pizzaday

We *finally* got our card delivered on Friday, so that concludes a ~550 days AOS process. Wish I knew why it took so long to complete those finals steps after the interview (112 days, versus a New York CIS VisaJourney average of 18 days), but let's call it backlogged. Leaving our full timeline here for any future filers in the same boat:

Brooklyn-filer.

Notices of Action on egov.uscis.gov [old system].
Received: Sept 21, 2018

Biometrics invitation [hard copy only]: Oct 12, 2018
Biometrics appointment: Nov 2, 2018

Ready to schedule interview: Nov 14, 2018

Interview invitation: Oct 22, 2019

Interview appointment: Dec 2, 2019

New card produced: Mar 13, 2020
Approved: Mar 17, 2020
Mailed: Mar 18, 2020
Delivered: Mar 20, 2020
Confirmation of Delivery: Mar 21, 2020

👋

It's been 70 days since our interview and we haven't heard a single peep!

Anyone got any advice or words of wisdom? Is it worth trying harder to get a tier 2 officer on the line?

Wish we would get that notification already! Today marks a month since our interview. Called USCIS for the first time and they are apparently still processing our case. No RFE has been issued, so that's something. Looking through the New York timelines, not getting an approval within <2w is somewhat uncommon and that doesn't feel great. Hoping the holidays are to blame and we'll be getting something in mail in the next week or 2 🤞

On 12/4/2019 at 11:28 AM, dc91226 said:

Anyways interview went well, it literally took 5 mins.

On 12/4/2019 at 11:28 AM, dc91226 said:

At the end of the interview he got up he said everything looks great and that I should be getting the card in the mail within the month.

Fascinating. Our interview was Monday (Dec 2nd) at Federal Plaza as well, and went a little different. The interview took close to an hour!

Registration was quick and easy, but we waited for the actual interview for almost 2h.

Once we were called in and sworn in, we were asked for our identity docs (passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, SSNs). The officer checked all of these against the copies we had filled, including my expired passports. She spent quite some time flipping through our (massive) file trying to find the right pages.
 

We talked at length about our relationship. My SO described how we met, I talked about Thanksgiving, my relationship with his parents and how we got engaged and what our wedding was like. We were asked about each other's families and when we met them, the full names and ages of our parents and siblings, when and where we were born, each other's work history, when and where we went to school, all the places we've lived together, what our time living abroad was like. Basically, we went over and confirmed all our answers from our I-485, and then some.

It didn't feel like an interrogation though, she was very engaged in our stories, responsive and good-humored.

That makes me think how the interview goes down *really* depends on the officer. Ours might've been a bit more junior — she stumbled over the question in part 8 of the I-485 a bit specifically. We did not get an approval on the spot, I think because she wasn't sure if I needed to redo my medical. Basically same story as @LizMs interview. Really bummed out about this. I've spent a lot of time researching the validity of the medical and nothing in the official documentation states I would need to redo it.

We had front-loaded our application with a lot of evidence and submitted a few new docs and pictures at the interview. She took it all at the end of the interview without looking at it. We were told we'll have an answer within 120 days and a potential RFE for the medical within a week. I hope that means we could also get an approval instead of the RFE within the week, but who knows 🤷‍♀️

5 hours ago, kartonio said:

@asdf000 So our case was approved but didn't get the stamp because the fingerprints have expired, and they need to redo the background check. They expire after 15 months apparently. Oh well, back to waiting for EAD renewal. Hope you have better luck with your case!

Thanks for the update @asdf000! Been wondering about the I-551 stamp myself as well.

Interesting about biometrics + background check, didn't know they expired. My biometrics will be ~12mo old by the time we interview (next month!), so hoping we stand a chance of getting the stamp. How did the officer react when you asked about the stamp?

What's your field office... Manhattan? Also, why does your timeline say you're filing for naturalization if you just completed your green card interview?

On 10/29/2019 at 12:16 PM, jeaniecz said:

One more thing to take in consideration while scheduling your medical: the medical is valid for 6 months [...] and it has to be unexpired at the moment you enter the USA on K-1 visa.

Just so you know: if you'd like to use your K1 medical for your adjustment of status once in the US, you have to file for AOS within 60 days of your medical to ensure it's valid for 2 years. They've recently changed the validity of the medical because of increasing AOS processing timelines. This is mostly relevant if you're going to be filing from one of the major USCIS field offices (New York, Dallas, Houston, SF, Seattle, etc) where processing timelines have moved (well) beyond the original one-year validity of the medical.

