the_patient_one

WOO-HOOOOOOO!!!! I received my green card today, such a pretty little thing and it's for 10 years too The wait is finally OVER!!! Good luck to all!!!

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

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR

TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On March 3, 2008, 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.

Well, seems like my waiting's over Wow, that was fast, fingerprints redone only last Friday and today this notice received! I wish everyone else still waiting the same swift transition from the AOS pending to the LPR!!!

It sounds like nearly everyone in this thread has received good news in some form lately. (Woo hoo!) Nothing happened with our case for about 20 months (that is, since our interview in May 2006). Touches on the case averaged one every six months or so, probably the result of some paper shuffling somewhere. Then, out of nowhere, my husband got the fingerprinting letter. Coincidentally, and perhaps painfully, the letter arrived hours after I'd mailed off Jon's EAD #3 application. Oy! Which, as it turns out, he won't need!

I wonder if it has anything to do w/ the new name check rules. Even though we had movement on our case before the memo, perhaps new processes were already being put in motion.

Congrats to everyone!

We too had our interview in May 2006, but the last touch dates back to July of the same year and then nothing! I honestly started to think that our case might have been lost or something (even made a infopass for the next week, oh well, seems like I won't need it now ). I don't know if it's just a coincidence or a direct result of the new name check ruling (to tell you the truth I don't really care at this point), either way it's nice that something is happening at last. Congrats to everyone and best of luck to those who are yet to receive good news!!!

Hi

Just wanted to tell you I had been pending since 06 too an that in early Jan I was sent to redo my biometrics an I was approved 3wks later an recieved my card 2 wks after that. It was 2wks shy of USCIS having my case for 2yrs.

Best of luck

Thanks a lot, AussieKat. It does sound optimistic, I hope it's gonna be a swift and easy approval for me too

congratulations...yep thats how it happens...no touches no news no nothing and then bam the letter for fingerprinting comes.

Thanks Donna A, I really liked this kind of BAM

OH MY GOD!!!

My prayers have been answered, at least partially at this moment I received ASC appointment notice today to come and redo my fingerprints next week! I still can't believe I got it, no news since 2006 and FINALLY!!! I've got this feeling that it must be my green card time soon Maybe it's too early to get excited, but I can't help it Good luck to everybody waiting, seems like our time is coming!

Hey, everyone!

Guess what? I just got "the e-mail." Card production ordered!

Holy $#it!!!

Only 769 days!

Our plan was to have a beer or two for Valentine's Day, but I think we're both gonna tie one on!

Yay! I can't believe it's finally my turn to say this!

~Julie

Oh, HOW COOL, CONGRATULATIONS, AOS despair!!! Seems like a lot of old cases have finally been done with. I pray mine is not gonna take long either

That announcement *just* came out. Highly doubtful there is even a workflow in place for it, however one could speculate in preparation for such changes, they are trying to clear old files.

Oh, I hope it's not gonna take them another year just to start thinking about the ways to implement the change . God, I start to itch when I think about actually having this green card in my hands after all these years !!! Seems so surreal, but I'd better not get too excited, you never know with this government

P.S. I actually found some info in my old notebook - not much, but still something. Here's the phone number in Tomsk, maybe you can try calling it - 54-11-50 (that's the number I was given by those people to call and inquire about my "case" if I didn't hear from them within a week or so, usually they'd call you and tell you when to come and pick up your police certificate, but sometimes you just have to call them yourself), there's also some sort of "name" next to this number - "Ревизионный Отдел". Hopefully it'll be of some use.

plz, ignore this one, I gave you the wrong number, sorry.

P.S. I actually found some info in my old notebook - not much, but still something. Here's the phone number in Tomsk, maybe you can try calling it - 54-11-50 (that's the number I was given by those people to call and inquire about my "case" if I didn't hear from them within a week or so, usually they'd call you and tell you when to come and pick up your police certificate, but sometimes you just have to call them yourself), there's also some sort of "name" next to this number - "Ревизионный Отдел". Hopefully it'll be of some use.

So, is there an Information Center for Internal Affairs or something like that in all major cities where the police certificate can be obtained? Tomsk is too far from Moscow, and I believe that someone said it's not necessary to go to Moscow. If there isn't a place in her city, can she request one from Moscow by post or by fax? Thanks in advance!

I'm from Tomsk , so I can tell you for sure that you can obtain the police certificate right there in Tomsk , that is. Darn, I can't remember the address of that place right out of hand (it's been more than three years since I got mine), but it's in the vicinity of the railway station (looks like a police station of sort, but I can't recall its name now) - it took me about a week to get one.

