bozzo

sorry for not updating our timeline and not giving news sooner, but we are done!

Our interview was on Sept 15, where we were told that we were approved (the officier interviewed us with basic questions and then asked us to go back to the waiting room, meaning that he was approving us and was just printing the approval letter that he handed to us 10 minutes later)

We received the GC 4 weeks later...

Good luck to all.

Speaking of the AP, could it be that it was approved on March 14, but mailed much later? Finally, more important: could my wife leave without the AP in hand and I Fedex it overseas as soon as it arrives in the mail? I sort of assume that it is possible but I never dealt with AP when I personally became a resident then citizen...

Stephan

Personally, I can't see any reason why that wouldn't work, UNLESS the AP card doesn't arrive......But yes, have heard anecdotal evidence to suggest this works

issue solved. AP arrived on Friday...

I know now that it would have worked. Easy to say afterwards...

Am I the only january filer who has not heard anything on the AOS????

My EAD is approved but my other file hasn't been touched.. i am stating to get worried.........

no you're not...

Same here, not even the biometrics appointment and the AOS doesn't appear online...

At least we got the AP in the mail today.

EAD barely touched...

Wrong thread

on top of that, being a PR from latin america she probably needed a VISA to get into Spain, rather than anything to do with her status in the US... Just a supposition here...

And the Permanent Resident status becomes under question if you spend more than 6 (cumulated) months out of a year outside of the US, since you don't fit the definition of PR anymore... my 2 cents

Well issue solved, AP arrived in the mail (2 copies, with approval date of March 14) today.

$700+ saved, headaches about airplane schedules avoided, nerves at ease now...

And to answer my own original question, it could have been possible for my wife to leave and me to send her the papers, had they arrived after her departure.

But of course, it is like any gamble, you know the odds after the game is over...

We will then worry about the EAD and AOS after she comes back.

Good luck all!

Stephan

I know all that, and risking the AOS on a technicality would be a gamble... We will wait another week and eventually call the airline and pay the $700 it will take to reschedule the flight at an unknown-and-impossible-to-predict date.

Starting to hate USCIS again...

Thanks

Do not leave without the APin your hand under any circumstances.... if you do it can be deemed that you have abandoned your AOS... this has happened before....

It may have a diffrent date or it may get lost in the mail.... if that happened and your wife is not in the US and you go to USCIS and explain what has happened they will abandon the AOS and your wife will be stuck outside the US until you are approved for CR1/K3...

Change the flight if you need to.... but dont risk your AOS...

Kez

Maybe the lesson here is not to book a trip until you have the AP in hand.... but it may all turn out just fine for you if the AP comes before you need to travel...

Kez

I know the lesson, just hate having to wait for months before being able to plan anything (I know the drill believe me, went through the whole GC+citizenship myself)...

Will keep you guys posted

This is for January'08 AOS Filers.... If I assume that most of these VJ'rs are updating their timelines, I could see that a lot have already received an info of their Interview Appointment or their cases being transferred to CSC. I want to know if there are still many or some of you who have not received any information whether AOS has been transferred to CSC or an Interview Appointment Letter - just like me.

(AP and EAD have already been approved early March)...

Thank you!

count us in...

no news about AOS (not even biometrics, called yesterday about that)

Last touch on EAD: Feb11 (pending)

Last touch on AP: March 24 (approved)

I know all that, and risking the AOS on a technicality would be a gamble... We will wait another week and eventually call the airline and pay the $700 it will take to reschedule the flight at an unknown-and-impossible-to-predict date.

Starting to hate USCIS again...

Thanks

Do not leave without the APin your hand under any circumstances.... if you do it can be deemed that you have abandoned your AOS... this has happened before....

It may have a diffrent date or it may get lost in the mail.... if that happened and your wife is not in the US and you go to USCIS and explain what has happened they will abandon the AOS and your wife will be stuck outside the US until you are approved for CR1/K3...

Change the flight if you need to.... but dont risk your AOS...

Kez

I would not advice to leave without the AP , what if it got lost in mail somewhere and your fiance is already out of the country ? she wouldnt be able to get back without the AP or GC ,

if I where in your shoes I would call and see when they send it out after it was aproved ,

mine took around 10 days to get here after aproval on line good luck

Thanks for your input.

She called this morning the misinformation line and was told the usual "wait 30 days before complaining". She was also told that the approval date is not the mailing date so we could see it coming soon but nothing else.

She needs to go back home to prepare our religious wedding for this summer. She could postpone her return until she gets the AP, since it is approved already, to get back in the US.

As far as I understand the AP, it is only required to come back, once you land back in the US, as long as the approval date on the paper is before the departure. Just wondering whether the approval date on the paper does match the one announced on the website, in which case she could leave without the approved AP in hand.

No?

Hello there

Sweating a bit these days. Here is the situation:

- my wife's AP has been approved on March 14 according to the website

- the last touch on it was March 24

- nothing has arrived in the mail yet (as of today, March 27)

- her plane leaves April 4 early morning

So, we have a week to receive the AP, but could she leave before the already-approved AP eventually arrives? I would send her the AP by Fedex when if finally shows up here...

