July 2019 - AOS Filers

[vzk 5]

Sent documents July 2019 (i 486, adjustment marriage to an American citizen)
Bios in August 2019

Received EAD February 2020

Interview Scheduled for March 2020

Miami Field Office

 

This is a total surprise

Edited February 24, 2020 by vzk

[Jo&Ryan 346]

 

6 hours ago, LuFlolady said:

the whole RFE wait time is a joke.... I hope your case get moving again......

Thank you! I hope so too. And all the RFE was about was BC we put 3 in the household instead of 2 😖 but hope its not too long 

[LuFlolady 881]

We received letter in the mail today the interview is March 4th we are almost there....a little break is much needed....

[NikeS 49]

Finally we got an update, literally 2 hrs after I checked Mom’s status online: her Advance Parole has been approved. Letter to come in the mail. Now if waiting for good news regarding the Greencard itself. 
congratulations to everyone who have approvals for all their applications and interviews. 

[LuFlolady 881]

On 2/24/2020 at 4:08 PM, LuFlolady said:

We received letter in the mail today the interview is March 24th we are almost there....a little break is much needed....

 

[Carpe Vinum 2,310]

On 2/17/2020 at 6:59 PM, vsforlife said:

Can you get approved without an actual interview?

Not anymore. It used to be the norm to be approved without an interview but that has changed.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,079]

3 hours ago, boris64 said:

Not anymore. It used to be the norm to be approved without an interview but that has changed.

I'd think it would make more sense to approve AOS without an interview and require one for ROC than the other way around, but I'm not in charge of USCIS ...

[Carpe Vinum 2,310]

28 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I'd think it would make more sense to approve AOS without an interview and require one for ROC than the other way around, but I'm not in charge of USCIS ...

My first run through a K-1 we didn't have an interview for either. That all changed after the Sacramento shooting. Or at least it was one of the reasons.

[cmLee 14]

Just wanted to provide an update on our case. We had our interview yesterday, February 26^th at the San Francisco field office. I can honestly say it was a pleasant and enjoyable experience, and totally not what I expected. I am going to try provide as much details as I can, in hopes that this would be helpful. I am the one in AOS (adjusting from H1B visa) and my husband is the U.S. citizen. Our NOA was July 5^th 2019.

 

Our appointment time was 2:15pm. We arrived at the USCIS office at 1:45pm and it was quiet. We went through the security check, followed directions to the second floor, and checked-in with the receptionist. She took my photo and fingerprints of both index fingers, and told us to wait in the designated waiting area (which was huge but empty – there were maybe 2-3 other couples throughout the duration we were waiting). We were greeted by our interviewing officer (IO) around 2:30pm and one of the first things he did was apologize for the wait. His demeanor set the tone for the rest of the interview which was really relaxed and pleasant. He was really friendly and nice. He took us into his office, introduced himself, and told us that most of the staff/officers were out because it was oath day and that is why it was quiet with very few interviews scheduled that day (apparently usually the waiting room is full).

 

We started by doing the oath (swear to tell the truth) and he took our passports, birth certificates, social security cards, drivers licenses, and my EAD card, and had us provide him evidence of marriage. We gave him a joint lease, shared bank account documents, documents listing each other as beneficiaries, joint tax return and shared rental insurance. He then started by asking me questions about my application. He had our file in front of him and was familiar with some things I submitted (he commented I had sent a lot of pictures, he remembered our dog and cat, etc.). He went through my I-485 to make sure information was up to date. I actually didn’t know the exact date of some questions like when was the last time I entered the U.S. (I said summer 2018 but don’t remember the date but did have my I-94 with me) or my dad’s birthday (oops). Whenever I didn’t know the exact date, he would repeat the information from my application and asked if that was right, and I would say yes. He asked what my husband’s full name was and his birthday. He asked when we got married. He asked if I was working now and where/what. Then he asked me the yes or no questions on the application (e.g., did you commit genocide, human trafficking, etc.) and confirmed my previous visas (F1 and H1B). He then had me sign my I-485 application.

