sherose

Well we just had our interview at the DO in San Francisco.

I'm approved, but will have to wait for my GC (one month). In the meantime I still can't work or travel. This is quite a bummer, especially since my EAD, that I never got, was on the officer's desk! She said at the beginning of the interview that if i didn't get approved, she'd give me the EAD. But since she approved me, I can't have it, i'll have to wait for the GC instead!

The interview went well. Better than she expected. That's right, she! She told us our case didn't look good on paper!!?? ####### does that mean? I didn't ask, of course, just kept my mouth shut.

I suppose it has to do with the fact that my wife is unemployed, and that we don't have a sponsor. I'm using my assets. That's the only reason I can come up with.

She asked the usual questions and looked at our evidence. Since the interview was scheduled quite soon after the applications were sent, we didn't really have much "joint" evidence. The lease, bank account, and that's pretty much it.. She told us we'd need more when removal of conditions comes!

Bottom line, get lots of evidence!!

She took the I94 out of my passport, made me sign a form, then told me I was approved.

Nothing more, no stamp, no nothing. Just "you can expect your GC in one month".

I guess i should be happy, but it's buggering me that I have to wait another month...

I was hoping to visit my folks back home, and start looking for a job.

O well... I have many books to read here!

Hey Clownies,

Congradulations to you on your approval! It's seems like they are stamping passports less and less often these days. I guess they figure that the Green cards arrive so fast that we don't really need the stamp. I made a point of asking for it today and got lucky. Maybe you can go to the USCIS website and make an infopass appointment, talk to an immigration agent and maybe they can help you out with a stamp. Just an idea. Good Luck

Evan

Hello All,

Had a successful interview in San Francisco today. We were scheduled for 10:30 and called in at about 11:15. The officer was bussinesslike, but nice. I was a bit surprised at what he wanted, also surprised that he looked at so little of the mounds of paperwork we brought with us. He first swore us in, then began to ask a few questions while making notations and markings in our file. When did you meet? Where did you meet? How did you meet? When were you married? Where were you married? Who was in attendance? He asked my wife where she had learned her English? Also asked her if she had worked in the last 5 yrs, which turned out to be quite humorous as my wife is Thai and uses the Buddhist calendar. So she told the officer she had been laid off of her last job in 2544, we chuckled, then I explained that if you subtract 543 from her figure of 2544, we would arrive at the appropriate (Gregorian?) year.

He took my employer letter, only my latest pay stub, and one photo of us. What did surprise me was his request for my (USC) original G-325A from our I-129F Fiance petition and also a copy of the original I-129F petition (1 page) itself , fortunately we brought it with us. He said that he needed to keep the entire file complete. I would have thought that the CSC would have forwarded those documents. But seeing as we never received our original approval notice from CSC, nothing surprises me anymore. Me thinks they were lost, perhaps by CSC

He didn't look at or ask for, joint bank account info, utilitiy bills, beneficiary info, insurance info, mail addressed to us, none of it. We walked in with 15 pounds of paperwork and walked out with it nearly intact. Towards the end of the interview he said he was going to approve our petition and asked if we were planning on travelling any time soon. This was my opening. We are not actually planning on travelling any time soon, but I took this question to mean that if I had said yes, he would perhaps put the I-551 stamp in my wife's passport. I replied, no, we are not planning on travelling, but my wife never received her EAD and has a job opportunity opening up very soon and we would also like to get her California ID card (both are true) as soon as possible and would he be willing to place the stamp in the passport. To which he replied, "Today is your lucky day" and stamped the passport with the I-551 The wait to be called was about an hour, but the interview itself was over in about 15-20 minutes.

Many thanks to all on this board for making this possible.

Peace, Evan and Meaw

Hi-

I found out that the DS3025 (vaccination supplement) that we received at the the medical in Jamaica for our K-1 needs to be converted to the I-693A by a Civil Surgeon prior to submitting the AOS. From doing research, I guess some of the Civil Surgeons charge alot for doing this or they try to make you take another medical...(NOT Required again!!)

So...has anyone found a Civivl Surgeon that will do it for a low cost?? I live in California but I also heard that some of them will do it by mail??? Any Suggestions???? HELP!!

kimlbs,

If your willing to travel to San Francisco, my wife had the information transferred from the DS-3025 to the I-693A for $35 at the following authorized Civil Surgeons office, she did not need any additional shots. I just checked and he is still on the list of authorized Civil Surgeons as of 7/29/06:

Albert A. Gomez

Meridian Medical Group

2460 Mission Street #112

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 642-8449

No muss, no fuss. We were in and out in about 15min. Hope this helps.

