April 2012 AOS Filers

[Shooli 2]

We filed in April and do not have an interview date yet.

[Gilbermon 0]

Is there anybody who filed in April who doesn't have an interview scheduled yet? We filed in March, and we are still waiting for an interview to be scheduled. Should an infopass be scheduled, or should we just keep waiting?

Everything depends of your status before. I recommend to call or do info pass if you did not received your EAD yet, but if you received it that mean that they are moving your case...

[aayitrun 66]

So USCIS made an administrative screwup on my case and almost would not do the interview.

Because of their mistake I now have to wait. I will post more details after I get home.

that is a flaming pile of brown-green stuff.

i hope they fix it and ur green soon.

[saudiwife 7]

We were approved right there. We received our paper notice about removal. I will write more later. Got 8 hours back to our city. Thank u all aos filer board. Good luck to everyone and congratulations to all those approved.

[Hypnos 6,576]

So, fun day today.

We arrived at the office at around 11:35am and my interview was scheduled for 12:15pm.

I made a quick call as we got out of the car (the kids' library books were due back today and I had to renew them) before we went inside, through security (only had to show them my appointment letter and nothing else) before we went up the stairs and I gave the lady at the desk my interview letter.

At approximately 12:20pm a gentleman in his mid-30s introduced himself as Officer Stuart (Stewart?) and asked me to come with him.

We went through a door and he immediately pulled me into a side office, and said "This isn't actually my office but I wanted to communicate some information to you real quick". At this point I knew things would not go well.

He told me that since I had concurrently filed an I-360 (widower) and an I-485, this was a problem, that usually the I-360 is filed first, approved, and then you file an I-485 based on the approved I-360. I told him that the form's instructions clearly indicated that a concurrent filing was permissible.

He then told me that local offices do not have the jurisdiction to adjudicate I-360s, only the Vermont Service Centre can do that, and so he believed that today's interview would have to be cancelled. At the NBC my file should have been separated out and the I-360 should have been sent to Vermont, approved there, and then that approval and the I-485 should have been sent to my local office for the final interview and approval. He said for some reason, likely a clerical error at the NBC, that had not been done in this case.

At this point I asked him if I could call my lawyer. He said sure, and that he would double-check with his supervisor that everything he had told me was correct while I was doing that.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and I grabbed my cellphone and called my lawyer. She said it sounded legitimate, but why on earth had they scheduled me for an interview if they hadn't finished processing my I-360. I told her that he had indicated to me it was some kind of error. I said I would call her back with any news, but that as far as I knew the interview would not proceed.

About five minutes after I hung up with my lawyer, the gentleman came back and escorted me to his real office this time. On the way he informed me that his supervisor had confirmed that the local office lacked the authority to adjudicate the I-360 and that the interview would proceed but solely based on the I-485.

He swore me in at his office and I took a seat.

He asked for my ID and I showed him my EAD and current passport.

He confirmed my date of birth, country of citizenship, phone number, address and the number of children I had. He also asked if they both lived with me, to which I said yes.

He then proceeded to ask me the usual questions about being a terrorist, having committed any crimes, whether I had had military training, etc. I responded "no" to all of the questions.

He then asked whether I had any additional evidence I wanted to submit that was not already included in my application. I gave him a couple of old utility bills in my wife's name and at the same time summarised all of the information he already had in the file. He then spent about five minutes reviewing those documents (joint bank account statements; a life insurance policy; children's birth certificates and some other odds and ends). He did not ask to see my I-94 or anything else.

He said ok, that about wraps up everything I can do here. I asked what next, and he said the I-360 would be forwarded to the Vermont Service Centre but he had no idea how long it would be until I heard anything. The entire interview took perhaps ten minutes, half of which consisted of him reviewing the file in silence.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and we left.

So that's where we are. I have no idea when I will get my green card. For all I know it will be weeks / months. I got the impression that since it wasn't an everyday I-130 & I-485 case he was unsure of how to proceed and not up-to-date on the law, and I am still not sure what he has told me about Vermont is correct.

I have asked my lawyer to investigate and see what is going on. All in all, today sucked.

[Mrsaveemac 0]

Is there anybody who filed in April who doesn't have an interview scheduled yet? We filed in March, and we are still waiting for an interview to be scheduled. Should an infopass be scheduled, or should we just keep waiting?

