ladyliberty

Interesting that Lady Liberty started this thread as she had heard about long wait times.

Yet her Green Card was approved in two and half months !!

Hi Leo7777,

Yes, you are right, my GC was approved in 2.5 months and it was an exception due to military reasons. My spouse is currently deployed. And even that doesn't automatically guarantee an expedite. USCIS decides it on a case by case basis. I just happened to be fortunate.

I know how frustrating it can be to wait. Before my case was expedited, I did a lot of research and at that time, my research showed me that it was a 8 month wait for Dallas filers. Hopefully it has improved. Wish you the best in your case.

Hi Lep

Others are still waiting after 6-8 months !!

i really appreciate your feedback, hopefully they will fixe the backlog as soon as possible .i guess i will be patient and see whats gonna happen thanks!

You are welcome. I really hope they fix it soon too. They places that are backed up right now are Dallas, Chicago and OK city.

any dallas AOS filers ? still waiting for interview date . filed in august 6 receive my EAD on hand october 2 and case moved to testing and interview in oct 15 . my case been process in nebraska please any idea for how long i will get my interview notice

Hi bosstx,

I am a Dallas filer. I don't have very good news for you. Dallas is extremely backed up right now. If you look at previous months, people who filed in February and March 2013 are just now getting their interviews in October and November 2013. There is a eight month delay, so, unless Dallas gets their stuff in order, you are probably looking at interview sometime in March/April 2014. Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news.

When I was at the Dallas field office this month for my interview, they told me that they've been hiring new officers to help with the backlog. Hopefully that addresses the backlog situation.

My case got expedited for military reasons. If you are a military family and if your spouse is deployed, I suggest pursuing an expedite through the military hotline.

Best wishes to you.

Yayyyyy macruff!!! I knew it would be easy!

Congratulations! Time to celebrate

Is yours conditional or have you been married more than 2 years?

Yep, let's keep this thread alive.

Macruff,

I also believe that they are nicer to military couples in general. When the IO asks you for a state ID for identification, give him/her your DEERS ID, just to reinforce (remind him/her) that you are a military spouse.

Just got my greencard in the mail! Woohoo. I am free to travel. And the card is really green. Lol!

Congratulations again everyone.

BTW mine is a conditional card because we're married for less than 2 years. Have to do this all over again in 2 yrs.

Yay for you Tratsing! The green card shouldn't be far too behind the approval letters.

Just got a status update. It says my green card is on the way and it gives the tracking number. Shows expected delivery date as Wednesday.

Sorry I didn't post on here immediately. Yesterday, I got the welcome letter/I485 approval letter and approval letter for I130 in the mail. It probably got here Saturday.

This morning I got two texts saying my I485 has updated.I got excited and checked it.

The first update said my green card has been mailed to address on file.

The second update, the status went back to decision, and it said your PR status has been registered and we've mailed you a letter on Oct 20th saying your PR has been approved.. blah blah blah.

I'm like- that is so crazy! You already sent me the letter, then you update to we are mailing your green card, then it goes back to say we mailed you approval of PR status.

Only time will tell what the heck is going on there.

Nothing here either. No letter or no update on green card being mailed.

Wow! that's a great rundown of your experience! Thank you very much for sharing. Good luck!

Thank you and I wish you the best for your application

Macruff, I totally understand! Hang in there. It'll be over with before you know it. We are here to support you!

At vxb and tratsing, the case updates is so weird. It first went to card production, then it moved back to decision and then it moved again to card production. All on the same day. Either ways, it is approved. The I-130 also moved to post decision:approval.

Hi everyone.

Sorry it took me two days to post this. I was traveling.

I had my interview Oct 14th morning at the Dallas field office. If you remember, my case was expedited because my husband is deployed.

I was approved on the spot. Here is my experience and hopefully it gives you an idea of what it is like. Feel free to ask me questions.

My interview appointment was at 8 AM (morning appointments are better because they are more likely to stay on time and less crowd)
I got there at 7 AM. Went through "airport" security (put your belongings in trays and pass through scanner) I was then directed to go to the second floor. There is a waiting area where the applicants and their lawyers can wait.

