hectorkhuon's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Hector
Beneficiary's Name: Kunthea
VJ Member: hectorkhuon
Country: Cambodia
Last Updated: 2023-01-07
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Immigration Checklist for Hector & Kunthea:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Texas Service Center |
| Transferred? |
California Service Center on 2016-10-19 |
| Consulate : |
Cambodia |
| I-129F Sent : |
2016-10-11 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2016-10-18 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2017-01-06 |
| NVC Received : |
2017-01-17 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
2017-01-17 |
| NVC Left : |
2017-01-23 |
| Consulate Received : |
2017-01-31 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2017-02-18 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2017-04-03 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2017-04-04 |
| Interview Date : |
2017-05-11 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2017-05-19 |
| US Entry : |
2017-08-01 |
| Marriage : |
2017-08-16 |
| Comments : |
K-1 was approved on 5-11-2017 in 212 days. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 80 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 205 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Chicago |
| POE Date : |
2017-08-01 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
No |
| Biometrics Taken : |
Yes |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Baltimore MD |
| Date Filed : |
2017-09-11 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-09-18 |
| RFE(s) : |
2018-11-16 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2017-10-10 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
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| Interview Date : |
2018-08-28 |
| Approval / Denial Date : |
2018-12-21 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
No |
| Greencard Received: |
2018-12-29 |
| Comments : |
Received RFE on 11-16-18 due to physician error with vaccination form that was done overseas. We went to a civil surgeon to transcribe the vaccinations onto Form I-693 and sent that as our response on 11-30-18. AOS was approved on 12-21-18 in 466 days. |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago IL |
| Filing Method : |
Mail |
| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2017-09-11 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-09-18 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2017-10-10 |
| Approved Date : |
2018-04-10 |
| Date Card Received : |
2018-04-18 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your EAD was approved in 211 days. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago IL |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2017-09-11 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-09-18 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2018-04-18 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your AP was approved in 211 days. |
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Lifting Conditions
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Potomac Service Center |
| Date Filed : |
2020-10-01 |
| NOA Date : |
2020-10-19 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2021-01-23 |
| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
2022-03-16 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
No |
| Green Card Received : |
2022-03-21 |
| Comments : |
I-751 was approved on 3-16-2022 in 531 days. |
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Citizenship
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Online |
| CIS Office : |
Baltimore MD |
| Date Filed : |
2021-09-28 |
| NOA Date : |
2021-09-28 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2021-09-28 |
| Interview Date : |
2023-01-05 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Oath Ceremony : |
2023-01-20 |
| Comments : |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Cambodia
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 11, 2017 |
| Embassy Review : |
The interview was scheduled at 8:30 AM on May 11, 2017. I flew in the day before to attend the interview with my fiancée. We practiced all the questions we could find and memorized all the important dates. We chose to wear business casual clothes to look professional, but not be too formal. I believe the way we looked played a big part in the interview. We arrived at 6 AM to be first in line. The window opened at 7 AM. They informed us that we would have to wait until 15 minutes before our scheduled time to be allowed in. There were a few other people waiting in line behind us with earlier appointments that were let in. Finally, at 8:15 AM, we were asked to present our passports at the window and went through security. Security asked for our driver's licenses, but I did not bring mine. They informed me that I should have, but let me pass through. They gave us badges and we went through metal detectors and they collected our personal belongings. We walked to the next building where we had to present our security badges to Window 7 in order to get a ticket number. We sat down and after a few minutes, our number was called to go to Window 6. We had to submit our documents (Passports, Birth Certificate, Letters of Intent to Marry, Cambodian ID Card, 2 Passport-sized Photos, ACLEDA Payment Receipt, Medical Exam Results, Police Certificate, Single Certificate, I-134 Affidavit of Support, and Evidence of Relationship) to the officer. We had everything translated that was in Khmer originally. For our Affidavit of Support, they only needed the Tax Return Transcripts from the most recent year from the IRS and W-2s from the employer. I was self-employed, so I included my Form 1099-MISC, which they did collect. I also had a co-sponsor which they accepted with no issues. They did not take our 1040 Tax Returns or our bank account statements. I also did not bring any letters from our employers or pay stubs. For our Evidence of Relationship, we included excerpts from our LINE chats and screenshots of our FaceTime call history over the past 6-8 months. We also submitted about 13 photos accumulated over the past few years (selfies together, group photos with family, and a few photos of our engagement ceremony). Also, we submitted our engagement invitation card and ring receipt. We were told to take a seat and wait for our number to be called again. We were called to Window 10 for fingerprinting. They used a digital scanner. We then took a seat again. We waited for awhile this time. We could overhear other interviews and my fiancée tried to remember some of the questions. After about 20 minutes, they called us to Window 2 to conduct the interview. We greeted the interviewer and he was accompanied by a translator. He first asked my fiancée if she spoke English, she said yes, so the translator politely left.
