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Bieloanya

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Everything posted by Bieloanya

  1. Hi guys, I hope you can provide me with some advice about my situation. So, a couple of days before my departure for Europe for a family trip, I got called by an USCIS officer saying that he approved my GC that day. I was so happy!!! ... But what about my trip? There was no way for me to get my GC in the mail before leaving. So I asked the officer what my options were and he said that as long as I have a valid advance parole (which I do) I will be fine. Upon reentry, the officer admitting me will simply see that my GC was approved, but I should be able to get back in with the AP alone, without phisically having the GC in my hands (as it might take up to 30 days for them to mail to me), so that I should just go on my trip without worrying about it. ... Except that I DO worry about it as it's my experience that what one officer says might not be what another thinks and I believe I red somewhere that people were saying that you won't be admitted back in the country if you don't have your GC with you. So I left 4 days ago (with my kid who is a USC), so now I'm in Europe and I just got notified that tomorrow my card will be delivered to my home address in the US. I'm supposed to get back to the US in 12 days, so I might have the card mailed to me by my partner (USC) who stayed in the US... But it would be VERY expensive and there is always the risk of mail getting lost, so I'd rather avoid doing that if not really necessary. What do you guys think? Does anyone have relevant experience to share? Should I get the card mailed to me or just trust the officer who approved my GC and said that I can use my advance parole to get back in?
  2. I think that they approved it! I say I think because I got my GC approved fiew days ago, so I'm not sure weather that was from my expedite request or just normal processing About the InfoPass appointment, it was quite useless to be honest! The lady simply took my evidence and said that she'll pass it to the supervisor, but she couldn't do anything for me on the spot. She also was surprised that I wasn't asked to mail in the evidence. That's all! It took maybe 5m total
  3. This comment made my day haha You really are the highlight of this community! @Family
  4. Attaching the screenshot of the email I got from USCIS (that the agents on the phone could see and read too from their side). I mean, it seems pretty straight forward to me. I would have gladly sent a fax instead, but I didn't have that option
  5. Yeah, I don't think I'll be successful myself. The jobs I've been applying to require me to have a green card, as I have to be able to fly in and out of the country freely and they don't accept an AP I think I'm wasting my time by trying to expedite the AOS, but I thought I'd try as I have several rejection letters stating clearly the above, but I also still have two job applications in progress, stating that I can advance only if I get a GC soon.
  6. Hi everyone, Here I am again hoping to get some wisdom from this amazing community! So, last week I requested to expedite my AOS (i485) through Emma and last Friday I got an email from USCIS asking to turn on the evidence. I saw a phone number and assumed I'd have to send a fax, so I started gathering the evidence and got everything ready on Tuesday. But when I looked up the email again, I realized they actually wrote that I was supposed to call that number and make an infopass appointment! They weren't giving me the option to send a FAX. So I called them today and after a 45 wait, I was able to talk to an agent, who was quite rude to me. She didn't know why I got that email, as they don't schedule appointments for certain things and that she couldn't do anything for me. I was like... What? She basically didn't do anything and did all she "politely" could to get rid of me and end the call. I mean... USCIS told me to call and make an appointment, it was not my idea lol So I called again, 50 more minutes on the phone before being able to speak to someone, and then finally reached another agent. That lady was surprised as well an said it was the first time she saw something like that! USCIS usually requests to turn in the evidence via FAX, not in person. She had to dig in few minutes before being able to understand how to put me in the queue for an appointment. But she eventually managed and now I'm expecting a call from them in the next 72h to book the infopass appointment. But now I am wondering... Should I be worried? Why would they wanna see me in person for that? Maybe something is wrong with my case? Or maybe, on the other hand, I'd get interviewed on the spot if they think that the evidence is satisfactory? (I've been waiting for my interview for Green Card for over two years now) Did anyone else had a similar experience? Thank you!
  7. Yep. TWO babies. That's the bright side in all of this! Not being able to go work "normally", gave me the chance to stay home and focus on my girls - that's a precious gift!