An Immigration officer called my name at 7:30 AM. He was a young hispanic man and very pleasant. My attorney still hadn't arrived and I told the officer I would like to wait till my lawyer arrived. He said that is fine and that he would come back at 8:15AM to call us. A few minutes later, my lawyer arrived and we went over some notes and documents. The officer came and called us in around 8:15AM. He walked us to his office.

Mine was a VERY simple and brief interview. My lawyer said she had never been to such a fast interview in her life.

These are questions he asked me:

First he asked me to give him my passport, I-94s and all entry documents.

Then, he asked me:

1. My husband's full name

2. Husband's date of birth

3. Husband's place of birth

4. My full name

5. My date of birth

6. My place of birth

7. Our date of marriage

8. If my husband is overseas currently (I answered, "yes, he is deployed")

9. If either of us were married before (I said no)

Then, he went through all the "criminal activity" questions that are on the I485 and I answered "No" to all of them.

He then asked me if I had any additional evidence that I would like to add to the case. I handed him the bank statements from our new joint account and also from our savings account.

He then said, he will review my file once more. If he needs any additional documents, he will contact me. However, at this point, it doesn't seem like he needed any. He will t hen notify via mail if I was approved or not and that I should hear from him within two weeks. He then tore our the I-94s from my passport and returned the passport and my military ID to me.

I then thanked him and he walked us out of the door. My lawyer said it looks like I am approved and if I don't hear anything from him in two weeks, we would contact him. Within 15 minutes of leaving the building, I got a case update text that my I485 has moved to card production.

He asked me NO questions related to my marriage or to verify if our marriage was bonafide. Ofcourse, my case is the exception and not the rule. I had a huge file and a big album full of pictures but I never opened any of it.

As we walked out of the USCIS office, I saw that the line was getting longer and it was getting really busy.

The officer seemed new to his job and it almost seemed like he was shy to ask me questions. He would ask me each question and then give a shy smile. Lol!

My lawyer said that he probably didn't tell me in the office itself if I was approved or not was because he was probably new (As Dallas has hired a bunch of new officers to help with the backlog) and new officers are not allowed to tell them applicants approved/denied on the spot. They have to get the decision verified by a supervisor and then we are informed. Either ways, my case changed to document production and the I-130 moved to approved status in 15 minutes!

I know interview dates will start trickling in for y'all soon. I wish everyone the best. Hang in there. I'm here to support you.

Hi everyone.

Sorry, it took me two days to post this. I was traveling.

I had my interview Oct 14th morning at the Dallas field office. If you remember, my case was expedited because my husband is deployed.

I was approved on the spot. Here is my experience and hopefully it gives you an idea of what it is like. Feel free to ask me questions.

My interview appointment was at 8 AM (morning appointments are better because they are more likely to stay on time and less crowd)
I got there at 7 AM. Went through "airport" security (put your belongings in trays and pass through scanner) I was then directed to go to the second floor. There is a waiting area where the applicants and their lawyers can wait.

An Immigration officer called my name at 7:30 AM. He was a young hispanic man and very pleasant. My attorney still hadn't arrived and I told the officer I would like to wait till my officer arrived. He said that is fine and that he would come back at 8:15AM to call us. A few minutes later, my lawyer arrived and we went over some notes and documents. The officer came and called us in around 8:15AM. He walked us to his office.

Mine was a VERY simple and brief interview. My lawyer said she had never been to such a fast interview in her life.

These are questions he asked me:

First he asked me to give him my passport, I-94s and all entry documents.

Then, he asked me:

1. My husband's full name

2. Husband's date of birth

3. Husband's place of birth

4. My full name

5. My date of birth

6. My place of birth

7. Our date of marriage

8. If my husband is overseas currently (I answered, "yes, he is deployed")

9. If either of us were married before (I said no)

Then, he went through all the "criminal activity" questions that are on the I485 and I answered "No" to all of them.

He then asked me if I had any additional evidence that I would like to add to the case. I handed him the bank statements from our new joint account and also from our savings account.

