F2A 2018 AOS Filers

[mmoazzem 3]

On 8/29/2019 at 1:23 PM, Tenreyro said:

Congratulations @AhsanTX!!!!! 

 

I also want to share my last mile experience.

 

We had our interview last week, and was very unusual. We had it scheduled for 7:15 A.M. (Didn't know they opened so early), after around 20 to 30 minutes after we got there, they called my name, and the officer told us that my wife didn't have to get inside with us. (At that point I thought maybe there was a new process and had o be done some biometrics or something first, so I leave with my wife the mega compilation of documents we had.

 

I got sworn in, fingerprinted, and then she asks for an ID and my passport (which is in the binder I left with my wife), we go and retrieve it, I apologize, and let her know I thought my wife was supposed to be at the interview, she said a comment that I don't recall word by word, but it was dismissing that idea. We go get the binder, get back inside, and continue with the interview without my wife.

 

The questions were:

- Full Name and Date of Birth

- Current Address including Zipcode

- Some "Yes/No" question from the form I-485, such as "Have you helped with Human Trafficking?", "Do you have firearms training?"

- She mixed three questions in the middle of the Yes/No questions:

              - When did you meet your wife (I use precise years, but we met more than 9 years ago, we started dating 2 years after we met)

              - When did I get the visa I had before AOS?

              - Why did I get that visa?

              - Did I do what I applied for the visa? (Yes)

- What organizations I have been part of (It's on the I-485, and I had mentioned a recreational club my wife and I were part of, and an NGO, I mentioned those two, she asked me to explain, so I did)

 

She then asked for the Medical, which I handed in the closed enveloped, she typed things, printed a paper, and said that as of that moment the interview was complete, that she had to review the information, handed me a white paper saying that, and asked me if I had any question. I was confused and in shock, so I did not, and asked her what it meant that it had to be reviewed, she only said that she had to review the case file.

 

That was it, a little cold, weird, one-person interview. So as you imagine, I was very confused, uncomfortable and didn't know what to expect. We spent the rest of the day together both with that weird feeling of uncertainty, knowing that the case would either update that same day, or if not then next week, but technically it could be 4 months.

 

I was checking the online status constantly, and around 4pm, the case updated saying that the card was ordered for production. As you would imagine, it was a relief, and a reason to celebrate!

 

Next day it updated to Case was approved, this week an approval letter came in, and today, the permanent resident card arrived!!!

 

I have to mention that the case never updated to provide tracking number, even when I called to ask about it (Labor day weekend coming, I didn't want it to arrive while we were gone)

 

It was a long journey, my P.D. is December 19, 2016, AOS started on March 2, 2018, so it would be 983 days since P.D., and 545 days from AOS receipt date to card in hand.

 

Good luck everyone, and wanted to share the interview experience in case someone gets a weird interview, so you don't go crazy thinking the worse, and for everyone still waiting, hang in there.

Congrats @Tenreyro and best of luck for your future.

[Sheryyyy 0]

Hello guys. Im new here. Please help me out!! Im turning 21 this coming November, is my case will be turn to Child’s age out? My pd is May 2018. Thankyou!!

[lilydenris 8]

Hi everyone,

 

Also wanted to share the good news here - I finally got my green card in the mail yesterday! It's been a long journey (my PD is April 2017) and I really appreciate everyone on this thread sharing the information and supporting each other.

 

I don't have much to share with respect to the interview, as @Tenreyro has already provided a detailed walk-through of his/her experience and mine is similar. I guess I'll just share some tips and the lessons I learned in this process:

 

1. Apply for the EAD and AP combo card at the same time as you send your 485. I applied for the combo card three months after I sent out the 485, because I had to travel out of US back then and was worried the combo card application would be denied due to my departure from US. But it turns out applying for the combo card separately seriously delayed its issuance - it took USCIS over 8 months to approve my card. 

 

2. Don't hesitate to contact your local congressperson and/or ombudsman for help if your case is stuck at one step and USCIS is not responsive. I reached out to my local congresswoman as I was anxiously waiting for my overdue combo card and her representative was very helpful. Not sure if that's the reason, but I received my combo card two weeks after her office sent a case inquiry on my behalf. I also sought help on the Ombudsman's website: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance.

