OldUser

Why is this a surprise? F2B never moves linearly. It's not to do with vacations. There is a cap on number of visas available. If there was an influx of people petitioning foreign relatives in the past and they all came to get visa, DOS ran out of visas, the queue grows and nobody filing after is able to get visa for the timebeing.

I was under impression service centers don't process N-400s. Must be NBC?

Good point

That is really kind of her. Many would have issued RFE instead delaying everything. Tax return transcripts and statements are vital for marriage based I-751 / N-400 combo IMHO. Thank you for sharing !

Well, they approve after interview, right? You got conditional approval. Looks like approval can only happen when somebody is on US soil, but I may be wrong. Please keep us posted.

I don't know how they work, but ask them to give you a chance to review everything before sending. Triple check everything. If some answers they put don't make sense, ask VJ community here to review them. If your gut tells you there's something incorrect, trust it. In the past, you had a chance to correct answers during interview. Nowadays, majority of interviews for AOS are waived. Meaning if you get approved on the wrong premise and get your GC, any serious discrepancy in answer can get you in trouble later during I-751 or even when naturalizing. The worst nightmare is for USCIS to accuse somebody of misrepresenting themselves at late stage of immigration and potential of losing GC after having it for 3-5 years.

Makes sense. Good luck!

No surprise, K3 is dead. Are you a US citizen or GC holder?

CR-1 is cheaper. And once you enter the US you'll have right to work, travel and GC in hand. You'll be better protected as an immigrant too. K-1 is longer if you consider entire time to get GC. You will be restricted more, unable to work or travel outside the US for 6-9 months. Also, if your fiance changes mind and doesn't want to marry you, you'll have no path to stay in the US and generally will have fewer rights compared to LPR when entering on CR1. Not to say this is a major item, but there's nothing wrong in choosing the best for yourself. Of course, the trade off is temporary separation while waiting for CR-1. Though, if you happen to have visitor visa before you start going this route (I-130 etc), then you most likely will be able to visit the US. And of course, your fiance will be able to visit you at your home country.

If you leave the US and get immigrant visa through counsular processing, there is no fraud. Plans and 2 and 3 are OK. Marrying in the US is OK and allowed, but if CBP suspects you're marrying, they may deny entry on H2B.

Question: why didn't file I-130 online? It's supposed to be cheaper this way? I can understand mailing AOS as a whole (I-130, I-485 etc).. But for standalone I-130???

Good luck! 8-10 weeks is between November 4 to November 18

30 day is optimistic, this is a normal timeline. Lately it's been taking up to 8-10 weeks.

H2B is inconsistent with your immigration intent. You cannot lie on visa application and to US embassy personnel saying you're coming to the US on temporary basis for work while planning to stay and adjust. This is called immigration fraud.

I'd file FOIA to get all immigration files from USCIS, so there's no guesses on how the questions were answered on N-400. You should get all of this information and know for sure what's in USCIS file on you.

Oh I missed the part your son was outside of the US. I always thought GE can only be approved while in the US? If true, this explains it.

I have a bad (personal) opinion on RapidVisa and other online services that hire people who do not have relevant education to file cases. It's a big factory where the low waged unqualified people toss files together in a short amount of time to keep productivity going. In reality, they are not liable for your application and they have low interest in your case. It's much better either spending good time to file it yourself properly OR hiring a real immigration lawyer. Even lawyers make mistakes (my did, but I caught everything before we submitted paperwork). As to medical... No civil surgeon is going to look at your DS-3025 for free and won't sign it completed for sure. Every now and then somebody on VJ asks if some local civil surgeon is going to do it. No, forget about it. Their time is too valuable and their hourly rate is too high to deal with this. Either check whether your medical is completed (there's check box) or do medical for I-693 to be bulletproof. In theory if your DS-3025 is completed, you can just send it. Worst case, USCIS will issue RFE or NOID for missing medical. It's time consuming, if you want GC approved fast without questions, might as well pay for fresh exam. I hope this helps!

Smart choice

Employment Authorization Document. A plastic card allowing immigrant to work while waiting for green card. Can be obtained by filing I-765 (separate fee). I highly recommend it as it will serve as identity document and will allow the immigrant not only to work, but open bank accounts, credit cards, get driver's license and more. The more immigrant settles in the country and comingles finances etc, the more evidence of bonafide marriage they're going to have for their GC approval. Also recommend filing I-131, Advance Parole. Separate fee applies. Also serves as ID document and allows travelling outside the US without abandoning adjustment of status application. Sometimes emergencies happen. It's not rare to hear on VJ when immigrant has to decide between visiting their sick parents back home and staying in US to get GC. This solves thr problem.

You can easily find this information publicly using status trackers online. You will see how many cases are pending from filers in this time range there. It may be more efficient that posting this message in various threads on VJ trying to get stats.

I believe scan of your passport with visa and stamp is the best evidence you have. Keep it safe and make copies. This should be enough to prove valid entry AFAIK.

If you filed taxes jointly, make sure to include tax return trascripts (downloadable from IRS website for free). If credit card shows both names on statements, then send those statements in, covering the 2 year period. Send full statements with nothing redacted. If you have joint Costco memberships, Amazon Prime household, Netflix family plan, National Parks passes in both names - include all of those. Provide as much as you can. Leases in both names, mortgages in both names. It's also a good idea to at least have a joint savings account so you and your spouse can built some savings towards common goals such as downpayment, emergency fund etc. Don't forget about well annotated photos of both of you with friends and family, flight boarding passes, hotel reservations etc etc. Be creative. Good luck!

This is normal. It's been two years. USCIS needs fresh evidence, that's all. Treat it as a positive sign. Your case may get approved fast without interview if you send a lot of good marital evidence. If you don't use this opportunity to strengthen the case, then yes, you'll likely get interview / NOID etc.

1. You can try, but now the earliest time to get SSN is probably going to be when EAD card arrives (6-8 months into AOS process)

This status is known to be largely inaccurate. It can say 2 months and in reality take another 6-8-10. I was under impression you were already married. If you're only about to get married in few months, that's definitely a complicating factor. Good luck!