tab_USA

Hi! I just want to know if anyone has been approved for a tourist visa as a Cuban national now that there is no longer - wet foot dry foot. Are they approving visa to come or still denying them? 

Hi - 

I have a question for those in Florida that has experience post receiving the green card and the DMV. My husband has his green card in hand, his 2-year card - his license is going to be up now in November. We have been playing the back and forth game with the local DMV and USICS. When he goes to renew his driver's license he still shows up as he has his VISA. Seems like USCIS hasn't updated it for other agencies to see, we had the same issue at the SS office - they saw he was still listed as temp. So we call USICS and they said to have the DMV fill out a G485 - verification of status, the form exists, I found it online but NONE of the DMVs know what to do with it. Does anyone have any experience renewing the license after they've received their green card? 

On 5/31/2017 at 0:23 PM, ybc said:

Hi

 

I filed on 11/17/2016 PACKET recieved on 11/21/2016 by USCIS.

My PD is SEPTEMBER 29,2010 so filed early based on the early filing dates.

Filing from NY (field office is Federal Plaza).

Per my sig i already received the EAD/AP but I have not heard anything on I-485 progress, still saying fingerprint fee received (191 days from early filing - around 60+ from PD becoming current)

Reading this thread this means that my I-485 didn't leave the NBC yet for my local field office.

Do processing time counter start from PD or from the time I filed?

 

Hi I would call and see if you can talk to a tier 2 officer. That is what I had to do with my husbands case. After talking to them the case started to move. If front line reps dont let you through because it is "Still in processing times" tell them that you want to verify what local office your case is at. That will verify that it is still at the benefit center or already sent to your local office.

2 minutes ago, Georgia16 said:

Usually a week after

Hi Georigia,

Thanks for the reply - I got another email afterward that stated the case was certified approved and was going to be sent to a local office. Isnt this suppose to happen before they send the card? Because from our understanding - speaking with a tier 2 officer our case was still at the benefit center. So it makes sense that it would be sent to a local office. But I am just confused as to is it case approved, card in production or is it the case is being sent to the local office where if they choose they can ask for an interview - despite saying the card is being produced? I was a little confused - it seems like they jumped the gun and sent the emails backwards.

Hi everyone,

Finally after 9 months we heard something on the case, I got the notification that my husband's card was in production. It states that he will receive it within 30 days of "card sent" notification. Does any one have an idea more or less of the time it sits as "card in production" before it actually gets sent out and does it take 30 days to arrive?

23 hours ago, Myboo123 said:

Hi am in Florida my office is Oakland park they received my i485 on 8/31/16 got rfe in September for i864 I submitted 9/04/16 rec on 11/09/16 and I got my ead approved 01/09/17 now am still waiting for my interview date I haven't got yet I called today and all I got was that if they pass 08/31/16 I should call them, I didn't do gonorrrea test so I know I need to redo it but I haven't received a letter yet to do it my medical expires 06/22/17 if ur case get transferred they will notify you 

We are not sure it is in Oakland, it looks like it but when we call reps they say it is in Hialeah. So we're not sure what's going on.

Any September filers in Florida still waiting on an approval? My husband applied for his AOS on the 19th of September, did biometric in Oct. there was no response up until earlier this month. They sent a RFE, they said his medical exam was missing the gonorrhea test (which was made mandatory 4 months AFTER he did his exam). So we sucked it up and paid for a full medical AGAIN - just in case. We got the letter on a Fri afternoon, friday evening did all of his exams at a civil surgeon and had the results by mid afternoon that Monday. I immediately sent in his results, certified mail (they received it a day later). That was about 3 weeks ago - no answer yet. I look on the case status on USCIS and nothing has been updated in the system since "application fee received".

We called to see what was the hold up, we were just told to wait 60-90 days for a response. Now what i find odd is that we have called 2x to verify that our case is in Hialeah, FL. The agents always say yes, but the RFE (medical test) and his biometric was done/ask to be sent to Oakland Park field office. So I am confused as to if they transferred that case or if they normally have two offices working together to process that pp and RFE/bios?....

SOOOOOOOO fustrating, we know nothing.... and everyone we speak to sounds like their clueless. Anyone else have something similar happen with sending in the RFE and it taking so long?

1 minute ago, Georgia16 said:

Look at this link: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

 

When your processing date goes past theirs then you can submit a SR. It was last updated in January so they have gone further but the date has to be past this one.

Hi Georgia.

