kwakun

I'm glad to report that I passed my interview!
My interview appointment was for 11:15 am at the Philadelphia office but we arrived a little after 10am and parked at a paid parking then walked down the street to get some breakfast. We walked back down and arrived back at the office around 11am. Signed in and then I was called around 11:30am. The IO swore me in and began going over my application and confirming spellings, dates and other details. He then went over the yes and no questions. After that, I took the civics test. My questions were exactly the same as zzmr_qzz's...
1. what is freedom of religion?
2. how many U.S senators are there?
3. when must all men register for the selective service?
4. when was the constitution written?
5. Name one state that borders Canada?
6. what ocean is on the east coast of the United States?
I was then given a sentence to read and another to write. The IO then recommended me for approval. I live in Delaware so he told me he could schedule an oath for me at the Delaware office which would be a month from today. I told him I wouldn't mind driving back down to Philadelphia for an earlier date. I was then scheduled for my oath on Monday, April 4th at 11:00am. The entire process took about an hour from arrival till we left the building. Very pleasant experience.
Thanks VJ!

i just wanted to update everyone who kindly replied to me. We ultimately got an attorney, USCIS went and found his ex-wife and she made the same claims she made initially. They then interviewed my husband two more times, and ultimately decided in his favor. He was granted Citizenship on February 18, 2016! Thank you all for your advice!

I'm glad to report that I passed my interview!
My interview appointment was for 11:15 am at the Philadelphia office but we arrived a little after 10am and parked at a paid parking then walked down the street to get some breakfast. We walked back down and arrived back at the office around 11am. Signed in and then I was called around 11:30am. The IO swore me in and began going over my application and confirming spellings, dates and other details. He then went over the yes and no questions. After that, I took the civics test. My questions were exactly the same as zzmr_qzz's...
1. what is freedom of religion?
2. how many U.S senators are there?
3. when must all men register for the selective service?
4. when was the constitution written?
5. Name one state that borders Canada?
6. what ocean is on the east coast of the United States?
I was then given a sentence to read and another to write. The IO then recommended me for approval. I live in Delaware so he told me he could schedule an oath for me at the Delaware office which would be a month from today. I told him I wouldn't mind driving back down to Philadelphia for an earlier date. I was then scheduled for my oath on Monday, April 4th at 11:00am. The entire process took about an hour from arrival till we left the building. Very pleasant experience.
Thanks VJ!

Thank you moderators for cracking down on this. Comments like the "out of wedlock" one could very easily turn this wonderful site into a ghost town. I mean, who wants to come on here to be shamed, bullied and disrespected and for no reason. A first time poster to boot!

Thank you moderators for cracking down on this. Comments like the "out of wedlock" one could very easily turn this wonderful site into a ghost town. I mean, who wants to come on here to be shamed, bullied and disrespected and for no reason. A first time poster to boot!

Thank you moderators for cracking down on this. Comments like the "out of wedlock" one could very easily turn this wonderful site into a ghost town. I mean, who wants to come on here to be shamed, bullied and disrespected and for no reason. A first time poster to boot!

Congratzs on your victory.

congrats!!!!

Congratulations to you and your wife! You both are so strong and positive that you were able to stand still up to the last fight! You deserve it!!! Now CHEERS for a happily ever after life!!!

My wife came to the US on K-1 visa an married her ex husband (2006). After approximately 10 months they split up and she moved out. After approximately 22 months they divorced. I met my wife approximately 20 months after she was married to her ex. When my wife was divorced we contacted an immigration attorney and he gave us very bad advice. The lawyer said that as long as she married me we could adjust her status later and that there was so rush. In late 2008 we were now married, bought a house and my wife was pregnant. In 2009 we had our interview for her I-485 and I130. At the interview we had our infant daughter with us. The interview was going well and the Officer told us that we should expect her green card in the mail. Shortly after the Officer told us to hold on and he walked out of the room. The Officer returned and said that he made a mistake and said that he could not adjust my wife's status. The officer told us that my wife would have to go back to the Philippines. We were devastated and caught completely by surprise. It felt like our world was ripped away from us.
After that I spoke to several lawyers and they said my wife had to return to the Philippines but that she would now have a ten year ban on her. Many others including a friend of mine who was a ICE agent said to do nothing and that they would never come after her.
Next thing we knew (beginning 2011) we got a letter in the mail stating that she was being put into deportation proceedings. A good friend of mine who worked in the government gave me the name of an Attorney that he said all the immigration prosecutors hated going up against and my friend said that if he needed a lawyer than this was the one he would use. Our attorney Mitchell J Cohen out of Hallandale Beach Florida said it was a long shot but would do his best. This was the only lawyer I spoke with that had an answer for any question I could think of. In 2011 the BIA case of Sesay came out and we thought we could use this case. In 2012 we had our master hearing and we gave the argument of Sesay but when my wife came on a K-1 visa her husband did not file a affidavit of support and the Judge said we needed one but would not except one from me. We were rescheduled for another hearing and Mitchell Cohen composed some kind of brief as to why we did not need an affidavit of support. The judge agreed on what our attorney said and stipulated that my wife would be eligible to adjust based on her previous marriage. Another hearing was set for July 18th 2013. At the hearing my wife had to testify and was grilled by the prosecutor for about an hour on the bonafides of her first marriage. After the testimony the judge ordered that my wife was able to adjust her status and all we are waiting for now is her green cared in the mail.
Mitchell J Cohen out of Hallandale Beach Florida (also has Office in Ft Myers), best immigration attorney in the country.
Thank You God for sending us Mitchell Cohen and saving my family.