Technically, the approval date on the AP is March 14, so before her departure date. It is just logistics that is messing up the timeline.

Thanks for any feedback.

Stephan

I guess I am back to the forum after the K1 wait last summer.

I have the inverse situation. We filed late January, receive the 3 NOA1's early Feb and since NOTHING. Only recently I realized that my MSC number was finally responding online.

It says that our AP was approved on March 14 and sent by mail. But we haven't seen anything in the mail!! My wife has her plane ticket for April 4th (going back to Switzerland to prepare the religious wedding there for this summer) and it has been close to 2 weeks that they say the AP has been sent. Just getting a bit nervous.

Also, the AP new is the first and only piece of news we have received about our cases (AP, AOS and EAD). No appointment for the biometrics, no other notice in the mail or online. Should I worry even more??

thanks for any input...

Stephan

Well I would worry a little since you havent done your biometrics and you filed sort of when all of us january filed and most of us are halfway done with Aos. I would call that misinformation line or make an infopass appointment and maybe they can tell you if they sent out a biometrics appointment or something like that, also are you sure you are getting your mail because I dont think it takes 2 weeks to get something from them. I didnt get any notice of biometrics online only through the hard copy so dont rely on that online case status checking..

Well we sure worry a bit already. My wife is calling right now. However, we have no idea when the AP status became available online. It was last updated on March 24 and we realized it on March 25. Similarly our EAD was last touched on Feb 11. No news from the AOS case. Our case seems stalled but the most important paper is the AP, since my wife plans on flying out on April 4th... The rest can wait a bit.

Speaking of the AP, could it be that it was approved on March 14, but mailed much later? Finally, more important: could my wife leave without the AP in hand and I Fedex it overseas as soon as it arrives in the mail? I sort of assume that it is possible but I never dealt with AP when I personally became a resident then citizen...

Stephan

just got AP document today.. wasnt expecting that one as i wasn't getting it to track online! and our EAD card production email has come twice so we're hoping to see that soon.. thats the one we're really concerned about, i'd like him to have a job!!

Freecake, a similar thing happened to me as well. I received the AP in the mail, but my online case for AP was not updated - it still shows as application received/pending.

My EAD status was updated properly and I did receive that in the mail. Incidentally, both the AP and EAD came on the same day for me.

I guess I am back to the forum after the K1 wait last summer.

I have the inverse situation. We filed late January, receive the 3 NOA1's early Feb and since NOTHING. Only recently I realized that my MSC number was finally responding online.

It says that our AP was approved on March 14 and sent by mail. But we haven't seen anything in the mail!! My wife has her plane ticket for April 4th (going back to Switzerland to prepare the religious wedding there for this summer) and it has been close to 2 weeks that they say the AP has been sent. Just getting a bit nervous.

Also, the AP new is the first and only piece of news we have received about our cases (AP, AOS and EAD). No appointment for the biometrics, no other notice in the mail or online. Should I worry even more??

thanks for any input...

Stephan

You could make an infopass appointment at your local office and ask them if there is any problems as you have not heard anything since you filed....

Kez

Well, just I was getting more stressed about having to change the plane tickets again, I happened to verify the case online to see if it would eventually appear and lo-and-behold here it is:

Receipt Number: MSCxxxxxxxxx

Application Type: I131, APPLICATION FOR USCIS TRAVEL DOCUMENT

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On March 14, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I131 APPLICATION FOR USCIS TRAVEL DOCUMENT. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

I hadn't checked in a while but I believe we should receive the documents in the mail soon.

Do you guys know whether it is the full AP or could it still be the appointment for the biometrics (the one for AP instated March 3rd, but we filed before...)?

Any input is welcome.

Stephan

Hi there,

Well, after the whole K-1 fiasco (file caught in last summer's mess, took 5 months instead of 3...) I thought we were done... Now new struggle for the AP (we have more time for the EAD and GC)

We filed for the EAD, AP and AOS late Jan and we received Receipt Notices with a MSC case number and it does not show up online. We tried to call but we are given the usual run-around, especially since it has "only" been 50 days since we filed. We are just getting nervous not to have heard ANYTHING (biometrics appointment?) and not to be able to check the status online...

Any idea? Anyone?

thanks

Stephan

I'd just gotten off the phone with both places. I called NVC and asked about my case and they said there is no case on file and for me to wait 2-4 weeks. Then I called USCIS and they told me to wait 60 days before I could do anything. #######!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have waited almost 7 freakin' months already and my case still haven't left California????!!!

Any suggestion???????

wait... sadely they've given you the classic run-around. It took NVC 30 some days (check my timeline) to receive our file but then just a couple to process it. It may be sitting in the mail room at Laguna Nigel or in the one in NH, or even be in transit in between, but long waiting periods between NOA2 and NVC are not uncommon...

It will come soon, and then it can work very fast.

Good luck

Stephan

Interview cleared this morning!!!

