TrashOTreasure

On 10/16/2023 at 6:59 PM, Mavan said:

Dear VJs,

We received this text message from USCIS. See below

 

“USCIS: Your case was received.

Receipt # IOE… Official Receipt Notice (Form I-797C) to follow in mail. Msg & Data rates may apply. DO NOT REPLY”

 

Thursday,10/12, package sent via usps 

Friday,10/13, package delivered at P.O.Box

Monday, 10/16, case received by USCIS and case number received .

 

Good luck 🍀 to all of us!

Read that your got your Biometrics scheduled as well. Our 751 packet was delivered to Phoenix lock box on Oct 10 and check cashed on Oct 17. Strangely no text confirmation received.

Did you get you 797 notice yet? 

We are planning to travel out of country end of Dec, hoping to get 797 soon. Conditional GC expires on Dec 20.

AOS concurrent filing (i130, i765, i485)

Marriage to USC

Beneficiary visa status - B1/B2

Filed dated- Feb 15, 2021

USCIS received - Mar 22, 2021

NOA1 date - Feb 16, 2021

Overall- 

1. First ever update to the case was about RFE notice (for DOB certificate) sent in May which was never received n after speaking to USCIS tier 1 officer they resent in June (delayed by a month)

2. Biometrics sent in Sept was not received (returned by USPS) n missed the appointment due to this. (No case update so never tracked the mail). Took help from local congressman and got it rescheduled to Nov 19. (Delayed by another 1 month)

3. Interview on Dec 21. Approved by the officer. Status changed to card production after a few hrs.

4. Status changed to case approved on Dec 22 n notice been sent. 

Interview on Dec 21 in San Jose, CA. Extremely polite n professional officer.

No separation of petitioner n beneficiary.

A. Officer asked for passports from both.

B. Officer put both under oath.

C. Officer said focus will be on beneficiary n asked following qs -

1. How did u both meet (both)

2. How did ur previous marriage end n reasons (separately to both)

3. How long n how was the courtship (petitioner)

4. Partner’s parents’ names (petitioner)

5.  Asked current address n how many n who all living at it (beneficiary)

6. Have u met partner’s parents (both)

7. Have u met ur stepchild (Beneficiary)

8. When is ur last day at current job (beneficiary)

9. Do u plan to work after (beneficiary)

10.  Anniversary plans (both)

11. Any joint documents (both). (Took a few additional ones for their file n returned the ones they thought were just more of the same types submitted with AOS packet.)

12. Any pictures (saw every picture in detail n looked at the one of petitioner with beneficiary’s parents n just commented that these were the parents)

13. Mentioned they wanted to validate i693. Looked at I-693 (mailed with AOS packet on Feb 15, 2021) to make sure it’s valid.

D. Officer updated the i485 form based on answers given by beneficiary

E. Officer said case will be approved n sent to FBI security clearance which should take a day or so

F. Explained the 2 yr condition on the GC n asked if we had any questions

G. Officer if asked if there were any questions. So I asked how long will it take n they said once they hit approve today FBI clearance should ideally be completed before Christmas n you should get the cards in 2-3 weeks in mail.

Case status changed to “card being produced” after a few hours.

Case status changed to “case approved n notice sent” the next day (Dec 22)

1 hour ago, giggles222 said:

 Hope you get your new biometrics soon! A good news is that it seems it's moving quickly after biometrics. See below timeline for reference.

 

AOS Timeline: San Jose

Application received : March 11

Biometrics: Sept 27

Interview was Scheduled: Oct 5

Received Mail on interview schedule: Oct 13

Interview Date: Nov 1

 

If all smooth and approved, I might get my GC before Thanksgiving. Definitely something to be thankful for. Hang in there!

 

 

 

That's great news! Wish you all best for the interview!

I am still in the dark about the missed biometrics. Thinking of consulting a lawyer and/or seek Congressperson's intervention. Tier 1 agent from USCIS says they can't do anything if you miss your bio (not my fault btw) so you have to wait for the Tier 2 officer to get back to you and the wait time for that is 30 days! Ridiculous!

37 minutes ago, giggles222 said:

Hi! My bio appt was Sept 27 in San Jose CA and now my GC status has changed to "Interview has been scheduled". Anyone knows around how many days for me to get the letter in the mail to find out the date of the interview? Also from the notice of interview date to interview schedule itself, around how many weeks/ months notice do they give? I'd like to get a realistic sense check if I will get my GC approved by end of the year.

