US Immigration from Australia

Hi All..

As you can see from my timeline, we have an approved I130 and we are pending our 2nd doc submission at NVC Stage.

We ve had some problems with the acceptance of my criminal background check, basically NVC keep saying it s the incorrect document because it dosent show an old Non-Criminal court matter from 2003 which was disclosed to them by me, but removed from my records due to its age (auto removed/deleted when 10yrs+). There are no records courts or otherwise, it s been totally wiped other than proof of a $500 fine payment.

We also requested an Expidite a little over a month ago. basically I was made redundant at the end of Feb and with the issues at NVC, we tried for an Expidite due to their error and delay in accepting the correct police certificate but it was declined yesterday, so now we re waiting again for NVC to likely tell us for a third time it s rejected because it dosent show this old court record and is therefore the wrong document even though it s correct.

In addition to the above. Hubby and I got talking about my redundancy, the general cost of living in Aus and the coronavirus travel risks/bans, so we decided that rather than waste a big chunk of my redundancy payout on living expenses in Aus for the next 2-3 months or more that we d take advantage of the cheap flights, save our money for a deposit on a house and that I d go stay with him with the intent of flying back to Aus for my medical and interview..

but, now, given the Expidite denial, additional coronavirus Tavel bans being introduced today and the prospect of yet another police certificate denial at NVC stage.. we are considering Adjustment of Status options.. the initial thought of a 4-6 week Expidite process was far easier to swallow that what now could go on for another 3 months or longer pushing me out past the 90day ESTA plus additional travel ban risks from this virus and my esta 2 yr expiry in June if I look to come back and visit again while the whole process plays out.

so I guess my question is:

1 - if we do decide to go AOS now what is the process given we re already at NVC stage

2- roughly how much would the AOS process cost

3- roughly how long will it take before I could get Work Authority and SSN

4- can we file it direct at a local office here in NOLA or is it done online/snail mail

5- can I do some online short training courses (e.g. osha 30hr or similar) in prep for future work opportunities while AOS is processing?

Other than this stupid police certificate issue, everything documentation wise is perfect I m highly educated with 2 masters degrees and both my hubby and I have always worked 20+ years and have never been in public benifits so Public Charge etc is not an issue and and we are fine as far as my staying home for a few months etc while this all gets processed, however work authority for me would be nice but not required provided it s ok for me to do a couple of online short courses for transferable skills that might need an assessment or two.

any help would be appreciated.