Our experience/AOS before work permit

[Chepe and Joha 0]

Hey all, I've been using this site as a resource for a long time but I have been in stealth mode.  I just wanted to share a little about the process as my wife and I experienced it so maybe it will help anyone in progress.  We applied for the fiance visa in October, 2017.  No additional documents were requested and my fiance (at the time) had her interview in Costa Rica in August, 2018.  She was approved so I traveled to CR and we came to South Carolina in October and were married on October 6.  We sent the requests for the work permit and AOS in December, 2018.  The wait times looked daunting and I was not expecting resolution of the AOS until the end of 2019 at the earliest.  Here is the part where it gets a little scary.  We received the AOS interview appointment for May without any news on the work permit/SSN request other than the initial notice that our paperwork was received.  I saw several videos and comments from "experts" who claimed that if you do everything right you will not get your AOS appointment first.  We gathered all the documents we could without being able to include any items like joint bank account or other financial documents since she had no SSN.  We did try to get her an SSN when she first arrived but it seems like there is a debate between the SSA and USCIS about whether or not someone in my wife's scenario should have an SSN.  At the interview in Charleston we told our story in brief and then presented an album of our photos starting when we first dated in May, 2015 including wedding pictures and a few more recent ones.  I printed a few pages of our chat log from Whatsapp and I had one of our friends write an affidavit.  We also presented  documents showing we had traveled together and paperwork from her OB/GYN showing that she was pregnant and had a miscarriage in January, 2019 (a whole other sad story).  I feel pretty sure that the officers have already reviewed everything before the interview and they have a pretty strong feeling of whether to approve or deny before you even go there.  The officer was businesslike but friendly - much more so than the one who processed her paperwork in the ATL airport when she first came with her visa.  He was quick to dismiss my concerns about not having any financial records as proof since we didn't have the SSN.  He actually made it seem like he did not expect the SSA to give us one.  The officer seemed almost grateful when I gave him the Whatsapp log like that was the icing on the cake for him to go ahead and approve us.  Success!  It seems that since the AOS and work permit requests go to different offices, it really is just determined by random luck and how deep the backlogs are which process moves forward first.  That is the main point I wanted to cover.  Do not panic if the same happens to you.  We were very nervous about that after Googling too much.  Good luck to all and feel free to ask me anything.  I'm no expert but I am happy to help as many others have helped us.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Glad all went well.

 

The co-mingling, etc is part of ROC (which she will complete 2 years after receiving her green card) you will want 2 years of documentation showing you are living as a married couple.

 

 

[Dashinka 23,243]

Quite a few folks have received the GCs prior to the EAD/AP due to the processing time differences between the local offices and service centers.  Congratulations on your wife’s approval.  As @Hank_ stated, the ROC stage comes next, so it is a good idea to start a file For that step as two years will fly by.

 

Good Luck!

[Chepe and Joha 0]

Thanks!

 

Yeah, we have multiple joint accounts, a lease together, etc. at this point not to mention more photos, airplane tickets and the like which I am saving.  It was just confusing because financial documents are listed as documents to bring to the initial AOS interview on many websites.  I can't remember if the USCIS site lists it but finding what you need there can be difficult.  Of course those lists of documents are all based on a false assumption that the work permit always comes before the green card.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from K1 Process & Procedures to Adjustment of Status from K Visas Progress Reports.

[Karla1985 2]

On 10/9/2019 at 12:44 PM, Chepe and Joha said:

Hey all, I've been using this site as a resource for a long time but I have been in stealth mode.  I just wanted to share a little about the process as my wife and I experienced it so maybe it will help anyone in progress.  We applied for the fiance visa in October, 2017.  No additional documents were requested and my fiance (at the time) had her interview in Costa Rica in August, 2018.  She was approved so I traveled to CR and we came to South Carolina in October and were married on October 6.  We sent the requests for the work permit and AOS in December, 2018.  The wait times looked daunting and I was not expecting resolution of the AOS until the end of 2019 at the earliest.  Here is the part where it gets a little scary.  We received the AOS interview appointment for May without any news on the work permit/SSN request other than the initial notice that our paperwork was received.  I saw several videos and comments from "experts" who claimed that if you do everything right you will not get your AOS appointment first.  We gathered all the documents we could without being able to include any items like joint bank account or other financial documents since she had no SSN.  We did try to get her an SSN when she first arrived but it seems like there is a debate between the SSA and USCIS about whether or not someone in my wife's scenario should have an SSN.  At the interview in Charleston we told our story in brief and then presented an album of our photos starting when we first dated in May, 2015 including wedding pictures and a few more recent ones.  I printed a few pages of our chat log from Whatsapp and I had one of our friends write an affidavit.  We also presented  documents showing we had traveled together and paperwork from her OB/GYN showing that she was pregnant and had a miscarriage in January, 2019 (a whole other sad story).  I feel pretty sure that the officers have already reviewed everything before the interview and they have a pretty strong feeling of whether to approve or deny before you even go there.  The officer was businesslike but friendly - much more so than the one who processed her paperwork in the ATL airport when she first came with her visa.  He was quick to dismiss my concerns about not having any financial records as proof since we didn't have the SSN.  He actually made it seem like he did not expect the SSA to give us one.  The officer seemed almost grateful when I gave him the Whatsapp log like that was the icing on the cake for him to go ahead and approve us.  Success!  It seems that since the AOS and work permit requests go to different offices, it really is just determined by random luck and how deep the backlogs are which process moves forward first.  That is the main point I wanted to cover.  Do not panic if the same happens to you.  We were very nervous about that after Googling too much.  Good luck to all and feel free to ask me anything.  I'm no expert but I am happy to help as many others have helped us.

Congratulations on your wife's Green Card!

I also had the interview today before even receiving EAD/SSN. Did SSN come in a mail around the same time as GC?

[Chepe and Joha 0]

 

On 10/25/2019 at 12:34 AM, Karla1985 said:

Congratulations on your wife's Green Card!

I also had the interview today before even receiving EAD/SSN. Did SSN come in a mail around the same time as GC?

 

Karla, sorry for the late response.  From what we recall they came within a couple weeks of each other - SS card first I think but not 100% on that.  Hopefully you have yours by now!

[Karla1985 2]

56 minutes ago, Chepe and Joha said:

 

 

Karla, sorry for the late response.  From what we recall they came within a couple weeks of each other - SS card first I think but not 100% on that.  Hopefully you have yours by now!

Thanks for the response! That's interesting because when my green card came I called USCIS and they told me that since I got GC before my form I-765 was even processed (and won't be processed any further) I have to go to the SSA office and apply for SSN in person as I did last friday. Hopefully will get it soon. Congrats again!