AOS June 2009

[Koakland 0]

A little FYI for anyone travelling before you get a green card:

This weekend my husband Jeremy went to DC to visit a friend. At SFO Airport no one looked at his visa or I94. They just looked at the identifying page of his passport. No problem.

At Reagan Airport in DC - the TSA agent flipped through his passport:

TSA: Do you know that your I94 is expired?

J: Yes, but --

(She cut him off while flipping to his K1 visa)

TSA: Do you know that your visa has expired?

J: Yes, but it is a one-entry visa and I am adjusting status.

TSA: Ok.

(Hand passport back to him)

He had copies of the AOS NOA and the AOS interview letter with him but I think it's helpful to be informed and to know the right vocabulary in situations like this.

I hope that helps anyone who's planning to travel before you receive your green card.

[Cacerez 19]

He had copies of the AOS NOA and the AOS interview letter with him but I think it's helpful to be informed and to know the right vocabulary in situations like this.

I hope that helps anyone who's planning to travel before you receive your green card.

Good advice, thanks!

[SapphireDreams 71]

A little FYI for anyone travelling before you get a green card:

This weekend my husband Jeremy went to DC to visit a friend. At SFO Airport no one looked at his visa or I94. They just looked at the identifying page of his passport. No problem.

At Reagan Airport in DC - the TSA agent flipped through his passport:

TSA: Do you know that your I94 is expired?

J: Yes, but --

(She cut him off while flipping to his K1 visa)

TSA: Do you know that your visa has expired?

J: Yes, but it is a one-entry visa and I am adjusting status.

TSA: Ok.

(Hand passport back to him)

He had copies of the AOS NOA and the AOS interview letter with him but I think it's helpful to be informed and to know the right vocabulary in situations like this.

I hope that helps anyone who's planning to travel before you receive your green card.

Does he have a driver's license yet?

When I flew to Vegas I actually just used my Canadian driver's license as ID to avoid having to travel with my passport and it was fine. They just need any photo ID.

[Koakland 0]

A little FYI for anyone travelling before you get a green card:

This weekend my husband Jeremy went to DC to visit a friend. At SFO Airport no one looked at his visa or I94. They just looked at the identifying page of his passport. No problem.

At Reagan Airport in DC - the TSA agent flipped through his passport:

TSA: Do you know that your I94 is expired?

J: Yes, but --

(She cut him off while flipping to his K1 visa)

TSA: Do you know that your visa has expired?

J: Yes, but it is a one-entry visa and I am adjusting status.

TSA: Ok.

(Hand passport back to him)

He had copies of the AOS NOA and the AOS interview letter with him but I think it's helpful to be informed and to know the right vocabulary in situations like this.

I hope that helps anyone who's planning to travel before you receive your green card.

Does he have a driver's license yet?

When I flew to Vegas I actually just used my Canadian driver's license as ID to avoid having to travel with my passport and it was fine. They just need any photo ID.

No DL or id. It hasn't come in the mail yet. We had to wait for the EAD to get a DL.

[mrscrockett 0]

I received my EAD.

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I was having issues with my mail box key after the biometrics appt. I finally had to switch my mailbox, but I guess during the transistion, the mailman but the card in the old box. I finally was able to get the original (broken) key copied. When I finally checked the old mail box , two weeks later, therein layed my EAD (since the 5th of August). I was so happy.

I applied for my SS# on Monday and I am just waiting on that right now. Still no interview appt date.

[honeybear1 0]

Had my interview at 1pm ..didnt get approval yet.The IO said they need to further review my application since i got previous K1 Visa.Actually she said she couldnt decide coz she need to ask first her boss who's having a meeting during our initial interview this afternoon..But she said if no problem then they will send my Greencard after 2 weeks and she reminded us to file I-751 90 days before my 2 year Conditional GC expires.Had all those requirements they asked.She looked at our pictures and she said good that i know how to cook.Spent 20 minutes in that cubicle asking how you met.when ,where,if you live together before marriage..wedding date..honeymoon,how many attended in your wedding,relatives,she said okay..nice wedding..nice limo..she asked me if i want my Greencard under my previous name(???) and i said married name. She got my original AP's ,though i gave her a copies of it..She said they might call us again for another interview if they are not satisfied..whew...but im not worried about it coz we got married in good faith and telling all the truth...that's all for now.

