MapleLeaf29

53 minutes ago, doctor_cle said:

The online case status remains unchanged on both websites, which is what is confusing me even more. Through the image of the USPS mail, I am able to see my receipt number and received date, which correspond to my i485, so I know it has something to do with that...

When my husband went in for his InfoPass appointment, the officer said that the computer system has a lot of glitches, so the websites don't always update correctly.  We've had a lot more luck lately with the old case tracker than with the new website.  Sorry to hear that the websites are not providing any clarification!

11 minutes ago, doctor_cle said:

I am away traveling, but my USPS Informed Delivery shows a notice from the Minneapolis St Paul FO delivered to my mailbox today. I already received my Interview Appt notice (from NBC) on November 11th and my interview is scheduled for December 12th, so I wonder what is the purpose of this notice. I dont have access to my mailbox for another week, so wondering if anybody else got a similar notice before the interview. 

We only received our interview notice; we did not receive anything else.  Have you checked your online case status to see if anything was mailed to you?

3 minutes ago, Hello729 said:

Sorry for the dump question but what’s I-94?  How do I get it?  

The I-94 is your record of entries into the United States.  Here is a link to the explanation on the USCIS website:

https://www.uscis.gov/I-94information

Here is the direct link to access your I-94.  You will need your passport number:

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

On a different note, make sure you add your name to the mailbox before applying for your SSN.  My husband's social security card was sent back because his name wasn't on the mailbox, so they didn't think he lived here (apparently, it is illegal to deliver a social security card if the person's name isn't on the mailbox, which makes a lot of sense).  We called the post office and they said all we had to do was write both of our full names on a label and stick it inside the mailbox.  We did that and also talked to our mailman so he knew that both of us lived at this address.  The Social Security Office sent the card again and it was delivered with no problem.  

526 days after applying for AOS, my husband's green card arrived!!!!

I just realized that I never posted our full experience at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Field Office.  Here it is:

My husband had his AOS interview on October 3rd.  We arrived at the field office 45 minutes before our interview, but we could not find parking anywhere.  We live in Minneapolis and are used to driving and parking here, so we were surprised that it was so incredibly difficult to find a spot -- every parking lot and every space was full.  

After 15-20 minutes of circling around, we finally found a spot in a parking lot, but there was no one at the pay station.  After wandering around the parking lot for awhile looking for an automated pay station, we realized that we needed to move the car.  We thought we saw another parking lot two blocks away, so my husband said he would move the car while I started walking to the field office.  He had a hard time getting to that parking lot because of the one-way streets, but he finally found a parking spot at the Minneapolis public library.  By the time he made it to the field office, he was out of breath from running for blocks and almost crying from the stress of looking for a parking spot.  (This was probably the most stressful 45 minutes of our entire lives.)  We dashed inside and made it to the field office at exactly our appointment time.  We went through the metal detector, gave our letter to the person at the desk, and took a seat in the waiting room.  It was almost empty.  About 15 minutes later, we were called for our interview.

The officer began by asking for our passports.  He also looked at my husband's driver's license, his EAD/AP card, and his I-94.  He also asked to see my husband's most recent passport stamp.  Then he asked for evidence that we were living as a married couple.  We gave him the following:

- A notarized letter from our bank verifying that we have joint accounts.

- Bank statements with both of our names.

- Health insurance cards with both of our names.

- Car insurance with both of our names.

- Condo insurance with both of our names.

- Life insurance policies (with the other spouse named as beneficiary).

- Phone bills showing both of our names and phone numbers.

We also offered to give him travel documents showing that we had gone to Europe together this summer and cards from family and friends.  However, he said that the documents we had given him were enough of a paper trail.

He then asked my husband the required yes/no questions.  He reminded me that I was not allowed to answer any of them.  

After this, he told us that he would ask us some questions that both of us were allowed to answer.  He began by asking us how we met.  He took notes as we answered.  We told him the story of how we met, including when we were introduced to each others' families and when we got engaged.  After that, he told us that he was recommending us for approval.  He printed out a letter stating that he was recommending us for approval, and I think he had us both sign a copy.  He also told us about the ROC process and reminded us that we would need to file for ROC in two years.  He then told us to expect our green card within 2-8 weeks.

