-Shana-'s US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: C
Beneficiary's Name: S
VJ Member: -Shana-
Country: United Kingdom
Last Updated: 2021-03-12
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Immigration Checklist for C & S:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
London, United Kingdom |
| I-129F Sent : |
2014-09-04 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2014-09-20 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2014-10-16 |
| NVC Received : |
2014-11-04 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
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| Consulate Received : |
2014-11-14 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2014-11-18 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2015-01-24 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2015-02-10 |
| Interview Date : |
2015-03-05 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2015-03-17 |
| US Entry : |
2015-04-20 |
| Marriage : |
2015-05-01 |
| Comments : |
- I had to obtain a police certificate from Japan, which caused a 3 month delay in collecting my documents for the interview.
- Had medical on 28th January 2015.
- I chose home delivery for the visa, since the courier place was too far to pick up. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 26 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 166 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Denver |
| POE Date : |
2015-04-20 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
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| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
When getting off the plane and heading to immigration, you head to the left into the "Visitors" section which takes you down an escalator away from everyone else. This was brilliant for me since there was barely anyone in the queue downstairs so I got to the front of the queue really quickly. I had about a 5-10 minute wait to be called up. When I was called up I said "I'm here on a K1 visa" and he took everything off me and asked me a couple of questions including "What's your fiances name?", "How long have you known him?" He also asked me "Do you know what a K1 visa is and how it works?" Then he went on to say "are you sure you want to get married?" with a smirk...
He told me I had 90 days to get married, that I shouldn't apply for a SSN before I get married (which is bull, it's easier to get one before you get married which I did and it all went fine) and then put my files to one side and that was it! I wasn't sent into secondary processing and got to go straight through the doors into baggage claim. It didn't take long at all. |
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Denver CO |
| Date Filed : |
2015-05-04 |
| NOA Date : |
2015-05-16 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2015-06-04 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
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| Interview Date : |
2016-05-11 |
| Approval / Denial Date : |
2016-05-12 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Greencard Received: |
2016-06-11 |
| Comments : |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
Mail |
| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2015-05-04 |
| NOA Date : |
2015-05-16 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2015-06-04 |
| Approved Date : |
2015-07-20 |
| Date Card Received : |
2015-08-01 |
| Comments : |
EAD card delayed by post office. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your EAD was approved in 77 days. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2015-05-04 |
| NOA Date : |
2015-05-16 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2015-08-01 |
| Comments : |
EAD/AP card delayed by post office. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your AP was approved in 77 days. |
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Lifting Conditions
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Vermont Service Center |
| Date Filed : |
2018-02-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2018-03-12 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2018-05-04 |
| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
2019-04-09 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Green Card Received : |
2019-04-15 |
| Comments : |
Received 18 month extension letter on 08/13/2018 |
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Citizenship
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Online |
| CIS Office : |
Atlanta GA |
| Date Filed : |
2020-03-22 |
| NOA Date : |
2020-03-22 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2020-09-24 |
| Interview Date : |
2021-03-10 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Oath Ceremony : |
2021-04-23 |
| Comments : |
Covid-19 outbreak inevitably caused delay. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
March 5, 2015 |
| Embassy Review : |
I took the bus 73 from Victoria station to Selfridges and hobbled my way to the embassy (had a knee injury) which was about a 5 minute walk. There was already a queue when I arrived so I joined in. This was probably 7:10.
At about 7:30 embassy staff began to put out signs and ask people what time their appointments were. Eventually a girl asked if there were any immigrant visas. I stepped forward and she signed my interview letter and told me to go stand in a small queue near a Chinese man (hah!) Turned out there were actually 2 lines that fit this description so I ended up in the wrong bloody Chinese man line. The man who was working the wrong queue asked me what time my appointment was and told me to stand in the line to the left of the tent that was set up (this I discovered later was incorrect information). It was a pretty long line so eventually suspecting I'd been jipped I asked the same girl and she apologised and said "I'm sorry, I already signed you in, stand in that line there closest to the barrier." If she had been that descriptive to begin with I would have been in quicker, so I was a little annoyed but didn't show it.
When waiting to go through I saw a girl came out the security booth with a pair of scissors and had to throw them away, causing a lady Behind me to comment on how silly she was for having scissors. Then another lady came out with what looked like a perfume bottle, the woman said something along the lines that it was stupid too because "no liquids are allowed in." Turned out to be false in my case, I got in with a bottle of water and some perfume. Could have got lucky with the perfume since it's a glass bottle.
Anyway. At 7:50 When I reached the front of the queue a man called me up and checked my passport, interview letter and DS-160. I stood in a smaller line then got called in to a little security booth where I took off my coat, scarf, put my folder in a basket and put my bag on the conveyor belt. All was fine and I went through the extremely heavy door and turned right. I exclaimed to a girl who had heard my conversation about the perfume (I was bricking it that I'd have to store it) and we had a brief chat walking up to the embassy doors around the corner. Guess she was a solitary type since she didn't give the impression she wanted to talk when we got inside!
