AOS interview delay due to moving to another state

[EvaYogiBear 0]

Hello, 

 

Has anyone experienced any delays after requesting for AOS interview to be re-scheduled when moving to another state?

 

We moved from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina at the beginning of January and unfortunately the NYC office decided to finally schedule our AOS interview exactly in the period of time that we were in between homes and before they had received our change of address notice. We requested a new AOS interview date for Charlotte and we were told we would get a new date within 90 days - it has been well over that timeframe now and we still haven't heard a thing. We have already submitted an inquiry, but was wondering whether anyone had experienced any delays when moving to another state? Or perhaps the Charlotte office is particularly backlogged? 

 

It's so frustrating that we literally had an interview date and would have finished this whole immigration saga months ago,  but just because we moved now we have no idea when we will get our interview😭

 

Thanks!

 

[cbro20 53]

This simply depends on the scheduling capacity of the field office you’re dealing with. The fact that your interview was scheduled in NY doesn’t mean anything in regards to the Charlotte office. Charlotte will get around to you when it’s your turn based on your PD.

 

The opposite can happen FWIW. My wife and I started the AOS process in Minneapolis, which has longer-than-average processing times. We thought it would never end. When we changed our address to Des Moines, we basically instantly received a notification that our interview had been scheduled because Des Moines has like 2 immigrants total and processes things quickly. Charlotte could just be slow for whatever reason.

 

However it doesn’t hurt to try and aggressively stay on top of things. Address changes can be sketchy when it comes to USCIS and you want to be sure you haven’t missed an interview notice. I realize that this is pointless now and unhelpful, but I would have attended your NY interview as originally scheduled, even if it would have been inconvenient and required travel.

Edited May 17, 2021 by cbro20

[EvaYogiBear 0]

2 minutes ago, cbro20 said:

This simply depends on the scheduling capacity of the field office you’re dealing with. The fact that your interview was scheduled in NY doesn’t mean anything in regards to the Charlotte office. Charlotte will get around to you when it’s your turn based on your PD.

 

The opposite can happen FWIW. My wife and I started the AOS process in Minneapolis, which has longer-than-average processing times. We thought it would never end. When we changed our address to Des Moines, we basically instantly received a notification that our interview had been scheduled because Des Moines has like 2 immigrants total and processes things quickly. Charlotte could just be slow for whatever reason.

 

However it doesn’t hurt to try and aggressively stay on top of things. Address changes can be sketchy when it comes to USCIS and you want to be sure you haven’t missed an interview notice. I realize that this is pointless now and unhelpful, but I would have attended your NY interview as originally scheduled, even if inconvenient.

Thank you for your response. 

 

Oh, we so wanted to go to the NY interview, believe me!! But our lawyer told us we were not allowed, apparently you can only go the an interview that is scheduled for the office where you currently live/are "registered" with.  

By the time we got the interview notice for that NY interview we had already officially notified USCIS of our change of address - literally just, they probably scheduled our NY interview moments before they got our change of address notification or something, at least that's how I'm picturing it in my mind lol. The timing of it all was just terrible and extremely unlucky, we basically got caught in some sort of communication "lag". 

 

Yes, we thought it would actually be better going from NYC to Charlotte, since NYC's offices were closed for way longer due to the pandemic and we had already been waiting for this AOS interview for 1 year...but it appears that the Charlotte office is just as busy, or even busier...😔

 

Sorry, when you say "Charlotte will get around to you when it’s your turn based on your PD" - what is "PD"? 😅

 

How can I check on things? Can I call USCIS or the Charlotte office myself and ask for an update? I thought that kind of approach was a "no no"...

 

Thanks!

 

[cbro20 53]

42 minutes ago, EvaYogiBear said:

Thank you for your response. 

 

Oh, we so wanted to go to the NY interview, believe me!! But our lawyer told us we were not allowed, apparently you can only go the an interview that is scheduled for the office where you currently live/are "registered" with.  

By the time we got the interview notice for that NY interview we had already officially notified USCIS of our change of address - literally just, they probably scheduled our NY interview moments before they got our change of address notification or something, at least that's how I'm picturing it in my mind lol. The timing of it all was just terrible and extremely unlucky, we basically got caught in some sort of communication "lag". 

 

Yes, we thought it would actually be better going from NYC to Charlotte, since NYC's offices were closed for way longer due to the pandemic and we had already been waiting for this AOS interview for 1 year...but it appears that the Charlotte office is just as busy, or even busier...😔

 

Sorry, when you say "Charlotte will get around to you when it’s your turn based on your PD" - what is "PD"? 😅

 

How can I check on things? Can I call USCIS or the Charlotte office myself and ask for an update? I thought that kind of approach was a "no no"...

 

Thanks!

 

PD (priority date) basically means the date your application was received by USCIS. Someone with a PD of February 14, 2020 will receive an interview before someone with a PD of February 15, 2020, at least that is how USCIS is supposed to process things.

 

Charlotte simply could be processing PD’s that come before yours, whereas NYC had reached your place in the queue.

 

And if it were me, I would call USCIS customer service every 2 weeks or so to see if the interview has been rescheduled. While a Tier 1 can’t tell you the interview date, they can verify whether an interview has been scheduled/notice mailed. They can also verify whether USCIS has your new address in the system correctly. That might be kind of on the paranoid side, but reduces the risk that you’ll miss an interview notice in the mail (which should be coming soon) and get denied. Again, address changes can be sketchy, and the online tracker doesn’t always update (especially for rescheduled interviews).

 

And your lawyer was technically correct that officers lack jurisdiction to adjudicate an AOS application once address is changed. However, the USCIS officer will often just adjudicate the AOS application anyway if the applicant shows up. But there is a risk that the officer would refuse to adjudicate it, yes (but worst case is that you’d have to reschedule).

Edited May 17, 2021 by cbro20

[K1visaHopeful 2,814]

Look up I485 processing times on the website for NC.

 

It will tell you there what PD is outside of normal processing times.

 

No need to call except once to confirm your address has actually been changed.

[EvaYogiBear 0]

17 hours ago, cbro20 said:

PD (priority date) basically means the date your application was received by USCIS. Someone with a PD of February 14, 2020 will receive an interview before someone with a PD of February 15, 2020, at least that is how USCIS is supposed to process things.

 

Charlotte simply could be processing PD’s that come before yours, whereas NYC had reached your place in the queue.

 

And if it were me, I would call USCIS customer service every 2 weeks or so to see if the interview has been rescheduled. While a Tier 1 can’t tell you the interview date, they can verify whether an interview has been scheduled/notice mailed. They can also verify whether USCIS has your new address in the system correctly. That might be kind of on the paranoid side, but reduces the risk that you’ll miss an interview notice in the mail (which should be coming soon) and get denied. Again, address changes can be sketchy, and the online tracker doesn’t always update (especially for rescheduled interviews).

 

And your lawyer was technically correct that officers lack jurisdiction to adjudicate an AOS application once address is changed. However, the USCIS officer will often just adjudicate the AOS application anyway if the applicant shows up. But there is a risk that the officer would refuse to adjudicate it, yes (but worst case is that you’d have to reschedule).

Thanks for your input, very much appreciated! I spoked to someone and my address is correct and they said nothing was sent out anyway...so I guess we just wait... 

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Look up I485 processing times on the website for NC.

 

It will tell you there what PD is outside of normal processing times.

 

No need to call except once to confirm your address has actually been changed.

Thanks! I called and my address is correct. I shall wait...