hikaru

I'm wondering if having copies of our credit card together will work. Statements do not include both our names.

My husband and I did this when we sent in some supporting documents for our RFE, as our statements don't have both our names on it either.

Just out of curiosity...why would the CO want the US citizen's birth certificate, emails, plane tickets and such? Did you send photos of you and your SO while you were engaged, and if so, why? Like I said, I'm just curious.

Because I'm ####### retentive, pretty much. I would rather be overprepared than underprepared. My husband entered on an F1 (student visa) and we met while we were both college students. Like cali said, if your case is based on a K1 visa rather than a work or student visa, you've already proved to immigration once that you have a legitimate relationship. I included so much info because we wanted to show how we met and developed our relationship so there would be no doubt that we're for real.

That, and I just like making a lot of trips to Fedex/kinkos to make copies.

Thanks all for the replies. Does the notice for interview come via email through the USCIS? It seems like it is at least a month ahead of hte interview date which I could then just fly back home early for the interview. Or does it come only via letter with a notice online that says a letter was sent?

The only notification we had for our AOS interview was an actual physical letter sent to our house. Our case hadn't even been 'touched' in a long while and the letter stating when our interview was scheduled showed up. This might not be the case for other people, but I didn't even get an email stating anything was being sent to me.

FINALLY after all the stress and worry, the RFE at the interview and the weird 'touches' on our case...

Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status:

This case has been approved. On July 21, 2006, an approval notice was mailed.

AND

Application Type: I485 , Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

Current Status:

On July 21, 2006, a welcome notice was mailed for this case. If 30 days have passed and you have not received this notice.

I'm SO EXCITED and also INCREDIBLY relieved. Now, of course, we just have to play the waiting game until the green card arrives, but WOW this is such a weight off of our shoulders!

Thanks so much to everyone at VJ who has given input into every single ridiculous question I've asked. Now we've got a bit of a break from USCIS -- It will be a very nice two years until we have to go back.

I did the same thing as cali, I had everything organized in two binders with the little clear document sleeves. Don't forget to make copies of anything that you only have an original of. There were several documents that I'd forgotten to bring copies of that our immigration officer wanted to keep and add to her file - I wouldn't let her keep them because I knew I'd need them in a couple of years when we go to get the 10-year green card. Don't let them keep any originals if they're not going to be replaceable, you never know when you'll need them again!

Here's what we brought to our interview:

Passport and state ID for US citizen

Passport, EAD, and state ID for AOS beneficiary

Birth certificate of US citizen

Translation of birth certificate of AOS beneficiary

Marriage certificate

Birth certificate for joint sponsor

Updated I-864 and copy of 2006 taxes for US citizen

Updated I-864 and copy of 2006 taxes for joint sponsor

Copies of all forms filed and NOAs.

Taxes for myself and the joint sponsor from 2002-2005

Copy of lease for current apartment

Certificate of coverage for health care from my husband's employer, showing me as a beneficiary

Letter from my husband's employer stating that he is currently employed

Letter from my father's employer stating that he is currently employed

Bank statements from our joint account from when it was opened - present

Phone records from 2002-present

Greyhound bus tickets from when we lived about an hour apart and visited each other on weekends (2004-2005)

Plane and train tickets from when we went to Venezuela so I could meet his family (2004)

Letters/correspondence/invitations/etc. addressed to us

Over 100 photos dating from 2002 to present

Receipts from major purchases (wedding rings, couch, living room table, bed)

Emails from 2003-present

*bump*

I'm still planning on making an infopass appointment, but I was curious if anyone else here had any input or has had this happen to them.

Perhaps because he is a new officer, he needs to have a supervisor sign off on any cases he does, just to make sure he does everything right on his end. That might explain any possible delay. I don't know for sure, but I think I've read other AOS interview stories on here where the officer has said something to the effect of "you're approved, but I'm new so my supervisor just needs to look over your case."

Right now it hasn't even been two weeks since the interview. I'd say give it a little bit more time to see if anything happens or comes in the mail before getting too worried.

Congrats on getting this far, and I hope everything else goes well for you!

We got an RFE on the spot at our AOS interview (Chicago office) to provide proof for a period of time my husband and I lived together right after we were married. He was still in college, so I stayed in his apartment but was never on a lease so there wasn't any proof I lived there. The officer wrote on the RFE: "Submit copies of letters, plane tickets, etc. that were shown at the scheduled interview. If you have proof that both of you were residing together at (ADDRESS), submit those documents as well." Our officer didn't seem too interested in actually looking at the documentation we had brought with us; it really seemed like she'd rather us send it to her so she could look at it later rather than doing her actual job and making a decision there.

If you want, I can PM you a list of all the documents we brought to the interview, as well as all the documents I submitted for the RFE.

I've wanted to say this for a long time. I'm computer smart and I have never ever understood the phrase "I was touched today" etc. I simply don't get it, and I cannot understand how you would know they "touched" your case just by going online. Maybe someone could explain this to me, OR a lot of the rest of you have very good imaginations.

