When2RNLove

Nota bene: The immigration officer has apparently familiarized himself with our case. He didn't ask for my husband's birth certificate, passport, or any proof of U.S. citizenship. He didn't even mention anything that related to affidavit of support. The IO didn't care to ask for W-2s, 1040s, paystubs, letter of employment, etc. althought I brought them all. He must have seen those documents and forms from our initial submission. I believe that he was particularly assigned to us and was selected for a reason by the higher ranks way ahead of time. He has been to the Philippines more than once and commented that he knew my hometown Cebu even before I found out such a place existed.

When my AOS journey began, I hoped a lot for my case to be moved to CSC so that I wouldn't have an interview. I just learned one day that applicants residing in California rarely or do not get transferred to CSC. On February 24 this year, I received my interview letter with the date March 29, 2010. I noticed the advantage of having an interview and have been very excited for it. I kept thinking that I have one specific day to get a sure approval or denial instead of waiting and guessing when.

My husband and I arrived outside the Federal Building on 300 North Los Angeles St., Los Angeles at past 12:20 p.m. today. There were many people outside so we asked the guard if we still ought to join the queue in spite of our appointment letter. It was a yes and it took us approximately 30 minutes before we had the security check. We hastily headed for the elevator after passing through the detectors and guards.

There were signs on the fourth floor that led us to Room 4377. We spotted a female officer inside the room and we told her we were there for the interview. She instructed us to drop our appointment letter to Window 1. The man inside Window 1 asked us to choose a seat and wait for my name to be called.

Different groups of people were inside Room 4377 and most of them seemed to have lawyers. One person was called to go to Door # 1. A few others sitting with that individual stood up with her and went to Door # 1. Less than 10 minutes from the moment my husband and I arrived in that room, the man in Window 1 spoke my name and urged me to proceed to Door # 1. A non-Caucasian man opened Door # 1 and directed us to follow him. We reached his office in a few strides and started the oath that ended with "So help me God."

The IO asked even before the three of us sat, "You have been married for a year already, right?"

My brows met and I shook my head then said NO.

The rest of the interview was a soothing breeze. There must have been less than 20 questions. It was more like a casual conversation between people getting to know each other rather a formal interview.

His questions for my husband:

How did you meet?

Do you have kids? (He answered not yet and the IO commented that was good.)

What do you do?

His questions for me:

Where did you live in the Philippines?

What's your complete address at present?

What was your major in college?

Did you have a strict upbringing?

Are you currently working?

Did you have a big or a small wedding?

The officer sang once in a while. He is a very pleasant and cheerful man. He asked if I had received my EAD and AP. I showed those to him. He kept them and said that I don't need those because all I have to use is my green card. He also wanted to see my birth certificate and marriage certificate. Once he saw the original versions of those, he gave them back to me. He continued, "You don't have papers with your name together like joint bank accounts because the time was very short to secure those, right?"

I said that my husband added my name in his health insurance and we have a joint bank account. I showed him the health insurance certificate, the separate paper from another company for the dental and vision insurance, joint bank account, and four notarized letters (from both of my parents-in-law, one of our neighbors here, and my husband's childhood friend who lives several blocks from our place). I also presented our YMCA membership IDs, twin credit cards, twin ATM cards, two real health insurance cards, and another two actual cards for the vision and dental insurance. He let me keep the cards after seeing them but took the original insurance certificates and bank statements. He then skimmed through my album and after seeing a few pages, he gave it back to me without bothering to look at other portions of it.

The IO stamped the front page of my I-485 "Approved" and began facing the computer while singing. He explained to me that he'd print a few notes and then we could get out of there already. He said that he already notified the right people who would produce my green card and they replied that my green card would show up rapidly. He also elaborated what permanent residency is and said that mine is still conditional so I should return in less than two years to lift conditions and that I could already be a U.S. citizen in three years. He handed me the papers he had printed. One has the line "Congratulations! Your application to adjust status has been approved." The other paper has the title "Notice to Conditional Permanent Resident Alien." According to the IO, the date he wrote there would be the actual expiration date of my green card and I should use Form I-751 to remove conditions within 90 days preceding the second anniversary of the date my conditional permanent resident status was granted.

