Sterling M

I've been searching up and down for a specific answer to my question, but can't seem to find it.

I've just taken a new job and will be moving to a new city in two weeks. I'm planning to fill out the change of address form alongside the I-751 for my wife; the two year anniversary hits in July. I assume that's a more sensible option than trying to fill out the forms up here, right?

What I'm trying to figure out, first and foremost, is how to get the affidavits. I know the criteria for getting family or friends, but I'm not sure about the notarization process. Do I need to have the person sign in the presence of the notary public? I just want to get two sworn letters notarized at, say, the UPS Store. Does anyone know if signed letters will be sufficient enough for the notary public to stamp?

Any help will be most kindly appreciated.

It's been a pretty hectic weekend, between Elisa's love of Harry Potter and hosting family for dinner yesterday, but I wanted to say that we got the green card in the mail on Friday. We're planning to visit Germany next month for work, and now, we can go to Italy for our second wedding reception.

Congratulations to everyone who have recently been blessed with successful interview results, and hopefully, those of you experiencing problems will see them resolved in an extremely timely fashion.

Thanks to all of you on the board. Whether you know it or not, your posts have been an emotional rock for not only me, but for my wife during a very trying six weeks of uncertainty following a cliffhanger interview. We've been very stressed with just not knowing when the background checks would clear, and when/if she could leave the country with me for work. To have the card in our possession is a real relief.

I'll likely continue to post in this thread as needed, simply because I'm very happy to give advice and help where it's wanted. Please send me friends requests, as I'd like to stay in touch when it's time to share stories about filing to lift the conditions during that 90 day window, and eventually, applying for citizenship (if she chooses to do so).

Tomorrow is my interview..at 10am!!!!!!!!! I am nervous....Let's see if I am lucky and it's easy!!!

I haven't seen anyone really post much on their interview experience. Has it been so simple there is nothing to say? Or too tortuous to recall??

Outside of the grief involved with our pending background check, our interview went very well. I was nervous as hell, but for the most part, our questioning was largely what you'd expect from reading about this sort of thing:

• What's your name
  
• What's your address
  
• What's your phone number
  
• When/how did you meet
  
• When did you get married
  
• How many times did your spouse visit you in the US before the wedding
  
• Have you met your in-laws abroad
  
• What do you (USC) do for a living
  

Odds are, if you've got enough photos, you'll answer a lot of questions as you explain the context of your pictures.

I would suggest bringing as much bona fide evidence as possible, even if you don't bring as much stuff as we did. We delved into overkill; a voided check from our joint bank account, a copy of a utility bill, photocopies of our wedding album, as well as digital prints chronicling everything from the night we met at a press event to after the wedding; we wrote dates and locations on the back to the best of our abilities. You can get digital 4X6 prints for 19 cents a piece from Walgreen's; we uploaded 45 digital pics, got them printed, then took our 25 faves and brought them to the interview for the officer's file.

You may not need this level of detail at all; it's just my #######-retentiveness shining through, and our official really appreciated the extra effort.

I'd tell you not to be nervous, because there's really nothing to be nervous about, but it's human nature and, IMO, pretty inevitable. Seriously, though, it'll be fine.

Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On July 6, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we had registered this customer's new permanent resident status. Please follow any instructions on the notice. Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before you get your new card call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

After nearly a month of ulcer-inducing stress regarding background checks, whether or not I could take my vacation in August and visit my new in-laws, we got the e-mail, smack dab in the middle of the biggest convention that my job covers.

Suddenly, the work week's intense load doesn't feel so bad.

Good luck to everyone awaiting interviews; hopefully you won't get snagged in background checks the way we did!

It's been a big week for everyone, it seems, and a busy one for me, or I'd have posted more.

We got three touches from our initial approval for the EAD, and it showed up yesterday in the mail. I'm super-relieved that we're a step closer in the process; now we just need to wait to clear the background checks.

Congratulations to everyone!

I wonder what they have left to check with the FBI? Did you have a long AP before your visa was issued? I know my husband was on AP for 3months, so I can't imagine what else they need to look for.

