slidingdoors

All the best to both you with interviews tomorrow!

another day without my goddamn EAD

Sigh....Yea I know the feeling! I'm going to call them today. It's been 60 days since the last update on the online system and it seems as good a time as any. I don't even have my interview date yet.

Day 63 and I'm starting to get itchy.... Might have to call the USCIS today to check in.

Congratulations to both of you! Recently it's really looked a lot like the USCIS is slowly going down the list chronologically like they're supposed to.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.

@Slidingdoors. I called USCIS on my 63rd day and I got my interview notice on day 66 and EAD production on day 67. When I got my paper notice of interview, the notice date is the same day I called them so I think me calling them helped some. Even better if you don't receive any RFE. I would say wait a few more days and then call.

Goodluck

What did you say when you called? Was it an expedite request? What did they say?

Day 56 goes by and I'm starting to get a bit impatient about getting my work authorization. I don't have health insurance and unless I work, we can't afford it. I have a few optional medical procedures pending (in that I can put them off until the end of the year) and until I get to work, there is no way to get them done without a huge out of pocket expense. And since the procedures aren't for life threatening or dangerous conditions, I can't really say it's a financial hardship case. We visited our local congressional rep's office and met with a case worker. He said that he couldn't call and ask them to expedite (the situation apparent isn't serious enough) but for some reason he's still going to call them to check that our case is moving along or something like that (we're not really sure what he said he would call about). Yurk...I just want something, anything to plan for, even if it is just an interview date.

Just got my letter for my interview and it is at 8:15 am, I never thought they open so early, I will have to find a way to drop my kids to school and be on time for the interview or will have to take them with me

Wouldn't the kids be two walking, talking bonafides for your marriage? Also, I think having them around would allow the I/O to see you in a more family oriented setting and get more of a sense that you're a committed couple. Just my own opinion based on no prior experience.

@slidingdoors: I have figured out how to make the link public, but only to the people who have the link. And anyone can edit it. It is arranged right now according to the date people filled. Just put it back the way it was when you're down moving people around? =D I'm OC on that too. That's all.

If I missed anyone's update, feel free to add it yourself.

Good luck to everyone's journey!!!!!!

Thank you!

Congratulations everyone! It's been a busy couple of days for our thread!

BTW, Angeltots, could you make the spreadsheet sortable or downloadable? I want to sort by Biometrics dates and such to soothe my neurosis.

I meant i don't remember what it's like to NOT work.

Yurgh it stinks. I've been employed for a year prior to this "enforced vacation" I'm currently enduring before I can take another job. It's been nice in the sense that I get to dote on the wife and do all the organization/cleaning of our place (I moved into her existing home so there's a lot of adjustment. However, it really sucks not to have a place to go for 8 hours a day where you're forced to interact with others. The only constant interaction I have besides my wife is our little cat who admittedly makes a nice friend. I'm hoping that the next 30 days bring good news about the EAD and interview. I really want to get back to work.

Yay I received notification that my EAD is in production. So it seems 70 days is about right mine took 67 days. Anyone know how quickly you receive the EAD through the mail?

~7-10 days is typical I think based on my post-completion OPT cards arrival times.

Congratulations BTW!

Today marks 60 days since my package was received. Should I be calling them at this point or just continue waiting?

In the free consultation we had with a good lawyer (another friend actually hired him and had a successful AOS) we heard that the EAD typically takes ~70 days. The interview notice comes around the same time but could be a little later. On this site I've heard that if you don't get anything around the 90 day mark, the USCIS will expedite the process if you call them. I would say, wait another 10 days (until day 70) and then call.

I would highly recommend going to consult with a local lawyer. The first consultation for most attorneys is free and they will at least be able to tell you how difficult your case is likely to be after hearing your side.

08-06-2012 EAD Approved -- USCIS shows Card/ Document Production.

Hang in there folks - you'll be next!!

Congratulations!

Thanks for updating the spreadsheet Angeltots! Looks like the wife & I going to be the last schlubs left in this thread given the dates.

Congratulations! Looks like it took a little less than 3 months for it all to get done for you guys. Let's hope we all get the same (or shorter) timeline.

Just had my biometrics completed. In and out in ~35 minutes in Saint Paul, MN. Hopefully now the USCIS can get us the EAD and Interview notice.

Seems similar to someone in the Late May-June thread who filed 6/5 and has an 8/27 interview. Recently a friend who filed on 5/7 had his interview on 7/22 in Chicago.

Well received my interview notice today. It's on my birthday so I guess I get to celebrate with the IO!

Wear a party hat and take in a cake complete with lighted candles. What could go wrong?! In all seriousness: All the best and break a leg. I'm sure the added festivity will help the I/O see your spouse's love for you.

