GC interview at different/far away USCIS office

[AlicerCooper 32]

Hello,

 

I received my GC interview date and location today in the mail. 

 

When I filled out my forms I put Buffalo NY as our local office (2hrs away). We did my biometrics in Feb 2019 in the Buffalo office.

 

So I was surprised to see Latham NY (near Albany NY) listed as my local office for the GC interview next month. I had to look up where Latham was, it's a 6hr drive away from us. Even Pittsburgh is only 3hrs away! 

 

I phoned USCIS this morning and was told that they will NOT change my local office unless I have a disability. I said how financially costly and inconvenient this would be - probably 2 days off work for both myself and my husband, flights (or gas money), hotel... and the officer just told me there's nothing I can do. I have to go to Albany NY for my interview.

 

SO has anyone had this happen? Any advice of who to contact? 

 

Thank you

Alice

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

5 minutes ago, AlicerCooper said:

SO has anyone had this happen? Any advice of who to contact? 

Yes, not for AOS, but my brother-in-law had a naturalization interview scheduled at an office that is 5-6 hours away, not the usual office that we have, which is only 1.5 hours away. 

 

We were told that it is new policy. They now schedule that way to balance the interview load or something. 

 

No, there is nothing you can do. They're correct, they won't reschedule unless he has exceptional circumstances. 

 

What happened in my brother-in-law's case is, he actually missed his interview due to never received the interview notice, until receiving a notice that he missed the interview. We called USCIS, they re-scheduled. And now he's at the closer office! Go figure. 

 

P.S: Of course do not recommend you intentionally miss your interview to have an appointment at the closer office. There is no guarantee. And actually we had a little help from the inside too ^^ wink ^^ wink

[K1visaHopeful 2,872]

14 minutes ago, AlicerCooper said:

When I filled out my forms I put Buffalo NY as our local office (2hrs away). We did my biometrics in Feb 2019 in the Buffalo office.

 

Curious? How did you "put Buffalo NY"? You dont input what your LFO is.

NY state has some of the longest wait times in the country.

Both Buffalo and Albany report 11.5 to 25 months.

Recently they have taken on the initiative to get ppl processed faster by moving them to LFOs capable of processing you faster. That is most likely the case with you if in fact you are postive that Albany is not your LFO. It very well could be as it goes by zipcode. You can check here:

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices

but it may be irrelevant if they moved you to help with backlog.

This is a situation of counting your blessings really though seeing that you only filed in February.

[AlicerCooper 32]

19 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Curious? How did you "put Buffalo NY"? You dont input what your LFO is.

 

I thought I had to write it down somewhere, but maybe it was in my head. But in that case, seeing as we're in Pennsylvania and not NY, we shouldn't have been sent to Buffalo NY OR Albany NY (even though it's closer), and kept us in PA processing times/locations...? 

 

But yep I put in our zip code 16365 and our LO is Buffalo. In fact there's a lot of USCIS offices closer than Albany - Cleveland, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Syracuse... 

 

Yes I do think it's to do with backlog/processing things faster but at what cost? Looking like $500+ plus missed days at work for us....

 

 

[Whanlin 42]

Our Local is Memphis which is 3 hours away. There is a closer one to me in Ft. Smith, but for some reason thats not my office. It makes zero sense. BUT, The Ft. Smith office seems to be slower then Memphis so silver linings and all that. Memphis is a living nightmare to drive in tho

 

[AlicerCooper 32]

30 minutes ago, Whanlin said:

Our Local is Memphis which is 3 hours away. There is a closer one to me in Ft. Smith, but for some reason thats not my office. It makes zero sense. BUT, The Ft. Smith office seems to be slower then Memphis so silver linings and all that. Memphis is a living nightmare to drive in tho

 

That sucks too, did you ever contact them and ask for them to change it? I just don't get how they either expect us to drive 12hrs in one day for an interview...

[Whanlin 42]

9 minutes ago, AlicerCooper said:

That sucks too, did you ever contact them and ask for them to change it? I just don't get how they either expect us to drive 12hrs in one day for an interview...

Nah I was scared to rock the boat too much then I saw processing times between the two offices and decided we would just suck it up. For me its mainly the driving part. Like seriously Memphis traffic is the worst. We filed June 29th and we got the update that they have scheduled our interview and we are just waiting on the letter. So Id say thats pretty good time, I'll take it!

[SalishSea 18,076]

Be happy you have an interview.  Our LFO is taking 10.5-23 months to assign interviews.  We filed in November of 2018, and would happily travel if it meant we didn’t have to wait another year.

[AlicerCooper 32]

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Be happy you have an interview.  Our LFO is taking 10.5-23 months to assign interviews.  We filed in November of 2018, and would happily travel if it meant we didn’t have to wait another year.

 

Damn you must be made of money! That or you don't mind road trips at 2am through backwoods with deer everywhere, an interview, then another 6hr drive straight back home without sleep....  

 

 

[AlicerCooper 32]

18 hours ago, Whanlin said:

Nah I was scared to rock the boat too much then I saw processing times between the two offices and decided we would just suck it up. For me its mainly the driving part. Like seriously Memphis traffic is the worst. We filed June 29th and we got the update that they have scheduled our interview and we are just waiting on the letter. So Id say thats pretty good time, I'll take it!

 

Was there a big difference between the 2 offices processing times? Buffalo and Albany both have a 11 - 25 month processing time so I guess that's inaccurate info just like when they told us the wait time for EAD/AP... 

[Whanlin 42]

4 hours ago, AlicerCooper said:

 

Was there a big difference between the 2 offices processing times? Buffalo and Albany both have a 11 - 25 month processing time so I guess that's inaccurate info just like when they told us the wait time for EAD/AP... 

There was. Memphis at one time was going between 5.5 to 10 months. Its  back up to 12 months now tho. Ft. Smith was running up to 25.5 months. These processing times are not gospel as you know but it does give an indication as to how busy an office is. Memphis with all its crappy traffic is a silver lining because they just arent as busy as other offices. 

[Carpe Vinum 2,330]

On 9/24/2019 at 8:14 AM, Whanlin said:

Our Local is Memphis which is 3 hours away. There is a closer one to me in Ft. Smith, but for some reason thats not my office. It makes zero sense. BUT, The Ft. Smith office seems to be slower then Memphis so silver linings and all that. Memphis is a living nightmare to drive in tho

 

There are a lot of downstate IL counties that are very close to St. Louis that have to make the trip to Chicago...

[payxibka 10,047]

3 minutes ago, boris64 said:

There are a lot of downstate IL counties that are very close to St. Louis that have to make the trip to Chicago...

North and South Dakota has to go to Minneapolis 

[Whanlin 42]

3 minutes ago, boris64 said:

There are a lot of downstate IL counties that are very close to St. Louis that have to make the trip to Chicago...

its odd. Must have something to do with work load maybe? 

[Carpe Vinum 2,330]

1 minute ago, Whanlin said:

its odd. Must have something to do with work load maybe? 

St Louis is much faster than Chicago....If they told me I had to go to Chicago I might even move to St. Paul)))