  8. Haha, if you put it that way, I'm actually happy that I oversbared, cause, as you say, I learnt a good lesson. Thank you for pointing that out! And yes, I got an RFE, but it was a little complicated. When I sent my application the first time, I didn't get any response at all for more than two months (no NOA either). Simply, one day I got my whole package mailed back to me, saying that the form i944 was missing and that I had to reapply all over again (I didn't include it as I didn't know it was required). So I did, but I didn't include that form again as in the meantime the Supreme Court paused it, so it was not required anymore for the time being. But, about three months later, I got a RFE asking to send that form over to USCIS, as wathever the SC did, was not applicable anymore. So.. I gathered all the necessary docs and evidence and mailed the package with the i944 form in January 2021. Only to find out that a month later, that form was dismissed. Aaaargh. I literally wasted 8 months because of that form!!
  9. Also, Even though our financial situation is strained and immigration procedures are severely back logged, I am still very thankful for being here. I have never been the kind of person who "dreams of America", so finding myself in this country kinda randomly, while there are thousands of people hoping for such a chance, is already something to be extremely grateful for. So, don't get me wrong, I feel lucky and blessed. But that shouldn't mean that everything is perfect and I should not complain. Things will get better and if I do get the GC approved, I will be able to give my daughters the life I never had - so, again, I'm extremely grateful for that! But hey, after two years (actually more than that if we start counting from when I landed in the US) of uncertainty and fear, I bet everyone would feel a little discouraged! Immigration procedures are expected to be long and complex (and I have prior experience as I was adopted internationally and I went through a similar process as a child. Ugh!), but having to wait nearly 3 years to get an interview, is something objectively frustrating... It feels unfair, especially when you see that newer cases are processed within months so to balance the avarage processing time. I probably come across as whiney here, so I apologize for that, I was hoping that it would be OK to "rant" a little bit with people who can relate to my situation.
  10. As said multiple times, the point of the post was not my employment situation, nor the possibility to expedite - I wanted to hear opinions about our choice to adjust status from ESTA given my particular situation. I definitely didn't come here to hear "you should have thought about it!", because I did think about it. And the choice was between giving birth to a child without his father nearby. Or Asking such father to move to Italy and possibly cause him to lose his job, therefore resulting in both of us being unemployed for who knows how long, or on the other side, the other option was for me to stay in the US and deal with the necessary immigration procedure (at that time, the processing time was around 11 months for AOS and 2-3m for EAD, if I recall correctly), but stay together as a family. Maybe someone else would have made a different choice, but we prioritized staying together and we still think that was the right thing to do, given the circumstances and our knowledge at the time. If we had known that we'd have to wait nearly 3 years, we probably would had made a different choice. But besides that, even if we were the dumbest people on Earth, saying stuff along the lines of "you should have known better" really does no good. Literally ever. But anyway, I really don't wanna make any drama here and I know that you mean well, so thank you for taking the time to reply to my post! At the end of the day, nobody can really do anything about my case, so I can only wait and hope for the best!
  11. Also, I forgot to add, that I DID apply for jobs in aviation and I was told that they couldn't not consider my application any further because I need to have a GC to work for them for that position.
  12. Thank everyone for taking the time to read my story and giving me advice, I truly appreciate it! About the job situation, as I said, that's a long story and it was not the point of my post, so I didn't really wanna get into it, but I do appreciate your input. But seeing how several people made a remark about it, I'll give you more info as to why I said that I'm unable to work at the moment because of not being a LPR. First of all, I know very well that I can accept jobs in other fields and I also think that it's perfectly normal for immigrants to get a "temporary job" just to get by (or even to start over, if needed!!). And that's exactly what I did! The very day I was notified of my EAD being produced, I applied to literally every place in my area that was hiring (restaurants, retail, stores, offices... Everything) and shortly after I got a job at a clothing store. I was very happy about it! But it ended up actually detrimental, because my husband kept on taking time off of work to watch our two little girls (therefore loosing money from his salary), as my shifts kept on overlapping his and taking longer than anticipated. Daycare/nanny would cost more than I'd make working full time for entry level positions. So I looked for jobs with more flexible hours, but in the end, all things considered it simply didn't make sense financially. (I applied for maybe 100+ jobs and went on every interview I was invited to, got maybe 10-15 job offers, that I couldn't accept because of the reasons above. So trust me if I say that I really tried to find something that would work) So at this point I either start a new career and we make the financial sacrifice necessary for me to build new expertise and gain seniority or I wait to be able to work in the field I am already somewhat established, which allows a flexible schedule and pays enough to cover the cost of a nanny when I'm away. (there would be much more to discuss here, but again, my job is not the point of this thread) So yeah, that's the story behind my employment situation! I didn't give up, as I'm still considering other options, but I was really hoping that by now, after two years of waiting, I would be close to take the interview with USCIS. ... Appearently, that's not the case yet. I'm staying positive, but it's not always easy (as many of you know very well). And about my field office, I don't know which one it is! I supposed it's the Sacramento one, because that's the county I live in, but currently my case seems to still be assigned to NBC, so things might change.