We applied for AOS in Nov 2005...we are still waiting!!! How many more of u have been waiting this long too?

We applied for AOS back in June 2005.........seems like we've been waiting for ages, no updates since 2006......welcome to the "sad club"

drum roll please!!!! the most waited for email has just been opened...

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

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

OMG! CONGRATULATIONS!!! :energetic: I can image how excited you and your husband must be Haven't updated anything in here for a while since there hasn't been anything new in our case , so we're still waiting.....................but your great news DOES encourage, maybe they are indeed turning their attention to old cases, we're getting to our third year of FBI check nightmare too

u know before the congressman liason said well there are many agencies who this has to go thru. if we were not friendly with a certain on they wont cooperate causing a hold up. ok so if we are not friendly with lets sat the agency in syria then wouldnt everyone get held up who comes from syria. i think this is a cop out excuse.

oh well thats the update from us.

I totally agree that this is a very lame excuse and BS. I am acquainted with so many people that had come from the same town as I had who got their green cards within a couple of months, that is none of them seemed to get stuck in the name check for longer than those couple of months. Question - how is it then all of a sudden here I am approaching my third "anniversary" of still waiting for it to be complete!? What, the agency stopped cooperating precisely at the same time as my name check was initiated!? Nobody seems to know the truth behind all this "pending name check" delay, and I really wish they would stop feading us with more and more lies every single time we are trying to find out something about our cases My husband is so mad that he's actually thinking of filing a discriminatory lawsuit against the government, I know it's not gonna work (as nothing usually does in this matter), but the more I think about it, the more I come to believe that it is indeed discriminatory, just as my acquaintances (the same town, the same age group and the same background) who sailed through their background checks and me still waiting.....................if it's not discriminatory, then I don't know what it is - pure luck, maybe!?

seanconneryii, first off, I also want to wish you a very safe and pleasant trip to Russia and lots of luck with everything! Second, actually I don't think you have to worry about your "tourist" visa and its registration at any hotel (where you're not gonna stay anyway, as far as I understood), my husband-to-be came to Russia on the same "tourist" visa (I was just really busy at the time to deal with all that invitation stuff) and he stayed with me of course, there was no problem whatsoever to register him at the local OVIR office (and the whole waiting thing wasn't that bad either), they didn't even seem to care that he had come on a "tourist" visa but was going to stay with me - not a word was said about it! I also know a couple of my friends who did the same, that is, coming to Russia on a tourist visa and not staying at the hotel - they were registered without any problem at the OVIR, of course they had to bring with them the person they were staying with. So I'm sure you're gonna be just fine.

Also, your fiancee doesn't have to apply to ZAGS prior your coming, as a matter of fact this is pretty much the only "benefit" of sorts you're gonna get from marrying a Russian - so called "waiting period" doesn't apply to foreigners marrying in Russia - you can go there together and apply together provided you have all the necessary papers with you because this is very important (my husband actually forgot to bring with him a certain document, and we had to ask his brother to send it to us ASAP). Usually (and we were told it was a common practice), you show them your tickets (even if you have plenty of time ahead), and they let you choose the date of your marriage (they will give you several options at least). I don't know about now, because that's how it was 4 years ago when we were getting married in Russia.

Last, you don't have to register with the US Embassy either, your marriage is gonna be valid in the US as well, all you have to do is get an apostille on your marriage certificate (ask about it at your fiancee's local ZAGS office).

Well, here's a little "update" from me - we have received a letter today from the USCIS, my husband called the NCSC again about two weeks ago and bitched about our - as they put it on the letter - "non-delivery of permanent resident card" (he actually managed to get through all this automatic #######, argue with the "I know nothing" person on the other side and get transferred to speak with a real immigration officer ). She seemed to be really sympathetic (oh well, if only that could help us) and "promised" to check our case. So here comes the letter, surprisingly it says on the envelope that it came from Luisville, KY, I hope they didn't mix it up with our Saint Louis, MO The first time we received a letter like this from our local office in Saint Louis, so this whole Kentucky thing seems pretty odd .

"The process of your case has been delayed. A check of your records establishes that your case is not yet ready for desicion, as the required investigation into my background remains open.

Until the background investigation is completed, we cannot move forward on your case. These background checks are required to be completed on all applicants who apply for the immigration benefit you are seeking. We will make every effort to make a decision on this case as soon as the background checks are complete. If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from us within 6 months of this letter, please contact us by calling our customer service number provided below."

