August 2022 - AOS Filers

[SandyR 142]

We tried getting a copy and we’re told we couldn’t have a copy.  So everyone else received a copy after exam for K-1?

[OldUser 6,456]

10 minutes ago, SandyR said:

We tried getting a copy and we’re told we couldn’t have a copy.  So everyone else received a copy after exam for K-1?

It's BS. I did medical exam (for AOS) and received both sealed envelope and copy. I believe you're entitled to get it by law. I would be concerned about this doctor and whether paperwork from him is done correctly.

[SandyR 142]

1 minute ago, OldUser said:

It's BS. I did medical exam (for AOS) and received both sealed envelope and copy. I believe you're entitled to get it by law. I would be concerned about this doctor and whether paperwork from him is done correctly.

It’s from india.  They don’t follow rules very well.  We have asked 3 times.  Will call uscis and ask for guidance. 

[noobjections 12]

12 minutes ago, SandyR said:

It’s from india.  They don’t follow rules very well.  We have asked 3 times.  Will call uscis and ask for guidance. 

I’m unfamiliar with K-1 rules but are you allowed to do your medicals outside the country? 
 

Within the US you’re entitled to a copy and the sealed document to send to USCIS. You might have to do it again within the US. 

[SandyR 142]

22 minutes ago, noobjections said:

I’m unfamiliar with K-1 rules but are you allowed to do your medicals outside the country? 
 

Within the US you’re entitled to a copy and the sealed document to send to USCIS. You might have to do it again within the US. 

For k-1 you must do a medical in local country.  But seems odd they wouldn’t give a copy of exam.  Ya, might have to repeat. 

[EatBulaga 314]

1 hour ago, SandyR said:

We tried getting a copy and we’re told we couldn’t have a copy.  So everyone else received a copy after exam for K-1?

The overseas medical exam form is DS-3025, which was supposedly submitted from the doctor directly to the consulate for the K1 interview.

My K1 beneficiary did get a copy of the DS-3025 and the CD of the x-rays from the overseas doctor.

We specifically made sure she got a copy of the DS-3025 and even offered to pay for a copy if necessary.

And we did include a copy of the DS-3025 with the I-485 AOS filing.

A sealed copy of the DS-3025 was supposed to be part of the "brown package" that the K1 beneficiary brings to the POE.

https://www.visajourney.com/guides/k1-fiance-visa/

https://www.visajourney.com/guides/adjustment-of-status-k1-k3-visas/

The CBP was supposed to forward the "brown package" to USCIS.

 

27 minutes ago, SandyR said:

For k-1 you must do a medical in local country.  But seems odd they wouldn’t give a copy of exam.  Ya, might have to repeat. 

For whatever reason, USCIS gave you an RFE for the I-693 because they think the DS-3025 that you have is not sufficient?

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551080-immunizations-ds-3025-or-i-693/

 

Your only option is to find civil surgeon and do whatever medical exam is necessary to complete the I-693.

https://www.uscis.gov/tools/find-a-civil-surgeon

 

For what it's worth, getting an RFE for I-693 at least shows some movement in your case, and that the USCIS has at least seen your case, as opposed to just stuck on "actively reviewing". 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/793286-courtesy-notice/?tab=comments#comment-10770859

So I would just follow thru with the RFE for the I-693 with the civil surgeon, and pay whatever the cost to get your case moving again.

Edited January 8, 2023 by EatBulaga

[Family 3,988]

27 minutes ago, SandyR said:

For k-1 you must do a medical in local country.  But seems odd they wouldn’t give a copy of exam.  Ya, might have to repeat

Do a new medical ( I-693) as @Eat Bulaga suggests. Finding a civil surgeon thar is willing to just sign off on vaccinations only is very difficult..even if you had a copy of the one he did in India. 
Many report after you sending in medical RFE , cases are speeding to approvals without an interview.

[noobjections 12]

40 minutes ago, SandyR said:

For k-1 you must do a medical in local country.  But seems odd they wouldn’t give a copy of exam.  Ya, might have to repeat. 

Sorry about that. But at least you know it’ll be done correctly this time and you can get approved soon! 

[SandyR 142]

It's odd that the cost of the exam varies depending upon who you go to.  I have found costs from $165 to $350.  The letter said get exam and wait for interview or RFE if no interview required.  Praying for no interview and just mailing in the results.  

I am still confused as to if everyone applying for AOS has to get the exam done in the US.  or were we just unlucky?

but we have the appointment for this week (yeah).  so moving forward.  

thank you all

[Chancy 6,241]

1 hour ago, SandyR said:

I am still confused as to if everyone applying for AOS has to get the exam done in the US.  or were we just unlucky?

 

Some consider it lucky to be RFE-d for I-693.  Though not guaranteed, it typically indicates waived interview prior to AOS approval.

 

[I129f49619 96]

Anyone have any updates on August filers? Anyone here back from USCIS for interviews yet? Going to hear back for AOS or Advance Parole by Feb🤞🏾

[slavaskii 886]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:24 PM, I129f49619 said:

Anyone have any updates on August filers? Anyone here back from USCIS for interviews yet? Going to hear back for AOS or Advance Parole by Feb🤞🏾

Nothing here. There's a FB group for old March 2021 I-129F filers, only one posted that they got their EAD (submitted in May 2022 and got it November 2022). I presume if we haven't gotten it already, we'll be waiting out the USCIS expected processing time. Although there seems to have been measures to speed things up, and I would assume EADs are a higher priority for USCIS than fiancee petitions. Here's hoping, best to all.

