APRIL 2018 AOS FILERS

[Cristina24 122]

Just wanted to update people. Its been 32 days since status changed to “interview was scheduled “ .... still no letter in the mail. 🤨 

[Tella&T 183]

6 hours ago, Matiela said:

thanks! nothing that posed a problem really, the only surprising thing was the amount/length I guess...

 

let's see what I remember... she began with a tiny bit of small talk and right after asked my wife (the USC) my birth date. then she said "so, you met in Argentina..." to which I corrected her, and that was followed by more questions about our history of meeting/separating until we were finally together in the US. maybe I had to correct her a couple more times. maybe she "assumed" wrong places/dates from our story to see if we'd agree or not? it's also possible that she skimmed the whole thing super quickly 30 seconds before the interview started.

 

a funny thing is that the interviewer said "ah, that's when you started to plan on getting married" or something like that,  I was ready to start rambling how we wanted to be together and knew the process would be long and difficult etc etc. I would have forgotten to mention the one important detail which is that she proposed to me online a couple months before flying over to move in with me and that would have looked bad LOL. just as I opened my mouth my wife felt like talking because it would cause a better impression and (asking permission first, because 95% of questions were addressed to me) told that story, in the process saving me from looking like I didn't know something. smart woman ❤️

 

you know, you're there all nervous and worried about saying something in a way that could be misunderstood (or that they'll ask something about your documents that you didn't even think about) with your mind racing and that doesn't help. anyway, our story got to our wedding when she wanted to know if my family could attend, etc etc. saw my wife's grampa on a picture and asked who he was, I also pointed out my parents.

 

after that she moved on to more of my stuff, in the form section where you're asked about organizations you were a member of I put a charity I volunteered in a couple times (distributing food and blankets in winter to the homeless), a couple meditation courses I took (one of which I participated in as a volunteer helper) and that I signed up to the Argentine association of Esperanto speakers (that's an artifical language, you just get together with others and speak it for fun, it's a very nerdy thing... it's as if we were all startrek fans and got together to speak klingon or something). she asked me to explain all 3 in detail with what I felt like was a little suspicion. In the case of esperanto I explained what the language was and she said she was familiar with it but wanted to know exactly what sort of activity happened in this association and if I was still a member (I said I guess not because I stopped paying the monthly fee lol, she laughed). I told her once my wife was with me in Argentina we went to one of the homeless food & blankets thing together (we asked each other "was this in July?" "no no I think it was in August") and then just never did it again. when asked about the meditation thing I explained they simply are free 10-day intensive courses or retreats in which they teach a meditation technique, and that I really liked it and went twice (again, once with my wife) and then decided to go again to help in the kitchen during another one. she wanted to be absolutely sure I didn't belong to any other organization than the ones on the form.

 

I don't know what else... more misc stuff like wether we speak spanish or english in the household (we said 90% spanish) or how my wife knew spanish so well, things like that. a few questions about the documents too (I mentioned about the joint sponsor affidavit and and the overseas medical in a previous post), she also asked two or three times if I didn't have any other names or nicknames I went by. I said the only thing that may or may not be important is that my name appears (it's not clear LOL) to be written with an accent mark on my birth certificate but not anywhere else, she looked at it closely and said "that's just a dot" haha.

 

she noted down A LOT OF STUFF while I answered things, especially when we were narrating how we met and our periods of being together and long-distance between then and the wedding. she was very thorough, which is a little surprising given what some people reported and the fact that she seemed to be sympathetic to immigrants as I pointed out previously too (another thing we noted: she had a little sticker that said "WOMEN AT WORK" or something like that on a wall - we imagine seeing Trump's framed photo on the USCIS office's hallway every day isn't making her days working there any easier... these photos are mandatory for every federal office right? we saw it in the SSA too).

 

I can't think of anything else, just that we waited maybe 2 hours (not kidding - but also the building had problems that day) and then the interview took a looong time. she did mention in the beginning that our file seemed to be in order and asked if it was a 100% DIY thing, which I very proudly confirmed (I said "I did most of the research on how to do it" - but didn't mention that my wife doesn't know a lot of the specifics of the forms and process, she would have probably seen that as a red flag?). I'm just happy my wife didn't have to bear as much burden as me in figuring out how to fill every form perfectly and gather all the correct documents, y'all here know very well how painful it is.

 

after everything was said and done, she gave plenty of specific advice on what to do in 2 years from now for the ROC... I didn't mention that I'm on a forum called VJ where I got all the useful info (NOT THE USCIS WEBSITE OMG!!!) and that I'd probably find easily what she was telling us as well, but I really appreciate the gesture and thanked her profusely. that sort of attitude is greatly in need and I hope she felt encouraged. she said her decision was "recommend for approval" or something like that and then someone else would review everything and if nothing new and really weird came up we would surely receive the green card 30-60 days from now.

 

I did try to make a little small talk (as much as my nerves allowed) and give a little completely innocuous extra info to a couple of questions so she wouldn't think we were being careful or defensive, but we were. if I had for example told her about VJ she would probably have said "oh, that's so nice that you people help each other with this confusing process" but there's a (small-ish?) chance that that would have made her suspicious and opened a new line of questioning. which would have been fine in the end (hopefully), because we're lucky that we REALLY didn't have anything to hide, but you know... save yourself the pain and reduce the risk of miscommunication if you can help it!  