P.S. I don't know if you can call it "progress" but last time the same very letter said "within 9 months of this letter", now it says "within 6". How "wonderful"! I guess we can resume our bugging them in 6 months from now instead of 9! Our wait continues though......... And no Xmas green card present for me either

Does anyone have an example letter that they would send to in-laws for them to take to the interview. My wife is pregnant and we want her sister to come stay a couple of months and help her take care of the newborn. My wife is from Thailand. I have downloaded the forms they need to take to the embassy in Bangkok but I noticed a post on here that said they sent a letter to them that explained why they wanted family to visit. Thanks!

This is how our letter of invitation looked and it seemed to work, hopefully it will help you somehow and everything will work out for you as well.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is XXXX, and I am a US citizen. My spouse, XXXX, is a XXXX citizen and currently is in the process of adjusting her status to become a permanent resident. We have been married for three and a half years (we got married in 2003 in X country, and she came to the US afterwards on a K-3 visa), and we would like to invite my wife’s parents (Mr. XXX and Mrs. XXX) to the US as guests to visit us for a period of one month and a half from Dec. 1, 2007 until Jan. 14, 2008. The reason we would want them to stay with us during this particular period of time is because we would really like to celebrate a number of very important holidays with them: their anniversaries, our wedding anniversary, as we have never had a chance to celebrate it with them before; Christmas and a New Year. They have never been to the US before, so we think this time of the year would be a wonderful time for us to spend together, and also for them to get to know this country and the American people better. We will supply lodging for them, however, my parents-in-law are financially able to support themselves during their stay in the US. We understand how important it is for us to make sure that they comply with the US rules and regulations concerning non-immigrant visitors, furthermore, we do certify that they will leave the country in due time in accordance with their visas.

Sincerely yours,

Mr. XXX

And

Mrs. XXX

P.S. If you have any further questions regarding this matter, you can contact us at the above-mentioned e-mail address or by telephone.

So, basically, what you do - you explain why you want them/her/him to come and visit you, for how long and so on.

Hi! My husband (a USC) and I have recently invited my parents to visit us as well. Here's how it went. My parents applied for B2 visas (a.k.a. tourist visas) and got them a week ago with no problem. We did, however, sent them a letter of invitation (it is a must + proof of your citizenship or legal status in this country) stating to the fact that we'd like them to come and visit us for a particular period of time, that we provide lodging and so on.

I didn't send proof of my legal status in this country to my parents Never occured to me to do that.

Also, it is never mentioned here, but when you apply for a visa to the U.S., you don't specify what type of visa you need (B2, etc.). You only tell the Consular Officer the purpose of your visit, and they figure out what kind of visa to issue.

I don't know what kind of questions your parents were asked during their interview (I do realize that it all depends and I'm not going to generalize about anything), but mine were asked about me first and foremost, since they were going to visit me (even though it was my husband who had invited them), and the CO seemed to be very interested in how I found myself in the US, what type of visa I had and most importantly what my current status was - of course he wanted to see the proof as well. Since my AOS was pending at the time and still is - I only sent a copy of my K3 visa and a notice of action for my AOS, and that's what they showed to the CO, he seemed to be very pleased with the facts and moved on to the "financial part" of questioning.

As for the type of visa, well you do actually apply for B2 because that's pretty much the only visa you can apply for in order to come and visit somebody in the US in general (unless they intend to immigrate of course, but that's a totally different story then).

This is what the uscis.gov website says about my status:

Current Status: Case received and pending.

On June 21, 2005, we received this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

Our case has the same wording, verbatim (just a different date), and we never received an RFE. We also made numerous inquiries, none of which affected the touch date. It does seem like a random thing sometimes, the touch.

It still boggles my mind how they randomly "touch" cases, it would be nice to see something new there though - at least as a reminder that your case hasn't been forgotten, I'm kind of sick of seeing the same thing over and over again for months and months.................don't even check it anymore, don't see the point

This is what the uscis.gov website says about my status:

Current Status: Case received and pending.

