No decision after aos interview :(

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Hey. Please let me know what you guys think. Its been a month after our i-130&1-485 concurrent interview.

I came to US in 2009, overstayed my visa, met my husband in 2010, got married in 2014 (we have been dating since 2011, had pictures as the proof), applied for my green card a year after our wedding (beginning of 2015).

Interview itself went fine, the officer was really nice, didn't ask us a lot of questions, just basics - how we met (work), plus the questions from the forms, took my i-94.

We brought tons of photos from traveling and photos with our relatives and friends. I met his family bunch of times... Joint bank accounts, gym membership, plane tickets, wedding ring receipts, other jewelry receipts that he got me, i don't even remember what else we brought... no car, no house.

The officer asked if they could keep our jewelry receipts or if we need them, i asked my husband if we need them and he said that we only need one because i can take my diamond bracelet to get cleaned every 6 months, and i actually didn't even know that so i kind of showed that i was surprised and said that i should take it to get it cleaned then.

Aslo we were asked when we started going out, i said in about a year after we met, the officer asked "what happened?", i wasn't sure what to answer and got a little bit confused, so my husband said that we went to see a movie and went to a dinner and just continue going out after that. Which is true, i remember that time, but i wasn't sure what answer should i give.

Red flags: i overstayed my visa, have been working with no permission (was paying taxes all these years) and my husband has been married before and petitioned for his ex-wife's GR

The last one bothers me the most. I don't know if it really matters since it happened 10 years ago, but i just hate the fact that he was married before. They lived together for 5 years, then separated in 2010 (soon after he met me), however their divorce was finalized only 4 months before we got married (also me and him lived together before we got married for 2 years and we have the lease).

Officer said that for i-485 to be approved i-130 needs to be approved, but even i-130 has't been approved yet, and I'm really worried about that, is it really a big issue that he petitioned for someone else 10 years ago? Otherwise what else could be holding it? Im so tired of waiting. He has no arrests, has been working for the same company for over 10 years, we are about the same age, i am almost 30, he is a little bit older.

I have 4 friends who applied for green cards (same story as mine) within past two years and all of them received their green cards within a week after their interviews.

Officer told us to wait for 120 days, but its still frustrating because like i said i know 4 people who got green cards approved really quick in my city, so the only thing i imagine could be holding it is his previous marriage

So my questions are, do you think the previous marriage could be the reason why its taking some time and should we make infopass appointment to ask about our case or wait a little bit longer? How long should we wait? I don't want to seem pushy either since the officer was so nice.

I just can't believe they didn't approve us right away, because everything seemed so perfect to me, i thought we would get an instant approval.

Thank you all for your opinions.

Edited September 11, 2015 by banana_princess

[TBoneTX 43,048]

*** Thread moved from AOS/Family-Based main forum to the "AOS from WS&T Visas" Case Progress subforum. ***

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I don't think that an info pass would help you at this point. I would wait as hard as it seems the 120 days. You sound like you've got some solid proofs.

Ovsrstay isn't a red flag. Illegal work isn't either providing you've admitted to it and paid your taxes on it, if not you need to get on that ASAP. His ex wife could be something that they're checking into. Not everyone gets instant approval so just sit tight for now.

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

I don't think that an info pass would help you at this point. I would wait as hard as it seems the 120 days. You sound like you've got some solid proofs.

Ovsrstay isn't a red flag. Illegal work isn't either providing you've admitted to it and paid your taxes on it, if not you need to get on that ASAP. His ex wife could be something that they're checking into. Not everyone gets instant approval so just sit tight for now.

Thanks a lot for your reply. Ugh i'll go crazy if we won't get any news in 120 days....

[Starkilla09 366]

Don't be too hard on yourself your interview isn't out of the ordinary. Many never get approved instantly and cases are often reviewed by officers after interview. As long as your interview was good, you'll be approved it's just a waiting game now. We have people here who were even approved on the spot verbally only to wait months for status to change to card production before receiving green cards. If 120 days have passed post interview, schedule an info pass.

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Don't be too hard on yourself your interview isn't out of the ordinary. Many never get approved instantly and cases are often reviewed by officers after interview. As long as your interview was good, you'll be approved it's just a waiting game now. We have people here who were even approved on the spot verbally only to wait months for status to change to card production before receiving green cards. If 120 days have passed post interview, schedule an info pass.

