FavoredOnes

Striker: Here's a post I did about our interview day-http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/430062-aos-interview-further-review/

We sure weren't ready, that's why I was telling you to prepare as best as you can for the worst case scenario.

All the best!!!

You must change your address. With a stokes interview coming up, I wouldn't give them any more reason to deny you by failing to follow protocol or by hiding your move.

Your interview will have to be rescheduled for your new jurisdiction.

Thanks HT! This is exactly what I think too.

That doesn't answer my question though, Darnell. I have plans to go for the interview. My question relates to a change of address.

So we had our interview May 6th ending with a further review blah blah blah!

Today, we got a notice for a stokes interview (July). The only thing is I will be moving from NY to another state for work next week.

So should I fill out an AR11 and register a change of address?

Well, we just got notice for a stokes interview next month.

I had the same question when I was filling and wasn't sure about it. I left it blank and USCIS issued me a different A#.

Just sharing my experience.

Well at least you got a letter, we got nothing, just a verbal "application pending background check, wait for a decision in the mail" that's all and off we went.

Here's hoping that one is not worse than the other and it works out for us all.

I guess we need our own thread. This one's gone way off topic lol!

To FavoredOne,

I have noticed the pattern of these cases being held up only at Federal Plaza recently. I had my hunch whether its the same person or small group of people who are holding things up. Maybe the supervisor got ticked off over a few bad apple cases that were approved inappropriately and they are now doing a more through review?

I have read that since the decision in 2009 to speed up FBI background checks, 99% of all cases clear background checks within 6 months. I think when they tell you "background check" nowadays its just a common excuse for further / extended review.

The fact that I have seen nearly 10 recent NYC Federal Plaza cases get held up leads me to believe that something administrative is going on there. Anyhow, nothing but speculation on my end. Here is wishing to speedy approval for all of us.

Thanks Striker!

Hey at least you can learn from our experiences. While I was waiting for an interview, it was hard to find fellow NYC filers to even know how things were going, so consider yourself lucky.

Prepare as well as you can. We just assumed that the fact that we were a real couple would be so evident, lol! Don't make that mistake.

Make sure you have a lease. Take things like junk mail, magazines to show proof of address. Know each others' phone number (we messed this up cos really numbers are saved and some people aren't good at stuff like this), date of birth, how and where you met. If any of you have issues with nerves, work on those things now.

I know there are others who had mountain of evidence and are still waiting.

I think I kind of went off of the reviews of others in states where things aren't as difficult. This whole process is state-specific. Hindsight is so 20/20.

And, Striker, think positive. Don't think you'll have the same experience as we did. A positive outlook can go so far.

All the best!!!

Go back to the first page with 6 options and select the 4th one "You need information or other services". That way, you avoid the 45 day service request requirement

Oh thanks!!!

I am wondering if there's a difference between "background check" and "further review". We actually got the piece of paper that says something like they don't need anything from us at this time, we might be called for a second interview and to wait 120 days before contacting them. etc.

My issue is I move to a different state for work in 2 weeks and I wonder how that would look. I mean if living together we couldn't prove that we're a real couple, imagine now living apart. Yikes!!!

Also do any of you Federal plaza people remember who interviewed you? You can inbox me if you know their name. I remember the name of the person who interviewed me, just want to see if there's a pattern. Then we can pray over them lol!

Yep I did it last week. Do it quickly, dates run out pretty fast, it's NYC after all.

Which of the 4 options did you choose when making the infopass appointment?

Still waiting. Yikes!

Hi there,

I've only joined the site a couple of days ago and haven't had time to do the timeline yet. We filed at the beginning of November 2012, I did my Biometrics in Port Chester (Westchester County) on December 26th 2012 and received my EAD card combo on January 16th in the mail. We had our interview on Wednesday May 1st at Federal Plaza, NYC. While the interview process seemed to go well, the IO said they would do further background checks. I'm unclear as to how long it will take for approval. The IO asked at the end if we had any questions so I asked her how long will we have to wait and she said "oh I don't know, I can't really say). Does anybody have any idea how long it takes, post-interview, for approval and Green Card?

Hey artist123,

There's a few of us in the same boat. I was interviewed on 5/6 and the poster "nitehero" was interviewed a few days before me and still no word. There really isn't any way of knowing when you'll hear from them. All we can do is wait. Brian & Ivy, who is also an NYC filer, was interviewed (and approved on the spot, though) on 2/13 and didn't get any updates till 2/27 (14 days).

Typically, you should give them 30 days before contacting USCIS by either an infopass or calling the 1-800 number.

