AOS March 2016 filers/Part 2

[sparkles_ 456]

Looks like this is going to be the continuation of the original March 2016 filing thread for those of us still waiting. Welcome  

[Linyahui 103]

Thanks for getting this new thread started, Sparkles! Can't believe we had so many convos that the old thread was closed!!

[sparkles_ 456]

1 minute ago, Linyahui said:

Thanks for getting this new thread started, Sparkles! Can't believe we had so many convos that the old thread was closed!!

LOL I know! I feel like I left people out of the PM who were still pending.....I may scroll back in the old one tomorrow morning and see who may still be waiting but didn't comment recently. 

 

Anyway, round 2.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

 

Someone beat you to it... 

[newyorkaos 15]

Thanks for keeping me posted with this new thread.

 

i actually have a question, i am confused, how do you know if your case is still in background check? Is it when it it is still in NBC?  Do they tell you or can they actually see it in their Monitors when you call or when you go for infopass?

 

does background check happen before it goes to local office or after the interview? Please enlighten me. Thanks friends

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by newyorkaos

[sparkles_ 456]

1 hour ago, newyorkaos said:

Thanks for keeping me posted with this new thread.

 

i actually have a question, i am confused, how do you know if your case is still in background check? Is it when it it is still in NBC?  Do they tell you or can they actually see it in their Monitors when you call or when you go for infopass?

 

does background check happen before it goes to local office or after the interview? Please enlighten me. Thanks friends

 

 

It happens before it goes to the local office, while still at the NBC. After it is done, then you get sent to the local office. When I went for the infopass we had, the lady we spoke with actually called some magic number that I'm sure we would love to know, and got up with a real person at the NBC who confirmed the status of backgrounds and anything else about your case that is holding it up. You can't see anything at an infopass, it is like going to the bank or DMV, you just see a face in a window.

 

I no longer trust even the tier 2s for asking about background check status......because they never put you on hold to get with the NBC, so how would they know.

Edited January 8, 2017 by sparkles_

[SanneW 30]

My case isnt pending anymore for a very long time, but i will miss you guys too much when I leave

I will be skipping the removal and do naturalization a lot earlier as it looks like atm...

 

But im still here reading everything hoping with you all that you getting approved soon, at least before the year passes!!!

[fort knox 3]

Hey Guys,

some people here in this forum mentioned that we need to have our EAD card, Travel document (based on form i-131), receipt of all forms from USCIS, birth certificate etc.

but a lawyer told me you don't need to have those stuff in you interview. he said just have pictures, insurance, lease, utilities and bank statement and an ID. he said also having joint Tax paper is not necessary. when i said i am going to organize all the pictures in a n album he said do not put pictures in the album, just have them in a packet.

what is your opinion. any suggestion?

what my wife as a US citizen needs to have in interview? just a birth certificate and ID is enough for her?

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

8 minutes ago, fort knox said:

Hey Guys,

some people here in this forum mentioned that we need to have our EAD card, Travel document (based on form i-131), receipt of all forms from USCIS, birth certificate etc.

but a lawyer told me you don't need to have those stuff in you interview. he said just have pictures, insurance, lease, utilities and bank statement and an ID. he said also having joint Tax paper is not necessary. when i said i am going to organize all the pictures in a n album he said do not put pictures in the album, just have them in a packet.

what is your opinion. any suggestion?

what my wife as a US citizen needs to have in interview? just a birth certificate and ID is enough for her?

The thing is they can ask to view any original at the interview. It might not be needed at all, but if for some reason they ask to review smth and you don't have it, you'll get an rfe and that can add substantial time till approval. The tax documents is just another very good proof of co-mingling of finances which is looked at. Sometimes lawyers don't give the best advice. I suggest bringing everything you had already planned to. You can't bring too much... you can on the other hand bring too little..

[newyorkaos 15]

Thanks sparkles- i have been to congressman, infopass, and one case inquiry all telling me it's awaiting interview. No one mentioned about background checks. My case was last updated on May 16- accd to the online account you create with the USCIS website. 

Im kind of losing it now, after seeing an April PD in NY getting an interview. I guess the wait  could be as long as it gets.

[sparkles_ 456]

1 minute ago, newyorkaos said:

Thanks sparkles- i have been to congressman, infopass, and one case inquiry all telling me it's awaiting interview. No one mentioned about background checks. My case was last updated on May 16- accd to the online account you create with the USCIS website. 

Im kind of losing it now, after seeing an April PD in NY getting an interview. I guess the wait  could be as long as it gets.

It may be worth asking at another infopass specifically if you are hung up on a background check and if they could please contact the NBC for you and see.....ours was May 11 on the USCIS online portal. We are also in APRIL PDs at my local office.......I'm just hoping they have mercy on us once we get to our interviews and make it nice and short with same day approval.

[sparkles_ 456]

2 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

The thing is they can ask to view any original at the interview. It might not be needed at all, but if for some reason they ask to review smth and you don't have it, you'll get an rfe and that can add substantial time till approval. The tax documents is just another very good proof of co-mingling of finances which is looked at. Sometimes lawyers don't give the best advice. I suggest bringing everything you had already planned to. You can't bring too much... you can on the other hand bring too little..

