Kirk&Kean

On 7/6/2019 at 4:09 PM, MajaMukanowska said:

Anyone from July 2017 still waiting? My field office had my case for more than a year now, and I still haven't had my interview.

 Yes, still waiting here. Our case literally just approached 2 years from filing date by tomorrow 7/18. Which means if we are to have interview we'll probably be told to re-do medical examinations.
Ours were mistake by the USCIS office initially scheduled interview at wrong location at our former address, then we requested to re-route our entire case folder and reschedule interview in Philly. Since Jan, we have heard nothing until now despite multiple visits to Field Office, they told us to hear an update between 30-45 days. Worst case is that they no longer accept any walk-in or InfoPass Appointment. Only thing one can do is call the USCIS Hotline to inquire, which you will only hear the same thing that you can see from Online Case Status.

Our only option now is to wait to be rescheduled for interview. Also as of June, there was a new implementation where Field Offices with heavy workload are allowed to distribute cases to other nearby Field Offices. Therefore, Applicants can expect to receive interview notices from another location of field office which is not the primary one assigned based on your address. Of course, they will try not to assign anything that is way too far, for example Philly to California, is way too ridiculous. Maybe somewhere outside of your city if there's another field office at neighbor city. In my case, perhaps NJ / Lancaster / Harrisburg.

On the bright side, we're looking at getting the 10 years GC if we even ever get to have a chance to attend interview since we've been married > 2 years by now.

11 hours ago, K&M's Journey said:

Hi there, Kirk&Kean!

 

I called the Immigration a day later after posting here on VisaJourney. I was transferred to Tier 2 and spoke with an Immigration officer who updated our address. He also gave me an advice against attending the interview in Philadelphia. The next day I sent a letter w/ proof of address change to the Philadelphia office where the interview was scheduled, asking them to cancel and transfer my case to the office that has jurisdiction over our address. I was expecting a longer wait as the Tier 2 officer said that it might be 2 to 6 months wait unless the office is not that busy. We we’re lucky as it seemed the Buffalo Office wasn’t as busy and after a couple of weeks, we received a request for an interview before mid-February. By mid-March I received my Permanent Resident Card.

 

I think offices in Pennsylvania are busy. I had a feeling the only reason our case moved forward and was requested for an interview was because we relocated and updated our address last December. But I could be wrong.

 

I understand how frustrating the wait and delay can be. Especially when you find out other applicants gets approved faster. I remember waiting and being frustrated while all the 2018 filers finally received their cards w/out an interview (I’m a 2017 filer as well). But like my husband said, there is nothing much we can do but wait patiently. (Easy for him to say, but in a way, he is right).

 

I’m crossing my fingers and hoping you’d hear news soon! Goodluck! 😊

Oh wow. We did the exact same thing too writing to the Imperial County,CA Office. As a matter of fact it all happened last Dec as well. Our case have transferred out in Dec itself, and arrived in Philly office between Dec- Jan. The only diff I see between our situation is you transfer out from a busy city (Philly) to a less busy office (Buffalo). I transfer into a busy office.

In some way I am glad I am way past the possibility of getting Conditional Permanent Resident. Next Mon is our anniversary - so at this point, if the interview is being scheduled, regardless of when (July / Aug / Sep). It'll be a 10 years PR because we are married > 2 years. That'll save several hundreds $$ from filing the i-751 Removal of Conditional Permanent Resident.

Oh yeah, I totally understand your feeling of waiting and being frustrated seeing all other 2018 filers getting theirs. I have a feeling that our case is just sitting there, officers get to pick their own cases to work on lol. No one wants to pick ours to work on because it has > 400 pages to read.

We've reach out to senator, but haven't gotten any response yet. My next try is to get Ombudsman and see if they can assist me with inquiries of either my renewal EAD or the GC application. My renewal EAD is already in 8th month since I filed for it now. And I still have yet to hear any update. Pisses me off. I'll lose my job by September if I cannot get the new EAD approved or have GC on hand.

On 1/7/2019 at 2:00 AM, K&M's Journey said:

Sharing my experience. Filed I-485 in December 2017. Philadelphia has jurisdiction for our old address. Moved to upstate New York couple of months ago. Changed address 2 days after moving, received email and letter notification via post to confirm address change. By end of December last year, I received the letter for an interview asking us to appear at the Philadelphia field office instead of the one nearest us. 

 

We're considering attending the interview as we're worried rescheduling will delay the process again. But then again, I researched and a lot of what I read said some officers will stop the interview when they find out that your new address is not their jurisdiction, reschedule and have the case transferred.

 

Frustrating!

This is exactly what happened to us.

Case is ready to be scheduled for interview since Mar 2018. But then we needed to move from AZ to PA, moved by end of May, as soon as we arrive in Philly in June, we filed COA once we manage to finalize and obtain a lease agreement and submit all the relevant info, AR-11 including Pending AOS case. Sponsor's Change of Address must be mailed physically (i-864 the financial part of the i-485).

Thereafter, every single month, I called USCIS hotline number just to verify if they received our COA AR-11, and what is our address on file, from June 2018 until September, they kept telling me it is Philly Address, up-to-date, not the AZ.
Comes to October 2018, the period where I sent in my EAD renewal (6 months prior to expire), when I file EAD renewal - it is a brand new i-765 with Philly Address (except we check for renewal). Guess what happened on Oct 04 2018?
Status Changed for i-485 AOS - Your case has been scheduled for interview, we have mailed you a letter with instructions on what to prepare and bring to the interview.

