rubiconcrosser

Dear forum members,

I finally have my interview date coming up after a long delay due to a cross country move (my tip to forum members: don't change the interview date).

I suppose I should not have sent the "original" certified copies in the file to USCIS? My certified copy of arrest record, birth certificate and marriage are in the file I sent them. I wondered about this because of the interview letter, as well as the attached letter about arrests, which says to bring original documents to the interview.

Regarding the birth certificate: I do not have a document issued at time of birth, nor can I get it because my country of birth keeps the originals in their vaults (or even just has the data in their computers, I think) and only provides certified extracts. I did not get an RFE so I believe I'm fine here. The certified extract provides my name, d.o.b, place of birth, parents full names. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

r

Still haven't heard anything except that the file is at the east coast office and I should get a notice in 60 days.

I already had this 60 days notice before. Does anyone have any idea on how to help speed this up?

Thought I'd do another update: still haven't had the interview.

It's been a very long time now, and I put in two service requests for the Philadelphia office. The first one said they'd reply within 60 days, but all I got was an email that I had already received my temporary employment card.

Put in another request via the customer service line, this time I got a reply in a week saying that the file was at the Philadelphia office and another 60 days waiting period to receive another notice.

Is there any way I can speak to the Philadelphia office directly or have them contact me in some way to clarify what's going on. Would I have to make an infopass appointment.

To make matters worse, I may move to the West Coast again soon.

Thanks for any pointers.

Cool, thanks a lot.

I'm pretty certain I should be fine, but I'd just like to confirm here because I'd hate to screw this up.

If your AOS application arrived at USCIS within the OPT's 60-day grace period you haven't accrued any overstay and should be totally fine to use Advance Parole to re-enter, right?

Also, how far in advance are interview letters sent out? About a month right?

Thanks.

second update:

Still have not received the new interview notice from the East Coast office. Called again to reconfirm all is well; the lady on the phone said my file was indeed at the new location and all I should do is wait.

The wait is getting long though. It's now been 9 weeks since the original interview was scheduled. Any advice on what to do to speed things up/check up on things? Schedule an infopass appointment or such?

Me and my wife were planning to go a family wedding outside the US. I have the Advance Parole document. Would you people recommend against traveling? It would be for 2 weeks max so the chance that both the letter will arrive during that period and the interview scheduled seems very small.

Since so many people are afraid of rescheduling interviews, I thought I'd give my update on how my move from west to east coast is influencing the process. I moved after I received my interview notice. I notified them of my address change online and for the petitioner also in paper. I also put in a call to request an interview reschedule due to address change. I received confirmation of this interview reschedule request saying they had changed my address by email. To make sure this also meant my file was being transferred to the new jurisdiction I called and was able to talk to an officer, who was extremely helpful. He said my file was making its way to the new jurisdiction, and that it could take a while (max 3 months) for a new interview notice to go out. This is no problem to me since I already received my work card at the new address.

In sum; it looks like everything is going smoothly. Although more stressful than not moving, if you have to move don't worry too much, as long as you put in the right calls/address changes, and make sure to follow up. I did also receive a response to my reschedule request by email from that local office.

Looks like USCIS is doing a great job in my case.

Good luck all.

I just moved the opposite way, from California to Delaware. We had our interview scheduled in less than a month in California. I changed my address (I am the immigrant) online for the I485, I131 and I765, and changed it for my citizen wife online for the I130. I also snail mailed an I865 address change for my wife.

I then called USCIS, who said they cannot confirm the address change. However, he did write the California office to reschedule the interview to the office nearest Delaware. Now I will sit back and wait to see what happens again, and to be sure I will call them before the CA interview date if I don't hear before then.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

I just hope I won't get the interview at the other side of the country...

Thanks.

Do you think a change of address to another state (and therefore perhaps a re-evaluation by a different processing center) after taking biometrics might cause a delay?

Hi all,

Me and my wife plan to move to the east coast from the west coast after I've done my biometrics but presumably before we will have the interview. Has anyone had any problems with an address change of this kind during the AOS process?

Thanks.

Thanks for your earlier help little my.

I just had my medical exam and am getting the papers ready.

However, I have a general question regarding which addresses to fill out on the forms/ where the biometrics/ interview will take place.

I'll be leaving my current lease 1 June. My then wife will leave hers on 1 June as well. We'll be filing our application around that time. We live in separate places on the East and West coast. Right after our marriage, we'll travel around the west coast on a road trip and find a temporary place to live for July and August in CA. We haven't decided where we will live September onwards.

What does this mean for the address on the forms? Should I just put down my current address, or perhaps her current address (it's her brother's house) on the west coast? For my medical exam I put down my current address on the east coast.

I assume this influences where the biometrics/ interview will take place. It would obviously be very inconvenient if we would have to fly to another coast for that interview.

Well, we're definitely getting married. So that's the good news

Now I still need to figure out how to best set it up so the green card and EAD works out smoothly too.

Some more questions.

