Does anyone front-load their AOS package?

[Matrix13 131]

As the title says, does anyone think it's an advantage to front-load an I-485 package with marriage bona fides (co-mingling of financials, evidence of relationship, etc.)? 

 

This would be for a K-1 adjustment of status.

 

And a related question: 

Is it true that EVERYONE gets an interview now (for K-1 AOS)? I swear I read that somewhere, but I can't seem to find it now. 

 

Thanks VJ'ers

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, Matrix13 said:

As the title says, does anyone think it's an advantage to front-load an I-485 package with marriage bona fides (co-mingling of financials, evidence of relationship, etc.)? 

 

This would be for a K-1 adjustment of status.

 

And a related question: 

Is it true that EVERYONE gets an interview now (for K-1 AOS)? I swear I read that somewhere, but I can't seem to find it now. 

 

Thanks VJ'ers

Not so much anymore more since an interview is required for all

[Zach2015 211]

5 minutes ago, Matrix13 said:

As the title says, does anyone think it's an advantage to front-load an I-485 package with marriage bona fides (co-mingling of financials, evidence of relationship, etc.)? 

 

This would be for a K-1 adjustment of status.

 

And a related question: 

Is it true that EVERYONE gets an interview now (for K-1 AOS)? I swear I read that somewhere, but I can't seem to find it now. 

 

Thanks VJ'ers

I will be filing mine hopefully next week and I am only giving them the required information. I am saving everything for the interview.

[Pitaya 2,577]

3 minutes ago, Matrix13 said:

As the title says, does anyone think it's an advantage to front-load an I-485 package with marriage bona fides (co-mingling of financials, evidence of relationship, etc.)?  There would likely be no practical purpose for "front-loading" an AOS application. Front-loading is a tactic generally used for known-difficult interviewing embassies/consulates. For example the Phils. would certainly not be considered a location where front-loading the K1 visa petition may be helpful. In contrast, the embassy in Nigeria would likely be a good place to have as much evidence presented to the interviewing CO prior to the interview. Additionally, you don't know where your AOS app is going to get adjudicated, It could be at a particular service center, or transferred to another service center, or even to a local field office.

 

This would be for a K-1 adjustment of status.

 

And a related question: 

Is it true that EVERYONE gets an interview now (for K-1 AOS)? I swear I read that somewhere, but I can't seem to find it now. Go ahead and read some monthly threads in the AOS Progress forum. I have seen it go both ways, where everyone gets interviewed, to where some get an interview waiver, but then get an ROC interview. We had an AOS interview from hell, but our ROC was approved without an interview. I think that a lot depends on the prevailing political wind, the workload and staffing needs for USCIS, and likely other things that we are not aware of. All you can really do, is to be prepared for any curves that USCIS throws at you. 

 

Thanks VJ'ers

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[payxibka 10,045]

3 minutes ago, Pitaya said:

Good luck on your immigration journey.

You were pre policy change.  Nobody gets a free pass anymore under current policy 

[SuznAaron 121]

26 minutes ago, Matrix13 said:

As the title says, does anyone think it's an advantage to front-load an I-485 package with marriage bona fides (co-mingling of financials, evidence of relationship, etc.)? 

 

This would be for a K-1 adjustment of status.

 

And a related question: 

Is it true that EVERYONE gets an interview now (for K-1 AOS)? I swear I read that somewhere, but I can't seem to find it now. 

 

Thanks VJ'ers

We front loaded just because we felt like it was easier for us to do so. Havent had our interview yet so cant say if its a benefit or not. Your choice it seems. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,814]

Effective May 15th 2018, K1 AOS applicants were removed from the list of those eligible to be waived the AOS interview. It's obviously a new protocol for "good" reason. 

I'm not sure what reason a reviewing officer COULD waive the interview for anymore and I havent seen a single one waived since.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

There is no benefit/advantage in front loading AOS. Every couple adjusting from a K-1 will be interviewed. That's when you must bring every document you have. 

 

So to file for adjustment, just follow the instructions and include what's mandatory.

