huko

well that's surprising considering its in the DC area and things here are incredibly inefficient because its all government lol
 
 i know right? hahaha thats a stable gov job though, probably with great benefits too. my coworkers and i were just joking about becoming bus drivers in DC cuz apparently they could get paid over $100k

I have thought about this too because we live in the same city as the NBC, haha. We drive by it all the time. 

Also, if they scan all the documents, there must be a machine that does it for you. I can't imagine a person having to feed 100 pages through and scan it all, but you never know!!

Maybe that's why it takes so long 😂 feeding all these pages into a scanner 1 by 1...
 
At my AOS interview I saw my folder that the officer had and it looked like it contained all the originals of everything I had submitted. I'd sure like to see how these guys operate

putting us all in the same post since our cases are all at YSC

Yay Potomac filers!!

Legally you are required to carry your green card on you and will also be required to carry the extension letter, you should also continue to carry the expired green card because it has your photo on the card and biometrics. Per the USCIS website: " If you are a permanent resident age 18 or older, you are required to have a valid Green Card in your possession at all times." Which extends to any document proving your LPR status.
 
This is governed by Sections 264(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which states: "Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d). Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both."

I just received my 18-month extension letter.
 
Here's the timeline for me:
7/11 petition package delivered to Lewisville, TX
7/16 called USCIS and got a receipt number for online tracking
7/17 check cashed
7/19 received extension letter

Hi all  I don’t recognize anybody here cuz my crowd is probably all in the April 2019 thread lol (I kind of procrastinated for way too long - could’ve done it back in April since my green card is expiring on 7/25)
 
FedEx delivered my ROC package to Lewisville, TX on 7/11 and it was signed by “brobinson”. I didn’t opt for e-notification, haven’t received any notice, and my check hasn’t been cashed yet. I know it’s only been 3 business days but I’m just kinda worried since my card is expiring on 7/25.
 
Is it pointless to call USCIS now for updates since they have neither cashed my check nor sent out any notice yet?

Thank you so much for the tip, Ophelia27  I was so worried cuz I sent out my package only two weeks before my card’s expiration date 😛
 
I just called USCIS. They hung up three times but eventually put me on the waitlist and I was able to reach a Hayden after 35 minutes. They gave me a receipt number and told me that my receipt notice had been sent to their printer and should be printed out within 2 days and mailed soon after. The guy on the phone says that the receipt notice that I’m expecting should generally automatically come with the 18-month extension letter. My check still hasn’t been cashed yet but he says it will likely be in the next couple of days.
 
I checked the status of my receipt number on USCIS website and it says “Case Was Received”.

Mine was received in TX on July 11th and my check wasn't cashed till today nor did I receive a notice in the mail or text/email. I called them yesterday and they were actually able to confirm that everything was received and is being processed. I asked for my receipt number and was provided with one and was told that my receipt notice was issued yesterday 7/15 and should be getting it in the mail in the next 15 days. I would say go for it. 
For quick access to a representative and not having to struggle figuring out the menu, I found this on google and I was able to get through after I was on hold for 35 minutes.
Call 1-800-375-5283; Press 1 to continue in English; Press 1 for case status; Press 2 if you can't locate your receipt number; Press 2 to connect to a USCIS representative.

Hi everybody, 
 
My spouse and I currently live in DC metro (local office is Baltimore) and are processing my AOS here. We would love to connect with other people in the area who are doing the same thing - either waiting for an update from AOS application, or if you have gotten your green card already  
 
anyone from the area want to chat and share stories?

EAD is about 3 months and then you wait FOREVER, kidding, 7-9 months

Ok, so let me review what happened in the last month and hopefully this will be helpful.
 
May 2016, filed I485 together with I-130/131/765.....etc. on family based and receipts received.
Jun 2016, Bio finger prints
Mar 2017, interview, was told to expect GC in 4 months.
Apr 2017, welcome letter received
Apr 2017, case was reopened
Apr2017-Jul 2017: called customer services second layer support four times, was told no information available about why case reopened, just wait.
Jun 2017 first time SR
Jul 2017 SR reply letter received said case was reopened and is under process but no explanation why case reopened and no time frame available
Jul 2017 first time meeting Baltimore field office, was told no reason can be provided and go back to wait for another 2-3months
Aug 2017 second time SR
Aug 2017 second time meeting Baltimore field office, luckily met a very responsible and very helpful officer at counter. He tracked down my file and told me the interview officer didn't follow the correct process. So he will help but to get it move he needed my updated medical report. 
Aug 2017 second SR request reply no information available (this was received after the field officer explained to me and offered help! I am speechless)
Aug 2017 updated medical report provided, cool officer tried to approve but system wouldn't let him. He told me to come back the second day and he will figure it out.
 
And he did. Now that system shows GC under production. I insisted to get my passport stamped at the window just in case.....  :-)
 
My lesson learned:
1\Case was reopened for no reason in Apr. I shouldn't have waited till Jul to meet Baltimore field office. 
2\I shouldn't have wasted time to try to get any support from customer service phone call. Now look back, they didn't do anything. And they delayed the whole process because they insist that I should wait for the so called "processing time".
 
