dillygoose

I'm just baffled at the number of times I've read of people not receiving the RFE letter OR the interview letter.  Why is that?
 
Seems suspect to me.
 
Especially given the myriad ways we have to communicate or give information these days!  Its unacceptable that they wouldn't be able to mail a letter from the US office to a US home and further if they're SOOOO incapable and the mail is SOOO unreliable well there's plenty of other ways to get the information from Person A to Person B.
 
Why do they have an online case system when it doesn't give the information - it doesn't update?  Why am I signing up for email notifications when they aren't going to use the system they established?  You can call them on the phone via their info/help line but they won't actually be able to give you any information!  I mean there's a baseline level of competence and they can't seem to meet that low bar?
 
And yes I realize sometimes things go ok.  But one of the things I keep coming across here is case after case of people who aren't being given the information and then they pay the price.

One question about this post office theory.
 
Didn't the NOA letter come correctly?  Didn't the biometrics letter deliver without problems?
 
What about the EAD and AP assuming that was applied for, didn't that arrive at the correct address without incident?
 
ALL of those are addressed to the petitioner.  But I keep reading over and over that RFE's or interview letters aren't received.  Those are "lost in the mail"
 
Am I supposed to assume that somehow the post office and USCIS can deliver these other letters to my home without issue and then somehow after 4-5 months pass, without moving, they somehow can no longer deliver?
 
It doesn't add up.

That's great!
You're probably going to be done soon!
Hoping hoping hoping for good news

Congrats as well to everyone here who has done this and has their green card!
 
Best of luck in your 2 year break.  Enjoy 

Our AOS was received on September 6th, 2016
 
We had our biometrics appt right around the predicted timetable and received our EAD and AP right on schedule too.
 
When I check our case status via the USCIS website it says "Case is Ready to Be Scheduled for an Interview"
 
Does anyone know if it will update to say anything else before the interview notice is sent?  For instance will it update once the interview date is scheduled?
 
Also I'm wondering if there's any typical time when an RFE would be sent - were we to receive one.  I mean does that happen after waiting this long and being supposedly "ready to be scheduled for an interview"?

Are you absolutely certain there wasn't some mistake in the paperwork you submitted?
 
It could have been something simple that was just incorrect.  Could be they caught a discrepancy.
 
Its unlikely calling uscis will get you anywhere.  But if you don't get the notice letter after a week or so you can definitely ask them about that. 

So long as the US citizen brings an American passport they can enter.
 
If you check our timeline we were pretty on target for dates and such.  One note, our case was held up due to an embassy mistake that occurred between receipt of what they call packet 3 and the scheduling of our interview.  That mistake cost us about 3 weeks roughly.
 
It was extremely frustrating.  But everything else we did in the process we completed as fast as we could.
 
My husband was exempt too and thankfully we were covered for a while after the interview.  I just hope your case is smooth and easy.  

Your army exemption ends 6 months after the interview?
 
I don't think you'll have a problem with that for the embassy interview.  I think you'll possibly have issues for when you are trying to leave the country.  But that depends on how long after the interview you are waiting for your visa approval.
 
Sometimes it can take months to get the final visa in your passport.  Its depends on if you get stuck in AP.
 
You'll definitely need army clearance to leave though.  My husband and I waited an additional 10 days after the visa was approved for the army clearance so that he could leave.  If your exemption is expired by that point I think you'll run into problems.
 
 

I also attended the interview with my fiancé.
I went planning to stand outside. But the guards and the embassy staff said I could go in. So I did.
It was a much better interview and experience for both of us knowing that we were together side by side.
Everyone should go if they are able. I think it made a big difference for us.
Just make sure that during the interview the beneficiary answers the questions. (the interview is for them - not the US Citizen)
Best of luck!

Your case sounds similar to ours and we were just approved for our K1.
As others have said actual face to face time is important. Big time!
Also when it comes time for the interview try to have the petitioner be there. We did that for ours and I found it to be a big help.
Other than that if you've included pictures, conversation proof, and travel receipts you should be ok. (When I sent mine I sent 'selections from different dates of time' to cover the range that we knew each other but certainly not every single message back and forth)
As to the politics question, well I don't think any of us can rightly say what would happen. I think it would be difficult to make sweeping changes like those that are being proposed in a short time period (i.e. its not like a light switch on/off). But I will say I hope it doesn't come to that.
You probably already know this, but expect extra security checks. Whoever is president.

The embassy can choose to put people in AP for a variety of reasons. Some of these you can do something about - i.e. presenting all the proof necessary to show you have a real relationship. Given your long marriage I don't see that as being an issue.
The other reason for AP, particularly in MENA countries, is the extra security background checks. These you can't really do anything about. As others have said, the will frequently - as in almost all the time for Egypt - be for Muslim males who go through AP for extra background checks.
Those unfortunately take a long time for Cairo. That's just how it is. You can't predict if they will put your case into AP and once you're in it, you certainly can't make it go any faster.
There's nothing in particular to worry about though. Just plan to give yourself extra time post interview when you could be waiting for months to get your visa. Your interview is likely to be short and go very smoothly - most do. Again that has nothing to do with the background checks. Those are for fingerprint, facial recognition and name searches in a large terrorist/criminal database that are partially done by the FBI and Homeland Security in Washington DC.
The one thing to know is AP for Cairo is listed as 5 months on the embassy website (which seems to be pretty accurate) and plenty of people wait longer, in the 7-8 month range.

We got another update today. And our case creation date changed too.
Now the update today matches the case creation date (also today). It was November 23rd before.
From what I've read this seems to be a good sign!
Keep your fingers crossed for us.
AND I wish everyone will be issued soon. We need more families and loved ones to be together in this group.
Ahmed, Sata and Mai, come on guys!

I agree. Definitely be prepared. If you bring an extra piece of paper it won't hurt.
If they don't ask for it then you don't need to show it.
We brought all our case documents to the interview. We had what they asked for and we had backup copies just in case.
It's much better to be prepared with everything you can get/bring.
Otherwise you'll just be in AP and waiting longer for your visa.

Our interview was on March 15th.
I'm hoping for AP that's 3-4 months. Of course there's no guarantee.
At the interview they said it shouldn't take too long. So that gives me hope.

Did you try asking her what she'd like to do? Or what interests her?
I sure like weighing in on what I might do with my time, as opposed to having someone tell me.
I'm guessing she probably has some thoughts about it.

Did you try asking her what she'd like to do? Or what interests her?
I sure like weighing in on what I might do with my time, as opposed to having someone tell me.
I'm guessing she probably has some thoughts about it.

Did you try asking her what she'd like to do? Or what interests her?
I sure like weighing in on what I might do with my time, as opposed to having someone tell me.
I'm guessing she probably has some thoughts about it.

Did you try asking her what she'd like to do? Or what interests her?
I sure like weighing in on what I might do with my time, as opposed to having someone tell me.
I'm guessing she probably has some thoughts about it.

Did you try asking her what she'd like to do? Or what interests her?
I sure like weighing in on what I might do with my time, as opposed to having someone tell me.
I'm guessing she probably has some thoughts about it.

If you go to the guide portion of this website, they have sample forms filled out as reference. You should look at those. Its a big help in knowing what parts you should be filling out and what is 'n/a'