Peace, Evan and Meaw

I'm on the process of completing my documents for AOS but i have some problem with this I-693. I've been "shopping" around to get a good deal to transfer my vaccination information to form I-693, but they are all expensive. The lowest I got is $120. I think that is so expensive right! Is there anybody there who can help me find a cheaper one....please. I will really appreciate it!

thanks so much guys!

Javy,

If your willing to travel to San Francisco, my wife had the information transferred from the DS-3025 to the I-693A for $35 at the following authorized Civil Surgeons office, she did not need any additional shots. I just checked and he is still on the list of authorized Civil Surgeons as of 7/29/06:

Albert A. Gomez

Meridian Medical Group

2460 Mission Street #112

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 642-8449

No muss, no fuss. We were in and out in about 15min. Hope this helps.

Peace, Evan and Meaw

Ok, so we have an appointment for our AOS interview on September 6th at the San Francisco local office.

Anyone here who has experiences with interviews in SF? How did it go? What did they ask? What evidence did they look at? etc etc...

We have like 7 weeks do get prepared! Yay!

Hey Clownies,

Looking at your timeline I see some interesting coincidences we share.

1) Married at SF City Hall

2) RFE's around the same time (If I may, what was yours for?)

3) USCIS response to RFE's around the same time

4) Received AOS interview letter, same day (July 24th)

5) Interview day, same day (September 6th)

My wife's interview is set for 10:30 on the 6th at 630 Sansome. Do you live in the City? We are in the Sunset District, fogland. Congradulations and Good Luck to you. See you on the 6th.

Peace, Evan and Meaw

Hi All,

Happily received a letter today with an interview date set for Sept. 6 and have a couple of questions. On the checklist it says to bring a completed Affidavit of Support (I-864) and letter from my current employer. I submitted both with our I-485 petition. My question is this, does the USCIS want an updated version of these documents or can I just bring copies of the notarized I-864 and employer letter that were submitted with the original I-485 application. I realize it says on the notice-(unless already submitted) but just wondering what others have done. Don't want to be caught short at the interview.

Thanks, Evan

Hello to All,

Haven't posted in quite a while, but wanted to share some good news and thank everyone for the wealth of information that Meaw and I have recieved from this group, as well as the AOS forum. Today we got a letter from the USCIS (Dept. of Homeland Sec.) with an AOS interview date set for September 6. Thanks again to all, no way we would have gotten this far without your help.

Peace, Evan and Meaw

Hi All,

I received an NOA about a week ago for I-485, but have not received one for I-765 as of yet. Both applications were mailed in the same package. Should I be worried?

Thanks, Evan

Hello All,

I received NOA for AOS on May 26, but no NOA for I-765 as of yet. I mailed both the I-485 and the I-765 in the same package. From looking at other people's timelines it appears that they are arriving simultaneously. Should I have received both NOA's on the same day? Is it unusual that they did not arrive at the same time? What are other people's experiences with receiving NOA's. Maybe it is just because of the holiday. Thanks.

Evan

Hi All,

I was wondering when would be a good time to have my wife's name changed on her passport to her new married name? I am a little apprehensive to do it before her AOS interview because the passport has to physically be mailed to the Thai embassy in Los Angeles, have the name changed, then be mailed back to us. I am just afraid that if it were to get lost in the mail, God forbid, and we weren't able to get it back before her interview, some problems could arrise. I guess my question is this: At what point in the immigration process have you had this done?

Thanks,

Evan

Hello All,

I am ready to mail my wife's I-485 and I-765 tomorrow. I was just wondering by what method most people mailed their packages. Thanks

Evan

Hello All,

I am preparing my paperwork for adjustment of status and EAD. I was going to mail both applications separately, but to the same address, which I believed to be:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

P.O. Box 805887

Chicago, Illinois 60680-4120

Untill I went to the USCIS website, to the forms page and saw a note that stated that the addresses for both the I-485 and the I-765 have been changed! I live in California. Does anyone know where these forms are to be submitted now? Or is the above address still valid? Thanks for your help.

Evan

Hello All,

My fiancee and I arrived in the US about 3 weeks ago. I am just getting started with the AOS process and have a question. On the I-485 form, Part 3, it asks for a "Non-Immigrant Visa Number". Is this the red, eight digit number to the lower right of the visa?

Thanks, Evan

Can someone please give me us a heads up about the x-rays? Do we really need to take the x-ray into the embassy for the interview? Seems unlikely that the interviewer is also a radiologist, why would you possibly need the x-ray?

