Maxximus1074

uh oh impatient ....seriously, one of the things I have learned during the whole AOS process is that you would have to put back your expectations and if you distract yourself by living live as usual, maybe even take up a hobby it sure does surprise you once in a while when you get something in the mail from USCIS when you don't expect it
Unfortunately there is no such thing as standard processing that applies to all applications of same nature. USCIS receives literally ten thousands of different pieces of mail a day at different lockboxes. People do screen the applications for signatures, checks and their amounts before they take your money and send your paperwork across country to a different service center. There they work on it just in order to again mail it to your local office. With each step and office having different workloads and more or less employees working on cases and/or available to take your fingerprints, interview you etc.
The only standard rule is that whenever something happens significantly at USCIS, you need to wait 30 days before you can inquire. They know people are anxious to see their status, want to know their approval, but considering mailing time and the amount of applications one employee works on they would like to be left alone to work on it
Good, you got the receipt notice, making it business day 14 today that they have the opportunity to deposit your check, as other people mentioned, it can even take a month before that happens, as nerve wrecking as it is not seeing any movement with the application you mailed in.
So again, try to relax - I mentioned surprises in the mail- I received my EAD card shortly after New Years, was all happy and started looking anxiously forward to get my interview notice, expected it to be coming in the mail by March as I recall there was an average 5 month listed for AOS processing at the time when I mailed in my package. But low and behold, just one day after I received the EAD I had another envelope in the mail, Interview appointment for early February
Good luck on your AOS journey !!! Before you know it you will have your green card in hand:)
Maxximus

Don't worry about it, as it was mentioned by my pre-poster, with domestic flights you are not even getting in touch with immigration authorities but rather just "transportation safety" officials that check ID and boarding pass being a match.
Of course, for peace of mind you can take a long any official letters from USCIS. But again, all they do is check your biometric page in the passport where it shows your photo and name, so it shouldn't be an issue at all. If they would question you, you can also bring along a copy of your submitted AOS paperwork.
So just sit back, relax and enjoy your flight and the birthday party !!!
Happy Birthday from me!!!
Maxximus

no worries, I'm not going to sent you to another forum, am not even a moderator here
...seriously, you can expect your NOA1s to be in the mail about 2 weeks after they received it.
From my own personal experience they cashed the checks 12 days after USPS confirmed the delivery and around the same time received the receipt from them in writing.
Once you get them, be aware, that's when the real waiting game starts - as next is the biometrics appointment and is scheduled by your local ASC (application support center) - and there is no rule to that when you will be seen to give your finger prints and will have your photo taken. Also, keep in mind that you can call the national service hotline, but for questions like when will you have the fingerprinting appointment they can't really assist you with that, again as it is a local office procedure and they have no inside look into the availability to the little offices from the national call center.
Hope your AOS journey goes smoothly, good luck!!
Maxximus

Hi Siebela,
just ready your posting, and I can put your mind at ease - there is really nothing to worry about once you fall out of status, as long as you stay out of trouble, don't commit any crimes here or misrepresent yourself in order to go to work, have a fake/stolen social security number.
With filing the AOS you will lose your F-1 student visa in either way since you are doing the "adjustment" part of AOS, from a non-immigrant status aka student to become permanent resident here in the US. As the other posters have mentioned, you need to stay in the US during this process unless you have some valid reasons for them to approve your "advanced parole" application.
From personal experience I can even tell you this - I came to the US in 2000 with same status as you, fell in love, got married before the expiration date of the visa. Alas, 2 years into the marriage it went downhill, long story short, my ex-wife didn't assist me with filing anything with immigration and we separated and eventually divorced. In the last 2 years I met my true soulmate and we got married, too. Last October we filed my AOS package, 5 years after my student visa expired. And last week we had the interview, I was only asked the question to confirm that nothing was filed in my prior marriage but that was it and I got approved.
Welcome to the Visajourney and good luck, viel Glueck to you and your spouse in this important part of your life.
Feel free to post any questions and we'll share our thoughts, experiences and knowledge
Maxximus

As far as legal advice goes - and maybe the moderators here can create a "sticky topic" or extra forum for that -
there is most likely some community non-profits out there that have no or low-cost help and advice counselors, clinics.
In my area we have immigration advice by an immigration attorney at "Catholic Charities" - you don't have to be catholic in order to receive their help.

yes, you will put your I-94 number in this field - the A Number will be assigned to you with the AOS package since it applies to my knowledge towards immigrants only. You should see it later on when you receive your NOA1s
Good luck on your AOS journey!!
M.

yes, you will put your I-94 number in this field - the A Number will be assigned to you with the AOS package since it applies to my knowledge towards immigrants only. You should see it later on when you receive your NOA1s
Good luck on your AOS journey!!
M.

