thepanda

Hi all,
 
Finally, my green card is delivered today.
 
Below is my timeline:
 
1/2017:        130 PD
4/2018:        485 RD (130 was still pending)
7/2018:        Ready to schedule interview
8/2018:        Interview scheduled
9/2018:        Interview completed. 485 returned to NBC due to F2A visa was not available
4/2019:        Priority date became current
4/2019:        New card is being produced
4/19/2019:  Card was delivered
 
Location: MI
  
Wish you all can get good news soon!

Actually, according to USCIS website, as long as your current AP is valid for the entire time you are abroad, the pending I-131 (renew AP) will not be considered abandoned.
 
You can find more information on the below website. Check "Special Instruction" part.
https://www.uscis.gov/i-131
 

Hi everyone, just wanted to give you guys an update. After getting really annoyed this weekend because I saw i-130 approval everywhere on facebook for PD up to May, I tried to submit a case inquiry which did not work because the system wouldn't let me. Only case inquires with PD January 28th or somewhere around that where allowed. So I gave up. Sunday my husband checked the mail because we haven't checked it during the week. I received a "heavy" letter from USCIS. It was the notice of my interview result stating the reason fro continuance. "Your i-485 interview is complete and appears to be approvable" but since my PD is not current my file will be transferred to TSC or NBC. Attached to the letter was the March Visa Bulletin. Either TSC or NBC will make the final decision when my PD becomes current. I thought ok, maybe my i-130 will be approved at the same time then. But I received another surprise today in the mail: my approval notice for my i-130. Even though it is not the official i-485, I am glad that I got that out of the way. 
 
I don't expect the GC until the summer but I do hope to get it before September as I am planning to travel outside of the country. 

When filing to renew an EAD and AP, only the EAD is automatically extended for 180 days, not the AP with it. 
 
This means that you abandoned your I-485 when you departed the US without a valid AP, and your application will likely be denied either at your interview or shortly thereafter. 

Congratulations @thepanda! I am so happy for you, and that your journey is about to find its happy ending! Just a few more steps and you're there!

Hi everyone, just wanted to give you guys an update. After getting really annoyed this weekend because I saw i-130 approval everywhere on facebook for PD up to May, I tried to submit a case inquiry which did not work because the system wouldn't let me. Only case inquires with PD January 28th or somewhere around that where allowed. So I gave up. Sunday my husband checked the mail because we haven't checked it during the week. I received a "heavy" letter from USCIS. It was the notice of my interview result stating the reason fro continuance. "Your i-485 interview is complete and appears to be approvable" but since my PD is not current my file will be transferred to TSC or NBC. Attached to the letter was the March Visa Bulletin. Either TSC or NBC will make the final decision when my PD becomes current. I thought ok, maybe my i-130 will be approved at the same time then. But I received another surprise today in the mail: my approval notice for my i-130. Even though it is not the official i-485, I am glad that I got that out of the way. 
 
I don't expect the GC until the summer but I do hope to get it before September as I am planning to travel outside of the country. 

Hi everyone, just wanted to give you guys an update. After getting really annoyed this weekend because I saw i-130 approval everywhere on facebook for PD up to May, I tried to submit a case inquiry which did not work because the system wouldn't let me. Only case inquires with PD January 28th or somewhere around that where allowed. So I gave up. Sunday my husband checked the mail because we haven't checked it during the week. I received a "heavy" letter from USCIS. It was the notice of my interview result stating the reason fro continuance. "Your i-485 interview is complete and appears to be approvable" but since my PD is not current my file will be transferred to TSC or NBC. Attached to the letter was the March Visa Bulletin. Either TSC or NBC will make the final decision when my PD becomes current. I thought ok, maybe my i-130 will be approved at the same time then. But I received another surprise today in the mail: my approval notice for my i-130. Even though it is not the official i-485, I am glad that I got that out of the way. 
 
I don't expect the GC until the summer but I do hope to get it before September as I am planning to travel outside of the country. 

No approval of i-130 yet and also no GC yet. Kinda expected that. I am gonna get worried when the Final Action Chart A will become current and I don't get my GC by then. But for now I am quite busy with work. 

Definitely recommend but not needed. I filed AOS in May 2018 and lost my status July 1st. I am still waiting for my GC though even though I have been approved at my interview. 

I woke up this morning looking at my phone with no news on my case status tracker. Disappointed I turned around again to get some more rest, determined to call USCIS and the senator when I get up. One hour later I grab my phone again and see a notification from my tracker “Your Case Status Has Been Updated”. I checked immediately and saw the message that my card is in production. I jumped out of bed made a happy dance. I was so happy I almost cried lol 
 
For everyone else, I know this is frustrating. But hang in there. Each Team and each officer works at a different pace. I hope it’ll work out for everyone. 

 
I also want to thank @A&H2018 again! You helped and supported me so much. Especially because I had to do it from a different angle. I can’t thank you enough! 

The Officer mainly looked on when I submitted my AOS application. I had to point my PD date out. 