If you go to the USCIS website you can check your case status online. Click on the link under the heading "Case Status Online" and then click on the link for "Create/Edit customer portfolio account". Once you create your account, you can put your case numbers in and you'll get a nice little table that shows you when your file was last 'touched', if something has been approved, etc.

Ugh, I guess I know where I'll be making an appointment to go. ;\ It's so frustrating because our case is pretty clear cut, but we have to jump through these ridiculous hoops every step of the way. I'm trying to keep my hopes up that this random email is good news and maybe we'll be approved finally, but knowing our luck...

(I tried editing the post to add this but everything went all screwy on me, so I figured I'd just comment instead of breaking the internet or something.)

Also, I just checked the online portfolio thing on the USCIS site, and the I-130, I-485, and (surprisingly) the I-865 (sponsor's change of address form) were all touched today. Think that might mean anything?

Hi there. I just got this e-mail from USCIS and I'm more than a little concerned:

Application Type: I485 , Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

Current Status:

The interview scheduled in this case has been canceled. You will be notified if the interview is rescheduled.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National Customer Service Center

The thing is, we already had our interview in May! We didn't get a decision at the time, and the officer gave us an RFE on the spot for more information (ugh, don't get me started!) which I sent in this past week. It's already been recieved by the officer, according to delivery confirmation from the post office.

I know no one can tell me for sure, but is this possibly a good thing? Or a bad thing? Should I make an infopass appointment, or wait a little bit to see if anything happens?

Thanks for any help/words of wisdom.

is it good to ask her parents to write a letter that iam living with their daughter at their home.

I would have her parents write a letter and get it notarized with this info and bring it to the interview. It couldn't hurt, and it may help. When my husband and I had the AOS interview the officer was very concerned/curious about a period of time where I lived with him but was not on the lease for the apartment we lived in. I had to collect several letters from friends, family, and our roommates which stated that I was a resident there since we had no joint lease. Hopefully you guys will have an easier time at the AOS interview, but like I said, it can't hurt and a notarized letter is generally pretty easy to get. Good luck!

Not sure of the answer to your question, but I'm curious about something. If your last EAD was approved in Feb, why is it expiring in December? Shouldn't they be giving you at least a year?

Good question, one we've never been able to get a satisfactory answer to. ;\ We've deduced that it's partly because of the snafu when they were still sending documents to our old address - perhaps the EAD was actually approved in December but because they sent things to the wrong places and we had to reschedule the biometrics, it took us longer to get. We've asked about it (infopass, phone) but no one's been helpful.

Hello there!

I was wondering when you all think it would be best for my husband to renew his EAD? It expires in December. Would it be too early to file now? Should we wait until October or September? We don't want to file too late and then have the renewal not be processed in time and have to put his job in jeopardy. I'd like to think that his green card would be approved by December, but I'm not too hopeful.

When we do file, would he still file under eligability category c9, as we initially filed the EAD with his adjustment of status application? Also, assuming we do file c9, where does the application get sent? In the instructions, it says "If your response to question 16 is c(9), file your application at the same local USCIS office or Service Center where you submitted your adjustment of status application." We sent everything to the Chicago lockbox, as we filed for EAD at the same time we submitted for the AOS; everything was then transferred to the Misourri Service Center. I think everything is now back in Chicago, where we live. Too many places, I'm confused!

Thanks for your help.

Yeah, today's project is hunting down college friends and old roommates who lived with us there or who visited us when we lived there. That'll be... fun.

She didn't really seem to care about the phone bills when I told her about them, but I'll be sending to her anyway. I also have bank statements sent to his address in both of our names that she looked at (but only to say "this account hasn't been open very long" even though it's been open since 11/04!) that I'll be sending her.

I guess someone had to have a crappy experience at their interview. Just wish it wasn't me though!

My husband and I filed AOS in Oct 2005 and he didn't get his AP, biometrics appointment, and EAD until Feb 2006. I hope you get yours earlier than we did, though! Check out other posts/other peoples timelines to get an idea of how long it takes, on average.

I think that because of the laws that come into effect on a whim with our government, the uscis is so overtasked and burdened with ongoing changes that the folks that work there are totally burned out, need a raise (or need to find a good spouse overseas haha!), or just need to get laid period.

After our AOS interview today, I remarked jokingly to my husband that perhaps a requirement to being able to adjudicate cases for USCIS is to have a foreign-born spouse of your own -- maybe then they'd have a little more sympathy for our cases!

I wouldn't be worried too much if you've got an interview at Chicago -- honestly, every other story on here about AOS interviews there has been overwhelmingly positive and painless. My husband and I apparently just got the short end of the stick with our interview.

The most frustrating part is that every piece of evidence we had that showed what she was looking for (that we lived together before/right after we got married) wasn't enough for her (bank statements/our checks that have the old PA address where we lived together before we moved to Chicago, photographs of us in/outside of the apartment, mail sent to both of us at that address), and that she didn't seem to believe the explanation I gave.

When I asked her for ideas of what else she was looking for, she didn't give me any ideas or suggestions. I want to give them what they want, but it's hard when you don't REALLY know what that is, or don't actually have documentation to prove it.

