Chelleyandaaron

We saw this on the old website and it nearly gave me a heart attack.  We created an account on USCIS "My Account" and it started giving us more reliable updates.  However, it still doesn't say anything about our interview being scheduled.

Yes, I have the same problem for couple months, and it changed after they scheduled my interview.

I sent mine last Friday (27th of July) and I received two text messages at night: one at midnight on 1st of August on Wednesday, and another the morning of the 2nd of August. I have yet to receive the paper notifications (it is the 3rd of August now, so that makes sense). I sent it with USPS to the lockbox again as they said, and I got notice of receipt on Monday, so it took another 2 days for them to actually open the packages.
It's possible that they did not use that G145, and you are still waiting.
But I would definitely double check to see if you sent it to the Lockbox as you should have. It is not done by your local office

I sent mine in May 2018 for renew. And I got receipt in 2 weeks.. and In that receipt it says that we have received your application and working on it . Also mention about extension of old ead for 180 days if u don’t get new ead on time. And the. After  a week I got another notice saying we are using ur old biometrtic information. Then after two weeks from this receipt I checked online it says your fingerprint review was completed. Now I m just waiting to get approve and receive and also waiting for interview for I-465.
 
PD DATE 11 sept 2017
Got EAD on 26 November 2017. 
 

Glad I found this thread folks!  We filed for AOS in September 2017.  I guess with the current number of cases (over 5000?) and the current rate of processing, I might need my grave before I get my Green Card!
 

Phewww so I dont need to worry about doing another medical then, thanks for confirming!

Actually, I stand corrected. This is from the I-693 instructions. Page 7/12. Per the instructions, you satisfied the requirements. You submitted the exam from the UK AND a I-693, all within a year of filing your I-485.
 

 
I knew I had seen those provisions somewhere and had not been able to find them. I think you're fine. Kuddos for staying on top of it. You may just have to show proof of your yearly flu shot. I would have that handy at the interview, and provide it if asked, but wouldn't make a case of it. I apologize for ALMOST misinforming you there. 
 
All the best. 

Hi everyone.  Thought I would join this conversation after reading through it.  My husband immigrated from Canada in May of 2017 and we applied for AOS in June.  We got his EAD/AP combo card at the beginning of November.  Looking at the Minneapolis processing times, we are buckling in for a long wait for the green card.  :/
 
Do any of you have international travel plans?  I was awarded a grant to study in Europe for a month this summer and I would like my husband to come with me for half that time (so he would be out of the United States for 2 1/2 weeks).  We hadn't planned on doing any international travel until he received his green card, but my grant has to be used this summer, and we find it highly unlikely that my husband will have his green card by then.  I could go by myself, but we don't want to spend a month apart.  Thoughts/advice?

Hey guys just thought I’d add my experience as I have the MN office too. I came to the U.S via K1 visa and I filed for AOS in December 2016. Received an email saying they had got my case and was processing it a few days after I sent it in. A year later I hadn’t heard anything at all so I thought I’d get in touch with USCIS through phone and they told me to fill out the “Case outside of normal processing time” form on their site. I did that a few days ago, so today I decided to check the case status on the USCIS app and it now says “Card was mailed to me”. I always thought I’d be having an interview and some communication but apparently not, I definitely don’t mind though now my green card is hopefully on its way   I hope everyone gets their cases processed soon! - Nicole

Hi,
 
I did not see a thread for the local office here so I started one.
From what I heard the average waiting time for an interview to be scheduled is 13 - 14 months in this office.
 
Note that I do not intend to complain. Given their work-load (cases from 3.5 states - MN, ND, SD and some counties in WI) and the office relocation this year, the delay is expected.
Just wanna know if there is any other filers here so that we stay together and keep everyone update about the current situation.
 
The processing time on USCIS website for this office is (for Sep 30, 2017)
I-485 - July 16, 2016
 
Cheers everyone!

The weird thing is....no evidence is required. You should have some kind of notes or documents on how you came up with your income and the conversion rate you used on the off chance that you got audited. 
 
Are you understanding the exclusion properly. Just because the maximum exclusion is in round numbers $100k a year, you only get to exclude what you earned. If you were only resident abroad half a year, then the most would be half the $100k.  
 
So let's say you qualify to exclude up to $50k because you were only resident in the U.K. half the year. If your income is $15k, then you exclude $15k. If your income is $60k, you are shut down excluding at $50k maximum based on only being abroad half the year. 

Great news!!
 
I had an interview last Friday which went really well and I am hoping to hear back this week and hopefully I'll not be far behind you starting work!

