Tammy1010

Hi all,

I had my immigration appointment today at the Houston Field office and I thought I'd share what happened before I forget everything.
We got there 30 minutes early. Were called right at 9am.
We met with a senior officer who really knew her stuff.
We were asked to swear in that whatever we say is the truth
She proceeded to ask me and him some questions separately.

- got a timeline of our relationship - when we met, how we met, when did we tell family about each other, when was the engagement, who came to the engagement, when was the wedding, who came to the wedding.

- then she asked me if we live together, and I said yes. She asked me how much did my husband buy our current house for, what does it look like, what kind of AC unit it has, how many bedrooms it has, and the appraisal value (which I didn't know so I told her I didn't know and she was ok with that).
- then she went over all of our paperwork, she actually went through all of the forms we had submitted to USCIS first and reconfirmed all the information and then went through the stuff we took with us:

- our pictures - we made an album

- credit/debit card joint accounts

- house bills - utility

- joint car insurance

- joint title on our cars

- joint registration on our cars

- joint medical, dental and life insurance

I was starting a new job in July and she asked me about that.

Overall, it seemed like she asked a lot of questions but they were very easy. Our entire interview took about 30 minutes after which she told us our case had been approved. She stamped my passport and gave us two printouts.

What I'm wondering now is how long people waited to get their green card in the mail? And has anyone travelled with the stamped "green card". She told me legally it is the same as the physical card but I just want to make sure its safe for me to travel back to Canada if I choose to before my green card comes in the mail.

Thanks guys! Hope y'all receive what you need soon This journey hasn't been easy, but over on the other side, its definitely worth it.

jayess21. My application has been ready for interview since March 15th, I have to yet hear something about it.

Ive looked into this and I've been told that once the field office is ready to schedule your interview (based on your priority date for that centre), they request the file from the NBC and so you should call the customer service number to see where your file is.

If its at the Field office, chances are your interview will probably be coming in a few weeks. If its still at the NBC, theres still more waiting to be done.

My file has reached the field office recently so Ive been waiting patiently...but haven't received anything in the mail yet. Hopefully soon!

My suggestion to you would be go make an infopass appt and go into your local field office. Ive always gotten more information there than over the phone.

To those that got their drivers license after getting their Social Security Card - how long did it take for it to come in the mail after you applied?
The lady told me 10 days, and its been 10 days and I haven't received it yet...

To those that got their drivers license after getting their Social Security Card - how long did it take for it to come in the mail after you applied?
The lady told me 10 days, and its been 10 days and I haven't received it yet...

My status honestly has not changed. They don't update my case status at all. Don't go by that.

tbone1991 - When you call customer service - ask to speak to a tier 2 person - they will let u know if your file says "ready for an interview". Mines been ready since middle of March and after not hearing for several weeks I went in on Monday by making an infopass appt at the local field office where they told me that I should hear something in a few weeks.
It basically depends on when the local field office receives your file. Sometimes the file sits at the national benefits centre even though your case is ready for interview.

I would suggest calling USCIS and getting a status update first from a tier 2 person, and then making an infopass appt at ur local field office to get more information.

Good luck!

Congrats to everyone who had interviews! We were told today that we would receive our date in the mail in the next few weeks. Can those that had their interviews please comment on what types of documents they took for their interviews? And did you guys take your 2015 tax returns as well? I know you should take originals of everything that you had sent in earlier like birth certificate and passport, and Ive since then gotten my SS card and Drivers license, but what else did you all take for those that were approved right away.

Thanks!

edpa

- congrats! that was fast! How is ur green card delivered same as the EAD/AP card? - 2 day shipping??

About a week after approval. I was approved on April 1st, and my card arrived in the mail April 8th. Once you get the message that it has been mailed out, its priority 2 day mail so it'll come 2 days after. Tracking number is usually provided so once it says it has been mailed out, call USCIS and get the tracking number if it doesn't get updated on your case status online.