Hello,
 
sorry for my delayed response but I really took the days to sleep of all the stress and pressure that fell off on Wednesday. The whole process was not as frightened as expected. We arrived 20 mins before our appointment and waited about 30 mins until my name was called. While waiting I was hoping that we would get a friendly officer after reading some horror stories in this forum. We ended up getting the friendliest, most patient and respectful officer I could have asked for. In the beginning he took the time to explain the process and let me ask all the questions I had. He mentioned that their office is one or maybe even the fastest office in the country as it is not rare for them to conduct interviews before the underlying petition (i-130) is approved. He checked what was going on with the i-130 application and confirmed that it hasn't been assigned to any officer and was laying in a shelf. We shortly discussed which date and table was applicable of the visa bulletin (he even printed it out to show us) and first he said that unfortunately there was no visa available but I ended up showing him my NOA of my i-130 with my priority date in 2017.  He then excused himself to see his supervisor. He came back, apologised and said that a visa was available for me. He also said that his supervisor requested my i-130 application to be routed to their office for processing. 
Long story short: I got approved, they will approve my i-130 as soon as they receive the application (that takes about 2 - 3 weeks) and then approve my i-485 and I should receive my Green Card in January. I still can't believe it and I am too afraid to really celebrate. I am going to wait with the celebration until January and to have my actual card in my hands . 
 
Since I am travelling in December too, the officer was so nice to push back the approval of my application. Otherwise I would have had to cancel my flight since my AP would become void as soon as my GC was approved. At the end he also explained the steps I needed to take for the removal of conditions since I will receive a conditional GC. 
 
Questions asked during the interview:
First question was if we wanted to add anything to the files and thankfully I read a few interview experiences so I knew to just give him all the evidences except of photographs (joint insurances, bank accounts, etc.). I asked if we needed to turn in the most recent tax return but there was no need as the officer has seen in the file already and it was the most recent one. I was quite nervous so all I did was put a whole stack of papers on the table but my husband was much more relaxed and was so nice to organise the paperwork for me Questions from the i-485  When he asked if a visa was ever denied I said yes but he did not ask any follow-up questions. At the end when I was allowed to ask questions I asked him if wanted to know what happened but since he went through my paperwork before the interview he knew what was going on and that it was ok. I wasn't aware that the officers went through the file before the interview. Since I changed jobs and had a new phone number we updated that information in the application A good tip I got from the forum as well: always let the officer ask the complete question before you answer.  Then he asked a few questions about us that we both could answer - mostly my husband answered and gave some additional info when I felt like it was needed: When and how did we meet? Where did we meet? Have we met each others family and when? When did we get married? My husband actually got the year wrong because he is SO BAD with names and dates Did we have a wedding? We didn't and we didn't have to explain why it was only a courthouse wedding Unfortunately I do not remember more of the questions but they were quite straightforward and nothing out of the ordinary. I also remember that I was asked a set of questions and then my husband. Sometimes the officer repeated the questions. For example the officer us asked when we got married and after a few minutes later my husband got the same question (and he still managed mixed up the year 😀). After the questions the officer asked if we had pictures with our families. I hesitated because at that moment I thought we didn't but my husband just took out my 85 pictures and we started to show the officers the pictures. At the end I couldn't stop. 😂 With each picture I told him who we were with, the location (e.g. Miami) and time (e.g. May of 2xxx). When I showed a picture of my best friend and us, the officer asked my husband if he knew her name and where she lived which he of course did. 
Also, for those that interested how I found out that I was approved: at the end of the interview I was allowed to ask questions (again). I wanted to know how the next steps looked like if I was approved and started with "If you decide to approve me..." and the officer smiled, laughed at little me and said:"You are approved. I am gonna approve you." I can't even describe how grateful and happy I was at that moment.  
 
We were in and out within 1 hour including the waiting period. I am very grateful to had a rather good experience. My husband said that I worried to much and was over-prepared. But better safe than sorry. I am so glad that I do not have to worry about the i-130 either and know who is actually going to handle that application as well. 
I am now waiting to see updates on my tracker for the transfer and approval of application. I will also be looking out for my approval notices in the mail in January. 
 
I hope this helps a little bit.  

Thank you! My PD is April 6th, 2017. 

@thepanda Wow.. many congratulations to you. That’s incredible and feels so great about your experience. What is your I-130 priority date?
 
Please keep us posted on your next update. 

Is all depends on the officer and how much they're informed on the current process. In few occasions they've deferred the decision with approval subject to pending I-130 or in some cases they just don't interview. Is really hard to predict scenarios like that.
Good luck for your interview. Please do share your experience with us later :) .

Ours came like that, too. It's common for them to put the mother's name as "in care of" on the interview letter.
 
Apparently, it is to help with identification, or to differentiate between GC applicants with the same name. I didn't ask our IO about that though, that's just the reason I read on here.

@thepanda Thank you for updating me on this. Good luck for your interview.