  13. Hi guys, I thought I'd share my story as I'm worrying every single day for my situation and maybe someone can help me see things in a more objective (hopefully positive) way. So, as the title says, I applied for AOS from ESTA, which per se is quite a risky move, that I didn't really wanna do, but didn't have much of a choice. I divorced shortly before that and I also was pregnant. Here is my story. I am originally from Italy, where I was married to an Italian man, no kids. Things were not going well and we were already planning on divorcing, but didn't do it as there was no rush. In the meantime, in November 2018, I met online the man who is now my husband and we started chatting to help each other with our languages (the app was Tandem, it's a language exchange platform). Neither of us had any romantic intention, nor we were looking for a partner, but slowly we started developing feelings for each other. But we thought that a relationship between two peiole who live on the opposite sides of the world is never going to work, right? So we didn't think much of it at first. In the meantime I decided to cut ties with my previous husband, I applied for divorce, moved out and lastly, moved to England (all of this in January/February 2019). Also, I decided to fly to the US to meet "the guy from Tandem". The idea was to spend 3-4 days there, I wanted to visit NY and take the occasion to meet him (as friends!!!)... Or at least that's what I was telling myself, because the moment we saw each other for the first time, it was clear that we had huge feelings for each other. But, again, I didn't think a long distance relationship was really possible. Moreover I was moving to England and in the middle of a divorce. Such a complicated new relationship wasn't appealing to me at all. And yet, we kept on talking every day and falling even more for each other and in April 2019, "the guy" flew to London for my birthday and we spent another week together. That's when it was clear to both of us that we already were in a relationship, weather we wanted it or not. So we kept seeing each other every 6-8 weeks for 5-15 days (it was mostly me flying to California, but he came a couple of times to Italy too as in the meantime I went back there, to finish my university degree and he has relatives in Italy), until January 2020, when I got pregnant (yep. Crazy story.) while visiting him in California for his birthday (on that same occasion he proposed to me, but that was before we found out about my pregnancy, and we thought we'd get married that summer or maybe the following year, we didn't have any concrete plans). I flew back to Italy and our plan was for him to come to Italy at the beginning of March for a week and then for me to fly to California for my birthday for few weeks, to help him sell his belongings and then we'd move together to Europe, where I'd start my masters degree. I spent February in Italy, when I was also finally able to finalize my divorce and set a date for my graduation. But when he was visiting me in Italy, covid hit and there was a lot of talking about lock-downs, so he proposed that I flew back to California with him, instead of waiting for my birthday in April, as we didn't know how long it would take for the pandemic to be over (I thought it would take few weeks at the time. LOL). I didn't wanna do it, as I was staying in Rome with him and I only had a carry on with me, with enough stuff for a week together. I was definitely not ready to fly across the ocean and stay for weeks in the US! But things got very scary, so we booked a ticket for Paris for the next day (as there were no more flights to the US from Italy) and the following morning, while standing in line to board the plane for Paris, we bought the tickets for Los Angeles for a flight that same afternoon. CRAZY. I was terrified of denied entry in the US as I spent three weeks in California in January and it has passed only a little over a month since I left and now I wanted to spend about 10 weeks in the US (our plan was still to move to Europe together). (I am not mentioning anything about my pregnancy because I have pretty important hormonal issues and I was pretty sure I'd miscarry.) But somehow everything went well, the CBS officer asked me only one question, which was how long I was planning to stay for and I answered "for 10 weeks, is that ok?", to which he replied "OK" and approved my entry. I was so relieved! We were in California together and we could decide together what to do next. My pregnancy went ahead and it was clear that I needed medical care (I was about 2m pregnant when I flew to the US). My application to the two universities in Europe was denied and our flights back to Europe were canceled by the airline. I didn't have a job in Italy as I was planning to move to another European country as mentioned above, whereas my husband had a very good job in California. So we