AOS March 2016 filers/Part 2

[sparkles_ 456]

46 minutes ago, msmontader said:

I did send the file on Monday and they should get it by today. and as soon i get the NOA1 i will let you know. I also called USCIS and i requested to speak with a tier 2 officer ( after tier one told me to go to field office and to make an appointment instead of transferring me to tier 2 ? ). I want to double check for my self and hear it from them if i am in this category. This is just horrifying 

 To get a tier two when a level one is being stupid, just hang up and call again, and nicely start with "I already know that I need to be transferred to a tier 2 officer, if you could help me with this that would be awesome."

 

If that fails, call back and you tell them there are no infopass appts open that you can make due to personal reasons, that you have been calling for a week straight and either can't get a tier 2 or the hold time is outrageous......and then not ask, tell them you want a call back from a tier 2 officer put in as a service request and it will be classed as 'notice you never got'.....I had to do this last one as well once.

[sparkles_ 456]

1 hour ago, fort knox said:

 friends,

We did our interview. the process was the same as all others.

Officer was very nice and asked some straight forward question:

to my wife(citizen): tell me how two you met?

to me: the same question.

to my wife: have you learned naything from his language?

to me: based on paper you are student in University of .... ? yes

to me: are you still student? yes

asked me for picture album, officer skimmed pictures and was turning album pages very fast.

when finished, I asked do you want to look at my documents? No, pictures are enough, there is no need to look at the documents. 

.

.

at the end.... 

officer: we done

me: !! 

officer: I am convinced, and want to issue your card.... but your background check is still incomplete. i am gonna send the card to your address as soon as i receive your background check.

I am shocked how my background check is still incomplete!! cause i thought people who go to interview their background check is already done.

If anybody had experience about this or heard about this please let me know. 

 

 

It happens at times, I've seen other VJ members wait for the same thing. Now you should renew your EAD to work and check on the GC every 30 days with a service request til it shows up

[fort knox 3]

4 minutes ago, sparkles_ said:

It happens at times, I've seen other VJ members wait for the same thing. Now you should renew your EAD to work and check on the GC every 30 days with a service request til it shows up

you mean it may take couple of months to get my GC? usually people receive an email from USCIS the same day after interview, but it did not happen for us. is it because of new executive order?

my EAD card will be expired in the first week of Jun 2017, when is the best time to apply to renew it?

[daveyjoe! 5]

22 minutes ago, sparkles_ said:

I think dont mention it unless directly asked about it at the interview. I've seen other threads about one or both being unemployed or collecting unemployment and it never came up in the interview. I honestly don't think it will even come up for you guys either. If someone is getting unemployment pay, I would bring proof of those payments but again, don't mention any of it unless directly asked.

 

Neither of us collect unemployment but this is definitely good advice. My frame of mind leading up to this interview is to always say less. Only offer info when asked. As a talker this is a challenge. HaHa.

[sparkles_ 456]

36 minutes ago, fort knox said:

you mean it may take couple of months to get my GC? usually people receive an email from USCIS the same day after interview, but it did not happen for us. is it because of new executive order?

my EAD card will be expired in the first week of Jun 2017, when is the best time to apply to renew it?

You won't get it til the background check clears. You're good to renew in early March or late Feb

[Linyahui 103]

This is an update to my earlier post regarding a colleague's connection to a USCIS supervisor at the St. Paul service center:

 

My colleague talked to the USCIS supervisor at the Bloomington USCIS Office today, and he (the supervisor) said to make an INFOPASS appointment, since my husband has already tried to get information online and by calling, with no results. The USCIS officer can only talk to the applicant about the case, of course, so he couldn't legally give my colleague any information directly, but the officer said to check for appointments first thing in the morning.

 

The USCIS supervisor did say that the adjudicating officer may first need to obtain and review my husband's prior US visa documentation (he lived and worked in the U.S. off and on before we got married), which could cause processing delays.

 

Hoping this is what may be holding up the case, but sure would be nice to know for sure. We'll keep trying to make an infopass appointment. 

[Ninahi 53]

Ninahi's handy-dandy tips for InfoPass in a high demand area:

Refresh InfoPass scheduling page every 5 minutes to snag cancellations when they appear. Do not hesitate. You aren't the only desperate one.

