aussie_jason

ICE can issue two types of warrants, an administrative one that is basically just an instruction to ICE officers to detain you if possible and true warrants that are signed by a judge and can give them legal rights to search your home etc. It may not be illegal in a police sense and you won't end up in a criminal jail (unless you've committed crimes) but they can and will arrest/detain you for immigration purposes. The reason they have been trying to contact you is likely to get you to volunteer to deport, which would leave you very little recourse to get back into the country.
You need to file your entire AOS package ASAP and get your I797C for your I485 otherwise you are at a high risk, if you are detained you may still have a path forward by getting the AOS filed but it would be much more complicated and likely require an attorney .

No

ICE can issue two types of warrants, an administrative one that is basically just an instruction to ICE officers to detain you if possible and true warrants that are signed by a judge and can give them legal rights to search your home etc. It may not be illegal in a police sense and you won't end up in a criminal jail (unless you've committed crimes) but they can and will arrest/detain you for immigration purposes. The reason they have been trying to contact you is likely to get you to volunteer to deport, which would leave you very little recourse to get back into the country.
You need to file your entire AOS package ASAP and get your I797C for your I485 otherwise you are at a high risk, if you are detained you may still have a path forward by getting the AOS filed but it would be much more complicated and likely require an attorney .

Why not just get married, file your AOS and expedite that EAD on the basis of financial loss in that you will lose this job opportunity without your EAD? If you're holding off for a fancy wedding ceremony just get married at the courthouse and then have one for show later on,

Why not just get married, file your AOS and expedite that EAD on the basis of financial loss in that you will lose this job opportunity without your EAD? If you're holding off for a fancy wedding ceremony just get married at the courthouse and then have one for show later on,

Yes you can split it into several amounts

If you sent your I-485 in December then why didn't you get married until February? You should have got married at the courthouse in December, filed your AOS and then in February you could have had your fancy ceremony. That is your $1070 lesson for the day.

If you sent your I-485 in December then why didn't you get married until February? You should have got married at the courthouse in December, filed your AOS and then in February you could have had your fancy ceremony. That is your $1070 lesson for the day.

If you sent your I-485 in December then why didn't you get married until February? You should have got married at the courthouse in December, filed your AOS and then in February you could have had your fancy ceremony. That is your $1070 lesson for the day.

You need to make sure to follow this entire guide - http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2
Then you can resubmit the forms they returned to you along with the forms you missed and include that notice.

You need to make sure to follow this entire guide - http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2
Then you can resubmit the forms they returned to you along with the forms you missed and include that notice.

You need to make sure to follow this entire guide - http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2
Then you can resubmit the forms they returned to you along with the forms you missed and include that notice.

We had our AOS interview this morning, got there 30 minutes before the appointment time but weren't called until 30 minutes after the appointment time so getting there early didn't seem to help. It was all fairly straight forward except for:
1. The IO was of the opinion that as I was adjusting from an E3 visa that I needed to complete I-508 in triplicate to waive my rights, privileges and immunities but I'm not employed by the Australian government so that shouldn't have been required but I went along with it as I wasn't about to argue with an IO.
2. We had a blonde moment and got the date of admission from the I94 mixed up, we put the 23rd instead of the 16th as I was admitted until the 23rd so CBP must have given me an extra week after my current E3 expired
3. My wife noticed something about a potential denial due to not having certified court records but thankfully I had them with me
It was very casual she asked the standard questions about the various dates (when we met, our birthdays, marriage date etc), asked for our proof of bona fide marriage so we handed her the package we had for that and she kept the entire thing, she flicked through, complimented us on how pretty our wedding was when she got to the photos and asked my wife who some of the people in the photos were. The package I put together for the proof of bona fide marriage included:
- A confirmation of my benefits through work listing her as a beneficiary for health, dental & vision and a 100% beneficiary on my life & AD&D insurance
- An account statement from a joint savings account we started back in 05/2012
- Copies of our store cards from Victoria Secret & Express showing we have cards for the same account number
- My emails with her dad (he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish) asking for his permission to marry his daughter
- An article from houston.eater.com reporting on our engagement at a local restaurant
- A couple of itineraries to NYC together for thanksgiving and christmas with family there
- About a dozen photos of random social and travel pics with a bunch of our wedding with family
We also had our 2013 tax transcript that we filed MFJ but I had that filed with our copy of the I864 and she didn't ask for it so I didn't offer it up.
Once I completed the forms and she had finished asking questions she left the room for a while, then came back and told us we could put our ID's away now but she still needed my passport for a little longer (at that stage I knew I was approved AND was going to get my passport stamped without even asking), then I saw her pull out a stamp and I noticed the APPROVED so I started doing a little chair dance, from then she just had to stamp the file and my passport, write in some details, punch a few things into the computer and then we were good to go after she went over the process for ROC etc. The online status hasn't ticked over yet but I'm not worried about that as I already have my I-551 stamp so already am officially a permanent resident!