Yes, I have observed other cases filing in Mid January 2013 who have received interview dates.

Here is my timeline:

Dec 27, 2012 - Sent in application

Dec 31, 2012 - USCIS Priority Date

Jan 7, 2013 - Biometrics Appointment Notice

Jan 28, 2013 - Biometrics Appointment

Feb 6, 2013 - Application changed to "Testing and Interview"

Feb 25, 2013 - EAD / AP Approved

Mar 6, 2013 - Received EAD / AP

Mar 23 - Received SS Card

Apr 11 - Received NYS Identification Card

May 6 - Called USCIS to inquire about interview notification. They put in Service Request asking to follow-up by May 21 if no response

Still rotting on this day #94 of being in "Testing and Interview"

Are these NYC filers? You have to compare your timeline with others in NYC for the most part. Some other states are just quicker. Anyway since you filed in December, you should hear something soon, maybe for June. I know waiting sucks.

Thank Hypnos!!!

I will try to explain that to my program. They usually don't want to be stuck with an unfilled spot.

We had our interview on May 6th in NYC. It wasn't tough but the interviewer was extremely professional with no room for small talk. There was another man in the room apart from the IO; she introduced him as someone from the state who was observing. I had never heard of that from all my time at VJ, but oh well.

She swore us in and immediately said she would direct questions at each of us and we couldn't speak to one another.

My USC husband was nervous and stumbled on a few questions like when she asked how old I was, he started to say my DOB. The IO cut him off and said: "I'm not asking for her DOB but how old she is." To which he answered. When she did eventually ask for my birthday, he goes March 23...sorry 29. SIgh! He didn't remember my phone number. She asked me for his phone number, and while I gave the correct number, when I got home, I realized that I gave her his new number and not the number that was on the forms since it had changed.

We don't have a lease, as we rent a basement apartment on a month-to-month basis. She seemed to have a problem with this and the fact that my husband's driver's license still says his parent's address in NJ.

We had a court marriage with my husband's two sisters as witnesses. She asked several times whether we did anything to celebrate afterwards and we said no. I think she had a problem with this.

But everything else she asked and I think we were in there for over 30 minutes, we got right. Mostly pertaining to each other's family. Names, pointing them out in pictures etc. We had lots of pictures that showed us together and with family and friends. She even asked for the house key and the way we are, if we are both going to the same place, we take only one key (I told her this and she asked my husband if he was going back to work, to which he answered: NO!). I didn't have a key on me, but my husband did. She asked me to bring the key to her and explain which key is which. The keys look exactly alike but we had a scratch on it to differentiate, and I was able to explain that to her.

At the end, we got hit with the further review sheet of paper and it's been a week. Womp Womp!

What can we do at this point? My job starts in a month and they want me to have the green card in hand by then.

Lawyer up? Congressman? Info pass?

How would I go about contacting a congressman?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

We were interviewed on May 6th and hit with the further review. Keep us in your prayers and send positive thoughts our way

Filling out a timeline usually helps. Right now it seems like November 2012 filers are being interviewed in May (this is solely based on observation though).

Counting day to our interview day

Finally got an interview date for May 6th. Got the texts and emails today but the notice was mailed on March 29th; my birthday

NYC filer here. Still waiting on an interview date.

Congrats to everyone who have successfully completed this process.

Hey Em31,

Here is my report in full:

Background story:

Came over on the VWP for 85 days in 2006. Fell in love with my girlfriend, and she asked me to stay. At that time, she had no passports and could not leave the country. She only had her GC. We got married in April 2011. So, I overstayed my VWP for 5 years, my biggest concern however was that I had a DUI in 2000 in Baltimore, while I was in college. Before anyone flames me for trying to cheat the system or whatever, I had no intention of going down this path when I came over in 2006. So, I was a VWP overstay with a DUI conviction.I hired a very good Lawyer to assist me in my case. I'm writing this in the hope that others in a similar situation can take heart.

Interview:

Arrived 30 min early at the Long Island City office in NYC. My lawyer was already there and we went up to the waiting room. I was a bundle of nerves. We waited for 20min before my name was called. The IO was a small lady of Asian descent. Very professional and not at all threatening. She asked to see originals of documents submitted. While she was looking at her paperwork, she started asked me all the question. Where did we meet? How many times have I visited the US. Have I met my wife's parents? Then she suddenly turned to my wife and asked about my siblings and parents and the longer version of how we met, as my wife was explaining this, she asked to see proof of marriage. I had joint bank statements and credit card, and our last 3 leases for the 5 years I have lived here ( miracle I could find them ). She noticed how nervous I was and jokingly asked the lawyer what horrible stories he had told me. We all laughed. Then came i-485 question time. No to everything, except for being arrested. When she asked me and I said yes, she nodded, as if she was expecting me to say no. I explained what happened to me and showed the original court disposition. Then it was photo time! 134 photos, she looked through them all, made some jokes about some as we explained each pic. Then the wedding pics, she asked if I could select 2 for her to keep.

