Interview conducted a month ago

[panssey 7]

Hello everyone,

I know that there are a couple of similar threads but they all get approvals after 3 days or a couple of weeks, while we do not. So I decided to start my own topic hoping that someone will share their suggestions and useful ideas concerning my situation

I came on a K1 visa in November, got married in December, we filed AOS package in January (90 days were over on February 14) and USCIS received them on February 02 (NOA1 dated February 04). So no overstaying, everything within the required time, including filing for AOS. Biometrics were scheduled in March, and I received my combo-card in April.

The interview was scheduled on April 30. The interview went smoothly, we were not asked any “relationship questions” at all, only Form I-485 questions such as names, address, place of birth etc. plus so-called “prostitution/terrorist” questions, i.e. standard questions and a question about my home city and my husband's job.

Then the officer wanted to see some evidence. I showed him benefits from husband’s job that I am eligible for (like insurance, some stock program etc.), pictures, receipts from the court house (marriage license fee) and from the jewelry store (ring) and a lease contract and I let him have all the documents. Then the IO said that it was enough, I wanted to show something else because I had utility bills, bank statements, correspondence and cards from friends and relatives, offered to show him our dual botanical garden membership and mail that we get from them, he said that he didn’t need anything and everything was clear to him. He did not request any additional documents or no RFE.

So he said that my green card was approved and as of that day (April 30) I was considered a conditional permanent resident and put a red stamp on my documents saying approved. And that it would take 3-6 weeks for the green card to arrive but that it’s a standard wording for people not to get their hopes up but in fact it takes less time than 3-6 weeks. He handed me two papers.

One – notice of interview results - has my name, his name, my A-number and the date. And it says “your application has been recommended for approval. A final decision will be mailed once your case is complete”. The only other option which is not selected says “USCIS is unable to complete your case at this time. Your case is being continued until a final decision can be made. Please see below for further explanation” and below reasons for continuance listed.

The second one – Pursuant to Section 216 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, you have been granted CONDITIONAL permanent resident status as of APR 30 2015. You must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence between 1-31-2017 and 4-29-2017…

He also explained the key points of applying for US citizenship. So I thought I was fine and it was just a matter of couple of weeks for a green card to arrive but I was mistaken.

There were a few things that were a bit of concern for me.

1)the IO officer could not find my medical examination from my home country but fortunately I had a copy of it and he made a copy of it and later highlighted something there and handwrote something there on it.

2)we were the last couple left in the hall waiting for the interview and the IO who we were assigned to. And I was worrying that he was thoroughly “interrogating” people who were to be interviewed by him and asking them all sorts of tricky questions about their relationship. Maybe even separating them and interviewing separately. Because what else would it take our IO so long? But none of this happened. Out of 40 minutes our interview lasted he was busy with the papers most of the time.

When we left my husband made a joke that I was better organized with papers than our officer. Maybe as a result of this disorganization my case was lost somewhere.

As of today my status has been and is “Interview is scheduled on April 30” and it has never changed into anything else since March 25. No updates, no changes whatsoever.

If someone might think that the field office is overloaded, I want to say that it’s not the problem. I know a girl who came here 2 months later than me on K1 visa too, from the same country as me, she lives in the same state, went to the same field office for the interview on May 19 and already received her green card on May 28. And I actually talked to her myself. While I had the interview on April 30 and there's been no news since then.

My husband called USCIS, I called them. They only say that my case is within the normal processing times now because I-485 was received on February 02. And they refer to the field office processing dates which are October 1 as of March 31 according to the information posted on May 12 on the USCIS web-site. And we heard different answers from them - we need to wait for until it's been 5 months since the interview or to wait until it’s been 6 months since the receipt date depending on the person we were talking to. Different people, different opinions. When I mentioned the other girl, it was useless, they would say every case is unique, has unique procedures, unique timelines, etc, bla-bla-bla. Usual bullsh1t.

And I was also told that there are no specific time limits for the decision to be made after the interview. So it can be a while. They wouldn’t let us submit an inquiry over the phone because again the “case is within the normal processing times”.

I also tried this tool “case outside the normal processing times” but everything I got was 500 Servlet Exception java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "The service or article you selected is not compatible with form I485, sub-type selected, and receipt number MSCxxxxxxx” I asked a question about it over the phone too but everything I got was the local field office processes only October I-485s (and it does not matter that the information is as of March 31 and when I called the last time it was May 28) and because my receipt date is February 02, the case is within the normal processing times. They don’t care that the interview was already conducted, they repeat it like a mantra – your case is within normal processing times.

We also just came to the field office. Unfortunately due to my husband’s work schedule we came only at 2:45 pm and as it turns out the office is open till 3:15 pm so everything was closed and almost all employees were already gone. But nevertheless we talked to the officer who at first said that our interviewer had only recommended me for approval to his superior (which means that he didn’t make the decision himself) and later he said that our interviewer just hadn’t made the decision yet on my case (which means he makes a decision himself rather than his superior) and the two phrases are confusing for me and seem to contradict each other. When I expressed my fear about the case being lost at the very beginning of the conversation he said without looking or checking in his computer or anywhere else that it was not lost. How would he know that it was not lost if he didn’t even pretend to be checking it?! He also said that there had been cases when it took YEARS to get a green card and he had seen them but we need to wait. How long should we wait for he did not specify. Till the decision is made. Also he mentioned that if it were not that late, he might go to the interviewing officer and talk to him or he might not do it if the interviewer was busy interviewing other people.

So what should I do now? Involve the ombudsman? Make an infopass appointment? Involve the congressman? When? Now? Wait for one more month and do it then? Wait till it’s been 5 months since the receipt date and then involve either of them or both? Just relax, try to forget about it and simply wait without doing anything? Maybe there is anything else I can do in my situation?

[G Walters 136]

If I were you I would make an info pass appt at that office and too to someone on the record. Your husband may have to take time off work to make this happen but you need answers. Make the appt and get to the bottom of this.

[YouAndMeForever 1,022]

Make an inforpass appointment ASAP.

[panssey 7]

I know how to make an infopass appointment, but how to make an appointment to someone on the record?

[panssey 7]

The infopass appointment did not help at all. The officer who I was talking to, said that this delay was due to work load. Supposedly they interview about 300 people every day. And the officer who was interviewing us in April was allegedly not in today but still has my case. But I dont know whether to believe in his absence or not or any other words any more. I filled in some inquiry form about my case status but again the officer was very evasive answering the question how I would hear from them.

[panssey 7]

Does anyone know what to do next?