What I don't get is how was he a GC holder for 12 years and citizenship never came up? Seems to be some key details missing from this story.

Your attorney seems to be complete idiot, no reason to miss biometrics while waiting on documentation. I would fire him immediately. If you petition gets denied, you loose your status (can't work), have to re-file and pay the fees again.

USCIS understands newlyweds don't have a lot of evidence. Just bring what you can, and worst case scenario, they will ask you about your lives and you will answer. That's all.

A purchased H1-B? How could that even work? Maybe they could falsify the I-797's etc but how would they ever get it past a US consulate in order to get the Visa stamp (which is much more than just a stamp but rather a full ID printed on a passport page) in order to get back into the US. I could see how one could purchase a position that an employer would petition on your behalf but that would require an otherwise legitimate position that would pass scrutiny and nursing isn't an acceptable skill for a H1-B.
There are big holes in this story...
I've got some ocean front property in Arizona...

A good immigration lawyer should easily be able to provide evidence for a L1B to be approved for someone with extensive IT experience like the OP, however the path to a green card is not as easy on an L1B as it is on a L1A but to qualify for an L1A the OP would have to be a high level manager.

How did you tell them about his current job and income? You have to show some proof of that whether it be pay slips and/or a letter from the employer.

I think USCIS just needs to better define what a bona fide marriage really is.

If you are a permanent resident of the US why would you buy a return ticket from another country? That is just asking for extra scrutiny at CBP.

Sounds like the IO was just trying to catch you off guard, if you get all flustered then chances are any coaching that had been done prior would escape your mind so he was likely purposefully pushing buttons, if you got through that without revealing anything that would be detrimental to your case then I would think of it as a successful interview.

Lets look at this from the perspective of USCIS for a moment:
- Someone is visiting the US on a B2 visa from a country that has recently suffered from a lot of civil unrest, they would have been admitted by CBP for a max of 6 months but they could have extended that through ELIS while in the country but they likely don't have that long left on their period of authorized stay
- They meet a USC citizen
- Date for a "short time"
- Get married at what appears to be a civil ceremony with just the required one witness
- File for AOS
To prove their marriage is bona fide they provide a long list of accounts, insurance and other paper work that people can generally be quickly added to (and usually just as quickly removed from) along with the marriage certificate, a small number of photos and some "cards from family". The OP's family apparently lives in the US but her husband is yet to meet them due to financial reasons yet here they are in the middle of AOS and with a lawyer.
Don't get me wrong I'm not questioning whether the marriage is bona fide or not but if you look at it from the point of view of USCIS then I'm not surprised they were given a hard time at the interview.

Lets look at this from the perspective of USCIS for a moment:
- Someone is visiting the US on a B2 visa from a country that has recently suffered from a lot of civil unrest, they would have been admitted by CBP for a max of 6 months but they could have extended that through ELIS while in the country but they likely don't have that long left on their period of authorized stay
- They meet a USC citizen
- Date for a "short time"
- Get married at what appears to be a civil ceremony with just the required one witness
- File for AOS
To prove their marriage is bona fide they provide a long list of accounts, insurance and other paper work that people can generally be quickly added to (and usually just as quickly removed from) along with the marriage certificate, a small number of photos and some "cards from family". The OP's family apparently lives in the US but her husband is yet to meet them due to financial reasons yet here they are in the middle of AOS and with a lawyer.
Don't get me wrong I'm not questioning whether the marriage is bona fide or not but if you look at it from the point of view of USCIS then I'm not surprised they were given a hard time at the interview.

You do need to go further than what a lot of modern couples would, for example a lot of couples wouldn't even have a joint bank account these days and my wife is hesitant to be added to my account as she likes her independence but we are in the process of doing that just for when it comes to ROC (Removal Of Conditions) two years down the track. Having said that I think you have enough joint financials already, I really don't see the point of joint utilities and a lot of them won't even add another name to the account anyway. It looks like you didn't get married until this year but if you did get married last year then the only thing I would add would be to file your 2013 taxes as MFJ.
Just supplement that with photos together (they especially like wedding photos with family members in attendance), itineraries together, anything like engagement/wedding announcements, invites etc and any thing else that helps to prove the marriage is bona fide but don't go overboard with that either with things like Skype chat logs that add no value. You just need a good balance of proof and you should be good especially if you give off the couple vibe to the IO, they usually get suspicious due to things like the beneficiary being from a high risk country or when the marriage on the surface seems like an unlikely one (large age difference etc).