Nova83

On 9/23/2021 at 1:07 AM, keeza3 said:

Hi everyone. May 2020 filer here 

 

Had my adjustment of status interview in the Houston office on 22 Sept 2021. Our appointment was for 230pm. I have left a review in the review section but here it is here too: 

We arrived 15 mins before our appointment and got in, had to go through metal detectors. We waited about 3 mins for biometrics. They took my fingerprints and a photo. I removed my mask only to get the photo taken and the officer was behind a big glass wall.

We then waited for 30 mins and were called in at 3pm (our appointment was 230pm). We had an older short, bald gentleman who looked and sounded Hispanic. He seemed stern but when we were escorted to his office we saw he was military, which explained his demeanour. Don’t let it put you off!

We sat down and he asked for our IDs, birth certificates and marriage certificate. While I pulled it out of our folder he asked my husband where he lived and how long he had lived there. Husband confirmed our address and was asked to provide proof (lease or mortgage document) but my husband hadn’t brought it as it wasn’t jointly in our name yet. The officer asked my husband if he had any other way of showing proof of address like bank documents, which we did. I took out the bank documents and provided it to him.

The officer seemed more interested in filling out the forms and typing on the computer. After a long silence where he fussed with the forms and typed on the computer he turned to me. He asked my full name, my date of birth, where I was born, consulate where I got my k-1 and confirmed our marriage date. He confirmed when I got my k-1, when I entered the country, when I got married and that I was applying for a green card. He confirmed I met all the requisite legal time frames for entering country, marriage and filing of AOS.

He then went through our bank documents I had provided earlier. I also provided additional information that the officer never asked for but I told him we had it and if he wanted it while he was examining the bank documents. He said he would take it. They were - health insurance information, life insurance info, retirement savings where I am my husband’s primary beneficiary as well as my husbands latest pay information and two years of our joint tax filing. He barely looked at these additional documents but spent a few minutes on the tax documents.

It seemed to us that he didn’t need a lot of documents apart from ID, marriage certificate and bank documents. This reinforced to us that he had made his decision before we had our interview - read to the end to find out!

The officer then went through my entire I-485 with me - asking me name of my parents, where they were from, where I was born, places I have worked, organisations I was in, all the “HAVE YOU EVER” questions. One of the “HAVE YOU EVER” questions I answered YES and gave an explanation on my form. We discussed the answer and he was undisturbed by it. He confirmed that nothing had changed on my form and he was satisfied about the contents. He then made me sign the form.

More typing and filling out forms. Printed out letters.

Then he gave us a long explanation that our application was approved, explained the temporary nature of the card  as we haven't been married 2 years yet and what we had to do 90 days before the expiry of the 2-yr card. He reinforced that in two years time they would be interested in the authenticity of our marriage - "prove that it is a good marriage and you must show intermingling of assets". My husband had asked if we could now freely travel overseas (LOL) and the officer explained we could travel as we wished. He was very friendly at the end and congratulated us and said the card would arrive within 3 weeks. He then made copies of our IDs and returned my passport and my husband’s DL back to us. He returned all ORIGINAL documents to us including certified copy of marriage certificate. DONE AND DUSTED. We were with the officer for about 35 minutes. 

 

Online and on the app it now says "CARD BEING PRODUCED" instead of "INTERVIEW SCHEDULED". 

If our interview was in 2 months my husband and I would have met the 2-yr married mark! Very sneaky of them but I am so glad this is over (for now). 

 

GOOD LUCK to everyone waiting. 

 

If I can answer any questions please let me know. 
 

Thank you for sharing your experience and congratulations on your approval !!!

I'm October 2020 and still waiting forever 🙂

On 7/14/2021 at 7:11 PM, USnotforme said:

What's your experience in terms of processing times, convenience?

Was uploading evidence online better than mailing it to them.

For i485, i131, etc do you have to wait for NOA from submitting i130 online before mailing?

Do you need to do i130 first (if doing online) before mailing the other necessary forms?

TIA. 

I submitted my I-130 and I-130A online on 09/24/2021, got the PDF receipt the next day and attached it with my i-485 package.

I scanned and uploaded all the evidences I had at that time, and added some more later on as the system allows us to do that. 

