noname_no

Hey everyone, my EAD is finally in production. I got the email notification yesterday evening. NOA receipt 5 Mar. It is moving a week faster than I expected. Good news to march filers who haven't gotten their gc interview yet. 

Yes. It happened to me recently. My appointment was last month in June and no update then I get info about my 485 is ready for schedule with EAD and AP still no online update. 

Can I just say that I am feeling homesick? I am in a big town (not a city) with no friends. It makes it twice harder all in the midst of a pandemic. The weather is horrible here. To see a certain health specialists, I am at least 2.5 hours to 3 hours drive away. I am in the desert and I can't really go out for a walk whenever I want. Also, lack of job prospects for the kinda of work I used to do (I was in IT support and over here it is all retail floor jobs or agriculture driven). I am missing home badly. I had experience living in other countries prior but those experiences were no where close to this. I can't drive yet, no EAD nor AP,  let alone GC. There are times I just feel like giving up and go back home. I am not readjusting well. Anyone else in similar boat as me? :( 

Hey All, 
 
I thought I’d share my AOS interview experience which me and my wife had yesterday, as it definitely helped me reading through other people’s experience  beforehand. 
 
Our interview was in Mount Laurel, NJ at 8:15am. We arrived at 08:00am, they checked the interview notice and our ID’s at the door, and then went through airport style security. We then went to a counter to be checked in and I had my picture and fingerprint taken. 
 
We then waited 5-10mins before the IO came to collect us and took us to her office. She was a little friendly, didn’t come across as SUPER serious which made things a little easier, but obviously not joking around! 
When we got to her office we were sworn in and got right to it:
- first she checked over my documents (birth certificate, EAD card, passport, marriage certificate). asked me a few clarifying questions and asked my wife what my DOB is and later in interview asked me what her DOB is.
- she asked if I had brought an updated medical form (I never submitted I693 initially because I had my U.K. medical in a year of me submitting the application.), which I hadn’t because of what I read on here. I told her and she asked if I had copy of one from U.K., I said I have the DS3025 copy and handed it over. And she made a few notes on her form, and moved on with her questions, not really saying if it was an issue or not. 
- we had recently moved so there were a couple questions just on our old address, new address, when we moved, if we owned the house together. 
- she asked how did we meet, our dating timeline, trips we had together when we were dating, details of the proposal (when, where, how was it done, what was the hotel called we stayed at), details of our wedding ceremony (who was there, where did we go afterwards). All these questions were directed fairly equally between me and my wife. She also asked me what my wife did and where she worked and also asked my wife what I did back in the U.K. before moving. 
-  she then asked if we had brought any pictures. We brought around 30 of us together and with other people. I handed over all of them and she went through them. We started giving a description of each one and she asked my wife my parents names, and a few other questions. Then about half way she just flicked through the rest quickly and didn’t need to give a description. But she kept all the photos. 
- she then asked if we brought evidence of joint assets. We brought a few but not LOADS. She just flicked through one by one and we told her what each one was. We had brought - docs of our new house in both our names, our old rental lease, joint bank and credit card statements, our wedding venue contract, my wife’s health insurance plan with my name on from last year. Again she just kept all of the documents. 
- she then asked the 30+ crazy questions which are at the back of the I485 application. 
 
She then told us that was it and we would hear back in 30-90 days. The interview took probably about 30mins. About 2-3hrs later I decided to check my case online and it had said case approved! I thought I would have gotten an email but I didn’t. 
 

Stuff she never asked for that we had:
-   all immigration documents issued to us, -   copies of all of the AOS docs we submitted (485,944,864,765,131) - I really don’t think we needed these but wasn’t sure based on the wording of the interview notice. I think probably just the evidence we submitted with these documents alone would probably have been enough as I guess they’ve got our actual submissions of the documents ! 
- We had photocopies of our passports, birth/marriage certificates etc. 
- We decided to do a new I864 because I now have a job and my wife changed jobs, plus the evidence - tax transcripts and pay stubs, job offer letter. 
- My wife wanted to be extra safe and had printed copies of everything we had which really wasn’t needed! 
 

You are right! I missed that! Thank you for pointing that out!

Actually, they did "This guidance, contained in Volume 10 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately"

I got my biometric appointment scheduled for mid june! Mail came in last weekend, unexpectedly. No any notifications. I am an early March filer.

I got my biometric appointment scheduled for mid june! Mail came in last weekend, unexpectedly. No any notifications. I am an early March filer.