Oct 08, 2018 - We saw 2x USCIS letter from our USPS Informed Delivery scanned image. But there should be 3, and we think maybe one of them is delayed. EAD + AP Renewal (2 NOA1). AOS Interview Letter (1).
When the letter arrives, yep, as expected, EAD + AP Renewal NOA1s are here in Philly. A couple days later around 10 - 12 October, Sister who lives in AZ address (our former address) WhatsApp'd me saying that we got a letter from USCIS.
I checked the Informed Delivery over in that address, omfg, the interview letter is sent to the former address despite June, July, August, Sep, 4 freaking months that I have since updated the address and been calling every single month to verify up-to-date address on file. 

Interview Location was scheduled at Imperial Valley, CA (which is closest to Yuma,AZ) where our former address is. We then seek for suggestion from our attorney who helped to handle RFE in the past.

Attorney suggested to NOT attend the interview in Imperial Valley, CA. Because we have not lived at Yuma Address for more than 3 months. Our residency is already in Philly, PA. If we are to fly out there to attend the interview, we will for sure be stopped at the point of verifying Names, Address and etc during the interview when the officer figured that the Address is not even close to their office. Then it will have to be transferred, thus, wasting $$ and time to fly all the way out for the interview.

So we ended up, writing a letter to the field office at Imperial Valley, CA - Attn to the Director of the Field Office, indicating URGENT at the envelope. To request for cancellation of the interview over there due to wrong state of jurisdiction, transfer case to our field office in Philly. We have also submitted proof / evidences of all the COA documentations filed way before in June 2018. Then called USCIS hotline number to ensure to file a Service Request to transfer case + reschedule interview, indicating which address we lives in right now, and would like the interview to be scheduled here.

All that's done, case transferred successfully in late Dec. Got Infopass Appt in Jan 2019, went to Philly office to verify, our case arrived safely. They first did mention expect a longer delay of between 5-8 months for reschedule of interview because they schedule the interview base on first come first serve basis, literally means - whoever's case folder arrived in the field office first, then gets to be scheduled for interview. If the calculation was right, our interview should be rescheduled between May 2019 - August 2019 (5-8 months) from Jan. We went in for another Infopass Appt in Mar 2019, to check what is going on, status of our case, as well as my renewal EAD (6 months has passed and no approval yet). We were told that my AOS case looks good, nothing flagged, just waiting in the system queue to be scheduled for interview, at this point the officer says expect randomly being sent a notice between 30-45 days.

It is June 12 as I am writing this post, I have yet to receive any update about interview being scheduled at all. That is way beyond 30-45 days. They have also removed the Infopass Appt availability since March. Which made us unable to go in and inquire anymore. We have to call the USCIS hotline number, which when you speak with Tier 1, will literally keep repeating whatever you can find yourself online base on the Case Status, or the USCIS Processing time telling you bla bla bla that your case is not beyond normal processing time yet, just wait.

We're July 2017 Filers, already coming close to 2nd wedding anniversary by next Monday June 17. If it is not for the USCIS to mess up the first interview scheduled at wrong location (despite 4 months have passed since we updated the address), we wouldn't have to be in this mess. This tells me a lot that their system and database does not even tally. You can be filing AR-11, calling USCIS hotline to verify addresses, but the interview schedule part may still be wrong. Our attorney assured us that she has handled so many immigration cases that USCIS is always the one messes up the address when her customers moved. But a lot of time, customers complain that the attorney messes it up.

Anyway, K&M - have you attended the interview at Philly? Or did you get rescheduled? If it is the latter, has it been completed?

 

51 minutes ago, missileman said:

I would run away from an attorney who gives that kind of trash as advice.  Immigration is a federal issue...and is governed by USCIS policy....and it has nothing to do with "red states" or "blue states".......

Lol, maybe she is just speaking from her experiences of dealing with so many cases, and she wasn't trying to pinpoint anything but just told us to be prepared to answer more questions. Anyway, we moved not because of the so called "red states" or "blue states". We moved mainly because there is nothing to do there in Yuma AZ, and we can't get jobs at all, even tried cashier positions at Walmart, Target, Bestbuy and etc, no replies at all. Besides, after experiencing 1 crazy hot summer there, we were pretty much done and ready to go. I've then narrowed down to few possible states school I will eventually apply to (based on programs I wanted to enroll to and look more detailed into syllabi), that is how we select where we move to. We only hired her to handle 1 time thing. If it wasn't for hubby is panic about handling RFE, we wouldn't have hired attorney. That being said, no regrets, trust the process. As an applicant, I pretty much filed and assembled the entire AOS, EAD + AP by myself, so do a lot of people on the forum. Thanks to all the nice people out there sharing great info and steps by steps of how to do it.

@Randyandyuni - Good Luck with the ROC and hopefully it will be done within a year

6 minutes ago, Randyandyuni said:

we have a significant age gap (27 years) so we expect to be interviewed as we had an initial stokes interview for AOS with no other red flags

In a state that is much more conservative, yes age gap will be red flag. When we hired an attorney to handle our RFE back in the initial application, she did mention AZ is a red state, hence, expect questions a lot more during the interview due to the age gap. She didn't see such prob in Seattle though. Oh, don't think you are alone  - we have a bigger age gap than you both do (31). Haha!! However, we are in the city of brotherly love, so that might be in our favor, but best to never assume or set expectation, just go with the flow. Hopefully being married for (coming to 2 years) + all the pictures, joint-tax, joint-accounts be sufficient to get the Approve word. Oh well, all I need is the interview scheduled letter and the date!!