 

3. Push for a complete interview if your interview is scheduled mistakenly. I'm probably the only person on this thread who had to do the interview twice - the first time was purely USCIS' mistake as they thought I'm married to a citizen and all files (i.e., 130 and 485) were at the local office. But when we arrived at the USCIS office, the officer looked through our files and realized the 130 has not been approved yet and it's still at the California service center. So he turned us away. Now that I looked back, we should have insisted to do the interview, as our 130 actually was still not at the local office at the time of our 2nd interview. Fortunately this time we completed the interview after we explained the difference between CR-1and F2A again to the interviewer. So I don't think the local office necessarily has to receive all the files to do an interview for F2A, and if you are in the same boat, you might consider pushing to do the interview anyways to save the trouble of visiting the local office again.

 

4. Lower the expectation and focus on other parts of your life when going through this process. F2A is a long journey (recently the wait has been much better though), and there aren't many of us out there. Most marriage based green cards are CR-1 cases and as such, you might run into all kinds of confusions and mistakes on USCIS' side (let's face it, USCIS is not the best US government body, even compared with DMV). So please get familiar with the legal terms and expect the process to go wrong - with a lower expectation hopefully you will be much less stressed and much better prepared. Always remember there are so much great things in life (e.g., family, friends, fun, etc.) that don't require a greencard to enjoy.

 

I hope the above are helpful and everyone here gets their card soon!!!!

 

 

[VG31 23]

On 9/7/2019 at 5:07 PM, lilydenris said:

Hi everyone,

 

Also wanted to share the good news here - I finally got my green card in the mail yesterday! It's been a long journey (my PD is April 2017) and I really appreciate everyone on this thread sharing the information and supporting each other.

 

I don't have much to share with respect to the interview, as @Tenreyro has already provided a detailed walk-through of his/her experience and mine is similar. I guess I'll just share some tips and the lessons I learned in this process:

 

1. Apply for the EAD and AP combo card at the same time as you send your 485. I applied for the combo card three months after I sent out the 485, because I had to travel out of US back then and was worried the combo card application would be denied due to my departure from US. But it turns out applying for the combo card separately seriously delayed its issuance - it took USCIS over 8 months to approve my card. 

 

2. Don't hesitate to contact your local congressperson and/or ombudsman for help if your case is stuck at one step and USCIS is not responsive. I reached out to my local congresswoman as I was anxiously waiting for my overdue combo card and her representative was very helpful. Not sure if that's the reason, but I received my combo card two weeks after her office sent a case inquiry on my behalf. I also sought help on the Ombudsman's website: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance.

 

3. Push for a complete interview if your interview is scheduled mistakenly. I'm probably the only person on this thread who had to do the interview twice - the first time was purely USCIS' mistake as they thought I'm married to a citizen and all files (i.e., 130 and 485) were at the local office. But when we arrived at the USCIS office, the officer looked through our files and realized the 130 has not been approved yet and it's still at the California service center. So he turned us away. Now that I looked back, we should have insisted to do the interview, as our 130 actually was still not at the local office at the time of our 2nd interview. Fortunately this time we completed the interview after we explained the difference between CR-1and F2A again to the interviewer. So I don't think the local office necessarily has to receive all the files to do an interview for F2A, and if you are in the same boat, you might consider pushing to do the interview anyways to save the trouble of visiting the local office again.

 

4. Lower the expectation and focus on other parts of your life when going through this process. F2A is a long journey (recently the wait has been much better though), and there aren't many of us out there. Most marriage based green cards are CR-1 cases and as such, you might run into all kinds of confusions and mistakes on USCIS' side (let's face it, USCIS is not the best US government body, even compared with DMV). So please get familiar with the legal terms and expect the process to go wrong - with a lower expectation hopefully you will be much less stressed and much better prepared. Always remember there are so much great things in life (e.g., family, friends, fun, etc.) that don't require a greencard to enjoy.

 

I hope the above are helpful and everyone here gets their card soon!!!!

 

 

Congratulations on getting your GC.

 

Do mind answering the below if that's okay with you -

 

- Did your i-130 and i-485 got adjudicated at the time of your AOS Interview? and then later got approved at a same time?

 

Appreciate your help.

 

Thanks,

[Dr_who 7]

Hello all

@Tenreyro   @VG31

Need some assitaance

I130 ( PD) May 2018 approved on Sept 10 Through F2A

I have already filed AOS and EAD in June 2019  since i am in USA already and is pending in NBC . I got an email on my I130 post approval On September 19, 2019, we sent your case, Receipt Number XXXXXXX to the Department of State for visa processing. You can find general information on Consular Processing by visiting our website .