 

hope some of this wall of text is helpful at least by putting your mind at ease, good luck with everything! 

Wow, thank you so much for so many details. Your interview sounds soooo thorough!!! Interesting about her interest in organizations...
Both me and my husband are not good about remembering details so I imagine all kinds of ways how things can go wrong!
Our office is in Philly though so we will wait quite a bit longer. Must be a great feeling to have the interview behind you!!

 

 

[Cristina24 122]

3 hours ago, Cristina24 said:

Just wanted to update people. Its been 32 days since status changed to “interview was scheduled “ .... still no letter in the mail. 🤨 

UPDATE: Its been 32 days since my status changed to “interview was scheduled “ and today a letter was delivered from Homeland Security but i cant get to it till tomorrow. Im so excited!! I hope its nothing but good news! 😊  lol this morning i was thinking when is my letter coming! 

[Matiela 98]

3 hours ago, Martella&T said:

Wow, thank you so much for so many details. Your interview sounds soooo thorough!!! Interesting about her interest in organizations...
Both me and my husband are not good about remembering details so I imagine all kinds of ways how things can go wrong!
Our office is in Philly though so we will wait quite a bit longer. Must be a great feeling to have the interview behind you!!

 

oh yes indeed, definitely a GREAT feeling to be done with that!

 

have you ever heard the advice that, in preparation for a job interview, write down the highlights of your experience/skills and answers to the most common questions and read through it a few times so it's fresh in your memory when needed? I think that advice might apply well here too, at least to reduce anxiety... just a thought I had afterward.

[Tella&T 183]

20 hours ago, Matiela said:

 

oh yes indeed, definitely a GREAT feeling to be done with that!

 

have you ever heard the advice that, in preparation for a job interview, write down the highlights of your experience/skills and answers to the most common questions and read through it a few times so it's fresh in your memory when needed? I think that advice might apply well here too, at least to reduce anxiety... just a thought I had afterward.

I will follow your advice as your advice on the driving test came in very handy 🙂

[George & Roth 1,485]

On 10/23/2018 at 9:25 PM, antipasti7 said:

Well when I renewed my DL, they gave me a temporary DL that is valid until Jan. I was just wondering when I could get the physical card.

 

How long did it take for your wife to get the actual DL?

She did not get a temporary license, we received the physical card right after she passed the written exam. We just walked to a different location and they made the DL right there. 

[antipasti7 14]

1 hour ago, George & Roth said:

She did not get a temporary license, we received the physical card right after she passed the written exam. We just walked to a different location and they made the DL right there. 

Interesting. I’ve renewed my California DL three times and never received the card right away. I had to wait in the mail. I guess each DMV at each state is different.

[K1 2017 23]

Green card in hand.

[Tomalley 160]

Hi, does anyone know how long will they look into my RFE? Today my website said they received my RFE, when can I get my ead ? When will they look into my RFE ? 

 

 

[Lsthorpe1 129]

HAPPY POST!!!

 

I just went to my mail box and I have recieved 3 separate letters from USCIS!!

 

One telling me my interview is scheduled for November 27th! Wohoo!

 

Another saying my EAD has been approved and that they will send my card separately (how long does this take?!!)

 

Lastly, THE MOST IMPORTANT - AP approved!!! 

 

My wait is is finally over!!

 

I filed on April 2nd, recieved an RFE September 25th and all approved/interview scheduled - 22nd October! 

 

Maaan that took long.

[Lsthorpe1 129]

1 hour ago, Tomalley said:

Hi, does anyone know how long will they look into my RFE? Today my website said they received my RFE, when can I get my ead ? When will they look into my RFE ? 

 

 

I recieved notice that I had been issued an RFE on September 25th. On October the 3rd they recieved my response, my case then updated to interview scheduled on October 17th

[Lana&Tyler 359]

I got my mail today and my interview is scheduled November 30th !! 

 

Very excited and super nervous. Funny how my ADJ OF S interview is scheduled next month and my EAD and AP are still on “recieved”. 

 

Excited and nervous !!!!! 

[Lsthorpe1 129]

1 hour ago, Lana&Tyler said:

I got my mail today and my interview is scheduled November 30th !! 

 

Very excited and super nervous. Funny how my ADJ OF S interview is scheduled next month and my EAD and AP are still on “recieved”. 

 

Excited and nervous !!!!! 

This kinda happened to me too! My interview is on the 27th of November! Once my case changed to “interview scheduled” about a week later my AP/EAD changed to approved. I bet yours will do the same!

[QED 21]

2 hours ago, Lana&Tyler said:

I got my mail today and my interview is scheduled November 30th !! 

 

Very excited and super nervous. Funny how my ADJ OF S interview is scheduled next month and my EAD and AP are still on “recieved”. 

 

Excited and nervous !!!!! 

You're in a much better position right now, don't you worry about that.

[britishandusa 446]

Just curious if anyone filed I-485 for Orlando, FL?