military-wife

It's sad, because there will be always someone who will believe that officer and might leave before filing for AP or green card. And then they won't be able to come back.

I am a military wife (Im filipino/Canadian) and my husband is in the US Navy. I suggest you get your paperwork done for you to move there instead. I really don't think they will issue you a visa to visit him because of the risk that you might not go back. Especially in the Trump immigration era, its becoming difficult to get visas... I've been waiting for my permanent residency (lifting green card conditions) for 10 months already and im already married to my husband and have been living here since May 2015.
 
I know about military husbands being busy, but if he really wants you here, he needs to start the immigration process, its very long trust me.

I had a similar circumstance happen to me last year.
My husband is also in the military and was deployed in 2014 for 9 months. My then-fiance filed for K1 petition in February 2014 and he deployed two weeks later. We made sure everything was 100% accurate so we didn't get an RFE. Our petition was approved only in August 2014 - 6 months later. After that, it took a good 2 weeks to get packet 3. I then purposely delayed sending out response for packet 3 (It did take time for me to get all my paperwork together and background checks) because I knew my then fiance would not be back from deployment until november to late december. I only sent the package in December when I was ready and sure he would be back. So basically I made sure it was within the 4 months time frame (It was a week before petition expired). I made sure to send out an email to embassy to explain them my situation, and they understood completely. I had no problem whatsoever. I have heard that you could even request an extension.
Depending on where you are located and how busy your embassy is, scheduling an interview is sometimes 1 to 2 month wait. Then once you are approved at the interview, it takes 1-2 weeks before you get back your passport with the visa in it. The visa itself is valid for 6 months, and you must enter the U.S. before the expiration date.
Just so you know - I only entered the U.S. in May - 3 months after I was approved, because I had job responsibilities and wanted to save extra money before the move (I also had to pack!).
If he is deploying in June, then he should be back around March, at latest April. However, expect that your fiance's orders are going to change! Nothing is permanent and often times they change dates.
In my opinion, you won't be able to get married until 2017 because of his training and 9 month deployment. K-1 petitions can be approved fast but more often it takes at least 4-6 months, some even more 9-12 months! Then after that expect an extra 2 months (packet 3-4, background check, medical exam, interview, sending back passport).

No I definitely agree he should get any type of job right now so he can help out. That's what I plan to do too, but eventually down the road he should plan to have a career. Not sure if you are planning to have kids in the future, but having a stable, career focused job that he loves is important.

I'm going on Monday to get my Canadian license transferred to an American one. I will let you guys know how it went.

As others have said, every state is a little different. I got my German license a couple of decades ago. Now in Texas I made my US license from scratch. No problem. One ~100 page book which I learned in one day, a written test and driving with an officer around the block. That's it. Much easier and cheaper than to do it in Germany. So it's really a no brainer: Do it here in the US instead of doing it in Germany with a conversion. The funny thing is: With the US license you can also drive in Germany/Europe if you're on vacation there.

Hi, Congrats on your weddings!
I've heard it is just random whether or not they waive or schedule an interview...
My update says we will have our interview scheduled. We have been together for 5 years, married for 3 months.

Yes, that's true... Sometimes it takes 5 minutes to verify you documents with the issuing office which is DHS, but sometimes - up to 5 weeks. It depends on DHS, how accurate they were with updating your status after EAD card was issued.
As soon as SS Office sees updates in their system, they will mail your card to you.

yeah definitely not 5000 pages. 10 pages would be good, with pictures.

Sorry, this is incorrect. Once the I-94 card is expired (really 2 weeks before it expires), a K-1 needs a valid EAD to get a SSN. AOS-pending is not a valid reason to get a SSN if one has not been issued before.

Yeah, that's the only reason I said to maybe not mention it. Some employer letters state if the job is permanent or temporary, which would get them right there.
I absolutely agree about having her father cosponsor 100% at the minimum bring the paperwork.
And yeah sadly it'll be a hit or miss, sometimes the on paper requirements aren't as solid as they seem, which I've experienced myself. In my case, I didn't make any income and used a cosponsor who made over 125% poverty guide lines for the household size and at the interview my fiance was then asked for ANOTHER cosponsor that meets the same requirements, acknowledging that my mom (our first cosponsor) made enough and met the requirements, but that he just had a "bad feeling on the finances" but praised everything else we had because we brought an abundance of proof.
So now, seeing first hand that the CO's can and will use their discretion even if it meets the "okay" standards we say on VJ ("Just get a cosponsor you'll be fine!") and even on their own papers, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to people who are either unemployed long term, short term, or know they will be within a couple of months.
Again though, if the OP gets a new job or at least gets the father to cosponsor IF NEEDED, then everything should be dandy.

Well I knew they were waiving some interviews so hopefully it's speeding up

I don't know what you are talking about - labeling Filipino culture as a "jealous" culture. I am Filipino and, although I know this process is very long, I understand why it is the way it is. They need to make sure marriages are authentic and not a scam. I am a K1 visa holder, went through a 6 month process, then came here married and I am still waiting for permanent residency and a green card. Immigration is not for the faint hearted. Sorry that you are lonely, but it's only a few months until you get to be with your husband forever.

I don't know what you are talking about - labeling Filipino culture as a "jealous" culture. I am Filipino and, although I know this process is very long, I understand why it is the way it is. They need to make sure marriages are authentic and not a scam. I am a K1 visa holder, went through a 6 month process, then came here married and I am still waiting for permanent residency and a green card. Immigration is not for the faint hearted. Sorry that you are lonely, but it's only a few months until you get to be with your husband forever.