I know the obligation to prove things is on us as the petitioner and immigrant, but it's honestly a little ridiculous. She hardly even cared about evidence that we live together *now* or that we're even married. Argh!

We filed our 2005 taxes as separate-but-married. My father does my taxes and said that it was best for that year that we file separately. We're still listed on each other's tax forms as married, however.

She kept asking us for stuff like car insurance, but we don't own a car, and we never have. I don't even have a driver's license (which she didn't seem to believe when I told her). We have a joint credit card but just opened it recently, so we haven't gotten a statement yet that has both of our names on it. Hopefully we'll be getting that soon so I can include it in the pile of things I send back.

My husband and I had the AOS interview today in Chicago. We waited for about half an hour in a little tiny room (where everyone except for us had a lawyer with them ) before his name was called.

We then went with a female officer (Officer Ellis, I believe was her name) and took the oath to say we were telling the truth. As soon as we sat down, she got out our folder and immediately started with the questions. Of course, as she asked questions, she was also having us sign and date various documents. Talking and writing at the same time isn't a strong point of ANYONE I know-- they must do it to confuse you/try to trip you up.

Asked to my husband:

His full name

Telephone number

Date of birth

Country of birth

Current address

Where he currently works/how long he's been employed

Last entrance into the US/place of entry

How we met

When we moved to Chicago

The yes/no questions from the I-485 form

When/where were we married

What was the wedding like?

Why didn't we have a big wedding?

How many units are in our building (!!! we live in a 19-floor two-tower condo building. How are we supposed to know how many units are there!)

Asked to me

My date of birth

Telephone number

How we met

When we first moved in together

My father's occupation

When I stopped working at my last job

Why don't I work now

Things we brought to the interview:

Copies of all forms filed and NOAs.

Taxes for myself and the joint sponsor (my father) from 2002-2005

Birth certificates for myself, my father, and my husband

Marriage certificate (the original we were given when the judge married us, and a certified copy we got from the county clerk)

Copy of lease for current apartment

Certificate of coverage for health care from my husband's employer, showing me as a beneficiary

Letter from my husband's employer stating that he is currently employed

Letter from my father's employer stating that he is currently employed

Bank statements from our joint account from Aug 2004-present (we had the account for about ~6mos prior to that but my husband lost the statements ;\ )

Phone records from 2002-present

Greyhound bus tickets from when we lived about an hour apart and visited each other on weekends (2004-2005)

Plane and train tickets from when we went to Venezuela so I could meet his family (2004)

Letters/correspondence/invitations/etc. addressed to us from friends, family, and our landlord

Over 100 photos dating from when we first met (in college) in 2002 to present

Receipts from major purchases (wedding rings, couch, living room table, bed)

Emails from 2003-present between my husband and I, and various friends and myself where my husband was discussed

DESPITE all this, she still said that she does not have enough evidence to make a decision and essentially gave us an RFE on the spot. One major sticking point was that the officer wants proof of the time when we lived together right after I graduated college until we moved here to Chicago (May 2005-December 2005) -- proof that doesn't exist to their standards. When I moved in with him, I was not added to the lease of the apartment and I did not receive mail there (I had a PO box instead, because the postal service would not deliver mail in my name to that apartment as I wasn't on the lease). I was pretty much a houseguest that happened to stay for several months. We didn't think that THIS would be the one thing that would cause problems for us!!

The only thing I can think of that would prove this would be to get notarized letters from the two other individuals who lived in that apartment stating that both my husband and I lived there before and right after we got married, maybe a letter from my mother and friends who visited us when we lived there. We have photos of us in the apartment as well.

Can anyone else think of anything we didn't have that I could send in? I'm absolutely frustrated right now because our case seems so direct. We met in college, we dated for a few years, he's met my family several times (spends all holidays with my family), I've met his family, and then got married and moved here to Chicago to start our lives together. There's nothing suspicious in his past, he's never overstayed or been denied entry at the border, no history of arrests, nothing.

I know in the grand scheme of things, that an RFE isn't THAT big of a deal, and that lots of people get to the AOS interview and are told to submit more information. But she looked at my pile of stuff and told me that my husband and I "essentially had nothing to prove our life together." I'm trying to be calm about the whole thing, but I really don't know what else I can give her that I haven't already presented.

Ideas? Reassurance that I'm not crazy? Anything?

Thanks for the input!

Will they go through the metal detector?

I would say they would just take them off like they would with any other jewelery/spare change/keys when they're going through the detectors.

My husband is adjusting from an F1 - we filed for our AOS in late October and have our green card interview next week. See the timeline in my signature for other dates and such.

My husband and I have our interview coming up next week and I was wondering if we should bring an updated copy of the affadavit of support to the interview, to reflect 2005 income? I have copies of my 2005 taxes, as well as my father's (the joint sponsor). Should we have an updated I-864 on hand, too, or will the copies of the tax forms be enough?

Thanks for the help, this forum has been really valuable in helping us prepare!

Congratulations! My husband and I have our AOS interview in Chicago next month, so it's good to hear some positive stories about the place!