Then he started asking us these questions:
For my fiancée...
1. Have you ever been married before?
2. Do you have any siblings?
3. Do you have any relatives in the U.S.? - She did not.
4. What does your father do for a living?
5. What do you do for a living? - She was a student.
6. What are you studying?
For me...
1. Have you ever been married before?
2. What is your job? - There was a mix up and he thought my job was the job of our co-sponsor. I corrected him and stated my job.
3. What company do you work for?
4. How much do you earn annually? - I get paid hourly, so I stated my wage.
5. How much did you make last year? - I did not work a lot last year and was well below the poverty guidelines.
6. You made almost nothing last year, how do you expect to support your fiancée? - I explained why I didn't work that much last year due to school, but I was working more hours now.
7. What is the name of your school?
8. What are you studying?
9. Do you have any siblings?
10. What does your father do for a living? - My father is a retired police officer.
11. What department did he work for?
That took about 2 minutes. He then started typing on his computer for what felt like forever. Then he pulled out a blue slip and wrote on it and told us that we passed and we could pick up the visa on the written date, which was a week later. We were very happy, I thanked him and he wished us luck. Are interview was very easy. I was surprised that he did not ask us any questions at all about our relationship. This was our first interview by the way. I think being present with my fiancée played a big part since he could see were genuine. We also met 3 times prior, so that was not a red flag. Another couple that came together also passed. I did see another girl who came alone fail, who could not speak English at all. Also, I believe our evidence was solid and we did not raise any red flags, so they felt the relationship was genuine prior to even interviewing us. I believe a combination of good evidence, meeting at least two or three times, and being present together for the interview will raise your chances of passing. One more thing, if you can speak English well enough, I would do the interview in English considering they are trying to marry an American citizen. Our plan was to do it in Khmer, since my fiancée felt more comfortable, but she knew she could do it in English if need be. The interviewer kept commenting on how she spoke English very well. I hope this helps, I tried to remember everything that happened and be as detailed as I could. Be prepared, dress nicely, and stay calm. Good luck!
(updated on August 28, 2018) |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Local US CIS Office Review: Baltimore MD
Review Topic: cis_topic
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
August 28, 2018 |
| Embassy Review : |
Our interview was scheduled for 10:15 AM on August 28, 2018. This was for adjusting from a K-1 Visa. We dressed in business casual clothes. I wore a tie with a dress shirt and pants. My wife wore a dress shirt with black khakis. We arrived around 9 AM and there was plenty of parking. We were not allowed to be checked in 30 minutes prior to our scheduled time, so we had to wait. At 10 AM, we entered the building and went through the security checkpoint. I had to take off my belt and belongings and put it through the X-ray. We walked through the metal detector and got our belongings back off the conveyor belt. It was exactly the same as an airport screening. We then showed our interview letter to the front desk and had it stamped. We were told to enter the waiting room and wait at the stop sign. At the stop sign, we were gestured to walk to Window 6 where we showed our interview letter again. The officer asked who the beneficiary was and I told him it was my wife. He gave us a ticket number and told us that we would be called by name. We sat down and the time was 10:24 AM. It was pretty busy. There were many families in the waiting room. They were calling people in through Door B on the left and Door A on right of the waiting room. About 10 minutes later, our name was called from Door A on the right side of the room. We followed the officer to her office where we were asked to take a seat and she shut the door behind us. Our interviewing officer was named Keating. She informed my wife that the interview would be recorded. First, she took a photo of my wife and took digital scans of her left and right index fingers. Then we took our oaths by standing and raising our right hands. She asked us for our identification. I gave her my Driver's License. My wife needed to supply her foreign Passport and used her EAD card as identification. Officer Keating asked if the address on my license was our current residence and mailing address and I confirmed that. She then opened a binder with our submitted i-485 application and began reading and asking questions from it.
