alliejourney

SSN may not be technically needed for marriage depending on where you live, but it is generally recommended to do it before marriage and ASAP. Sometimes local SSA offices consider a marriage to be a voiding of a K1 visa and therefore will not process an SSN after the marriage. If that happens, she will not be eligible to get an SSN again until she has her green card. Not having an SSN can complicate things such as opening a bank account or getting a driver's license. All of this is highly dependent on how things work out and where you live, but imo it's better to get the SSN first and not chance it. Our timeline after husband's arrival was: Arrive late at night, around 11pm, on June 16 June 17 - Checked online if the I-94 was updated with his K1 entry. It was, so we immediately went to the SSA office and applied for an SSN. After 2 weeks, the card had not arrived, so we called and requested a new one to be sent. 2 weeks after that the card arrived and we had the number. Mid July - The day the card arrived, we went to the courthouse and applied for a marriage license. Then at the courthouse scheduled a date with a judge to be married, which was a couple weeks out. Used those couple of weeks to do the AOS paperwork and assemble packets. August 1 - Got married. August 2 - Added the marriage certificate to the packets and sent it out. As you can see, even waiting for the SSN still had us very safely within our 90 days, especially since we leveraged our downtime to complete as much of the AOS paperwork as we could. I'm a big advocate for getting that number first because it will give your partner lots of doors for independence, which is really crucial - it is very tough moving to a new country and having to rely on someone else for EVERYTHING from transportation to finances, so the smaller that window can be, the better! In my state, we still had to wait for the EAD to be able to open bank accounts and get a driver's license, but we had the EAD by October, which was a much smaller window than waiting for the green card, which we still do not have.

Interestingly, in the age of everyone getting interviewed, I feel like RFE's for small things aren't getting sent. For example, in our application, I had marked the public charge question 'no' mistakenly, and was sure I'd get an RFE for that. Instead, it was just corrected by the officer at the interview. Maybe it depends what the error is.

You're right, it's hard to say for certain. I'm operating under the assumption that field offices that are slower in general (i.e., publish longer processing times overall) probably take longer in between interviews and approvals/green card productions. But anything could happen, I'm sure some people get lucky and get stuck on the top of the pile in even slow field offices and some don't.

Same here, interview May 5 and have heard nothing. I suspect it has a lot to do with the individual field offices.

Congratulations!!! I'd love to hear when your interview was, as well! My husband's was on May 5 and we're still waiting for even a digital approval notice.

Just an update because I'm going lightly insane and need to get it off my chest, lol. At the time of the interview, the agent told us he was approving us on the spot. He told us we'd likely receive an approval notice in the mail within a week, and the physical green card within 4 weeks. Two weeks later and my USCIS account still shows the last update being Interview Scheduled back in March. (Although the MyProgress tab has progressed past interview and is now on case decision.) I did get a "we took action on your case" e-mail on the morning of the interview, but I'm assuming it's just because it was touched. I know the officer likely just overpromised on the timeline and this is all normal. But I can't help but stress that something has gone wrong! I'd be a little more relaxed but we were hoping to buy a house and move sometime in the summer or fall, which we can't do without his green card, so the more time ticks the more anxious I get.

Yep, definitely felt that way! Hoping things go speedily for you! For us I think it was about 8 months from filing to interview notice, and the interview was a little over a month away from the time of getting the notice. I think Cleveland tends to be on the average-to-slow side as well.

Of course! It really seemed like the officer had already made up his mind that we were approved before we came in, I'm assuming because of the evidence we'd already provided. The thing that I thought I'd get an RFE for (marking no to the question about being a public charge under INA when it should have been yes) was corrected in the interview, and then he just explained the next steps of ROC, and let us know everything was approved. I'm sure it'll be similar for you with how on top of things you are!

I did not do monthly! I just uploaded things as I gathered them. January was when I decided to start uploading evidence, so at that time I did one document with a series of pictures from the time he immigrated in June up until January; proof of shared auto insurance and the joint car loan from his car; proof of shared health coverage once I got that tax document; the transcript from us filing taxes MFJ as soon as I had that available; and my retirement account showing him as the beneficiary. Then in late April I also uploaded the statements from our joint checking that we pay bills out of from February, March, and April (we only opened the account in February after he got a job), and pictures from a vacation we took together in April. I think if you've been doing all of that monthly and showing it's all ongoing, you'll be good to go!

Just left the interview. I was allowed to go in with my husband. The only question we were asked was how we met - otherwise, he went through the series of yes/no questions from the I-485 and let us know he’d be approving our case today! Didn’t ask for any of the evidence we had brought or anything. (Granted, I have been uploading evidence of our marriage and comingled finances gradually, so they already had everything I brought.) All in all, very easy and pleasant experience. The guy was super helpful and nice. Now just to wait for the card in the mail!