decided that it made way more sense for us to stay in the US together, because I had no more reason to go back to Europe and there was no guarantee for my husband to find a good job giving the raging pandemic and the widespread lock-downs. So we got married in May 2020 (I was maybe in day 70-75 of ESTA stay at that point) and in June, we applied for AOS (a couple of days after my ESTA was over, as we needed to wait for some documents to be able to send the application to USCIS). My application was denied because form I944 was missing. So we applied again in August 2020 and I've been waiting for the GC ever since (got an RFE, got my EAD/AP, but that's a different story). Now I'm waiting for my interview to be scheduled, hoping that it will happen soon, but I'm also quite terrified of being accused of immigration fraud! How can I prove that I had no intention of staying in the US? I didn't have a job in Italy, I was 2m pregnant and I finalized my divorce 3 weeks before entering the US. If I were a USCIS officer, I would see that as big red flags! What I have as proof is my return ticket to Europe, the applications to the two universities in Europe (dated February 2020) and their rejection letters (dated April 2020) and the cancelation email from the airline. Also, I was genuinely scared of flying as I thought that covid my cause issues to my pregnancy (at that time, there was not much information about its effects on pregnant ladies, but it was definitely feared as pregnancy means compromised immune system) My husband had conversations with his boss about the possibility to work remotely from Europe for him after moving there and he can ask his boss to write a note stating that. Do you guys think I have any chance to be approved a GC? At this point I'm very scared. I'm the kind of person who always plays by the rules and I would have wanted to get married in Europe and live there with my husband. And should we have wanted to move to the US together, we would have opted for the CR1 route. But somehow I ended up doing an AOS from ESTA and I've been worrying about it like crazy ever since. What do you guys think? A giant thank you to anyone who took the time to read my long post.
  14. Hi everyone, I would have never thought that by now I would still be posting on here, but here I am. I applied for AOS from ESTA in August 2020, marriage based, got an RFE for i944 form, then submitted it and my case status is "waiting to schedule for an interview" since March 2021. I got EAD and AP, but can't work as my field is aviation and nobody wants to employ someone without a GC (need to be able to fly in and out of the country freely and they don't trust AP). I live in Sacramento and my field office seems to be still NBC. I applied for an expedite request yesterday, but I have very little hope that it's actually going to be accepted. So, now, based on these info, what do you think I should expect? Is there any hope that I'll actually get an interview soon? Or is it possible that they lost my case or something like that? What can I possibly do to get things moving? I feel really sad and discouraged to be honest. My husband and I have two little daughters (USC) and I really need to work (other fields are not an option for many reasons that would take too long to disclose on here), not to mention that it's very emotionally draining to be in this limbo for so long, almost without any rights and with the fear of rejection/denial/deportation... My husband and I would like to buy a house, develop our careers, put down roots, build our life together... But none of that is possible untill I finally get a GC. I don't know what to do or think. Does anybody have some insight for me or maybe someone can share their story if they had a similar experience? I would really appreciate it Thank you
  15. Hi guys, I know that this question has been asked many times already, but I hope that you can give me some feedback anyways. So here is my situation: I was admitted to the US in March 2020 on ESTA (visa waiver program) and I ended up overstaying and applying for AOS after marriage to USC in May 2020 (for those who are curious, we've been together for years and we were planning to get married in Italy, but then covid happened and we had to change our plans). I just got my EAd+AP card and I'm planning to go visit my family in Europe in August. I know that the card is No guarantee of reentry and that there is always the risk of being sent back to my country, but is the risk so high? I will be traveling with my husband and my daughter (she was born here at the end of 2020), both USC. Two family members died last month, that's why I absolutely need to go visit my family.. Otherwise I would wait to have my GC to travel. ANY similar experiences? Thank you