I'll give this post a more detailed response when I get the chance.
For now, you should share this information on the n-400 section cause there are a bunch of potential liars, very very superficial and/or severly deluded people in the process of naturalization that need you to tell them this.
Also, print out this post and rehearse it so you can be very well prepared to tell this to the officer during your naturalization interview (assuming you plan to waste your time like the deluded rest of us).

I'll give this post a more detailed response when I get the chance.
For now, you should share this information on the n-400 section cause there are a bunch of potential liars, very very superficial and/or severly deluded people in the process of naturalization that need you to tell them this.
Also, print out this post and rehearse it so you can be very well prepared to tell this to the officer during your naturalization interview (assuming you plan to waste your time like the deluded rest of us).

Ignorance of epic proportions.
But according to you, you'll never be a "genuine" american so why go through all the stress when your spouse could have just joined you and your nice life back home?

At best you can say you will never be fully integrated and that you, personally, will never be a genuine American. Your loss, really.
It is ludicrous for you to presume to apply that to others, for you can only define what being an American is at a very personal level. You can't do that for others. Each individual that comes to this country has a particular and oftentimes unique concept as do those who are born here. Being an American is represented by a set of ideals; not a laundry list.

You clearly have not...you've been in a relationship with the US immigration system close to 2 years and have a minimum of 3 years to go. That has nothing to do with the price of tea in China and I am not interesting in buying tea from China so that works just fine.
Anyone who solemnly took the oath of allegiance becomes a genuine american...but you wouldn't know that now, would you?
If you looked around, you'll very clearly see that the identity, lives, culture and language of immigrants typically follow them to their adopted country (USA) and that doesn't make them any less "genuine" than any other american...even your spouse.

Ignorance of epic proportions.
But according to you, you'll never be a "genuine" american so why go through all the stress when your spouse could have just joined you and your nice life back home?

What you signed up for when you mailed your AOS packet was an INITIAL notice of receipt of your application. That just means you wanted to get notified when your package was RECEIVED and entered into the system.
In order to get STATUS UPDATES, you have to sign up for it. What you need to do is go to this link:
https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/selectusertype.jsp and follow the instructions. Enter the receipt numbers on your hardcopy NOAs that you want to receive updates on. I am assuming you got three NOAs (I-485, I-765, I-131). You will also be asked for your e-mail address and cell phone number. When you do this, you will be notified via text and e-mail IMMEDIATELY an update is made on your case.
It is much better than having to log-in multiple times a day to check if progress is being made on your case.
Goodluck!

Interview letter mailed out today. Interview on March 7th.

Hello Everyone!
I have been reading all of your posts and wanted to join in! I am a December 2012 AOS Filer. My I-485 is currently in the "testing and interview" stage, but we have no date for an interview yet, I am becoming a little anxious. I wake up everyday hoping to get that text and email notifying what the next step is. I read a lot about other people's experiences, hubby tells me to stop, to be patient or I will drive myself crazy. Patience is really what you need through out this process, because it can be so frustrating. I really would just like to know the date that they will assign for our interview , but like most, if not all of you, I would really really like to have my EAD in my hands so I could Start working already! I guess all we can do is wait patiently for all these things to come together.

Interview letter mailed out today. Interview on March 7th.

Of course I am aware that countries have been removed from VWP. And many aren't eligible at all. That was kind of my point. I was responding to the person who suggested it should be available to everyone in the world or no one at all. The fact of the matter is that if someone is from Canada, or England, or Australia, they have an easier time of it because the rate of fraud is so low in those countries that trust can be more easily given. If you are from China however, fraud rates are much to high to allow a VWP. As rates of fraud (and other issues such as human trafficking) change the country can be reevaluated. But this is country by country. They won't revoke Australia's VWP status because people from Zimbabwe, China, and Chile commit visa fraud too much one year.
Believe me, the fraud committed in countries that makes visitor visas so difficult isn't that they legally adjust status after coming to the USA. It's that they violate their visa, overstay, become illegals, etc.
But this is still apples and oranges. Many here are making the assumption that AOS from a visa waiver or tourist visa is automatically fraud, and most people just get away with it. Obviously the USCIS does not see it that way. It is a perfectly legal process, and many people (Such as Xanax, who you know personally) use it as it was intended. I didn't use it because I KNEW we were getting engaged, so if I had done it, it WOULD have been knowingly and only to reduce the wait, which would have been fraud (so here I am for K-1). But that isn't the case for many many people. Why deny it to them? Cause other people feel sad that they have to wait longer? This is not a valid reason.