You should ideally get a tax transcript from the IRS showing joint filing, not just the tax filing forms. I always hear those hold more weight since they are official documents. You can order them online for free and they arrive in about 7-10 days. 

 

I agree. Bring it all. I would bring an extra copy of whatever you're bringing as well. In a perfect world, you should be having a 'personal' file going on in your home of all you have sent them including evidence and building additional evidences as well. 

 

Will your lawyer be attending the interview with you guys? If so, the reason she/he said you wont need them is because the lawyer will bring your NOAs and USCIS paperwork with them.....they don't go in unprepared. If your lawyer says no photo album, I would group photos into a ziplock bagsand write on the back of them the date/place. For example, anniversary pics 2016/New York. And get them in chronological order going oldest to newest. 

[Linyahui 103]

Another confusing phone call with USCIS!

 

After the good cop/bad cop debacle last week (re: one Tier 1 tried to help us, the second hung up on us), we laid low all weekend but called back this morning to speak with a Tier 2. Seems to be a pattern for us now of calling every two months or so to get an update/gently push USCIS to get moving on our case.

 

I told the Tier 2 that our case had been sitting in the NBC in Lee Summit, MO since April 2016 and we were concerned about the delay. I specifically asked whether she could tell us if my husband's background check had cleared and she said she didn't have access to that information (!!!). IS THAT TRUE?!?!?! I thought others on the forum got that info (although, maybe it was only through an infopass appointment).

 

But! Then she said that not all cases will go to the interview stage (as we know) and that when that happens, they are processed from start to finish at the NBC and don't even get sent to the local office, giving me hope that that may be what happens for us. 

However, our last conversation with a Tier 2 in November revealed that no one had touched our case since the EAD/AP card was approved in April. Is it possible that the NBC is just overburdened with applications and running slow? Or should I worry that our case really has been forgotten??

 

Appreciate your thoughts! 

[sparkles_ 456]

3 minutes ago, Linyahui said:

Another confusing phone call with USCIS!

 

After the good cop/bad cop debacle last week (re: one Tier 1 tried to help us, the second hung up on us), we laid low all weekend but called back this morning to speak with a Tier 2. Seems to be a pattern for us now of calling every two months or so to get an update/gently push USCIS to get moving on our case.

 

I told the Tier 2 that our case had been sitting in the NBC in Lee Summit, MO since April 2016 and we were concerned about the delay. I specifically asked whether she could tell us if my husband's background check had cleared and she said she didn't have access to that information (!!!). IS THAT TRUE?!?!?! I thought others on the forum got that info (although, maybe it was only through an infopass appointment).

 

But! Then she said that not all cases will go to the interview stage (as we know) and that when that happens, they are processed from start to finish at the NBC and don't even get sent to the local office, giving me hope that that may be what happens for us. 

However, our last conversation with a Tier 2 in November revealed that no one had touched our case since the EAD/AP card was approved in April. Is it possible that the NBC is just overburdened with applications and running slow? Or should I worry that our case really has been forgotten??

 

Appreciate your thoughts! 

Yes, sometimes a k1 AOS will process fully at the NBC, but those are interview waiver cases and I think you would get a written notice about this. No clue who decides this but others on VJ have talked about it. I don't think a tier 2 on the phone can check your background status, mainly because it would involve them placing us on hold for a while and calling the NBC somehow to get this info.....unless these tier 2 people we are speaking to actually are at the NBC? Who knows. I feel to confirm backgrounds you need an infopass after my last experience. 

 

FWIW, I also see on VJ a lot that once you file EAD renewal, it sort of taps someone on the shoulder about your case and gets it moving. We shall see.

[fort knox 3]

16 hours ago, sparkles_ said:

You should ideally get a tax transcript from the IRS showing joint filing, not just the tax filing forms. I always hear those hold more weight since they are official documents. You can order them online for free and they arrive in about 7-10 days. 

 

I agree. Bring it all. I would bring an extra copy of whatever you're bringing as well. In a perfect world, you should be having a 'personal' file going on in your home of all you have sent them including evidence and building additional evidences as well. 

 

Will your lawyer be attending the interview with you guys? If so, the reason she/he said you wont need them is because the lawyer will bring your NOAs and USCIS paperwork with them.....they don't go in unprepared. If your lawyer says no photo album, I would group photos into a ziplock bagsand write on the back of them the date/place. For example, anniversary pics 2016/New York. And get them in chronological order going oldest to newest. 

we want to do our taxes together, but people say we should wait until we get form W2 in our mailbox.

How can we get tax transcripts from IRS? what those transcripts show since we have not done our taxes yet? cause we got married in 2016 and we are supposed to do our taxes in 2017.

 

No I don't have a lawyer in our interview. I bought an album which there is some spaces beside each picture and you can add some notes for each picture. you suggest me to do that?