 

After that, he asked my husband questions about how we met, when we started officially dating, when we decided to get married (proposal story if you have one – we didn’t and we just told him we talked about it for awhile and decided one evening to just do it). He asked who attended the ceremony, where it was, if we had a reception/celebration, and if we went on a honeymoon. He took notes as my husband was talking and included them in our file. Then he looked through our wedding album and asked questions about the people in the photos (which is your parent, etc.). We had plushies of our dog and cat in the photo and he said those were cute and asked if we made them. He saw the photo of our rings and asked if we were wearing them now (which we were). I used that opportunity to let him know my engagement ring was from my mother-in-law (family heirloom). He then briefly flipped through other photos I brought (which was a lot – I brought photos of the entire duration of our relationship and wrote the month, year, and what/where behind each. It was probably overkill). He made a comment about photos with friends (so if you have photos of both of you with friends, include those). That was about the end of the interview. He gave us a slip of paper which stated our case was in review, no additional information needed, you may need a second interview (it’s a generic piece of paper) but told us not to worry – we were approved but just needed to run a background check. He told us about the conditional green card (why and when to file ROC) and for me to bring my social security card to the appropriate government office for an updated one once I get my GC. He said to expect the GC in the mail within 4-6 weeks but sometimes, it may arrive as soon as 2 weeks. I got the notification this morning that my card was being produced.

 

The whole interview was in a very conversational manner with quite a bit of side conversation. The IO and I were ethnically Chinese and we shared some stories/comments on Chinese superstitions and other things that we both could relate with. He saw that I went to school in Nebraska and commented that he was there for a training and people were really nice. My husband even made a comment on whether anyone would actually admit to those yes/no questions (crime, genocide, etc.) and the IO said he has never gotten anyone that said yes. I mention this just to give an idea of how relaxing the whole interview was. He was thorough and asked questions, but at the same time it was like talking to an acquaintance with conversation flowing on topics unrelated to the questions as well. We answered the questions seriously and honestly, but also talked and laughed. It was just a great overall experience. The only negative thing was the parking - it was expensive as heck ($5/half hour) but that's normal in San Francisco!

 

I wanted to also note that I brought copies of our entire application plus copies of documents but none of those were needed. And in terms of attire, I wore a button down blouse with slacks and a cardigan and my husband wore a button down shirt with slacks and a tie.

 

TLDR: Great interview experience (thank you IO Cheung for such a pleasant experience!). Timeline from submission to card being produced is around 8 months. USCIS local office was in San Francisco. Good idea to arrive 20-30 minutes earlier for security, checking-in, and getting situated. Bring your interview letter, passports, birth certificates, EAD card, social security cards, documents of joint accounts, tax returns (any official documents with both names), and photos. Good luck to everyone in the process!

[C&C88 27]

Congrats to everyone who’s gotten their EAD and/or interview!! 
 

Finally some progress for us as well after an RFE in Sept. We got the notification that the interview is ready to be scheduled. No EAD yet but that’s fine as my wife is a SAHM and she’s pregnant so we’re not going to be traveling anytime soon. (Well, maybe just another small road trip to Disney for the gender reveal in a couple months lol)
 

We’re in Fort Lauderdale so not really expecting to get scheduled soon but who knows, we might get lucky. 

Good luck to all those still waiting!!

Edited February 28, 2020 by C&C88

[GeeRaf 61]

We're up soon. Our interview date is on the 24 of this month. Admittedly, we're a little nervous.

[vsforlife 75]

It's Friday, I was hoping to get an update in the case. 

 

Hoping for next week. 

[cmLee 14]

8 hours ago, GeeRaf said:

We're up soon. Our interview date is on the 24 of this month. Admittedly, we're a little nervous.

It's normal - we were nervous too! The anxiety of waiting for the interview was worse than the interview itself. Since ours was scheduled in the afternoon, the anticipation that morning leading up to the interview time was nerve-wracking. Hopefully yours is scheduled earlier in the day. Good luck!

[Temi & Obim 24]

We had our interview yesterday and it was stress free. Most questions were directed to my husband the beneficiary and it was mostly to confirm the yes or no question on I485 and our wedding. He didn't even collect all our evidence, he checked all of them and returned some, as he was checking the evidence he asked us how we met and so on like i129f. He asked also asked to see EAD/AP card and parole stamp to confirm we didn't abandon the AOS because we traveled outside US twice already.  After the interview he told us we are recommended for approval and gave us a paper as assurance that we'll get the card within 30 days. Within an hour our status change to card is being produced. I didn't asked for new paystubs or 2019 W2.

 

Here are list of evidence we took:

He kept

1. Health and vision insurance 

2. Joints bank statements

3. Life and long term insurance beneficiaries 

4. Retirement 

5. House deeds and insurance

6. Car insurance 

 

Only checked and returned 

1. Tickets

2. Pictures 

3. Husband current work details 

4. 2019 tax return 

5. Phone bills

6. Amazon prime

 

So happy this phase is done till ROC.... Goodluck to everyone

Edited February 29, 2020 by Temi & Obim

[h2oWendy 6]

Congrats! Temi&Obim, when you say he KEPT some of the docs do you mean that I should bring a copy of things like our health insurance cards. I'll bring the originals of course, but I assumed it was just a "look at" procedure. Haha, I do need to hang onto those...