[Nat&Amy 623]

I frontloaded my application with all evidence of bonafide marriage we had (join bank accounts and credit cards, a couple of wedding pictures, leasing contract in both names, etc) and when we got to our interview the IO was waiting with an approval notice she had produced the night before, right after reviewing our file.

 

Applied in Dec 2018, got GC in  March 2019. 

 

So yes, frontloading might make things easier because it gives the officer the chance to analize your evidence before you go to the interview, which is in many cases a mere formality to confirm some info and check some boxes. Even though it is not mandatory, I still have to hear about the cons of frontloading (spoiler alert: there are NONE). So if you have good, solid evidence, send it. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Nat&Amy

[payxibka 10,045]

Just now, Nat&Amy said:

I frontloaded my application with all evidence of bonafide marriage we had (join banck accounts and credit cards, a couple of wedding pictures, leasing contract in both names, etc) and when we got to our interview the IO was waiting with an approval notice she had produced the night before after reviewing our file.

 

Applied in Dec 2018, got GC in  March 2019. 

 

So yes, frontloading might make things easier because it gives the officer the chance to analize your evidence before you go to the interview, which is in many cases a mere formality to confirm some info and check some boxes. Even though it is not mandatory, I still have to hear about the cons of frontloading (spoiler alert: there are NONE). So if you have good, solid evidence, send it. 

Con is unduly delaying the submission of the application while you collect evidence 

[Nat&Amy 623]

Just now, payxibka said:

Con is unduly delaying the submission of the application while you collect evidence 

Collecting evidence for those who already have it is the easiest part, something a couple can do while waiting for their marriage certificate (since we got married in Maui, we had to wait 6 weeks for our marriage certificate anyway). Of course, for those that have nothing to show, then that's it, nothing to be done. My advice was: IF you have it, send it. It doesn't hurt your application and it doesn't cause delays if you plan things properly. 

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

16 minutes ago, Nat&Amy said:

So yes, frontloading might make things easier because it gives the officer the chance to analize your evidence before you go to the interview, which is in many cases a mere formality to confirm some info and check some boxes

I agree completely. I also think the policy of interviewing everybody is rediculous, time-consuming and counter-productive. They're even interviewing AOS applicants in Employment-based cases. Complete waste of time. They have to know that the majority of the cases are genuine and bona fide, and the minority are fake/sham. In my opinion, their time could be better used to develop techniques that could identify fake cases and focus on those rather than unduly burden the whole system. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,814]

2 hours ago, Nat&Amy said:

Collecting evidence for those who already have it is the easiest part, something a couple can do while waiting for their marriage certificate (since we got married in Maui, we had to wait 6 weeks for our marriage certificate anyway). Of course, for those that have nothing to show, then that's it, nothing to be done. My advice was: IF you have it, send it. It doesn't hurt your application and it doesn't cause delays if you plan things properly. 

I'll disagree. If everybody did that would leave the NBC with a huge unnecessary task. Who knows what kind of person your reviewer will be. Could have you put in the donkey pile and have to wait longer with an adjudicator that doesnt like their job.

[ecuaman1972 1]

does not hurt to frontload if you dont mind the extra use of your copy machine. Anything that helps the day of the interview, I say more power to you. Yes, new policy is everyone gets an interview. Extra organization is always a plus for their ability to make a quick fast decision for the face-to face. Good luck!

[Nat&Amy 623]

11 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

I'll disagree. If everybody did that would leave the NBC with a huge unnecessary task. Who knows what kind of person your reviewer will be. Could have you put in the donkey pile and have to wait longer with an adjudicator that doesnt like their job.

The NBC will merely check the basics and if your payment cleared. Nothing else. If you send an application with 5 pages or 50, at the end of the day it is not the NBC that will spend time looking at it. To say that frontloaded applications would cause problems is speculation at best.

 

To the OP, I offered my own experience frontloading and yes, it helped my case because otherwise the officer would not have been able to make a decision before I even entered her room for the interview. So I am reluctant to tell someone not to send documents when those are available and when there is evidence that IOs look at them before the interview.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Nat&Amy