AOS interview successful, but waiting for FBI name check

[rebeccajo 14]

I was wondering at what point (after Interview/or Submission of AOS), what procedures should be taken to see if I can find out more about where I stand (such as the Ombudsman).

I know it's all in this thread, but 76 pages seems alot to wade through, so I would appreciate if someone could give a rundown of what can be done.

Thanks,

Michael

You filed in early November and interviewed late December, correct?

You're really early into this. With any luck you'll come out ok.

I don't know what the processing times are for your local office. And yes I realize those times may be for employment based I485 but hey what else are we gonna use. Wait till 30 days after that.

[Estella76 0]

Eight months average? Wow I never knew that. I sent in my application mid May and just received the GC in hand two days ago which is exactly 8 months. I agree that USCIS SHOULD let people know this is an estimated wait time. During our interview, our officer looked at us cross-eyed, and said that a submission in May with an interview August 30, should have already had all FBI name checks complete. He also said that pending namechecks were very rare and he did not know what in the world could have been holding up our application. I left in tears thinking something was wrong and that we were just freaks. I mean I live in NYC which has more than its share of immigration cases and this dude told me our case was not in the norm. If he would have been honest and let us know this is at the time of interview, I would not have felt like maybe something was wrong and would not have been as upset. It would have made the "black hole" seem a lot less vast and given some light at the end of the tunnel. Now I know that all officers MUST know about these namecheck delays since they are all over the news and the thorn in the USCIS side, so why do they blatantly lie and play stupid? It makes me angry they treat us with such disrespect. Anyway that is just my rant...

[kim&james 0]

Well its been 6 months since I filed so off I went this morning to my first infopass appointment.

My namecheck is still pending. (#######)

New Orleans is still processing 2005 marriage applications due to Hurricane Katrina. In this area, can expect to not hear anything for another 9 - 12 months. (no sign of an interview nor likely too)

My case is still at Missouri. (I hope it is comfy on that shelf)

With James being transferred to Alabama, the officer said it would be quicker (hopefully) as I would then be processed at Atlanta. One other question I had was .. will I go to the back of the line in Atlanta or will it go from my original date.. she couldnt tell me.

Oh well.... the wait continues.

[BlueRaiderUK 0]

You filed in early November and interviewed late December, correct?

You're really early into this. With any luck you'll come out ok.

I don't know what the processing times are for your local office. And yes I realize those times may be for employment based I485 but hey what else are we gonna use. Wait till 30 days after that.

Well I do realize it can take several months or years, however the Officer who interviewed me said it should take 3-6 months to complete, and those 3 months start in a couple of days.

It's kind of annoying, because you would think that since I'm from the UK, and my family and my wife's family are the only ones in our respective countries with our last names that the processing would be quick. But I guess not. As you know Rebecca I want to begin studying, I don't want it to take any longer than the beginning of next year.

But I saw how long yourself and others here have been waiting, so perhaps I shouldn't complain just yet.

Michael

[rebeccajo 14]

You filed in early November and interviewed late December, correct?

You're really early into this. With any luck you'll come out ok.

I don't know what the processing times are for your local office. And yes I realize those times may be for employment based I485 but hey what else are we gonna use. Wait till 30 days after that.

Well I do realize it can take several months or years, however the Officer who interviewed me said it should take 3-6 months to complete, and those 3 months start in a couple of days.

It's kind of annoying, because you would think that since I'm from the UK, and my family and my wife's family are the only ones in our respective countries with our last names that the processing would be quick. But I guess not. As you know Rebecca I want to begin studying, I don't want it to take any longer than the beginning of next year.

But I saw how long yourself and others here have been waiting, so perhaps I shouldn't complain just yet.

Michael

Don't think I'm admonishing you - or that I'm telling you to sit still just because we've had a hard time. That's not where I'm coming from.

lal_brandow has been 'maintaining' this thread and she's studied the trend it shows so far. It appears that MOST of these cases get resolved within 6-8 months. So that's what I meant when I suggested you give it more time. The other trend shown is if it takes longer than one year - well you are probably - screwed.

We talked about the use of Soundex by the FBI for namechecks in another thread. The interesting point of that discovery is that it isn't JUST your personal surname used to come up with the hits. In our case, Soundex gives FIVE other surnames they will check in addition to ours. Plus, it's my personal belief that an English surname gives you higher odds of having a hit on any type of record in the US - after all, many Americans have English surnames!

And not to sh*t in your mess kit any further (cause that's not my intention) but our officer also told us it USUALLY takes 3 to 6 months. So there ya go......

[zsam 0]

So we went to our "cancelled" interview today and were told that now interviews were not being conducted unless you have cleared the FBI namecheck process. I saw someone ask this question a while back so i thought i'd add the very little information i found.

Quick q: when you place an inquiry with USCIS do they tell you that you are stuck in namecheck? We are not being told anything and have inquired 2 times..6 months ago. We also wrote to the USCIS, no luck there. The rude infopass officer told us that I need to wait and that she can't do anything (which I knew).

So I think we're in the same boat as other people in this thread...but we also have no EAD...no interim one either...missouri is totally silent.

[rebeccajo 14]

zsam, you need to file a FOIA request and you need to seek congressional assistance. You at least have the right to know what the status of your case is.

Edited February 1, 2007 by rebeccajo

[zsam 0]

Thanks Rebbecajo..good advice. I tried the congress route, no help but will try again...

definitely FOIA is a good idea. I will have to dig up my old files. I had done research on it while our initial I-130 was pending. (we withdrew and refiled per our attorney's advice).

Thanks again...

[WifeOHunkyJohn 2]

164 days and counting...

Well it was either that or say "bump"... and that didn't seem to be all that positive.

On a side note, I got a letter from Senator Boxer about being stuck in the FBI name check...

It says:

Thank you for your recent correspondence to Senator Boxer requesting assistance on an immigration problem.

I have sent an inquiry to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, due to the sensitive nature of security clearances, our office is unable to request expeditious processing of your name check. The enquiry will only reveal the status of your case.

The average time for an agency response is approximately eight weeks. If you do not hear from our office after eight weeks, please call me at (415) 403-0100.

Thank you for writing.

So an enquiry is in, and we will hear in a bit that we are "pending", but at least we are making communications and getting things in writing - makes me feel like we are getting somewhere even when we are really not.

Gotta love the process, sigh.

Anyway, that's my bump. Here's to some good news for all those pending. A new month, a new optimism...

[Traditions Way 0]

I just want to know guys if your case has been touched recently or when was the last time it was touched? Ours never been touched for 3 months since our AOS interview.

[rebeccajo 14]

Our last touch was June 22, 2006.

Our NOA1 is 443 days old.

[Samra 0]

I just want to know guys if your case has been touched recently or when was the last time it was touched? Ours never been touched for 3 months since our AOS interview.

i have only been touched once since our interview, months ago, and that seemed to be when they updated some verbiage to all applications.

[Donna A 4]

i have only been touched once since our interview, months ago, and that seemed to be when they updated some verbiage to all applications.

the same for us. last date was feb 14, 2006

[Synthetrix 0]

I just want to know guys if your case has been touched recently or when was the last time it was touched? Ours never been touched for 3 months since our AOS interview.

We applied for AOS at the end of May 2006, had our AOS interview in August and were told that the name check was pending. The last time our case was touched was October 7, 2006. My wife is from Hong Kong.

[Immigrant 0]

Our last touch was 10/09/2006