AOS March 2016 filers/Part 2

[Linyahui 103]

OK, now I'm confused....

 

I just received a second USCIS text informing me that my husband's i-485 has been approved and the approval notice will be mailed to us. The thing is, we already received this status update and approval notice on July 27. Two hours ago, the status was "card production" and now it's back to "my case is approved."

 

Any thoughts what's going on?? 

[Linyahui 103]

On 9/11/2017 at 3:00 PM, Linyahui said:

OK, now I'm confused....

 

I just received a second USCIS text informing me that my husband's i-485 has been approved and the approval notice will be mailed to us. The thing is, we already received this status update and approval notice on July 27. Two hours ago, the status was "card production" and now it's back to "my case is approved."

 

Any thoughts what's going on?? 

 

UPDATE: Received another USCIS update today saying that the green card has been mailed to us!!!!!! The new service center is literally within walking distance of our apartment, so I anticipate we'll get the card before the end of the week. Yippee!!!! Will update once it's physically in hand....

[sparkles_ 456]

40 minutes ago, Linyahui said:

 

UPDATE: Received another USCIS update today saying that the green card has been mailed to us!!!!!! The new service center is literally within walking distance of our apartment, so I anticipate we'll get the card before the end of the week. Yippee!!!! Will update once it's physically in hand....

Bring it on home!!!

[Linyahui 103]

And so our journey comes to an end....my husband's green card arrived in the mail on Thursday evening. Such wonderful relief! Thank you, everyone, for your ongoing support and for sharing your stories...it definitely made the last 18 months more bearable. We'll be back in 21 months to file for ROC, but will keep checking the forum to provide support to those of us still on the journey. 

[PaddyGirl13 75]

On 9/16/2017 at 4:23 PM, Linyahui said:

And so our journey comes to an end....my husband's green card arrived in the mail on Thursday evening. Such wonderful relief! Thank you, everyone, for your ongoing support and for sharing your stories...it definitely made the last 18 months more bearable. We'll be back in 21 months to file for ROC, but will keep checking the forum to provide support to those of us still on the journey. 

Woo Hoo!!! Congratulations!!!

[msmontader 10]

On 9/7/2017 at 12:25 PM, Linyahui said:

I second Sparkles's advice regarding the medical exam and short answers. We ended up getting an RFE for several items because our case took so long to get to the St. Paul local office, and one of those items was the medical exam and immunization worksheet. It didn't matter that when we submitted the AOS paperwork in March 2016 that the medical exam was still valid....at the point of review at our local office, it had expired and so they requested another one. 

 

I also sent IRS tax transcripts as part of our RFE. They had requested 2016 tax returns, but the tax transcript was more detailed and I didn't want to cause any further delays. As Sparkles said, I don't think the 1040 would have been enough (although it was accepted for the 2014 and 2015 tax year when I submitted with the original AOS packet). Better safe than sorry!

 

I can't direct you to specific AOS interview questions because we didn't actually get around to practicing those ourselves. However, I think Googling will give you plenty of resources. Again, I think just practicing answering questions (any of the questions you find) will be helpful, even if they don't end up being the specific questions asked during the interview. It's just helpful to get used to the process of being asked and answering. 

Yea I re-did the exam and they have changed the format and ( of course) add more questions regarding the medical exam. Can't wait for next week!

[msmontader 10]

Interview update: the interview went really well (and fast)!. The officer started by asking me about the normal questions on the green card application (have been involved in XYZ) and after that, he asked about a missing page in my application ( luckily I have a copy so I handed it over). Also, he asked for the medical exam since my old one is expired so I handed over the new one that I did. After that, it was just very basic questions on where we live and what we do. The officer took most of the time just looking for the I-130 application in the files they have and when he found it he just made sure everything looks good. The interview took about 20-30 minutes total. He said that they are just waiting for the background check clearance and I should expect to get the green card within 3 weeks. Very excited to see that this process has finally come to an end. Thanks to everyone who posted and updated about their cases and helped us in this long process. I will post again when I get the physical card in the mail!. 

Edited October 5, 2017 by msmontader

[PaddyGirl13 75]

13 hours ago, msmontader said:

Interview update: the interview went really well (and fast)!. The officer started by asking me about the normal questions on the green card application (have been involved in XYZ) and after that, he asked about a missing page in my application ( luckily I have a copy so I handed it over). Also, he asked for the medical exam since my old one is expired so I handed over the new one that I did. After that, it was just very basic questions on where we live and what we do. The officer took most of the time just looking for the I-130 application in the files they have and when he found it he just made sure everything looks good. The interview took about 20-30 minutes total. He said that they are just waiting for the background check clearance and I should expect to get the green card within 3 weeks. Very excited to see that this process has finally come to an end. Thanks to everyone who posted and updated about their cases and helped us in this long process. I will post again when I get the physical card in the mail!. 