[EatBulaga 314]

4 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Nothing here. There's a FB group for old March 2021 I-129F filers, only one posted that they got their EAD (submitted in May 2022 and got it November 2022). I presume if we haven't gotten it already, we'll be waiting out the USCIS expected processing time. Although there seems to have been measures to speed things up, and I would assume EADs are a higher priority for USCIS than fiancee petitions. Here's hoping, best to all.

Old March 2021, I-129F filer here.

July 2022, AOS filed.

No EAD or AOS interview yet. 

 

Our local field office is Atlanta which has a 32.5 months wait for AOS.

One unknown for us is if our AOS does take 32.5 months or longer, will USCIS give us a 10-year GC or a 2-year GC since we will have been married about 3 years by that time?

If we do get the 10-year GC, then do we still need to file for the I-751 Removal of Condition?

Or can we just wait for the 5-year rule and file for the N-400 Application for Naturalization?

 

In addition with the current wait time, there are a lot of unknowns for our case that are maybe related to your case?

[slavaskii 886]

23 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

Old March 2021, I-129F filer here.

July 2022, AOS filed.

No EAD or AOS interview yet. 

 

Our local field office is Atlanta which has a 32.5 months wait for AOS.

One unknown for us is if our AOS does take 32.5 months or longer, will USCIS give us a 10-year GC or a 2-year GC since we will have been married about 3 years by that time?

If we do get the 10-year GC, then do we still need to file for the I-751 Removal of Condition?

Or can we just wait for the 5-year rule and file for the N-400 Application for Naturalization?

 

In addition with the current wait time, there are a lot of unknowns for our case that are maybe related to your case?

Thanks for filling in! That Atlanta number is rough, that's probably second to slowest (Baltimore's a whopping 49 months). Hopefully they start transferring around, on Reddit people are always posting their AskEmma chats and a few claim to have gotten transfers to quicker FOs. I don't know where you'd have an interview (maybe those are routinely waived?), but I sincerely hope you don't have to wait anywhere near 32.5.

 

As to your unknown, I'm pretty sure if you're waiting over 2 years for AOS, that'll turn into the 10-year green card without having to go through ROC. See this thread here, only one answer but it seems like it's an identical process as CR-1 --> IR-1. I looked up a similar question before, as I thought it would be a bit unfair if everyone was just waiting only to be eligible for the 2-year conditional. Also, I may be incorrect, but aren't spouses of USCs eligible for naturalization after 3 years not 5?

 

In any case, it's been explained to me that having an EAD/AP effectively functions equivalent to a green card. As all of those seem to be processed at the same speed for everyone, I suppose there won't be much practical difference between cases until naturalization. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by slavaskii

[EatBulaga 314]

1 hour ago, slavaskii said:

As to your unknown, I'm pretty sure if you're waiting over 2 years for AOS, that'll turn into the 10-year green card without having to go through ROC. See this thread here, only one answer but it seems like it's an identical process as CR-1 --> IR-1. I looked up a similar question before, as I thought it would be a bit unfair if everyone was just waiting only to be eligible for the 2-year conditional. Also, I may be incorrect, but aren't spouses of USCs eligible for naturalization after 3 years not 5?

Thanks @slavaskii !!!

Since the wait times have been extending, I'm keeping an eye out on posts about the 2-year vs. 10-year GC.

I've seen some different and conflicting cases and advices. And the case approvals may be dependent on which USCIS agent interprets the case?

 

For example if I remember correctly, one case took over 2 years to approve, but the USCIS agent interpreted that since at the time of the filing the marriage was under 2 years so the AOS is only eligible for the 2-year GC. Then the filer appealed, and the appeal was taking another 2 years at which time, they filed for the I-751 anyways. So the total date to I-751 was almost 5 years and they also filed for the N-400.

 

Another case was the marriage was under 2 years when the AOS was approved for the 10-year GC, in which case another form has to be filed to correct the USCIS mistake. If you don't then that could affect the N-400 application later on. But the correction took another 2 years and the filer got the 2-year GC, and at which time the filer was not sure if they are eligible to file for the I-751 or have to wait another 1.5 year or file for the N-400?

 

The prevailing advice for those whose AOS wait time is over 2 years and receive the 10-year GC was that they do not need to file for the I-751, but there were some pointing to cases where USCIS would reject other extensions or applications since they did not file I-751? At which time, the filer had to submit more paperwork to explain there case.

 

As for the 3-year (marriage to US citizen) vs. 5-year rule for the N-400, the 5-year rule requires A LOT less paperwork, whereas, filing for under the 3-year rule requires more proof of bona fide marriage, etc. and more waiting. With the current wait times, the 5-year rule may be more preferable in terms of less wait times and less paper work.

 

When I have more time, I'll try to post links to these cases (visajourney, reddit, facebook, etc.) if this is of interest to anyone, but I don't think this is the right forum to do it? Because of the extending wait times, I can foresee more non-textbook exceptions coming up?

If anyone comes across such links, please message me. Thanks much!

Edited January 16, 2023 by EatBulaga