Need to change interview appointment date for I-485 Interview

[Ken1 0]

Hi Everyone,

We just received our interview for adjustment of status for my wife and her daughter for February 26th, but it is scheduled for a day that we will be out of the country (we were recently approved for Advance Parole). I called USCIS and they took our information and stated reason for requesting a change of interview date (that we'll be out of the country). The USCIS person then told me that I should hear something within 45 days, and gave me two reference numbers (one for my wife's appointment and one for her 9 year old daughter's appointment). When I mentioned that our original date was scheduled for much less than 45 days from now and I just wanted to make sure that we had some sort of confirmation that they received our reason for not being able to make the original appointment time (rather than just looking like a no show), she told me (in a somewhat unpleasant tone), "we can't guarantee anything and you are taking a risk with your case by not attending your appointment."

We can't change our travel plans.

Is this really a big risk? That seems so unfair. In fact, in our application for AP, I put that we wanted to travel out of the country between Feb. 13th and 27th, and they approved us - doesn't it seem like they shouldn't approve us for that travel and then schedule our appointment during the days we requested to be out of the country? I know it doesn't work like that and everything is done by different departments.

Any thoughts from my always helpful VJers would be great.

Thanks,

K

[Anh map 2,098]

The AP and appointment scheduling are two separate things.

Make an InfoPass appointment to talk with someone directly. The info line is not answered by staff, but by customer service reps that do not have access to your case.

[trillium13 84]

she told me (in a somewhat unpleasant tone), "we can't guarantee anything and you are taking a risk with your case by not attending your appointment."

This is true. There have been threads on VJ from those in similar situations who were denied because they didn't show up at their initial interview.

We can't change our travel plans.

Is this really a big risk? That seems so unfair. In fact, in our application for AP, I put that we wanted to travel out of the country between Feb. 13th and 27th, and they approved us - doesn't it seem like they shouldn't approve us for that travel and then schedule our appointment during the days we requested to be out of the country? I know it doesn't work like that and everything is done by different departments.

This is why AP is often recommended for emergency use only. USCIS doesn't really care what you have scheduled when. I guess it comes down to where you want to place your priorities. I personally would not have made any plans for the time frame in which an interview might be scheduled. A death in the family or other emergency is one thing, a trip that could have waited is another.

[arren 6]

In fact, in our application for AP, I put that we wanted to travel out of the country between Feb. 13th and 27th, and they approved us - doesn't it seem like they shouldn't approve us for that travel and then schedule our appointment during the days we requested to be out of the country? I know it doesn't work like that and everything is done by different departments.

It happened to me too - they ended up scheduling my AOS interview in the exact week that I had written on the AP application form. As a consequence I canceled my trip (even though they canceled my interview too.. ) and have been scared to plan another one until I'll get an interview date. If you have any way to cancel your trip I would do it if I were you, because you don't know what might happen and how long could it take to get another date.

[Ken1 0]

Thanks for the comments.

Unfortunately, the trip is work related for me, and I can't cancel. Does that qualify as a valid reason? I am a teacher bringing 35 students abroad, and had the opportunity to bring my family, and we stated that in the AP request.

Again, it seems very unfair that USCIS would grant AP for that as the given reason (I stated no other reason for requesting AP and requested it as a one time entrance), and then turn around and say that it's only for emergency purposes and thus we violated some AP rule. Okay, I know that USCIS doesn't always work in rational ways, but getting back to our situation, is it valid that regardless of my wife and her daughter, I wouldn't be able to attend the Adjustment of Status meeting do to being abroad for work? Or would the request that they do the interview without me?

Infopass is a thought, but I am afraid that they can flat out tell me "no" versus the current answer from USCIS that I have, which is "your request is being processed and you'll hear back within 45 days."

Thanks again for your advice and shared experience.

K