Leasel7

I sent tax transcripts for the past three years, one pay stub, and an employer letter. I didn't bother with any bank statements or letters because as sponsor my income is more than adequate. So far so good -- our AOS case was recently transferred to CSC, which means we will likely get approved without an interview!

Thanks for the info. We have been wondering why some are granted without an interview like ours and others are not. In our case, our paperwork was straightforward, complete, thorough and well organized. We also wonder if age has anything to do with it. We are both over 40 (even though, in my opinion, my wife looks much younger) and thought perhaps that might have something to do with it. Don't know just interesting to try to figure out.

It might be interesting to do a survey with a variety of factors such as: beneficiary's country of origin, age, income, whether an attorney was used (we didn't use one), state of US residence, etc. It might help to identify likely qualifiers.

Or who knows....it just might be that the person looking at the file just got up on the right side of the bed that morning!

Interesting thoughts. We are over 30, had a well-organized and thorough AOS package, and my income alone well exceeds what is required. Also my husband is not from a high fraud country; in fact, I don't think there have been many K1 visas from there. (Certainly I'm the only one posting here with a fiance/spouse from the Solomon Islands!) What makes me curious is the fact that most interviews seem to focus on establishing that the couple has a valid marriage, is living in the same home, etc. There is nothing in the AOS package that would assure whoever is reviewing it that this is the case. So I have to wonder what makes them decide that the interview can be waived for any given marriage-based AOS application.

I have read that the case load at your local office plays into it, since the idea is to relieve the local offices by sending some cases over to CSC. But at present the processing dates for my local office (Norfolk) and CSC are only four days apart. Not that I am complaining....I am quite happy to have been transferred to CSC!

Short answer: yes. But keep in mind that each day past 90 that you wait to file will be considered out of status. Accumulate 180 out of status days and you will be subject to a ban upon renentry.

Filing a few weeks past 90 days shouldn't be a problem.

I thought I read that you start accruing days out of status after the K-1 visa expires, not after the I-94 expires. My husband's AOS package was sent in over two months after the I-94 expired but before his K-1 visa expired.

It may also be waived for spouses of U.S. citizens, provided that they are applying to adjust status from a K-1 (fiancé/e) status, within 90 days of entry.

Thanks for the information

I especially found the above sentence interesting ("provided that they adjust status within 90 days of entry"). So even if filing for AOS can be done after the 90 days of K-1 applicants expire, apparently filing within that timeframe may be rewarded with a case transfer and a waiver of the interview

My husband entered the US on a K-1 visa in December 2005, and we didn't file for AOS until June 2006. So we missed the 90 day window by over two months, yet our AOS case was still transferred to CSC, which means we probably won't have an interview.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, have a great trip Down Under, and bundle up! Unless you're going to Queensland or somewhere up north -- I have family in Melbourne and have made many visits during the US summer months, at which time it's always sooo cold down there.

As long as the medical examination for your K3 visa was within the past year, you do not need to send in the I-693...which is for the full medical exam. What you do need to submit with your AOS package is the Vaccination Supplement (I-693A), which is filled out by a civil surgeon.

the answers i need are probably somewhere on here but i can't find them so i am going to ask if anyone has the answers: when it says "noa 1", "noa2", etc what does that mean exactly (what does noa stand for exactly) and also what are biometrics?

NOA1 and NOA2 have already been explained by other posters. Biometrics is part of the Adjustment of Status process, which happens after your fiance gets the visa, comes to the US, and marries you. So you don't have to worry about it quite yet, but it is very simple -- once you send in your application for Adjustment of Status, USCIS makes an appointment for the applicant to go to the closest support center and have fingerprints and a photo taken.

i sent in my 129f may 28, received the rfe in late june that everyone else received for the new laws, sent it in, it was accepted june 30 and today i received notice online that our application was approved by the vermont service center. what should i look for next?

You should receive NOA2 in the mail. Your K1 petition will be sent to the National Visa Center, and then from there it goes to the embassy in Morocco. Emphasis now shifts to your fiance -- he will receive what is known as "Packet 3" from the embassy, which includes a checklist and all the forms he needs to fill out. This K1 flow chart (from the Guides area of this site) has good info on how things proceed from here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=k1flow

i have been gathering my financial information together for my fiance for the affadavit of support but i am not sure what i should be doing next.

Definitely start collecting everything you need for the Affidavit of Support, including employment letter, tax return, and whatever else you might need. Go ahead and start penciling in the form. This really slowed things down for my fiance (now husband) and I, because I waited too long to get started on it. Make sure you have your birth certificate (which your fiance may need for his interview), and start collecting evidence of an ongoing relationship (phone bills, emails, chat session logs, letters, cards, receipts for packages, photos) to send him in support of the interview.

and what kind of timeline are we looking at for the interview to take place.

I recommend that you post this question in the "Middle East and North Africa" forum:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=97

There are plenty of ladies there who have been through or are going through the embassy in Casablanca, and they can best advise you what to expect.

Good luck!

Congratulations and thanks for the detailed description of your interview experience!

