ggsacks

While I agree that patience is a virtue and it's often not worth getting too deep in frustration over individual cases, I think the more people that push back against USCIS and escalate their issues, the better. Their processing goal for I-485s is 4 months, and this is nowhere near being met in many cases. USCIS has a commitment to process cases in a timely fashion and, again, this is something that is just not happening for large numbers of people.
Along with a lack of capacity, the arbitrary manner in which cases are adjudicated results in vastly different service levels for different filers, all of whom have invested a lot of money and energy. Through no fault of my own, other people who filed on the same date as me, and paid the exact same sum of money as me, may be granted permanent residence months or even a year or more ahead of me. That's not an isolated incident, it's routine, and the implications are very real. These people can apply for citizenship much earlier, access federal student aid, hold federal government jobs, buy property with much fewer restrictions, the list goes on. No matter how much you can do without a green card, not having one is a hindrance.
There's always going to be cases that require extra processing or that get held up at certain points, and that's fine. But instead, what we have now is wide-ranging delays across the board, without any guidance on realistic processing times, without any ability to access accurate information and without any promise that the situation will be resolved.
I personally am not all that fussed about a longer wait, but I absolutely understand anyone that is and I applaud them for their efforts in trying to get answers or resolutions that could benefit all of us.

While I agree that patience is a virtue and it's often not worth getting too deep in frustration over individual cases, I think the more people that push back against USCIS and escalate their issues, the better. Their processing goal for I-485s is 4 months, and this is nowhere near being met in many cases. USCIS has a commitment to process cases in a timely fashion and, again, this is something that is just not happening for large numbers of people.
Along with a lack of capacity, the arbitrary manner in which cases are adjudicated results in vastly different service levels for different filers, all of whom have invested a lot of money and energy. Through no fault of my own, other people who filed on the same date as me, and paid the exact same sum of money as me, may be granted permanent residence months or even a year or more ahead of me. That's not an isolated incident, it's routine, and the implications are very real. These people can apply for citizenship much earlier, access federal student aid, hold federal government jobs, buy property with much fewer restrictions, the list goes on. No matter how much you can do without a green card, not having one is a hindrance.
There's always going to be cases that require extra processing or that get held up at certain points, and that's fine. But instead, what we have now is wide-ranging delays across the board, without any guidance on realistic processing times, without any ability to access accurate information and without any promise that the situation will be resolved.
I personally am not all that fussed about a longer wait, but I absolutely understand anyone that is and I applaud them for their efforts in trying to get answers or resolutions that could benefit all of us.

The first half of your last sentence is pretty much literally the dictionary definition of feminism.

It's free to renew as long as your AOS is still pending. Just include a copy of your I-797.

I got a Capital One secured MasterCard at around the 3 month mark, $250 credit limit based on a $49 deposit.
As soon I was able to generate a FICO score (which is 6 months after your first card first reports) I applied for a JetBlue AmEx and was approved instantly for $1k unsecured. A couple weeks later I randomly noticed that Capital One had doubled my credit line to $500.
About a month after I received the AmEx, my cat had to have an expensive operation so I applied for Care Credit and was instantly approved for $3.5k.
Say what you will about Capital One, but without that initial secured MasterCard I wouldn't be sitting here with $5k in credit just 10 months after moving here.
It pays to read up on the best ways to manage your credit score. For example: always pay your balance in full, and keep your utilization below 30%. I put almost everything on my AmEx but I make sure to pay it down to below $300 before the statement date, so that they don't report high utilization.

I'm guessing the UK is similar to NZ in this regard. Back home, platinum denotes a premium card with higher status than gold!