He then said, he will review my file once more. If he needs any additional documents, he will contact me. However, at this point, it doesn't seem like he needed any. He will t hen notify via mail if I was approved or not and that I should hear from him within two weeks. He then tore our the I-94s from my passport and returned the passport and my military ID to me.

I then thanked him and he walked us out of the door. My lawyer said it looks like I am approved and if I don't hear anything from him in two weeks, we would contact him. Within 15 minutes of leaving the building, I got a case update text that my I485 has moved to card production.

He asked me NO questions related to my marriage or to verify if our marriage was bonafide. Ofcourse, my case is the exception and not the rule. I had a huge file and a big album full of pictures but I never opened any of it.

As we walked out of the USCIS office, I saw that the line was getting longer and it was getting really busy.

The officer seemed new to his job and it almost seemed like he was shy to ask me questions. He would ask me each question and then give a shy smile. Lol!

My lawyer said that he probably didn't tell me in the office itself if I was approved or not was because he was probably new (As Dallas has hired a bunch of new officers to help with the backlog) and new officers are not allowed to tell them applicants approved/denied on the spot. They have to get the decision verified by a supervisor and then we are informed. Either ways, my case changed to document production and the I-130 moved to approved status in 15 minutes!

I know interview dates will start trickling in for y'all soon. I wish everyone the best. Hang in there. I'm here to support you.

Congrats everyone, again!

So, here is my experience.

My interview was scheduled for 8 AM. I got there at 7 AM. My attorney said she would be there by 7:45 AM. got through security and there were hardly any people at that time. I went up to the second floor and found a seat for myself. An officer comes out of door C and calls my name at 7:30 AM and my lawyer wasn't there yet. I told him that and he said he would come back to get me at 8:15 AM.

So, my lawyer arrives at 7:45 AM and we go in for the interview a 8:15AM.

The officer was a young hispanic man and I think his name was Andrew Luna. Very pleasant man.

So, we went in and sat in his office and then I took the oath.

These are questions he asked me.

1. Husband's name

2. Husband's date of birth

3. Place of birth

4. My name

5. My date of birth

6. My place of birth

7. Our date of marriage

8. If my husband was overseas (I said "yes, he is deployed")

Then, we moved on to the questions that are on the I-485- some of the criminal activity questions, then he verified my name and date of birth again.

He then asked if I had any more evidence to add to the file. I said yes and handed him account statements from our joint savings account and our new military joint account.

He then said I should hear from him in two weeks via mail and I'll know if I am approved or not.

My lawyer and I walked out, and in about 15 minutes I got a text saying my case has moved to card production!

My lawyer was amused at how short the interview was!

Good luck to you Macruff!

Guys, I was approved too! It was the most ridiculously simple interview ever. My lawyer said she had never been to or heard of such a fast interview. Lol. Will give detailed version when I get home.

Congratulations to you all!

Tratsing and VXB, best wishes for tomorrow!!!We will be the first ones to be interviewed after a four day weekend for USCIS so hopefully that puts them in a good mood. Haha.

I've check my documents a million times.

Wish you guys good luck!

Macruff, yours is just around the corner!

ladyliberty - whoah! Def a weird move to hire a lawyer based in Alaska, but I get why you did it based on your story. And yeah, given your case I'd want a lawyer there too. I'm with Chavez & Valko.

Lol, I know.

But, ya the way we are immigrating is so darn unique that our reasoning at that point was to go with the lawyer who initiated the program.

Just hired a lawyer in Dallas so it is all good.

OH and to make this even more interesting, I don't live in Dallas. I live in a small town in Texas which falls under Dallas field office' jurisdiction. So I have to fly to Dallas for the interview. I think I need to write a book about my immigration process. Hehe.

ladyliberty - My attorney is coming with us to the interview. I paid them to file for us, they've been with us throughout the entire process. I didn't know you could hire an attorney for just the interview part... it seems odd your "top dog lawyer" wouldn't attend the interview with you since it should be part of his fee to begin with.. weird.

Tratsing,

Ya, I have a pretty long and complicated story.

