AOS Filers--Happy filing and keep us updated on progress

[71411kumar 1]

Had my interview in the Chicago office today. GC approved and in card production

Experience for anyone with an interview at Chicago

1. Arrived 15 mins early. No huge security line or anything.

2. You CAN take cell phones. Someone told me I shouldn't and basically was bored out of mind while waiting

3. Proceed to floor 2 directly and you will be given a buzzer and then the wait begins. I waited until 11 am for a 9 am interview slot. So I wouldnt bother arriving too early unless you have to account for traffic.

4. A middle aged officer called our names and the buzzer went off.

5. Sworn in. She wasn't talking much and looked very very stern. Not good for the nervous wreck I am in such situations.

6. Standard questions like where we met, how long we knew each other before marriage, I 485 questions. just basic documents like passport, spouse GC and birth certificates verified.

7. Checked the online I-94 copy I had and asked me when I entered the country last

8. Was not asked any supporting documents to prove relationship. She checked if PD was current and said everything looks good. If I need nothign else, I will approve your case and send the card in 2-6 weeks

9. Was not approved on the spot and I didn't need to have it. So didn't push it.

10. Got email and text updates at 4.30 pm that status is in Card Production.

Thanks everyone here for the help. Visa Journey was the only reason I was able to file my own application and get approved

Did any of you take a attorney to the interview?

Thanks.

[parrot 2]

Did any of you take a attorney to the interview?

Thanks.

I didnt use a lawyer for any stage. But I saw a lot of people with lawyers.

My assumption is they have complications.

But if yours is a straight forward case, I dont think it is needed.

[71411kumar 1]

We had our interview today at Chicago office.

1. Arrived half hour early and was called in after an hour.

2. We were told take the oath.

3. Asked for passports, IDs, GC, birth certificate

4. Verified name of the applicant, asked how many times travelled to US?

5. What visa when you last arrived?

6. Are you still on F-1? No I am on I-485 status, officer said OK

7. Were you on F-1 status when you filed your I-485?

8. were you out of status anytime?

9. Asked petetioner's job title and description?

10. Looked thru the I-485 application for couple of minutes and said, Ok, everything looks good, will approve your case today, expect GC in 2 weeks

We recieved card production status after 2 hours of the interview.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and support!

[prajay10 2]

Dear All,

I just wanted to update our case. We had our interview today and was not approved on the spot. But within an hour after the interview, we got an email update and text saying that card is in production.

This forum has been really helpful through out the process and would like to thank all the people. And I also would like to wish best of luck for the people who is waiting for the interview.

Best wishes,

[bokar83 13]

Dear All,

I just wanted to update our case. We had our interview today and was not approved on the spot. But within an hour after the interview, we got an email update and text saying that card is in production.

This forum has been really helpful through out the process and would like to thank all the people. And I also would like to wish best of luck for the people who is waiting for the interview.

Best wishes,

Congrats. Glad you got approved. Would you mind sharing your interview experience? We go in next week (Tuesday). I'll keep ya'll updated once it happens.

[prajay10 2]

Congrats. Glad you got approved. Would you mind sharing your interview experience? We go in next week (Tuesday). I'll keep ya'll updated once it happens.

Thank you. Our interview was very short. It was just around 5-7 minutes. Our interview was in Long Island City,NY at 9:50 am. We reached at 9:05 am. We had to wait for almost 2 hours. The immigration officer was nice and she took us to her office. She asked us to take oath and the interview started. First, she asked for my wife I-94 and our government issued ID. My wife had old address and she asked us to change the address in the state ID. And then she told us to answer the question to whom she asked. I had to be quite while she was asking question to my wife. Her main focus was on my wife, since she was the applicant for I-485. She asked us when we met for the first time and where? What is our parents name? Her address when we met for the first time? All the question from I-485? Like what status did she came in US? and all the YES or NO questions from I-485? Then she asked us for the utility bills and other evidence showing that we lived together. I gave her our tax-return, bank statement, copy of our apartment lease. After that she asked us to look at our photo album. She scanned through the album and took some pictures for records.

After that she gave us a letter stating that a decision will be mailed to us within 60 days. We did not get the decision right away. We were kind of conscious and nervous. But within an hour after the interview, we got text and email saying that case has been updated. When checked online, the status stated that the card is in production.

All in all it was a nice experience with ups and down. This website has been helpful through the whole process. I hope my interview experience will help someone.