I got a Capital One secured MasterCard at around the 3 month mark, $250 credit limit based on a $49 deposit.
As soon I was able to generate a FICO score (which is 6 months after your first card first reports) I applied for a JetBlue AmEx and was approved instantly for $1k unsecured. A couple weeks later I randomly noticed that Capital One had doubled my credit line to $500.
About a month after I received the AmEx, my cat had to have an expensive operation so I applied for Care Credit and was instantly approved for $3.5k.
Say what you will about Capital One, but without that initial secured MasterCard I wouldn't be sitting here with $5k in credit just 10 months after moving here.
It pays to read up on the best ways to manage your credit score. For example: always pay your balance in full, and keep your utilization below 30%. I put almost everything on my AmEx but I make sure to pay it down to below $300 before the statement date, so that they don't report high utilization.

The first half of your last sentence is pretty much literally the dictionary definition of feminism.

The first half of your last sentence is pretty much literally the dictionary definition of feminism.

The first half of your last sentence is pretty much literally the dictionary definition of feminism.

The husband should get a robot maid instead

It's only misrepresentation if they were pretending to still be living together as a legitimate couple. The OP doesn't make clear whether or not they did this at the second interview.
Separation alone is not necessarily grounds for an AoS denial, as long as the marriage was entered into in good faith (from my understanding). But if they did indeed misrepresent themselves, that's probably the worst situation to be in. Especially as USCIS will know from the dates on the second application that the OP met their spouse #2 before the second interview with spouse #1.
So, basically:
1) the OP didn't pretend to still be living in a legitimate marriage with spouse #1 at their second interview, in which case the extra scrutiny makes sense, but they will still be eligible to adjust status based on marriage to spouse #2 providing that relationship is genuine.
OR
2) the OP went to the second interview with spouse #1 and represented themselves as a still happily married couple. In this instance, assuming USCIS connects the dots, OP is likely up for deportation with a lifetime ban.

It's only misrepresentation if they were pretending to still be living together as a legitimate couple. The OP doesn't make clear whether or not they did this at the second interview.
Separation alone is not necessarily grounds for an AoS denial, as long as the marriage was entered into in good faith (from my understanding). But if they did indeed misrepresent themselves, that's probably the worst situation to be in. Especially as USCIS will know from the dates on the second application that the OP met their spouse #2 before the second interview with spouse #1.
So, basically:
1) the OP didn't pretend to still be living in a legitimate marriage with spouse #1 at their second interview, in which case the extra scrutiny makes sense, but they will still be eligible to adjust status based on marriage to spouse #2 providing that relationship is genuine.
OR
2) the OP went to the second interview with spouse #1 and represented themselves as a still happily married couple. In this instance, assuming USCIS connects the dots, OP is likely up for deportation with a lifetime ban.

Ha! I love it! Actually, I was thinking that it only took the Supreme Court 3 months to strike down DOMA. So striking down federal laws is a much quicker process
I remember we were in the same forum when applying for the K1. Glad to see everything went well!

Are you sure you didn't just receive the NOA1? Under "notice type" does it say "receipt"? If so, this is just USCIS confirming that they have received your application. There should be a receipt number listed. You can enter this here to check your case status.
The processing time for the I-765 is roughly 60-90 days, and for the I-485 it can be anything from a few months to over a year, depending on whether or not you need an interview and what your local field office is.
You should also receive a letter from USCIS in the next couple of weeks with instructions to go to a service center and get your fingerprints taken. If you haven't done this, there's no way anything has been approved.

Are you sure you didn't just receive the NOA1? Under "notice type" does it say "receipt"? If so, this is just USCIS confirming that they have received your application. There should be a receipt number listed. You can enter this here to check your case status.
The processing time for the I-765 is roughly 60-90 days, and for the I-485 it can be anything from a few months to over a year, depending on whether or not you need an interview and what your local field office is.
You should also receive a letter from USCIS in the next couple of weeks with instructions to go to a service center and get your fingerprints taken. If you haven't done this, there's no way anything has been approved.

I can sympathize with you. My husband and I spent almost 2 years apart because of DOMA, but it's been easy to put that behind us from living in New York where both the federal and state governments legally recognize our relationship. I'm so sorry/angry that this stuff continues to this day. The lengths you have to go to in order to deal with the everyday ramifications your situation is criminal (well, it should be).