And this is how I got my same-day-in-three-hours InfoPass.  I sometimes looked in the morning between 7 an 9 AM and would see a few scattered appointments here and there.

[sparkles_ 456]

2 hours ago, Linyahui said:

This is an update to my earlier post regarding a colleague's connection to a USCIS supervisor at the St. Paul service center:

 

My colleague talked to the USCIS supervisor at the Bloomington USCIS Office today, and he (the supervisor) said to make an INFOPASS appointment, since my husband has already tried to get information online and by calling, with no results. The USCIS officer can only talk to the applicant about the case, of course, so he couldn't legally give my colleague any information directly, but the officer said to check for appointments first thing in the morning.

 

The USCIS supervisor did say that the adjudicating officer may first need to obtain and review my husband's prior US visa documentation (he lived and worked in the U.S. off and on before we got married), which could cause processing delays.

 

Hoping this is what may be holding up the case, but sure would be nice to know for sure. We'll keep trying to make an infopass appointment. 

Makes sense. We got an RFE for the exact same thing, proof of legal entry and any i94s or visas he has had in the states, since he changed from one to another via status without leaving. Maybe this is why we are tied up.....more than one visa class, changing from one type to another, etc. 

[fort knox 3]

7 hours ago, sparkles_ said:

It happens at times, I've seen other VJ members wait for the same thing. Now you should renew your EAD to work and check on the GC every 30 days with a service request til it shows up

I just realized I did not get any stamp in my passport after interview, in what circumstances it happens? is it because of my incomplete background check?

 

[sparkles_ 456]

45 minutes ago, fort knox said:

I just realized I did not get any stamp in my passport after interview, in what circumstances it happens? is it because of my incomplete background check?

 

An i551 stamp is only for someone who is totally approved, not approved pending your background finishing up. Don't worry. It's normal.  

[Linyahui 103]

 

3 hours ago, Ninahi said:

Ninahi's handy-dandy tips for InfoPass in a high demand area:

Refresh InfoPass scheduling page every 5 minutes to snag cancellations when they appear. Do not hesitate. You aren't the only desperate one.

And this is how I got my same-day-in-three-hours InfoPass.  I sometimes looked in the morning between 7 an 9 AM and would see a few scattered appointments here and there.

 

Thanks, Ninahi. I was refreshing throughout the day today, but, so far, no luck. 

 

When I got home tonight, I shared this info with my hubby. We were both feeling stressed, so decided to call USCIS for a lark and see if we could get through to a Tier 2.....at 5:58 PM. We spoke to the nicest Tier 1 we've had thus far and she transferred us to a Tier 2, despite it being 10 minutes past 6 (!!). Wait time was 75 minutes, so we settled in for the wait. 

 

Wouldn't you know it, I got up to clear the dishes and my phone rang with the call back without EITHER of us hearing it. I managed to grab the phone just as it went to voicemail. WHAT!!!! How is this even possible?!! Somehow, the automated call-back recorded a message on my voicemail, repeating over and over to "push 1 to speak to a USCIS officer." We were in AGONY listening to this without any means to respond. But Lady Luck was on our side again tonight, as, just before the message cut off, we heard "since you have not responded, an officer will call back again in 10 minutes." 

!!!!!!!

 

Indeed, 10 minutes later, we got another call back and were able to connect to a Tier 2. Again, one of the NICEST people we have talked to at USCIS in a long time. Not only nice, but incredibly patient, too. He told us that he could see our case is still at the NBC because the security checks are not yet complete. He said they may have been completed recently, but just not yet uploaded to the system or they may still be waiting for some information. He also said that the service request we requested on Jan. 4 was only uploaded to the system on Jan. 19, so we should call back on Feb. 19 if we haven't heard further information on our case. 

 

I wonder if the background check is taking longer because of the information I found out today--that multiple visas can delay things. My hubby lived in the U.S. from 2004-2006, in 2009, and from 2012-2014 before returning in 2016 to be with me, and he's been on different types of visas.  I wonder if that's what has been causing the delay. At any rate, it's nice to have SOME information. 

 

Would it still be worth it to make an Infopass appointment or do we just continue to wait it out? 