[Cacerez 19]

Had my interview at 1pm ..didnt get approval yet.The IO said they need to further review my application since i got previous K1 Visa.Actually she said she couldnt decide coz she need to ask first her boss who's having a meeting during our initial interview this afternoon..But she said if no problem then they will send my Greencard after 2 weeks and she reminded us to file I-751 90 days before my 2 year Conditional GC expires.Had all those requirements they asked.She looked at our pictures and she said good that i know how to cook.Spent 20 minutes in that cubicle asking how you met.when ,where,if you live together before marriage..wedding date..honeymoon,how many attended in your wedding,relatives,she said okay..nice wedding..nice limo..she asked me if i want my Greencard under my previous name(???) and i said married name. She got my original AP's ,though i gave her a copies of it..She said they might call us again for another interview if they are not satisfied..whew...but im not worried about it coz we got married in good faith and telling all the truth...that's all for now.

Hope they can see that you all are sincere!

[subguy812 1]

YAAAY Alexandra received her GC today!

[Koakland 0]

YAAAY Alexandra received her GC today!

That is good news! Congrats!

[shashar 0]

YAAAY Alexandra received her GC today!

Congrats,its was a good day for me too.My AOS interview went well.was approved on the spot.It took less than 15minutes .Am so happy,we are going to celebrate this weekend,cant tonight becuase i am so exhausted from studies and tests.

Have a wonderfull weekend all and we hope for more good news from everyone next week.

More later.

S

[Bill y Bella 0]

We had our greencard interview this afternoon at 1:30. We had an interpreter with us as required since Bella is not fluent in English. The officer did not smile as he greeted us and I began to get a little nervous. However, by 1:45 he said that he was going to approve the AOS.

The interview consisted mostly of the standard questions although there were a few very personal and uncomfortable questions for Bella that I would have preferred the 10 year old did not hear. Other than that, everything was very routine. Out of the 20 lbs of documents I hauled in there, the only things he requested were the EAD's, AP's and passports. He also asked for the marriage certificate but then remembered that he already had an original. He placed a photo copy that I provided in his file and returned the original from the application to me.

The 20 minutes was taken up mostly by the standard questions regarding being a terrorist, communist, prostitute etc. There were no questions about the I-864 and he did not ask for any evidence of the relationship. He also did not ask why we waited almost a year from the marriage to file for AOS.

At one point he made a comment that the embassy had already done most of the work on the file so that may be why the K1's seem to go more quickly and are more likely to get transferred to California. He also said that he was able to do some of his work in advance of the interview because we had submitted an original marriage certificate.

As he was finishing up, I inquired if it was possible to get stamps in the passport. He asked if we needed to travel in the next two weeks and was obviously looking for justification to say yes. I began to explain that they needed to travel ASAP. Unfortunately the interpreter was on auto pilot and she simultaneously interpreted the question for Bella who said no. After kicking her I explained that if we could find flights Bella really needed to go to Colombia as soon as possible. He agreed to stamp the passports so only 78 days after I put the package in the mail they are now fully documented permanent residents!

I hated to part with the EAD cards for the kids because it is so funny to see a work authorization from the US government for a 2 year old. I wanted to keep them as mementos. I asked if we could keep them if he punched them to render them useless. He paused a moment and then said what the heck, and handed them to me without altering them.

All in all it was an easy process and other than having to pay $130 for the interpreter and spending hours preparing documents that were not used I have no complaints.