She asked these questions (Reading from the i-485):
For my wife...
1. What is your full name? - She said her full married name in which she took on my last name.
2. Have you used any other names? - She answered no mistakenly, forgetting that she changed her last name after getting married. Officer Keating noticed that, but continued.
3. What is your date of birth?
4. Where were you born?
5. What is your Social Security number?
6. How did you guys meet? - She gave a brief history of our relationship.
7. Is this your current mailing address?
8. What was the date of your last arrival in the U.S.? - Her last arrival was the date on her Form I-94.
9. You came here on a K-1 Visa?
10. What was your previous residence? - She said Cambodia and gave her previous house address from there, but mixed up the house number slightly. The officer noticed that.
11. (Reading from the i-485) You lived there from 2005 to 2017?
12. Are you working? - She said not currently. The officer wrote-in her occupation as "Unemployed" on the i-485.
For me...
13. Have you met her parents? - I have met her parents.
14. What are their names?
15. When did you travel to Cambodia? - I listed every year I traveled there.
For my wife...
16. What is your marital status?
17. What is your husband's full name? - She answered correctly and the officer asked me if it was correct. I confirmed it.
18. What is his date of birth?
For me...
19. Where were you born?
For my wife...
20. Where did you get married?
21. (The officer then started asking every single question from Part 8 of the i-485. It was all the "No" questions. Around 90 questions.) - It took about 20 minutes. It was tedious, but my wife listened carefully and answered.
22. Is this your current phone number to contact you? - I put my phone number as the primary contact and let the officer know that it was mine. She was fine with that.
For both of us...
23. What are your plans for the future? - I answered that we wanted to finish school and start a family.
For me...
24. You go to school?
25. What do you study?
For my wife...
26. You go to school also?
27. What do you study?
The officer then asked for any other documents that we wanted to submit. I gave her an updated i-864 Affidavit of Support, since I recently filed taxes. She did not take the i-864, but kept the supporting documents (Tax Return Transcript, Form 1099-MISC since I was self-employed, and bank statements from the past 2 months). I also provided my proof of citizenship with a copy of my Passport which she accepted. Then I gave her our evidence of relationship (joint Tax Return Transcript, joint bank account statements, cell phone bill, recent plane ticket together, copies of identification with same address, copy of joint debit cards, chat logs, and photos). She took all of our evidence and put it in the binder. We provided an album with 20 photos. The officer browsed through our pictures and commented that it was very nice. Then she gave the photo album back. She took our interview letter with our ticket number and informed us that she did not need anything else. She printed out a "Notice of Interview Results" for us to keep. The notice informed us that our case was being held for review. My wife asked if we passed and the officer said that it would take up to 120 days to make a decision. However, she said there were no issues with our case that she could see, so we would know the results fairly quickly. Officer Keating was stern, but friendly at the same time. She escorted us back out to the waiting room and we said our thanks. The whole interview lasted about an hour, we finished at 11:20 AM. It was a fairly good experience and straight-forward. We just tried to remember everything and we did our best. There were no trick questions and the officer was not rude. My wife just wished we were given a result right away. We just have to wait. My advice is to provide as much evidence of relationship that you can. Make sure it is new evidence over the course of the marriage. Study all the information that was filled in on the i-485 Application because that was the majority of our questions. This includes names of parents, married name and maiden name, current and previous addresses, birthdates, arrival dates, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and more. Stay calm and answer truthfully. I will update once we get a decision.
(updated on August 28, 2018)
(updated on January 5, 2023) |
| Harassment Level : |
Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
