Keith & Monica

I think Damara among others gave great advice. 
In looking at your latest response, I think (and I have no experience with this process) you could be more literal  and chronological in your response. 
They want to know about your meetings in person. Your response, while it may to obvious to you, could be interpreted in different ways, thus the RFE in the first place.
 
Something like this:
I have been separated from my ex-wife since April 2017 when our relationship ended and our divorce was finalized on February 8th 2018.
 
Lyn and I started to communicate on Facebook on June XX, 2017, after being introduced  thru a mutual friend.  
Our friendship grew stronger turning into a great relationship., at which point I decided to go visit her in XXX on October 14 2017
 
My first trip to see her was on October 14 2017. in XXX, I stayed int he XXX Hotel. We spent the days doing such and such. (pictures attached, [a couple not a 100]).  I departed October 19,2017
My second trip, December 4, 2017 until December 20,2017
My third trip, I was able to stay two months, from January 14,2018 to March 11, 2018 .I proposed to Lyn for marriage on March 11th, 2018 and filed the I-129F petition on April 2018
My forth trip was June 28- 2018 to July 23, 2018 
 
I have spent over 5 months in person with Lyn and plan to be at the embassy interview.
 
thanks my two cents worth. Good luck.
 
 
 

My opinion is that it depends on the POE, BUT there are other variables as well such as flight delays, etc.  Personally, I would suggest a layover of at least 3 to 4 hours..at the very least....just my opinion.

I concur..it varies heavily based on the above factors (and more). Even then, 1.5h is cutting it tight even if it's a slow time IMO.
For busy airports like LAX, I don't feel comfortable with anything under 4 hours layover.
 
Note that POE isn't always the first landing in the US. There are some preclearance airports where you will go through immigration there before actually being in the US.
https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance

Hard to say. Depends on the airport, time, how many more international flights are arriving at the same time, etc. 
take a look at the Poe reviews for the airport and you’ll get some estimations 

So after my interview was cancelled last week I've been waiting for a new one to be scheduled. Received a new interview notice today and it's now been scheduled for the 15th November. Hopefully this time it happens and it gets approved. 

1st you get upset with immigration which results in " nothing that can be done"
then you get in a what i call a fighting mood / determined to win or prove you are in a good relationship
married now almost 9 years

My interview is in less than a month, got the notice on Friday! Yay! I’m so nervous!!!!!
 
And I also got my EAD card today!

Got my interview notice in the mail today. My interview is in Denver on November 8th at 1:15pm.

So I took some actual photos from the wedding to the interview and the officer didn't care about them, because I had already sent them in paper with my AOS package.
 
However, he was very happy to take the FB collage in paper I had prepared covering the time after the wedding till the moment of the interview. So paper is fine

I did what @Estibaliz did, and they were perfectly fine with it! Paper prints are good enough!

Hey Decemberites!

Heads up from Virginia!

We had our AOS Interview yesterday and walked out with a letter saying congratulations, you are approved!

Glad it's finally over! 

The online status is still stuck with "Interview was scheduled", but I got the letter, haha! So for once I'm not worried!

Good luck to everyone waiting!

Passed interview today. 
 
We arrived 30 minutes early then waited about 15 minutes.  We hired an interpreter.  My wife, interpreter and i went to the IO office.  The interpreter  was asked about his credentials and relationship to us.   Glad that we hired a legal interpreter and not just bring a family member or friend to offer unbiased interpretation.    We were asked to raise our right hand and swore in  I notice he looked at our wedding rings when we raised our hands.  
IO asked if i wanted to add supporting documents  to application.  I submitted photo book and other documents to prove our relationship.  
Then he asked me to leave since 129f was already approved.  
 
I waited outside in waiting room while my wife and interpreter was being interviewed.  
 
IO asked about :
 
How did you meet
Birth date of spouse 
How many rooms 
Do you rent or own 
Spouse job
About wedding 
Spouse family 
What do you do during free time together 
If you don't work what do you do 
 
 
The  questions were very basic and easy.   Then IO asked about 20 or more questions from the application form. 
 
IO said it will take 2 to 3 weeks for greencard to arrive.  Informed my wife to apply for Removal of Condition before 90 days the 2 year conditional greencard expires.   My wife and interpreter came out first then He came out to the waiting room to say congratulations.  He look very scary at first but nice man.  
 
Good luck to you all.  It isn't too bad.  Just be prepared and you will do fine. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It might be right around the time you are moving.  You will want to inform USCIS after you have moved of your new address.  Even though you may have the GC.  If you have the address, I would make sure to give it to them at the interview.

Your reason is fine...I was just curious. At the same time, it would be far cheaper and easier to just bring the child on a derivative visa when you want to come to the US IMO. Not my business so please don't take it the wrong way...it just seems like a roundabout way of achieving the goal. As for education and other opportunities, those would still exist without US citizenship as well, especially if they will have Canadian citizenship. F-1 (student) status can be granted at POE via an I-20 alone in that case.
 