Well there are approximately 5 April filers who are still waiting. I realize that filing early in the month would've worked out better for us. Things got really slow after interviews for early April filers were scheduled. Info password might yell you that you are within the processing timelines. I don't know what else to say. Sorry it's been so long...

[Purple Viper 0]

Interview tomorrow

[DC85 113]

congrats for the approvals

Hypnos... you will get ur GC, I know it's gonna take some more time... but finally you will get it

[Hypnos 6,576]

My lawyer has an email in to the I-360 unit at the Vermont Service Centre asking whether or not they do the processing of widow/er I-360 petitions. Hopefully I will know more in a couple of days.

Unfortunately, per the latest VSC processing times it is currently taking just over a year to process I-360s, although my lawyer has told me that non-VAWA I-360s are shorter than this.

If the VSC does have to adjudicate my I-360 then I am considering asking for an expedite based on a USCIS error (this is one of the expedite criteria) since the worst they could do is say no.

[aimeelouise 0]

Got approved on the spot will post about experience tomorow

[chimcham 18]

Good luck Purple Viper and wifey! Bonne Chance!

[SOflaherty 40]

Got approved on the spot will post about experience tomorow

Yeah!!!!!! Knew you would be!

Hypnos, sorry to hear it didn't go well, hope it's sorted out soon.

[Kay&Jon 1]

Sorry to hear that Hypnos. On the bright side you can work now so I guess that EAD comes in handy at least for a while!

My lawyer has an email in to the I-360 unit at the Vermont Service Centre asking whether or not they do the processing of widow/er I-360 petitions. Hopefully I will know more in a couple of days.

Unfortunately, per the latest VSC processing times it is currently taking just over a year to process I-360s, although my lawyer has told me that non-VAWA I-360s are shorter than this.

If the VSC does have to adjudicate my I-360 then I am considering asking for an expedite based on a USCIS error (this is one of the expedite criteria) since the worst they could do is say no.

[Alex and Sofya 7]

So, fun day today.

We arrived at the office at around 11:35am and my interview was scheduled for 12:15pm.

I made a quick call as we got out of the car (the kids' library books were due back today and I had to renew them) before we went inside, through security (only had to show them my appointment letter and nothing else) before we went up the stairs and I gave the lady at the desk my interview letter.

At approximately 12:20pm a gentleman in his mid-30s introduced himself as Officer Stuart (Stewart?) and asked me to come with him.

We went through a door and he immediately pulled me into a side office, and said "This isn't actually my office but I wanted to communicate some information to you real quick". At this point I knew things would not go well.

He told me that since I had concurrently filed an I-360 (widower) and an I-485, this was a problem, that usually the I-360 is filed first, approved, and then you file an I-485 based on the approved I-360. I told him that the form's instructions clearly indicated that a concurrent filing was permissible.

He then told me that local offices do not have the jurisdiction to adjudicate I-360s, only the Vermont Service Centre can do that, and so he believed that today's interview would have to be cancelled. At the NBC my file should have been separated out and the I-360 should have been sent to Vermont, approved there, and then that approval and the I-485 should have been sent to my local office for the final interview and approval. He said for some reason, likely a clerical error at the NBC, that had not been done in this case.

At this point I asked him if I could call my lawyer. He said sure, and that he would double-check with his supervisor that everything he had told me was correct while I was doing that.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and I grabbed my cellphone and called my lawyer. She said it sounded legitimate, but why on earth had they scheduled me for an interview if they hadn't finished processing my I-360. I told her that he had indicated to me it was some kind of error. I said I would call her back with any news, but that as far as I knew the interview would not proceed.

About five minutes after I hung up with my lawyer, the gentleman came back and escorted me to his real office this time. On the way he informed me that his supervisor had confirmed that the local office lacked the authority to adjudicate the I-360 and that the interview would proceed but solely based on the I-485.

He swore me in at his office and I took a seat.

He asked for my ID and I showed him my EAD and current passport.

He confirmed my date of birth, country of citizenship, phone number, address and the number of children I had. He also asked if they both lived with me, to which I said yes.

He then proceeded to ask me the usual questions about being a terrorist, having committed any crimes, whether I had had military training, etc. I responded "no" to all of the questions.

He then asked whether I had any additional evidence I wanted to submit that was not already included in my application. I gave him a couple of old utility bills in my wife's name and at the same time summarised all of the information he already had in the file. He then spent about five minutes reviewing those documents (joint bank account statements; a life insurance policy; children's birth certificates and some other odds and ends). He did not ask to see my I-94 or anything else.