That's true, you are right. Thank you, you made me feel better. however I tried to google "I-130 not approved after the interview" and I got a bunch of links with titles like "I-130 approved, I-485 not", so it makes me think that most of them are only waiting for I-485 to get approved, you know what I mean?

[Starkilla09 366]

Ya, it's pretty common. The I-485 is the real bread and butter here and once it gets approved it triggers the I-130 approval also unlike I-130 which which could be a stand alone approval pending I-485. Sometimes it can take days, a week, weeks or even a couple of months post interview for I-485 to be approved after which your status changes to "card production" hence completing your adjustment of status. Good luck!

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Ya, it's pretty common. The I-485 is the real bread and butter here and once it gets approved it triggers the I-130 approval also unlike I-130 which which could be a stand alone approval pending I-485. Sometimes it can take days, a week, weeks or even a couple of months post interview for I-485 to be approved after which your status changes to "card production" hence completing your adjustment of status. Good luck!

Thank you! Do you also think we should wait 120 days before taking any actions?

The officer said that first they need to approve i-130 and this is my biggest concern, since its not approved yet... after that they look at i-485.

Seems like most of the people get i-130 approved pretty quick and then just waiting for i-485...

Edited September 13, 2015 by banana_princess

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Also, i keep thinking what if they sent us RFE of some sort and we didn't receive the letter for some reason, and the online status just didn't update, since i heard they are not always updating them immediately? Is that possible? The officer said that if they need us to send them additional evidences we will have 87 days to do that.

Edited September 13, 2015 by banana_princess

[Starkilla09 366]

You can call and inquire about a pending immigration benefit anytime but in this case your calls can't really produce a "push" effect because lawfully USCIS is given a 120 day timeline post interview to review and adjudicate it with a decision. You'll most likely be told to wait that they're reviewing. It's after that which you now have leverage and can use a congressman to intervene or even take other strong measures to force a decision. It wouldn't hurt to call once in a while though to keep you posted. If your address which you received you interview letter is still current you shouldn't worry about not getting an RFE if sent provided you updated it online or by mail with USCIS if you'd moved. In any case if you call they'll be happy to let you know if they ever sent you one if that makes you feel better. Don't worry too much about the I-130 being approved first or not. I-130's from adjustment applicants normally stay dormant until after interview as it's a combo package and approval comes with I-485 approval, unlike stand alone I-130's mailed independently which get approved after about 5 months. Your whole file is probably just sitting to be reviewed as most interview officers check with supervisors after interviews for a reviews before approval. It's just a waiting game as to when they'll do it before which your status will change to card production and you'll get flooded with notifications.

Also, i keep thinking what if they sent us RFE of some sort and we didn't receive the letter for some reason, and the online status just didn't update, since i heard they are not always updating them immediately? Is that possible? The officer said that if they need us to send them additional evidences we will have 87 days to do that.

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

You can call and inquire about a pending immigration benefit anytime but in this case your calls can't really produce a "push" effect because lawfully USCIS is given a 120 day timeline post interview to review and adjudicate it with a decision. You'll most likely be told to wait that they're reviewing. It's after that which you now have leverage and can use a congressman to intervene or even take other strong measures to force a decision. It wouldn't hurt to call once in a while though to keep you posted. If your address which you received you interview letter is still current you shouldn't worry about not getting an RFE if sent provided you updated it online or by mail with USCIS if you'd moved. In any case if you call they'll be happy to let you know if they ever sent you one if that makes you feel better. Don't worry too much about the I-130 being approved first or not. I-130's from adjustment applicants normally stay dormant until after interview as it's a combo package and approval comes with I-485 approval, unlike stand alone I-130's mailed independently which get approved after about 5 months. Your whole file is probably just sitting to be reviewed as most interview officers check with supervisors after interviews for a reviews before approval. It's just a waiting game as to when they'll do it before which your status will change to card production and you'll get flooded with notifications.

Thank you very much, your opinion and support really matters and makes me feel better! I might call i and ask just in case if they have any undelivered mail from my address though.

[lilygracexx 22]

Did you get approved yet?

[Usagi_tsukino 89]

Did you get approved yet?

Nope.. Details are in my signature..