Best of Luck to all who has interview in future.

[parrot 2]

Luckily or unluckily I also got a green card valid for 10 years and Adjusted under category F26.(Married on 12/12/12- its 11 months now) Interesting thing is when I went for interview I was given paper "case held for further review". There were instructions for ROC at first. When he asked wether spouse is USC or LPR we told her she is LPR, at that time he ripped off the ROC instruction paper,took it and told me you dont need this. It is confusing us now. I have asked some reputed attorneys so we all can get right advice.Will keep you all posted on answers.

Find answer on: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/got-a-marriage-base-green-card-valid-for-10-years--1505059.html

Hi did you get the 10 year/2 year conditional card issue resolved.

I have been married for 18 months at the time of my interview but got a 10 year GC. Not sure what to do at this point.

[bokar83 13]

We have our interview Tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

[bokar83 13]

HI. We had our interview today and we were approved. Yay. However, there was a little hiccup, so be forewarned.

We arrived exactly at 9:30 for our interview appointment (set for 9:30). There was a snowstorm this morning and even though we'd given ourselves 2 hours for a 45 mile drive, we almost were super late.

Anyway, we waited for almost an hour to go back for the interview. The IO said that everything looked good except for the fact that my wife had never registered for classes. The IO said that this meant that my wife was out of status and that the IO had checked with other IOs in the office and all agreed. I went ahead and explained that since we applied while she was still in status, that my wife was therefore on a new immigration status (pending AOS) and that she did not need to go to school if she didn't want to. The IO continued with the basic interview (reviewing 485 responses) and then said that they needed to go out and verify. Luckily for us, another IO confirmed what I had told the original IO.

The IO came back, told us that we were approved and that once the system was back up that it would be submitted. I received the text about an hour later.

Moral of the story, go in prepared and don't be intimidated. Our interview would have been less than 5 min (and less waiting in the lobby) if they had known this, but in the end, it all worked out so we are happy!

Good luck to the rest of you.

[LPR_filer 2]

Congratulations bokar83!!! Finally it was your turn to give the good news!

(we almost had a similar travel experience ...snowstorm, arrived just in the nick of time for interview in New York yesterday.... they called our name within 5 minutes of checking in...)

[SavingCavemen 1]

Congratulations to all of those who have gone through with your interviews! I am so glad your process is over.

We are still waiting for an interview date since apparently the houston office is sloooooow, but we will get there. Maybe this is for the best, since our 2nd anniversary is coming up next month and that my save us the remove of conditions process. The lord works in mysterious ways...they say.

I wonder if anybody else is still waiting for interview date like us?

Congrats again!

[prajay10 2]

Hi did you get the 10 year/2 year conditional card issue resolved.

I have been married for 18 months at the time of my interview but got a 10 year GC. Not sure what to do at this point.

Hi,

I am on the same boat too. I still haven't received the card yet. But in the welcome letter, it stated COA:FX6, which meant Permanent resident card not conditional card. I am hoping to receive 10 year GC instead on 2 year. Since, we have been married for less than 2 year. We should be receiving 2 year not 10 year GC.

As i have done some research, it seems that we have to return the 10 year GC and request for 2 year GC. I am going to call USCIS once I receive the card. It is very frustrating that one have to return the GC after they get it.

Please keep us posted who has returned their card for 2 year GC. Please let us know.

Thank You,

Edited February 5, 2014 by prajay10

[prajay10 2]

Just an update. We sent back the 10 years GC and awaiting USCIS response.

Hi FamGC,

Any update on your case yet. Did you receive the 2 year GC yet?

Please let us know.

Thank You

Luckily or unluckily I also got a green card valid for 10 years and Adjusted under category F26.(Married on 12/12/12- its 11 months now) Interesting thing is when I went for interview I was given paper "case held for further review". There were instructions for ROC at first. When he asked wether spouse is USC or LPR we told her she is LPR, at that time he ripped off the ROC instruction paper,took it and told me you dont need this. It is confusing us now. I have asked some reputed attorneys so we all can get right advice.Will keep you all posted on answers.

Find answer on: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/got-a-marriage-base-green-card-valid-for-10-years--1505059.html

Hi Bhesas01,

Any update yet.

Thank You,

[Tim82 1]

I had my AOS interview yesterday and was approved.... Yay.... .....

