KimchiLumpia

8 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

As promised, here are the intricate details of the interview. For anyone whom it might help:

 

Arrived at the USCIS office 30 min before our scheduled time, went through security, and got in line at the Triage Desk. Got a number like the DMV and went upstairs to the waiting area. FYI, based on my experience, sit in the waiting area on the right if you can, not the portion on the left by the restrooms. Most interviewers come from doors on the right side and a couple people on the left side didn’t hear their number being called.

 

Our number was not called until around 45 min after our scheduled time. Our interviewer asked us a few basic questions and confirmed our IDs. He then asked for a few basic documents: birth certificate from my wife, passport or birth certificate from me, and a certified copy of our marriage certificate (he also asked if he could keep it). At that time, I also volunteered the certificate and divorce documents from my previous marriage. He said that while he didn’t need them, it was a nice to directly confirm the submitted copies in our case file against the originals. From there, he then put us under oath. His first question comment was “The validity of the relationship was clearly established during the K-1 process, do you have any additional evidence to submit?” Based on my research online, the USCIS seems to use a few different categories of evidence to demonstrate validity; as such, I organized all of my evidence into these categories: commingling of finances, cohabitation, communications, co-mingling of personal lives/pictures. We submitted evidence from each of these categories. Interestingly he only wanted a few pictures stating, “I try not to overwhelm the case file with loads of pictures”. Of the pictures we provided, he focused in particular on ones containing each of us with the others parents and pictures from our parents meeting each other, again asking if he could keep the pictures (we agreed he could). As for other evidence provided, we communicate regularly via Google Hangouts, so I provided a number of chat logs and screenshots from Hangouts showing us communicating regular boring typical relationship stuff. I also included some screen captures showing the sheer number of chats. For finances I provided insurance documents, shared credit cards, utility bills, etc. Lastly, for cohabitation, we provided leases with both names on them and evidence that we both receive mail at the same address (USPS Informed Delivery). For commingling of lives, besides the pictures, we also provided a bunch of FB posts where my wife tagged me. Once this was complete, he asked some more basic questions: why did I split from my previous wife, how we first met, he asked my wife what is the name of a close friend of mine who lives here, etc. As we finished up, he asked if there was anything else we wanted to provide. When I asked if he wanted my current tax return, he stated it was not necessary as the financial evidence was more than enough. Additionally, my wife did not need to provide anything related to vaccination or medical exam.

 

When finished, we were not told whether we were approved or not. He gave us a sheet indicating that USCIS was issuing a continuance for additional processing. Frustratingly, this sheet had been printed out before the interview started. He stated that this is pretty much standard right now and that they had all of the documents needed at this time. If they discovered a document was missing they would issue an RFE. He said from there, if approved then we would be notified via mail and in the unlikely event we are denied, the letter would inform us on how to appeal. Furthermore, the continuation gave them up to 120 days to render a verdict. He said truthfully it is seldom that long, but that sometimes they do need that entire time. I was a bit crestfallen at this news, as being on hold indefinitely sucks. I asked him how things went and he stated “Honestly, this was a very basic and straightforward interview”. I interpreted that as either a very good thing or very bad thing. We were rather blah about it afterwards, more worried about the wait. Turns out this wasn’t necessary! Last-night, about 13 hours after the interview, between 12:50am and 1:30am we received no less than SEVEN SMS messages letting us know that our case status has been updated. Checked on egov.uscis.com and sure enough we were approved! The status now states “New Card is Being Produced” I expect the “Welcome to America” Letter to come in the next week, with the card a few days behind it.

8 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

As promised, here are the intricate details of the interview. For anyone whom it might help:

 

Arrived at the USCIS office 30 min before our scheduled time, went through security, and got in line at the Triage Desk. Got a number like the DMV and went upstairs to the waiting area. FYI, based on my experience, sit in the waiting area on the right if you can, not the portion on the left by the restrooms. Most interviewers come from doors on the right side and a couple people on the left side didn’t hear their number being called.