Why do I have to have an excuse, why should I have to justify my "excuse" to you? I think to most normal people my situation would seem reasonable.
What part does not make sense to you? We changed our minds, 1) we didn't want to go through horrible situations without each other 2) I was advised by the doctor not to leave the country without treatment, treatment could be up to a 3 month course of antibiotics (or I could have had something much worse) and I had to have further testing as did my fiance, thus I would have overstayed 3) we could not re-home or find care for our puppy and could not justify euthanizing her, 4) we consulted USCIS and this is the avenue they advised.
You seem very bitter and I'm sorry about that but I think you're wrong and shortsighted. If USCIS did not want this option available to VWP holders or B visa holders they would not allow it.
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Thankyou, exactly. USCIS advised us to adjust based on our circumstances.

Bottom line is it was a process available to her, not illegal, and made her life easier. So she shouldn't have took it just so she could clap herself on the back for doing it the hard way and winning your approval? It's not about excuses.

I agree about the "fairness" argument being not based in realities. If every country had the same history of compliance with US visas, and fraud rates, and noone immigrated illegally, then policy could be applied exactly the same to everyone. Sadly, this is not the case. Situation and history makes everyone's case different and some will have an easier time of it. Someone with a fiancee from Fujian, China will have a MUCH different experience than someone with a fiancee from Toronto, ON. Is this fair? Not in the sense that that both couples may be just as in love, just as well meaning, and just as deserving to be together... but the USCIS is the gatekeeper and they have to act based on the facts and trends. There is no need to blame anyone. It's the world that's unfair, from birth to death.
AOS is not a loophole. You may adjust from ANY visa as a spouse of a US citizen, it's only a question of if you are being honest about why you entered the USA initially. Some aren't. Fine. Catching them is part of the USCIS's job. But because some people commit fraud doesn't mean that process should be thrown out for the ones that ARE honest. THAT is unfair.
People who are saying no one should be able to do it, honestly or not are just taking their frustrations out on those they perceive as more fortunate than themselves. I understand the emotion, but it's kind of ugly.

This thread may have started with a honest question, but it has become mean spirited and hurtful, and from what I can see there are dozens like it already. There is plenty to be frustrated about in the K-1 or CR-1 process, especially long separations. It is easy to look at those who in your opinion took a shortcut, or took a less ethical route and are seemingly rewarded, while we are doing it the "right way" and are seemingly punished and become frustrated, angry, jealous. I KNEW that I could have had my fiancee stay over her VWP since I hadn't announced our engagement anywhere publicly, and play the "whoops we just couldn't wait" card and avoid a long separation... I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind, but I chose to go K-1 because I just couldn't do it in a less than honest way, since I KNEW we were going to get married.
But... There are those who came on VWP or visitor visa and perfectly legally decide to stay. The gentleman from the UK for instance. He entered planning to leave, was told about the possibility of staying and AOSing, and had a relatively easy way to take care of his matters back in England. This wasn't fraud, this was a man deciding to do what was best for his wife and child and perfectly legal.
The Chinese woman who posted earlier too... unless you (with no reason or evidence) believe that she came on this site to simply waste her time lying, then she too was perfectly within the law to stay with her husband. And cases like hers are NOT why visitor visas are so hard for high fraud countries... it is people who overstay and become illegal that make it so hard. She applied for AOS and they said YES. They could have said no. So many people from high-fraud countries just live in an ethnically homogeneous community often in sanctuary cities, and have no fear of deportation or reason to bother doing AOS.
There are plenty of people who commit fraud with the CR-1 and K-1. They are some of the most tempting for fraud, even. That is why they take so long. Not because some guy from the UK where 99+% of visas are NEVER broken or used fraudulently decided to stay with his wife and child.
I don't like waiting any more than you do, I know it is even harder for those of you with no VWP which makes interim visits much more difficult. But that doesn't excuse attacking people and pouring your frustrations on the undeservedly. Find a more positive outlet for that stuff. Those "loopholes" exist for a reason, just like the K-1 and CR-1 exist for a reason. Leave it to the USCIS to determine if someone is gaming the system. Some will and get away with it in ALL cases. Some will also try and get caught. Also innocent people will be accused and have to jum through hoops. It is the nature of any huge bureaucratic system, and will never change no matter who you blame for your own woes.