 

For my EAD, case is still "Fingerprints received". I have a feeling that I'll get my GC.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to see someone from San Jose! In the same boat as you. Filed in Feb. Apparently the very efficient USCIS scheduled the bio for my case in early Sep too but they messed up - misprinted the address on the notice and the very efficient USPS promptly returned the letter back to USCIS. Thing to note is that USCIS never updated the case saying that I have been scheduled for the Bio but as good they are, they were sure to not let us be in dark so updated the status letting us know the USPS has returned the notice to them for Non-Delivery reasons!

So I had no choice to do a run around with USCIS, file a request for Tier 2 office to call back, since the Tier 1 can not reschedule the appointment after its date has passed.

These things make me look at life from a philosophical way as to nothing is in one's control! One missed notice and you don't know what your future would be!

Sigh..! 

But congratulations to you! Hope you get your GC soon! 

in the same boat. It's so frustrating. Last time it was the RFE notice that was not received which we found was USCIS's error in printing the correct address. pretty sure the same happened this time.

Not sure what to do now. Have filed the e-request which asked to wait for 30 days again! Every little things is a 30-60 days push out and all we are asking as legal immigrants is at least a right to legally work! 

Anyone know of any recourse if USPS returns the USCIS notice back to them in spite of having the correct address.

Pretty sure USCIS messed up the address while printing the label. It's happened in the past when they had incomplete address printed on the RFE notice.

Any attempt to have USCIS correct this results into another prolonged and painful wait  - "....USCIS will respond within 30 days" !

Any way to make this quicker. Pretty sure we lost the biometrics notice and missed the appointment since the online system never alerted on any notice being sent. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

2 hours ago, arae said:

We had our interview yesterday so here's a brief recap.

 

Everyone we interacted with from security to the person checking people in and assigning them a number, to the officer we had for the interview were so very kind. I'd estimate our interview lasted 15 minutes and the officer explained the process thoroughly at the beginning and told us this should be pretty simple. Questions centered around our relationship, how we met, and then confirming a lot of demographic information and confirming the responses from the DS-160. Overall it was conversational, low pressure, and friendly.

 

The officer did say that one of our files was missing from their system but that that sometimes happens. They asked their supervisor if they could approve our  case. When they came back they said our case was approved but handed us a notice that it required further review. I checked the case tracker and saw "Interview Completed. My Case Requires Further Review."

 

Naturally the status makes me slightly nervous since we heard the words "approved" but also I know there was some hiccup with one of our files being sent electronically. Trying to stay positive!

Congrats! It seems Chicago apps are moving faster. Here in San Jose waiting over 6 months for bio.

On 4/29/2021 at 10:21 AM, SanActinidia said:

I found out from live chat through Emma.

I hope all February filers receive their biometrics appointments soon. 

No new of biometrics yet. Been waiting for over 6 months. San Jose ASC. Case with NBC.

Expedited on phone with a USCIS level 1 agent on Sep 1. Case now reflects expedite request received. Hopefully that triggers bio at least.

On 8/23/2021 at 10:44 AM, parents2021 said:

Update:

Have applied for my parents - Priority Date: 2/19

NOA received: 3/22

Biometrics appointment letter received: 4/22

Biometrics completed: 5/13

RFE received for i-693: 5/20

Case Is Ready To Be Scheduled For An Interview: 6/17

Interview was scheduled: 6/23

Interview date: 8/11 (Officer stated decision was "approval" - awaiting final decision in mail.) 

Cards received: 8/19 😃

 

Happy & relieved. Huge thanks to everyone on this forum for your support. 

 

Congrats! this was fast. In my case priority date is 02/19. Still waiting for Biometrics at San Jose, CA. Really lost and unsure as to ####### is going on.

22 minutes ago, L&Ceci said:

Hey ! 

 

Well I don't think pregnancy, in itself, is a valid reason in USCIS perspectives. I tried a first expedite (without congressman help) based on financial hardship due to totally unplanned pregnancy (husband had a vasectomy 10 years ago !) before getting that offer. Never got an answer of evidence request. 

 

This time I filed for financial loss (not sure they consider financial loss and financial hardship the same way...).

 

My advises to find a job before EAD: 

- Wait for after biometrics. I tried to apply to jobs for months, if you can't give visibility to employers they are not interested or at best they will tell you to come back when you get EAD (which happened to me with a contracting company, I restarted interview process with, but I got a better offer somewhere else). Before biometrics there is no way to give employers visibility.

