partyintheUSA

Hey to all fellow April filers! My wife and I were a bit late with filing — her GC expires next week! But fortunately there were no mistakes with the application and she now has an extension letter in hand.

Timeline:

4/24: Form I-751 delivered to Phoenix Lockbox

4/27: Credit card charged (late afternoon PST)

5/5: I-797 Notice of Action receipt delivered 

5/8: Biometrics re-use and online account letters delivered 

The receipt, biometrics, and online account letters all had 5/02 issue dates.

Never received text updates despite including a number so we were a little nervous we had made a mistake with the form until the card charge notifications came through.

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Submit the marriage certificate for the marriage of xxxxxx. The marriage certificate must be issued by the government agency authorized to issue the document. For immigration purposes, the marriage must have been registered with the government agency authorized to register marriages from the location where the marriage took place. The marriage certificate must have the seal of the issuing office, the date of registration, and signature of the registrar.

 

If you have never been married, you must submit letter(s) from the government agency authorized to issue such letters certifying that there is “No Record” of marriage under your name.

Since you have been married, the instruction following the bolded does not apply to you.

On 8/9/2021 at 11:13 PM, mogiftney said:

We finally got our interview notice in the mail today (aug 9), our interview is September 9th. Any tips? We are nervous!

We were nervous too, but I'm sure it'll go fine. 

My only tips would be to be organized with the documents they ask you to bring in and try not to read too much into the interviewer's style or questions (friendly, hostile, indifferent, etc.) People have had very different experiences and still gotten approved!

Good luck!

3 minutes ago, Jenn1 said:

Congratulations! Please how long did it take at the office. I am trying to take time off work. 
my interview is coming up in two weeks and it is at 8:50am. 
Please also what questions were asked at the interview.

I think experiences are going to be a little different based on where you're located, but I posted a review of our experience in Los Angeles with time and questions asked etc. here:  https://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cty=Los Angeles CA&page=1&dfilter=5&topic=

Your location says Texas? You can read reviews from that office here: https://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=&cty=Dallas+TX&dfilter=5&topic=

Good luck!!

Just now, RD7712 said:

We just got an update that my wife's interview has been scheduled and they will send the notice. Relief!

 

What kind of documents we should present for the interview?

The interview notice that you'll get in the mail contains a checklist of things to bring. Good luck!! 

On 4/23/2021 at 4:57 PM, Mimi24 said:

My greencard was approved on the spot

PD: july 22, 2020

 

Tip: make a print out list of all the documents you will submit to the officer. They will appreciate it. 

Congrats on your approval!!! We are also interviewing in Los Angeles next month and will be sure to bring a list of our documents, thanks for the tip! Was there anything that they asked for in particular? 

Just got a text message about a status update and lo and turns out case is now "Ready to be Scheduled for Interview". We'll take it!

2 hours ago, roman63rus said:

Congratulations! how long did it take from biometrics to interview?

You can get a good sense of the average length of time from biometrics to interview for your local office (they're different for everyone) by browsing the VJ timelines and sorting by interview date. Here's a link to the Chicago IL FO: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/aoslist.php?vtype=0&op8=Chicago+IL&interview=&xfr=&op1=6&op2=d&op3=&op4=1&op5=&cfl=0

22 minutes ago, BearxBelle said:

Yep, we have RFE received status so waiting (im)patiently for the 693 deficiency and/or ready to schedule for interview. Dragging feet on just going ahead and doing the medical because the cost is ridiculous. 🙄 Our insurance is switching on May 1 so if it takes that long at least we can go ahead and get the vaccine he still needs covered by insurance. And the TB test. And anything else possible to lower the cost of the medical. Lol

Unfortunately I think a lot of the civil surgeons are really in this for the money, and they see this as an easy population to overcharge. I got some fairly ridiculous initial quotes for the medical here that magically began to lower once they realized I knew how much things could/should cost. I think doing what you're doing to reduce the costs is smart, and make sure you shop around and call all of the civil surgeons in your area! 

Any other August filers waiting on a 693 Deficiency notice and/or your online 485 status to update to "Interview ready to schedule" after biometrics?

Also, has anyone received random texts from USCIS with no status update? We received 3 separate "Your case has been updated" text messages at the beginning of the month, but there were no changes to the status online (Case still shows "Fingerprints have been applied" since 2/10). I assume it was a glitch, but concerned as our mail constantly gets mis-delivered to neighbors.

10 hours ago, mogiftney said:

Please tell me we aren’t on the brink of getting a letter for an interview soon... Thanks, and I will update when I have more info to give. 