Here is my experience, a bit long but I am sure it will help out others who might be in the same boat as experiences posted by others on the forum helped me a lot:

Arrived at USCIS office at 1 PM with info-pass appointment for our 2 PM interview, as I didn't got the interview notice which is clear from my earlier posts. I made a good decision to get the info-pass in advance because I was not sure that I would receive that notice and also not sure on whether I would be allowed to enter the office without having one even though at the earlier info-pass appointment one of the officers told me that if god forbid you don't receive the notice then just walk in and say my name. And I was right when we arrived at the office, cleared the security there was reception where the guy was not convinced when I said that I came for my interview even though I didn't received the notice. I showed him my online status but he said sir you need to have notice to come for it. I then explained my situation but still he was not quite convinced, at that point I showed him the info-pass notice and he said okay that's what I need and you can talk about your situation inside. So this is how we cleared the first hurdle to our interview.

So the receptionist guy gave us some number to which we waited for almost an hour. Again thank god they called our number right around 2 PM as we were getting really nervous. Again I have to explain my situation to the lady at the counter and initially she was also not convinced but then she checked out my status online and apologized for the wait and not receiving the notice and printed out the duplicate notice and informed that they will email the officer which is scheduled to take our interview and you guys can wait in the waiting area. So cleared the second hurdle to our interview.

Waited for about 5 mins for our interview IO to call our name. And then interview IO took us into his room. And here is how interview went:

1. IO swore us both the normal oath about speaking truth and truth only.

2. Started us asking normal routine questions about how was your day and how tired he was. Asked both us for our IDs (Driving licences) and my passport.

3. Then he asked me that looking into his file that looks like you applied through work also but since this priority date for F2A moved so you applied for AOS through marriage. To which I said yes

4. Then he started asking questions to my wife who is the petitioner about me: like what is my name, date of birth, place of birth, where I work, what's my designation, what kind of work I do.

5. After he was satisfied with her answers he immediately turned his attention to me and started similar kind of questions about her to me. Clearly he was trying to prove that yes we are really married or not. Asked me questions about when was the last time I entered into US.

6. After that he started asking questions from I-485. First basic information questions and then YES/NO type questions.

7. Once he was satisfied with that he said jokingly that its not going to be over in 5 minutes right and asked if we have some thing to show to him. We had so much information: like wedding album, pre-wedding album and few loose pictures of our trips together to various places in US. I decided to start with the loose pictures. Before this he even asked my wife if there was any recent vacation we took which she liked a lot.

8. When I showed him the loose pictures, one by one he first showed half of the pictures to my wife and second half to me and asked general info like where it was taken and who all are in the picture. We made sure to take pictures of different places and with different people from our family and friends. After this it looked like he was completely satisfied and started going through paperwork and his computer... I even asked him that whether he wants to see our wedding album to which he said that's not required, its all good. He never asked for any other proof we had like join account statements, join insurance cards.

9. Finally he handed over one sheet of paper in which the first option was ticked which said that your case is being held for further review and as he was handing out he said that most likely he is going to approve your case but there is one piece of information which is missing from my file and which they need before they make final decision on my case. The one piece of information he said was one of the I-94 from previous years was missing in his file and he said that he should be able to find this and as soon as he gets it he will recommend for approval. To that I said, I think I have that paperwork with me since I took all my previous H1B approval I797's with me. I gave him the missing one and he said that's good as that's the one he needs, he will make a copy of it and approve my case. Once he said that, we had a sigh of relief.

10. After that he did something in his computer again and asked when did you guys got married and since its less than 2 years, he said you will be getting conditional GC for 2 years and you will have to go for ROC before 90 days of your conditional GC expiration.

11. When everything was done he congratulated us and escorted us both out to the waiting area and we thanked him and it was all done and this is how we cleared our final hurdle to big, long, stressful journey to GC.

12. After about an hour, I got the online notification about Card Production and that was the best moment of the day.

13. Couple of hours later again got the online notification about the decision notice being mailed.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who kept this thread going. This helped me a lot in my path to successfully completing my AOS. And best wishes whosoever is waiting for interview completion and GC.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Tim82

[SavingCavemen 1]

This totally blows!!!

The visa bulletin was issued and our i-30 is no longer current! I hope no one else is in the same situation. Now we'll have to wait until the visa bulletin moves one month....which based on the demand god knows when it will be. Damn the Houston office! They never sent our interview notification because they are slower than a snail going uphill!

Well, at least I have my EAD and AP.