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We got the greencard approved today! Interview was easy and low-key and eventually concluded with the guy saying "Okay, you're totally married. I think we're done here." I will post the review/recap of the Boston office.

Also, several other people had the experience of being summoned for a second biometrics appointment. My husband went back in and this time they only scanned one finger, so he wondered if something was messed up with the scan the first time.

Sorry to doublepost, but @semurph1 and @AandS have either of you had any luck figuring out the extra biometrics appointment?

So, he hasn't called yet about the extra biometrics appointment (has anyone else learned anything new?) but we got the interview letter today! November 19. Hope that bodes well for others' timelines as well...

So here's a weird thing. My husband did his biometrics on August 12, and on September 12 he received his combo card. It does say it's for both work authorization and can serve as a travel document on the card.

Today, we got a letter in the mail. I was excited, thinking it might be an interview date. Instead it's a biometrics appointment for November 12, specifically for the I-131 travel document. ???

When he received the first biometrics notification it did say it was specifically for I-765 and I-485, but then he got the combo card so I assumed I-131 was rolled into that. Is that normal? I haven't heard about someone having a second biometrics appointment once they already got the combo card...

I think removing blank pages is fine. We did that. 

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss and I'm glad you were able to get an emergency document to cross the border. My husband is also Canadian and has a father in poor health, and we definitely had conversations about what might happen if something went wrong, especially when everything was shut down in March - May.

We filed in March, and my husband was notified in late July that his biometrics appointment was in mid-August. We're in Boston, and he said the appointment was super quick and efficient.

On 9/9/2020 at 9:43 AM, Mike235711 said:

Thank you. I had used this tool before...Are these field offices able to handle the application filing? I wasn't sure if they offered only a subset of the services compared to a full office. 

You'll still send your initial full application to the Chicago Lock Box. They just want to know where you will eventually be interviewing/interacting with.

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1) On form I-130, do you list a state name with the city (ex. Part 2.6, 3.6)?

I think I did both, depending on how obvious the location was from the city name. I don't think it should really matter.

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2) Do you leave some sections blank or explicitly write N/A for every question that does not apply? (ex. Part 2.1-2.3)

The lawyer who looked over my forms said to put in N/A at the beginning of a section. (i.e. other names used, or kids, or other addresses) but you didn't need to fill it in for every box after that.

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3) For addresses, it asks for a "From" and "To" date, is it OK to write "current" if we are currently living here?

Yes. I think "PRESENT" was actually already filled in on my version of the forms.

If you haven't already, I strongly suggest looking at the Sample Immigration Forms. They helped me a lot with knowing how to approach the forms.

4 minutes ago, JCS88 said:

Boston area

Us too! Fingers crossed we have a similar timeline...

Congrats! Can't wait to hear how the interview goes and what it's like in the office.

11 minutes ago, JCS88 said:

Just got our interview request for end of Sept! Had biometrics done in mid Aug. Anyone else receive theirs?

Holy moly! That's incredible. We got notified about the EAD today, but no interview news yet. Where's your local office?

Sorry to double post, but we also got the "Case is Ready to be Scheduled for an Interview" update this evening! The processing times in Boston look like they range from 9 months (50% of cases are complete by that time) to 35 months (for 93% to be complete). I really hope it's more like the former than the latter.

Now, we wait.

@AandS thats so exciting! My husband just did the biometrics yesterday (similar situation here in Boston - very safe, very well run, he said he wished he could have complimented someone on it) and so hopefully we'll get a similar status next week or so?

1 hour ago, JonathanDowning said:

I’ve just received my biometrics appointment date for San Francisco, 08-14-2020! I applied in late March so it looks like things are coming back on track. Yay

Congrats! It's so nice to things are moving, even if it's slow.

48 minutes ago, mvasantos said:

That's great! Mind sharing what state or ASC?

 

Thanks!!

Of course! Sorry - we're in the Boston area. The ASC is in Revere. 

I'm guessing not a lot of us applied in March because of the recent-ness of the I-944. This thread seems a lot quieter than February or April!

For anyone tracking on a similar timeline, we got the letter yesterday for my husband's biometrics appointment in mid-August. First update since the NOA!

My husband just received his biometrics appointment notification today! It's the first thing we've heard since we got notification that they'd received our application in March.

We are in Boston, if that's helpful.

Same situation here! We included his HS diploma (both the school and the provincial one) and included the following explanations:

1. On the form, under courses attended, we said "native speaker, studied in all schooling," and under who issued the certification said "High School Diploma, English-speaking HS."

