Habitaters

The speed at which your AOS interview is scheduled is a function of your local office, so no, not strange.  People at fast offices often get a GC before their EAD/AP combo card (rendering the latter unnecessary).  Go check out the K-1 AOS forums.

Visa finally approved after 358 days of filing !!! 

Just checking in...still waiting and security checks are still pending. Been 11 months now, good times 🎉 My fiancé was able to come visit so that helps...just looking forward to getting through all this and being able to start our lives together 

Hi everyone,
I have arrived in the US since May 15th. The whole experience was great. 
POE : Dallas - it was quick and fast. The border control officer ask me a few questions. After I answered them all, he kept compliment my English (blush), told him I stole the accent from my fiance LOL. After that I got on another flight to go to St Louis. My fiance greeted me at the airport with flowers (first time ever he bought flowers for me). I have met half of his family, gonna meet them all soon on the 4th July. My man has a big family and I'm glad I ll get to be a part of it
He took me to my first baseball game last night. It was fun, I really enjoyed it. We won ( Go Cards). We are still planning the wedding and his family helped a lot. It ll happen on late June or late July. 
I am now working on my SSN. This forum has been a big help in our journey. I strongly believe I would not get to where I am right now without this community. 
I ll send my prayers for those who still waiting, hope you guys get to be with your partner real soon. 

My Helen got approved! 
Just waiting for her to get it physically in her hands then I'll go get her.
Thank you all for your prayers. And know I'm praying for y'all, as well.

PAUL IS HOME!!!
 
I'll let him come and share his POE experience himself when ready, but I will say this - I WAS A MESS. He was held up for over an hour after his plane landed, and my anxiety was on level 10 not knowing what was going on. I Facebook Lived the airport reunion, so family back in Sweden and folks here could be a part of it. It ended up being a huge help because everyone watching and talking to me while watching kept me company and kept me from going crazy while I was waiting. All in all - he did great, and I have never been so proud of him. I don't think I could've done all the things he has done so far.
 
My boss gave me Thursday and Friday off (Paul flew in Wednesday afternoon), and the last 4 days were heaven. We visited Ikea (yes, not even 24 hours living here, this was the first place we went  You can take the Swede out of Sweden....  )... did grocery shopping... and got him all moved in and settled. And best part - PUT THE LUGGAGE AWAY AND OUT OF SIGHT BECAUSE HE AIN'T LEAVING AGAIN!!!
 
We let ourselves enjoy the long weekend and have our agenda for this week. Since our traditional wedding is in October with family, we just have to do a quick legal thing so we can move forward with AOS. Unfortunately, my county doesn't marry folks at the courthouse.. ... and we have a couple hoops to jump through. He has to sign an affidavit and get it notarized confirming he's never had an American SSN (not sure if that's required everywhere; I'd never heard of it until I called our local probate office), and they will give us a list of local officiates we can use to get legally married. Was really hoping we could do this part all in house, but oh well - at least we can just finally DO IT.
 
I hadn't realized the weight of all of this until I saw him come down that corridor Wednesday. It felt like 100 bricks were lifted off of me and I nearly knocked an old lady over to get to him.  For those still waiting.... when they say it's all worth it in the end.... IT. IS. TRUTH. Every excruciating moment you have gone through and maybe are currently go through WILL BE SO WORTH IT. The feeling of that reunion is indescribable.

Congratulations! You two look absolutely stunning. Thank you for your help as well.

Congratulations! You two look absolutely stunning. Thank you for your help as well.

Congratulations! You two look absolutely stunning. Thank you for your help as well.

My Helen is going to her embassy interview on Monday. I love her so much and I want her to be my wife. I'm a bit nervous. I been prayin constantly about it and if y'all do too, well I'd appreciate it. As I also pry for y'all who haven't got yours yet.   

Yesterday I finally married my lady! I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the help in this process and good luck to anyone still waiting. Hopefully I’ll see y’all in a future AOS group 😊
 

No wise advise from moi... just wanted to congratulate you! Best wishes on your pregnancy!
 

I just got off the long Administrative Processing and begun seeing progress in my case, but today I got sucked back in to Administrative Processing black hole. I don't get it.
 
Administrative Processing - 221 g since April 24 then May 9 I saw a positive change. Application changed from Immigrant to Non-Immigrant - I read many times here before that that's a good sign. Tracker advised to check again after two business days, so I have been checking everyday for the last 6 days. When I checked again just before noon today, my status was changed back to the dreadful Administrative Processing (??) Not sure what's going on. Tracker says" processing can take several weeks, or longer."  I know that's a general blurb but it's so disappointing to see that when I thought I only had to wait "2 business days" and now I feel like I am back in to the eternal black hole again.  Has anyone seem this happen to their case, or someone else's case?  I am trying to stay positive but I am really confused right now ...

If it's "non immigrant" AP this time then that's a positive sign that the visa will be issued soon, seems like typically less than a week to turn to issued. Mine was only on NI AP for less than 2 hours, but every embassy processes at different speeds. 