I went through the doors and gave my DS-160, interview letter and passport to the nice lady behind the desk. She gave me the number I915 at 8:03 exactly and I took a left, up the stairs and went into the long waiting room. There's a giant screen at one end and loads of seats facing it, with post office style windows on the right and a passage leading to more of them on the right too.
At 08:45 I was called up and went to my window and a nice American man was there and congratulated me for my engagement. I very happily said thank you and he proceeded to talk me through what was needed. I made copies but he didn't want them, so for anyone reading this you don't need copies to give to them but better had make copies just to be safe! At 08:50 I was done and told to sit back in the waiting room until I was called up again for the interview. At one point a woman in a window forgot to turn off her announcement mic so got to hear her going through the process with someone. Oops!
At 09:25 I was called up for my interview. It was an older, fair haired lady who I had trouble hearing at times. She made me swear my oath (tried hard not to smirk since I found it to be all too serious) and she began the interview. She asked me:
Who put together this application?
When did you meet? (I said 13 years ago online and she said "oh, wow!")
What website did you meet on?
When did things get serious?
Have you met his dad (looking at affidavit)?
Does he have any siblings? (1 sister)
Does she have kids, is she married?
What does his mum do?
What does your fiancé do right now?
What did he study at university?
Is that his career goal? (He did film like me, couldn't help but see her grimace when I said yes)
Who's his favourite film director?
Who's your favourite film director?
Have you lived abroad? (Yes - Japan)
What did you do in Japan?
So you'll be living with his parents? What's your plan? (Living with them for a while then moving to New York)
Not LA? (He doesn't like LA!)
She then said everything looks fine and she's happy to say my visa has been approved! She gave me back my originals and said my visa will take 2 weeks to get to me. I said "wow it's the end of a journey!" And she said "well...almost!"
I took the door that was behind me (which is on the other side of the entrance) and was done at 09:30.
All in all, it was fine, the start of the day was a bit annoying because of the whole queue mishap, but I was happy once I got inside. |
| Rating : |
Good |
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POE Review: Denver
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| Event |
Description |
| Entry Date : |
2015-04-20 |
| Embassy Review : |
When getting off the plane and heading to immigration, you head to the left into the "Visitors" section which takes you down an escalator away from everyone else. This was brilliant for me since there was barely anyone in the queue downstairs so I got to the front of the queue really quickly. I had about a 5-10 minute wait to be called up. When I was called up I said "I'm here on a K1 visa" and he took everything off me and asked me a couple of questions including "What's your fiances name?", "How long have you known him?" He also asked me "Do you know what a K1 visa is and how it works?" Then he went on to say "are you sure you want to get married?" with a smirk...
He told me I had 90 days to get married, that I shouldn't apply for a SSN before I get married (which is bull, it's easier to get one before you get married which I did and it all went fine) and then put my files to one side and that was it! I wasn't sent into secondary processing and got to go straight through the doors into baggage claim. It didn't take long at all. |
| Harassment Level : |
Low |
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Local US CIS Office Review: Denver CO
Review Topic: cis_topic
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 12, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
Had interview for AOS adjusting from K-1. I looked at the reviews here on VJ and got my hopes up for a nice, friendly chat with an IO. Nope! The IO we got was not all friendly and all smiles, she took her job extremely seriously and asked for loads of evidence.
What was asked from me:
- My Passport, SSN, EAD and Driver's license
- Evidence (I wasn't asked for any specifics, she let me hand it all over): Certified copy of marriage certificate, Joint bank account statement, joint car insurance proof, joint health insurance card copy, joint tax return, photos and a flight itinerary of a trip we took together in January.
She took it all and seemed displeased we only had 1 bank statement copy (so take multiple!), then seemed confused as to why we both had our own personal checking accounts when we had a joint account together. We use the joint for bills, food, gas - generic "life" expenses; while our own bank accounts are used for personal purchases that we want to make so we're not arguing over who bought what with the joint money.
Also DO NOT MAKE JOKES. My husband stupidly snickered at some of the "yes/no" questions on the application (you know the ones...like "have you ever been a nazi?") and she stopped the interview and said very sternly "what's so funny?" He immediately apologised but I don't think we recovered after that.
Despite our 14 year friendship and 6 years of romantic history she still ended the interview with "you've submitted good evidence, but I'm going to do some more checks and if I feel comfortable approving you then you will hear back in 1-2 months." She confirmed our current address as being able to receive mail in case she "needed more evidence", it's my husbands parents house so we said yes, but we would be updating our address with USCIS when we move. It turned out to all be a play, because the next morning we had been approved. It seems like she was trying to make us worried because my husband is an idiot!
Positives: Staff leading up to the IO were all very friendly and efficient. Upon reflection of our IO she wasn't all doom and gloom, she wished us luck with our move to Georgia and was amiable when I was confirming where I would send an RFE to.
(updated on September 22, 2020) |
| Harassment Level : |
Moderate |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