He then asked to see some of the pictures we had brought.  We showed him a photo book we had created that told the story of our whole relationship: our first meeting, spending time with each others' families, additional visits, engagement, more visits, marriage, and our first year as a married couple.  He seemed to really enjoy looking through the book and asked us a lot of questions. 

The whole interview was a very positive experience.  The only stressful part was finding a parking spot!!!  I later talked with a coworker, who is also an immigrant to the United States, about how difficult it was to find parking.  She said, "We never try to park near the field office.  We always take a taxi!"  We had read some reviews of the Minneapolis/St. Paul field office before our interview and no one mentioned having a problem with parking, so maybe we went on an extremely bad day, but we thought we would mention it in case it is helpful for someone else.  When my husband returned to the field office a few weeks later for an InfoPass appointment, he took an Uber.  He said it was wonderful to be dropped off at the door and not to have to worry about parking!  

Hopefully this information is helpful for someone here.  

Our green card is almost here!!!  It was supposed to be delivered today, but we had a different postal worker because of the holidays, and they couldn't find the entrance to our condo building.  (The entrance is not very clearly marked.)  We called the post office and they are holding the envelope so we can pick it up in person tomorrow.  We are thankful for tracking information so we knew what the problem was right away.  We are also excited to be so close after so many months of waiting!!!

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for all of your advice and suggestions.  Eight days after my husband's InfoPass appointment, our online case status changed to "approved".  We also reached out to Senator Amy Klobuchar, so we're not sure whether the change in status happened because of the InfoPass or because Amy Klobuchar intervened on our behalf.  Either way, we are so happy to see progress!!!!!

44 days after my husband's green card interview, our status finally changed to "approved"!!!!!  We are so glad that we reached out to Senator Amy Klobuchar.  This is the second time she has helped us and we are beyond grateful.  

Last week, I mentioned that my husband had an Infopass appointment to ask about his green card (our interview was on October 3rd and we were recommended for approval).  At the Infopass appointment, he learned that the officer who interviewed us had forgotten to click "approved" in the computer system when we had our interview.  The Infopass officer said that she was not able to click "approved" for us and that the officer who conducted our interview would have go to back into our account and do it.  

We have been checking our online case status every day and so far, it has not changed.  Our case status is still "Waiting to be Scheduled for an Interview" on USCIS MyAccount and "My Interview was Scheduled" on the old Case Tracker.  We are trying to figure out how long we should wait before setting up another Infopass appointment to inquire about an update.  One month?  Two months?  A few weeks?  I would love any ideas you might have about when to make another Infopass appointment.

We know that USCIS is swamped and clicking "approved" in our account probably isn't at the top of their priority list, but it seems like it would be fairly quick to fix.  We don't want to bother them with excessive Infopass appointments, but at the same time, they made an error and we would like my husband to receive his green card.  

On 11/10/2018 at 3:10 PM, TM92 said:

Why didn't he submit his EAD/AP renewal in May 2018? https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/employment-authorization-document:

Because we had booked a trip to Spain (I received a grant to travel and study there).  We thought about having me go to Spain by myself, but then we decided we really wanted to go together, so we waited to submit his renewal until July.  We have a 6-month grace period where he can continue working while he is waiting for the EAD/AP renewal, and we are hoping that his green card will arrive before that 6 months is over.

I want to add that if it takes longer than a year to schedule your green card interview, you will also need to stay in the United States during your AP renewal.  This is a recent change, so it is not something my husband and I considered.  Be aware that there may be more than one long chunk of time when you cannot leave the United States.  Here is our timeline as an example:

May 2017 - fiancé entered the United States on a k-1 visa

June 2017 - we got married and submitted paperwork for AOS, EAD, and AP

November 2017 - husband received EAD/AP card

July 2018 - submitted EAD/AP renewal paperwork; still waiting for renewed EAD/AP card

October 2018 - green card interview; still waiting for green card

Total time without being able to leave the United States:

Entry --> EAD/AP card: five and a half months

EAD/AP card renewal: have not yet received new card; we have been waiting for four months

Green card: we had our interview five weeks ago and were approved, but we have not yet received our card

Total time without being able to leave the United States: nine and a half months (and counting).  We had a straightforward case with no RFE's.  If you go the k-1 visa route, be prepared for extended periods of time where you cannot leave the United States.