Documentation of the medical plans would be what you should have on hand to show. This includes items like planned visits/treatments before birth, costs for the birth (with and without complications), anticipated stay timelines, etc. It's really hard to pin down exactly what they will want to see, but basically they need to be assured that you plan (and will be capable to return to the US within the timeframe they grant at POE, and that you have plans and the means to pay for the medical costs.
 
Edit: There is no loophole here...this is an intended and explicitly stated portion of immigration law (regardless of whether.it should be the case or not).
If we're handing out medals, how do I get one?

@Ben&Zian is a very experienced member and moderator of this forum. This isn't the first time the new RFE/NOID policy has been discussed here. The policy is terribly misunderstood AND terribly reported by many journalists. Ben&Zian was simply clarifying (as he has done MANY times over the past several months) that this policy isn't something to be nervous about if you actually care about your application and aren't attempting to just plop yourself in line. The posters that shared actual experiences are agreeing with the posters who simply advised you that a civil ceremony vs a large wedding is a non-issue, so I'm not sure what you mean by the other posts depicting such a situation are "just fantasies". We're all saying the same thing here: it doesn't matter.
 
Edit: Ben&Zian shared he had a simple courthouse wedding in his post and there were no problems with their process. So perhaps you should read before replying too.

As long as you have a valid, legal marriage certificate then you have nothing to worry about.

I actually think it's smart to look at what can happen. I'm the one who moved here with my 4 kids and gave up my life in Canada, sold my home. You bet your bottom dollar I looked into anything and everything. All the what if's I could think about. In this day and age it's nuts to go jumping into something like marriage blindly then add immigration to the mix.
 
How many times we see on here where they split up and try to get out of the AOS, and they want to ship them back? It's daily just look at the comment above how you can use the 90 days to try it out and send them back if it won't work. We all know full well that is not what the 90 days are for but ppl still give that advice and ppl still think they can do that. He's being smart thinking with the head above his shoulders for a change. 
 

old people are where my cold heart warms up. they speak what they're thinking
 
anyways, my exes parents(from japan) never learned much English. They also did not seek citizenship.  Their children ran their business and they had no reason to learn.
 
If it were me, I would institute a 'No Russian language' policy in the home. No music, TV, conversation, nothing. EVERYTHING all in English, all the time. Pair that with rosetta stone or similar. Have friends / family come over and (try to-hopefully shes willing) make her engage with them and have conversations. Have different people practice the questions with her in different accents and speech patterns. Have phone conversations with her (even if just from the other room) and practice the questions on the phone, so she doesnt have the benefit of watching the facial reflections. keep the closed captioning on the TV so she can follow the written and verbal together.

Just wanted to give this suggestion to anyone who needs it: 
When bringing your papers for the interview make sure everything is well organized. It makes it easier and shows the official that you care and are prepared. 
One of the most important papers of evidence is a bank account statement with both persons names on it. It shows that the relationship is genuine because you wouldn't really share a bank account with anyone else. Bring important documents like tax returns with both persons names on it, and life insurance. Worry less about things like gym memberships and small stuff like that as they don't find it important. 
These are just my suggestions. 
 
Good luck everyone!

Interview has been scheduled! Nerves are kicking in now 😧

Hey fellow Decemberites!

Heads up from Virginia, light at the end of my tunnel.

I got the email 3 days ago:
As of August 28th we scheduled your interview.

All trackers updated to "Interview was scheduled", so now I'm waiting for the letter with the date.

My field office is Norfolk, VA! 

Good luck for everyone still waiting. Seems like there are really not much of us from 12/2017 left!

Interview went well today so I have been APPROVED on spot. 
Like others stated they go by the AOS application form, it was only for 10 minutes. Officer didn't check any documents or copies, just asked for something new after I came in USA, took my library card print shot with my address on it and  pictures from the wedding ( I printed on A4 paper sheets some of them). I think it was just a formal meeting, they had already taken decision. My card should arrive by 1 week or 2, since my K2 boys cards will arrive in one month as they don't have their files here in the USCIS office yet.
 
Good luck to the rest of you who are still waiting!
 
I will let you know once I have my card in hands

Hi all! We got our interview for August 22nd. We went in really early and there was a lot of people already there. We were the 4th couple to get interviewed. The interview was unexpectedly easy. The officer asked my husband for my full name and that was pretty much all the questions we got. She looked at the papers we had brought to show our relationship is legitimate. We spent most of the time just looking over the photos we had brought. She literally did not ask any questions other than compliment our wedding and our photos. She was really nice and told us that she would recommend us for approval. Overall we were in there for 30 minutes. 2 days after the interview our case updated to " New Card being produced". We haven't gotten the green card in the mail yet but I'm sure it will be here soon. I am very happy with how quick our process was and wish good luck to everyone!!!!

Congrats @BahamaIslander242

Hi everyone 
 
We had our interview today. The IO was nice. Didn't ask much.  Just how we met,  do we have kids,  do we plan to have kids,  what does my husband plan to do for a living,  what do i do for a living.  He read thru all the questions we answered in the packet.  
 
He told us he will approve us and that we can expect the card in the mail between 1 to 2 months. Does it really take that long to get the card!?!?!?!?
 
Our case status is "card is being processed "