This is a pre-interview status, and there can be a lot of time in between it and the actual interview scheduling, e.g. this person in San Bernadino was recently waiting months, https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/k72tak/aos_interviews_at_san_bernardino_field_office/   

I also don't think you'll get a straight no for the insurance, even if the dispute doesn't work out in your favor. Can definitely understand the frustration, though. I had a policy cancelled on me years ago because an employee misread something and it took me several months to unwind. My one piece of advice is do as much as you can in writing. 

19 minutes ago, Jacobo said:

USPS Informed Delivery showed mail coming from USCIS today Saturday. Hopefully is my biometrics appointment.   
But mailman didn’t show up today.
Should I be concerned about the mail not being delivered today?

Probably biometrics! Our envelope had identical lines showing through the window, same postmark date, etc.

I wouldn't worry about the mail person not showing up. Mine regularly missed/delayed deliveries. Informed delivery is just exposing it now

Another data point: my wife received a Biometrics notice today, scheduled for 2/10. (Notice was dated 1/16.) I was not expecting one until the summer given how backed up the LA offices have been, so this was a welcome surprise. Hope everyone is doing well and sees movement on their applications soon!

6 hours ago, mogiftney said:

I see your point, I’d agree that for many people credit cards can be extremely useful in proving financial responsibility, however, the pros don’t outweigh the cons for us at this point in our lives, we’re both in our very early 20s.

Not building your credit profile now can cost you later in life -- one of the factors in calculating an individual's credit score is the average age of credit accounts, and another is number of accounts (they like to see a few accounts open). The best loan rates (including mortgages, if you ever do want to buy a home) are available to those with the highest credit scores.

There are lots of pros and virtually no cons to ownership if done properly. You do not have to change your spending habits at all, or even use the card frequently. Keep it locked away in a drawer if you're worried about impulse control,  just put a $5-$10 charge on it every few months, allow it to post a balance, and pay it off immediately so it doesn't get closed for inactivity.

25 minutes ago, lgb2015 said:

Guys I'm so frustrated 😩can I vent for a second? My husband and I moved to a new state in September, we notified USCIS immediately, I called 2 times to ensure my address was updated correctly for all forms (which it wasn't the first time, but was corrected and fine the second time I called), and we have received RFIE for I-944 at the new address (so I know they have it!). Today, I get a message from someone at my old address saying that they received a notice for biometrics me today (yay!!) BUT it's in my OLD ASC LOCATION (15+ hours drive away and on 22nd Dec!). I know so many of us have been waiting for biometrics, and I can't bear the thought of rescheduling after waiting so long, but flights are ridiculous and it's so far! I will call on Monday and see what they suggest. Ok, pity party over, I'm just sad and frustrated in this process 😔.

Great to see the Biometrics reports trickling in but leave it to the USCIS to ruin good news! 😂  How annoying. Hopefully their mistake works out in your favor and lets you "skip the line" at your local ASC but sorry you have to go through it! Good luck!! 

13 hours ago, Jacobo said:

Hello guys. Do I need to file I-131 again for an Emergency Advance Parole Travel Document if I already filed the form in the initial application 3 months ago? Do I need to pay de filing fee or is it also waived due to a pending I-485? I have an emergency and need to travel to my home country ASAP .

No personal experience with the Emergency AP but from the website it does look like you need to fill out a new app and pay a new fee if you go that route. But things may have changed since COVID (harder to schedule an appointment) so maybe they'll let you do it over the phone/mail or rush an expedite request instead and save you the new application. Give them a call and investigate getting a congress person involved if you run into difficulty, that seems to speed up the process.

Regardless, I want to wish you luck in getting permission to travel and dealing with your emergency. I hope it is over soon!

6 hours ago, Tigerlily87 said:

Getting a package from Dhl today from Missouri.  Could this be something USCIS?

I’d be super surprised if USCIS is using a German based courier to send immigration documents but then again, it’s 2020  More likely some kind of gift, maybe from
abroad? Missouri is a big shipping hub for imports due to its location.

1 hour ago, mogiftney said:

We received biometrics and RFIE. We received the RFIE a few days ago and the biometrics appointment was 9 days ago. 

Excellent!! Have you submitted? I'm interested to see what the timing on EAD/AP is for you, that will tell us a bit about how they're approaching things.

2 hours ago, Cilllah said:

I wonder how I got my bio appointment done a few weeks after my application was submitted. It's all so weird.

