gogojourney

Hello, fellow VJ'ers....

In the commemoration of this Thanksgiving weekend, I hope those of you who are in the U.S now are celebrating the long holiday weekend with your family and loved ones. I have many things to be thankful for this year, one of those being the privilege of going through this adjustment of status process for earning my permanent residency here in the U.S. My wife and I had our interview on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, at the Detroit USCIS office, and it went much better than either of us could have imagined.

We met our attorney there, who has our case files on her, and she also met my father in law who drove us to the office for that day. After the identity verification process, it took about 30 minutes before our name was called for the interview. We were led to an office by the officer, who seemed like a genuinely nice fellow. After the swearing in and all three of us (me, my wife and our attorney) sat down, the interview began. My US Citizen wife was asked general questions about herself and her family, then I was asked the same things and then the questions from the I-485 form was asked to me and I answered every one of them clearly. After that, the officer asked us questions about how we met, how long we have known each other, how familiar are we with each other's family, and we were asked to describe the wedding and the reception to him. We brought our necessary documents as well as travel itineraries that we printed from our e-mails, brought our marriage license and bank statements and a book of new personal checks showing our names on it. Our attorney also handed the officer our case file, which had even more evidence such as letters we wrote to each other back in the late 90's and some photographs. We brought a few collections of of our wedding photos, as well as our invitations and some photos we printed from our Facebook pages and phones showing us together.

After looking at some of these evidences and having a small talk amongst the three of us about our Thanksgiving activities and how good or bad the Detroit Lions will do in this year's Thanksgiving game, the officer had us stand up and sign a piece of paper explaining as well as us verifying our signatures on our I-485 packet. He then took my passport and long expired I-94 and my EAD card, which I've only had for 2 weeks, looked at it, and gave me back the passport as he stamped the piece of paper we just signed (which was explained later that it was for understanding what a Conditional Permanent Residency is and what it entails) and he input some things on his computer. Once he's done, he had a pleasant smile on his face and said congratulations to me as he said our petition is approved, and that my conditional permanent residence card should arrive in the mail within 60 days. He also said he needs the EAD card to be destroyed. Our lawyer thank him also, and he mentioned that her organization and professionalism for the interview helped him a lot in the process, and as we were the last couple to be interviewed by him for the day, he was happy to know that he gets to go home to see his family for Thanksgiving and that he was happy to see our petition be approved.

All in all, our interview took no longer than around 25 minutes to do, and our attorney notified us that she will e-mail us any further developments in the case, and that she will remind us when my Green Card is in production and on its way to me. She wished us happy Thanksgiving as we said the same to her and her family and we parted ways at the parking lot. A pleasant experience overall,and I couldn't believe the speed at which all of this happened for us. We got married in January, started the process in the spring, sent in the I-485 packet in September, had my biometrics appointment in October, and after the interview couple of days ago, I was approved for Conditional Permanent Residency. I would like to thank the many posters on this very web site who explained to me and many other immigrants how the Adjustment of Status process works and what conditional residency means. We are very happy everything went well and faster than expected so far...can't wait to have that card in hand and start a new chapter on my life .

Thank you, VJ, and have yourselves a wonderful weekend!

Same boat here....well, found out thru the USCIS website that my EAD is approved and being made now and should be arriving within 30 days....while my AOS interview is set for the day before Thanksgiving. I sent out my packet in September. best of luck to you

Just curious, that's all.

And thank you

Hi, guys...

My wife and I just received an e-mail from USCIS, forwarded to our attorney also, stating that the interview for my AOS case will be done on the day before Thanksgiving in November at the USCIS office in Detroit..

My question is just that I'm wondering if having the interview for the day before a major US holiday would be a good thing or a bad thing, in your opinion....also, is it better to get a time earlier in the day or later on in the day for the interview?

Thank you for reading this...

Definitely send it along with the rest of the AOS packet. The USCIS Civil Surgeon I went to gave me a copy of the paperwork alongside that sealed envelope, for our records. I was glad my exam didn't cost super bad compared to rates I've heard people are being charged for ...

yes they can. I'm doing that right now, with my wife applying for AOS for me....

Mail it together. I'm halfway through the process of adjustment of status now, pretty much....we hired a lawyer because my US Citizen wife doesn't want to have any potential errors or problems happen if we do it ourselves.... but yes, you should mail the forms together

Do it now....who knows how long this shutdown will go on for. I have my biometrics appointment tomorrow in Kentwood, MI...I'm showing up early and hope it will go well with everything. Hope the process won't drag on way too long because of the shutdown..

Fellow September filer here too...filed AOS packet (adjusting from tourist visa from looooong ago) a few weeks back. Have biometrics appointment set for next Monday at 2 pm. At least I'm glad it's in the Grand Rapids area and not Detroit area...

But yes, definitely best of wishes to the rest of you in the filing process as well

Yeah, I got my biometrics appointment set for next Monday....the good news is that the location of it is only under an hour away from where we live....thinking about walking in early too, but I don't think it's worth it since it won't get processed any faster...6 more days to wait, i guess..

It's a combo deal...the work authorization request must be filed with the I-485 packet. Can't be filed by itself. I'm waiting for that part myself....got my biometrics appointment 9 days away

I won't be able to enter the USMC or USAF for active duty simply because of age....I always wanted to join AF when I was younger, but alas, time pass and now here I am on the young side of his 30's adjusting his immigration status and wanting to serve the country he truly considers home...