He said ok, that about wraps up everything I can do here. I asked what next, and he said the I-360 would be forwarded to the Vermont Service Centre but he had no idea how long it would be until I heard anything. The entire interview took perhaps ten minutes, half of which consisted of him reviewing the file in silence.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and we left.

So that's where we are. I have no idea when I will get my green card. For all I know it will be weeks / months. I got the impression that since it wasn't an everyday I-130 & I-485 case he was unsure of how to proceed and not up-to-date on the law, and I am still not sure what he has told me about Vermont is correct.

I have asked my lawyer to investigate and see what is going on. All in all, today sucked.

Our interview was not as great too. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/377277-aos-from-j1-visa-through-usc-spouse/

Good luck to you.

[PCD 0]

So, fun day today.

We arrived at the office at around 11:35am and my interview was scheduled for 12:15pm.

I made a quick call as we got out of the car (the kids' library books were due back today and I had to renew them) before we went inside, through security (only had to show them my appointment letter and nothing else) before we went up the stairs and I gave the lady at the desk my interview letter.

At approximately 12:20pm a gentleman in his mid-30s introduced himself as Officer Stuart (Stewart?) and asked me to come with him.

We went through a door and he immediately pulled me into a side office, and said "This isn't actually my office but I wanted to communicate some information to you real quick". At this point I knew things would not go well.

He told me that since I had concurrently filed an I-360 (widower) and an I-485, this was a problem, that usually the I-360 is filed first, approved, and then you file an I-485 based on the approved I-360. I told him that the form's instructions clearly indicated that a concurrent filing was permissible.

He then told me that local offices do not have the jurisdiction to adjudicate I-360s, only the Vermont Service Centre can do that, and so he believed that today's interview would have to be cancelled. At the NBC my file should have been separated out and the I-360 should have been sent to Vermont, approved there, and then that approval and the I-485 should have been sent to my local office for the final interview and approval. He said for some reason, likely a clerical error at the NBC, that had not been done in this case.

At this point I asked him if I could call my lawyer. He said sure, and that he would double-check with his supervisor that everything he had told me was correct while I was doing that.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and I grabbed my cellphone and called my lawyer. She said it sounded legitimate, but why on earth had they scheduled me for an interview if they hadn't finished processing my I-360. I told her that he had indicated to me it was some kind of error. I said I would call her back with any news, but that as far as I knew the interview would not proceed.

About five minutes after I hung up with my lawyer, the gentleman came back and escorted me to his real office this time. On the way he informed me that his supervisor had confirmed that the local office lacked the authority to adjudicate the I-360 and that the interview would proceed but solely based on the I-485.

He swore me in at his office and I took a seat.

He asked for my ID and I showed him my EAD and current passport.

He confirmed my date of birth, country of citizenship, phone number, address and the number of children I had. He also asked if they both lived with me, to which I said yes.

He then proceeded to ask me the usual questions about being a terrorist, having committed any crimes, whether I had had military training, etc. I responded "no" to all of the questions.

He then asked whether I had any additional evidence I wanted to submit that was not already included in my application. I gave him a couple of old utility bills in my wife's name and at the same time summarised all of the information he already had in the file. He then spent about five minutes reviewing those documents (joint bank account statements; a life insurance policy; children's birth certificates and some other odds and ends). He did not ask to see my I-94 or anything else.

He said ok, that about wraps up everything I can do here. I asked what next, and he said the I-360 would be forwarded to the Vermont Service Centre but he had no idea how long it would be until I heard anything. The entire interview took perhaps ten minutes, half of which consisted of him reviewing the file in silence.

He escorted me back to the waiting room and we left.

So that's where we are. I have no idea when I will get my green card. For all I know it will be weeks / months. I got the impression that since it wasn't an everyday I-130 & I-485 case he was unsure of how to proceed and not up-to-date on the law, and I am still not sure what he has told me about Vermont is correct.

I have asked my lawyer to investigate and see what is going on. All in all, today sucked.

So sorry to hear that. They will make you jump through hoops, but you will get there in the end. Keep your chin up

We were approved right there. We received our paper notice about removal. I will write more later. Got 8 hours back to our city. Thank u all aos filer board. Good luck to everyone and congratulations to all those approved.

well done. We are up tomorrow