What's your ASC location? If it's low traffic + was not that impacted by COVID (there is an individual factor here, if a # of employees involved with biometrics at a certain location got sick that will bring the place to a standstill regardless of how much or little traffic they get) then there's a chance the backlog was simply not as bad there so they were able to fit you in close to on schedule.

You can get a sense of how backed up individual offices are by comparing the # of records for the past 180 days here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/aosstats.php  I think it's safe to assume that these numbers can be extrapolated for the overall population.

For example our office (Los Angeles) has 30 records for the past 180 days. But nearby-ish San Bernadino has a third of the records (10) and that area was generally less aggressive about COVID closures/policies during the past summer, so I wouldn't be surprised if people in that region are receiving biometrics soon if not already, whereas we probably have some months to wait still.

USCIS may even be doing applicants who have taken biometrics a "favor" by holding the 944 RFIE to process the AP / EAD before they send it, so the case isn't frozen and then the EAD/AP can be granted either before the 944 RFIE is sent or shortly after it's returned if the work has already been done.

I don't think many (any?) have reported receiving both biometrics and the RFIE yet, but would expect that to start happening soon-ish for people who took biometrics in the past month or so. 

2 hours ago, Carolina G said:

Yea that is what it says, will

give it a couple more days as it looks like a coincidence 

Someone reported a medical AND 944 RFIE a few days ago, so it could be that, but they were asked to send the medical in. 
 

If nothing shows up after x days then you can request a digital copy, (at least that’s what it said for our 944 RFIE notification), so you’ll get resolution on this. May just take a while.

1 hour ago, Amw_2020 said:

Update:
My status updated today to “Received” and that they began working on case again. 

Awesome, looks like they're processing within 1 day. Did you send via USPS or courier? (To the PO Box or the other address? There were different processing times for both locations in the past for the Chicago lockbox, curious if it's the same here.)

1 hour ago, DanCode7703 said:

Thanks for sharing!

That's extremely concerning.

I can imagine how many cases will be denied for nothing, not reason at all.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about getting rejected for no reason. They expressly cannot deny for NO reason. That would be an "arbitrary" denial and they are not allowed to do that. Nor can they be inconsistent, so they can't approve 1 application on Day 1 and then reject someone for the same reason on Day 2.

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The exercise of discretion does not mean the decision can be arbitrary, inconsistent, or dependent on intangible or imagined circumstances. At the same time, the exercise of discretion does not involve a calculation or bright line test that is outcome determinative.

But they do have freedom ("discretion") to decide that factors that you or I may consider to be not that big a deal are so negative that the application is rejected. I don't think this release should change anything for anybody -- all we can really do is submit the best applications we can and then it's in their hands.

8 minutes ago, DanCode7703 said:

Guys,

 

Any comments about this?

I admit that I don't take a deep look yet, but if you guys have already known about it, please share with us!
Thanks.
 

 

There isn’t much new information here, the general summary is that there are no guarantees for anyone, and no calculations or formulas that they apply to cases. At the end of the day it’s up to the officer to determine whether to approve your application or not based on what they find in the entire application. If your application has no negative factors, or if the officer finds the positive factors outweigh the negative, and you are eligible to adjust, they will generally approve. If they find the negative factors outweigh the positive, they must deny. 

4 minutes ago, mogiftney said:

I think it’s non subsidized too which I believe is a heavily weighted positive factor. 

Correct, not being subsidized is part of the determination of whether the insurance coverage is a "heavily" positive factor, instead of just "positive".@GetOutside and @Toby_HB I should have flagged this as one thing to watch for if selecting a plan from the marketplace. 

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Having private health insurance^[55] is a strong indicator of self-sufficiency.^[56] Therefore, having private health insurance is a heavily weighted positive factor in favor of a finding that the alien is not likely to become a public charge.

USCIS considers having private health insurance a heavily weighted positive factor if:

• The private health insurance is appropriate for the expected period of admission;^[57] and

• The alien is not receiving subsidies in the form of premium tax credits under the ACA, as amended, for this private health insurance.

Insurance obtained from a private health insurance provider through the ACA marketplace is considered private health insurance for the purpose of this heavily weighted factor if the alien does not receive premium tax credits under the ACA.^[58]

As far as appropriateness and guidance for evaluating health insurance plans, USCIS says the following: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-g-chapter-9#S-A-4

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Not all health insurance programs plans provide for adequate coverage. An officer should generally consider whether a plan meets the requirements under the Affordable Care Act in limiting cost-sharing, including deductible, copayments, and out of pocket maximum amounts.^[25] The health insurance Summary of Benefits and Coverage^[26] should provide sufficient information of the costs and coverage of the insurance. A health insurance with a high deductible or other cost-sharing costs would carry less positive weight in the totality of the circumstances consideration.