- Once you have biometrics give visibility and the feeling that you are confident EAD isn't gonna be a problem: "my EAD is in process" + "I will not need any sponsorship from you at anytime, my spouse is my sponsor" + "once I have an offer I should be able to start working in 4-5 weeks approx". 

- Apply to jobs in your field and that really match your level of skills. You need to be THE one they look for, so they will be fine waiting a little bit for you. If you apply to everything and anything most likely they will find someone else that fits and is available now. 

- What kind of jobs are you looking for ? If you can, try consulting companies (they are usually not in a rush to hire and wouldn't mind waiting)

 

 

Regarding evidences, I gathered evidence of financial loss (for our household + for the company needing my skills ASAP)

- Primary evidences (sent to congressman): Job offer + letter from company (they also mentioned they are an essential business).

Evidences I got ready but they never asked for, to support financial hardship:

- Evidence of unplanned pregnancy: Vasectomy report

- Pregnancy related bills

- A 12 months budget starting when we filed for AOS to show we were fine with my Husband's salary (working part time while going to school) + my savings, but that not budgeted bills/baby purchases would get us in severe hardship.

Be careful, when you filed, your spouse signed that he/she would financially support you/the household until your case is processed so I think an unplanned event has to justify that suddenly you guys are struggling. 

- Husband's last pay slips

 

I think, in my case, surprise pregnancy was just to enforce that really I couldn't miss that opportunity but it was definitely not the main reason to expedite.

 

If you filed in February, you are not in B2 anymore, you are in Adjustment of Status, right ? 

Thanks for such a detailed response!

Yes I'm in AOS. I think the main issue in my case is that i'm still waiting on the biometrics.

Looks like you can submit the expedite request once you are done with biometrics. Is that what your understanding is?

But its been over 6 months since I filed and no update (other than one RFE that I responded and they received in June).

You are right if there is no biometrics it's gonna be hard to give visibility to a prospective employer. In my case I moved from Europe where I was working for a US based global employer. My employer is willing to move me to one of their US offices if I have an EAD. But without any visibility to a date of EAD approval, I just cant convince my employer to hold that position for me. They would probably hold it for me for 2 months at the max.

My husband supports me currently and to be honest we are not exactly struggling financially where we are not able to pay rent etc (California rents are ridiculously high!). We are on a super tight budget though and have to sacrifice some stuff to get by!

So given the above points I'm not sure how to go about the Congressman route for requesting an expedite! 

On 8/26/2021 at 10:18 AM, L&Ceci said:

 

Hi Guys, 

 

Here are some updates on my case. 

 

07/16: I-485 is « ready to be scheduled for an interview ».  My field office (Houston, TX) takes forever (like 18 months) to schedule interviews so I have plenty of time. 

 

I requested expedite processing of my EAD: 

• 08/05: Signed a great job offer & Request to Expedite I-765 placed online with Emma. I got a summary ready before starting the chat and clearly stated: 
  • Request based on financial loss for me AND the company (I had my offer letter + a letter from the company as evidences)
  • Expected start date & salary
  • Financial hardship because of pregnancy
• 08/08: I contacted my congressman via their website. 
• 08/12: Congressman staff sent me forms to file, that I sent back the same day + offer letter & company letter (also had medical bills, husband’s pay stubs & next months budget ready in case more evidences were needed)
• 08/18: no news from congressman, I asked for updates & they said I had to change something in the form before they can send the congressional request to USCIS… Updated and send it back that same day. Not sure when they sent it to USCIS. 
• 08/19: Chat with Emma, « case assigned to an agent for review »
• 08/26: Request to expedite processing of I-765 approved
• 2hrs later: « New Card being produced ». 

 

No RFE and no request for evidence (I think the congressman staff sent those with their request).

 

Now I just have to wait for the card, hoping they will do a combo card as I request I-131 to be expedited at the same time.

Hi,

First of all thank you for all your updates. They are super helpful!

Similar case as yours but filed in Feb (on B2 status).

Curious to know how you managed to get a job offer without an EAD ? Im sensing this is an important document to show to strengthen expedite request. 

But because of B2 status and pending EAD no legit employer is willing to offer a job in my case.

Also, how do prove financial hardship? Is there are guideline USCIC works on? Just like there is a poverty guideline? 

We are also planning to start a family and I wonder if that can be mentioned as a hardship (even though there is no pregnancy yet)

Thank you so much in advance!