I still have heard nothing back about my EAD card at all. Be sad if I get the greencard before that.

As I mentioned earlier, it happened recently with a friend. If you want to avoid it, the route of getting an offer and then going through your local rep seems to work for most folks on the sit. I'm not going that route personally because it's hard to convince an employer to give a long enough acceptance period to get all the work done but hey, worth a shot...

Sigh...I hate being at the tail end of everyone here with my dates. We're getting pretty antsy about my work authorization. Wish they'd expedite those for folks who had filed AOS but hey...what can you do. Such is life. I just heard from a friend was approved who had filed on May 7 in Chicago. Turns out his interview was before the EAD and Travel authorization arrived... He had a ~2.5 month turnaround between submission and interview without any expediting involved. He did have a lawyer compile all of his paperwork though.

BTW, is there any benefit of doing a walk-in Biometrics? I have an Aug. 3rd appointment and a bunch of time on my hands...

Well looks like I'll be doing my Biometrics on 8/3. Fun fun fun. Now to wait for the EAD...

You can definitely try and request for an expedite. I actually got the idea from this forum, and I think I have explained it in another post or thread. What I did was I prepared supporting documents even before I had my biometrics appointment. I got an employment offer stating the urgency to fill position. I faxed in a letter to our local congressman (as suggested here or some say you can even try a senator) stating reason for expedite. I communicated with them regularly, updated them that I was able to secure an earlier biometric appointment, etc. I never actually requested an official expedite from USCIS. I have no personal connections nor paid any additional fees. All I did was persevered and sought all options to speed up the process.

And as I've stated in a previous post, I was shocked to see how fast I was able to secure an interview date. Was the CM rep able to help me with this? I don't know. I actually don't think they have any say for the green card processing, just for EAD, according to what I have read here. I was content on having my EAD because I can work while waiting for my green card. I guess, the stars are aligned for me and perhaps some divine intervention, I was able to secure an interview for next month. I personally think it helped that my application was pretty straightforward: married for 3 years, history of joint assets, testimonials from mutual friends, unique name for easy criminal clearance, OCD-like AOS packet organization (lol), etc.

I truly do not mean to offend anyone, and I'm sorry if I had. This forum has helped me prepare extensively for my application and I hope to return the favor by sharing my experience to others.

Did your job offer have an "Accept by" date on it? If so, how far off was this date? Did you have to submit proof of financial hardship?

Hello all nice to e-meet you!

I skimmed through most of the 11 pages and apparently I'm the first one stuck with an RFE (Anyone out there gone through successful RFE steps?)

I've been going through my copies of the packages and I honestly can't think of what could have been missed... and since they don't tell you in the email I'm now stuck waiting until I get the hardcopy to get a better idea of what else is required...

Ouch. :-( Hopefully, it's something easily fixable like an additional photo or something. Good luck and keep us in the loop.

####### it. Just mailed the whole thing by Express Mail and I'm so very nervous that I forgot something or there is some mistake... AAGH! Still, at a certain point you just need to have faith in yourself and the humanity of those reading the materials. Le sigh. Now the bumming around and counting of days starts.

Hi,

So my parents (who do not live with us but live together) are sponsoring my immigrant husband because I fall below the 125% of poverty threshold. Individually either of them would be able to sponsor him but we thought it might help to have both submit the forms to show the additional presence of income. So would they each file a I-864 as joint sponsoring? Or would one be the co-sponsor for the other with one filing the I-864 and the other filing the I-864A? In either case, what would the I-864's item 1 a-f answer be? Any suggestions?

And yes, I will be filing my own I-864.

While I'm at it, we're submitting the following for every sponsor (me + both parents):

Federal Filings for the last 3 years

W2s for the last 3 years

Pay stubs for 6 months.

I'm fairly certain that's all that is needed but is there more?

Are the people signing these affidavits familiar with immigration law? If they were called by USCIS could they discuss aspects of immigration law?

An affidavit should be about what a person knows about the couple. How they have interacted. Adding fluff closing statements makes the affidavits look absurd.

*Moving from AOS Family based visa to AOS Work, Student, Tourist visa forum* OP is adjusting from F1 status

I got the "Fluff" line from the wiki here: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Affidavit. The individuals writing affidavits are our closest friends who we've have repeated interactions with as a couple. They will be writing about these interactions.

Just piggy backing onto this thread to ask whether having all the bona fides at filing is absolutely necessary versus having them at the interview. My fiance and I have joint bank account as of 1 week prior to filing, joint store credit cards, wills, 3-4 affidavits, 25-30 photos (with both families) and a pet insurance joint contact but the health insurance, life insurance, utilities and lease will only be ready after I get a job with a temporary EAD (I'm moving into a property her parents own and she lives in already.) So is the first set of items enough at filing? Can I present the second at the joint interview?