16 minutes ago, Randyandyuni said:

it should be more consistent in application between offices, living in Ohio is very beneficial for immigration purposes.I believe it's $590 plus bio fee. Hopefully your senator can help, you have been more than patient

I think it has to do with their system too. Their database and system seem to not update correctly. They want candidates to file change of address online, but it wont reflect the initial filing place I guess? Otherwise, I cannot for the sake of me understand how can they mess up the first interview appointment to old address. When we decided to move from AZ by end of May 2018, arriving in PA in June 2018, filing COA. I called every single month at least once to verify up-to-date address on file worrying that they don't have the right one. Every single time, they told me it is the Philly address on file. Then comes to October, suddenly I get case status update interview date scheduled, I was so happy, 1.5 weeks gone by never received the letter, received a message from sister saying that you got a letter here in Yuma, AZ. Funniest thing is that, I filed for renewal EAD late September, they ISSUED the notice of receipt (acknowledgement) the same exact date as the AOS Interview Schedule Notice, all on Oct 4. Yet, Interview scheduled letter went to Yuma,AZ, both EAD/AP Renewal NOA1 went to Philly, PA. This totally tells me that their system is so out-dated and not updating correctly.

We moved by understanding that our AOS interview will possibly be delayed, but expected between Oct - Dec 2018 we should have it. Then all this c-r-a-p happens, and I've seen people saying their reschedule of interview (if they cannot make it to first one) most of the time happens between 2-3 months at most. Ours are coming to beyond 5 months since the case arrived in Philly. I get it that Philly has a large population, and file cases have to be first come first serve for scheduling interview date. I just don't believe how I see people who filed less than a year get interview and approved too. One of my friend from UK, moved to NJ last year, married, file AOS, already got his interview, approved and gotten GC on hand (less than a year total time from filing date).

You were right that I have been more than patient, I tend to like to stay positive, because I was looking at the > 2 years anniversary and > 10 years GC thing so we don't have to go through ROC + possible of interview again.
I'll update if we find out anything just to share the process to help people in the future.

Do update us too if your ROC process involves another interview. I heard that the officer have the rights to call for another interview -> all of those are to verify the bonafide of the relationship.

6 hours ago, Randyandyuni said:

That is appalling, sorry it has been so traumatic. My wife and I will be filing our ROC next month and we are on the same timeline. I would be spitting nails in similar circumstances. 

 

Good luck to you, I hope you get the 10 year card after this!

Oh wow, happy for you and your wife! I think ROC will costs bout $600++? or 800? We might end up reaching out to a Sen. about our case. It is just getting too long for being in this AOS limbo status, my DV is expired, I don't want to spend the same $$ to renew the DV for few months and wait for new EAD or GC to renew again, too much work for just extension for a few more months.

I think I am the only one in July 2017 filers have not gotten my GC yet? Lol, it is coming to 2 years of  wedding anniversary by June 17. July 18 would be 2 years from AOS case received date. It is so much harder to inquire anything now that they don't update the case status properly, in addition to that they have recently started to take away all the InfoPass Appointment so that Petitioner / Applicants cannot make the appointment to go into local USCIS office to check what is stalling the case.


Phone calls to USCIS Tier 1 pretty much won't do anything other than telling you your (last case status update and tell you to just wait). (Tried calling 3-5 times already, every time gets the same answer).
- Our last case status update on i-485 was (Your interview date has been scheduled in Oct 04, 2018, which USCIS has made a mistake by schedule it in former address despite 4 months have passed since we properly filed Change of Address Online AR-11 in June 2018).
- We had to write a formal letter to the local office that they scheduled interview to request of rescheduling/cancel that interview and route our entire case folder to Philly, which happens between Nov - Dec.

- Dec 2018 to March 2019, we have visited total of 4 times at USCIS office @ Philly to check if our case folder has arrived because they never update the case status so we wouldn't know. 2nd visit confirms our case has arrived. 3rd and 4th visit between Jan and Mar was to check how long will it take to reschedule interview since our case has arrived in Dec. In Jan, one officer said it'll delay up to 5-8 months (projected date of interview date = May - August). In March, our recent and last visit, the officer mention that our case is sitting in the queue awaiting for available date and scheduling of interview, probably take 30-45 days (expect to receive a letter between Mar - April). Now that it is already in the middle of May, and as of end of March, Philly Office has started the new process of not accepting walk-in appointments and InfoPass appointments. We're stranded as of now just waiting until who knows when.
- In order to get to Tier 2 on the phone, the case processing time has to be "beyond normal processing time", Tier 1 always ask "if the AOS is employment-based or family-based", then look at the same site where we can see "USCIS processing time, filter by State and City". Philly's processing time has been increased from 9.5 months - 18++ to 12 - 23.5 months within 2 months. Every time it gets closer to the date of our filing date for case inquiry, then the time increased which causes the date to backdate to May/June 2017 for case inquiry.
- Renewal of EAD is also taking longer than expected, my auto-extension of expired EAD is expiring in September, I've filed my EAD-renewal since Oct 08, called Tier 1 to assist in expediting the case recently in March under financial hardship and possibly of losing my job as I was converted from contract position to permanent (was gonna use the offer letter to fax to them if they request for evidence as the offer letter has the highlighted line of "offer of this employment is contingency upon candidate's availability to maintain and obtain work permit"). They chose to close the expedited case ticket and denies the request despite 6 months have passed (suspect this is due to them looking at our AOS case status thinking that our GC interview date is scheduled back in Oct 04 and probably just wait for GC to be approved so they don't have to process the EAD at all).
- What is worst is that I see candidates who keep filing after us, Aug 2017 - Dec 2018 to keep getting interview dates / approval of GC. Filtering by visajourney as well as reading diff thread on this forum (Month-Aos-Filers).