 

Our number was not called until around 45 min after our scheduled time. Our interviewer asked us a few basic questions and confirmed our IDs. He then asked for a few basic documents: birth certificate from my wife, passport or birth certificate from me, and a certified copy of our marriage certificate (he also asked if he could keep it). At that time, I also volunteered the certificate and divorce documents from my previous marriage. He said that while he didn’t need them, it was a nice to directly confirm the submitted copies in our case file against the originals. From there, he then put us under oath. His first question comment was “The validity of the relationship was clearly established during the K-1 process, do you have any additional evidence to submit?” Based on my research online, the USCIS seems to use a few different categories of evidence to demonstrate validity; as such, I organized all of my evidence into these categories: commingling of finances, cohabitation, communications, co-mingling of personal lives/pictures. We submitted evidence from each of these categories. Interestingly he only wanted a few pictures stating, “I try not to overwhelm the case file with loads of pictures”. Of the pictures we provided, he focused in particular on ones containing each of us with the others parents and pictures from our parents meeting each other, again asking if he could keep the pictures (we agreed he could). As for other evidence provided, we communicate regularly via Google Hangouts, so I provided a number of chat logs and screenshots from Hangouts showing us communicating regular boring typical relationship stuff. I also included some screen captures showing the sheer number of chats. For finances I provided insurance documents, shared credit cards, utility bills, etc. Lastly, for cohabitation, we provided leases with both names on them and evidence that we both receive mail at the same address (USPS Informed Delivery). For commingling of lives, besides the pictures, we also provided a bunch of FB posts where my wife tagged me. Once this was complete, he asked some more basic questions: why did I split from my previous wife, how we first met, he asked my wife what is the name of a close friend of mine who lives here, etc. As we finished up, he asked if there was anything else we wanted to provide. When I asked if he wanted my current tax return, he stated it was not necessary as the financial evidence was more than enough. Additionally, my wife did not need to provide anything related to vaccination or medical exam.

 

When finished, we were not told whether we were approved or not. He gave us a sheet indicating that USCIS was issuing a continuance for additional processing. Frustratingly, this sheet had been printed out before the interview started. He stated that this is pretty much standard right now and that they had all of the documents needed at this time. If they discovered a document was missing they would issue an RFE. He said from there, if approved then we would be notified via mail and in the unlikely event we are denied, the letter would inform us on how to appeal. Furthermore, the continuation gave them up to 120 days to render a verdict. He said truthfully it is seldom that long, but that sometimes they do need that entire time. I was a bit crestfallen at this news, as being on hold indefinitely sucks. I asked him how things went and he stated “Honestly, this was a very basic and straightforward interview”. I interpreted that as either a very good thing or very bad thing. We were rather blah about it afterwards, more worried about the wait. Turns out this wasn’t necessary! Last-night, about 13 hours after the interview, between 12:50am and 1:30am we received no less than SEVEN SMS messages letting us know that our case status has been updated. Checked on egov.uscis.com and sure enough we were approved! The status now states “New Card is Being Produced” I expect the “Welcome to America” Letter to come in the next week, with the card a few days behind it.

Thank you for writing of your interview experience.  Good to read that you got your approval w/o having to wait too long.  

 

FINALLY!!!!

My wife and I have gotten our AOS interview notification!!!

Thank you everyone for your updates...they gave my wife and I hope that the process was finally moving along in Seattle.

Good luck to everyone still waiting for their interview, and to those during their interview!

Happy Day!

4 minutes ago, astroboy3545 said:

Congratulations everyone, This is good news indeed.

 

I was looking around the facebook groups and I don't see any groups which cater to people in the Seattle region who are undergoing their adjustment of status. I am wondering if it would be worthwhile to create one so that we can have a more of a common discussion rather than looking for threads here. I do feel we should continue to contribute in the community here but facebook would allow for more focussed feedback with regards to localized information.

 

Would people be interested ? If there is some interest I can create a group and get this process started.

 

It would be nice to know people who are in the same boat and encourage each other..

I remember someone had wanted to start a regional Visa Journey FB group, in regards to immigration issues and questions they had in their area.

If I recall, the idea of a FB group was shot down by many VJ users because we enjoy our level of "privacy" that VJ offers.  Many did not want their real names, immigration story, and images tied with their FB accounts and shared with virtual strangers.



 

2 hours ago, Andsco said:

Everyone!!! We just got a sms about our case and...we got scheduled for our interview!!! We don't know yet when but we hope it will be next month!

Congrats to you guys!  My wife and I are getting excited for our SMS soon too!  

3 hours ago, Rhemalove said:

Hey Everyone

 

We just got a text from USCIS.  Our interview has been booked.  We are just waiting for letter that will be mailed to us to find out our date for interview.  So exciting!!!  The wait is finally over.  Best of luck to everyone whom has waited so long.  Hang in there.  Your time is coming!

This has been a long time coming! Congrats!  

Now my wife and I are excited for ourselves soon too!

On 2/17/2018 at 10:48 AM, Ebunoluwa said:

Same time. At least you will get an automatic 180 extension as long as you have filed your renewal and you do not have to stop working in that time. You can also try to expedite on the basis of financial hardship if the deadline creeps up to the 180 day extension.