  16. Hi guys! Yesterday I gave my biometrics for the i-765 and my case hasn't been updated yet to fingerprints taken! Is this normal? How long does it take to be updated? I'm a little worried because when I gave my biometrics for the i-485 application, the case status was updated the very next day to fingerprints taken (and to 'ready to schedule an interview' two days later) and also because my appointment for the work permit was for May 28th, but I went yesterday hoping that they would accept a walk in (and surprisingly, after a thousand questions and a long wait, they did accept) and I'm worried that that's an irregularity of some kind and my biometrics went lost (yes, I'm overworrying, I know l ol)
  17. Thank you all for your replies!! So here are some updates from me, as in the end I decided to go to the ASC this morning (May 10th) and see weather they would allow me to give my biometrics even if my appointment was for the 28th. Well... They did! There was literally nobody, not a single person waiting to do the biometrics... I don't understand why they give appointment so far away in time if their facilities are everything but busy. Anyway, the receptionist was pretty huffy with me, acting as if I were annoying her. She had to talk to the manager, who agreed to see me. He checked my identity, asked me a couple of questions, including why I wanted to give the biometrics earlier than the appointment day and in the end approved to process them today. They took my picture again and took only my right index fingerprint (they took a Pic of me and took all 10 my fingerprints back in March, when I gave my biometrics for the i-485 application)
  18. Hi Timona! Yeah, thanks, I do understand! I've been patiently waiting since last summer. Even when my father had a cerebral stroke and last month when two family members died. I'm here, in California, patiently waiting for USCIS to issue a travel permit. I am really frustrated as it usually takes about 4-5 months since the date of application and I have been waiting 11 months almost. I wish things could go a little faster
  19. I am in California, Sacramento and my processing center is National Benefits Center. I didn't have a K1 visa, I was in the country on ESTA
  20. Hi guys! I applied for green card in August 2020 (marriage to US) and currently I still have nothing, no work permit or AP. I already gave my biometrics on March 8th 2021 - apparently it was for the I-485 application only and now the status is "waiting to schedule for an interview" or something like that. As for the EAD + AP no news yet! I just got a letter saying that I should give my biometrics once again on May 28th, 2021, but it mentions only the i-765 form (the work permit). Do i have to expect to receive a third appointment for the AP (form i-131)? And also, what if I simply went to the field office asking if I can gave my biometrics as a walk in as I already gave them (taking the appointment notice with me, showing that I actually have an appointment in the future)? Did anybody do that and was successful? I have a difficult family situation in my home country and I would really be happy if I could avoid waiting 3 more weeks to give my biometrics as I already gave them, not to mention that I sent my application almost a year ago and I currently am still in a limbo where I basically have nothing (can't work, travel, drive, etc.) Thank you all!!
  21. Hi everyone, This morning I learnt that the form i-944, public charge rule, was dismissed starting on March 9th 2021. I literally got tears to my eyes from how frustrated I felt. I sent my application for AOS in June 2020 and it was rejected in August because of that form not being included (we didn't know about it when we filed). Then we filed again right away WITHOUT that form because it was not required anymore and in NOVEMBER 2020 we got a RFE asking to mail that form, (uscis resumed it once again) that we sent in January 2021 cause it takes forever to put together all the (removed)they require. So, a total of almost 8 MONTHS wasted because of that (removed) form. And now it has been permanently dismissed!!!!!!!! And here I am, can't work, can't get a driving license, can't go visit my family because of that delay. (I still haven't gotten my ead+AP card!!) And in the meantime I had a daughter, which means that every time that I need to go buy groceries or to the pediatrician, I have to walk as I can't drive. We're talking of 6-7-8-9 miles on foot when it's 90-100° outside (I'm in California). Not to mention that I can't contribute to the family finances and that my father had a cerebral stroke and I couldn't go visit him. And also that nobody from my family has seen my daughter yet. All that because of that stupid i-944 form. Which is not required anymore. I really wanna cry now. This post is probably useless, but I guess what I'm hoping for is some support and to know weather anybody else had similar experience and how you guys are dealing with them. Thank you all
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