I thank our Eternal God for His loving kindess and magnanimity; my exceptional baby love husband for being the best every single day; our cat Prince; all other helpful people around me; my fellow January 2010 AOS filers (you guys are amazing); my OT playmates and chopfvck friends; and VJ for being a fun playground.

My husband and I left our phones inside his car. There was a text message saying that my case was already updated online. I logged in to my USCIS account and that round thing moved to "Card prodution ordered" for my I-485. I got the same e-mail. My baby and I went back to the restaurant (Cravings in West Hollywood) where we got married in order to celebrate the approval of my AOS.

God bless us constantly and may we all have a contemplative Holy Week. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

We had our AOS today as well and went well, and it almost sounds about like yours. But I was quite shocked that most of what we had brought to the interview was never even mention. The IO simply said "Ok, what documents do you have for me, and to start we produced five (5) joint accounts, checking, utilities, etc. and that was it. She asked my wife what is her address and our dates of birth, and no other questions, at least what one would expect. She didn't ask for any updated I-864, pictures, cards, etc., nothing. She was hole-punching the few papers that we did give her as fast as we were handing to her and putting them in the file. Don't get me wrong as I'm not complaining one bit. Our appointment was at 1pm today, and we were back home at 1:50pm. By the way congradulations.

Another AOS Approval today for a Demcember Filer. I mean literally, she interviewed us less than twenty (20) minutes, and what shocked me is she just said "Ok, what documents do you have for me?" I gave her evidence of joint accounts and she never asked for anything else and then and asked my wife what is her address. I had updated employment info, you name it. Here I was stressing out waking up at 4am for a 1pm appointment, but I'm not complaining. Goodluck to all still waiting.

You should include it. Even though it is not mentioned in the instructions on the form I always included it. In fact, I typically submit a copy of the entire I-129F petition with K1 based AOS petitions. I find that it tends to avoid a lot of RFEs or delays because sometimes the USCIS asks for things that are not included in the instructions or even required by law. Best to err of the side of over documenting you case. Best of luck.

Huh, is that not overkill. They are past the I-129 stage. They are attempting to adjust status. Thats what they are asking about, not the about the interview stage at the embassy.

Did they say in your interview notice that they would want to see it? Or did they just spring it on you at the interview and it was just lucky that you had it?

In my actual Interview Notice.

Thank you for your help!

No, but I was asked for mine for my AOS Interview within the body of the letter itself.

I believe you have to do this within a year. Someone quote me if I am wrong.

I believe you are correct. The K2 has to follow within that year. I believe you may have to file a petition if past that point.

Hello, just want to ask in advance if ever i will have my interview date on May 2010, what is the cut off date for Bank Statement?How about the Income Tax? Company letter? and other requirements? how about the CENOMAR and birth certificate it should be dated April 2010? what if i secured it last Dec. 19, 2009...do i need to get a current one? tnx...jst asking in advance though we have no noa2 yet...still stay positive in this journey. I hope our Noa2 will come soon its been 7 months already..God bless to all.

LJ

Things such as bank statements, and letter from employer are something that should be dated within 30 days of beneficiaries interview in my opinion, but the closer the better. The CENOMAR is just to prove that the beneficiary is single and not married. It can be dated in advance, like now.

Here's my second question in two years. I am an heir to some property containing oil and natural gas, and I have been contacted by an Oil Lease and Royalty Company wanting to pay me 20% royalties which is $1,325 per month for the 40. This will be tangible INCOME and NOT an assest, so therefore, I do NOT want to list it under Part 7. Number 26. on the I-864 because of the fact it IS tangible INCOME and NOT an assest, but there is no additional section for a person to list other income as Household Income in Part 6. Numbers 22-24. Would I just list the income on Part 7.26.b., real-estate holdings? Please give me ideas?

