February 2020 AOS Filers (Part 2)

[cbro20 53]

12 minutes ago, LilyKins said:

Wait, I must have missed something -- you guys got RFE'd for the I-944 even though you submitted prior to the date? How did you handle that? Did you just submit it or did you provide proof that you submitted prior to the deadline?

 

Congratulations on your approval, by the way!! It must be such a relief to be finished this step of the process  

My wife arrived on February 8. We rushed to get married for the sole purpose of sending in our package before the rule went into effect. We mailed the package through USPS on February 20th (the rule went into effect on the 24th I think), and we got receipt notices, so figured we were in the clear. Others who were sending their packages in after the deadline were getting the packages returned if they didn’t include an I-944. But we got text notifications and all that.

 

We didn’t hear anything until an RFE came in June asking for an updated I-485 with the I-944. We thought about trying to fight it and send proof that we mailed before the deadline but just figured it’d be safer to give them what they wanted. Took over a month to assemble everything related to the I-944.

 

Same thing happened to a few others who submitted before the deadline. Whether because of clerical error or whatever, who knows. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by cbro20

[OhShush 25]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I had my AOS (through marriage) interview in Chicago on February 10. It went really well. I would say that 80% of the interview was when the IO went through my I-485. She confirmed some information (she asked my current address, previous address, my father’s name, mother’s name, about my F-1 visa before, who paid for my schooling in the US, and who do I lived with back in California) then it was my husband’s turn and they went over his I-130 application. It was mostly just confirming some stuff he put in there, too. (His parents’ name, where do they live now, his previous address, if he remembers the apartment number).

 

Then the IO asked if there are any changes since I filed, I said I am currently employed through the EAD they sent me back in August, she asked to see my hire letter and my paystub. I also said my husband switched jobs, then she asked to see some paystubs. 
 

She also asked for some original documents, like my birth certificate, marriage license, my passports, my husband’s naturalization certificate, and my social security. I brought more documents than I should but I only pulled the ones she asked for. 
 

She also went through our proof of bona fide marriage. I included some in my application but I brought more for the interview. I brought photos after I filed (we didn’t have a lot because we couldn’t really go out during this time because of the pandemic), health insurance info, dental insurance info, life insurance info, rental agreement with our names in it, credit card with me as his authorized user, letter from Chase that states that we have a joint account and the date when we started the account, of bank statements (6 months), more pictures from our wedding, cards we received for our wedding.

 

The IO did not look at all of those but she took them with her. And then she asked us how we met, how did we notify our parents that we are getting married, if my family has met him before, why he decided to propose to me sooner than expected, where and when we got married. 
 

So after that, she asked if we are aware of conditional residency. We said yes. She kind of went over it briefly but she also said that we have to wait for 120 days for a decision. She was a young IO so I kind of expected that she wouldn’t approve of our application right away. After I got out of the building, my I-485 changed to “Interview is Completed but the Case Must Be Reviewed” then the next day, it updated to “Card is Being Produced”

 

Sorry for the long entry but I just wanted to share my experience to all of you. Yes we waited, and it was frustrating but it was all worth it. Can’t wait to share my journey again with you all when I file for ROC. Please let us all keep in touch and let us all encourage each other because I know we will all make it! Thank you my VJ family! You guys have been my rock in my immigration journey as this thread helped me a lot.

[brainless69 251]

5 hours ago, OhShush said:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I had my AOS (through marriage) interview in Chicago on February 10. It went really well. I would say that 80% of the interview was when the IO went through my I-485. She confirmed some information (she asked my current address, previous address, my father’s name, mother’s name, about my F-1 visa before, who paid for my schooling in the US, and who do I lived with back in California) then it was my husband’s turn and they went over his I-130 application. It was mostly just confirming some stuff he put in there, too. (His parents’ name, where do they live now, his previous address, if he remembers the apartment number).

 

Then the IO asked if there are any changes since I filed, I said I am currently employed through the EAD they sent me back in August, she asked to see my hire letter and my paystub. I also said my husband switched jobs, then she asked to see some paystubs. 
 

She also asked for some original documents, like my birth certificate, marriage license, my passports, my husband’s naturalization certificate, and my social security. I brought more documents than I should but I only pulled the ones she asked for. 
 

She also went through our proof of bona fide marriage. I included some in my application but I brought more for the interview. I brought photos after I filed (we didn’t have a lot because we couldn’t really go out during this time because of the pandemic), health insurance info, dental insurance info, life insurance info, rental agreement with our names in it, credit card with me as his authorized user, letter from Chase that states that we have a joint account and the date when we started the account, of bank statements (6 months), more pictures from our wedding, cards we received for our wedding.

 

The IO did not look at all of those but she took them with her. And then she asked us how we met, how did we notify our parents that we are getting married, if my family has met him before, why he decided to propose to me sooner than expected, where and when we got married. 
 