Here it what I learned:

• At least in one office it is still possible to get the stamp in the passport so it does not hurt to ask for it.
• Sending an original marriage certificate with the application may speed up the process a little
• Having an interpreter makes it very difficult to exert any control on the process since the conversation tends to flow from officer, to interpreter, to immigrant and then back to the officer. For me to get a word in required me to interrupt someone.

I am so glad to be finished with this process for a while. Best of luck to everyone!

[catedelacruz 1]

Glad to hear that you've been approved.

[~Leo-Feng~ 0]

Wow so many approvals this week!!!! Congratulations to everyone!

Quickie Q: What is the average age (approx.) of the officer that interviewed you? Do they seem young or more 40-60 in age?

[panna 0]

Hello everyone!

I am writing from Ukraine as I am visiting here with my family.

Congratulations to everyone getting their GCs, that's awesome news! And thanks for sharing your stories with us!

As to me, nothing new here, still no interview letter (I have people check our mail in the U.S.) Have NO idea what's going on and am tired of stressing out about it... Not I am the "Forgotten One"

[subguy812 1]

I received my EAD.

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I was having issues with my mail box key after the biometrics appt. I finally had to switch my mailbox, but I guess during the transistion, the mailman but the card in the old box. I finally was able to get the original (broken) key copied. When I finally checked the old mail box , two weeks later, therein layed my EAD (since the 5th of August). I was so happy.

I applied for my SS# on Monday and I am just waiting on that right now. Still no interview appt date.

Congrats on receiving your EAD....thanks for saying SS#. We need to go back to the office with her GC and order a new card that doesn't have the work authorization statement on it.

We had our greencard interview this afternoon at 1:30. We had an interpreter with us as required since Bella is not fluent in English. The officer did not smile as he greeted us and I began to get a little nervous. However, by 1:45 he said that he was going to approve the AOS.

The interview consisted mostly of the standard questions although there were a few very personal and uncomfortable questions for Bella that I would have preferred the 10 year old did not hear. Other than that, everything was very routine. Out of the 20 lbs of documents I hauled in there, the only things he requested were the EAD's, AP's and passports. He also asked for the marriage certificate but then remembered that he already had an original. He placed a photo copy that I provided in his file and returned the original from the application to me.

The 20 minutes was taken up mostly by the standard questions regarding being a terrorist, communist, prostitute etc. There were no questions about the I-864 and he did not ask for any evidence of the relationship. He also did not ask why we waited almost a year from the marriage to file for AOS.

At one point he made a comment that the embassy had already done most of the work on the file so that may be why the K1's seem to go more quickly and are more likely to get transferred to California. He also said that he was able to do some of his work in advance of the interview because we had submitted an original marriage certificate.

As he was finishing up, I inquired if it was possible to get stamps in the passport. He asked if we needed to travel in the next two weeks and was obviously looking for justification to say yes. I began to explain that they needed to travel ASAP. Unfortunately the interpreter was on auto pilot and she simultaneously interpreted the question for Bella who said no. After kicking her I explained that if we could find flights Bella really needed to go to Colombia as soon as possible. He agreed to stamp the passports so only 78 days after I put the package in the mail they are now fully documented permanent residents!

I hated to part with the EAD cards for the kids because it is so funny to see a work authorization from the US government for a 2 year old. I wanted to keep them as mementos. I asked if we could keep them if he punched them to render them useless. He paused a moment and then said what the heck, and handed them to me without altering them.

All in all it was an easy process and other than having to pay $130 for the interpreter and spending hours preparing documents that were not used I have no complaints.

Here it what I learned:

• At least in one office it is still possible to get the stamp in the passport so it does not hurt to ask for it.
• Sending an original marriage certificate with the application may speed up the process a little
• Having an interpreter makes it very difficult to exert any control on the process since the conversation tends to flow from officer, to interpreter, to immigrant and then back to the officer. For me to get a word in required me to interrupt someone.

I am so glad to be finished with this process for a while. Best of luck to everyone!

Excellent...it is cool they were able to keep the EAD's

Edited August 30, 2009 by subguy812