Yes I called on Friday and they said they were already processing October. So it seems like the person that has our case is behind on their case load I suppose. We submitted a SR already on Friday - so we wait.

35 minutes ago, 242Arthenhoj said:

Miami FL here, still waiting on Interview Priority date Sept 16, 2016. Received EAD Dec 1, 2016.

Hi there, thanks for the reply. Hopefully we hear soon, Miami office is working more or less at the same rate as Hialeah it seems. We sent in Sept 19 and they received 9/21. So hopefully we get some news soon, they said they would mail a letter with a response as to why it is taking so long to process. So we'll see in a couple of days.

28 minutes ago, Georgia16 said:

Are you Orlando office?

No specifically at the Hialeah office, but wanted to see more or less how the progress was for the state.

Hi everyone,

Is there anyone in Florida that is still waiting for their card and/or interview? My husband is adjusting from K1, I know of one other person but this is taking a long time. I called to put a service request in and the rep told me that the office processing our app is already working on October. We filed late Sept. so I am assuming that means the person that has our case is behind on their work load or is it that we may have an interview coming? The same thing happened for his EAD, almost 120 days later he received it in the mail - only after I did a service request. Anyone is still waiting?

Good morning, 

Did anyone notice that ALL offices under USCIS processing time website page have updated to show processing apps as of July 28th, 2016? Good for us, means that no matter where you are - in about a month they'll be working on Sept cases. But I just find it odd that ALL field offices around that nation are showing the same processing date. I wonder if it's a glitch? Is anyone else seeing something different? 

On 12/16/2016 at 2:25 PM, MariaR323 said:

That's true too, you're not that far away from the 90 day mark. Good luck on Monday and let us know how it goes

For those interested, my hubby finally got his EAD in the mail yesterday, 116 days. Day 91, I called and asked for a service request - rep said wait for 15 days and will get a response from officer on case as to why it was taking so long. Day 13 after the SR, I called our local congresswomen to help push the case. I was going to send in the paperwork the next day, but got the notification that the case was approved. Two days later we go the NOA and then the card yesterday. No need to involve congress rep after all, well for now - we'll see how AOS app goes. 

3 minutes ago, CubaAndChill said:

Thank you soooo much!! I'm happy to see that I'm having the same experience as you and that you and your hubby were approved without an issue, it really gives me hope!

 

I am planning on going again to visit him in the next month, or so. I was planning on my birthday in March and I already have the flight receipts & AirBNB confirmation/receipt for the casa particular that I will be staying at. I also planned on going for the interview as I had seen somewhere on the forum that you can get denied if the petitioner doesn't show up for Cuba K-1s. So that'll make 3 visits.  It's tough to go for as long and as much as I really would like to go for, but I only get a limited amount of vacation and I have to use it sparingly as I'm the only one who does the type of work I do in the whole company.

 

Thank you again @tab_USA and congrats on your 6 months! Thank you! 

1

1

And they definitely understand that at the embassy - they are only looking for fraud. If you are genuine and have the evidence to back it up, you shouldn't have an issue. 

On 1/5/2017 at 0:32 PM, Sim.Arnold said:

My case is at the NBC (as far as I can tell). After I filed my AOS packet and I got my NOAs, my case (edit: on the USCIS case status website) updated to "We accepted the fingerprint fee for your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status. Our National Benefits Center location is working on your case." Since then I've had no notification or letters saying anything about a field office or a different Benefits Center. 

 

 

I think everyone's case says that it is at the NBC, I think it starts there and is then sent over to your local office. I have called multiple times for my husband's AOS and they tell me what specific local office is processing our application. I think the NBC only processes EAD's. 

@chillandcuba

I would suggest visiting at least one more time, before submitting app and then the interview if you can go would be 3 times. Unless you can prove that traveling there would be a burden on you. The time is not an issue, my husband and I did the K1 process and knew each other for about 3 months before we got engaged and did that application. Our application took about 9 months to get approved, so a whole year went by - by the time we had our interview. I went to visit 3 times including the interview and had a lot of evidence to show our long term/distance relationship. Now we're happily married going on 6 months :-). Also - the wet foot, dry foot law was just terminated yesterday - so that is definitely no longer an option. 