Hey edpa = how was ur interview experience, what sorts of things did u take with you and what things were you asked.

Jayess21 - it might be worth it to check the processing time at your current field office vs the field office where you will move. You never know, you might get it faster there. Changing address is done online, not sure if there is a lot of paperwork involved with that. Let me know if you end up doing it, I'm interested to know the process as I may be moving in a few months as well.

Got my EAD card today too! YAY

For the RFE - it depends on whether they are asking for request for INITIAL evidence vs request for ADDITIONAL evidence.
From what I've seen on the USCIS website, and from talking to the immigration officer (tier 2) they are different.
Initial evidence resets your clock whereas additional evidence simply pauses it.

Problem with this is that Tier 1 initially told me that the words are used interchangeably and they mean the same thing. But if you do some more research online and talk to Tier 2 you will see that they are quite different.

Also if you have a request for INITIAL evidence, other supplemental forms like EAD, Advance parole will be put on hold.
For ADDITIONAL evidence, only the form that it was issued on is put on hold and the EAD and AP will still be processed.

Hope that is helpful. I did some searching when we were issued an RFI which was cancelled the same day. However, USCIS did not update my case online and so I continued to stress about it for 2 weeks before talking to a Tier 2 person who told me it was actually cancelled the same day that it was issued (was relieved, but annoyed at the fact that I had sleepless nights for about 2 weeks for no reason).

Have you gotten yours in the mail yet? Most are issued for financial reasons - taxes and forms etc.

For those of you who got your EAD in the mail already. How long after the "your card has been mailed" msg did you get the card?

congrats Jayess21! - Mine was approved last friday and I received notice yesterday that it had been mailed out. Did u get a tracking number? I called USCIS and they said it usually takes 2 days to get a tracking number. Im hoping mine will come tomorrow. Itll make my day!

For those that are 90+ days - I've also read that if you make an infopass appt and let them know that you've been waiting more than 3 months/90 days they'll approve you for an EAD on the spot there. Worth a shot instead of just waiting.

Look at MSC. The first 3 letters are where your package is at. You should receive the EAD within 90 days. If at 90 days you hear nothing go make an infopass appt at your nearest local field office.

jayess21 - have you received your EAD in the mail yet?

Wow Simonbin - thats really quick, congrats!

What does VWP mean?

Also for those of you with interview dates, how long did your status say "ready for interview" before you actually got an interview?

For those who received an interview/interview letter - did you filing date correspond to the waiting/processing time on the USCIS website. I don't know how accurate that is... seems like Houston has a really long delay...but I see a lot of people from Cali getting interviews and the processing times are also for 2015. Any thoughts?

Congrats edpa - does the interview date show up on the USCIS case status? Or do you just wait to receive the letter it the mail?

Please do keep us posted about what you took with you to the interview and what kind of questions you were asked during it.

I'm glad things are moving for most of us.

Ive been "ready for interview" for 2 weeks now and have not yet heard anything back from the houston field office regarding an interview.

for those of you that have your dates or have done your interviews - any feedback on how long it took them to give u a date?

I had a job offer and was on day 87/90 without hearing anything about my EAD/AP. I called up my local congressman's office and spoke to the lady in charge of immigration. I sent her the receipts I had for AOS and EAD and within a day she called USCIS. That same day I received confirmation that my EAD and AP was approved and processed and card was ordered.

Since the online timeline says 90 days you should definitely look into putting in a service request, if that doesn't work - contact your congressman's office. Mine was very pleasant and very quick.

Good luck!

My question to you is whether the card has a tracking number associated with it or not - so that you can check on its whereabouts.

Did u hear anything from USCIS regarding that?

Thanks

Lulu123 - if you mailed your AP and EAD forms together then it will all come as one card. Sometimes, as I've read on this forum, they don't update it but you'll still get both in the mail in the form of 1 card.

You're right - spoke to the Immigration contact and she asked for the privacy form to be sent back. Got the ball rolling.

How long after you contacted them did you receive your EAD?