On June 21, 2005, we received this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

The notice they're talking about was my RFE (at least I believe so) which I sent back of course, but they never updated this fact on the website even after they had received it (the last "touch" was on July 26, 2006 and it was prier to receiving a RFE which I got on Aug 18, 2006, I don't know, maybe it took that many days to arrive into our mailbox!?). I actually didn't receive any response from them right away and after 3 months of waiting I sent an inquiry to our local office - during our interview we were given this piece of paper and told that if my green card didn't come within three or four months from the date of the interview then we could send it to them and they would send us some sort of response as to why nothing was coming. So I sent that piece of paper and again - no response, we waited about a month and then made an infopass appointment, there we were told that my case was still pending the completion of the FBI name check and as of that day's date the FBI name check was still pending. As a matter of fact we were lucky (if you can call it that way) to be able to talk to the same person who conducted our interview (as soon as I saw her literally passing by there was nothing that could stop us from talking to her hehe, we basically jumped up on her) and took care of my case, we gave her my A number and the receipt number and "reminded" her of that "inquiry" piece of paper that I had sent to their office, so she promised to send a response that same very day which we got the next day, but there was nothing new other than telling us that they had indeed received all requested documents and the I-485 was still pending due to the FBI name check:( Nothing new since then..........................

It is really VERY SAD....I hope for all of you guys to get this GC as soon as possible.That's really sucks to hear that some people waiting 3 years and MORE I have no words.......sit and wait......and pray to GOD..???

Thank you guys for your support,I really appreciate this,I very depressed about this process,all of my friends who came from the same country and living shorter time here then me already got their GC

oh well what should we do?

I hear you. I know a bunch of people who came not only from the same country as I did (and even though they had come to this country before I did, nonetheless, I applied for the AOS looong before them all), but also from the same city, and we even used to go to the same school together (what a coincidence, huh?)...............so we share the same background, have the same age (have different names, of course), but the point is that it didn't take very long to check them (they all got their green cards pretty much within a year period) and it's taking forever to check me!? I did however change my last name while still in my home country, because we got married there, but again I don't think there are a lot of people in my home town with the same double last name as mine, this is just plain ridiculous. Good luck to you too! And hang on, we will get this freaking green card, don't know when, but we will...................oh, I'm feeling so optimistic today for some reason...................that's weird.....but I guess, it's just one of my "better" days.

I am so frustrated,depressed ,sad again and again-waiting for FBI name check to be completed since December,2005.....and still nothing:(((They supposed to complete check from 2 weeks to 2 months(that's what they saying in their site),but what about people who is waiting 2 years and more??What should they do?Nobody can help,just to sit and wait??How long?Is there anybody who waited this check done more then 2-3 -4((((years?

I understand your frustration SO WELL, cause I've been stuck in the same name check myself since July 2005 (as you can see, it's been a little longer for me - of course, nothing to be "proud" of). As they say - "they are supposed to (and that's what we would expect them to do for us in return for our money and patience) but not obliged to" I know it sounds kind of harsh, but they've proven it by "their" attitude to so many people going through this nerve-wrecking process. Actually, according to the "them" (and I've been told that many times), they do not have this certain time frame yet (though, hopefully, this is going to change soon, Congress is pressing to reduce the wait for the name check to no more than 120 days, I pray this law will pass soon, I really wouldn't want to be stuck in it for another two years or so) when it comes to the name\background check so, basically, it can take them as much time as they want to spend on it with little or no regard to our feelings and frustration whatsoever. I know one lady (I actually met her in our local office not so long ago), and she's been stuck in her name check for almost FIVE YEARS, I thought it was rather "funny" because she's 80 YEARS OLD, and she's from the UK, no criminal past or anything of that nature (moved to this country to be with her daughter), has a pretty common name and still she's like us still waiting and hanging on. I don't know, but the longer I wait, the more I get to think that it may end soon - I mean, I'm hoping so.

I also lost the opportunity to have my "dream" job last year, my EAD didn't "impress" the "perspective" empoyers, I'm still really upset about it, but there's nothing I can do about it Just waiting as usual...............................

We've got the card today!

Will be praying for a quick approval for all of you still waiting.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's wonderful - I wish I could brag about it as well

You would actually think that they'd rather use some alternative means of "saving their space" by, I don't know, like maybe, APPROVING a case to permanently remove it from their shelves instead of shuffling it from one place to another for months and years......................maybe that thought hasn't ocurred to them yet!?

I imagine a room full of steam-powered 100 MB zip drives.

Well, I don't know about other "rooms", but the one we've been to (in Saint Louis that is) for our interview was literally filled with lots and lots of files "neatly" stacked on the shelves, on the desk, on the floor (almost looked like a little leaning tower of Piza, I'm not kidding you) rising all the way up to the ceiling...................yes, I was surprised, after all this is the age of technology (presumably), and I actually dared to ask about this "mess" around, the answer - they are not that "advanced" yet to digitalize all the applications (underfunding and stuff like that) - hence - lots of paperwork still "hanging out" there:blush: