Green card already! Easy as pie!

[beachgirl 3]

So... I posted a while back that we had our AOS interview scheduled for two days before we were hoping to travel back to Canada for the holidays. I was a little worried, but called USCIS and they said as long as the interview goes well, all is fine. We did get our AP and EAD card a week before the interview, so I had no idea what was up and down. Interview was fine, about a 40 minute wait and finally get started. Seemed to go as planned. Basic questions, had all the evidence with us and were going through it with ease. Finally, at the end he says " well, once I approve your status, you'll receive the card in the mail yaddy yadda yadda ".. I said, " hold it, once you approve? I thought these were approved on the spot ?" he said, well usually he likes to go over it blah blah blah " I politely said I had a flight booked to Canada in two days, and thought I'd have approval or denial today and could travel officially as a resident with the stamp in passport if approved.. He kind of paused, said let me talk to my supervisor.. UGH!!!!!!! 10 minutes of #######?! and then he came back and said all is good, he liked what he saw, and our status is approved. We received the 512 stamps in our passports, and given the speech about the green card coming in 4 - 6 weeks etc. My son and I traveled to Canada 2 days later, no problems leaving US or arriving in Canada. We flew back to the us on the 30th with no hassles either! We had the stamps, our AP/EAD card and a copy of the I797 for approved status as well. We did get sidetracked at customs, but it was just poor communication from the first agent. Went to secondary and once he realized we did have the stamps, we were free to go.

** K2 note, I was told that to travel back and forth, the US only requires a note from the parent in the US stating the child is traveling home. Both parents info should be written, dates and contact numbers included. These letters DO NOT need to be notarized.

So, we got home happy! No problems, and everytthing went perfectly. To my surprise, today we received our green cards!!!!!!! Approved on the 19th of december, in our hands Jan 3.. Thats pretty darn quick!

So, have no fear! Traveling immediately after AOS interview with approval and nothing but a stamp, should for the most part be fine! The card can come quick and the interview can be painless! I'm soooooo relieved to be done with this for a while. 2 years of no paper work is glorious! Stay positive and be diligent! We did the whole process from K1 to Perm. Resident without any delays, no RFE's and a little quicker than average.

Thank you everyone here for the time put in to answering questions and posting information! I can't imagine getting to this point without this forum!

Have a happy new year!

[TBoneTX 42,988]

*** Thread moved from main AOS/Family-Based forum to the Case Progress subforum. ***