We just got this via email this morning:

Receipt Number: MSCXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Application Type: I485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

Current Status:

On July 26, 2006, a welcome notice was mailed for this case. If 30 days have passed and you have not received this notice. Please call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283 during business hours.

Congratulations!!!

Go the USCIS website (link provided) and set up a customer account:

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp

You can enter the receipt numbers (from the NOAs) for AOS, EAD and AP so you can track them on line. You can also request to have email updates sent to you. When someone says that their case (AOS, EAD, etc) has been touched, that means they checked it online and saw that that the date changed under the "Last Updated' column. Most of the time there is no indication of what was done or that there is any change in status, but at least you know someone is working on it, and that's a good sign!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!!! I love the "probably" line, sounds like that knocked the interviewing officer for a loop! Guess he hadn't gotten that answer before!

You can use personal checks, and that is actually recommended so you can easily determine when the checks are cashed. You should write one check for the I-485 and biometrics, then separate ones for EAD and Advanced Parole.

Congratulations!!!

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/i-693faq.htm

If you were admitted to the United States as a fiance(e) (K-1), child of a fiance(e) (K-2), Spouse of a U.S. citizen (K-3), or child of K-3 (K-4), and received a medical examination prior to admission, then you do not require another medical examination as long as your application for adjustment of status (Form I-485) is filed within one year of your overseas medical examination. You will, however, be required to submit a vaccination supplement with our adjustment of status application. The vaccination supplement must be completed by a designated civil surgeon.

This is straight from the USCIS website. My husband came here on a K1; we called around and found a civil surgeon's office where they understood what we needed and quoted a price on doing just the vaccination supplement; I had spoken to at least one civil surgeon's office that just wanted to quote me a price for the whole exam. I suggest that you shop around for another civil surgeon, or if you have no other choice, call them back and explain what you need. If you take in the vaccination worksheet and the evidence of the vaccinations your wife had here in the US, that should be all the civil surgeon needs to fill out the I-693A.

Congratulations!

Wanted to get some more info on this though, we havent filed for our AOS yet, and my K1 expired last wednesday 19th of July. So, we got married before the K1 expired, which from what I understand is crucial to the process, but we havent filed AOS before that date.

Actually I believe it is crucial that you married within 90 days of entering the US, or before your I-94 expired. The K1 visa is good for six months, so it could easily expire after your 90 days are up. For instance my husband got his K1 visa in December and entered the US during the same month. His I-94 expired in March, and that was the deadline for us to marry. The K1 didn't expire until June.

So hopefully you married before your I-94 expired! Good luck with AOS. We didn't send our paperwork in until five months after our wedding, and so far so good.

Just wanted to add my husband's experience....he had no record of vaccinations when he went to his medical examination for the K-1 visa. The panel physician constructed a record of vaccinations for him based on standard practice in their country backed by scars showing where he had had certain vaccinations. He also wrote a letter explaining everything. This was good enough to get the visa, but when we applied for AOS, my husband had to get the three vaccinations that aren't available in his country. We had them done by the civil surgeon who filled out the I-693A Vaccination Supplement

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

For the I129F petition, technically all you have to do is prove that you and your fiance have met once in person during the past two years. So photos of the two of you together and photocopies of the passport stamps would be useful. Whether that is enough I really can't tell you, but I would think that if you include a description of the three times you met along with the passport stamps and photos, it should be pretty convincing. If you have any itineraries showing that you were booked on a flight to the city where your fiancee lives, that might help.

Proof of ongoing relationship is optional at this point, and there are two schools of thought: (1) less is more -- don't bother with it, it'll just slow down the adjudicator and isn't necessary; and (2) evidence of ongoing relationship can predispose whoever is reviewing your petition to see your relationsihp as valid, so include sample evidence. We chose to include some sample emails, chat session logs, and phone bills in our I129F petition.

If you want to include proof on ongoing relationship, then you could use some of the phone bills as well as sample emails and snail mail correspondence if your fiancee has them here in the US.

We included some evidence based on the recommendation of some others. One reason that we were given was that the interviewer would have a chance to review some of the evidence before the actual interview. After spending some time getting people's ideas, we decided to include a few pictures, a few email messages (edited of course ) and a couple of phone bills.

We included some evidence of relationship (phone bills, emails, chat session logs) in our I129F petition, and I personally think it helped when my fiance (now husband!) went to his interview. The consular officer was tough and denied three tourist visas before getting to my fiance's K1 interview. But my fiance (who was quite nervous by this point) only got about ten questions and then was quickly approved. Obviously the consular officer had to do some homework before the interview and at the least ensure that the Affidavit of Support was adequate in order to make a decision so quickly. It seems many of the questions he asked probably came from studying my G-325A. I sent three binders full of supporting evidence to support the interview, but the Consular Officer didn't look at them. So I'm with the camp that says including some evidence of ongoing relationship in your I129F petition can predispose whoever reviews the package --whether at USCIS or the embassy -- to view your relationship as valid.

Congratulations!

Wow, that was FAST!!! Hopefully this compensates a little for how long you had to wait to get the visa. Our AOS package just got transferred to CSC on July 17th; I hope we get the speedy treatment too!

Congratulations!!!