Infopass appointment went GREAT!

[Magnolia31 0]

For those of you who have been following my dilemma, here is an update and HOPEFULLY some encouragement to someone else who may end up in my situation and not know what to do. I love posting my experiences just because I hope that it may help someone else out.

For those who are not familiar and have not seen past posts of mine, my issue was the fact that my husband is going to deploy to Iraq on August 5th, and not knowing how my AOS will turn out. I was extremely worried that something may go wrong and I did not want that to happen with my husband getting ready to leave for 400+ days. I did what some of you recommended - Infopass!

We had our infopass appt. this morning at 11:45 in Chicago. We got to speak to an immigration officer. We explained that we filed for AOS a little while ago, still haven't heard anything, and that my husband is headed for Iraq on August 5th. She made a call to someone named Marylin, who happened to be out sick that day. At first I thought oh gosh, here we go again, we came here for nothing, but then she told us to go up to the 2nd floor and ask for a supervisor. We waited for about 15 minutes and then this very nice lady came out to speak to us. Again, we explained about my husband going to Iraq and that we were worried about the whole AOS thing. Not only that, but if my husband gets injured in Iraq, the military will fly me down to see him ... and without a GC, I can't get back in the country. The lady seemed very understanding and told us she was going to track my case, and for us to wait a few minutes until she could get that info. She came back within 10 minutes and told us that they still didn't even get my case transferred over to them. She said it usually takes between 30-90 days. However, she was going to request our case files and start getting it worked on immediately. She told us that in cases like this, there is some sort of military clause or whatever and that we will definitely be getting our interview BEFORE my husband leaves August 5th. She even gave me her phone number and address, and said that if we don't hear anything within a short period of time, call her back immediately. This day has been a great relief for me and my husband!

I am a little upset because I had called USCIS a few weeks ago to see if there was a way to have things expedited and the lady I spoke with on the phone, basically laughed and told me I had to wait in line with the rest of them and that there were no special military privileges. I am angry that she gave me such a misinformed answer. Anyhow ....

I am glad this is cleared up and things are gonna start getting processed soon. I really hope that if anyone else happens to be in this situation, they find my post. Make an Infopass appointment and I swear, they can get things moving along faster in a case like this. Oh, and for the record, if you have not applied for AOS but are getting ready to and your husband is going to deploy, send a copy of his orders in the packet along with a letter stating that you would like to request priority for your case due to the deployment. We were asked why we did not do this. Well, reason we did not is because we did not know at that time that he was leaving.

So, I hope that this will help someone. If not, it was still a pleasure getting to share my pleasant experience with the rest of you. The people in Chicago were awesome. Everyone was pretty friendly!

[John & Annie 0]

For those of you who have been following my dilemma, here is an update and HOPEFULLY some encouragement to someone else who may end up in my situation and not know what to do. I love posting my experiences just because I hope that it may help someone else out.

For those who are not familiar and have not seen past posts of mine, my issue was the fact that my husband is going to deploy to Iraq on August 5th, and not knowing how my AOS will turn out. I was extremely worried that something may go wrong and I did not want that to happen with my husband getting ready to leave for 400+ days. I did what some of you recommended - Infopass!

We had our infopass appt. this morning at 11:45 in Chicago. We got to speak to an immigration officer. We explained that we filed for AOS a little while ago, still haven't heard anything, and that my husband is headed for Iraq on August 5th. She made a call to someone named Marylin, who happened to be out sick that day. At first I thought oh gosh, here we go again, we came here for nothing, but then she told us to go up to the 2nd floor and ask for a supervisor. We waited for about 15 minutes and then this very nice lady came out to speak to us. Again, we explained about my husband going to Iraq and that we were worried about the whole AOS thing. Not only that, but if my husband gets injured in Iraq, the military will fly me down to see him ... and without a GC, I can't get back in the country. The lady seemed very understanding and told us she was going to track my case, and for us to wait a few minutes until she could get that info. She came back within 10 minutes and told us that they still didn't even get my case transferred over to them. She said it usually takes between 30-90 days. However, she was going to request our case files and start getting it worked on immediately. She told us that in cases like this, there is some sort of military clause or whatever and that we will definitely be getting our interview BEFORE my husband leaves August 5th. She even gave me her phone number and address, and said that if we don't hear anything within a short period of time, call her back immediately. This day has been a great relief for me and my husband!