 

Is this normal . Has it happened to anyone else . what can i do since i am already here in the USA

 

[mmoazzem 3]

7 hours ago, Dr_who said:

Hello all

@Tenreyro   @VG31

Need some assitaance

I130 ( PD) May 2018 approved on Sept 10 Through F2A

I have already filed AOS and EAD in June 2019  since i am in USA already and is pending in NBC . I got an email on my I130 post approval On September 19, 2019, we sent your case, Receipt Number XXXXXXX to the Department of State for visa processing. You can find general information on Consular Processing by visiting our website .

 

Is this normal . Has it happened to anyone else . what can i do since i am already here in the USA

 

Hi @Dr_who

You should contact National Visa Center (NVC) and ask them to send your case back to USCIS for adjustment of status processing. You should also file form I-485 to adjust you status.

[Bfree3 132]

Good morning everybody,

 

Just a quick update on my case, about a month ago I received an RFE for my i-864 (I had filled out the 864EZ thinking that would be sufficient based on the instructions but it wasn't) This RFE actually worked out in my favor though because I was able to see that I actually needed a sponsor besides my husband. We both make more than enough but my husband also has a business on top of his regular job and the expenses from that basically put us in a low standing. Anyway long story short, I got my sponsor, filled out the correct 864 form and sent it off immediately after my husband received his citizenship at the end of August, so I also included a letter to upgrade my case in the RFE package. Exactly a week later, my status changed to we scheduled you for interview.  It took over a week to get a notice in the mail so I called them prior to receiving the notice because I needed to know the date for work. At this point, I’m just getting everything together for my interview in the next few weeks. My life is a literal roller coaster but thank God for life and all His many blessings.

[Newone52 22]

Hello everybody!

Long time lurker here. I appreciate every one of your posts, gave me so much info and piece of mind. I am a Legal Permanent Resident and I wanted to share my and my husband's timeline. He's in the USA on his H1B visa.

 

October 30, 2018 - Priority date for I-130, sent to California Service Center

June 6, 2019 - We filled I-485, I-131, I-765 while our I-130 is still pending (we're current under Dates for Filling)

June 26, 2019 - Biometrics in Detroit

August 28, 2019 - Our I-130 was transfered from California to National Benefits Center (but was never accepted there)

October 16, 2019 - We received courtesy letter for Medical Examination (I-693)

October 18, 2019 - "Case is reaady to be scheduled...", and a few hours later sweet "Interview was scheduled"

 

Now we wait for the letter with interview date, but I suspect it'll be somewhere around November 15, 2019. F2A PD is current, so I believe my husband will get his green card soon.

 

Our attorney warned us that the whole process will take approximately 2 years or even more, but so far we're fortunate and it'll probably take just about a year. I'm very happy, because I know of citizens who have their process taking much much longer than that, while I am "only" LPR.

 

PS. We didn't get any RFE, but also didn't get his EAD/AP card (we were adviced by attorney to go ahead and apply for EAD and AP as well just in case something happens with his H1B).

 

Thank you again and enjoy your weekend!

 

Edit: spelling

Edited October 19, 2019 by Newone52

[Newone52 22]

On 10/19/2019 at 9:35 AM, Newone52 said:

October 30, 2018 - Priority date for I-130, sent to California Service Center

June 6, 2019 - We filled I-485, I-131, I-765 while our I-130 is still pending (we're current under Dates for Filling)

June 26, 2019 - Biometrics in Detroit

August 28, 2019 - Our I-130 was transfered from California to National Benefits Center (but was never accepted there)

October 16, 2019 - We received courtesy letter for Medical Examination (I-693)

October 18, 2019 - "Case is reaady to be scheduled...", and a few hours later sweet "Interview was scheduled"

October 24, 2019 - We received letter with interview date: December 02, 2019

^^^ posting updated timeline.

[Bfree3 132]

Hi Guys,

 

So my interview basically went up in flames. The Officer had both my I-130 and my I-485. The interview was broken down into two parts because my husband as the petitioner had to answer all things related to the I-130 and I had to answer everything related to the I-485 but he had to go first. He forgot my year of birth, the year we got my married and how long we've been married, didn't know our home address, or how long hes been working at his job- like I said total flames!🔥🔥🔥. So at this point the CO is looking at us suspiciously and then questions if we have any additional evidence to offer, which I didn't. Between my husbands lack of knowledge and her going in on us about lack of evidence, I got very snippy cause I was totally over the entire interview at this point even though we didn't go over I-485 as yet.