Source:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/policymanual/updates/20181016-I-693Validity.pdf
https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-b-chapter-4 (Section 4)

Hey New Yorkers! Looks like they've moved onto September-October 2018 cases at the Brooklyn field office. We got our notification (on the old system) last week and our hard-copy invitation in the mail yesterday.

Wasn't really expecting it tbh, figured I'd hear something in December or January at the earliest. It's so hard to tell what's going on! I posted a request to split up field offices on VJ so we have a little bit more insight, at least within our own community. Haven't gotten any replies though — if anyone wants to chime in on the thread... please do!
 

All the best to you all! Winter is coming 🍂❄️

Given that we have three field offices in NYC with very different timelines (at least for AOS, ranging from ~12mo in Queens to ~24mo in Manhattan), it would be incredibly helpful if you could set and filter based on your specific office. Filtering on NYC right now provides close to no insights, because all applications are bundled together.

Would this be possible?

Received I-765 approval notice today. "New card is being produced" on old site & app, nothing on new site.

No word on AP, but expecting a combo-card.

Filed: Sept 19, 2018
NOA1: Sept 21, 2018
Bio: Nov 2, 2018
NOA2: Feb 14, 2019

So thrilled to have another step over with! Onto the next 😅

17 hours ago, Oleh said:

The new website is not updated for some reason. You can also check using the old website USCIS.gov 

I'm loosing my mind a little bit between all these systems. Just to confirm, once again, the difference between USCIS' websites... It is my understanding that:

— OLD: https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do. Is the case tracker app/system even older? Or are these two connected/same?

— NEW: https://myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov (redirects to https://my.uscis.gov/account/applicant after sign-in).

Is that still correct?

In that case, our current status is:
OLD: AOS Ready for Interview / EAD Received / AP Received
Tracker app: AOS Ready for Interview / EAD Received / AP Received
NEW: AOS Received / EAD Received / AP Received

Hoping that we'll start seeing more September AP/EADs this month 🤞

8 hours ago, Gem&Corey said:

DAY 276 ...and we finally got approved....Still not sunk in...what a wait...heres to the remainder of the process and finally being able to move on. This thread has been my go to for the past 9 months. Thank you everyone...

Hell freaking yes! 🍾 So happy to hear this! Been coming back here waiting for this news. Hope you're process is smooth sailing from now on, you deserve it

In transit! Already counting 12 cases on the VJ timeline that left NVC today. Guess they finally went to the post office 

NOA2 > NVC #: 16 days

NVC # > In Transit: 20 days

15 days since a case number was assigned and our petition is still chillin' at NVC... was kinda hoping this would move a little faster. Looking at VJ's immigration timeline, there's cases received at both the start of May (5/1, 5/2, etc) and the end (5/29, 5/30) being forwarded to consulates/embassies right now. 

At any rate, thought I'd dig this up, NVC tracker that was created late last year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k57PdywNRpUqytomJxMzz6_7DsMqpi52DgnaYt9FyC8/edit#gid=606080062 Would love to see what's the trend right now, please add your details if you feel like it!

On 5/17/2018 at 10:46 PM, NL-SANDIEGO said:

Here a little overview of our process, I hope it helps you:

 

This is so helpful!

Out of curiosity though - did you get your NOA2 and case number at the same time, on March 30th? Any reason for that? (Normally, it takes about ~3-4 weeks from your NOA2 before you get anything from NVC, let alone it being forwarded to the consulate already as well.)

Good luck next month at your medical & interview!

Hellllooo everyone! We got our NOA2 last week ✨, now starting to prepare the consulate package. Can anyone who received their package 3 recently (@NL-SANDIEGO?) share what information was requested? Found this letter from 2015: https://photos.state.gov/libraries/netherlands/383034/amsterdamivdocuments/20150819_DSL1076K1.pdf - how much has changed since? I've seen no mention of tax returns / tax transcripts needed for the I-134 for our consulate, do we know if they are required? (Probably still including them anyways, just in case.)

1 hour ago, Daniel P said:

Notice that they did not only shortened the average number of days, they also approved more cases in the same period of time. Hopefully this tendency will continue! 

Thanks for this @Daniel P and for going through all the trouble to run this again! Really great to see that USCIS is turning it around!

1 hour ago, Daniel P said:

October had a global mean of 182.92 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 7.00 days.

