chromedOut

wow I just do not see how someone can go all this time without knowing their status. I have had a social security card since I arrived in the states, however mine has always has a "not valid for employment" restriction. I went to public schools and college, just like all of my "normal" u.s. born friends. the only major day-to-day difference is that I was never able to apply for work and had to go through the "tourist/non-resident" line at each port of entry.

it's possible that the RFE set your timeline back.

can someone dig up that story? I'd like to read it and know why that guy did not go through the proper channels to straighten his status. overstays are pardoned once one becomes the spouse of a citizen, no?

UPDATE:

my attorney sent a letter to a supervisor at my local district office and advised me to make an infopass appointment if we don't hear anything back my wednesday. is there a limit to the number of infopass appointments one can make? they weren't clear if I should schedule the appointment to the earliest day available after this wednesday or for nov. 1st.

my AOS was approved after my interview two days ago (family based/unmarried son of u.s. citizen), I was not ordered a gc because at the time I was affected by the retrogression. however, my PD will be current again in november.

I have a SS card that has always had a printed restriction. rather than getting in removed after receiving my EAD I chose to wait and make one trip after my CG is in hand. my question is: am I eligible to apply for an entirely different SSN as a GC holder? or do I have to stick with the one that was originally assigned to me many years ago.

I've spent my entire life entering "non-resident/citizen" on applications that also required my SSN and I fear that my number will forever be associated as to one belonging to an alien. I'd like to have a fresh one, if possible, that has never had any restrictions placed on it.

relax. you need to reserve your sanity for possible RFEs and your interview. you'll be receiving your NOA with your receipt number in the mail soon.

this sucks. unfortunately, we are dealing with government dolts and there's very little you/we can do. just take it on the chin and send in your papers again.

did they lose your medical? I would be seriously pissed if I had to pay for that again, unless you can go back to the clinic and get them to duplicate your results given your situation.

I never "ran off" just sought another accomodating forum as suggested. I guess this, too, is an unofficial "married only" place. I apologized for not properly introducing myself as it would have taken far more time than I was willing to devote in front of the computer late last night. so here's a condensed version, if you will, of my situation:

I came to the states at a very young age with my family as my father was transferred by this job. I believe I was a J-2. I did not arrive here illegally. by the time he was allowed and able to seek permanent residency I was close to aging out as a dependant, and I did about 10 months before a gc was adjudicated to him and the rest of my family. my father then filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative form which established by priority date for JAN 01. we were aware that I was going to be considered an "overstay" as soon as my J-2 expired, however the I-130 allowed me to stay in the country with my family until I was able to apply for an adjustment of status (I-485). unfortunately, I was not allowed to work or leave the country as that would automatically trigger a 10 year ban from entering the country.

we -- my father, family and my attorneys -- knew that my best chance was to wait until my father became a u.s citizen so I could be upgrated to a higher family based preference. unfortunately, my father was denied naturalization on his first try due to the fact that he spent 3 DAYS longer outside of the country than he was supposed to. he reapplied as soon as he received that letter and had to go through the entire process again: fees, fingerprints, security checks and worst of all lost of time. the was granted his citizenship at the end of june and we knew that we had less than two days to turn in all of my paperwork before the end of june as the july 06 visa bulletin was indicating that the priority dates were going to be retrogressed and I would, again, be left hanging.

have you guys ever had the experience of gathering all the required documents for an I-485 in a day and a half? trust me, you don't want to live through that. I had to beg the doctor and his entire staff to let me take a chest x-ray as they insisted I had to have a TB skin test (takes 48 hrs. to receive the result -- 48 hrs. that I did not have). I went to a second doctor that let me take a chest x-ray to prove that I was tb negative but then he could not guarantee that I would get my bloodwork back in less than a day. so I went to a third clinic that had a lab on site so I could get my medical sent with my application.

all the hard work and running all over town paid off in that I was finally approved on wednesday, but as I stated I was nailed by the retrogression again.

so if you are ever frustrated by the process I can attest that it works, if you give it time and play by the rules. if one should have a right to be pissed off at the world it is I. I've waited about 7 years to finally be a legal permanent resident after having the rug pulled from under me numerious times.

What the heck are you talking about?

I'm sorry, I guess "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) General Discussion

Once you are in the US you will need to file for Adjustment of Status (AOS) to become a permanent resident of the USA. This process is lengthy and can be confusing at first...." under the General Family Based Immigration Topics must mean that this board is still married based only just like the top section exclusively dedicated to it.

or perhaps some married people's holier-than-thou attitude clouds their reading comprehension.

