June 2018 AOS Filers

[ineedadisplayname 449]

36 minutes ago, Mellamanlola said:

The US consulate (NVC) is in charge of granting benefits outside the US and USCIS within the US. USCIS doesn’t not processes visas, so the only backlog is regarding granting immigration benefits in the US. That’s why there are so many service centers. How do you explain August filers within my same jurisdiction that have received their EAD/AP?

Hmm I glanced on the August thread. Didn't see anybody saying they got their EAD/AP.

Can you explain to me what you mean by "August filers within my same jurisdiction that have received their EAD/AP?"  The EAD/AP is processed for everyone at the National Benefits Center. Green card interviews/wait times has local offices aka jurisdictions....

 

What I wanted to say with the visas that there are a bunch of other categories that are eligible for work permits and all the work permits are processed at the National Benefits Center and not in any service centers.....

 

Unfortunately the whole process is a black box, and some people fall thru the cracks.... I know it's frustrating but try to concentrate on the good stuff. You are here earlier with your wife/husband. Otherwise the CR1 would have been better because at the end it's the same process sometimes with shorter wait periods. If you would calculate the CR1 12-16 months and you are a green card holder at the moment you arrive vs. the 7 months for K1 and anywhere from 3 months to 24 months+ to get a green card after filing for AOS, the CR1 would be better to do. Yeah there are some circumstances where you can't do CR1 or want to be together sooner but this is the consequence of the K1.

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by ineedadisplayname

[Swissmiss82 1,618]

finally - the status has changed (also 2 days backwards) to case approved! wohooo... let's see how long it takes to get the approval letter and the GC in the mail now.

[Kat&Joel 484]

I feel like we have had the worst luck imaginable with this delay in the EAD. They should not be allowed to leave people lingering with no SSN and thus no license or bank account or acknowledgement that the USA accepts them as a human being. I am so frustrated and the best they can tell us when there has been no action on our case is that they have another 30 days to get to our case. I feel like they might as well have told me to f off when I called. 

[Tomalley 160]

1 hour ago, Kat&Joel said:

I feel like we have had the worst luck imaginable with this delay in the EAD. They should not be allowed to leave people lingering with no SSN and thus no license or bank account or acknowledgement that the USA accepts them as a human being. I am so frustrated and the best they can tell us when there has been no action on our case is that they have another 30 days to get to our case. I feel like they might as well have told me to f off when I called. 

You can apply for SSN when you just arrived 

[Kat&Joel 484]

4 hours ago, Tomalley said:

You can apply for SSN when you just arrived 

When we first got here and were applying for everything we didn't realize you could get an SSN with the I-94 because nobody told us about it.  It would have been helpful if the US embassy in New Zealand had mentioned that or if the officer at POE had given us instructions.  I still don't even know if Utah will even give out the SSN without the EAD since it sounds like some places are far less cooperative than others.  It would have been nice to know that was an option but we missed that opportunity due to so much uncertainty.  Doesn't help us much now though.  I wish the immigration offices would be more clear about what we can and can't do.   A lot of people are relying heavily on forums to get the information that they need.  Immigration should be providing clear instructions instead of leaving it up to us to guess.  I've just gotta throw my hands up in the air at this point.  There is nothing we can do now to make it go faster and we will just have to work around all the issues for Christmas.  I will call them again on the 14th of December and then again at the beginning of January.  If that doesn't get anywhere I'll have to contact my Congressman who has only just been elected in.  Maybe we will have some luck there.

[kiwihurricane15 34]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 10:41 AM, MarksMate said:

Someone mentioned that it's background checks that slow the process. I refuse to believe that. The SAME DAY my husband made a fuss at the congresswoman's office we were approved. SAME DAY. Same thing happend to a July filer, next day she was approved. Good on the person getting a lawyer. 

 

Squeaky wheel gets the grease. 

 

The immigration system is poorly run in America as is the tax system and the health system and the education system putting students in crazy amounts of debt and people in crazy amounts of medical debt. Always a slave to the government. Employment is just as poorly run, who can seriously LIVE on this countries minimum wage. Like seriously. Then we have countries like Australia and New Zealand with $15 and $18 minimum wage and student loans that aren't killing peoples livelihoods and free universal healthcare (it's not a third world type free universal healthcare) and then you still gotta pay medicare and whatever else stuff our paycheck that you get no benefit from on top of paying taxes. The way our immigration case was run just put a really bitter taste in my mouth of America. And then if my husband and I decide to go live in New Zealand, America is one of 2 countries that can double tax if you earn over 100k so there's that! Greedy is an understatement!! 

As a fellow Kiwi I completely understand where you are coming from- This whole process and the waiting, the anxiety, the job hunting, the healthcare, the general environment is making me seriously homesick. It seems so much here is about screwing people as much as possible. I've literally had Americans tell me to lie on my resume and applications because its the "only" way to get ahead. I'm just not about that- I guess its the honest kiwi culture but we take people for what they are and not who they can step on. I left a 6 figure job back home to move here to be with my wife and we have our reasons (she is finishing her college degree- that yes she has a much bigger loan than she would have in NZ but she was already so far into it) but we have already talked about when she finishes up in the next 6-12 months about going back to NZ. Greedy is the best word to describe the way all systems are set to be run. I guess we will just bide our time and see how things play out but it would be great if there could be some positive changes in the US government to direct energy to things that will genuinely help people who live in this country. Good luck in the new job. I am working as well at a job I am so overqualified for but I needed to do something until I could get my foot in the door. 👍

[Tomalley 160]

12 hours ago, Kat&Joel said:

When we first got here and were applying for everything we didn't realize you could get an SSN with the I-94 because nobody told us about it.  It would have been helpful if the US embassy in New Zealand had mentioned that or if the officer at POE had given us instructions.  I still don't even know if Utah will even give out the SSN without the EAD since it sounds like some places are far less cooperative than others.  It would have been nice to know that was an option but we missed that opportunity due to so much uncertainty.  Doesn't help us much now though.  I wish the immigration offices would be more clear about what we can and can't do.   A lot of people are relying heavily on forums to get the information that they need.  Immigration should be providing clear instructions instead of leaving it up to us to guess.  I've just gotta throw my hands up in the air at this point.  There is nothing we can do now to make it go faster and we will just have to work around all the issues for Christmas.  I will call them again on the 14th of December and then again at the beginning of January.  If that doesn't get anywhere I'll have to contact my Congressman who has only just been elected in.  Maybe we will have some luck there.