UPDATE:
Finally we already received our rfe letter. It's i think is easy to fix and provide. 
It is a police report with complete details and should have seal by the county State where the case happened. Fiance got this misdemeanor way back 2001 but wasn't convicted but got arrested and the case was already closed
Fiance is just frustrated with the rapidvisa service. They should know what we need to provide before we sent out that packet 11months ago. 
We did provided police report from the county hall that the case was already closed and he is cleared.
But, we are just very thankful that we already got this rfe and start to move forward!
 

First and foremost - I do feel for you, on an emotional stance. Regardless if you knew the consequences of the actions/choices or not, you are facing a great length of time apart from your partner. And that's terrible. No, I do not ever hope to ever be in that situation. But that's why my partner and I have chosen the path we have, and have been apart for a long time and are still currently apart  before starting our life together - so that we can live with the peace that we won't be separated again years down the road. To be fair - you are coming here, among many people who have chosen similar paths to go about it legally and have their own separations and frustrations. So no, you won't get a lot of sympathy. I am sorry that it's coming across so harshly from some. As rude as it may seem to you, though, it's the reality of it. I don't think it's necessarily your situation that's rubbed people the wrong way, but your comment that your husband has no criminal record and has done nothing wrong for..10 years? Being here illegally for any amount of time IS a crime. And it's wrong. And it's disrespectful to those who go through the proper channels and have to wait and wait and wait.
 
I think your initial question that you ultimately came here with has its answer, or the best answer any of us here can give you just going by experience and based on the details you've shared - no, it's not avoidable. It's cliché, but... don't do the crime if you can't do the time. I would make sure you both research all options that you have at this point, consult with a lawyer (which sounds like you already have), and be as rational as possible, versus emotional. Make sure you do it right this time and put it behind you so that you CAN live the rest of your lives together in peace knowing this will never be hanging over your heads again. I wish you and your family the best through this.

**** one post edited.  Give the Op constructive advice or do not post. ******

You have nothing to worry about.  Don't let my story scare you.  I did something stupid and I am paying for it (along with some innocent bystanders).  They do not refuse visas for no reason.  They actually want to approve most petitions.  
 
To answer the question, it truly depends on why someone was denied in the first place.  Some denials (misrepresentation, fraud, human trafficking...) are going to impact any visa application.  Others will not.  If the CO thought I was purposely trying to hide my arrest they could deny my CR-1 too.  I am praying that isn't the case.  We will not truly know until VOH or maybe even POE.  Until that point, I refuse to waste any of my time worrying.  What happens will happen.  We are happily moving forward and I can guarantee, we will be VERY careful with the next petitions... 

I think it just gives the poor registrar a chance to actually do the paperwork.  You have probably noticed that they kind of do things on their own time.  

Duhh duuuh da da da duuuh duuuh
Da da da duuuh duuuh da da da duuuuuhhhh...
 
Yeah, we look like a couple of derpos. Not the  most flattering of pictures. I think we were still shell shocked they wavered the 48 hour wait... 😂 That and we were goofing around. 

Love seeing all the happy posts, so wanted to add ours, too.
On May 1st (May Day) we were married at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. Our lady magistrate swapped in that day to honor her parents who would've been married over 50 years that month.
We were surrounded by 15 of our closest family and friends, had an amazing BBQ reception dinner at Ladybird in Atlanta. It was small, sweet, intimate, and so much fun. Then we had family in town for a few more days so the celebration continued on. 
It's just the two of us now in our home - and we wake up every morning and think how lucky we are.
If you're not together with your love now, I hope that you are soon, Junebug.
All the best,
Lindsay (US) & Phil (UK)

So, myself, Mr H, and his sister all turned up to the courthouse wearing Star Wars t-shirts.
They guy at the window said he'd give us the forms but we wouldn't be able to do anything for 48 hours. He asked if we wanted to see if we could fast track it but these things only happened for those in the military or were very sick. We took our chance. 10 mins later, we get called saying the judge was between court hearings and signed our wait waver. Woohoo.
 
We got married at 2pm. The registrar was impressed with our Star Wars clothing. Everyone in the building we encountered said, "May the force be with you". It's been super fun. No fills, no flowers, no fancy pants stuff... Just a couple of nerds getting hitched. 
 
Just come back from having lunch with his sister and he's now asleep. It's been a nice day so far. Going to go out later to get crab pretzels and frozen custard. 
 
Ahhhhh... Now back to dealing with USCIS 😂
Ahhhh, cr@p! 😂

Think I’m the last one standing for June without a NOA2...sigh. Not trying to throw myself a pity party but we are seriously thinking about what our plan B will be if this K1 does not pan out. We are afraid that after all this waiting we are just going to be denied...and can’t help but feel that way at this point. I have explored every avenue to get answers and still a whole lot of nothing. I am trying to decide how long we should wait before we throw in the towel on the K1. When I read about horror stories of waiting a year or two I cringe. Possible plan B options are spousal visa or me moving there. Any thoughts? Would any of you have considered giving up on the K1 if it was taking over a year just for NOA2? Thanks guys...and congrats to everyone!! 

Got married last Friday now on to AOS paperword!~ I'm so glad to see many of the remaining Junies getting approval and will be following John on is CR1 journey. 
He's some pics from the little wedding we had I hate wearing a tux! LOL but Rakhel looks amazing
 

Literally almost 2 weeks after I requested my wife's BC and it was broken. Glad it worked out for you so easily and I am also glad that they are working on something this big.