I don't know what you are talking about - labeling Filipino culture as a "jealous" culture. I am Filipino and, although I know this process is very long, I understand why it is the way it is. They need to make sure marriages are authentic and not a scam. I am a K1 visa holder, went through a 6 month process, then came here married and I am still waiting for permanent residency and a green card. Immigration is not for the faint hearted. Sorry that you are lonely, but it's only a few months until you get to be with your husband forever.

Yes...mine is on December 3rd.

My husband received his EAD card in the mail on Saturday, 10/31!!

Not being holier than thou but why should your divorce and spousal obligation be any different than if you were divorcing a USC? Life is short. If you're absolutely sure that your marriage is dead and there's no revival then suck it up, cut your losses and move on so you can put this chapter behind you. You don't want to drag this out and prevent you from looking to your future. Wasted years and bitterness is more costly than a few dollars...but yea man it's up to her whether she wants to stay.

Hi Military-wife,
I got that message too for over a month and once I got the letter in the mail they gave us a month's notice for our interview. Give it some time and don't worry you'll get yours too

Saw from your timeline that your NOA is Aug 27th. Mine was the 28th! So yes most likely early next week, God-willing!

Got my interview notice letter today..

Congrats!!! So happy to see things moving along!

Got EAD today! Yay!!!

So I had my AOS interview on 20 Oct 2015, at Las Vegas USCIS office at 9.25am. We were there on time, got called to do the fingerprint and photo then sat back and waited for about 15 mins for my interview. My name was called and my husband and I followed the immigration officer to the room. Can't remember the officer's first name but I think his last name was Mazzam or something like that. He was an old white man and very nice. We took an oath before taking our seats. In front of him he had all the files I sent over the past year. First thing he asked was my ID so I showed him my passport then he asked if I have a SSN and EAD (which I got them 2 months ago) so he can update our file. He also asked my husband for his ID and if he's still working at the same company and how long. Then he asked me those questions like terrorism, criminal history, etc. which I said 'no' to all. He asked if we brought some photos which I did and it's a mini size photo album with 23 photos to be exact including 8 wedding photos, 8 photos of us together and 7 group photos of friends and family. He liked that I had photos of my in-laws and husband's friends. I asked him if he wants a copy of our marriage certificate and he said 'no it's fine...where did we get married?' I said 'downtown vegas'. Then he wanted some other evidence like documents/letters that has both our names on it. We didn't have a lot but we explained to him that I'm currently not working hence why my name is not on any bills/rent etc, and we live with my bro-in-law and all utility bills are under his name. I think he understood our situation so he said 'that's ok'.
These are just some of the things I brought to my interview and gave copies to the IO:
1. Copy of lease agreement under my husband's name only.
2. Copy of husband's bank statements for 3 months but he later added me to his account (now joint account). However, I didn't get my debit card on time (bank screwed up) and latest statement didn't have my name on it so we provided a letter from our bank confirming that it's a joint account.
3. Copy of car insurance, although both our names on it I'm only listed as his spouse and not covered on the policy. We explained this to the officer that they wouldn't add me because I don't have a driver's license.
4. Copy of mobile phone plan under my husband's name; online plan/profile under my name.
5. Copy of joint gym membership.
6. Copy of vet bills with both our names on it.

He did ask for the rent transactions but we told him my husband has another account (not a joint account) from another bank which is the same bank as our landlord so it's convenient when paying the rent and for that bank statements we didn't think about bringing it since we have the lease agreement. The officer said 'it's ok then'. He also asked (which makes sense) if our joint bank statements we provided had any transactions that was spent on female stuff related such as women's clothes, nail salon etc. we said 'no'. I told him that I don't really need to buy clothes because I have too many and majority of the time we use cash (which is true) so he said 'that's fine'. He asked if there's anything else we want to add so I said 'we have cards from our family' but he didn't want those. In their eyes it's probably not a strong evidence. I could tell he wanted us to give him more evidence but at the same time I think he also understands that it's quite hard to have all these things when only one of us is working and we're still settling down and I've only been here under a year. There's really nothing else we could do but just explain our situation. I brought all the required documents like a bunch of them with me and even made copies of every single one of them but he only needed the ones that had both our names on it. He asked if we have any questions which we said 'no'. He then gave us a paper and explained to us how the permanent resident card works and we have to remember to file a form 90 days before it expire and that we'll also get something in the mail within 5 weeks etc. He didn't exactly say I was approved even though it was kinda obvious and he said his supervisor will make the decision even though he said 'we're good'. It was actually kinda funny how he said it. I've read on this forum that they take the i-94 during the interview process but the officer didn't take mine so I'm not sure if that's good or bad? So that's one thing I forgot to ask the officer.

Overall, my interview went well and only lasted about 15-20 mins. Oh and we weren't asked about how we met, what's his mother's name or any of those Q&A thing. My husband and I weren't nervous at all and just relieved that we're done with the interview.

My advice to anyone who's preparing for their interview is to bring as much evidence as you can. Most important thing is to bring copies of any joint account that you have ie. bills, bank statements (incl rent transactions if u can), lease, insurance, phone plan just to name a few. Joint gym membership and vet bills def help too especially if you don't have enough joint accounts. In regards to the photos, def include group photos with the in-laws and friends, I think Immigration officers likes that.

So later that day, I checked my case status online and got this message:

"Welcome Notice Was Mailed"
On Oct 20, 2015, we registered your permanent resident status and mailed you a Welcome Notice for Receipt Number MSCXX. Please follow the instructions in the notice. Your new permanent resident card should arrive by Dec 19, 2015, after this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address."

YAY!! WE GOT APPROVED!!!