Then she showed me and my lawyer this form and said that she could not decide at that moment, as the DUI case would have to be run by her supervisor. She said I would have an answer in 90 days. Not once did the overstay get mentioned, so if any others out there are worried about that, don't stress to much, however I did have proof that I intended to leave before the 90 days were up.

That was it! 20min tops! I got home and checked the USCIS website and APPROVED!!! Green card in production!!! I am so happy and relieved. I can start my life now. I haven't been home in 6 years, so August, here I come South Africa. Basically, very professional and courteous. I stressed over nothing, however that stress made me super prepared for any contingency.

My "card/document in production" reversed back to "Decision", so I called them and confirmed that the GC has been mailed to me.

Ian

Hey Ian,

What's you're timeline like? When did you apply for AOS?

I'm also in NY and waiting on an interview date so I'm trying to gauge from others' experience.

Thanks!!!

Congratulations to all recently approved November filers.

I'm sitting tight for an interview date. It appears my application is in the NY office so that's a good sign. Can't wait to share the good news with you all.

I just came back from an InfoPass appointment I made a couple of weeks ago at Federal Plaza NYC. I originally made the appointment because I was supposed to be going on an overseas trip tomorrow (but I ended up cancelling the trip, not wanting to take the risk that my GC interview would be scheduled while I'm away) so I wanted to confirm my interview hadn't been scheduled and I just hadn't received the letter yet. I've been trying to reschedule that trip for April or May (I filed my AOS in early Nov), so I still went to the InfoPass appointment to see if they could give me any info on the status of my case. I thought I would report back my observations and what I was told:

The line to get into Federal Plaza to go through security is really long, took around 20-25 mins to get through it.

When I went to level 3 to go to my appointment, there was no wait to see an officer (it was past my appointment time because of the huge security line). Actually, it is a huge room with filled with empty seats, literally no one in there. But plenty of booths with officers waiting to speak to people with appointments - not what I expected since Federal Plaza never has any InfoPass appointments available.

When I told the officer I wanted to understand whether it was ok for me to plan now to go overseas in April or May (I have Advance Parole) as I haven't received by interview appointment yet, he was very relaxed and said sure, just reschedule your GC appointment if it is while you are overseas (but before the interview, otherwise it will be considered abandoned). He was of the opinion that this should be easy to reschedule (but I don't have much faith that he had any experience with people doing this, so I'm not taking much comfort in this).

He then looked up my case on the system, and much to my surprise, he told me my application was still at the National Benefits Center and hadn't even been sent to the NYC office yet. I had assumed that the NYC office was the hold up because my online status went to "interview scheduling" on Jan 9 and because I hadn't heard anything yet (and a lot/most other Nov 2012 filers have already got their interviews scheduled). He said that this happens because the NBC doesn't send individual applications to field offices, they wait until the maybe have 200 applications and then send them all in boxes at the same time. And only when NYC goes through them, will they appoint all those cases interview times. I had already assumed this was the case, but I also assumed that it wouldn't take the NBC over a month to accumulate enough NYC applications in order to send it to the field office - doesn't make much sense to me.

I'm not sure what to assume about my timeline now. Perhaps the NBC is holding on to the NYC cases longer than it holds on to some other field offices (I'm saying this because NYC seems to be much slower than most other field offices). Or else I could just be unlucky and mine has fallen through the cracks and may have missed the last NYC mail delivery. The upshot of this is that I'm not even convinced I'll get an appointment within 6-7 months of when I filed my AOS. Because even if the NBC sends my application to NYC in the next few weeks, NYC may just sit on it for weeks as well because apparently they are busier than other offices, who knows! The last thing I wanted to do is reschedule by GC appointment given how long it takes to get one and there is the risk that I can't successfully reschedule it and my case is "abandoned", but I also have some commitments back at home that I need to attend to and I have AP.

Hope this sheds some light (I know, not much) for the NYC AOS filers out there.

Thanks for posting your experience. Now, I'm thinking whether involving a congressman at this point will be a good idea.