 

In the end, she told us we would have to bring additional evidence for her to approve our case. I left the interview feeling utterly disappointed and frustrated and just spent the remainder of that day trying to gather this additional evidence. My husband dropped off the evidence and then we waited for 3 days for the status to finally only update to "case sent to initial review". I was so befuddled. Then the next day received a message about the status being approved. Today received update that card was shipped. 

 

Another part of this journey down. Next step, citizenship. 

[VG31 23]

On 10/26/2019 at 5:31 PM, Bfree3 said:

Hi Guys,

 

So my interview basically went up in flames. The Officer had both my I-130 and my I-485. The interview was broken down into two parts because my husband as the petitioner had to answer all things related to the I-130 and I had to answer everything related to the I-485 but he had to go first. He forgot my year of birth, the year we got my married and how long we've been married, didn't know our home address, or how long hes been working at his job- like I said total flames!🔥🔥🔥. So at this point the CO is looking at us suspiciously and then questions if we have any additional evidence to offer, which I didn't. Between my husbands lack of knowledge and her going in on us about lack of evidence, I got very snippy cause I was totally over the entire interview at this point even though we didn't go over I-485 as yet.

 

In the end, she told us we would have to bring additional evidence for her to approve our case. I left the interview feeling utterly disappointed and frustrated and just spent the remainder of that day trying to gather this additional evidence. My husband dropped off the evidence and then we waited for 3 days for the status to finally only update to "case sent to initial review". I was so befuddled. Then the next day received a message about the status being approved. Today received update that card was shipped. 

 

Another part of this journey down. Next step, citizenship. 

Congratulations on getting your GC.

 

My case is going no where, it's been over 2.5 years of waiting and over 1+ year of waiting since I filed my AOS. I've just filed AP/EAD Renewal last week.

No sign of interview and no movement on my pending i-130 with NBC

 

Good luck Bfree3

Edited October 30, 2019 by VG31

[Clotillda 9]

Congratulations for everyone who got good news!

 

@VG31  Same here lol They never even changed my status from "response for RFE was received". And that's more than a year from now.

[txa30 3]

17 hours ago, VG31 said:

Congratulations on getting your GC.

 

My case is going no where, it's been over 2.5 years of waiting and over 1+ year of waiting since I filed my AOS. I've just filed AP/EAD Renewal last week.

No sign of interview and no movement on my pending i-130 with NBC

 

Good luck Bfree3

@VG31 Did you receive any reply for service request ? I am waiting since 2 years (PD for 130 Nov 22, 2017 and for 485 file Oct 22, 2018. Received EAD/AP in June after 7.5 months. I submitted SR for I-130 based on California Center processing time but they have not replied yet. The case was transferred to NBC. Nothing regarding interview as well. Good luck with renewal.

[VG31 23]

2 hours ago, txa30 said:

@VG31 Did you receive any reply for service request ? I am waiting since 2 years (PD for 130 Nov 22, 2017 and for 485 file Oct 22, 2018. Received EAD/AP in June after 7.5 months. I submitted SR for I-130 based on California Center processing time but they have not replied yet. The case was transferred to NBC. Nothing regarding interview as well. Good luck with renewal.

Generally speaking when an i-130 is transferred to NBC usually they're not working on it. Your case is similar to mine and based on my conversation with my Attorney, both forms will be adjudicated at the time of interview. NBC doesn't process i-130.

 

There is no response receive on both SR for i-130 and i-485. Is very likely they gonna respond to the SR.

 

There is nothing much anyone of us can do beside waiting for our turn for interview. I know it's very frustrating where you've no clue on what's going on with your case.

 

Good luck to everyone who is in this situation.

[VG31 23]

1 hour ago, VG31 said:

Generally speaking when an i-130 is transferred to NBC usually they're not working on it. Your case is similar to mine and based on my conversation with my Attorney, both forms will be adjudicated at the time of interview. NBC doesn't process i-130.

 

There is no response receive on both SR for i-130 and i-485. Is very likely they gonna respond to the SR.

 

There is nothing much anyone of us can do beside waiting for our turn for interview. I know it's very frustrating where you've no clue on what's going on with your case.

 

Good luck to everyone who is in this situation.

Typo Correction - There is no response receive on both SR for i-130 and i-485. Is very likely they are NOT going to respond to the SR.

Edited October 30, 2019 by VG31