Apfel

We had an infopass appointment where we were essentially told some reviewing officers aren’t familiar with international birth certificates.... interesting since that’s their job! What I recommend is printing the Iran Reciprocity page from travel.state.gov showing that a Shenasnameh is the birth certificate for Iran. With the translated copy and the reciprocity printout, it was accepted. 

Approved on the spot!! What a relief 

Our interview lasted about 45 minutes and the interviewer was very calm. They asked many questions from the applications, the original forms were right in front of them, such as addresses, parents' names, etc. The only questions that surprised us were about his hometown and name, as they are very significant for his country and religion. We explained he is no longer religious and neither am I, which is something that drew us closer together. I recommend being over prepared with documents - we had a huge bag filled with documentation from our AOS application, wedding album, new evidence after marriage, etc and they seemed impressed.
 
They asked for our additional evidence and I handed them a stack of labeled papers including financial information, photos, etc but they didn't look at any of it except a Christmas card from my parents that included our marriage announcement on it. I suggest bringing evidence of your intertwined lives such as mail sent to both of you at an address, family greeting cards, etc. 
 
We were approved on the spot after the interview and given a paper! Our online case status updated a couple of hours later.
 
Due to a travel emergency we got the green card stamp in my husband's passport after the interview in the Infopass area and are traveling to see his family on Thursday!! This was a many hours long ordeal however and not something anyone can do right after the interview. But it is possible.

Our interview lasted about 45 minutes and the interviewer was very calm. They asked many questions from the applications, the original forms were right in front of them, such as addresses, parents' names, etc. The only questions that surprised us were about his hometown and name, as they are very significant for his country and religion. We explained he is no longer religious and neither am I, which is something that drew us closer together. I recommend being over prepared with documents - we had a huge bag filled with documentation from our AOS application, wedding album, new evidence after marriage, etc and they seemed impressed.
 
They asked for our additional evidence and I handed them a stack of labeled papers including financial information, photos, etc but they didn't look at any of it except a Christmas card from my parents that included our marriage announcement on it. I suggest bringing evidence of your intertwined lives such as mail sent to both of you at an address, family greeting cards, etc. 
 
We were approved on the spot after the interview and given a paper! Our online case status updated a couple of hours later.
 
Due to a travel emergency we got the green card stamp in my husband's passport after the interview in the Infopass area and are traveling to see his family on Thursday!! This was a many hours long ordeal however and not something anyone can do right after the interview. But it is possible.

I finally have my interview scheduled for Feb 28! What should I bring and is there any thing I should pay attention to? Thank you all!

Thanks! I’ll wrote a more detailed post tomorrow, it was definitely a positive experience overall 

Approved on the spot!! What a relief 

Approved on the spot!! What a relief 

Approved on the spot!! What a relief 

Approved on the spot!! What a relief 

Our interview is tomorrow, I'm organizing and printing additional evidence and am so excited! Any last minute advice, things to not forget to bring etc?

Just got back from visiting home using AP. Easy as a breeze. 

Greetings to all my friends. I just received my interview letter. No update on the USCIS portal just a letter from 12/19/2017. Took 7 days for it to get to me. The interview is scheduled for 01/24/2018 which would make it 303 days from my initial day of filing. The only thing that makes me worry is that my interview letter states "appear for initial interview"! What does it mean would there be more than once? hence initial?
 
Good luck to all.
 

Got my interview notice today for Jan 23 in SF. 
 
WOOT!

For those of you who, like me, wonder why the processing times haven't updated since September 30 - they post all the data every 3 months in a very detailed spreadsheet, so we should expect an update after December 31:
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-form-i-485-application-adjustment-status
 
If you click the first link, you can see how many applications each field office received, approved, denied, and still has pending. It makes me feel like I know a bit more about the reason it's been so slow for us.

Interview update!  It went pretty well.  Our appointment was at 1:00 and we arrived about 25 minutes early and there was about a 5 minute wait to get through security and metal detectors, so we were about 20 minutes early when we arrived in the waiting room.  We checked in and the receptionist asked us for any new evidence we had; so we gave her our updated affidavit of support, new pictures, proof of vacations we've taken together, life insurance and health insurance docs, etc.  She took them and the interview notice and didn't give them back.

