Jamie and Richard

We’re picking up his medical exam tomorrow and then going to file on Friday when I have a new paystub. I recently got a promotion and a 20% raise and scared that it will cause any discrepancy because all my recent paystubs have my old pay and old title. My employment verification letter has my new title with new pay on it and HR says they cannot use old title and pay. The filing fee on USCIS website says $1225, but I received a notice from Boundless saying we have to pay $1225 + $535?

Great! Thank you!

Thanks! I’m assuming the AP he has now is no longer valid? Would this ring true for his EAD as well?

I’m not fixated on traveling right now. I’m fixated on keeping my husband here so we can raise our daughter as a family together. I would greatly appreciate advise on what our next plan of action should be, or if we should just go ahead and reach out to a lawyer.

I am in need of help and not sure what is the best action to take. My husband arrived in the states March 30th of last year and we got married shortly after that and filed his AOS in June of last year. My husband didn’t do all of his vaccinations in the DR so it was necessary for it to be done once he arrived in the states. It completely slipped my mind once we filed his AOS as I was 8 months pregnant and dealing with a demanding job. In December we moved to a bigger home. We moved out of our apartment on December 5th, USCIS sent out the RFIE on December 4th for his vaccinations. I logged in December 31st to update our mailing address and saw the RFIE for the case, and saw that we had until January 4th to turn in his medical exam. Scrambling to get an extension, I was told that extensions are not allowed and if it wasn’t turned in it would be denied. I called several doctors to see if they could fit him in, and they all told me it would take 2 weeks. I turned in what we had and crossed my fingers. Obviously this was a huge mistake on our part and we got caught up in our move, being new parents and the holiday season. I logged in today to see that the case was denied and cannot be appealed. We planned on going to the DR next month so his family could finally meet our daughter, but it looks like we can’t go now because I don’t want him to lose his ability to come back to the states with me and the baby. Should we go ahead and refile? If we were to travel to the DR next month, would he be denied entry back into the states? What is our recourse? TIA!

It’s in your best interest to do the medical exam prior to the interview. Doing the interview without the exam is putting you at risk for being stuck in AP and can take several days, weeks or months.

I agree. I do wish there was an explanation, but there never is with this process.

Makes sense. Seems like more of the same with USCIS.

I seem to see it with 2023 filers

Got it! Thank you for your input!

We finally filed our AOS with EAD and AP. I came on here to check how long everyone’s EAD is taking to get a guesstimate, but still refer to USCIS processing times on their site. I see people are getting approved for their EAD in a 3 months or less, some I’m seeing as a little as a month?! Are people lying on here or is USCIS skipping to the back of the line to improve their processing times?

It took us 86 days to receive our case number from NOA2 and our case was expedited. Unfortunately, patience has to remain being your best friend.

They should have given you either the paper that states you are conditionally approved, or the 221g.

Have you tried calling them? It should at least say approved by now. Did your fiancé receive the paper that says “you have been conditionally approved” after the interview?

Our interview was on 3/9 and visa wasn’t in hand until 3/29. Unfortunately, there’s not many answers to why some people receive theirs faster than others. I know of one couple whose interview was on 2/28, and didn’t have their visa in hand until 4/1. It seems unfair, but it’s the sad reality.

Call USCIS and prompt the automated message by saying “info pass” it should take you to a rep. You should have definitely received your NOA1 by now.

The only advice and input is to wait out the 120 days per their correspondence. Most files are taking between 45-90 days to be transferred from USCIS to NVC. You can try inquiring with the NVC on a weekly basis to see if it has been received. This will give you an estimate of when it was received. Based off that estimate, you will get an idea of when the case number is going to be created and transferred to your fiancée’s local embassy. I inquired every week until I received the email that “your case has recently been received”. That is the best thing you can do at this time. There is no fast track to this since they are having to physically mail these cases from CSC to the NVC, and they are mailed in batches.

Thank you! Good luck on the rest of your journey!

Checkout my timeline. Booked Feb 17th. Interview was march 9th

Yes, I know a few people who are having this issue too. We were able to book right away, so I’m unsure of why they are suddenly having this issue. Hopefully, by the time your case is ready you won’t have to worry about that.

Expect a wait of close to 3 months for Dominican Republic.

My fiancé had his interview today. I went with him. The DR consulate encourages (while not required) the sponsor to be there. A guy at a window today was asked why his fiancé was not in attendance. He answered truthfully, “she couldn’t make it because she was unable to take time off of work”. While his visa was ultimately approved, I noticed that he was asking him more of the hard hitting questions, like “how much money does she make a year?” “What side of the bed does she sleep on?” “How many years has she worked at her current job?” Followed by several more questions. He was at the window for an extended amount of time, while my fiancé was asked 3 extremely easy questions and I was asked about the city I am from and if I’ve ever been married and we were out of there in 3 minutes. I think this is more consulate specific than a general synopsis.

Sorry, I don’t know anything outside of k1 visa. I’m just only aware of what is currently happening for k1 visas. If you’re still waiting, it probably means that they’re not taking any visas in your category at this time.

I wouldn’t rely on the embassy emailing you. Just check if it’s in transit. Once it says ready, take the next steps.

Not sure, who you are inquiring with, but if your case is still at NVC it should be in transit by next week, as next week is a week that they will be mailing cases to the embassy. Once your case is at the embassy, then you can pay the DS-160 fee and book your interview. Next week on Tuesday/Wednesday check to see if your case is in transit. When it says ready, you will be able to take the next steps to book the interview.