웃's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Confucius
Beneficiary's Name: Mrs. Confucius
VJ Member: 웃
Country: Mexico
Last Updated: 2009-07-09
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Immigration Checklist for Confucius & Mrs. Confucius:
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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 : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Juarez, Mexico |
| I-129F Sent : |
2007-09-11 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2007-11-02 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2008-02-04 |
| NVC Received : |
2008-02-21 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
2008-02-25 |
| Consulate Received : |
2008-02-27 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2008-03-28 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
2008-03-28 |
| Interview Date : |
2008-12-23 |
| Interview Result : |
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2008-12-23 |
| US Entry : |
2009-01-08 |
| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 94 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 417 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
JFK |
| POE Date : |
2009-01-08 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
Yes,Passport Stamp |
| Biometrics Taken : |
No |
| Harassment Level : |
5 |
| Comments : |
01/08/09
Flew from Mexico City and arrived at JFK around 3:55 on a Thursday afternoon. Spent about 3 hours dealing with customs. EAD stamp good until April 18, 2009 (3 months, 10 days, wahooo!!)
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Detroit MI |
| Date Filed : |
2009-03-17 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-03-23 |
| RFE(s) : |
2009-04-06 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2009-04-16 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
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| Interview Date : |
2009-07-01 |
| Approval / Denial Date : |
2009-07-01 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
Yes |
| Greencard Received: |
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| Comments : |
Received an RFE for 2 things:
1) Dad was born out of country and I didn't provide his naturalization papers
2) They asked for the sponsors/petitioners tax information including all 1040's/W2's and I am the sponsor/petitioner but I am pretty sure everything was in there
***I submitted the evidence for both requests and sent the evidence out the same day I received the RFE*** |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Detroit MI |
| Filing Method : |
Mail |
| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2009-03-17 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-03-23 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2009-04-16 |
| Approved Date : |
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| Date Card Received : |
2009-05-11 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Based on timeline data, your EAD may be adjudicated between May 4, 2009 and May 27, 2009*.
If this date range has passed or your application is past due per USCIS processing times then you should consider calling the USCIS to inquire on your petition. If you have been approved please update your timeline. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Detroit MI |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2009-03-17 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-03-23 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2009-05-07 |
| Comments : |
I've heard a couple times on this website that you have to have a specific reason to file for AP. We just put "Possibly returning to Mexico to visit my mom for Christmas" |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Based on timeline data, your AP may be adjudicated between July 13, 2009 and August 2, 2009*.
If this date range has passed or your application is past due per USCIS processing times then you should consider calling the USCIS to inquire on your petition. If you have been approved please update your timeline. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Juarez, Mexico
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
December 24, 2008 |
| Embassy Review : |
Arrived to embassy at 8am. Waited outside for 4-5 hours. Got into embassy around 12:30pm. Waited some more. Got interviewed. Consular officer asked very basic questions like how did you meet? what does your fiancée do? Where are you going to stay? Things of that nature. Had visa in passport and walked out the door by 5pm. |
| Rating : |
Good |
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Local US CIS Office Review: Detroit MI
Review Topic: cis_topic
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
July 6, 2009 |
| Embassy Review : |
We went to the Detroit office on July 1st and passed. It was a cinch! Here are the details...
We had everything organized in a folder since forever (pictures/EAD card/BC/marriage license/passports/SS card/all NOAs/etcetera). Our main problem is that my wife doesn't speak English and we didn't bring an interpreter so we were expecting to be told to return at a later date when we had a professional translator . We called last minute yesterday and the average cost would have been about $200. I didn't want to pay that for a 5-minute interview when I can translate myself from Spanish to English. I heard on VJ that I couldn't be the interpreter because I had an interest in the case (translating for my wife). I'm pretty sure we just got lucky and had a very nice and friendly officer.
So we had a 12:15pm appointment in the Detroit office. We got there around 12pm. There were about 20 couples in a very large room. We were instructed to drop the appointment notice at window 8 (the last window) and have a seat. Nobody was in window 8 and we dropped our appointment notice on the pile sitting there. The other windows (1-7) were not occupied. We sat down for probably 40 minutes waiting to be called. There were people going in by themselves, I'm not sure what type of interview they had, and others entering with what appeared to be interpreters or lawyers. We were very prepared to be sent back home immediately as soon as the officer found out my wife doesn't speak English. We were hoping that our officer would somehow be fluent in Spanish but it was not the case.
Anyways, her name was called and we walked to the door to be escorted to the interviewing officer's office. We sat down and she was like "I'll be doing your interview today" in a very friendly and non-intimidating tone. She told us to stand up and raise our right hands to swear to tell the truth. I immediately raised my right hand and since Diana didn't understand, she copied what I did a few seconds later. She asked Diana a question and realized right away she didn't speak English. She asked her directly if she spoke English and my wife responded in an accent, "A little". Then she asked me if I spoke fluent Spanish and I said yes. She had me raise my right hand to swear to translate her questions without changing the wording around. Our officer continued speaking in English until she realized my wife couldn't understand her...