Hi and welcome to Visajourney,
yes, you are right, the US Citizen fills out the I-130 and mentions it in their Biographic G-325A
And for your spouse, she will enter AOS I-485 and if applicable also the application for Work Permit I-751,
if needed the Travel Permit, too. (I filed mine this way, except no travel permit)
Good luck on your immigration journey!!
Maxximus

Oh wow...that sure sucks that they sent you something with a deadline to reply to but then you didn't receive it - but I think in either way if they are able to deliver your NOAS1 by mail and an RFE comes back it should be easy to re-open a case if it gets closed. It's not our fault for not receiving something? But yes, maybe if you have doubts it's good to call and see if somebody knows about your case at the national hotline.
Am glad to read that you got it all straightened out.
As far as your question for RFEs goes - well, it depends on your application and what is needed in addition to what you have submitted in the first place. In particular for your I-130 - again, depends on so many factors, like when is an employee working on it, how much are they working on it before they put it aside again - and just because you received one for your AOS, it does not mean that you will receive one for your spouse's I-130.
RFE's are for the IO to get some more information or a correction (like your copy of original) from you to make it easier and faster to work on your application. Some people get a bunch of them, many not a single one....
Good luck on your AOS journey!!! Happy New Year!!
Maxximus

let's check here....did you ever have a medical exam by an authorized licensed doctor , not only vaccination documents?
If so they should have filled out this form I-693 for you and as Shescott responded given a copy to you.
Normally you should have submitted it along with your AOS package, if you didn't, there's a chance you will get a "Request for Evidence (RFE)" and/or you will just bring it along on your interview date.
As far as your question regarding SEALED goes - the form filled out by the doctor is put in an envelope which is glued closed, in most cases having additional stickers on it so it's clearly visible if you would have opened it. But you MUST NOT open it or USCIS will request a new one, plus you really should get a copy from the doctor's office for your records of it.
Hope this is understandable, if not, ask and I'll try to explain it otherways
Maxximus
edit: just re-read your post and I see that you are quoting your letter for the interview - it looks like to me that you didn't submit the form I-693 with your AOS - so you need to make an appointment as soon as possible as you will need the "results" to be handed to the officer giving you the interview. Keep in mind that they will need to do a TB skin test which requires you to go back to the office in 3 days to have the results from it. There is also a chance that they need to do a chest x-ray for that and that may take even longer......
Good luck for the interview!!!

Hi there,
one thing I learned from this forum is that USCIS is a busy place and as an outsider will never understand how, who and where applications are processed.
Some people get initial receipts, invitations for fingerprinting aka biometrics or the interview sooner, some get it later. There's literally thousands of applications going in per week and so one can only hope that the application submitted is higher up on a to-do work stack of papers of an immigration officer.
It's not only the first submission, once they take your money and accept application for processing it will be on its way to another office somewhere in the US, in the end will be at your local office, again waiting is the only thing you can do as you don't know how busy they are - yet make you worried when you read that others already have their appointments scheduled and you still waiting for yours.
From my own experience I can add that an attorney explained to me that for example cases of battered spouses with self petition literally only have a handful of employees at the national service center that work on those applications and that only 2-3 days a week before they work on other submissions.
So no matter how far or how close you live to any USCIS place, distract yourself and be pleasantly surprised when you receive an update either online or by mail as you never know how far your application is.
Good luck on your adjustment
M.

Don't get yourself worried here, I know from my own experience that signing up for a text message, email notification is not reliable. I sent in my AOS package including request for email notices in mid October and have not received a single email from them. But in the meantime got my initial receipts NOA1s and even my appointment for biometrics in the mail. Same goes with the online status update of your cases, don't rely on that, last touch dates may be weeks back and you even received something in the postal mail unexpectedly.
The only reliable source you have is the Fedex delivery confirmation
Good luck on your immigration journey!!
M.

Hi RayeRaye,
from what I have learned in these forums - immigration applications, especially AOS needs a lot of patience and not understanding the process of administration.
From what I see in my time-line compared to others, at times I match closely with others, at times they are a step ahead of me or sometiems I received something they didn't.
It all depends on the people working on your case, how much time they spent on it before it goes back in the "to-do" section of their workplace. Unfortunately it seems that just because your application was assigned to an employee doesn't mean that your case is worked on until it is approved, rather just in part checked and administrated here and there.
As far as biometrics goes - I strongly believe it depends on the workload at your local service center and when they are able to see you for an appointment.
Yes, people have done walk-ins, showing it is possible to have an earlier opportunity, but if you go with their flow and have guaranteed attention towards your petitions it'll be worth the wait.
Still waiting for the day myself to get my fingers printed.
Good luck on your journey!!

I fortunately had copies of my little yellow book, the "Impfbuch" that is 30 plus years old, in some spots not really readable anymore due to faded ink.
My family practice physician looked at it and told me that even though the MMR was supposed to be a one time thing only, latest science research shows it
will remain strong with a refresher after so many years.
As far as your 2nd and 3rd vaccination steps go - I can't help but thinking that you got vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B as well? I know I did and for those
I do have additional appointments as they require more then just one dose.
And like the others here said - there's no need for that immigration wise, but in your own interest to be protected it is necessary to have the full coverage.
USCIS wants to have the basics covered which you got done and certified.
Good luck with your application!
M.