On the bright side, since it is approaching 2 years anniversary, should we receive the interview scheduled letter real soon (keeping fingers-crossed), it'll worth the 2 years (feels like forever) wait to acquire the 10 yrs GC.

Anyone else from July 2017 filers have not received their GC yet? Just curious...
 

I am just curious. Based on Philly processing time - my receipt date is before June 25, 2017 (AOS filed date). Which means I am allowed to file case outside normal processing time.

Has anyone tried filing such Service Request and what kind of actions have been taken? Did they respond to the SR quick? I am referring to filing such ticket when the criteria fits in. Not simply filing case outside normal processing time (I know we can do it at any time and they can close it without taking action).

I am in a dilemma situation because our case was first scheduled wrongly to the former address, so we requested to transfer case to Philly. Through 3 times of local USCIS office visits, we verified that our files have been transferred and arrived at Philly office. However, reschedule of interview will be delayed because they literally go by first-come-first-serve basis (whichever's applicant file arrived first at the local office from National benefits center).
 

- Part of me kind of curious about if filing the SR "case outside normal processing time" would cause the interview to be rescheduled faster or not.
- Part of me kind of hope that since the whole case has been dragged on for 1 year and 6 months. Might as well hoping or wait until June 17 (past our 2nd anniversary date) to have the interview (of course I have no control, they might reschedule any time between May to Aug). If interview scheduled past 2 yr anniversary, I will be interviewing for 10 yr GC, thus saving the $$ for removal of conditions.

I am kind of afraid that if I file the SR it may fasten the process. Thus, resulting in earlier interview date + 2 yr conditional GC.

Regardless, I guess I have to expect to pay extra $$ on either one of the outcome. Medical records are valid for 2 years as of Nov 2018.
If interview date falls after July 2019, I have to get new medical record which probably costs between $150 - $250.
If interview date falls before June 2019 (2nd anniversary), 90 days before Conditional GC expires, file for Removal of Condition I-751 which will costs $595 +$85 biometric fee.
Unless I get very very lucky that the interview date falls before July 17/18 and after June 17. Then I will be attending interview with valid medical record on file + 10 yrs GC (upon approval).

On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 2:25 PM, agnsd said:

That’s a great advice as I will not make any change by going crazy over the situation.

 

to be honest I don’t know if it’s a nyc thing but HR don’t bother with people like us they just move on to the next I experienced discrimination for not been at least a green card holder many times

Go for Contract jobs. Which field of work are you in or have you worked in? Have you lived in NYC for a year, is NY considered your residency + fulfilled 1 year residency? If yes, usually classes in community colleges doesn't cost that much. Even if you take 2 classes that you think is beneficial to you and helps you with continuation of learning for 1 semester is better than doing nothing. I did fulltime (15 credits) for a semester back in 2017 Fall semester, it was kinda occupied and turn off because I transitioned from 6-7 years of working full time directly into student of full time. That is not fun at all, imagine if you haven't really been actively reading books or doing much studies. Haha, but glad I managed to score 4.0 GPA and made the Dean's list for that semester by putting much more effort into it. I thought at least 2 of the classes I took would be able to transfer and be applied towards the bachelor's degree program I am interested in (this or next year), turns out 1 did match as equivalent, the other one did not (even tho the syllabus is closely matched, I can always ask the school which accepted me for this Fall / Next spring (deferment) to re-evaluate. So they still count as investment towards your future plans.

I got my job with contract agency in IT field, of course my work permit isn't expired. The job I got is a 6 months contract with an opportunity to be permanent. I did tell the employer that my permit is gonna expire in March, however I've filed renewal since last Sep, and I am expecting to receive a new one between Feb / March. I also informed the employer that with the NOA1 from the renewal application, I am legally allowed to cont. to work for another 6 months even if the card hasn't been approved for renewal. Employer said ok, just mail whatever new doc I have to her and she will keep on file. Of course, this is in Philly. There's also lots of contract short term jobs which only last between 3 - 6 months. 1 important tips, do not ever directly mention your work permit expire in the first interview. It is a big red flag and you literally take away your own chance. If you know that you are still allowed to work for maybe another 6 months and you firmly believes that the new EAD will come within the 6 months, go ahead and act as normal while interviewing. If an employer really wants you (after passing 2 rounds of interview), comes to HR dealing with requesting for paperwork time, that is when you present your first expired ead + the NOA1 with the bottom note indicating this also serve as extension of the work permit for 6 months/180 days after the expiry of the original EAD.

Btw, have you tried calling USCUS hotline requesting status update of your EAD renewal? Sometimes calling and asking may help.

On 1/17/2019 at 8:53 PM, agnsd said:

I hope not, I wish I knew that bc I would have went back to Europe few month if I knew and now I'm here again stuck without been able to travel or work better job and gets very boring and hard mentally. I'm wondering why we pay so much of processing fees how come it's ok to work to pay taxes like anyone else but yet be left in the complete dark

Take some classes / art or whatever thing that may help kill some time if you cannot work. THat is what I did back in Arizona last year before I got approved for work permit (first one) which literally took 7 months ++ including pauses from RFE. Submitted my renewal and yes the NOA1 from renewal application shows that there's extension for 180 days. Just show that letter and make a copy for your HR to keep. Gov shutdown shouldn't affect them as they charge us a lot of $$ for each application. They work with applicant's fees.