She called me right when I woke up. Smooth interview in Bern, Switzerland, the officer just checked the paperworks and the new documents needed after the NOA2. He asked her to redo the passport pictures (wrong size) so she came back 1/2h later with the correct format and voilà!! the visa is in the mail!

We will get married on 12/10, the day after she flies back!!!

Now let gather everything for the AOS and reentry permit applications. When you think you're done with USCIS, you go right back at it!!!

Good luck to all,

Stephan

Well, we're about to graduate from the K1 forum!!!

My fiancee went through the interview this morning in Bern, Switzerland. Smooth interview, no questions asked, officer just checked the documents (btw, I-134 only required, no tax return needed) and she should get the visa before the end of this week. Wedding papers will be signed on 12/10 since she flies back on 12/09.

Good luck to all

Stephan

Yeahh!

Our interview is scheduled for Nov 26th. My fiancee just need to bring everything and fill out couple more papers and we should be one step closer from being finally married!

My fiance and I are still deciding if I should apply or not for a tourist visa at this moment, our petition has been approved and I'm waiting for my interview date to be re-scheduled. As fwaguy said, we can always try but who knows if we'll get it or not.

If we decide to apply for a tourist visa, I'm planning to be completely honest, and bring my NOA2 and my interview letter to prove that I'm going to come back home to finish the K-1 process, all we want is to spend Christmas together! I've have had 2 tourist visas for the last 12 years, and traveled back and forth many times, so I'm hoping that will help too!

Let me know if you decide to apply for the tourist visa and how that goes!

By the way... my name is Teresa too

For info, my fiancee is currently with me in Los Angeles (originally for 3 months but her interview is in 10 days...) but being from Switzerland, she came via the Visa Waiver Program (EU countries + few others) and wasn't given any trouble thru immigration. It was the 2nd time she came via VWP since we applied and the first time was pretty much the same.

It is very likely different when you have to apply for a tourist visa in your country if it is not part of the VWP.

Stephan

Yoohoo,

here is the end of the tunnel for us. We let the Bern, Switzerland, consulate honor the veterans and we called them this morning. Nice people, they received our file and our interview is scheduled for November 26th, at 11am!

Since we have everything (medical..), we just need to fill out couple more papers, bring everything and that should go fine.

Sibylle found a round trip from LA, since we have been together for 3 weeks already, to Zurich for $670, will stay 10 days to finalize the last things and we can get married before Christmas!!!

Good luck to all.

Stephan

For info, I learned yesterday that our file was sent to Bern, Switzerland the day before. 31 days after NOA2

Since we have done all (police, medical) things required (low volume of emigrants from Switzerland, we got the package 3 before by just asking before the NOA2). We just need to negotiate an interview date, since my fiancée is in Los Angeles with me...

Will keep you posted

Stephan

Yeah, I will be leaving this thread soon.

Our case was sent by NVC to Bern, Switzerland yesterday (11/5)!

For kicks, I checked the USCIS page (which is not my homepage anymore) and our case is still pending and hasn't been touched since 10/09, date they sent the hardcopy of my NOA2... go figure.

Good luck all.

Stephan

Our personal story is along the same lines as the others. Although I am the USC of the two, I was naturalized from France a year ago (got my green card then citizenship via my first marriage --long story short: married 6 years, didn't work, met my now-fiancee, divorced, got my citizenship, applied for a K-1--).

Plus I work for a French industrial group as an executive and I am sent to France 2/3 times a year for business, so we spent romantic weekends in Paris, plus my 3 weeks of vacation throughout the year. On her side, she had 5 weeks of vacation which she spent in LA or in France with me. All in all, we managed to see each other every 4 to 7 weeks for about a week at the time.

Since the NOA2 (10/05) she is here on a VWP for 3 months and she will just have to return to Switzerland for the interview (everything else is done, medical, I-134...) and we will get married as soon as she returns.

Good luck

Stephan

Oh my, here i do not stop worrying, now is regarding Biometrics.

I was reading in the Swiss one that usually people is asked the biometrics right after the NOA1 (I am with K1 visa) and most late 2 months after the NOA1. Well, we got the NOA1 on the 12th June 2007 and no notification for biometrics, nothing at all. Is it normal or should i began telling my boy friend to call the offices there in USA?

And i thought i was in peace even planning my next trip to Mexico for next year, lol

Saludos

Luciana

My fiancee contacted the consulate in Bern and she was given the list of the documents we need to provide. She already went to the accredited Physician in Geneva, got her vaccination done and the Xray and all. Basically she was told that once the application arrives in Bern, the appointment can be scheduled within a week. You may want to check for yourself, but they seem pretty cool, as long as all the paperwork is correct.

Good luck

Stephan

WABADABADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

After 4 touches in a row and no email, we actually had been approved on 10/05 after 153 days since filing (NOA1 from CSC, filed directly, on 05/29). I just found that out in opening my snail mail tonight coming back from work.

I am happy to leave this forum (actively at least) and heading to the NVC one...

Good luck everybody.

Stephan