Agree.. good luck!

[KateWB 98]

On 12/6/2018 at 9:46 PM, Kat&Joel said:

When we first got here and were applying for everything we didn't realize you could get an SSN with the I-94 because nobody told us about it.  It would have been helpful if the US embassy in New Zealand had mentioned that or if the officer at POE had given us instructions.  I still don't even know if Utah will even give out the SSN without the EAD since it sounds like some places are far less cooperative than others.  It would have been nice to know that was an option but we missed that opportunity due to so much uncertainty.  Doesn't help us much now though.  I wish the immigration offices would be more clear about what we can and can't do.   A lot of people are relying heavily on forums to get the information that they need.  Immigration should be providing clear instructions instead of leaving it up to us to guess.  I've just gotta throw my hands up in the air at this point.  There is nothing we can do now to make it go faster and we will just have to work around all the issues for Christmas.  I will call them again on the 14th of December and then again at the beginning of January.  If that doesn't get anywhere I'll have to contact my Congressman who has only just been elected in.  Maybe we will have some luck there.

We didn’t know about it either until we came across a threat which stated if you had your I-94 and passport you could go to the local social security office and apply. I mean throughout the whole process we weren’t advised by anyone that this is something you can do. You’d expect a federal government agency to be pro active in helping immigrants apply for what they have the right to. I guess it’s another deterrent. 

 

So we did exactly that, went to the social security office with I-94 and passport, we were told we would have to wait to adjust status. I mean seriously this was likely wrong on their part. It made me quite angry! 

 

So we applied for it with the adjustment of status and just waited and waited for it to turn up after the EAD. Which it fortunately did! 

 

Since then its opened up the ability to apply for a drivers license, a bank account and other things. 

 

I understand the frustration and I still can’t believe you are still waiting. I’m angry for you 

 

 

[RLA 323]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:25 AM, RLA said:

Got an email today.  My online status has changed to "Interview was scheduled".  Yay!  

 

I guess I have to wait until the letter arrives to find out when the interview will be?  Hope it's not going to collide with any plans we've already made. 

Well, I got the interview letter today.  I got lucky, no scheduling conflicts.  I guess it's time to start gathering all the documents we'll need to bring. 

 

😁🥂🎉🇺🇸

[Sellamalola 222]

Ladies and gentlemen, after 180 days on the SPOT, my EAD & AP were FINALLY APPROVED! The ability of being able to be a real person in this country is the best Xmas gift I could have ever asked for!!! 

[Swissmiss82 1,618]

look what was in the mail after this loooong journey:

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS to me, and 2 years of relaxing for now! 

 

 

crossing fingers for everyone to get their invitation letters soon, the interview coming up and get a happy holiday with the news ❤️ 

[Sellamalola 222]

2 hours ago, Swissmiss82 said:

look what was in the mail after this loooong journey:

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS to me, and 2 years of relaxing for now! 

 

 

crossing fingers for everyone to get their invitation letters soon, the interview coming up and get a happy holiday with the news ❤️ 

And it’s literally green 😂😂😂👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽That’s awesome 👏🏽 👏🏽👏🏽 Congratulations 🎉 😅 

[Kat&Joel 484]

12 hours ago, Mellamanlola said:

Ladies and gentlemen, after 180 days on the SPOT, my EAD & AP were FINALLY APPROVED! The ability of being able to be a real person in this country is the best Xmas gift I could have ever asked for!!! 

Did you get an email or anything or did the letter just show up? I will probably scream hysterically at our mailbox if we finally get an approval letter lol. We haven't heard a peep but tier 2 promised a response to our inquiry by tomorrow.

[Sellamalola 222]

13 minutes ago, Kat&Joel said:

Did you get an email or anything or did the letter just show up? I will probably scream hysterically at our mailbox if we finally get an approval letter lol. We haven't heard a peep but tier 2 promised a response to our inquiry by tomorrow.

I got two texts last night. I filed a g1145 i think it is, for text and email notifications, however i only got emails when they received the packet, all other updates have been through text. Something else is that you need to make sure you also select the option for text and email updates on the uscis page. I don’t know if it has any effect but i did it just in case cause I kinda like technology to tell me first and then mail 🌚🌚🌚 if my 6 MONTH OLD application went through, yours is next 🙏🏽👏🏽👏🏽Look at the attachment 

[Sellamalola 222]

On 12/10/2018 at 6:02 PM, RLA said:

Well, I got the interview letter today.  I got lucky, no scheduling conflicts.  I guess it's time to start gathering all the documents we'll need to bring. 

 

😁🥂🎉🇺🇸

I know it might be psycho of me but i started doing that when i was first gathering the “evidence” for the aos 🌚 I bought a few of those accordion filing boxes and organized it in a very professional way, so I’m pretty much ready to rumble. I even made an exact replica of the packet, all originals are in those protective sheets, everything has easy access tabs, etc. Good luck 🍀 we’re half way here 👌🏽