Can I just say that I am feeling homesick? I am in a big town (not a city) with no friends. It makes it twice harder all in the midst of a pandemic. The weather is horrible here. To see a certain health specialists, I am at least 2.5 hours to 3 hours drive away. I am in the desert and I can't really go out for a walk whenever I want. Also, lack of job prospects for the kinda of work I used to do (I was in IT support and over here it is all retail floor jobs or agriculture driven). I am missing home badly. I had experience living in other countries prior but those experiences were no where close to this. I can't drive yet, no EAD nor AP,  let alone GC. There are times I just feel like giving up and go back home. I am not readjusting well. Anyone else in similar boat as me? :( 

Can I just say that I am feeling homesick? I am in a big town (not a city) with no friends. It makes it twice harder all in the midst of a pandemic. The weather is horrible here. To see a certain health specialists, I am at least 2.5 hours to 3 hours drive away. I am in the desert and I can't really go out for a walk whenever I want. Also, lack of job prospects for the kinda of work I used to do (I was in IT support and over here it is all retail floor jobs or agriculture driven). I am missing home badly. I had experience living in other countries prior but those experiences were no where close to this. I can't drive yet, no EAD nor AP,  let alone GC. There are times I just feel like giving up and go back home. I am not readjusting well. Anyone else in similar boat as me? :( 

Makes sense now. Detriot was one of the handful field offices in the country that processes AOS faster, during pre-covid times, guess they kept up.
 
Congrats again! 

Hello, everyone.
I mailed AOS doc's in March of 2nd, got NOA1 letter in April of 7th. And yesterday I got a mail from USCIS with biometric appointment. 

I never researched the reason behind the hyphenation of Mary-Chapin Carpenter's name, but now I might be inspired to.  

I am so glad this is brought up! So I have two words for my first name and it is a struggle here when it seems like people would just assume that the 2nd word of my first name is my middle name. I do not have a middle name. I didn't like how inconsistent different institution runs. Some I could get them to hyphenate my 2-word first name and others not at all. Thanks @TBoneTX for the suggestion! 

Loving this topic!

^^^This. 100%.
 
I would suggest you ignore postings like the one you linked. In general its better to have the mindset of I am the rule and not the exception. You will always find people who are the exception if you look hard enough and I would say good for them but they were an exception and you shouldnt expect to be as well. 
 
For clarity- there are certain visa statuses that allow for work auth. The K does allow for work auth but as explained the K is only valid for 90 days. So you would need to apply for the EAD as soon as you arrive and then get it expedited so the EAD is issued before the 90 days is up and even if it is issued it will expire after the 90 days. Its a pointless process with very limited benefits. You also need to get your SSN to work, so if you dont have one issued to you previously you also would need to obtain one to work with the EAD based on the K visa. 
 
Now because the K allows you to get an EAD it also allows SSA to issue you a SSN. SSA does not just hand out SSNs to anyone who wants one. You have to show you are eligible to work- that means your visa status needs to show you are eligible, you dont actually need the EAD card to apply for it. So as a K visa holder you should attempt to get a SSN (if you dont have one) as soon as you can in the 90 days. SSA requires you to have a min of  2 weeks left on your visa to process your SSN so if you wait too long you may time out for them to issue it.
 
Heres where a lot of confusion occurs with K holders and women who are changing their last name based on the marriage. Everything starts with USCIS. They issue you a visa in the name shown on your passport. This name is entered into the SAVE-everify system. As a K you can apply for a SSN because the K status allows SSA to issue you a SSN in those 90 days and you fill out the form for a SSN using the name USCIS has on file for you- the one in your passport. It doesnt matter if you are married yet or if you are changing your name. You can not change your name with SSA until USCIS changes it. So you  get the SSN printed in the name on your passport. 
 
Once the 90 days are up you no longer have status. When you file your AOS package and get the NOA you are considered to be in a period of auth stay. This is not a status. It just means they know you are here and have paperwork pending and are OK with you being here but you get no benefits from being in auth stay.
 
As part of your AOS package you send the 485 (to get a GC). Filing the 485 allows you to get a C09 EAD while its pending, so you send the 765 in your package. (you also want to send the 131 for travel and if so you would get a combo card -EAD+AP, if you dont want the AP which you should apply for just because you never know if you may have to leave the US for an emergency back home- then you would just get the stand alone EAD card.) Getting back on topic though- you send your AOS package and once they issue the EAD (or combo card) you then have a status that allows you to get a SSN (EAD holder). When you submit your AOS package if you want to change your last name you do so by entering the new name on the forms. The EAD will be issued in the new name. Now your name has been updated and SSA can issue you a SS card with that name. If you already have the SSN you can go back to SSA after you get the EAD to update the name on your SS card. If you were unable to obtain a SSN then you would apply for one using the EAD and they will issue you the SSN with the name on the EAD.
 