I am a little upset because I had called USCIS a few weeks ago to see if there was a way to have things expedited and the lady I spoke with on the phone, basically laughed and told me I had to wait in line with the rest of them and that there were no special military privileges. I am angry that she gave me such a misinformed answer. Anyhow ....

I am glad this is cleared up and things are gonna start getting processed soon. I really hope that if anyone else happens to be in this situation, they find my post. Make an Infopass appointment and I swear, they can get things moving along faster in a case like this. Oh, and for the record, if you have not applied for AOS but are getting ready to and your husband is going to deploy, send a copy of his orders in the packet along with a letter stating that you would like to request priority for your case due to the deployment. We were asked why we did not do this. Well, reason we did not is because we did not know at that time that he was leaving.

So, I hope that this will help someone. If not, it was still a pleasure getting to share my pleasant experience with the rest of you. The people in Chicago were awesome. Everyone was pretty friendly!

That is great news.

If I may make a suggestion, the USCIS Ombudsman has been attacking the "miss" information line for some time. I think it would be great if you added your story to his documentation.

[Karly-n-Bruce 0]

Congrats, that's great news!!

[Magnolia31 0]

For those of you who have been following my dilemma, here is an update and HOPEFULLY some encouragement to someone else who may end up in my situation and not know what to do. I love posting my experiences just because I hope that it may help someone else out.

For those who are not familiar and have not seen past posts of mine, my issue was the fact that my husband is going to deploy to Iraq on August 5th, and not knowing how my AOS will turn out. I was extremely worried that something may go wrong and I did not want that to happen with my husband getting ready to leave for 400+ days. I did what some of you recommended - Infopass!

We had our infopass appt. this morning at 11:45 in Chicago. We got to speak to an immigration officer. We explained that we filed for AOS a little while ago, still haven't heard anything, and that my husband is headed for Iraq on August 5th. She made a call to someone named Marylin, who happened to be out sick that day. At first I thought oh gosh, here we go again, we came here for nothing, but then she told us to go up to the 2nd floor and ask for a supervisor. We waited for about 15 minutes and then this very nice lady came out to speak to us. Again, we explained about my husband going to Iraq and that we were worried about the whole AOS thing. Not only that, but if my husband gets injured in Iraq, the military will fly me down to see him ... and without a GC, I can't get back in the country. The lady seemed very understanding and told us she was going to track my case, and for us to wait a few minutes until she could get that info. She came back within 10 minutes and told us that they still didn't even get my case transferred over to them. She said it usually takes between 30-90 days. However, she was going to request our case files and start getting it worked on immediately. She told us that in cases like this, there is some sort of military clause or whatever and that we will definitely be getting our interview BEFORE my husband leaves August 5th. She even gave me her phone number and address, and said that if we don't hear anything within a short period of time, call her back immediately. This day has been a great relief for me and my husband!

I am a little upset because I had called USCIS a few weeks ago to see if there was a way to have things expedited and the lady I spoke with on the phone, basically laughed and told me I had to wait in line with the rest of them and that there were no special military privileges. I am angry that she gave me such a misinformed answer. Anyhow ....

I am glad this is cleared up and things are gonna start getting processed soon. I really hope that if anyone else happens to be in this situation, they find my post. Make an Infopass appointment and I swear, they can get things moving along faster in a case like this. Oh, and for the record, if you have not applied for AOS but are getting ready to and your husband is going to deploy, send a copy of his orders in the packet along with a letter stating that you would like to request priority for your case due to the deployment. We were asked why we did not do this. Well, reason we did not is because we did not know at that time that he was leaving.

