I-485 Appt Notice but no EAD

[106206 15]

Wife received her biometrics appt on 8/29 and went without issues

Today came I-797C "REQUEST FOR APPLICANT TO APPEAR FOR INITAL INTERVIEW"

Case type: "FORM I-485..."

Recieved Date & Priority Date both 07/25/2011

There is an A# populated (she did not have an A# before)

It gives a standard list of items to bring (I'm assuming the list doesn't change)

We never got an RFE

Questions:

1. This seems really fast given her stuff was received 7/25 and the interview is 3 months later. Is that a fair statement?

2. She filed for AP and EAD but nothing has come yet. Shouldn't that come before the notice for the I-485 interview?

3. At this point is it implied that the I-130 is approved? Or is this a joint I-130/I-485 interview?

4. Is this "inital interview" typically the only interview before a GC is issued?

5. For evidence we are married, it's kind of light:

- She is on my medical insurance

- She's my beneficiary for my 401(k) and AD&D benefits at work

- I was going to draft a will and make her the primary beneficiary (it's not drafted yet). She could do same and draft a will.

- We have a joint bank account with very little transactions on it (for the wedding basically)

- No utilities in her name (she has no job why would she have utilities if she cannot pay for them)

- House is in my name (I had house before we met)

- We have various pictures, etc. of wedding with about 25 family & friends present.

- I can get some affadavits from friends, etc. testifying the wedding is bona fide.

- We are about to lease a car, but with no SSN she cannot get named on the lease with me. So no vehicles in her name.

- I paid for her schooling (she is in an ESL school) and can show that I paid out about 2k for that.

I think we are fine, but what are your thoughts on if there is enough evidence?

Thanks in advance

[Little_My 464]

Three months from mailing AOS application to interview is a bit faster than the average processing time, but nothing out of the ordinary. When your AOS is adjudicated fast, sometimes the EAD and AP are never even issued. She might still receive them before the interview, or at least receive notice that they have been issued - whether or not they actually physically arrive before the interview is another matter. Yes, usually AP and EAD come before the interview and the GC, but it is also pretty common that the interview takes place within such a short time frame that the applicant will just receive the GC and skip the AP and EAD entirely.

They have essentially determined that she is eligible for a GC - i.e. the I-130 has been approved. It only establishes that there is an immediately available visa number for her. The interview's purpose is to determine that your marriage is legitimate, so that she can be issued a GC based on marriage.

Usually there is only one interview. If, however, for some reason the interviewer has suspicions about your marriage they may request you to come for a second one, in which you could be separated from each other. In a normal interview the couple is together. There isn't really any reason to think there will be a second interview though - that is normally not the case.

You can't really fabricate more evidence if there is none - but I think what you have seems fine. Photos and affidavits are a good addition to more "hard" documents, like proof of joint bank accounts and insurance. Go with what you've got, and most likely everything will go just fine.

[ceadsearc 516]

Great advice, Little_My!

Just wanted to add that you may be able to add her to some things, like car insurance, even if she is not able to be on your car lease (even if she has no license she can be added as a spouse). Additionally, though she isn't on utility bills (my husband wasn't either, I didn't have an option for two people on a bill), you can potentially add her to your cell phone, etc.

[MMLuverz 0]

Hi! We have the same exact timeline and are in the same predicament as you: interview notice but no EAD. USCIS received our AOS package for my husband on 07/25 and also had him scheduled for biometrics on 8/29! We contacted USCIS last week to inquire about the EAD and they just told us it's processing normally and just to be patient. So that's what we're trying to do...heheh. =P

[sun flower 3]

Hi,I had the same circumstance as you, I sent my package on 21 june / 2011 and receive the appointment for the interview on early august 2011 for sept 07 / 2011. I thought I would not receive the EAD but it arrive one month after the biometrics (25 august / 2011). So don't worry probably it will arrive soon. And we had almost the same paperwork adding DL with the same address, he had added me to his bank account and I had added him to mine, He kept his car insurance and I kept mine but it showed our address,change of marital status and his and my name together. No utility bills or leasing contract because my husband got his house before our marriage and I did not have a SS so I was not working even to help with the bills or to figure in them. But we had proof that we were dating 4 years before our marriage.

[106206 15]

Thanks all for the great replies. And interesting to hear that others are in the same situation.

Actually she is on my car insurance now (it apparently did not cost anything extra via Geico), and we have a family plan which while not having her name on the bill, has her cell # on there.

One other 'detail' that I am sure will come up in the interview - the timing of our relationship:

Filed for divorce 1/25/11, we met 2/18/11, my divorce finalized 3/18/11, we got engaged 6/12/11, and were legally married 7/12/11 (courthouse) with an outdoor wedding ceremony on 7/16/11 with friends & family flying in from Boston & her dad from Venezuela. Her I-94 expired in 2/11 so she was out of status, and we filed the paperwork with USCIS on 7/25 just under a 6 month overstay.

So the timing of all this is sort of nutty. But we are happy to report that everything is going very well. Reason for going so fast with things is that at 38 I'd like to start a family, she is definately the one for me, and we want a couple of years together before having kids. So it seemed like the right choice. Sending her home and doing long distance relationship did not seem like the answer and the "illegal" situation was not the right approach either. So when I was sure I asked her to marry, and we did that so that it came in right under her 6 month overstay mark.

That is the honest truth and I can say that if they were to deny her marriage they can expect her and I to move away to either S. America or Europe so we could be together.

I'm assuming that I don't lead the interviewer into all this but rather I let them go there if they want to (and I'm expecting they will).

[106206 15]

Updating this for better use in future searches by others:

Recieved notice (SMS + Email) yesterday 9/16 that I-131 (Travel) and I-765 (EAD) have been approved, the I-131 approval notice coming in the mail and the I-765 is in card production.

Thanks for the answers.

[ceadsearc 516]

Glad you got the EAD notice!

I had a divorce that was finalized only a few months before I remarried (though I filed the year prior), and they did ask a LOT of questions about it. But they didn't deny based on it, obviously - if you have solid evidence, you should be fine. It is a red flag, but these situations do occur and USCIS knows that!

[MMLuverz 0]

Congrats!! We're still waiting on my husband's...=/ If we don't get any text/e-mail update by Friday, I think we're gonna make another call to USCIS to check on the status.