Zebraden

Our IO told us to just come back any day after the interview to get the stamp if I needed to travel before the green card came. You can do it with the info pass appointment. He said they would do it immediately. If you really want to go home, it can be done.

Don't be too discouraged just yet. We also had to call in to get our Biometrics letter sent. They never sent it out at first. In the end it didn't affect our timeline much. We still completed our interview and received the green card in just about three months.

It's highly doubtful given the fact that they don't even fully enforce the laws pertaining to illegal immigration.

Agreed. I'd only be concerned if I lived in the nazi state of Alabama. I spent a few days there once for a conference. Talk about back water.

Congratulations!

Got mine last week as well. Are you using the sleeve they sent with?

I definitely plan on using the sleeve. I'll only use it to travel in any case. I've had a SS no. since 1994 so I can't imagine any use for the green card other than for reentry.

Got my green card in the mail last Friday - Nov 4th. Hope the rest of you will start getting yours soon too.

Hey Ataribaby, my husband is self employed. He only showed the last two years. We just got approved for my green card last week.

He is on a payment plan for this year and they didn't care about that either.

As long as you show adequate support I'm sure you will be fine.

Hello fellow trini!

I read somewhere to dress like you're going to church or to a business interview.

I wore a black blazer, cigarette pants, a funky scarf and heels. My husband wore just jeans, a nice long-sleeved, button down shirt and dress shoes.

Yes, thanks for clearing that up JimVaPhuong. I had no idea that was possible. In any case, for me, it doesn't matter. I'm not upset about it or anything. I just thought it was good to know. I have my green card now and that's all that matters.

Thanks everyone for the congratulatory remarks.

First, contgrats on the approval!

This part is confusing though...

Once you divorced then I don't see how you could adjust status based on that I-130 as the relationship no longer exists.

Without the I-130 on what basis could you have adjusted status after the divorce? I think he was probably correct up until you got divorced that you could have resubmitted the I-485 with the missing immunization form as be able to adjust status based on the approved I-130. That is exactly what the lawyers you consulted with told you.

Once you got divorced I fail to see how you could have filed the I-485 as you are not long an immediate relative of a US Citizen.

As the IO explained to me, because the I-130 was approved, the petition to Adjust my status based on my marriage to a US citizen was approved. That part was finished. According to him, this meant that my marriage was legitimate. That's the first step. He said the SECOND step is the 485. That was the one that got denied. I could resubmit that without having to do the I-130. That also meant that I could resubmit it whether I was divorced or not. I had already proven I was legitimately married. His words, not mine. This is EXACTLY why I wanted to make this information available, because it seems like there is a lot of confusion. I certainly was confused when he told me. I asked a lot of questions about it but in the end let it go because that's not why I was there. I am wondering now if the lawyers I spoke to even realized that my I-130 had been approved.

Out of curiosity, last night I dug up my old receipts to see if they would come up in the system. Interestingly enough. The EAD says post decision activity, the 130 and 485 say Initial Review.

I personally would believe what an IO tells me over any lawyer.

congratulations! enjoy that honeymoon

I haven't posted much on VJ, but it has proven to be an invaluable source of information for me.

I wanted to post a brief description of my experience in case it can help others. I couldn't find any threads that described an experience like mine.

I arrived here in 1994 as a student. Right out of school I got married. I was young and dumb. I really didn't want to. In fact I tried to call it off, but everyone convinced me I was having cold feet. After I married my ex in 1998, we filed in 2000. Everything seemed to be going fine. I had EAD and AP and went to the interview. At the interview I was informed that everything looked fine but that I needed to resubmit the immunization form before they could issue the green card. The IO said they had "misplaced it". We sent it in but didn't hear anything for a long time. After getting tired of waiting, I finally inquired. They couldn't even find my application. A couple weeks later, I got a letter saying that my application was denied and that the period during which I could appeal was past. They claimed they never received the immunization form. Also back then, we didn't get an REF like people get nowadays.

