Joanna Chen

Hey guys,

Just updating my case status for your reference. I live in SF bay area. My EAD and AP were approved on Oct. 3. Got notice saying combo card was mailed to me last Friday (Oct. 21) and got it in the mail just now on Oct. 26.

Still waiting for my GC approval. Case status stays the same as fingerprints fee received on July 19. No RFE no anything.

Good luck on everyone who is still waiting. Good luck on everyone who has interview scheduled.

Joanna

I got that within a week.

thanks for saying that.. I hope I can be approved eventually...

Thanks a lot. Good luck to you too.

My EAD status was changed to "New card is being produced" on Oct 11.

No updates since then... but the thing is I booked very cheap award flight to Europe for $45 for Nov 2nd and now it looks like I'm gonna lose this ticket )

I was hoping that uscis ships my card within 2 weeks after this "card is being produced" status appeared like they shipped it within 7-14 days to most of the people here, but again.. no luck. Damn.

That's such a great deal! Could you share with us where did you find such a fantastic deal?

It's still a week away, so there is hope.

I got my EAD already and started working from Sep in bay area...

officer didn't say I'm refused but she said they need time to review our case and gave us a notice which is showing:

"Your case is being held for review. If furhter documents to be required, you will receive a notice in the mail. We may also schedule you for another interview, you will receive a notice in the mail. Otherwise, a decision will be mailed once your case is complete."

Hi tecwhy,

Are you living in SF bay area? I noticed that you EAD and AP got approved in 43 days which is unbelievable. May I ask how long does it take for you to receive the card once you got the notice saying it was mailed out?

Mine is approved on Oct.3 but hasn't heard anything. I called on last Friday then they updated my status to card was mailed to me. But several days has passed by, still no card in the mail.

Thanks,

Joanna

did they mail your card already ?

Sadly no. Now I kind of getting nervous. Any steps I can take?

I think there is a couple that got approved on the 4th and then got her/his EAD card already..

Does anyone from BayArea have an experience making a Congressman inquiry in order to expedite an EAD or any other document provided by USCIS?

What is the address and/or phone number I should contact for that?

It is day 90 on my case and no update on my I-765 form since Day 0

Thank you

Hey I'm in Bay Area and my case was sent out on July 15th. My EAD was approved 2 weeks ago but no further info heard. What's more is that my I-485 has not yet been scheduled for interview or approved. So... You are luckier than me.

Sorry I didn't try to contact any congressman so I couldn't really help. Good luck tho.

anyone's waiting for their EAD to be mailed out like me ?

this wait is killing me

I got my approved notice on October 3rd. Haven't heard anything else yet except hard copies in the mail several days ago.

I'm not worried tho. I've been enjoying my reading and studying pretty well. So I hope you are doing great too! It will come in the end.

I've noticed cases are going faster these past few months, but it's always best to expect a longer wait and be pleasantly surprised when it takes less time, than want it to go very fast and be disappointed that takes longer.

Hopefully like the other poster shared, you'll get your interview soon. Good luck!

I agree. That's what my husband always tells me----lower your expectations.

Thanks. Good luck on your interview.

My case went from "Ready to be scheduled for interview" to "Case is Scheduled for interview"

My husbans and I filed mine at the last week of August, I guess the Los Angeles office is working fast. A lot of people who filed in the LA area is having their cases scheduled for interview already. Your's should come soon.

? Good luck to all of us!

Ahh nice! I guess it's too late for me to refile my case. So i'll pray for the best.

Thanks for sharing your case status with me.

----It's weird that i haven't heard anybody filing from SF bay area...

They schedule the interview and send you a letter with the date and instructions. It may take quite a while for them to set the date, I know there are people waiting since March and nothing yet. It will depend on your field offices workload and backlog.

Hmm... i guess mine won't be so optimistic because when i was walked in to get my biometrics done. The office is full of immigrants just like me.

Oh well, as long as i have the work permit and AP, I'm not that concern about my interview date.

Btw, I was told by Chinese agency that it takes within 6 months for K-1 visa holders to receive their GC in CA.

Hi I am in California too, Los Angeles to be exact. I still don't have my EAD but our interview is scheduled on Nov 4. Where in CA are you?

Hi, i'm in San Francisco bay area. Warmer than SF city.

Did they schedule the interview for us? Or after the case status changed into " ready to schedule for interview" then we go online and schedule it ourselves?

Envy you for having those approved! My i-765 is still at case received and my i-485 at fingerprint fee received.

I filed the packet on July 15th and it was received on 19th. I noticed that things like this will happen naturally when you don't expect them to. ( I woke up and saw the texts in my phone.)

Just like yours, my I-485 is at fingerprint fee received status. But i know it will change eventually.

I don't know either i have a friend got their interview quite earlier than expected. it really is a case to case basis. But usually you get the combo card first before the interview and it seems you have a faster process than the others.

just wait a little longer you might get your interview waived. lets hope for the best

Not really. Just like others I waited for two and a half months to get my cases approved. Haven't received the card yet. So...

Luckily, I'm not in a hurry to get a job or anything. As you said, wait patiently and hope for the best.

Good luck to you too.

I'm in San Diego too. Still waiting for an interview date as well..

At least your CASE READY TO BE SCHEDULED FOR AN INTERVIEW.

My I-458 stays at fingerprint fee was received on July 19. Hasn't updated since.

Me and my husband got married in San Diego Court House. He got his master degree in UCSD.

Do you know how long does it take to get GC for Californian filers?

Yay, I received two text message says my cases are updated. So it did. My EAD and AP cases are approved after 78 days. Now I'm gonna wait for it to be produced and shipped.

Here is a quick question.

Did you guys schedule for interview before EAD and AP got approved? Or afterwards? I'm in California. I'm sure different states has different situations. Just wondering... Thanks!

