anav

I'm relieved to inform you all that my approval notice arrived!!

I just got home and found the letters in the mail, one for me and one for my husband. When I opened the mailbox and saw those two lonely envelopes with the all by now too familiar USDHS header, I said to my husband, "oh great, only bad news can arrive so fast". I thought we had been both summoned separately by a court or something!!

But then I opened mine and it said at the very beginning, "WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". I could not believe it. Then I opened my husband's , still skeptical, telling him, he was the one who was probably in trouble, and it just said briefly that the "above petition has been approved... etc"

Mine says, "it is with great pleasure that we welcome you to permanent resident status in the US" and states that the Permanent Resident Card will arrive in 3 weeks.

Thanks to all who remained positive! I knew this will get resolved as we had nothing to hide, however I dreaded the thought of this carrying on for longer months and having to deal with legal fees. That was my real concern.

To answer some of your questions, no, the appointment letter did not mention anything about bringing photographs or bills. The only thing it did mention that I failed to bring was our company's employment letter, but I gave her both our last 3 pay stubs (6 in total) and she added them to the file. I thought it was odd that it didn't mention anything about photos as I always hear that this is what everyone takes, but I thought that for some reason, given what we had already sent, they weren't necessary, and besides, she requested these at the end as if requesting a "back up" or something. Had I imagined this I would've packed up my truckload of pictures, as after having dated for 4 years, married for 10 (together for 14 years total) and being a photo junkie, I had our whole relationship documented in photos! from our dating days, to our wedding, honey moon, birth or our son to family trip to Disney last year. We even have a chronological compilation of Christmas photos in identical photo albums, titled by year! I think that alone would've done it.

Regarding my B1/B2, I've had it since I was an infant. Valid for 10 years with multiple entry, I've only had to renew it about 3 times in my life (I am 32). I never pursued "upgrading" to anything else via my husband, as we both loved living in my country. We've always been well off and it wasn't until now that he was offered a relocation package to the US "that he could not refuse" when we actually considered leaving our home in the island. When we arrived I initiated my paperwork and all was already filed and in progress when my 1-94 expired (6 months stay).

If you file for adjustment of status before it expires, I understand you should have no problem.

Once I submitted my Adjustment Packet (Petition for Alien relative, Adjustment of Status, Advanced Parole, EAD, etc) the permits started arriving. About 2-3 months later I received my Advanced Parole and EAD.

I understand that I'll be eligible for citizenship within 3 years from now, which I may consider just to leave all the constant paperwork behind.

Yes, I have my work permit and advanced parole. I am currently working, in the same company as my husband, and I can travel. I definitely have all the documents necessary to prove, well, whatever there is to prove, I just didn't think they were necessary, as I thought only newly weds were given a hard time. Having been married for 10 years, with children, it is clear that we didn't marry for Visa acquirement purposes.

It is strange that she asked us no questions about our relationship, about us, about the reasons why we've waited so long, about what we've been doing and where we've been during the last 10 years. She asked no questions at all, just requested the paper evidence.

Does anybody know, if she were to deny it, why didn't she do so during the interview? She neither said approved nor denied. She stated she wouldn't give a second interview, not sure why not.

I denial would truly be ridiculous, as what am I to do? leave my American husband and 5 year old here and go back with my unborn child to my country of origin?

We can produce all the proof required, although I am unsure why she didn't mention about the possibility of a second chance to present this.

Thanks for your good wishes.

I forgot to mention that we are expecting our second child ( 2 months pregnant). We never thought we would ever move to the US as we were doing fine where we lived over seas, in my country of origin. My husband had a change of heart last year and we moved. I've had B1/B2 visa all my life and we used to travel to US only for vacations.

In the previous post I was advised to get a lawyer. Why would we need a lawyer if we have nothing to hide nor have submitted false testimony? I can produce about 20 lbs of family pictures that go back in time the 14 years that we've been together and a lot more mail sent to us at the address where we live together.

What is usually the next step? Can they deny the application due to lack of evidence? Would they give us a chance to present the missing evidence before making a final decision? If denied, does anyone know what the next step is?

Hi,

My spouse and I filed for AOS last February. He is a US citizen and I am a foreign who arrived with a B1/B2 visa. Today we had our AOS interview and they asked us for documents that I don't recall seeing in the checklist within the appointment letter. I can't even check right now as they stayed with the letter. Stupid me of not photocopying it.

We have been married for 10 years and have lived overseas up until last October, when we decided to move to the US. We have one 5 year old son who lives with us.

The interviewer was not a very nice lady. First she checked my passport and annulled the B1/B2 visa and wrote adjustment of status in red ink.

After seeing our religious marriage certificate (legal document) she requested our "civil" marriage certificate, which does not exist, as in my country of origin, the civil ceremony is carried out together with the religious ceremony and the priest has the authority of a civil judge, therefore, only one ceremony is necessary. We explained this to her but she did not get it. After a bit of unnecessary arguing back and fourth she left the room with the certificate in hand, apparently to consult with someone else and came back convinced that what we were stating was accurate.

She then requested our son's birth certificate which we handed to her. She requested my husband's letter of employment which we did not have (I apparently overlooked it). This got her uncomfortable. She asked for proof that we were living together, and we handed her the lease of our home, which was under both our names. She asked for more proof, as joined bank statements and bills which we did not have, as I recently obtained my SSN and given to that it is yet inactive (the Social Security administration says I need to wait a month to have it activated) my husband hasn't even been able to file his tax returns, as the IRS still doesn't recognize my SSN as valid (yet). So we have no tax returns. Yet, for the the affidavit we got a sponsor, my husband's cousin, who was perfectly eligible, although she asked the name of the company where he worked and we could not remember the name (although she had it in front of her in the copy of his W2). She asked for photographs, which I did not bring, given that they were not on the list, and all our wedding pictures are in my homeland. We were under the impression that wedding pictures were required for couples that were recently married and not for those who have been married for over 10 years. We have recent pictures here (which I did not take with me), but I didn't believe this meant anything as anyone can have recent pictures taken and printed.

I handed her both our last 3 pay stubs with our addresses on it and she was already very frustrated, yelling at us stating that we did not come prepared, that we had a whole month to do so and what not. The letter did not mention anything about bringing bills or photographs.

I was handing her other mail with our names and addresses, as notices from the IRS and Social Security but she would not take them or look at them. She didn't even let us talk, she got up from her chair and practically kicked us out of the office, not before stating that she will review our case before responding. I asked her when we will know the outcome, she stated we will get a letter within the next 30 days.

What does this mean? Does this mean she will deny our application? If so, what should be my next step and how much would it cost?