Hi there, 
 

Once you are ready to do your AOS, you can have a civil surgeon perform a physical and fill out the appropriate forms to send with your AOS app. You would have to call a local office near you and ask in regards to not having his medical history to see what they say.  See here: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/designated-civil-surgeons. In my case, my husband came over with this vaccination card and we sent in a copy of that. Not sure if that is going to be enough or if they RFE it and send us to a civil surgeon - either way. It's a small bump in the road and easy to fix, I do not think they would deny an app for that - especially for a K1 visa, since they had to do one before coming here. The visit to the DR is usually under $200 assuming there is a need for a vaccination, otherwise probably around $100 or so (at least in FL). 

Hi everyone, happy holidays. My husband and I are on day 105 and no news in sight about his EAD and/or AOS. Very frustrating, I contacted USCIS already to put in a service request and was told that I would receive an answer in 15 days. We are approaching on the 15 days and still no answer. With most offices being closed today, I will hopefully get a chance to call tomorrow and talk to a tier 2 officer if not get a senator involved and hope that helps! Fingers crossed we hear SOMETHING. 

Was this conversation with the first initial (tier 1) rep or did you ask for a supervisor?

I asked for a Supervisor in my case, granted I had to politely insist a bit after I made the first rep trip himself up on his own words. It's all about language, how to approach and knowing what you can and cannot get accomplished.

For ex, the first rep said the system was down. I asked, the whole entire system is down? He then said, my system is down. I said ok can I speak to someone else who can help? He said I'd have to hang up and call back in. Which I then said so you cannot transfer me at all? He said no, to call back. At this point I asked for a supervisor and he then kind of stumbled and said his supervisor is at lunch, I then said is there any other supervisor around. He said nobody was available, then I swear two seconds later he said oh wait someone is available, let me transfer you. Clearly he was just trying to deter me lol

I hope this gives you an idea... just use your words wisely and be a little persistent (but polite)

Thank you for the advice, I think we are going to wait the 90 days since we are so close and that way we have more of an argument. We are 3 days out, so Monday I will call and see where we stand.

No it's allowed to do a service request after day 75. There will be no temporary permit until EAD comes in hand.

I guess it is up to the discretion of the person you are talking to then. I called last week and the rep did not mention anything in regards to this 75 day option. I looked online and confirmed it did exist - I called again this week and the rep told me that because we are so close (day 87) to the deadline that there is really no point in putting in a request because they technically have the 90 days to respond.

Then proceeded to tell me that going over the 90 days CAN happen it depends on the workload/volume of cases. I asked in regards to expediting due to a job offer, which my husband does have. But the rep said that unless I can prove financial hardship, that having a job offer is essentially useless. So again, our only option seems to be to wait until 90 days is up and put in a request to investigate our case.

Our application arrived on 9/27/16 and we are still waiting. We had to request an expedite two weeks ago due to my husband getting a job offer and we still haven't received an update. We have tried to get our Senator to help us out too, but still no response. We never received an RFE so it's not clear what the hold up is, as it seems many others get their EAD/AP combo card well before the 90 day mark. Very stressful!

Yes, for sure - very stressful. It's hard to sit around that house all day and not be able to be productive. Alot of his time is spent driving around and window shopping to pass the day until I get home from work...

I read somewhere on a site that if 90 days has passed you can put in a request with local USICS office for a temporary permit until the GC or EAD actually gets to you.

Is there anyone that filed around September 19th that is still waiting for EAD? We sent my husband's application in on this date and got the confirmation it arrived Sept. 21st.

He has done biometrics and everything back in October, but I have not received an update on if it has been approved and/or they are sending the card. We are on day 85. I called USICS and they said they had his biometrics on file, everything was fine but no additional activity on the case. I would have to call after the 90 mark to open a case.

Anyone in the same position? Or did it come on the 90 day mark?

Thanks everyone, I will look into it.

Hi everyone,

I had a quick question - my husband is Cuban and is in the process of AOS. Once he gets his resident card, we plan on traveling to Cuba to see his family. My question is, he was told he needed a (2-year) stamp to leave cuba- called a (pro-gu-la).. even though he will have his GC by then. Some say he can do it in cuba and others say you can send the passport to the cuban embassy here in WA. The latter option seems to take about 8 months, which is not the ideal situation.

My question is, can anyone shed light as to if he enters cuba and does the progula there, will he have issues leaving?

Thanks for the feedback, I had my husband go to the port of entry and they said with the visa and the parole they stapled to his passport that is fine for AOS - same thing as I94 they said. Tdidn'tidnt really say why his travel information was not showing up online. So we will go with that. Thanks