4 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Kcp,

 

there is really no way to know. It took a very long time for your case to reach the "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" stage. Ours took 39 days to get to that point. Did you get RFEs?

 

Best, 

 

USC4SPOUSE

Ours also took a really long time to get to the "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" stage.  We sent our AOS paperwork in June of 2017 and didn't get "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" until March of 2018.

I contacted my insurance company a few weeks before my fiancé entered the United States.  I explained the situation and told them we had a wedding date set for June 1st.  They told me his coverage would start the day of our wedding and even sent me his insurance card.  We applied for his SSN a few weeks later and called the insurance company as soon as we knew the number.  I was kind of nervous about the whole process, but it ended up working very smoothly.

Thank you to everyone for your advice about our green card.  My husband had his InfoPass appointment today.  At the appointment, they said that the officer who conducted our interview forgot to click "approved" in the computer system.  Our file was moved to the storage room for approved cases, so if we hadn't made an InfoPass appointment, we don't know how long it would have been before someone touched our case again.  We are so glad we did not listen to the advice we received over the phone (wait five months and then open an inquiry), and that instead we made an InfoPass appointment.

We have tried to approach this process with patience and understanding (especially since we knew our case was being handled by one of the busiest field offices in the country), but we are also learning that we have to be proactive and seek answers if something doesn't seem right.

The InfoPass officer sent a memo to the officer who conducted our interview telling him to click "approved" in the system, so we are hopeful that we will see an update on our green card soon.  Thank you again for all of your advice.  

Thank you to everyone for your advice about our green card.  My husband had his InfoPass appointment today.  At the appointment, they said that the officer who conducted our interview forgot to click "approved" in the computer system.  Our file was moved to the storage room for approved cases, so if we hadn't made an InfoPass appointment, we don't know how long it would have been before someone touched our case again.  We are so glad we did not listen to the advice we received over the phone (wait five months and then open an inquiry), and that instead we made an InfoPass appointment.

We have tried to approach this process with patience and understanding (especially since we knew our case was being handled by one of the busiest field offices in the country), but we are also learning that we have to be proactive and seek answers if something doesn't seem right.

The InfoPass officer sent a memo to the officer who conducted our interview telling him to click "approved" in the system, so we are hopeful that we will see an update on our green card soon.  Thank you again for all of your advice.  

On 11/3/2018 at 9:24 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

It sounds like your husband spoke to a tier 1 rep. Tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 or 4. None of them are Immigration Services Officers. Tier 2 reps do have more access to your file but that's about it. If you want to speak to an Immigration Services officer, then Infopass is your best bet. 

 

You're adjusting from k-1. The AOS interview is supposed to be more of a formality. The Embassy vetted you already AND you held up your end of the deal by getting married within 90 days of entering the US.

 

According to what I have found online, there is no time limit to AOS. This link might be old BUT according to it, there is no time limit to adjudicate AOS. There is a time limit -more of a goal- of 180 days to adjudicate N-400s but not I-485s. https://www.uscis.gov/archive/blog/2012/05/three-myths-adjustment-of-status

Thank you!  That is helpful.  We have made an InfoPass appointment for this week, so we'll see what they say.

19 hours ago, natsusnowy1204 said:

Sorry for that:( Do you still have combo card? Maybe you two could go traveling by that card, I used it twice for traveling before I received my green card.

Our combo card expired this week.  

29 minutes ago, K & R said:

I’m sorry to hear all of this  I completely understand. Infopass is a great idea and the best step forward at this point.

 

have you checked your status on both the new and the old sites or the app? For some people the old site updates when the app and the new one don’t. Ours updates on the app and on the new site but on the old site it still says “Fingerprint Review Completed”. It’s worth a shot if you haven’t check all of them.

 

 

Thank you for the advice!  We have been using the new website, but we will check the old website and the app.  We hadn't thought of doing that.  

Edit: The old case tracker says "My interview was scheduled", which means that it is more current than the new website.  We will be checking both from now on.  Thank you so much for the advice!

1 minute ago, Ketsuban said:

Did you speak with tier 2 during that call? The people who pick up the call are customer service reps from a third party vendor whose job is to read the website and file service requests. Request tier 2 next time. Not sure if they're third party too, but they tend to hold more power and access to things. 

I'm pretty sure he spoke with Tier 1.  We will request Tier 2 next time.  Thank you!