For this analysis you're only looking at cases that got an approval, so there's not much that people without an approval can take away from this right? Basically, I'm reading it as "those approved got their approval on average within 182 days." I'm only saying because it's pretty easy to see this and freak out, thinking your case is outside the average. But you can't use it as an average in that way, because about 3/4 of October cases (those non-approved, but with a good amount of silent NOA2s) aren't included in this breakdown.

Really really not trying to dismiss your breakdown though - I think it's absolutely fantastic as a month-over-month analysis. Just want to make sure that we're interepreting this the right way! Please correct me if my interpretation is wrong btw 

21 hours ago, Daniel P said:

There definitely was a turning point in August (for the better) and I'd say the tendency has been improving since then. I'm also curious about how it has been changing the last months so I'll get an update of my charts if I get some time. I am real busy lately, sorry, but I'll do what I can.

2

21 hours ago, Naes said:

Tell me which months you need.

 

I’ll update all and send you

 

Like I said:

But seriously, don't worry about it if you're busy - either of you. You're already spending what I imagine is a crazy amount of time crunching those WAC numbers.

4 minutes ago, Gama said:

Looks like they are working hard over at USCIS so far in my scans I'm seeing at least 10 October 30th cases being updated.

 

Oh wow, didn't think to look ahead! Great news

1 minute ago, Seraphinek said:

My VJ estimation has passed. USCIS said it’s still between normal processing time. I guess it went up from 6 to seven months now. Anyway I hope this week will be our week! I’m trying to keep positive now!

I know, the VJ estimation is exactly that, an estimation. Works out for some, doesn't for others. But it's been one of very few lifelines these couple of months, so I'm sticking with it for one last week 😜

Somewhat of a milestone today: 6 months since NOA1. Our VJ estimation has kept on moving up and is now set squarely on this week! Crossing all fingers, and other limbs for good measure as well, that this week is it for many of us

Ran a mini-scan, no movement so far I can tell yet. Igor's List is quiet still as well. They're just starting their day in Cali. TODAY COULD STILL BE IT GUYS!!!1!

1 minute ago, DPP123 said:

Not so fast.  I printed my pictures from the app freeprints and they date the back of your pictures.  Not sure if they look at that or take that into consideration but all of my pictures had date stamps on the back of them 

Except that the only way that those apps, or any other service can date those pictures is based on the created date, which is saved in the file's meta data. That date can easily be manipulated, either accidentally by for example downloading the file onto a new computer (at least in some cases this sets that created date to the date/time is was downloaded) or by manipulating that date yourself. Basically, it's unreliable. I'm not sure how much USCIS cares / is aware, but I'd look for at least some additional evidence.

2 hours ago, Christy&J said:

Little update! We got RFE stated

1.Show that we met within 2 years ( J only wrote an essay no pics 😣)

Ignore this if you're already aware, but photos tend to be seen as 'secondary' evidence. Because you can't really date a printed photo in any official way, they don't prove a physical presence in the last two years. I'd focus on primary evidence, i.e. documents that clearly state dates, names and location. The I-129F instructions (page 11, point 8.B) suggest copy of airline tickets or passport pages (page of biographic page + entry and/or exit stamp page). Good luck!

7 hours ago, Little_Vixen said:

Uhm.  Not to spoil your fun. But please research going to hawaii as I'm pretty sure you'll have problems reentering U.S. mainland cause you'll be traveling over international waters and thus effectively leaving the U.S. after entering on a k1 visa.

Thought I'd clear this up for anyone reading this and freaking out over their honeymoon :

International waters do not play a role in this, fortunately. According to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (which is still in-effect today) article 17, "Aircraft have the nationality of the State in which they are registered." That means that if you're boarding that flight on US soil, you're staying on US soil while up in the air, and landing on US soil in Hawaii (50th state and everything).

[insert American flag emoji]!

2 hours ago, Mel & Aliya said:

NOA1 October 31. Probably another 30 days of waiting until NOA2. Good luck and patience to all of you! Does anyone preparing I134 or any other documents before NOA2? We haven't touched anything yet.

I've researched what we need to get and when, also for AOS - I have a funny extra requirement from a previous US visa, so wanted to be sure. There's not much that can be done for now, from what I can tell it's best to have your documents (letter intent to marry, employer statement, police certificate, etc) dated closer to your interview date. The only document we've already requested is the USC's tax transcripts from IRS (here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript) as proof of income for the I-134.