I've been given my schedule for my k1 visa interview on April 8, 2010. I'm wondering if I could do the medical on april 5 so I can save money on hotel and plane fare to manila. And if ever that's a bad idea, I will have to do it next week. But I still haven't received the letter from the embassy yet. I believe I'm suppose to bring that letter for my medical right? Please, I need help!

You don't need to wait for the letter from the Embassy. You can actually use the PETITION approval letter to show at St. Lukes. Now as for the medical, you are cutting it too close to the interview because the results need to be forwarded to the Embassy and if they are not there when you have your interview, more than likely you will have to return at a later date or you may be denied an interview. Try to do your medical NOW.

Sounds like he is trying to scare you into staying married. No greencard holder can get ANY foodstamps, medicare or anything else until they have been here 5 tears. I know this for a fact because even though I worked my husband didnt and we qualified but he didnt. They marked his application INELIGBLE. You have nothing to be afraid of because he cannot get ANY MEANS TESTED BENEFITS until he has been here 5 years. Dont worry. He is lying to you and just let him know that if he continues to threaten you , you will document that in your letter to USCIS. You cannot get food stamps for more than 3 months in a 3 year period either and no one is going to grant a single guy with no kids and the ability to work foodstamps. Mostly women with young kids qualify. He is really yanking your chain trying to scare you into stopping the divorce. Dont buy his bs and if you dont believe me, call your foodstamp office and they will verify this fact. These standards are nationwide

. Sugar momma, wipe him off your books. Hes a scum bag

Actually, there is in the state of California a program, I don't recall the technical name, that does provide single males, with a check and Food Stamps even while looking for employment, and it's called General Relief or GR for short. I have know several single males that have done this. Some have kids, and some don't, but they are born citizens though.

First, yes, I am new to this. Second, I replied to the OP with kind words I can give. Cheers.

I guess we are all still feeling our ways around the new VJ. I am getting posts that were meant for others. Cheers.

Because I am new to this whole process, I can't imagine what kind of horrible thoughts are flooding your mind. It seems that it would be a difficult one to reverse, but I really hope that you can find a way. All the best.

You're commenting on something you have no understanding of. I responded to a poster that simply reworded their thoughts that I found much kinder in the end versus their previous post and I was commending them. So therefore, there are no horrible thoughts.

I've been guilty of some comments that have come over not exactly the way I intended, so let me try to do this a bit more gentle.

You did not provide us with all the important information, so I'm just guessing that you married a US citizen in the United States while visiting here with a B2 or perhaps a student visa. When applying for adjustment of status (AOS), the Immigration Officer (I.O.) has one primary job: finding out if the marriage is legit, meaning if it was entered out of "love" and affection, not because the foreigner would greatly benefit from such marriage by getting a Green Card.

I've walked in your shoes, so I know the walk.

When trying to establish whether or not the marriage is legit, the I.O. has to use common sense and common "standards." What I mean with that is that she would have looked at every angle of your relationship. How you met, how long you knew each other, what you do for a living, whether or not you appear to be compatible, and how you got married. To tell you the truth, it is very unusual for a married couple not to have a single photo of their wedding. Even small weddings have in most cases at least a friend of family member ("best man") present, and getting married is one of the most exciting moments in most people's lives.

I don't know how the I.O. came to the conclusion that your relationship isn't real, but she did. By the way, in your post you didn't mention with a single word how your wife would be affected by you having to leave the country. No offense, but I find that strange as well.

In any case, if somebody is married "for love" and the I.O. tells them that she believes that their marriage is fraudulent and asks them to sign a statement to that effect (signing that the I.O. is correct), I doubt that many people would do that. Had that happened to me I would have said: "you are wrong; I am not signing this statement. I would like to speak with a supervisor, please."