So, my husband was an F1 student but joined the US army through a special program called MAVNI (look it up) and got expedited naturalization. SO he went from F-1 student to Citizen in two months. So when I started my AOS packet,(I was an F-1 too)I didn't know much about the process and hired a lawyer ( the top dog lawyer) who actually birthed this MAVNI program. She is an army vet and presented this program to congress and got it approved and all that big stuff. She is based in Alaska. I didn't know much about the process then or else I would have looked for a lawyer in Dallas. So, we just paid her to file our papers. If I want her to come to my interview, I have to pay for her ticket, hotel, and per hour rate for the time she is at the interview. I would not have done that anyways, but, she is not available on my interview day because she has a big presentation that day, related to her program,in some other state. So, you see, my fault for not thinking of all these details. And yes, it is possible to get a lawyer only for the interview. That is what my lawyer does most of the time- just files the papers and then connects the client with a local lawyer for the interview. She connected me with one, But I want to compare a couple so I know I am not getting ripped off.

So, that my friend, is my crazy story.

I will be so glad when I say goodbye to USCIS in a few years.

Oh and I have one more question: Did any of you use a lawyer to file your case? Are you bringing the lawyer to the interview? If so, if you don't mind me asking, how much is the lawyer charging just to go to the interview?

It is recommended I bring a lawyer to the interview. The lawyer who filed my case is a top dog lawyer who cannot attend the interview with me due to other engagements and would anyways have cost me a bazillion dollars so I wouldn't have asked her to. I am looking for a lawyer in Dallas to only attend the interview with me.

SERIOUSLY? I HAD TO WAIT 8 MONTHS AND SHE STILL GETS A DATE BEFORE MINE!!!!!! RIDICULOUS!!! OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!!!!

haha, CONGRATULATIONS! you are part of the Dallas family on February VJ now!!!

I'm glad you pursued it, and this just confirms what I thought I saw.... Ladies (and me), Come October 31, 2014 we will all be Permanent Residents of the US. Congrats in advance

I know right I felt bad to post my update in the August 2014 thread because I felt bad to jump ahead of everyone else.

I guess this is the only upside to a deployment.

Congratulations to you as well

Does anyone have any suggestions on organizing documents and evidence for the interview?

Wow crazy good news! Lucky you, the rest of us had to wait forever

Lol, I know. Thank you

Ladyliberty, that's some crazy GOOD news!!!!!! Congratuations on getting expedited! I'm happy for you!

I was excited when I first got my date but the closer it gets the more nervous I am!!! Especially I heard stories that Immigrant Officers give inter-racial couples harder times (like separated interviews and tricky questions). I am Asian and my husband is white ;(

Thank you vxb110530

And oh gosh, I definitely understand the nervousness! I hope get a really nice IO!

That is crazy, it's in 12 days!! It's great news, now you should start getting your things together quickly! I assume your husband will not be able to join you at the interview, so is there anything he needs to do from his end for the interview (since both parties should usually be at the interview in normal circumstances)? It is such a unique case, so I'm just curious

Pickle,

I know!! Got so much organizing to do. I also feel kinda bad to jump ahead of everyone whILE everyone is patiently waiting over here. I wish they would expedite everyone's. Haha.

Apparently if I produce military orders at the interview, then its okay if my husband is not at the interview. He should just be available by the phone incase they are suspicious and want to talk to him.

I spoke to other military spouses and they apparently had no problem with the interview.

Really cool and exciting. 12 days is definitely not far away! I can't wait to hear how ur interview went. Hopefully ur approved on spot

Thank you! I'll let you guys know how it goes and give you detailed description of interview process.

Okay guys,

I have crazy news!

First thing, my EAD changed to card production today and AP changed to post decision activity.

Second thing, my AOS application got expedited! I have my interview on October 14th, 2014! Crazyyy, I know.

The reason my case is expedited is because my husband is a active duty military and he is currently deployed. The USCIS website says deployed members can request expedite which will be evaluated case by case. We requested the expedite through the local congressman's office.

I am excited because Dallas is so backlogged right now that an October interview is a miracle.

If any of you are military families, you can call and try to expedite your case. The least they can say is no.

Excited and Nervous!!!