Great news!!
 
I had an interview last Friday which went really well and I am hoping to hear back this week and hopefully I'll not be far behind you starting work!

So I went on a short trip to Mexico last weekend, brought all my paperwork in case. Entering back was as easy as if I just had my Canadian passport, I could not believe it. The officer even said I did not need my Canadian passport, just my combo card was sufficient...Is that true, I thought I read we needed our passport as well...

OMG! Just checked our case status and it now says Interview is scheduled!!
 
Status change/Interview scheduled - Jan 10
Interview is on Feb 09.
Area - Los Angeles, Ca
 
Check your case status, guys! 😊

Wahoo I found a job and I am starting tomorrow ...Goodluck to everyone still waiting, once you get your visa time flies ...I already regret not doing some stuff before, because now it will get harder with a job . So enjoy your time now. When life gives you lemon, make a lemonade  

2 days ago, I received mail of interview appointment on February 8th!

Wonderful! Congratulations!！such a good new year gift:) right 

I happen to do this for a living (intl tax and especially inbound taxation).
Check with your financial advisor whether the funds made a QEF election, that would help a lot.
If not, check your positions. If they are loss positions in USD, I recommend to liquidate them asap. Either way, you'd have to file a form 8621 for each PFIC.
If they are taxed under sec 1291, all excess distributions (and cap gains are all excess distributions) are taxed at 39.6% and you'll be charged interest spreading on the holding period.

If you file a joint return, you must report worldwide income. If the mutual funds earned you interest, it is reportable and taxable income. But filing jointly gives your wife an extra $10,400 off her taxable income because you're on the return. (Your U.K.salary income is going to be excluded and not taxed so it is basically only her salary with the extra $10,400 off because of you.) That may work out better doing that if your investment income is less than $10,400.   You have to try various ways since you have some options. And if you have already paid UK tax on the investment income, you can have credit for foreign taxes paid. It's probably not as bad as you are imagining. 

A) Because you married a USC, you can be a resident alien even if you had zero physical presence so carry on with the resident alien plan of attack. 
B) You are going to have to figure taxes with your specific incomes and decide which is best. You can file jointly, or she can file Married filing separately and you file nothing (as long as you earn no US income by year end). Usually jointly works out best but you should run all scenarios.  When you file jointly, you must report worldwide income of both spouses. Yes, that is what you earned in the UK Jan 1 to July 4 converted to $$. You will qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. Look up Form 2555EZ and read that.
 
Any investment income you earned (intest/dividends/capital gains paid to you in 2017) can not be excluded on your joint return. That is called unearned income and is taxed based on US rules. Basically if you earned $100 in interest and $8000 in dividends, then you have $8100 additional taxable income thrown into the pot with your (her) salary income.  Your balances invested are not taxed, just what they earned you in the tax year. A big gain on a house sale has some exclusion allowed so generally not an issue unless you owned a castle and made a big profit off the sale.  
 
Best thing for you to do is keep reading as you have been, and work through a tax return to see how the investments affect your bottom line. You will learn as you work through with some real numbers.  There is no one answer fits all tax payers. A US tax return is very individual specific. 

You can choose to either file as a dual status alien, in which case whatever you made prior to your first full day in the US does not have to be reported. A dual status filing can not be joint.
If you file married jointly you will at the same time choose to file with the election statement that you elect to be treated as a US tax person for the entire year of 2017, meaning everything you earned will need to be reported to the irs. Filing this way you can also use 2055 foreign earned income exclusion and exclude up to just north of $100k on the return from wages earned abroad. 
I am less sure about the investments but the only thing you will owe taxes on are gains - you don't mention what type of investments these are.
I believe I've read about exclusions for gains from house sale - but I could have dreamt that,  so leaving the floor open for someone with specific experience on investments while moving over. 

It might be easier to use the "physical presence test" to qualify on the 2555. That's what I did. I didn't have income after moving, but for the presence test you can use any 12 month period where you were present for 330 days in a row. The bonafide residence test is harder since there are a lot of rules regarding domicile and abode overseas and in the US. There's a higher risk of doing this wrong.
Depending on how much you made during the year it might help... I don't remember the exact calculation but you can exempt somewhere around $110,000 for the whole year.. so for half of 366 days (or slightly less since you moved in June) you would end up being able to exempt around  $50,000 for the year of 2016. Don't know if that helps. 
Good luck. 

As stated in her signature ...AOS based on marriage, previous K1 visa.

Merry Christmas from USCIS haha!