Congrats! Sounds like it went really well

[sparkles_ 456]

16 hours ago, msmontader said:

Interview update: the interview went really well (and fast)!. The officer started by asking me about the normal questions on the green card application (have been involved in XYZ) and after that, he asked about a missing page in my application ( luckily I have a copy so I handed it over). Also, he asked for the medical exam since my old one is expired so I handed over the new one that I did. After that, it was just very basic questions on where we live and what we do. The officer took most of the time just looking for the I-130 application in the files they have and when he found it he just made sure everything looks good. The interview took about 20-30 minutes total. He said that they are just waiting for the background check clearance and I should expect to get the green card within 3 weeks. Very excited to see that this process has finally come to an end. Thanks to everyone who posted and updated about their cases and helped us in this long process. I will post again when I get the physical card in the mail!. 

They told us up to 30 days but we got a text notice about 3 days after. Hoping yours is faster than stated as well. Congrats, so glad to hear good news!

[elikhom 7]

On 10/4/2017 at 8:39 PM, msmontader said:

Interview update: the interview went really well (and fast)!. The officer started by asking me about the normal questions on the green card application (have been involved in XYZ) and after that, he asked about a missing page in my application ( luckily I have a copy so I handed it over). Also, he asked for the medical exam since my old one is expired so I handed over the new one that I did. After that, it was just very basic questions on where we live and what we do. The officer took most of the time just looking for the I-130 application in the files they have and when he found it he just made sure everything looks good. The interview took about 20-30 minutes total. He said that they are just waiting for the background check clearance and I should expect to get the green card within 3 weeks. Very excited to see that this process has finally come to an end. Thanks to everyone who posted and updated about their cases and helped us in this long process. I will post again when I get the physical card in the mail!. 

Congrats

[elikhom 7]

We are done too. Wife received her card in the mail yesterday. We wont need to go through this again to remove conditions since it's valid for 10 years. Glad it' over after 19 months.

[Linyahui 103]

On 10/4/2017 at 8:39 PM, msmontader said:

Interview update: the interview went really well (and fast)!. The officer started by asking me about the normal questions on the green card application (have been involved in XYZ) and after that, he asked about a missing page in my application ( luckily I have a copy so I handed it over). Also, he asked for the medical exam since my old one is expired so I handed over the new one that I did. After that, it was just very basic questions on where we live and what we do. The officer took most of the time just looking for the I-130 application in the files they have and when he found it he just made sure everything looks good. The interview took about 20-30 minutes total. He said that they are just waiting for the background check clearance and I should expect to get the green card within 3 weeks. Very excited to see that this process has finally come to an end. Thanks to everyone who posted and updated about their cases and helped us in this long process. I will post again when I get the physical card in the mail!. 

 Congratulations, Msmontader! Thanks for sharing this happy update...we're looking forward to your final update once the green card arrives. 

On 10/6/2017 at 2:35 PM, elikhom said:

We are done too. Wife received her card in the mail yesterday. We wont need to go through this again to remove conditions since it's valid for 10 years. Glad it' over after 19 months.

Congrats, Elikhom! Although your process took forever, I do envy that your wife won't have to go through removal of conditions! 

[Linyahui 103]

 

Those of us who will need to go through ROC in two years...let's stay in touch. 

[msmontader 10]

It has been two weeks since I had my interview with USCIS and nothing has been updated yet. Should I panic or everything is fine?

[sparkles_ 456]

10 hours ago, msmontader said:

It has been two weeks since I had my interview with USCIS and nothing has been updated yet. Should I panic or everything is fine?

I recall always hearing either 30 or 45 days is the real 'take action' date. I would give it another two weeks but go ahead and either look at infopass appts and book one if able, since they fill up fast or make an appt to see your congressional rep. Me personally I would go in this order: tier 2 inquiry if you can ever get one when calling and not hold for 3 hours, infopass, congressperson. If you are only holding on backgrounds (it's early here and I can't recall) then I would skip right to your congressperson.  

 

I hate to bear bad news but it seems all things USCIS slow down during Nov-new year due to the holidays. Keep your head up, I see no reason to worry over anything yet, but get things in place in case day 30 rolls around and nothing.