Generally, the following plans do not provide adequate coverage for reasonable foreseeable medical costs:^[27]

• Plans that only provide for vision and dental care;

• Worker’s compensation;

• Plans that only provide for specific diseases or conditions; and

• Plans that only provide for discounts on medical services.

Lack of health insurance is a negative factor in the totality of the circumstances. Officers must not speculate as to the cost of an applicant’s medical conditions. In addition, officers must not speculate as to what medical conditions a person may be diagnosed with in the future. For example, an officer must not assume that a person will need long term care or institutionalization with increasing age.

So if you can financially afford it, I would strongly consider obtaining marketplace insurance, because there's no telling how USCIS is going to decide these cases, e.g. they haven't said anything like "we'll approve applications that have less than X number of negative factors". It's up to the IO. 

18 minutes ago, GetOutside said:

I have 2 questions for everyone that I never really got clarification for while I was working on the i944 over the summer:

 

1) I have a year long travel insurance plan that expires March 2021. Will this suffice for “health insurance” I944 requirement? I have a full time job lined up with benefits for whenever I get my EAD. It seems silly to get a short term insurance plan before I start working at my job. (I don’t even know if it’s possible to get a short term plan here. Health insurance in this country seriously confuses me, I have a hard time comprehending it all.)

 

2) do I need to send in my foreign tax return from this year? The directions state to send foreign tax returns- correct? Just curious why some people on here say they only send US tax return. This confuses me. 

1. My wife said the exact same thing about Health insurance, you are definitely not alone!

The more your travel insurance looks like a "traditional" US plan (will get to what that means in a second), the more likely it is to make the USCIS count it positively, but it's tough to give a guarantee. 

Do you pay a monthly fee, and is there a clear list of benefits/what is covered? Critically, is there a limit to your coverage under the plan? Basically USCIS wants to make sure that if some kind of event occurs that requires you to pay substantial $ in medical bills, that it will not bankrupt you and taxpayers will not have to cover your treatment. Whether your travel insurance will satisfy them is borderline. If the plan only covers a small portion of costs, probably not that helpful to your case.

You can sign up for a plan to carry you from now until you receive your benefits via the "Healthcare Marketplace" https://www.healthcare.gov/  This marketplace was established when it was decided that every American needed access to a certain base level of insurance, and whatever plan you pick from here is almost sure to give the USCIS officer reviewing your file a positive mark for the insurance section.

If the temporary expense isn't a problem (these plans are more expensive than you will pay for coverage through your employer), I'd consider it. Normally there are all sorts of rules about when you can actually enroll in one of these plans, but we happen to be in the annual "open enrollment" window (until December 15th), so you're automatically eligible and don't need to worry about "qualifying events" or anything like that. I believe coverage is billed monthly, and you can cancel at any time. Honestly, given how insane even the most routine medical costs can be in this country + the fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic, signing up may not be the worst decision you've ever made!

For 2., this is the requirement for submitting a foreign tax transcript, from https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-944instr-pc.pdf : 

Quote

Submit any tax transcripts for any income taxes that you or your household members filed with any foreign government if you or your household members were residing outside of the United States during any time within the most recent tax year and you were not required to file a federal individual income tax return with the United States government.

The "if" language doesn't apply to everyone -- those people are only instructed to send US transcripts. 

11 minutes ago, Amw_2020 said:

Sent off my I-944 form to NBC, it was delivered today. Now I’m waiting to see how long the status will take to update to “Received RFIE”.

Hopefully soon!

Ours was delivered by FedEx and signed for by R. Shannon yesterday (11/17) morning. This morning our USCIS account updated to show: 

On November 18, 2020, we received your response to our Request for Evidence for your Form I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR ADJUST STATUS, Receipt Number XXX. USCIS has begun working on your case again. We will send you a decision or notify you if we need something from you. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.
 

Was very surprised. Someone who submitted in October took over two weeks to see their status change. 

1 minute ago, houyuanpingguoshu said:

Got it! Then I will start preparing the documents.

There's a high likelihood that it's for the 944 given the timing and many others here receiving the same, but small warning that I don't think this notification text is exclusive to a 944 RFIE (it could be an RFIE for something else in your application).

Regardless, it's looking more and more like USCIS is committed to pushing as many of these out while they still can so probably a good idea to start preparing either way.