Our interview is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was hoping someone could shed some light on this...

Thanks

Ufkenmill,

My fiance had a successful interview on February 2. We did bring the X-ray with us. Nobody at the embassy had the slightest bit of interest in looking at it. I believe the results of the X-ray are written on one of the DS forms that the doctor fills out and sends to the embassy, so they already have the information.

Good Luck, Evan and Meaw

I need some guidance and I am sure that someone here has run into this problem.

Up to now the process to bring my wife to the US has gone great and we are now happily married. We just started the process to change her status to a permanent resident. However, somehow I have misplaced the copy of the approval letter (I-797) that was sent to me. I have a copy of the letter that states that the approval letter was sent for processing to the embassy but I do not have the original I-797.

Any ideas how I can get a copy of this document? Do you even really need it?

Thanks!

You need a copy of the I-797 for AOS. We never received one. Last week I filed the I-824 along with the $200 fee. Also included a copy of our receipt notice (NOA 1), a copy of our original I-129f petition and a copy of the letter from the NVC that was sent to us after they had received the approved petition from CSC. The CSC happily cashed the check within a week and gave us another receipt number. I went to the USCIS website and plugged the number into the case status box and got this message. "It is taking between 150 and 180 days to process this type of application"! So it looks like we will be applying for AOS without the I-797 and will probably receive an RFE for not providing it. I'm thinking of making an Infopass appointment to try to remedy this issue. Good Luck to you.

Peace, Evan

Unfortunately the I-824 costs $200 to file .

Shute!! That is a hefty cost *note to self to make sure Hubby has ours in a safe place*

Aussiewench,

A hefty cost indeed, and for a document that we never received. I didn't lose it. I never got it! I have called the National Service Center numerous times, sent a letter to the CSC as well as and e-mail without success. I would suggest making about a dozen copies of your NOA 2 and scatter them around the house. Maybe even wallpaper an entire room with NOA 2's.

Peace,

Evan and Meaw

Hello All,

Thanks for the responses. My fiance received her visa on Feb. 3. She and I both live over seas and will not be entering the US until March 16, 2006, so maybe we don't have the number yet. The reason for the need of the "A" number is that we never received NOA2, which is required as part of the documentation for AOS. I am now going to fill out an I-824 form which is a request for a duplicate approval notice. One of the questions on the I-824 asks for the "A" number. It also says that if you don't have one or don't know what it is, to leave the question field blank, which is what I have done. I was just curious because I am sure at some point we will need to know what and where this number is. Unfortunately the I-824 costs $200 to file .

Thanks, Evan

Hello All,

Does anybody know where I might locate my alien fiance's "A" number? On petition? NOA? K-1 visa? Thanks.

Peace, Evan

Hello All,

I just wanted to report a successful interview in Bangkok on February 2.

Today Meaw and I went to the embassy at 3:00pm and picked up her passport and K-1 visa along with the sealed envelope for US immigration. The interview was a piece of cake. The consular officer's name is Thomas, he was very nice. He asked Meaw only 2 questions: 1)How many times has your fiance come to visit you?, and 2)Where did you meet your fiance? The whole thing took about 2 minutes. The funny part came when he took Meaw's fingerprints. He asked Meaw to place the index finger of her right hand on the fingerprint thingy, no problem. Then he asked for her to do the left index finger. So, Meaw, not being familiar with the process put both her left and right index fingers on the thingy at the same time. After I stopped chuckling I explained that one at a time was what was needed.

On another subject, I don't think it behooves anyone to get to the embassy at 5 or 6 am in the morning. Unless you want to get up really early and spend more time hanging out on Wireless Road. They didn't let anyone in until 7:30am. The order in which you turn in your package in at window 5 does not dictate the interview order, it was completely random. The woman in front of us got lucky and just happened to be the first interview that day. Our interview was the eighth one. Neither she or us was first to turn in our respective packages. They do 17 interviews a day, everyday. We went to the interview with the man who has been helping us throughout the process and is at the embassy several times each week. He says, Thomas(consular officer) does not even start the first interview until 9am. Sure enough, 9:05, first interview. We got to the embassy at about 7:00am, tuned in our package, had our interview and were out of there at 11:00am.

The embassy is no longer accepting walk-ins for interview dates. The forms and checklist must be mailed in and the embassy mails you the interview date. Kind of a bummer. I don't have incredible faith that they can get the mail where it is supposed to go all of the time. Case in point, Meaw now has her visa in hand and we are still waiting for her Packet 3! Good Luck to all.

Peace, Evan and Meaw