-It seems best to marry before my OPT expires, (1 June). But in case we don't make that deadline (if I get a lawyer, or if filing just takes longer), what would the risk be of marrying during the 2 month period? What if I switch my F-1 to the Ph.D, and then get married in the transition period? I am not sure if I will have the cash for the PhD in the Fall, but it might make my visa status smoother. I can always decide to not go.

-How important are shared leases and bank accounts? We don't have much assets, but we will put 'em on a shared account. As for the lease: we plan to travel around the United States as a honeymoon for 1 or 2 months, so I don't think we will be able to give a shared lease. As for the other evidence, I am not sure what is expected here. Photos or so?

-Since I was arrested, I really wonder if I should get a lawyer. Any more opinions on whether it is useful or smart to do? How much do they cost? I have all the court papers of my community service and dismissal of charges, so I think I may be able to just do this my self and save money.

- As for the affidavit of support: I currently am not salaried, and my girlfriend is on a contract which ends May 20th or so. She made more than enough to meet the minimum dollar amount in previous years, but only recently switched to contract. Would we need someone else to support us?

I think that's it. I would really appreciate your tips.

RC

Thanks a lot for reading my story and replying, Mrs Finland-USA.

To be clear, the OPT is for an MA program, but my Visa was originally issued for the Ph.D, I switched my I-20 over and I would switch it back to the Ph.D if I can afford it.

It looks like the ideal would be to marry before my OPT expires and find jobs in the same city. But:

-if we cannot find a job in the same city in the short term I am not sure what to do; maybe then it would be better to wait to marry until we are sure we can live together for the two years? Then again, marrying and starting the green card process as soon as possible would obviously be convenient, rather than messing around with more H1B or being forced to do full-time Ph.D. The PhD only starts up in September so we would live together for at least four months in the beginning of the conditional period, then perhaps maybe half a year max of not living together I hope.

I hope I don't need a lawyer so I can save money. I am trying to get certified documents showing my arrest, dismissal of charges and completed community service, but it's still more comfortable to have a lawyer backing you up.

Thanks again.

You should get married and file for AOS before your current status expires - though overstay is generally forgiven for spouses of USCs who entered with a valid visa, it is never a good idea to knowingly accumulate overstay if you can avoid it. So yes, better to marry and file for AOS before your OPT expires.

going back to school would not be an issue. Once you are a legal permanent resident, you are free to do whatever you want here (as long as it is legal of course..), i.e. you can work or you can go to school. If you had a pending AOS when you wanted to return to your PhD program, it would probably be under the consideration of your study program how they would interpret that. You should maybe consult with them about that matter and see what their policy is. Your F1 is valid until your current authorized stay expires or until you get a new visa - in this case, until your AOS would be approved.

H1B or marriage based AOS is your choice. I don't know which would be better. Personally I think that if you are planning to get married anyways, might as well do that now, go for the AOS, get the green card and be done with it. If you take the H1B now, you will still eventually have to AOS to legal permanent resident status, assuming you will marry your USC spouse and want to stay in the US.

Not living together might be an issue in the AOS stage, and you would most likely have to explain your living situation in detail in the interview. Make sure you have other proof of bona fide marriage ready - joint accounts, credit cards, etc. Looking at the instructions for form I-751, it doesn't seem that living together is an absolute condition of ROC, but it will raise questions if after having your marriage based GC you and your wife have not lived together at all.. whether or not you would be successful in convincing the IO at your ROC interview that your marriage is nonetheless bona fide is impossible to say. it would require a lot of evidence, but probably wouldn't be impossible.

As for the criminal charge, I don't know the details of what types of charges would make you inadmissible, but I am almost 100% sure being drunk in public is not on that list.. Someone more experienced will probably soon give their opinion in the lawyer matter, but I'd think you could handle this on your own as long ad you have all the necessary documents to prove that your charges were dropped.

Dear Forum Members,

I am currently on an F-1 OPT Visa. Me and my USC girlfriend are thinking about getting married. My OPT is done 1 June. I was arrested a few years ago for drunk in public, did community service and charges were dropped.

I have some thoughts and I am not sure what I should keep in mind. I hope you guys might point me in a direction.

-The OPT grace period is 2 months. How does this influence the Visa proces? I assume it makes more sense to get married or file papers while still on my OPT time?

-I may continue with my Ph.D program from which I took a break, which would switch me from OPT back to regular school-time F-1. How should I figure this in the picture?

-I may be able to get a sponsor for an H1B. Should I take this route, and marry later while on that Visa or is it smarter to marry first and put that process in motion.

-We currently do not live together (our jobs are in different cities), but I am deciding whether to move in with her. How does living together influence the conditional removal? For example, I would move in with her now, marry, and after five months move back to my Ph.D program alone; she would try to follow me but only if she can find a job of course. Is this possible at all? Or do they demand you live together the full two years.

- Since I was arrested, might it be smarter to get a lawyer (also if I get the H1B job?)? How much does a lawyer cost you think? Charges were dropped after community service.

Any tips or advice are highly welcomed.

Thanks a lot!

Rubiconcrosser