But you didn't. You signed your deportation papers, for reasons only you know. But at this point of your journey, I doubt that there's anything you can do. Even if you were to hire a competent immigration attorney, you'd only have a slim chance that an immigration judge would wipe your signed statement clear as if you never signed it, then overrule the decision of the I.O., and finally approve your AOS case.

I have to agree with every word, comma, sentence and period. I think this was well said.

Next time, to avoid being asked to bite anybody, please refrain from slamming people with "opinions that are of a personal opinion" (?). Back on point, I agree completely with Heather's second paragraph.

Let's stop with the back-and-forth. Signing off.

Oh..sorry.. Damn new VJ...

I'm still learning too. I'm getting several posts that's meant for others.

If your fiance didn't happen to say anything about "sputum" then you're probably good to go. They ususally don't give you the CD and keep your passport if you failed.

I think your comment was for the OP.

"Bite me, please," he replied with greatest respect. The OP stated & asked "i signed my deportation , so i want to know is there any possibilty." How is the answer "if you signed this, have a safe trip back to your country" beating around the bush or NOT straightforward? How are you so sure that the "have a safe trip" was meant to be rude or sarcastic, and not tinged with sympathy or sorrow? The OP admitted that he signed his deportation order, which is a formal contract between himself and the U.S. government, so that's that. He must leave the U.S. -- by law and by his own consent -- and people hope that he does so safely. In accordance with the foregoing, it is respectfully suggested that you think about all angles of an issue before not keeping your comments to yourself.

No need for the "Bite me" comment. All opinions are those of a personal opinion.

They charge you by the minute to call PH. $0.20/min for calls to PH landline and $0.24/min to PH cellphones. You must charge up a special account in MJ for international calling. I get $0.08/min to PH on my ATT calling card to my girl's cell phone in PH and use that whenever they have power outages, which they have quite often these days..

http://www.magicjack.com/international/

Yes, to your int'l MJ account. I did prefer to use AT&T when my wife was there as it's much cheaper.

Well...the Japanese vending machines are pretty amazing. You can even get a beer from a vending machine! I think CNN did a report on those things. Well, Narita is not too bad, just the little circle terminals....they squeeze you into.

Oh yeah... I like to shop at the duty free shop!!

Got me a beer from one there.

It is our third wedding anniversary and our first celebrating together.

Our first wedding anniversary was spent apart because of the delays in USCIS processing.

The second anniversary was spent apart because Meryll went back to the Philippines for medical reasons.

Meryll is planning to cook long pancit for a long life together. This is a new Philippine tradition to me.Then we will go out for a romantic dinner and evening. We already begain celebrating last night.

Happy St Patrick's day.

Yummy! Pancit, one of my favorites.

hi vj,

it's been a long time i did not post here but I'm always reading topics here everyday. My purpose is to ask all magic jack users recently if they have any idea of using magic jack to call a mobile number in the Philippines. Is it possible that I can call a mobile number using these unit? I'm planning to buy one in the future. Any helpful ideas will be appreciated. Thank you.

There are no long distance charges using MJ when calling the PH. It just simply deducts from the amount that was added to your account for said long distance calling to the PH.

hey guys!! just a quick question. i know this may be a stupid question, but my fiance just had his medical done. if they took his passport and forwarded the results to the embassy, does that mean he passed??? saint lukes gave him a cd to take home so i'm hoping everything went well.

If your fiance/fiancee had to return a 3rd day, that would most likely indicate there was a problem, so if it took just two days, I would say you're good to go.

No matter how I feel about someone's situation, I keep my comments to myself, but this time I will not. I have seen several comments with this same statement and sarcasim before. Not one person on VJ would like a response such as "have a safe trip" or WHATEVER. I think it is RUDE and being SARCASTIC, and don't deny it. We all came to VJ for advise and answers, and those that are straightforward in their advise, that's not a problem at all because I prefer straight forwardness rather than beating around the bush answers.

Then, you're good to go. I'd bet anything on it.