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:27 AM, wildling99 said:

Received our interview notice in the mail today! We are scheduled for February 13, 2019. 

 

On March 19, we’ll have been married for two years. Is there ever an instance of them issuing a 10-year when it’s that close? I’m so flipping happy to have an interview date at last!

No you won't get 10 years if it is approved before your 2nd anniversary. But if for some reason, after the interview, the officer decided to take longer time to approve it, such as wanting to check with his/her supervisor, getting more info of something. And the case status did not update to "approve" until after your 2nd anniversary, then you may be getting 10 years. It is all about when they decide to "approve" which will trigger the issue date on the card. If the issue date is after 2nd anniversary, it is most likely going to be a 10 yr GC. But if it is < than 2 yrs of marriage for the issue date, unfortunately, you'll be getting 2nd interview. Hubby and I did talk about if we get interview before 2nd anniversary, whether we want to intentionally reschedule interview saying we cannot attend... but it is too big of a risk to take to reschedule. Best to go for it if you can. You don't want to be denied because of trying to save that $600 dollars of "removal of conditional GC" which will only happen 2 years later.

20 hours ago, Ehri&Mark said:

The funny thing was the maybe 2 days before my case was updated to interview scheduled, I was complaining to my husband about how my interview is taking forever to be scheduled, that we are paying thousands of money, waiting for the process, and yet still taking a long time. I even said that that’s why people are crossing the border lol I only said that because I was too mad that day. Then my case updated on new year’s eve. But it’s true, it’s expensive to file all these papers to be legal and yet they are taking their sweet time. Good luck! So when are you guy’s appointment?

Still cannot get any local appointment yet. It's constantly not available on the USCIS appointment website. We're just trying to get in the 3rd time to verify if our file previously they mentioned en-route to Philly has arrived or not. They can take their sweet time to reschedule for GC interview now. I'm already 1 year + in, I don't mind waiting for another 6 months. Better yet, hit my 2nd wedding anniversary date, that way I'll be interviewing for a 10 yr GC instead of conditional 2 yr GC.

3 minutes ago, Ehri&Mark said:

You changed your address in the middle of your AOS application, is that right? We changed ours before we filed for AOS. So here’s to hoping they send it to my current and right address. Anyways, I just called USCIS to confirm they have it and the lady reassured me it will be send to the right address. We’ll see in a few days I guess!

Yes we changed address only in June 2018. Filed AOS in July 2017. Well if you filed your AOS with new address, you have nothing to worry about.
 

4 hours ago, Ehri&Mark said:

Wow. That’s ridiculous. We don’t know if someone is living at our old address BUT I filed in June stupidly not knowing that I haven’t changed my address with them and my application was wrongly filled so they it back to my old address WITH THE CHECK and guess what? It went missing and was cashed! We went to the old apartment and the landlord said there is no one living there. So where did the check go? We traced it from our bank and showed that it was cashed to this certain liquor store. The store owner would not cooperate saying there is no cctv and the person who cashed it used an ID so obviously he cashed it for them. Really ridiculous! We are guessing the person who cashed it knew the owner of the liquor store. We just let it go and filed again in July. 

 

Anyways, I’m gonna call UsCIS today and see if they sent the mail to the right address.

IKR! Imagine, they mailed out 3 notices to me, 2 went to the right address. 1 went to old address. EXACT same date, they mailed out x2 NOA1 for EAD + AP Renewal. x1 Interview Notice for AOS, yet 1 of them went to former address. This sort of tells me that a lot of stuff such as those notice letter are automated following by whatever info we filed with. For example, AOS was filed with former address. EAD + AP renewal is filed from our philly address. Hence all the notices generated went out with the exact same filing address. Which is kind of disappointing, because, what is the point of filing Change of Address Online, if your database don't talk to each other, never update properly? Haha. Worst of all, we're paying them hundreds and thousands per applications. K1 costs easily $600-800++. AOS $1.2k++. Removal of Conditional Green Card another $600-800++. Naturalization - don't know how much again... ugh. This is just annoying. I have been for the past 3 weeks trying to schedule infopass appointment with local office so that I can send my hubby to go there to verify if our files have already been successfully transferred and routed / received by Philly office. But it just always turns out no available dates.... some says one have to wake up early in the morning on local time zone, login the schedule appointment page exactly at 6:58am/6:59am. Wait the clock turns 7am then refresh the page to see some rare slots available. It'll gone within minutes. Lol! I have done that once, managed to book the 2nd appointment.

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 5:17 PM, Ehri&Mark said:

Why was it mailed to your old address? I’m asking because I changed my address last year with the UsCIS anf I’m hoping now that they do send it to mu current address as we don’t know the people or if there is anyone living in our old address. Did you change your address as well? 

It has been happening to many candidates. Myself included. We moved from Yuma to Philly since June. Filed Change of Address online + mailed in change of address for sponsor (I-864). I also called every single month, to verify up-to-date address on file. Every single time since July until Oct they told me it is Philly listed. Guess what? Oct 04 they scheduled interview and mailed out the notice. After a week, I did not see anything from them other than the NOA1 for my EAD and AP renewal (which came to the correct address as we also filed for that in late Sep). Got to find  out, they mailed interview notice to former address at Yuma. Worst of all, interview location is at Imperial County, CA (20 mins away from Yuma where we used to live). Luckily, that address belongs to sister. So she can scan it to me. I had to then mail an official letter to Head of Imperial County office request to cancel that interview and route our case to Philly. What I am guessing here is the NBC database do not integrate with the "Change of Address" thing. Interview notice a lot of time mailed out to the original address that you filed with, which sucks, I guess automated? Or Human error.