...The officer went through a check list of things to look for. From what I picked up on this would not change for each individual case. She asked for basic things first: Our identification first, then passports, her social security card, her EAD card, and she checked each item off on her checklist. Then we went on with the interview. She asked for the medical results and opened the envelope and read the results; checking off each vaccination on her checklist to make sure it was complete. Then she starting going down a list of yes/no questions. She started off asking Diana herself in English. To the first question (I forget what) Diana responded "no" (these types of questions are all "answer no" questions). The second question came along and she asked: "Have you committed a serious crime that you have not been caught for?" Well, it was something like that. Diana responded "No". The officer then asked her, "Do you understand what I am saying? Can you explain to me the question I just asked you!" Diana couldn't and so the officer said from that point on she would ask the question and I would translate from Spanish to English without changing the question around. I was disappointed because I knew the type of questions would be incredibly difficult to translate and my Spanish is ok, but far from perfect. I'd say I am about 70% fluent meaning I have major work to do on grammar, word tenses, vocabulary, etc., and it will probably take me another 4 years to get closer to a native level of fluency.
So I translated each question as best I could. I was holding back from laughing because I was having such a difficult time (but tried to hide it well) and I knew how piss-poor my translations were. Also, which I thought was hilarious while interviewing, was that I was making up words that I didn't know how to say. For some of the words I didn't know translations for I would just say the word in English and add "ista" which I also found to be somewhat funny. Other times I would sort of mumble or just completely make up a word! I thought it was fairly obvious that when she read a three sentence, 50-word question and I translated it in 6 words rofl.gif she might pick up on the fact that maybe I wasn't capable enough to translate. Either she knew and didn't care or didn't notice, I'm not sure. The questions were about 15 and these were the types of questions on the list that is the same for each interview: "Do you intend to take over the United States of America?" "Have you helped sneak someone into the country?" "Have you helped kill someone because of their race/religion/politics?" "Are you in the totalitarian or communist party?" "Are you a prostitute or do you plan to be a prostitute?" etcetera...
So we finally got through the 10-15 questions, and I was extremely relieved because the hardest part was over. Then she asked for proof that we lived together, such as a bank statement. I told her we have a joint bank account with the last three statements and different envelopes addressed to her which had our address on them. It was completely fine and she didn't question anything or ask for more evidence. All she needed was the joint bank account for the last three months! Then she asked for photos and we showed her about 20 photos (which she kept). We talked about the photos, pointing out that "this one is older, from 2006...this is probably 2007....these are from our wedding...these are recent pictures we've taken in the last couple months..." She asked if she could keep them and we said yes (they were copies)....She also asked Diana in English what we did after the wedding: Did we have lunch and where? She answered yes, and at our house. She also asked Diana for our home address and Diana messed a couple numbers on the zip code up and I smiled and so did the officer but it was not a big deal, I corrected her and that was that.
Then she asked for my 2008 tax returns. I told her I don't have them because I am still filing as a dependent on my father's returns. My father filed an extension which wasn't ready yet and I didn't work last year because I was finishing my last year of college. She said that I wasn't given a pass on the affidavit of support and that she may need to see some new information, such as a 2008 return, to give us a pass. She went through my dad's returns and said they looked good, and that he was well over the poverty limits. She said that if there was a reason not to give the pass on the affidavit, it is usually very obvious and sticking out very clearly. She could not find a reason on my dad's 2007 returns to deny so she ended up giving us the green light on the affidavit, and then proceeded to put a stamp in Diana's passport and explain what the next step was (to file to remove conditions in two years). Then she congratulated us and that was it, we walked out after a 15-20 minute interview. It was a very casual interview, all the questions were very simple. She did ask me if I knew her parent's names and that was the only "quiz" question I received.
She didn't once ask to see our marriage license, my birth certificate, or her birth certificate. Everything we sent for AOS was in a big file and she already previously went over all the paperwork minutes before our interview to review our case. Overall, it was a breeze. Unless you have something to hide then nobody should worry about the interview. It's not really about proving that your relationship is real (how can you do this?)...It's more about making sure all the pieces are there (I-693 medical, affidavit of support, a couple bank statements and other joint accounts... basic things (identification, EAD card, passports (USC and non-USC), I-94 in passport, non-USC social security card)....several pictures together (wedding and just day-to-day), and I wouldn't call these quiz questions, but a couple very basic questions (Do you know her parents name, what is your address, where did you get married...etcetera)
A lot of people (I think) picture the interview as the couple being taken into an interrogation room and being drilled for 15 minutes with all sorts of tricky questions. It is nothing like that. Very casual, checklist type questions (Passport: check.....Affidavit: check....EAD card: check.....Medical: check....Photos: check....etcetera)...You will have nothing to worry about if your interview is in Detroit (I've read nothing but good reviews and you can add this one to the list)
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| Harassment Level : |
Very 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