2. In our cover letter with the form where we listed out all of the included evidence, we said "Beneficiary’s high school diploma(s) from a predominantly English-speaking province in Canada as evidence of native English proficiency."

I'm hoping very much that that covers it. If anyone is applying common sense when they read it, it should. But obviously I don't have confirmation of that yet!

Oh gosh, we struggled with that. I think the policy was like 10 pages or something - not quite as bad. We also got his insurance to send a letter stating his enrollment, and his recent tax form showing he was insured. I think 80 pages seems extreme - I think they're mostly trying to figure out what the out-of-pocket maximum is, to figure out how well you'll be covered should you have a health issue. Certificate of coverage and maybe a summary page of the policy?

Hi @Ash_, if you don't have any accompanying children, you can include your income in the I-864 and are not required to submit the I-864A. See instructions:

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1. If you included the income of the intending immigrant who is your spouse ...He or she does not need to complete Form I-864A unless he or she has accompanying children.

However, if your husband's income meets or exceeds the federal poverty guidelines for your household, you don't need to include yours. 

Since the I-944 is to be filled out by the intending immigrant, my husband filled that out. We included both of our incomes, tax summaries, bank accounts, etc. because financially our household is joined, but only his education/certifications etc because the purpose of the I-944 is to prove that he won't be a public charge in the future.

Let me know if I can help with anything else!

We haven't received any specific notifications for the I-944, since it's a supporting document for the I-485. We got a notice of receipt for that, but it doesn't give any indication how are case will go or what they think of our documentation, just that it was received. Sorry!

Package received on March 6th and I got the text message confirmations this morning. So happy that in these crazy times someone is still processing paperwork out there!

My package was received at the lockbox PO on March 6th, and still no text/email confirmation from the G-1145. Anyone else received any confirmation from a similar timeline? Also not sure if there are delays because of a) everyone filing before February 24th or b) office closures because of COVID-19.

So, my husband has been in the US since 2016 on an F-1 Visa, so he's been filing taxes in the US every year as a nonresident alien. In preparation to move his official "residency" to the US, he cashed out his Canadian retirement accounts and has been moving the money to the US. The taxes in Canada for cashing out that money will be worse if he's no longer a resident of Canada, so he was planning to file as a nonresident alien (in the US) again for 2019. (Married, filing separately)

We just filed his AOS application a few days ago, in March of 2020. In reviewing the details of the paperwork, he found an note in the instructions for the I-131 (bolding mine):

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If you are an alien who has been admitted as an immigrant or adjusted status to that of an immigrant, and are considering the filing of a nonresident alien tax return or the non-filing of a tax return on the ground that you are a nonresident alien, you should carefully review the consequences of such actions under the INA. If you file a nonresident alien tax return or do not file a tax return, you may be regarded as having abandoned residence in the United States and as having lost your lawful permanent resident status under the INA. As a consequence, you may be ineligible for a visa or other document for which lawful permanent resident aliens are eligible. You may also be inadmissible to the United States if you seek admission as a returning resident, and you may become ineligible for adjustment of status as a lawful permanent resident or naturalization on the basis of your original entry.

Does this refer to filing taxes for the previous year, before he started the adjustment process? Obviously he would file as a resident alien for any year after this one (and we would likely file jointly) but he was trying to wrap up this financial stuff from 2019. At the end of the day, we wouldn't want to jeopardize his status or have him seem to be abandoning his status, that's the top priority, but the text wasn't clear if it referred to only after you'd been given permanent residency/immigration status, or if it would also apply to filing taxes for a preceding year. For the entirety of 2019 he was on an F-1 visa and not (legally) an intending immigrant, although we got married in August.

I've scoured these tax forums, but it seems like most people are looking to see if they can file jointly and claim "resident alien" status based on marriage, before anything official has happened. That's kind of the opposite of what we were planning to do. Any idea if this text refers to only after you've gotten your greencard, or if we could jeopardize if he files as nonresident alien for one last tax cycle?

We took a risk and decided not to get a credit evaluation, because his transcripts are in English (from Canada) and he's at an American university now, so clearly the credits were legit and made sense to the school. I'm really hoping they don't ask for it since it seems so expensive for something that should be obvious. That was one place with the I-944 being brand new that we took the risk of an RFE.

I believe it refers to something more specialized that might fall outside of regular high school/college education. Which is why they ask for certification and licensure. So certification as a plumber or other specialized trade, or cosmetology training would count. But customer service skills wouldn't.

My husband has degrees in mechanical engineering, but he also has licensure in Canada as a professional engineer, so he included his license for that.