothing to worry and have all the time in the world, RFIE are always waste of time during the K1 process. Can’t see how that is good.

[Hamilton 511]

20 minutes ago, T_P said:

@Hamilton RFIE isn’t bad? I’m not entirely sure I understand what you mean. Would you rather wait 200 days to have your EAD/AP having to deal with supporting docs versus knowing that everything you submitted all together was enough?

 

Unless you have absolutely nothing to worry and have all the time in the world, RFIE are always waste of time during the K1 process. Can’t see how that is good.

Obviously no RFIE is the best thing. But usually, RFIEs are issued very quickly after you file. That isn't the case for this person, or for me, or for Aviinash. 

 

We were all waiting 200 days without anything, not even an RFIE. Then suddenly the RFIE came and we could get moving on the case again. That's all I'm saying. There's a misconception that the EAD/AP will be majorly stalled after the RFIE, but that is not the case for at least five August filers on VJ who got RFIEs in Jan and Feb.  Instead, they all got their cards really fast after that.

 

You didn't have to wait at all for your EAD/AP, so I'm guessing you didn't follow this aspect of it as closely as some of us unlucky ones. You should just feel lucky!!

[Hamilton 511]

31 minutes ago, spazkles said:

Thank you to all who replied to my post, I was losing hope but you all made me feel a little better.

 

I filled the form for my senator this morning. My attorney contacted him but I replied on my own as I think it might have more impact.

 

I did not think it was possible to ask for an emergency AP, but it's good to know that that option exists. I'll definitely try that if nothing else works.

 

The plan is to try to move the wedding to September if my parents can get refunds from their vendors (everything is paid for haha. It's not an extremely expensive wedding, but it's definitely a lot for my parents and my husband and I are buying a house at the moment so we won't be able to help :/) But hopefully we won't need to do all that and I'll be the happiest bride in the world in Europe   

I do think doing it yourself will be more impactful than an attorney, but I can't say for sure. 

 

Have you been checking your case status on myUSCIS yourself? What does it say for your 485? It should say "we have received your response to our RFIE and will begin working on your case again". Once it says that, if they're satisfied with your response, the card could be in production as soon as 2 days or as long as a month or so.

[spazkles 20]

13 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

I do think doing it yourself will be more impactful than an attorney, but I can't say for sure. 

 

Have you been checking your case status on myUSCIS yourself? What does it say for your 485? It should say "we have received your response to our RFIE and will begin working on your case again". Once it says that, if they're satisfied with your response, the card could be in production as soon as 2 days or as long as a month or so.

 

I check my case very often, and so far it has not been updated (it still says "Request for initial evidence was mailed"). I know that my reply was technically received as my attorney got the postal confirmation.

[Hamilton 511]

1 minute ago, spazkles said:

 

I check my case very often, and so far it has not been updated (it still says "Request for initial evidence was mailed"). I know that my reply was technically received as my attorney got the postal confirmation.

That's weird. I'm not aware of them sending any postal confirmation - I never received that. Do you know when your response was delivered to them?

 

edit - wait, I'm guessing you mean TECHNICAL confirmation like a courier/USPS notification that it was delivered? 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Hamilton

[spazkles 20]

1 minute ago, Hamilton said:

That's weird. I'm not aware of them sending any postal confirmation - I never received that. Do you know when your response was delivered to them?

 

edit - wait, I'm guessing you mean TECHNICAL confirmation like a courier/USPS notification that it was delivered? 

Yes, that is what I mean, sorry if that was confusing  We received that USPS confirmation on Tuesday.

[Hamilton 511]

Just now, spazkles said:

Yes, that is what I mean, sorry if that was confusing  We received that USPS confirmation on Tuesday.

Oh ok! Then the status online SHOULD hopefully change any day now to "response received". Once that happens, you could get the Ombudsman to inquire about it.

[borodine01 94]

5 hours ago, Hamilton said:

Not to discourage you, but I got this back in December and I did not hear within 60 days... I was still waiting. The SRs are meaningless. If Rubio isn't helping you, contact the other Senator (link I sent you). 

Oh trust me I know that doesn't mean anything lol. I did contact the senator you sent me. filling out the documents to send over to him this weekend. I'm not work, im trying to do it now lol

[adipo21 141]

10 hours ago, Canelita said:

Big Congratulations 😊👍🏼.

Thank u buddy 

[Louv 32]

Have been off this forum last week so congrats to all the people getting their combo cards/gc! @GoodVibesOnly @T_P@adipo21 @michy007

 

I express mailed my RFIE response on thursday... Hopefully I will hear from them soon since I got my RFIE so late... I cant imagine waiting another 3 months:/

 

FYI it was about my marriage certificate (which I had already sent). I talked to a tier 2 and he said that the IO might have gotten confused because my marriage certificate in the county I live in says 'marriage license'...  So they might have thought it was the wrong doc......

I got a letter from the clerk saying it was the right doc,+cover letter+ sent the document again... 

RFIE received at 190 days

Currently 202 days since filing 😢

Edited March 11, 2018 by Louv