I've been looking at Navy ratings and Army MOS's that I can enter as a non citizen....I have a few jobs I want to look further into from those lists...we'll see. Hope I'm able to earn my Conditional PR status by the beginning of 2014...

thanks for the reply

I've researched the military enlistment topic for a while...it's just that now I'm really really seriously considering it. I want to serve because I would like to give back to this nation, and also to help me with continuing my schooling. I understand my AA degree won't mean too much there, and I'm willing to do any job I'm allowed to do, even if it is not related to the Mass Communication track I was doing back in school.

Thank you for the advice...I will look into this further. I know it won't be the easiest thing to do, but I believe serving the nation is the best thing I can do to help me grow more as a person, not to mention to help me appreciate being in this nation more.

I'm in waiting mode too....our (well, mine) AOS packet was sent last week by our attorney's law firm..hope we will get the NOA soon and the biometrics appointment soon also...

Best of luck in your process

Thank you

My wife and I just completed our filing of our adjustment of status package with our attorney this past Monday, and thru e-mail communications with our attorney and checking out our bank account balance online day in and day out since then, we've found out that our payment for the process to the USCIS was just cashed in yesterday.

Now, if our attorney's e-mail and the conversation we've had with her in person on Monday is correct, I should be getting the NOA letter within the next 2 weeks and biometrics appointment not long after that,and hopefully my EAD not long after that still...

Waiting is hard...hope our process will go smoothly and I can start my life as a legal permanent resident before too long. Just want to share that with you guys.

Best of wishes in your LPR journeys, no matter the stage you are in right now, everyone.

Actually, it all totaled about $2800, including the USCIS fees and the option to have our attorney appear with us at the interview down the line. I found our attorney through an Avvo search, and she was highly recommended by the clients who have used her and her firm's services before. When we exchanged e-mails initially, she was quick to respond with any questions we had, and after asking about their pricing( including a payment plan they offer which we accepted) and what they will do, we signed up to be her and her firm's client.

We're not financially well off by any means; we chose to retain the services of an attorney for my AOS process because we felt overwhelmed by the process it can take,and my wife's pretty busy as it is with her teaching and office jobs at her university, last thing she wants is to add another pile of papers to worry about. Plus my mother and sister went through this process nearly a decade ago, and they did it thru a non-lawyer...it was fortunate that they got their stuff done with no problem, but my wife and I did not want to take that chance when it comes to my process for this.

We've met with our attorney yesterday in her office to finalize the filing of the I-485 and I-130 document packets and to pay for that and the first part of that payment plan too. She said the packets will be filed by tomorrow and she will keep us updated on the progress of our AOS journey.

So yea, I believe we made the right decision so far in hiring an attorney for the adjustment of status process. Everyone has an opinion about that of course, and certainly if you don't see the need to do the attorney route, then by all means do the process on your own. VJ is a great source for help for all of us immigrants,and I'm grateful to be a member of this site.

I'm in the process now,and even though my mother and sister went through the process themselves when she got her AOS started nearly a decade ago, my wife is insistent that we get a lawyer because we don't like the risk of us missing anything in the process. Yes, it's costing us almost $3000 to do it that way,and we are by no means financially well off in any way, but I think having the assurance of a team who knows what they're doing in the process helps with this.

I'm seeing a civil surgeon this weekend and seeing our lawyer to finalize the filing next Monday, and are pretty nervous about all this... to the OP, you will do just fine doing this by yourself. The people here at VJ is good at helping out with doing the process...wish I'd knew about this site and these forums before i got married in January, but it's all good...

Best of wishes

yes. Tourist visa. Yes, I overstayed that long and just now started this process. Came here as a kid,and everyone in family got their GC except for me...hope to earn that soon..

Hello.

My wife and I are about to undergo a long weekend journey to the other side of Michigan this week to take care of some business; one of those business matters is getting my Adjustment of Status process closer to be finalized. I have an appointment with a Civil Surgeon on Saturday morning, then we are meeting our lawyer on Monday afternoon to finish the filing of the I-130/485/ 684 packets. I have a question about fees, since we just started a new bank account together (been married since January) fairly recently...

1. Do we really have to submit the payment to USCIS via check or money order? No credit or debit cards are accepted for it?

2. My wife seems to remember that we have to pay USCIS two separate fees for the process....is that true, and if so, what are they?

3. Would filing all of this thru an attorney make this whole process go any faster or less painless? Just curious too.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to reading your replies soon.

Know each other...that's the best study advise for the interview. If the immigration officer suspects the marriage is not in good faith, then yes, the interview will be harder and more intensive.

Best of wishes.

And from what I've been researching, only the Army and Navy is being more into accepting applicants for MAVNI than the other branches...that's what I got from reading about it anyways. And the program is on a limited basis. I can speak one of those required languages for the linguist side of that program, but since I'm ineligible for the program, I'd have to wait until my AOS process is done to want to start the enlisting process for the Armed Forces...

I've had a bad experience with joint account of something with my sister (cell phone) when I was younger, but I knew that when I proposed to my now wife that we had to share some things financially together to prove to the immigration people that we are indeed doing this legitimately and for the long run. We have 2 bank accounts together and I'm also on her cell phone plan as well. We also are the co-owners of the condo we are living in to lease, as well as co-partners in a home business that she started.

Not all joint things are necessarily bad

Yup, it all goes with the I-485 packet. I'm about to get that together myself, after my civil surgeon visit that I'm planning for either next week or the week after that..

Travel should not be the top reason for you to join the US Armed Forces, or any armed forces for that matter. If you truly want to join it, emigrate to the U.S, earn your permanent residency, and you can enlist in the US Armed Forces.

I am seriously thinking about enlisting as well as soon as my AOS process is done and approved of. My main reason won't be for travelling, though ...it's because I want to give back to this nation after emigrating to it so long ago. That and to be more mature and have a better job.

Best of luck to you.