[sparkles_ 456]

2 minutes ago, Linyahui said:

 

 

Thanks, Ninahi. I was refreshing throughout the day today, but, so far, no luck. 

 

When I got home tonight, I shared this info with my hubby. We were both feeling stressed, so decided to call USCIS for a lark and see if we could get through to a Tier 2.....at 5:58 PM. We spoke to the nicest Tier 1 we've had thus far and she transferred us to a Tier 2, despite it being 10 minutes past 6 (!!). Wait time was 75 minutes, so we settled in for the wait. 

 

Wouldn't you know it, I got up to clear the dishes and my phone rang with the call back without EITHER of us hearing it. I managed to grab the phone just as it went to voicemail. WHAT!!!! How is this even possible?!! Somehow, the automated call-back recorded a message on my voicemail, repeating over and over to "push 1 to speak to a USCIS officer." We were in AGONY listening to this without any means to respond. But Lady Luck was on our side again tonight, as, just before the message cut off, we heard "since you have not responded, an officer will call back again in 10 minutes." 

!!!!!!!

 

Indeed, 10 minutes later, we got another call back and were able to connect to a Tier 2. Again, one of the NICEST people we have talked to at USCIS in a long time. Not only nice, but incredibly patient, too. He told us that he could see our case is still at the NBC because the security checks are not yet complete. He said they may have been completed recently, but just not yet uploaded to the system or they may still be waiting for some information. He also said that the service request we requested on Jan. 4 was only uploaded to the system on Jan. 19, so we should call back on Feb. 19 if we haven't heard further information on our case. 

 

I wonder if the background check is taking longer because of the information I found out today--that multiple visas can delay things. My hubby lived in the U.S. from 2004-2006, in 2009, and from 2012-2014 before returning in 2016 to be with me, and he's been on different types of visas.  I wonder if that's what has been causing the delay. At any rate, it's nice to have SOME information. 

 

Would it still be worth it to make an Infopass appointment or do we just continue to wait it out? 

I would, with that being said, wait 30 days and then get back on the infopass wagon. How sad is it, that learning about the multiple visa type thing makes me feel better! My husband came on an intern visa for a year, then switched to a visitor visa  during the gov't shutdown....his receipt shows he submitted the change form a month before his intern visa expired Dec 2013, but due to the shut down he did not get approval til 4 months later around April 2014, good for only the last 6wk of the entire 6mo visit visa time  I am sure this is complicating our stuff somehow.

[Linyahui 103]

I'm always convinced that USCIS is not totally forthcoming and/or not aware of all the policies floating around, so did a little research regarding delayed processing of AOS applications due to security checks taking a long time. I found a document issued by USCIS in 2009 that indicates that, while a definitive FBI fingerprint check and IBIS check must be completed for AOS applicants, where the application is otherwise approvable and the FBI name check has been pending for more than 150 days, the "adjudicator" (not sure whether USCIS or FBI) should contact a designated person at "headquarters" (again, not sure whether USCIS or FBI) to reach out to the FBI to determine the reason for the delay. Then, guidance should be provided, which may include authorization to approve the AOS application PRIOR to the completed name check.

 

The full document may be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/2009/national-security-adjudication-reporting-020909.pdf.

 

I immediately contacted my congresswoman's office (as it's now week 9 since we submitted the request for help and they don't seem to be following up with USCIS) to share this information. Not sure WHY I have to share it, as their designated USCIS liaison is an expert in immigration and should know this....

 

At any rate, we'll see if anything comes of it.

[sparkles_ 456]

On 2/1/2017 at 1:35 AM, msmontader said:

I just saw this post from the lawyer Hiba Ghalib :

Notice: I confirmed with an officer that they received instructions from HQ that they are not adjudicating to completion any applications with Immigration- they are interpreting the EO and everything is currently ON HOLD for nationals of the 7 designated banned countries. This means that we are not adjudicating any applications for nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. This includes green card applications(I-485), work permits (I765), change of status (I-539), among others.

What is this !!!!

I have some awesome news for you!!!! As of today, anyone inside the states processing will go on, ANYONE

 

 

[sparkles_ 456]

https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-implementation-jan-27-executive-order

 

Link about my above post. Although it doesn't impact me, I am so beyond happy to hear this because I know it has made so many others lose sleep and be worried sick about their AOS processes.