Edward and Jaycel

Here's my report on the interview experience Jaycel and I had

Agree with @Crazy Cat.... The process from RFE to interview scheduled can take a while. Close friends of ours responded to their RFE on March 29th and did not get their interview notice until June 23rd and interview was 5 weeks later on July 29th. Having patience with this process is simultaneously the most important thing and also the hardest thing to do. Keep us all posted!

And to answer your other question, there will be no NOA2 until after the petition is approved, which it looks like won't happen until after your biometrics appointment since they need to verify your identity for some reason

We were playing Christmas music last Monday

100% and also now that an interview is mandatory, so much is dependant on the local field office

The fast processing is just USCIS pulling some applications off of the top of the pile to keep their "Average Time" from going too high. Comparing yourself to other's cases will only drive you crazy. Believe me I know Having filed last November and watching folks who filed in March reporting getting interviews a couple of months later was hard. But I got to thinking and realized that there are many more people out there who don't chat about their cases who were probably in the same boat as us. Right now, for April there are close to 2x as many people still "Processing" as there are either approved or with interviews pending (Approx. 40k processing vs. approx. 20k approved or interview scheduled). I know it's so very hard but you need to set your expectations that you may not get movement for a year after filing and then if it comes sooner, so much the better and a nice surprise. Maybe focus away from the process for a while and find something that give you a little joy and happiness. That's what Jaycel did after a while of torturing herself until the process played out and we got the interview. I hope this helps a little

If your fiancé is the foreign beneficiary, you can update that information with a public inquiry with the NVC after the I-129F is approved and sent to the NVC - if not then, just have him put the correct information on the DS-160 application.

Yes, at the interview your fiancé will be called by a randomly selected consular officer who happens to draw your case. He will be answering the officer's questions.

If you get married, in France, before your fiancé enters the US on the K-1 visa, you stand an excellent chance of messing up the whole process (K-1 AND Adjustment of Status) If, by some miracle he is admitted into the United States, what will you put for your wedding date on the AOS form? The correct date that predates his entry? Then he will be accused of misrepresentation by USCIS for entering on a Fiancé(e) visa knowing that he was already married and he will be denied the AOS and almost certainly given a notice to appear in immigration court to begin his removal proceedings. (Deportation) For the K-1 Visa, you must have your marriage ceremony inside the US after your fiancé enters the country using the visa. @Crazy Cat is right to recommend a simple wedding in France and start the CR-1 Visa process because these celebrations seem like they are very important to you both. Fair enough, but understand that if that is the case, the K-1 visa is not for you guys.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now authorized to expand its law enforcement authorities and newly-minted USCIS 1811 classified officers (commonly known as special agents) will be empowered to investigate, arrest, and present for prosecution those who violate America’s immigration laws under a final rule published today.

The consulate in Manila will not extend the expiration of the NOA2 prior to the interview. (I know this from firsthand experience because I made the request) You are NOT running out of time. The consular officer that conducts the interview will automatically extend the validity of the NOA2 at the time of the interview if they approve the visa. (This is what the embassy told me in response to my query.) The only thing I would do is have your fiancée bring updated letters of intent to marry from both of you to the interview as sometimes they ask for that on an extended NOA2 expiry.

Congrats!! Here's the detail of our interview experience... As far as the missing vaccines you had from the overseas medical, Jaycel was missing the Polio Vaccine. We went and got it here at a CVS and then we went to a civil surgeon to have them complete the vaccine assessment part of of the I-693 and brought the sealed report to the interview because we did not want to get an RFE at the interview. (That happened to a friend of hers at her interview in the Philadelphia FO). Documents - Bring the "Originals" (Certified True Copies) of any civil document submitted in your application and photocopies of those as well, bring the passport you entered the country with (with the K-1 visa inside), any new ID that you have (State Driver Licence / ID Card), EAD Card & SS Card if you have them. US Citizen Spouse should bring ID and proof of citizenship, Cert. True Copy of Birth Certificate and/or Passport and photocopies of those. Any NEW evidence of marital bona fides accumulated since you filed your AOS. I would also scan all that evidence into a PDF and upload it into your online account under "Unsolicited Evidence" in the documents tab 3-5 days before the interview. We did that and our officer was very appreciative and told us it allowed her to review our case before she called us in and enabled her to approve us that same day. Make sure you still bring the paper copies with you to the interview in case they can't bring up your upload for some reason. We also brought copies of the forms we made when we filed just in case and we brought a photo album we created that was a timeline of our relationship. We put it together in a Word document, pasting the photos in and typing a description under each. We had about 20 pages with 3-4 photos each page. We uploaded that document as part of our "Unsolicited Evidence" upload a few days before the interview as well.

Congrats!!

Thank you!

WOW!! That's great news! Congrats 🎉🎉

Thank you for sharing this detailed account of your experience with us! This sounds very similar to our experience and our officer said the same thing about reviewing it at the end of the day and she also mentioned that when they take an action on their system (such as approval) that it takes 24 hours to show up in the my.uscis.gov portal. About 25 hours after we left the interview we got Jaycel's approval. I hope your officer follows through for you like ours did for us!

I think this may be just fine with them as long as you have court certified dispositions. The FOIA request response I got from the police agency wasn't even a physical letter, just an email response.

We received Jaycel's Green Card on August 1st and the status on her case still says "Card Produced" with the tracking number, "UNAVAILABLE". LOL We saw it on informed delivery 2 days after it was produced. If you do an "Ask Emma" chat and ask for a live agent, you might be able to get the tracking number but that's all dependant on how helpful the agent you get wants to be

NO! Send the certified, with seal court records to USCIS. This is why I got an RFE on my I-129F. They wanted the certified, sealed court dispositions. As for the police records, most departments have a FOIA request process. Use that to request any arrest/incident reports for your case. In my specific case, I got a response from the police agency that the records were so old that they met their protocols to destroy the records and I sent this response from them into USCIS along with the certified, with seal court dispositions. If you think you will need these papers for your AOS (Jaycel and I did not require them for her AOS) order extra copies from the court.

Oh great news!

His wife, like Jaycel, was missing the polio vaccine from the medical exam done at SLEC in Manila because they were not aware of the new requirements from the CDC when they did their medical. We got Jaycel the polio vaccine here at a CVS and went to a civil surgeon to do the vaccine assessment part of the I-693 to add the polio vaccine to her record and brought the sealed report to the interview. Check the DS-3025 and see what they have marked down for Polio.... if it's not completed you will likely get an RFE at the interview to get it done. If you have 15 days before the interview, you should have time to get it taken care of

Friends of ours had their interview on July 29th and no movement since, other than about an hour after they left the interview, their case status changed to "Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS". I'm in a support chat for folks with cases pending here at the Denver Field Office and some get the approval the next day and many others have waited 60ish days until their case decision.

You can call USCIS but if you show up to a field office without an appointment, you will be turned away.

And keep in mind it is completely dependant on your local field office and what their backlog looks like

How was yours?