@Ebunoluwa -- Does this extension apply to both the EAD and AP if you have a combo card, and you've filed extensions for both EAD and AP?  Or does the extension only apply to the EAD?

44 minutes ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

 

 

 

 

We just received an SMS notice that our interview has been scheduled as well! It seems that maybe they are clearing out a BIT of the backlog in the Seattle Office. Since you asked before about which site: myaccount.uscis.gov has yet to update but egov.uscis.gov has updated. 

Awesome news...thank you for sharing this with us!  

It gives all the AOS Seattle Applicants hope that things are finally moving along!  Good luck to you and us all!

@kevd321

Quick question.  Prior to receiving the "interview scheduled" notice on the USCIS website, were you receiving the  "At this time USCIS cannot provide you with information for your case" notification as seen below?

 

1 hour ago, kevd321 said:

Wooo!! Just logged in to check on my status on the USCIS website and noticed as of today it’s now changed to “interview scheduled”! Hopefully there is no delay in receiving the mailed notification!

YAY! This is awesome news! 

Thanks for giving everyone here the update.  According to our timelines, my wife had her biometrics completed about a month and a half after you.  This is very promising that the Seattle office is moving again.

Good luck with everything moving forward!

4 minutes ago, Rhemalove said:

 

 

Thanks for the upate.  I'm still waiting.  We got our first online notice stating that they were ready to book my interview on September 6th, 2017.  Then sometime Mid-summer it changed to we are booking your interview.  We have a large amount of interviews to book so you may not hear from us right away.  At this time you do not need to do anything. Then Last Friday it changed to the same message as the September 6th message only the date was changed to March 15, 2018.  This is a bit confusing cause the date it was posted was August 24th.  Weird!  Don't know if I should try to contact the office to see about this?  

Anyways that's where we are.  lol Still waiting!

Hi Rhemalove...is there a protocol or specifics on scheduling an in-person InfoPass appointment?  Has anyone reading this from Seattle ever scheduled an InfoPass appointment?  I just want to make sure our application is still in the system.  So crazy.

Today would be 1 year exactly when my wife and I received her NOA1 for her AOS, EAD, AP applications.  We had her biometrics completed last year on 9/19/2017.  We never thought it would take over a year to complete this process. 

We still have no word on my wife's AOS status.  We filed for an EAD/AP combo card renewal, just in case it goes past 11/20/2017 - The day our original EAD/AP combo card was approved.  

Just wanted to catch up with everyone whose AOS applications are processing from the Seattle service center, and see if you guys have had any good news or updates as.

I hope all are doing well...

On 7/18/2018 at 9:51 PM, Rhemalove said:

Just looking at the time lines on the USCIS site for Seattle.   I see they have the time lines have been adjusted from 11 - 17 months now to 10 1/2 month to  23 1/2 months!  That's a huge leap of time!  Wow!

Amazing....

1 minute ago, KimchiLumpia said:

Hey All...Quick question:

My wife completed her biometrics back in Sept 2017 and received her EAD/AP combo card in early November 2017.

Since the EAD/AP combo card is only good for 1 year, how far in advance should we consider applying for a new/extended EAD/AP combo card if we don't hear anything regarding her AOS?

 

Thanks in advance everyone, and good luck and speed to us all...  

 

I think I found the answer to my own question:

Hey All...Quick question:

My wife completed her biometrics back in Sept 2017 and received her EAD/AP combo card in early November 2017.

Since the EAD/AP combo card is only good for 1 year, how far in advance should we consider applying for a new/extended EAD/AP combo card if we don't hear anything regarding her AOS?

Thanks in advance everyone, and good luck and speed to us all...  

 

@Rhemalove - Its been a couple months since posting.  Have you had any update on your case from the Seattle office?  None on my end.

On 3/22/2018 at 8:55 PM, Rhemalove said:

So.... I just heard of someone who just got a letter for their AOS interview in Seattle.   They applied 11 months ago. So I guess that would be in May 2017.   Getting Closer!!!!!

 

Has anyone else seen the new USCIS Home page?   They give more of a guestimate on timeline for Adjustment of Status.  For Seattle it is 11-17 months.  Then they give more information on how this all works.  Interesting!  But still waiting. ~~~ Hopfully it will only take 11 months and not 17!!! Lol!

Thanks for the update! 

@Rhemalove - Any word on your case from the Seattle office?  None yet on my end.

7 hours ago, Rhemalove said:

This is why I set up this forum to be an encourgement  to others in the same boat as us.   I was wondering if they had lost our file as well.  So I sent an email asking questions.  My online file says we are ready to book an appointment for an interview since September 6, 2017.  I was worried they forgot or things got lost or got lost in the mail.  But their response was that they will send a letter when they are ready to book an interview. So clearly our file is still there we are just in the line up. How ever long that is. Sigh!