I will take dh lha's suggestion and state my case on another forum, where I'll perhaps be met by a more helpful and attentive audience.

yesterday I had my AOS interview for my AOS -- family sponsored preference/unmarried son of citizen -- I filed at the very end of june. my father (my sponsor) and I arrived at the center 45 minutes before my interview. we had to walk under a metal detector after emptying our pockets and putting our briefcases in the conveyer belt to be run past the x-ray machine. my pocket phone was turned off and inside my bag and the officer instructed me to take it back to the car since it was a camera phone. I missed the "no audiovisual recording devices allowed inside" sign clearly posted outside the front door since this large family ahead of us had held the door open. after doing so and going past the metal detector and the wand I was allowed to join my dad who had already showed my interview notice and told to fill out a simple, single-sided form.

we were called in by my interviewer right when scheduled and followed him back to his office after introducing ourselves. he asked to see both of our driver's license and he wrote the numbers down on a NOA paper inside my file. my file was a legal-sized brown folder; one side had all the forms I had submitted including my opened medical examination (they even had kept the sealed envelope with "confidential" stamped all over it, ha) and the other had a series of what seemed to be a series of check lists and internal paperwork. the topmost check list had the following written in red along the left margin: "receipt?", "single?", "i-130". I did sneak a peek at a sheet under that check list that stated that my fbi namecheck had come back "NO RECORD". wheew!

he made us sign a waiver or something since my attorney was not present. then, the officer explained that he was going to ask us a series of general questions under oath. he swore us in and his first question was: have any of you ever been arrested by the police? my dad and I replied "no". he then asked me if I had ever been deported. another no. asked me if I was single. yes. each time I replied he made notes on the checklist. and those were all the questions I had to answer.

he took a moment to leaf through my file and told us that there was no proof that I had paid the $1,000 overstay penalty but that he read in my attorney's statement that they were submitting it. he asked to see a receipt. we didn't have one that exclusively for it, just a cummulative one. he added up the fees including the penalty and came out to the same figure for the receipt we had and crossed out "receipt?" from his margin notes. next, he told us that there was no i-130 in my file and before I could produce our copy and original he just told my dad to fill a fresh one out and he would approve it right there. we did.

he went off to make a copy of it and typed some stuff into his computer. leafed through my file again and informed me that I was approved...but that at the moment there were no numbers available for my priority date. my attorney had told me this would happen, but I was still hoping he'd be wrong. he said my file would be set aside and monitored periodically and when my date came up again they would send for my gc. as we were leaving -- still in a state of shock -- I asked him if I was truly done. "yep. you are approved. no more fees, no more finger prints, no more interviews. it takes five days for our gc to be made after we send it off when your date comes up".

well, today, a day after my interview I discovered that a visa will be allocated to me under the upcoming november bulletin. so now I'll wait a few more weeks until I can finally put this behind me and start l i v i n g.

first, I apologize for not properly introducing myself. I've been lurking around here since july and this has been a great coping tool as I near the end of this long and arduous 7+ year journey. I promise to post my odyssey, which perhaps will give some of you a "well, at least I don't have it as bad as that person" perspective, at a later date. but I digress.

purpose of this post is to seek advice or find someone that has found themselves in my current predicament. you see, yesterday I FINALLY had my interview and in the end I was informed that I was approved. no more fees, no more finger prints, no more interviews. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. however, there was a catch. the official could not order my gc because I was a victim of the retrogression -- he pulled the OCT bulletin out of a desk drawer -- since my priority date is JAN 01. I was current when I squeaked my AOS application at the end of june before the dates started being reversed. my immediate fear was that my file would be forgotten when my cut-off date became current in the future. the gentleman informed me that my file would be set aside in a place that would be monitored frequently and as soon as my number came up again, they would release my gc.

not wanting to risk having it gather dust I decided I would schedule an infopass appointment as soon as I became current again. imagine my surprise when I discovered this morning that the NOVEMBER bulletin had been posted today and according to it I will be allotted a number. my questions are:

- is my number allocation effective immediately or on november 1st?

- if I schedule an infopass appointment for nov. 1st could that cause a conflict with my file being shipped off to have the gc made? or should I sit back and wait to see what my attorneys find out -- they drafted a letter to a supervisor (and also asked me the name of the person that conducted my interview) this afternoon?

thanks in advance for your replies.