Another thing that may have happened is, Yuma used to be having interview at Phoenix, they happened to changed the interview location to this new Imperial County office, probably route all the Yuma cases from Phoenix to Imperial County, and that might be how they got ours mixed (which was suppose to go to Philly, but ended up in Imperial County). Whatever it is, if any of you have interview notice scheduled at a former address (DIFF state). Do not attend, it is a waste of money and wrong state of jurisdiction. Even if you attend, by the time you sworn in, told them you address, that's when they will stop right there and say they need to route your case to where your residency is.

I had to schedule local appointment with Philly office to double check if everything is being routed. So far the last we managed to get appointment was in Dec. Got to know our case was enroute to Philly. Trying to make 3rd appointment now to verify if our file has already arrive in Philly. And reschedule interview typically take between 2 months - 8 months depending on how backed-up is your local office.

Cheers. Good luck to those who are having interview this month! Happy New Year!

7 hours ago, vscp said:

Hello again!

 

PD: July 3, 2017.

 

Case status was changed to Interview Scheduled (10/31). Just got our notice this Monday morning (11/5) scheduled for December 5! Now wondering if we need to really bring an updated Medical!

No you don't have to. Latest policy regarding Medical is updated to valid for 2 years, effective date Nov 1st.

On 10/29/2018 at 3:42 PM, Spanglish Love said:

Hi my July friends!! An update about the AOS interview. Our appointment was today  at 10:30. Everything went smoothly. The officer went over the information from the initial 485 application. He asked my husband a list of questions all regarding any criminal activity. He was very nice and friendly. We also bonded because we are both Veterans   My husband has to get another medical exam on Wednesday and the officer stated he would hold on to his file until he receives it. After that, he should receive his green card in a few weeks. Overall, it was totally painless and we were definitely OVERLY prepared. 

 

Also just an FYI...he informed us that starting 11/1/18, the medical exam will be good for two years. If we had our appointment later this week, my husband would have received his green card without the need for a new exam.

Yep. I was just gonna say about the latest update for medical exam valids for 2 years starting from Nov. We've managed to schedule an infopass apptment locally in Philly, the officer helped checking in the system and determined that we have filed everything in order and right as well, no idea why the interview was scheduled at our former address. The officer also told us that usually the files from NBC will not be released to local field office (interview location) until 10 days before the interview. He checked in the system, NBC had not released our doc to Imperial County,CA (where they scheduled our interview based on our former address in Yuma,AZ). So we should still be good, but on the safe side, he agreed with what our attorney advised us to do, mail all the docs and supporting docs to the Field Office Director of Imperial County, informing him that we'd like to request for reschedule of interview due to wrong jurisdiction and it will cost us $2000+ in such a short notice to fly to CA. Besides, our residency is in Philly since June (filed Change of Address online and even received confirmation from email regarding the service request has been completed).  No idea how flawed their system is with the address changes, July, Aug, Sep, called respectively to verify address, everytime I am told the address is Philly. Yet they can still schedule interview at former address. Miserable.

Anyway, we have already mailed the doc to the Field Office Director, arrived last week, no response from them yet. I called yesterday on Oct 29 to file a service request for reschedule of interview, omg I just hate talking to Tier 1 CS Rep. They are clueless and already reading from form / script. Despite everything I explain to her, she told me that I would still have the chance to be denied for not attending the interview, she'd suggest us to attend the interview even though it was scheduled at our former address. She further reads all the guideline from website about valid reasons for not able to attending interview are... fallen sick, or conflict of travel schedules vs appointment for interview (prove by flight tickets and boarding passes, travel itinerary and etc), or immediate family passed away and etc. I told her it was a wrong state of jurisdiction, that is what our attorney told us. Even if we spend the $$ fly there to attend, they wouldn't continue as soon as they begin the process of "Name, Case ID, Address -> Ding.... wrong state, cannot proceed, reschedule of interview"... 

After she filed the SR for me, she gave me the SR ticket number, tell me to expect a reply within 30 days. I politely asked, Madam, is there a way you can assist me to expedite this SR because the scheduled interview date is actually on Nov 13th, 15 days from today (when I was on the phone with her). I am afraid that if the SR is being responded late, our interview appointment which was supposed to be rescheduled are considered abandoned, hence it'd cause a denial to my application. She immediately said, no, that is our standard response time. So just wait for 30 days.

Guess what? After more google search, I managed to find more info regarding how long is their typical handling of SRs - USCIS responds to requests for service within the required timeframes. USCIS categorizes an SRMT request based upon the urgency and request type, and assigns a target completion date based on the category. USCIS completes requests within each category on a first-in first-out basis. In general, the goal for all other SRMT referrals is 15 calendar days from the date of creation.
 

Now I truly believe that all these Tier 1 CS Rep are totally inconsistent with providing info. There are so much more from their own policy guideline on the website for us to understand better. For example : https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume7-PartA-Chapter5.html

Unless the officer determined an interview is not necessary, otherwise the case should be relocated to the field office with jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence once the case is ready for interview.
 