The general flow chart is USCIS-->SSA--->DMV--->Banks, employers, insurance, etc. This is because again it all starts with USCIS and the name they enter as on file for you and your status. Typically DMVs require you to show your SS card and usually take the same approach as SSA does- they check your name with what USCIS has and your status and will issue you a DL in the name on file only providing you have a status that allows them to give you a DL. In most states a K can not get a DL but an EAD holder can. 
 
So you first have status for 90 days as a K and should attempt to get your SSN during that time. You then will not have status again until the EAD is issued. Does that all make sense? I know its a lot to sort through and I tried to not over or under explain things. Please post back if you have additional questions.
 

I filed in Jan and had it returned back to me due to the same reason as you - an older (previous) edition date of I-485 despite expiry date is still valid. Resubmitted everything as original submission and they received it on Mar 5 (Fri). It is almost three weeks now. Let's see how that pans out.

 

Hey guys, hope your applications are coming along. Here’s my timeline:
- Jan 22 2021: shipped out packet to Chicago office 
- Jan 25 2021: Package delivered to USCIS office 
- Feb 16 2021: Account debited for application by USCIS 
- Feb 22 2021: Notification letters received in mailbox 

So in general, it took about 4 weeks from when my application arrived at their office for me to get the notification letters. I hope this helps those still waiting for theirs, to get a better estimate as to when they should be hearing back from USCIS.  I will provide more updates as I move along. 

I sent it my husbands application on January 16th (Husband came on K1 visa in November). He got a text last night from USCIS confirming that our fingerprint fee for I-485 was received. They cashed my check today...

Submitted my AOS packet. Anyone here just filed this month?

Their law firm actually posted the aforementioned documents to the public. https://www.visalaw.com/siskinds-notes-visa-ban-litigation-administrative-record/
There's a Dropbox link and there's some notes on the page. There's quite a few definitive answers to questions members have had here, such as: Consulates are being encouraged to re-validate I-129F even if they're past expiry, using guidance under 9 FAM 502.7-3(B)(d), none of the executive orders affect K1s because they are non-immigrant visas (they emphasize this repeatedly).
 
Here's a flowchart they had describing how IV rescheduling is supposed to work through their phases: https://i.imgur.com/FFfsDXZ.png
 

Ok, I didn't want to post, but it seems it needs to be said. I am not trying to diminish anyone's journey or trying to say that we are the only ones that have it hard or have ever had it hard or will ever have it hard. But I have also noticed that in a lot of threads where people are discussing taking action and trying to get political figures to please do something about K1 visas, there is often at least one person coming in saying something along the lines: "I am so glad we did CR1" or "this just proves that K1 is not a good choice" and so on and so forth. And it then has a tendency to turn into a discussion of why CR1 is superior. Or they start to discuss politics and who is the worse politician. And the original intent of the thread is lost. I am not going to tell anyone not to post, but can't you see how such statements are not helpful. Some of us did our research, had very good reasons why we chose the K1 and were willing to live with all the consequences of this. But NONE of us knew Covid would strike, NONE of us knew we will be stuck. And of course people get emotional when they read statements like I listed above. Don't you think we aren't asking ourselves if we were idiots for doing K1, if we made the wrong choice?  Even if we had all the info and did all the research. I know I do.
Again, I am not telling you not to comment, you have a right to, but maybe, just maybe consider if what you want to post will be helpful, or if it's just adding noise or changing the direction of the conversation.

This forum is to discuss calling congressmen or congresswoman about making K1 visas mission critical. It is absolutely unacceptable that professional athletes can get a visa but our Fiance(e)s cannot.  

Haha, how about this, it's neither one? LOL
 
It is a non-immigrant visa with immigrant intent, processed like one too. Hybrid. Special. Different. Best of the both worlds and therefore, our visa class has never been more ambiguous especially during this period.

Congrats! This is wonderful news!!! They just emailed you randomly out of the blue huh? Do you know of any other Chilean K1 filers? Did they get the same like you? When was your case ready at embassy? Congrats again!!

We got an email from the embassy in Chile with an appointment date!!!! Had to share!