We waited until about 1:05 or 1:10 until we were called by our IO.  He didn't ask for any documents other than our ID's and he didn't seem to have any of the new evidence with him.  After he swore us in he immediately said that he didn't really have any questions for me, and "all of the bona fide proof is out of the way," which set us at ease because it seems he didn't think we were a case at high risk of being fraudulent.  He then asked my husband some very basic questions about our address, previous addresses, full names and birth dates of both of us and his parents, when we got married, how long we've lived in Connecticut, and his new job.  He seemed familiar with our city so asked us a bit about the area we live in and where we work.  We were both nervous, which I think showed, but we answered all the questions and had a bit of a chat about the area we live in, so it seemed pretty laid back.
 
He then had my husband sign a couple forms declaring what he said was true and promising to sign up for the draft.  Then he gave us a piece of paper that read the following:
 
"You have just completed your interview.  USCIS is unable to complete your case at this time.  Your case is being continued until a final decision can be made.  Your case is being held for review.  At this time, USCIS does not require any further any further information or documents from you.  Should further information or documents be required, you will receive a notice in the mail.  We may also schedule you for another interview, and you will receive another notice in the mail.  Otherwise, a final decision will be mailed once your case is completed.  Please allow no less than 120 days before making a status inquiry on your case."
 
This threw us for a loop because we had heard stories of people getting approved on the spot, and he seemed very laid back and not worried about our case during the interview.  We asked him if there was a timeframe for when a decision would be made, and he said they can't officially give a timeline but it should be "soon."

We're not sure how to feel.  It seems like it went well, but most of the stories I've read on here, the IOs have unofficially told applicants that they've been approved before they left.  So we feel a bit disheartened and hope it won't be several months or require another interview.
 
Did anyone else get the notice about the case being held for review after the interview? We weren't expecting it but when we looked it up, it seems to be pretty common at certain offices.  Apparently sometimes they give them out to everyone if they're backlogged or require more time to review the additional evidence we gave them (which we didn't even see the IO look at.)  Apparently some people are approved within a few days after receiving the notice, and for some people it's months.  Does anyone have insight?
 
Either way, we're glad it's over! 

Our interview is this Thursday and we can't wait!  We've been collecting evidence and making photocopies for weeks now, and we now have two neat folders stuffed full of evidence and documents.  Now we just have to sit and wait.   We're both very nervous but also excited.  
 
Best of luck to everyone still waiting!  I hope you all hear good news soon.

For those of you who, like me, wonder why the processing times haven't updated since September 30 - they post all the data every 3 months in a very detailed spreadsheet
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-form-i-485-application-adjustment-status
 
If you click the first link, you can see how many applications each field office received, approved, denied, and still has pending. It makes me feel like I know a bit more about the reason it's been so slow for us.

For those of you who, like me, wonder why the processing times haven't updated since September 30 - they post all the data every 3 months in a very detailed spreadsheet
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-form-i-485-application-adjustment-status
 
If you click the first link, you can see how many applications each field office received, approved, denied, and still has pending. It makes me feel like I know a bit more about the reason it's been so slow for us.

This is interesting, crucial and helpful information. I which more people could see this or were aware of this. Thank you so much for sharing. 
 
To put it in some perspective, I did a little quick math - Since Oct 1, 2016 (beginning of 1st quarter) through Sept 30, 2017 (end of their 4th quarter) :
 
I-485 applications family based : 
 
Received: 365,441
Approved: 275,620 (this is not necessarily from the above number of applications received in the 2017 year, just in general how many they have approved in that time frame)
Denied: 36,976 (once again, this could include applications from 2016 and even 2015 depending on the case)
 
That is a huge amount of applications to go through and this is only family based: I agree, they should work on their communication and on their updates but this puts me at a little ease knowing this people are having to thoroughly review this many applications. It takes time. 
 
And if you look at your individual city, the numbers are a little less overwhelming lol 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Got my Case Approved today:
 
PD May 02, 2017
Biometrics May 18, 2017
EAD: August 20, 2017
Interview: September 24, 2017 - Got two RFEs in the interview
RFE Received November 1, 2017
Case Approved: December 14, 2017
 
FYI for those who got, might get, RFE, they didn't even change the status of case online after their received my response. As of today, My case is still pending, which is crazy! 

Working all day and forget about my application process. To my surprise when I check my mailbox, receive mail from USCIS that they approved my green card, thank you lord. Finally after 9 months of waiting. Hang in there guys.

It's C9 through family based AOS

It's C9 through family based AOS

I’m in the same boat. Check out my post history if you want more details - no interview yet, but will be traveling soon on AP. Not too worried because the order has waivers specifically stated for AP, those who have been working and living in the IS, etc