What I did right:
After the first time meeting Baltimore field officer in Jul, I didn't listen to his advice to wait for another 2-3months....I decided to keep checking with them as much as I could because I realized that my case was probably just left aside and being forgotten.
 
Good luck to everyone, hope my experience can be helpful to you.
 
 

guess what i just found in the mail  my green card! hooray this is only less than a week from when my status changed to "card was mailed to me". impressive for baltimore lol
 
i'm a december 2016 filer and somehow my application got processed totally within the normal timeframe and no drama so that's really a lot of luck! ive only had to contact congressman for my EAD and they were as helpful as finding me the USPS tracking number for it.
 
now time to get a new social security and renew my drivers license. well hello MVA
 
i will definitely still stick around in the forum and contribute as much as i can because i've learned so much from everybody here throughout my process!! best of luck to you guys  

Hi everybody, 
 
My spouse and I currently live in DC metro (local office is Baltimore) and are processing my AOS here. We would love to connect with other people in the area who are doing the same thing - either waiting for an update from AOS application, or if you have gotten your green card already  
 
anyone from the area want to chat and share stories?

just got back from our interview (december 2016 filer). the interview was scheduled for 10:45am. we weren't sure how early we needed to be there so we arrived at 9am only to realize we couldn't check in until 30min before our scheduled time lol... luckily there weren't a lot of people and we got called in by a 35yo-ish female officer at 10:48am to the actual interview. 
 
there wasn't any major surprise at the interview, although it took a lot longer than we initially expected. it lasted a whole 40min lol that was so different from what i've read on the forum. but then i feel like maybe it wouldn't take as long for other applicants because my husband and i are just extra talkative and love going into all the details...
 
officer at first asked us for our IDs & passports, and if we had any documents that we wanted to give her. so we gave her our latest 2 joint bank statements, lease agreement, 2 phone bills, 2 utility bills, 3 pay stubs, 2 health insurance claims, 2016 taxes that we jointly filed, 1 original copy of our marriage certificate, and 20 pictures of us together that i took from a few trips across the country that we went on during the past year. i have no idea if we really needed to give her any of these so maybe you guys don't need to prepare them all. 
 
officer was really strict to the forms. she had our entire package on her desk and a red marker on her hand. we got asked a whole bunch of questions (at least 20 no kidding) and they were mostly just information that we had filled out in our application package. for each answer, she checks it off on the application papers if our answer matches what we originally put in the forms.
 
here are the questions i can think of that she asked:
(1) each other's full name and date of birth; parent's full names;
(2) had both of us list out all addresses we lived in during the last 5 years as well as our employment situation (i listed out mine and my husband listed out his);
(3) when was the last time i (beneficient) entered into the country, on what visa, and what port of entry i came in from;
(4) how did we meet; who started the conversation (since we met on tinder lol) and what did we say to each other first; how long did it take from starting conversation to actually meeting up; how often did we meet up; when did we move in together; what do we see in each other that we value the most;
(5) whether we had met each other's family and how they think of our relationship (perhaps it has something to do with us being gay lol); do we hang out with each other's friends from work school etc;
(6) when did we get engaged and how long did it take from engagement to wedding; any witnesses at wedding.
 
i'm sure the officer asked more but these are the major ones i can think of now. she was really polite and professional. my husband and i love making jokes and being funny but i don't think the officer was really in a mood to joke tho (i mean she has another 7 application packages piled next to ours so it's understandable).
 
It was all good and i thought the interview went well. towards the end, she explained to us that she would keep our case for review and we could check case status online. if there's update we would get letter in the mail and it should be within the next few months if not sooner.
 
we were also handed a letter titled "notice of interview results" and it says the following: your case is being held for review. at this time, USCIS does not require any further information or documents from you. should further information or documents be required, you will receive notice in the mail. we may also schedule you for another interview, you will receive a notice in the mail. otherwise, a final decision will be mailed once your case is complete.
 
i haven't really read up on other people's interview results in the forum so i'm not sure if "being held for review" is a common thing. this letter sounds kind of just like a generic bureaucratic letter that you'd receive from gov but at the same time it kind of worries me cuz i know some applicants get approval on the spot. 
 
anyway our interview is done and as of right now (4 hours after interview) case status is still "Interview Is Scheduled". I guess i'm going back to checking case status online everyday again... hopefully we won't have to wait too long before we hear something good from them  

hahaha welcome to the party lol thats nice you know your combo card is on the way already  at least you can travel freely outside of the country pretty soon! 
 
i met my husband in september 2015 we got married march 2016 and i thought that was fast hahaha 

Hi there, we finished AOS last year, via Baltimore. But the fact is where we thought the case was actually at Baltimore it was not. It was moved elsewhere to be handled by a different state because of Baltimore's backlog. So just a heads up.. you may think your case is sitting in Baltimore, but.. there's also a chance it might not be. We had no idea until endless waiting and an RFE for the medical. You can see by the timeline how long it took. You won't be able to get anyone to really move on looking at it until outside of processing time, and even then you may need a senator to bug them.