Hello everyone, @Clotillda Thank you for asking @Bhumi sorry i couldn't reply earlier, i just needed the weekend off to rest from all this, i was super nervous about the interview and i almost lost it
 
My interview was at 2 PM, we got to the location an hour and a half before, but instead of waiting inside we preferred to have some coffee at a place nearby. We went in 45 mins before, went through security and then came to the interview area, there was a sign on a window where it said to check in so we did, a lady officer checked us in the system, she only asked for the interview notice, our lawyer joined us at that time. Then the officer in charge of our case came out and called out the number of a family that was waiting by the time  we got there, our lawyer told us we're gonna be waiting for a while since they just got in.
we waited for almost 40. At 2:20, she called us in, we sat down my husband and i and our lawyer, she wanted to take my picture and fingerprints but the camera was stuck, so she said she'll try later after we finish, then told us to stand up and take the oath. We gave her the interview notice and my medical. Started by confirming my husband's infos : Full name, DOF, Job, address, parents name.., then asked me my name, address, job info and when was my last entry. Then asked us to tell her where we met, how, when did we get married, wanted to see wedding pictures, my husband and i would just take turns answering, it was spontaneous, and show her pictures along the way, she was very friendly and nice and she asked us about some of ours traditions since my husband joined me overseas where we did the traditional wedding. I was so nervous and it was obvious and all three of them joked about it  My lawyer explained to her how i was worried because my i94 expired and all that.
She asked us who prepared the documents (A huge binder full of docs) it was again obvious it was me, she told us to give her some documents just like joint bank accounts, etc... i told her she can have the whole binder, she was like no thank you hhhhh our lawyer intervened and took the binder and only took out important things like finances travel history utility and she THANKED him hhhhh (i guess they don't like to be overwhelmed with documents) she also only wanted to have few pictures like 6 or 5 not the entire album!! of course we gave her more 😂 the thing is i made my husband glue every picture fearing that it will fall off hhhh and now we had to pull them out, the whole scene was hilarious. Then, moved on to the yes or no Qs, and asked for original marriage certificate and birth certificates of both of us, and gave it all back to us.
At the end, she told us she approves of our marriage and that it's bona fide, and said she's waiting for the i130 case to be transferred to be able to make a decision, our lawyer asked her if there would be some additional actions required or anything, she said no and that if she receives the case and if a visa is available i should receive my GC in the mail. she gave us a paper saying "case is held for review". Also asked her about the EAD and said that this's the GC process and insinuated that it sort of cancels the need for an EAD. We thanked her and left.
The case status is still "interview was scheduled", so i'm wondering how long would it take to transfer my i130 case from CSC to my filed office, but for now i'm just glad the interview part was done.
I hope this answers your questions guys  
 

thanks @thepanda, I was thinking case will be transferred to local office then we could get interview,
That's clear, thank you very much

@thepandaCongratulations.
 
I just got my medical done as well and received the report in 5 days. They gave me the vaccinations that was needed as part of USCIS requirements. I think you should get your medical report in less than a week after the test. Just check with the doctor they will be doing the paper work for you i.e. filing i-693 form.
 
Also, My i-485 status got updated to "Case is ready to be schedule for an Interview" and my i-130 is also pending. Unfortunately for me the interview may not be scheduled until late 2020 since the wait time for Seattle is 24 to 29 Months and they're still working on May 2016 cases.
 
One of the other user @Holly-ando, I think their interview is scheduled for 10/12 and i-130 is alsp pending for them. Would be interesting to know about their experience as well.
 
All the best.
 
Thanks,
Vg

Hi @Bhumi, sorry about what happened to you. i’m sure you will have your interview again some time. Don’t worry. 
 
We were also very scared of not being to have the interview, and was fully prepared for that to happen. But somehow our IO is very informed about the process, it seems like we are not his first case like this, and we had our interview. We’ve been waiting since then.
 
Well, it is a new process for everyone, so it will take sometime for the standard procedure to sink in. Don’t worry as it does not affect your process.

It depends how important this wedding is for you. I would advise to file now because you are losing 3-4 months if you are waiting. Also there is a risk as mentioned above that they might not allow Chart B to file when you intend to do so. Either cancel the wedding and file now or accept a longer wait in the whole process. 
 
They did a couple of interviews with people who didn't have their i-130 approved yet. 

Does it say Courtesy letter and is a yellow or purple letter?? If yes then it is not a RFE but just a reminder. 

What is your PD again? I got my courtesy letter in June I think. I still haven't gotten my medical done but this up to personal preference. Since it is only valid for a year I am going to do the medical exam in the beginning of next year. 
 
You can also use the new tracker. Just google DHS Case Tracker and sign up for that one. But usually my old egov tracker updated earlier than the newer one. 
 
USCIS will not know when you have completed the medical exam. In the letter they tell you to bring it to the interview. That's when they know. 
 
I still have not received an interview date yet. If I looked up the processing time of my local office correctly they are still working on February 2017. 

Does it say Courtesy letter and is a yellow or purple letter?? If yes then it is not a RFE but just a reminder.