I wish they'd train these Tier 1 CS to read all the policy manual to understand the process better so they can answer questions consistently.

Ugh, I am still trying to schedule another infopass appointment for Philly office to request their help to clarify if the case transfer has been initiated and processed. So hard to get a date and time online, hubby even went in to the office to try to get it at the Kiosk, the officer says it is exactly the same as online. Furthermore the Kios is broken. Lol! Glad I have another uscis account where I can see the Service Request tied to my i-485 Case ID.

43 minutes ago, Nowrya said:

Yes, but that took a week of checking the website multiple times a day/night for a opening for an appointment. We got lucky, it is difficult to schedule an appointment online for the Philly office for some reason. The officer told us it is easiest just to go into the building and schedule an appointment at the kiosk thing, which is a 4 hour drive, one way for us. I think that is the main reason the officer gave us her contact info. 

I just checked the online appointment page for Philly, nothing. If you are close by try going in to the building TOMORROW and schedule an interview.

 

I would try on that but chances is my case is probably in the Imperial County, CA office which they scheduled interview at. Your case is a lil diff because you were all the time in PA. But yeah, let me search up the building according to my address and see if I can pop in there during lunch time between work to get the appointment. THanks for the suggestion.

4 minutes ago, Nowrya said:

I'd recommend NOT calling them. How close do you live to your local office? Your local office is in Philly, too? I highly recommend paying them a visit and ask what is up. Take all your notices and what not with you. Don't waste your time calling the 1-800 number. They completely screwed up our case when we called them. They even sent emails that we never received because it was addressed to a wrong email address. 

 

It was 35ish days from the date on the interview notice letter to the interview date for the 1st interview that we had to reschedule. Then they screwed up and we got a letter saying we missed the interview (on a bogus date) and it "will significantly affect your case" (that was because the people on the 1-800 have no reason to be doing what they are doing). That is when we went to our local office in Philly. Once there they easily figured everything out and were extremely nice. The officer even gave us her email and phone number in case something happened again so we wouldn't have to drive another 4 hours one way to solve the problem. Then about 30 days on the 2nd and 3rd interview schedule letters (because we rescheduled it twice).

 

Our interview letter was sent from our local office in Philly and the letter front address was hand written to my wife, not machine printed, which I thought was a bit odd. 

 

 

Everything we read said we needed a new medical exam. Even the doctor at the new medical exam said my wife needed a 2nd MMR shot, which she then got.

 

At the interview I asked if she needed her new medical and the officer said no. I found that odd but I didn't want to press the issue any more.

 

It's because the people on the 1-800 number are complete idiots and should really just walk out into oncoming traffic. 

If you go to the Philly office they will be able to tell you if the case is actually there.

 

Correct, we never moved. Same street address. No case transfer.

The 1st time it was delayed indefinitely for all I know. Had we not went in to see them at the local office I'm sure we'd still be waiting. The second time it was delayed about a month. And the 3rd time it was delayed about a month?

Did you schedule an infopass apptment with local office?  yes mine should be in philly. i live in queen village, kinda close to city center.

On 10/6/2018 at 11:19 PM, Nowrya said:

My wife's greencard interview is finally rescheduled for October 10th. But it has been greater than a year since we submitted the forms so she will need a new medical exam.

 

Anyone know what all she needs to do for a new medical exam? Does she need to get the vaccinations all over again?

We should do the medical exam before her interview so we don't have to go back at a later date, right?

Oh my god, as we discuss about my AOS interview notice issue. WTH is the USCIS doing!? I've moved in June, updated my AR-11 change of address in June itself, Received confirmation email that they have updated it. Even called USCIS 3 times between July, Aug, Sep to confirm what is the up-to-date address on file, they keep telling me it is the Philly address. But guess what happened now!? They literally scheduled the AOS interview at my old address which is on THE other side of the country, Imperial County, California, close to Yuma, AZ (my previous address). Whereas, they sent my EAD/AP renewal notice to Philly address. I seriously believe their freaking system sucks and does not tally at all. How the hell can they keep telling me that my address on file is totally up-to-date > twice, yet in the end they mail the interview notice to my old address. I just started my new job, it is gonna costs me an arm and a leg to fly all the way from PA to CA/AZ to attend that interview, and the interview is on Tuesday (worst, middle of the weekday, as though I do not have to work?).

Has anyone experienced or read any cases where USCIS messed up scheduled interview at old address (diff state), but applicant still allowed to attend the interview and adjudication still can be made?

We are afraid that the jurisdiction between AZ/CA is different than PA, if we spend the $$ flying all the way there, during interview, the officer says they cannot make the decision since our up-to-date address is in PA, they will have to transfer the case to PA and reschedule the interview, that'd totally waste a thousand dollar or more to fly 2 person there + taking unpaid leave from work!

Also, @Nowrya, it seems from your signature, all your reschedule of interview only delayed up to 2 months every time? However it occurs from the same state right? No case transfer is required?

On 10/9/2018 at 9:50 AM, Nowrya said:

Thanks for the info!

I tried to shop around a bit and found the cheapest price for a new exam is around $270 to $300. Seems a bit expensive but oh well.

 

When I got my interview notice the interview date was exactly 1 month from when the notice was issued. 