IMO, filing online can be more convenient in term of filing as it fast and easy, just answer all the questions. but for the processing time, I'm not sure.

I got my i-130 approval today but still waiting until forever for i-485 as my field office Houston is super slow.

10 minutes ago, Deb123 said:

Congrats! Finally 🎉   When you expedited, was it with Emma and did you need a job offer letter? 

 

Yes I chatted with Emma and stated the reason was financial loss. That’s it. I prepared a bunch of bills and a job offer but they didnt ask for anything 😂

Just a quick updates for someone who cares. My PD was Oct 16. Got 1st bio appt on Feb 19 but cancelled due to the storm. Rescheduled for March 29.

I-485 is ready to be scheduled for an interview since Apr 5.
EAD expedited on Apr 13 regarding financial loss. EAD approved on 4/20 no additional evidence required, combo card in hand 4/24.

Good luck every one ✌️

Please help!! I have a question regarding i-864
Do we have to keep the income requirement all the time during the sponsoring process or just at the time we submitted the AOS?
The story is I submitted my AOS package in Oct 2020 with eligible income (more than 22k)
Biometrics scheduled for 02/19/2021. 
This tax year my husband (sponsor) made less than 22k. Due to the pandemic, his business got loss this year. 
Will it be a problem for my AOS?
Thanks in advance for your help.

On 11/9/2020 at 12:06 PM, AJC12B said:

It was received on the 16th of November. Next Monday would be 30 days waiting for our letter. Fingers Crossed 

 

I hope you you get some news very soon!!! 

My package was received on 10/16 too but no check cashed, no text, no letters...

I just sent out my AOS package via USPS and it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Joining the game and good luck to the October filers 🤗🤗🤞🤞🤞

Thank you so much for your all opinions. Sent this morning with USPS Priority Express.

I am sending my AOS packet tomorrow to avoid the new fees. Which carrier would you recommend for fast and safe service? USPS Priority Express to have the postmark date or UPS Next Day ?

Thank you for your opinion...

On 9/18/2020 at 2:34 PM, Linos said:

Here we go!!! We just filed an I-130 for our CR1 on September 15th 2020...already feeling nervous, excited and impatient 🤩 So curious to find out which USCIS centre our case will go to and when we will receive our NOA1..

I'm joining the club to. My husband filed I-130 online on 9/23/2020 with IOE receipt number 09/24 saying Nebraska. Still waiting for NOA. They said emailed it already but nothing.

Good luck everyone!

14 hours ago, Ayrton said:

1. His mom is not part of his household if she files taxes separately/is not a dependent.

 

2. By the time you get your interview you might have more stuff, but these are good evidence.

Thank you for the answers

10 hours ago, Dispie said:

Could be another glitch. In my case, page 12 is the evidence list (filenames that I attached) and then pages 13-15 contain information that didn't fit in the form, such as an extra address. It doesn't show it as Part 9 - the pages are nearly empty with a few filled out boxes

 

I finally found the part in Documents tab named Additional responses... 

Thank you! The wait begins for me and good luck on your application 😊

Hello VJers

I have a question about filling i-864.

My USC husband and I live with his mom. She retired so doesn't have any income except the SSA. My husband income is about $29K, good enough to sponsor me. He doesn't claim his mom as the dependent when he filed the tax.

My question:

1. do we count his mom in our household?

2. the house we're living is in his mom's name. she is also the account holder for all the utilities so actually we don't have any utilities like energy, water, internet, phone bills under our names. But we do have auto insurance, life insurance, joint financial like bank statements, car loan, credit card authorized user, etc. Is it good enough?

Thank you so much for your input.

Just now, Dispie said:

I've glanced through my snapshot and not sure which additional information you are talking about. Is it the extra pages as part 9 of the paper form?

Yes it is. 

Hello. My husband just submitted the i-130 today. However we couldn't find the additional information part in the snapshot even though we already put them in and check it carefully before we submit it. Do you have any idea with this issue?

Thank you so much!

Hello Everyone,

I have a quick question. I am almost done with all the paperwork for AOS from F-1 visa but just worried that cannot send them out before 10/02. If I send them after 10/02, is the fee for i-765 and i-131 still waived if filing concurrently with i-485?
Thank you for your help.