I spoke to many lawyers and they said that the only thing I could do was refile the ENTIRE application i.e. all the fees all the documents, re-take medical etc etc. I didn't want to accept this, and kept trying to find ways around it. I tried to get my ex to write his congress person, but he wasn't really the get up and do sort. Eventually, the marriage ended anyway and I decided to return to my home country.

Very soon afterwards, before I could return home, I started seeing a friend romantically. We fell in love and moved in. 5 years later, we got married (last year) and my husband filed for me in August of this year. Today we had our interview.

As soon as I sat down, the IO asked, "did you know you were approved from your former marriage?" I was blown away. He went on to explain that the petition - the 130 was approved, but the 485 was denied. He also explained that all I needed to do was resubmit the 485 (even after divorce) with the missing immunization form to get the green card. I had already demonstrated that the marriage was legitimate. I had no idea that application was approved. I have a letter from the (then) INS saying I was denied. No one, not any of the four lawyers I consulted, told me I could refile. But whatever, water under the bridge. Thankfully things are different now and you can check the status of each form/application on USCIS.

I URGE EVERYONE TO REGISTER WITH USCIS AND TO MONITOR THAT ACCOUNT RELIGIOUSLY.

Anyway, the IO asked a lot of routine questions. He was quite jovial - we joked around lot. He did ask a lot about why I got married the first time. He also said that my home country is pretty notorious for fake marriages. sheesh. I ended up probably being more chatty than I needed to be, but in the end it was fine. He approved us on the spot. He commended my husband on filing a very well organized, thorough application. I love my husband.

This evening we got the email notifying us of my card production. I am so happy.

Good luck to everyone on this sometimes challenging journey and I hope that my story can maybe help someone else.

Also, thank you to everyone that posts on here. Even if people aren't replying, know that there are many out there reading the information and using it to help their own cases. You certainly helped us! Thank you again.

Thanks!

And I take it back. My status was updated online. Card production ordered. We are golden.

Had our interview today. Everything went well. IO said he would submit my info for card production today, and that it should update on the website today as well. I still don't see the updates online, but looks like we are approved! yay.

My case was kinda complicated (I was married before and filed previously), I will do a write up later in case it might be useful to others later.

That's fabulous. Congratulations!

I think you meant to post this

Frenchman goes berserk at NAIA

Congrats! I kept checking back yesterday to see how things went.

Fingers crossed ours goes as smoothly. Although... a more cheerful IO might be nice.

lol. I think you missed the previous poster's point

Good luck. I'm going to be n the same boat next week! yay

I'm not sure about the medical thing.

I can however, answer your first question. When we went in for my Biometrics (we did a walk-in), they didn't care about the names matching up. I still have my passport and license in my maiden name, but filed everything under my new married name so my notice was in my married name. I did take our marriage certificate in case there was an issue. Hopefully they don't hassle you about it either.

My husband (USC) called 1-800-375-5283. It was the number on all our NOAs.

They had him conference me in on the call.

You're supposed to wait until 30 days after they receive the packet, so you still have a couple days left. I would definitely call if you don't get it by the 19th or so.

I'm not sure if/when we would have gotten ours if we hadn't called.

We filed on the 1st of August.

Completed walk-in Biometrics last Friday. Our interview is scheduled for Oct 27th. Got an email and text notifying me that they started EAD card production. Looks like we are moving long pretty nicely.

I'm not sure what the correct answer is, but I waited to file my AOS until after my passport was renewed. I didn't want USCIS to stamp my old expired passport - just in case. Also, I want to be able to travel as soon as I receive my green card. You won't be able to do that on an expired passport.

My embassy gave me back my expired passport, so I wasn't worried about showing up with a different passport at the interview. They also let me keep the old passport while they produced the new one, so you don't run the risk of showing up to the interview with no passport at all. I don't see any drawback to you at least starting the process.

We successfully did a walk-in at the Philadelphia office. We went at 3:30pm on a Friday and there was no one there. We went three weeks earlier than my scheduled appointment and there was no problem at all. They didn't even ask why we came earlier. Very pleasant office.