Btw I am sorry to have you spent that $300... since your Interview Officer doesn't request for it. Well I've read so many cases that are > 1 year all requested for it. Occasionally there are cases like yours that never bother to ask for it. I've also done research around here, found one that offers $200, problem is I just started new job, 8-5 weekdays, I have no time to go in for medical exam on weekdays, hopefully I'll contact one and see if I can schedule on Saturday. But I am also trying to see if I should save the $$. Haha

On 10/11/2018 at 3:32 PM, Nowrya said:

We just had our interview yesterday for my wife's greencard. Even though it has been over a year since we submitted the AoS info, it tureds out that we didn't need another medical exam.  They are mailing her card to her without us giving them the new medical info. (The interview was way easier than I thought.)

 

Kirk&Kean - You might want to wait till after the interview to see if you need another exam.

Oh wow, I am surprised to see that but I also saw it was your 2nd interview date? Your original one was within 1 year from AOS filing. Maybe they match that and have a pre-approval sort of decision but just needed you guys to go in to answer those "no no no" questions to approve you.

Btw, how long does it take from your "Interview is scheduled" to receive the mail ? My status changed on Oct 4, but it is now already Oct 14, I still have not receive the mail.... in fact the status for EAD and AP renewal is also received on Oct 4, and they have mailed the i-797c notice for EAD and AP which should've arrive yesterday (Sat) but USPS sometimes keep the docs to deliver on Monday. I don't see the interview one in the Informed Delivery scanning image, but rather only 2 envelopes from USCIS.

@Nowrya - If you don't mind me asking, can you check on the interview letter, where is the address sent from? This is what I am afraid that interview notice is only 1 month away from letter date, and if I am receiving the letter very late, I'll be in trouble. I want to prepare as much docs as possible. I also wouldn't mind spending that $200 to avoid being delayed for approval. Even though your case may be one of the rare exceptional of not requiring new medical exam, hubby and I spoke about it, we're willing to spend that $$ just to have the GC on hand a.s.a.p in case if the interview officer request for it. But since you suggested so, I'll discuss with hubby and see if we want to save that $200. Problem being is I also need the GC to apply to more schools along with scholarships for Fall 2019 / Spring 2020. So the sooner I get the GC, the sooner I can apply for FAFSA + Scholarships application (a lot of them require permanent residency).

I probably should call USCIS by Mon/Tue if the letter I received are only EAD/AP renewal notices but not the Interview one to see if they can quickly resend a new one since there's a chance that the interview notice went missing. I literally have been looking at informed delivery every single day since Oct 4.

21 hours ago, Nowrya said:

My wife's greencard interview is finally rescheduled for October 10th. But it has been greater than a year since we submitted the forms so she will need a new medical exam.

 

Anyone know what all she needs to do for a new medical exam? Does she need to get the vaccinations all over again?

We should do the medical exam before her interview so we don't have to go back at a later date, right?

https://my.uscis.gov/findadoctor

You can actually have USCIS designated Civil Surgeon to do the new medical prior to the interview. Have your wife bring the previous i-693 / DS-3025 + all other vaccination records she has had in the past to the Civil Surgeon so that they can check what else is needed and what is not needed as it'll be transferred or transcribed to the new i-693 which the doc will fill up.
Once it is completed, the doc will put all the records in a Sealed Envelope for you to bring to the USCIS during the interview. Before your doc do so, make sure to ask for a copy of i-693 and vaccination records so that you can keep a copy of it.

I should be receiving my interview notice by mail soon this week, suspect my interview will be in Nov or Dec. My i-693 and AOS are filed in July 2017. My DS-3025 was completed in Feb 2017. Pretty sure they will issue an RFE for new medical exam if I am to go to the interview without a new one, wouldn't like to risk being delayed for approval if they can approve on the spot. Willing to spend the $$ and get it all done.

Oh, try to call a few diff doc and ask the price. Sometimes some doc charges a lot more than the other.

18 hours ago, blackjeans said:

I filed for renewal through my attorney, but no news yet.

It is funny. Finally they sent someone to pickup the package of EAD renewal from USPS post office. Oct 3, USPS changed status to delivered. (Could be USCIS schedule the redelivery).
And today I got notification from email that there's status change on Oct 4 on 1 of my case. Guess what!?
Interview was scheduled today and they mailed out a notice about the interview date. So I should look to receive a doc with interview date. Omg, finally!

1. I think the EAD renewal triggered them to look into when did I filed my AOS, that might help reminding them and they decided to go with interview instead of processing my EAD and AP renewal.
2. Kinda happy and disappointed in some way, I was already giving up the hope of getting interview this year and expected to have it next year (and if it marks 2-year-wedding anniversary),  I'll be interviewing for 10 years GC. But looking at it now, I'll be interviewing for Conditional GC. Which means, I'll have to wait for another 2 years prior to file for ROC (Removal of Conditions), another $595 + $85 biometric to be spent....
3. Does anyone know how much they spend for a new medical check-up here in the US approximately? I know it costs me around $125 USD back in Malaysia, but since it is already > 1 year from AOS filing date, obviously my medical is expired, and upon interview, I will expect the officer to mention things like "we cannot approve your GC until we receive new medical checkup, therefore they will issue RFE in regards to the medical check.

Dang, as much as I am happy with there is some progress with our case, it is just costing so much $$ each and every step of the process !

Oh well, I need to learn to be grateful, starting new job next Monday, now that GC interview will be coming soon, that means I will have to take a day off from work, ugh, being a contractor... no paid holidays

@blackjeans - I hope you get to hear something soon. Did you check your case status from time to time from both sites? egov case status as well as uscis dhs?

On 10/1/2018 at 4:07 PM, blackjeans said:

San Francisco processing time! Up to 30 months now!

Dang, Philly is at 22 months now.