I struggle to see what that has to do with anything. An EAD is worth 3 points out of the 4 required, as per NYS DMV's listed requirements.
It wasn't luck, it's a valid ID document worth 3 points (out of a required 4) accepted by NYS.

I can sympathize with you. My husband and I spent almost 2 years apart because of DOMA, but it's been easy to put that behind us from living in New York where both the federal and state governments legally recognize our relationship. I'm so sorry/angry that this stuff continues to this day. The lengths you have to go to in order to deal with the everyday ramifications your situation is criminal (well, it should be).

Just a correction here - you're not dealing with the "affordable care act" or "Obamacare", you're dealing with your state's health department. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is the federal law that expanded insurance eligibility and established the state-run marketplaces, not an actual organization or department.

Obamacare isn't like a national health service per say, where you are on a government program that is providing you a benefit. It simply means all citizens must purchase health insurance or pay a 'penalty' leveed via taxes. You aren't using a government program or a fund. Immigrants and becoming a spouse qualifies you under a life-changing event (you are also eligible to sign up before the November enrolment period because you are under a qualifying event). You can call the federal exchange and see how you will qualify. If the USC spouse has health insurance, it is very possible they would be able to add the immigrant spouse to their coverage. However since the state in question is Illinois, you will have to look at your State exchange. Try giving them a call for starters. https://getcoveredillinois.gov/
Here you can see the federal standard addressing immigration and the ACA. https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/immigration-status/ As you can see a waiting period of five years is only applied to those LPRs that are in need of Medicaid or CHIP and not to those who are perfectly eligible to seek insurance through their state or federal exchanges. According to the federal standard LPRs and even those within adjustment of status to an LPR are eligible.

This is the only accurate post in here - I am sorry for your situation, and for the unbelievable judgment that has gone on in his post - It's amazing what people infer - Did he say he was visiting the US to see his now wife and got someone else pregnant? Ummm.... no - He clearly had a visitor or a work visa and met his wife on one of the trips - and probably dated others prior to that - For all anyone reading this knows - the baby could have been born before he even met his wife - Or it could be a lie by someone who was jilted and is trying to hurt him - The man was upfront with his wife about the situation - he came here asking for help - so if you can't provide it, why bother judging?
Follow the steps above - If you can't reschedule, and manage to patch things up with your wife, you will have to start over with immigration - Hope it works for you

Of course it's better to leave with a green card but until then, that's why Advanced Parole exists. You could have just filled in one extra form and had AP with your EAD in August!
You should file for AP as soon as possible. With your I-485 still pending, there should be no charge. Your green card won't be expedited just because it's convenient for your vacation, so I wouldn't even bother wasting time on that.

Evidence filed now with the petition will be available to the interviewing CO long before the beneficiary arrives at the consulate for their interview.
We supplied about 10 photos, a stack of emails, Skype logs, wedding invitations addressed to both of us, mail addressed to both of us, evidence of joint banking, airline boarding passes, hotel receipts, anniversary gift receipts, and the engagement ring receipt, along with all of the required documents.
When I arrived at the consulate, my case was already stamped 'APPROVED' in red. It can definitely be beneficial to provide more evidence than is required, and (within reason) there's probably no such thing as too much.

Evidence filed now with the petition will be available to the interviewing CO long before the beneficiary arrives at the consulate for their interview.
We supplied about 10 photos, a stack of emails, Skype logs, wedding invitations addressed to both of us, mail addressed to both of us, evidence of joint banking, airline boarding passes, hotel receipts, anniversary gift receipts, and the engagement ring receipt, along with all of the required documents.
When I arrived at the consulate, my case was already stamped 'APPROVED' in red. It can definitely be beneficial to provide more evidence than is required, and (within reason) there's probably no such thing as too much.