So after that, she asked if we are aware of conditional residency. We said yes. She kind of went over it briefly but she also said that we have to wait for 120 days for a decision. She was a young IO so I kind of expected that she wouldn’t approve of our application right away. After I got out of the building, my I-485 changed to “Interview is Completed but the Case Must Be Reviewed” then the next day, it updated to “Card is Being Produced”

 

Sorry for the long entry but I just wanted to share my experience to all of you. Yes we waited, and it was frustrating but it was all worth it. Can’t wait to share my journey again with you all when I file for ROC. Please let us all keep in touch and let us all encourage each other because I know we will all make it! Thank you my VJ family! You guys have been my rock in my immigration journey as this thread helped me a lot.

Thanks for the review! I have my i485 interview coming up in Chicago so will be good to know what to expect! can i ask how long was it from the notification online to you receiving the postal notification with interview date? I am currently at 8 days and still no post from USCIS.. just curious if i should wait till begining of next week or try and contact them now?

[Loveusafreedom 3]

QUESTION:
What happened if the FBI cant read fingerprints from a second time? 

----------------------------------

My fourth attempt to do biometrics at the Chicago-Norridge location. The first and third attempts failed because they were closed, second failed because the person who did biometrics was careless.

This time 6 out of 10 fingers were a mismatch, but the funniest is that I corrected the fingerprinted person 3 times that she was taking the wrong finger (on the screen you can see which finger they are taking), and she corrected it. Also, her hands were shaking like hell.

After everything she didn't give me my passport back, I asked her a couple of times to double-check if she has it, only after a couple of attempts from me, she finally looked around her table and found my passport and then she apologized. 

 

[OhShush 25]

On 2/12/2021 at 2:15 PM, brainless69 said:

Thanks for the review! I have my i485 interview coming up in Chicago so will be good to know what to expect! can i ask how long was it from the notification online to you receiving the postal notification with interview date? I am currently at 8 days and still no post from USCIS.. just curious if i should wait till begining of next week or try and contact them now?

Hi, they posted the interview notification on USCIS website on January 8th and I believe I didn't receive the mail until January 16th

[Jish&Abt 48]

Does anyone know the current processing time for AOS? Our receipt number starts with MSC, so i am not sure which service center or field office i am supposed to look for in uscis page for processing time. We are waiting from Nov 6th 2020 with the status " case ready to be scheduled for an interview". 

Thank you

Jish

[LilyKins 121]

Just got the update that our interview was scheduled!! ❤️ 

[B3M 55]

2 hours ago, LilyKins said:

Just got the update that our interview was scheduled!! ❤️ 

When did you file? 

I am still waiting for an interview to be scheduled here 

[OhShush 25]

21 hours ago, Jish&Abt said:

Does anyone know the current processing time for AOS? Our receipt number starts with MSC, so i am not sure which service center or field office i am supposed to look for in uscis page for processing time. We are waiting from Nov 6th 2020 with the status " case ready to be scheduled for an interview". 

Thank you

Jish

Hi, it is my understanding that processing times differ in every field offices. Mine is in Chicago, IL(Chicago has slower processing times in everything). I filed February 2020 and they updated my I-485 to “case ready to be scheduled for an interview” on April 7, 2020, then they finally scheduled me for an interview which was on February 10, 2021. I hope this helps!

[Jish&Abt 48]

32 minutes ago, OhShush said:

Hi, it is my understanding that processing times differ in every field offices. Mine is in Chicago, IL(Chicago has slower processing times in everything). I filed February 2020 and they updated my I-485 to “case ready to be scheduled for an interview” on April 7, 2020, then they finally scheduled me for an interview which was on February 10, 2021. I hope this helps!

Thank you for your response, wow it took almost 10 months  to schedule an interview. How can i find my field office, we are located in MD. Also our EAD will expire on November 2021, should we start the renewing process?

 

Thank you

Jish 

[LilyKins 121]

51 minutes ago, B3M said:

When did you file? 

I am still waiting for an interview to be scheduled here 

Hi!! It's all in my signature -- we sent our package via USPS on Feb 22, 2020 and it was received Feb 25, 2020. We thankfully got it in before the I-944 changes went into effect. Long wait for biometrics, but those were finally completed in October and our case as been ready to schedule until today, so just over 100 days from biometrics collection.

[LilyKins 121]

Update -- finally got a call back from a tier two officer regarding the change of address request that went awry, and he was able to view my interview notice and confirm that our interview was scheduled at the wrong field office. So, false alarm on that interview notice, I guess.

 

Now, the service request to change/reschedule the interview will go directly to the Pittsburgh FO and hopefully the queue for an interview isn't too long over there. Sigh, this is a challenging enough process without these types of hurdles to overcome, too.

[andyazcu 230]

We are waiting patiently in NYC for our interview to be scheduled. Has been in "ready to schedule" status since April 2020 but I know NYC is one of the slowest offices.....😩

[klgck 153]

My interview has been scheduled as of February 17th! I checked the site yesterday and hadn't updated. But just saw that it updated today. Awaiting the letter in the mail now! I was about to send my EAD renewal in on Monday, so I'm glad I can avoid that.

[BradandStef 25]

Same . Got notified that my interview was scheduled on 02/17. Just waiting on the mail. So glad I got to skip renewing my work permit. 
Field office: Philadelphia