I'm presuming that you mean "administrative process" instead of "advance parole" in this context, although we didn't file for advance parole, since we'd heard too many horror stories. The difference between us and a lot of people on the board is that she didn't come on a fiancee visa; she came on a media visa and we decided to get married a few months later. Hopefully, it all goes well. I found it a bit strange that we'd either get an interview earlier than the background checks were happening, or that the checks were so slow. :-/

It's been a big week for everyone, it seems, and a busy one for me, or I'd have posted more.

We got three touches from our initial approval for the EAD, and it showed up yesterday in the mail. I'm super-relieved that we're a step closer in the process; now we just need to wait to clear the background checks.

Congratulations to everyone!

Oh my goodness!!!!

I just got this in my email about 10 minutes ago!!

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSC*********

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On June 19, 2007, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

I'm so excited I am shaking! :dance:

I called my husband at work and it took him a couple of seconds to understand what I was saying! Then I called my family back home, and my mom was very happy. I can't wait to try it out when we go up to Canada in August!

Wow....I still can't believe it! I need a drink!

Congratulations!!!

We had our inyerview this morning and were approved! I put up a message elsewhere, but wanted to keep the April filers thread up to date...

Congratulations; I'm glad that they got you through quickly and clearly!

Ok we got our interview letter yesterday, 6/16/2007. There was a LONG list of things we need to take, most of which they already have, but we will take it ALL anyway so that there are no problems. Has anyone been through the interview process in Chicago? If so what can we expect to happen, what kind of questions, how long does it usually take, and what specific things do they usually ask for?? I just hope Hilario's EAD gets approved soon At least we have some good news now though, we were afraid we would get another RFE!!

I can't vouch for the Chicago office, but in SF, we showed up to our 12:45 appointment on time, checked in, and sat down for about two minutes before we got called up.

Our initial questions were more skewed toward factual stuff: "when did she arrive in the US, what's our home address, what was the wedding date," and the sorts of things that you'd absolutely know from filling out your form.

Next, we got asked things like how we met, how long we were together before getting married, etc. I've heard that a handful of photos should be sufficient, but we printed out 40 or so and narrowed them down to 24 solid ones. It might help to write the date of the picture (real or estimated) on the back and a description for their files. We also showed the officer a wedding album that my godmother made (and left him with copies of each page) and showed members of my family and hers.

Hit 'em with enough paperwork (take your originals of your already-submitted stuff and make copies of more of your bona fide stuff that you haven't shown them yet) and give 'em the facts and you should be perfectly fine. Congratulations on getting an appointment date; it's so relieving to see another chapter in this whole process open up!

I feel like I'm a bit late to the party, but I just came across the forum while doing some searching regarding people in situations similar to mine.

I suppose an intro's in order. I'm Sterling, I'm a USC who married an Italian in February. We filed her AOS packet at the end of March, after a few weeks of preparation. For the most part our process, and it seems, many of yours, have gone rather quickly.

We just had our AOS interview this past Thursday, June 14, and while the CIS officer had no qualms about the legitimacy of our marriage -- between 24 pictures chronicling from the night we met to her visit to California last summer to my visit to Europe later that summer to moving in to the wedding, a copy of our power bill, our lease, and a voided check from our joint bank account, I think we nailed it -- we're currently snagged pending the FBI background check. This disappoints my wife greatly, who was hoping that it'd all go smoothly and we'd get her passport stamp that day. She's quite homesick, and our line of work would ideally find us in Europe in late August, which is too late to apply for AP and get it in time.

Barring calling the FBI across ten phone numbers just to get a ballpark figure of where she is in the bureaucracy, which seems to be as useful as peeing in the Pacific, I thought I'd join the ranks of others who are a similar boat.

While I didn't sign up for e-mail alerts, so I'm not really sure how many times my file has been touched, I've got information updated in my signature. I'm glad to see that others are being approved around the same time for EADs; we were approved the day before the interview.

I was a nervous wreck going into my interview, but the sheer amount paperwork I brought spoke for itself, and calmed me down immensely once I sat down with the officer and told him our story. Best of luck to those of you with interviews in the upcoming week!