 

My wife and I made a call recently inquiring about our AOS application.  The rep said we're still with-in the normal processing time frame yadda yadda yadda.  She basically told us the same limited information that is found on the USCIS website.  She was rather quick to hang up the phone on us too.  I imagine thousands of people call everyday with the same questions.

Patience is very much a virtue in the immigration waiting game!

A good rule of thumb when it comes to immigration/K1 Visas:  Don't buy your airline tickets, book your wedding hall, or make any major wedding or financial decisions until your Visa is in-hand.  This goes for EAD/AP as well.

There are tons of horror stories on VJ from couples that tried to cement plans based on the timelines of members here.

Good luck to you and yours!

OP...my wife and I have a very similar timeline to yours.  My wife (fiance at the time) is from Canada, our field office is in Seattle, and we are waiting for our AOS interview as well.

It looks like you and your fiance had your biometrics completed about 3 weeks ahead of us.

Many times I worry that the USCIS lost our file or mailed us important correspondence that the post office has misplaced.  I find hope seeing my wife and I are not the only ones still waiting.

Good luck to us all...I'll be following this thread hoping you get your good news!  

On 2/21/2018 at 6:53 AM, Wes and Louisa said:

That's really helpful - thanks so much! So they normally give you some options rather than setting a date and hoping it works for you? 

This is correct.  In our situation, the only days available for K1 Visa interview was on Wednesdays. 

If you haven't already, make sure to read the Montreal consulate reviews section here on VJ:
http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Canada

VJ members have posted their interview experiences, the questions they were asked, and over-all impression of the whole interview process.  My review was posted there sometime around April 2017.

Good luck to you and yours!

3 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Depends on how independent you are to be honest.  Being in an LDR sucks, whether you are married or engaged that doesnt change that fact. Hubs and i missed our first two anniversaries together.  The first due to immigration and the 2nd because he had work training in another state. 

But I'm pretty independent.  I needed to be able to travel immediately for family reasons but I wanted to be able to contribute financially as well.  I moved south because my husbands job paid twice what mine did.  But within a month I had EI income coming in and working soon after.  At the time EAD took 90 days but now its 4-6 months.  So that 4-6 months without a drivers license, income, work, inability to travel, etc.  If you're a housespouse or have a new baby, maybe it is not so bad, but as someone who is used to being independent, it can be horrendous and very hard on a relationship.  

Sometimes though people just cant imagine starting a marriage not living together and that trumps anything uncomfortable.  

 My Canadian wife felt exactly the same way!  We waited 4 months for her EAD.  She's a career oriented woman, and it drove her crazy not being able to work for 4 months.  This would be one of the biggest drawbacks of the K1 Visa route.  

If I'm not mistaken, CR1 holders can work right away as soon as they arrive in the states? If so, this is a huge benefit both financially for a couple as well as mentally.  

Everything above, as well to say - My Canadian wife (fiance at the time) went to her local RCMP in Vancouver BC requesting her police certificate for immigration.  Three staff members at the RCMP had no idea what she was requesting.  Luckily, a friend that had gone through the K1 Visa immigration process a few months prior texted my wife a picture of what the police certificate for immigration looks like.  An RCMP supervisor saw the image, and knew right away what we were requesting.  We got her police certificate with-in a few minutes.

I've attached a picture of what the police certificate header looks like below.  Hope this helps!

As others have stated, most likely - your fiance can still attend the interview and get an approval on the condition the Canadian consulate receives an updated police certificate.  It would be like getting a RFE, then getting everything cleared once the evidence is received.

If it were my fiance, I'd ask them to go to their local RCMP station and see if they can request an updated police certificate for immigration purposes - regardless if my fiance had a prior criminal record or not.  

My Canadian wife (fiance at the time) was able to get her police certificate for immigration purposes at her local RCMP the same day - granted she did not have a prior criminal record.   

The police certificate for immigration has the header as the image I attached below.  The reason I attached this image, is because some RCMP staff have no idea what a police certificate for immigration was.  Once a  supervisor saw this header, he knew exactly what were requesting and how to get it quickly.   

Its worth a shot.  

Good luck to you and your fiance!

 

After an approved interview in Montreal, you are to surrender your passport at the Canadian consulate, and they will mail it back to you in 3-5 business days with your K1 Visa physically attached inside the passport pages.

With this being said, I have not read anywhere on this or any other immigration website that your Nexus card can be used in substitution of your passport for this purpose - as there is no where on your Nexus card to physically attach the K1 Visa onto.

Safe bet - get your passport renewed.

Good luck!