17 minutes ago, K & R said:

Sorry to hear about this! We had our GC interview on 10/31/18. We were told we were approved and given info about ROC and told it would be 2-3 weeks before recieving my husbands green card. He also printed a paper that we both signed acknowledging that the officer explain ROC etc. is that the printed paper you are referring to? You shouldn’t have gotten I-797 at the interview. Also, have you checked your case status online? Ours changed to “card is being produced” the next day and then “case approved” the day after that. Still no card mailed for us. I know it’s been said a lot but it’s alwsys important with immigration stuff to not book unless you have card/visa in hand. Good luck!

The letter did not have anything to do with ROC.  It basically said when we had our interview and that our case was being recommended for approval.  It was not an I-797, but the officer called it an "approval letter", which is why we were confused.  

We have been checking our case status online every few days, but it is still stuck at "ready to be scheduled for an interview".  When my husband called USCIS, there were times when the employee he spoke with seemed to think he was still waiting for his interview (I condensed their conversation in my original post), so we wonder if our interview has even been updated in their computer system.  This is one of the reasons we decided to make an InfoPass appointment.

I think one of our main points of frustration is that our field office is swamped, so it took 15 months to even get our green card interview.  We are discouraged by what seems to be another delay, concerned about my husband's driver's license status check, and sad that we may not be able to see his family at Christmas.  We are hopeful that the InfoPass appointment this week will get things moving.  We would also feel better if our online account reflected where we actually are in this process.  

6 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

Unlikely that the EAD will be renewed now that the interview has taken place. 

 

@MapleLeaf29 Here's another option. Make an Infopass appointment and bring the approval recommendation letter with your husband's passport and flight itinerary. Tell them you need to travel soon and want the I-551 stamp in the passport. It is the same as an actual GC. They will then HAVE to approve you guys in their system first and this will trigger the card production. Then they will stamp the passport and it will allow you to re-enter the US after international travel. Just be aware that CBP must take you to secondary inspection to verify the stamp and your status at the POE. We had to travel 2 days to Canada (my home country) after our interview and this is what we did. We came back without any issues. 

That is super helpful.  He has an InfoPass appointment this week, so we will bring his flight itinerary.  We plan to play it really safe by waiting until the green card to travel outside the country, but if the stamp triggers green card production, that is well worth it.  Thank you for the advice!

Just now, Ann&James said:

Nothing is as it seems with this immigration process. It's unfortunate that you booked your ticket before green card was in hand. You never know with uscis, despite what they say you may get your green card in the next couple of weeks or you may have to wait longer. Read where someone got approval at interview and waited almost a year to get greencard. Goodluck with your process and hope you get your greencard sooner than later.

We did get travel insurance, so the plane tickets should be okay.  We're just feeling so frustrated with the whole process.

1 minute ago, H&T said:

That's a big disadvantage of K1. Right now you can't travel out of state until GC in hand or the AP. Possible at the Inforpass, you can asked USCIS for expedited AP.

That's what we are hoping.  We're not sure if the AP renewal card is still being processed, since we have heard that they stop processing renewals when you have your green card interview.  We are confused because other people at our field office have had the green card in hand within 1-2 weeks of their interview.  Our interviewing officer said everything was in order, so we went ahead and booked our plane tickets after the interview thinking that the green card would come in a few weeks.  We do have travel insurance, so we can cancel the tickets if we need to, but my husband is really sad that we can't visit his family.  We are also concerned about his driver's license status check, since his EAD/AP card is now expired and we don't have a green card yet.

11 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Yikes! You didnt apply for EAD/AP concurrently with your I485 which would have been approved in 4-6 months?

We did.  We submitted our paperwork for the whole package (I485, EAD, AP) in June of 2017.  We received EAD/AP in November of 2017, but since it is now November of 2018, the AP is expired.  We submitted our renewal paperwork for EAD/AP this July, but we have not received our new cards yet.  We have heard that they stop processing renewal cards when you have your green card interview -- we're not sure if this is true or not.  My husband is going to ask about this at the InfoPass appointment.

6 minutes ago, H&T said:

Since you not apply for EAD/AP,  you have to wait until you have GC to travel.

We did apply for EAD/AP.  We received the EAD/AP card in November of 2017, so it has now expired.  We submitted our renewal paperwork for EAD/AP, but we have not received the renewed cards yet.