Poohmini

Hi everyone,
 
Also wanted to share the good news here - I finally got my green card in the mail yesterday! It's been a long journey (my PD is April 2017) and I really appreciate everyone on this thread sharing the information and supporting each other.
 
I don't have much to share with respect to the interview, as @Tenreyro has already provided a detailed walk-through of his/her experience and mine is similar. I guess I'll just share some tips and the lessons I learned in this process:
 
1. Apply for the EAD and AP combo card at the same time as you send your 485. I applied for the combo card three months after I sent out the 485, because I had to travel out of US back then and was worried the combo card application would be denied due to my departure from US. But it turns out applying for the combo card separately seriously delayed its issuance - it took USCIS over 8 months to approve my card. 
 
2. Don't hesitate to contact your local congressperson and/or ombudsman for help if your case is stuck at one step and USCIS is not responsive. I reached out to my local congresswoman as I was anxiously waiting for my overdue combo card and her representative was very helpful. Not sure if that's the reason, but I received my combo card two weeks after her office sent a case inquiry on my behalf. I also sought help on the Ombudsman's website: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance.
 
3. Push for a complete interview if your interview is scheduled mistakenly. I'm probably the only person on this thread who had to do the interview twice - the first time was purely USCIS' mistake as they thought I'm married to a citizen and all files (i.e., 130 and 485) were at the local office. But when we arrived at the USCIS office, the officer looked through our files and realized the 130 has not been approved yet and it's still at the California service center. So he turned us away. Now that I looked back, we should have insisted to do the interview, as our 130 actually was still not at the local office at the time of our 2nd interview. Fortunately this time we completed the interview after we explained the difference between CR-1and F2A again to the interviewer. So I don't think the local office necessarily has to receive all the files to do an interview for F2A, and if you are in the same boat, you might consider pushing to do the interview anyways to save the trouble of visiting the local office again.
 
4. Lower the expectation and focus on other parts of your life when going through this process. F2A is a long journey (recently the wait has been much better though), and there aren't many of us out there. Most marriage based green cards are CR-1 cases and as such, you might run into all kinds of confusions and mistakes on USCIS' side (let's face it, USCIS is not the best US government body, even compared with DMV). So please get familiar with the legal terms and expect the process to go wrong - with a lower expectation hopefully you will be much less stressed and much better prepared. Always remember there are so much great things in life (e.g., family, friends, fun, etc.) that don't require a greencard to enjoy.
 
I hope the above are helpful and everyone here gets their card soon!!!!
 
 

Congrats @Tenreyro and best of luck for your future.

Congrats the panda😊😊😊

Good Afternoon Everyone,
 
I have received my Green Card today. It has 10 years validity. I believe the reason for this validity is getting Green Card after being married for more than 2 years.
 
@VG31 I can't remember all the questions but I am trying to list the ones I remember below. My interview was at 8am and we reached there around 7:45am. There was a queue but we managed to attend the interview on time. I would recommend everyone arriving at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
 
The interviewer was very friendly but professional. He knew exactly what he was doing even if he was joking in between questions. He asked questions randomly to me and my wife (switched back and forth).
 
Questions:
What is my full name and date of birth (same question to my wife) Where do we live. Where was my wife born (Question to my wife) How did we meet each other. Where was the wedding. How many people attended the wedding.  How my wife got her green card. (Question to my wife) Saw picture of us together of the wedding and other occasions. Kept 10 pictures out of them for his record. (asked my wife to choose any 10 photos from the album) Kept copies of joint lease document and copy home ownership documents. Asked for the I-130 Approval Notice.  Asked about my priority date and if it is current. (After asking me he checked the priority date himself and told me it's current) Wanted to learn more about our wedding system (Muslim Wedding). Wanted to learn more about the city we live in. How we went to the interview. What hotel did we stay in. (Question to my wife) How I am at home (lazy/active) 😄. (Question to my wife) What are my wife's parent's full names. (Question to my wife) Where do I work. Asked about my monthly salary and my designation. When did I entered US last time. Where and what did study in the US.  How long have we been married.  In between asking questions he was doing something in the computer and took notes on a paper of answers to some of the questions above. 
 
Then he asked if we had any questions. I just asked if I was approved. He said everything looks good and I should receive the Green Card within 2 weeks or 1 month.
 
Note: I submitted the I-693 and I-864 along with my application 1 year ago. I did not re-do them and the interviewer also didn't ask for them.
 
I will update my post if I remember any other question that was asked.
 
Best wishes for all the future interviewee.

Thank you so much for sharing, really happy for you!

I raised a Service Request today online and it worked. (Last time I raised a ticket it didn't go through because I was not out of normal processing time). I checked the Case Tracker online before I submitted the request. My account didn't show any update and still doesn't. 
 
Guess what I got in the mail when I got home? I signed up for the USPS e-mail notification and didn't know I would get a letter from USCIS. I thought it was the receipt notice for my work permit renewal. It is actually my i-485 approval. It says to contact them again if my card does not arrive within the next 90 days. I am so happy! 
 
Timeline:
PD April 2017
Submitted AOS - May 2018
Interview - November 2018
i-130 approval - March 2019
i-485 approval - June 2019
 
Looks like my i-485 was transferred to NBC afterwards.
 
Update: the "old" case tracker just updated and it says "Card was mailed to me". For my i-130 approval they only updated the new case tracker. A little messy but I am so happy! I will keep you guys updated when I receive the Green Card in the mail.

Yes, I submitted I-693 with my 485 package on March/2018. So it's expired now, if I got interview schedule notice, I will do it again and bring it with me to the interview.

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!

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. 

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. 

Folks, finally my EAD status changed to "New Card is being produced" yesterday.
 
Senator had to follow up again, Senator's office told me this time they reached out to USCIS over the phone and got a specific response about my case from them.
 
Anyways I'm super happy....Yippppy!!!! 😎
 
I would suggest don't lose hope, continuous follow-ups and patience is the key, provided you have a genuine reason to convince USCIS and Senator/congressman 
 
Here is my updated timeline 
 
08/27  - Filed for AOS/EAD along with 485 at MSC
10/29 - Requested expedite 
11/13 - Got letter asking additional evidence 
11/15 - Faxed all the  details 
11/16 - Senator followed up  
12/17 - Senator followed up again (via phone)
12/19 - Got specific response from USCIS (not the generic one)
12/28 - Status Changed to "New Card is being produced" (MSC is super crazy even my expedite request took 2 months 🙄even holidays during my timeline may have added up the days)
 
 

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!