Good luck to you all.

Hello Did you do your fingerprint?

I made an appointment online for a infopass and went in today. They let me do my fingerprint the same day.

Hi Heyon86,

I had my biometrics taken on Aug 9th. And I called them today asking about my case. And they said they had received my fingerprints. All I need to do is to wait...

I'm not in a hurry to get a job or anything. But I do hope everything goes smoothly.

We filed for adjustment August 11. Did bio on August 5. Still says fingerprint fee received.... we have heard nothing either.but people after us getting approved without interview....

There's no rhyme or reason... just patience. I think it all depends on local office (OKLAHOma city), visa you're adjusting from, and how backed up your case worker is. Just pray and stay positive!!!

Well, I'm in Castro Valley city. My biometrics were taken on Aug 9th in Oakland. I assume it would take a long time but haven't heard anything is killing me.

Thanks a lot Ismar&Brandy. Hope yours going fine.

Hi everybody,

Congrats on all the good news. You guys are very lucky!

I applied for AOS on July 15th and today is Sep 21... The case status on USCIS website hasn't changed at all ever since the first notice. May I ask is that normal??? No updates.. no further notice... no hard copy or anything...

This is the first moment in my AOS journey that I felt nervous and worried. Can anybody help? Thank you very much!

Joanna

HI,

So for the consulate interview they will not need DS-156, DS-157, DS-158

DS-160 will replace these documents.

Is this correct?

Thank You All for the replies

Thats correct.

You can certainly withdraw directly from an ATM, this is what I typically do when I travel, it is convenient and safer than carrying a lot of cash on you. However, know that depending on the bank you have an account with, the bank in the UnionPay network that you're withdrawing through, there could be extra fees, for example, you bank with bank A in China and withdraw from bank B in the US:

• Bank A may charge you a fee
• Bank B may charge you a fee
• Both banks could charge you fees
• If one of the banks goes through a third intermediary bank, there may be another fee incorporated in the exchange rate that is applied
• You will also not know the exact exchange rate as ATMs generally do not provide any information on exchange rates, you get what the rate is at the time of the withdrawal, unlike going to a bank directly to exchange a fixed amount

Thanks a lot!

So I have made sure that my bank won't charge me any fee within five times if I withdraw money from UnionPay ATMs. But they also told me that they didn't even know if the ATMs in the States will charge me or not. Is there any way I could find out?

And I was told that when I withdraw USD through my Chinese debit card. The exchange rate is the higher one. The one that banks sell the cash in the mainland of China. Do you know anything about this?

As I understand you are not allowed to take cash amount exceeding 5K $ from China and US do not allow cash exceeding 10K $

If your amount is under that, exchanging and taking cash is good anyway.

I was also looking for this information myself and this is what I have got until now. Hopefully it will be useful for you.

The best option is to do the bank transfer. For Chinese national, you are allowed to do money transfer of 50K US$ in one year from China

As I understand Bank of Communication has the lowest fee among all. 0.1% of the amount in currency to be transferred + 80 RMB per transaction => charge from your Chinese bank.

And most of the US banks will charge you about 15$-20$ per transaction at their side (If there is no intermediary banks)

I didn't know about the wire transfer. FYI. I withdraw money from Ping'an Bank through UnionPay ATMs. The bank confirmed my golden card has no fee charges within five times. But don't know if the ATMs charge me fees or not...

I need to do more research about US banks...

On a side note, avoid US ATM's at all costs unless it's absolutely necessary. My wife went to withdraw money from an ATM here.... long story short she could only do it in $500 increments she wanted $2000 by the time it was done, she had the $2000 but she also had approximately $300 in additional fees between the ATM, and her bank.

Some Chinese banks have partnerships with American banks, and this can help alleviate the ATM fee costs and Bank fee Costs.

For example CCB has a partnership with Bank of America. I'm sure there are others, but this was the only one I was concerned with since my Wife uses CCB, and I didn't want her to accrue additional ATM fee's if she wanted to withdraw money.

Well, the exchange rate keeps going up. My savings are losing value...

Even so, I decided to exchange some of my cash into USD and put the rest into my bank account. I was told by my friend that it's free for me to withdraw money in a UnionPay ATM. Because I got their golden card. So the first five times each month, my bank won't charge me any fee. But not sure if the ATM will charge me or not...

Thanks a lot Chris! You are very helpful.

PS: I landed the States yesterday! Now I'm at my fiancé's school library... So happy!

Hello and congratulations!

My fiancee is an Iranian national living and working in China. We are still awaiting the NOA2 but are starting to consider the next phases.

Would someone here be willing to help coach us on the Chinese visa process? We have downloaded the embassy instructions but a couple of things are unclear to us.

Thanks!

Harold

Thank you!

Different nationalities might have different documents that are needed. But I'll do what I can to help.

Its been a while since we did this, but rates were better in China. The money changers the airports will kill you, go to a bank of China, etc.

Thank you MuDelphi. I know somebody just withdraw their money from a ATM that has UnionPay on it... My fiancé didn't do a lot of homework on this part. Since I'm running out of time, I need to find the best way to do it.

Hi VJS,

May I ask you guys the way to exchange currencies? I'm leaving for the States in a week. Should I exchange all of my CNY into USD in China or in the States? Which way will be cheaper...

Only one question. Thanks guys in advance!

Joanna

  

I only needed to take two vaccination for my medical check up for immigration process, MMR and varicella, to which they said I have to the second doze for varicella after 4-6 weeks here in Beijing or in US. If I have enough time before going to U.S, I will probably get it done here.

I had inflammation while I was taking my Med. So my doctor friends in China suggest me to do that in the States.

Btw, did you exchange all of your CNY into USD? The exchange rate is getting higher... So I'm confused...