So, I hope that this will help someone. If not, it was still a pleasure getting to share my pleasant experience with the rest of you. The people in Chicago were awesome. Everyone was pretty friendly!

That is great news.

If I may make a suggestion, the USCIS Ombudsman has been attacking the "miss" information line for some time. I think it would be great if you added your story to his documentation.

Oh really? How do I go about doing that? I would love doing that. It's a shame that we call that number and get so much inaccurate information. The whole Iraq/expedite issue wasn't my only issue with them. I had also called them a few months ago to find out info about the I-693A vaccination supplement form. The woman I spoke with was very rude and argued with me for 5 minutes, telling me there is no such thing - only I693 which is the entire exam. I told her, "No, it is the vaccination supplement form that gets transferred from your DS-3025" and oh my, she got loud with me and put me on hold. Another woman picked up and she knew exactly what I was talking about! I cannot believe what misinformed people answer questions on that line sometimes.

Anyhow, how do I add my story? Thanks!

Congrats, that's great news!!

Yeah, it is! Thank you!

[John & Annie 0]

Here is a link to the web page for the ombudsman.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

[Magnolia31 0]

Here is a link to the web page for the ombudsman.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

Cool, thanks. I'm going to go look at it now!

[Magnolia31 0]

Here is a link to the web page for the ombudsman.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

Help LOL! Exactly where should I send it to? I'm lost.

Should I email it to this email address? Send your comments, examples, and suggestions regarding this issue to the Ombudsman at cisombudsman.trends@dhs.gov

[John & Annie 0]

Here is a link to the web page for the ombudsman.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

Help LOL! Exactly where should I send it to? I'm lost.

Should I email it to this email address? Send your comments, examples, and suggestions regarding this issue to the Ombudsman at cisombudsman.trends@dhs.gov

That is where i would send it to

[Magnolia31 0]

Here is a link to the web page for the ombudsman.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

Help LOL! Exactly where should I send it to? I'm lost.

Should I email it to this email address? Send your comments, examples, and suggestions regarding this issue to the Ombudsman at cisombudsman.trends@dhs.gov

That is where i would send it to

OK, that is where it will go then. What do you think about the recent loss of I-693's? Do you think that should be complained about to the Ombudsman too? Seems like quite a few people had their records lost and needed new medical exams although it hadn't even been a year.

[KarenCee 3]

Congratulations Sandra...I hope this gets processed quickly for you and your husband. May I extend my thoughts to you both as he prepares to be deployed.

[Magnolia31 0]

Congratulations Sandra...I hope this gets processed quickly for you and your husband. May I extend my thoughts to you both as he prepares to be deployed.

Thank you and yes, it got processed right away! I just received my letter in the mail saying Ive been granted the GC.

[judester 0]

Congratulations Sandra...I hope this gets processed quickly for you and your husband. May I extend my thoughts to you both as he prepares to be deployed.

Thank you and yes, it got processed right away! I just received my letter in the mail saying Ive been granted the GC.

Congrats!

Be strong and tell your husband to stay safe. Let him know that there are so many of us that respect his courage. We will always support our troops! They need us behind them now more than ever. (contrary to what is reported in the "media"!).

God Bless...

JUDESTER

[hollywood79 0]

Congrats on your green card!!

I have an infopass appoinment next week to fix their mistakes. I hope it goes as well as yours!!

The people who take our calls at the USCIS number are dumb!! I called up about changing an error and he couldn't help me. Just said he could provide only general info not complicated info. SO why is there an information service if they can't help you??

I too am married to a Captain!! I hope your husband comes home safe to you!!

[Cécy 44]

So good to hear that they fastforwarded your process.

You should post your advice about this in the pinned "applying for AOS in the US" post. That way it will always stay easily accessible no matter how much time passes.

I'm not in your case, but I think for everyone who has a spouse in the military it's really good to know. Thanks for sharing.

And it's good to know that they make sure things go easier for those in your case, it's hard enough as it is for the soldiers.