@Pase2323 I'd also love to hear this, and also how long it took you to get your green card after your interview? Did they tell you you were approved on the spot, similar to the K1 interview?

My husband's interview is next week and we keep telling each other this! Nothing to fear when there's nothing to hide!

I am in Ohio! As the information is very conflicting about whether or not you can drive on a foreign DL (since K1 is not technically a tourist visa and not technically an immigrant visa, it's murky waters), my husband opted not to drive at all until he was able to get his Ohio DL. I understand that may not be an option for you, so you may want to risk driving, because the bad news is that you cannot get an Ohio DL until you have your SSN and EAD, which will be strong enough evidence of legal presence and proof of address. If you do choose to drive, you'll want to make sure you carry documentation of your legal presence such as your passport with your K1 visa, NOA when you file for AOS, etc.

As long as your DS-3025 (vaccine documentation worksheet, you should have gotten after your medical) is marked complete and your medical examination was less than one year old at the time of filing your I-485, you are not required to do the I-693. Just include a copy of your DS-3025 with your AOS packet.

Just my suggestion - maybe get started on the paperwork and see if any questions or concerns pop up that you can't get answered online? If anything you're unsure of comes up then keep the appointment; otherwise just complete your paperwork and file.

I'm not positive but my sense from the forum is that it's similar to the K1 interview, in that it's different for everyone. You could get approved shortly after, or they may ask for more documentation, or there may be a period of additional processing. Others with more experience can correct me, of course.

Same here. We went to H&R Block as well. It was just over $300 for us, which was about what we got in a state tax return so that offset it, and I was just happy with the peace of mind that it had been done correctly. OP, my husband is from the UK who I believe has a similar tax treaty with the US as Canada. I don't know all the technical stuff that happened but the tax guy included a letter that we both signed and we had to file paper - I believe it was a statement about why we could exclude my husband's foreign income, but I don't remember. IMO doing it through a service or a tax pro is the way to go in this first year when things are confusing.

Do you have a Documents tab? If so, the interview notice that they're sending in the mail might be posted there as well. Mine had the date printed at the bottom of that interview notice

FWIW though, the appointment letter does specifically state that if your eligibility is based on marriage, the spouse must attend the interview, and it also specifically asks for you to bring supporting evidence of your relationship.

Thanks so much!

Oh duh, I should have thought of that lol. Thanks, great idea!

Perfect, this is super helpful. Thank you!

Just got my husband's AOS interview scheduled and I'm going through the appointment letter and creating a checklist for us. I have a couple of questions that are definitely common sense but I'd appreciate if someone would just check my work for some peace of mind! "If required, a completed Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record" - he is adjusting from a K1, so am I safe to assume that a copy of the DS-3025 will suffice? He had his medical late April 2024 and our interview is May 5 2025 - technically it will be just over a year old. "If required, a completed Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, with all required evidence (unless already submitted)." Just confirming - since we submitted I-864 with the AOS package, I do not need to complete a new one? Should we bring copies of the one we submitted or is that overkill? "All documentation establishing your eligibility for Lawful Permanent Resident status. This includes, but is not limited to, proof of status as an asylee, refugee, or fiancee nonimmigrant." I'm stuck on what this would be asking for - would this not be covered by the I-94 showing entry as a K1 and then our marriage certificate? "If your eligibility is based on your marriage, in addition to your husband or wife coming to the interview with you, bring: [...] Supporting evidence of your relationship [...]" Here is what we have for this portion: Some photos from our wedding and a couple throughout the time he's been here, including photos of our families meeting Evidence of him on my employer's health insurance Shared car insurance cards Purchased a car with me as a co-signer - I haven't looked through all the docs yet but I'm sure there's something in there that will have both of our names on it Joint checking account that shows both of us contributing to the account and household bills being paid out of it (our cars, phone bill, car insurance, subscriptions like Netflix etc) 2024 tax returns showing MFJ I know some other common pieces of evidence are a shared lease or rental agreement, which we don't have because we currently live with a family member and pay rent directly to her with no agreement, but both of our driver's licenses show shared address. We are also both on all of my credit cards, but none of my credit companies' statements show which cardholder did the transaction so I'm not sure what evidence to show for that. Since we live with a family member, we are not on any utilities together. Is there anything else I could gather up, or is what we already have sufficient? Thank you!

Got a notice on myUSCIS today - interview scheduled for May 5!

Posting a follow-up to help anyone in the future with a question similar to mine! I just got word of the interview being scheduled for May 5, so the moral of the story is never trust the MyProgress tab 😄