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Just so I am clear - Our I-130 was submitted last year and approved earlier this year. We petitioned for I-485 shortly after I-130 approval.

I am a USC and my wife is a Canadian. We filed for I-130 late last year and was approved. Later on she came to visit me and we ended up deciding to file for I-485 (she was definitely within her Canaidan 6-month visit time when we filed).

Our I-485 interview has been scheduled for early next month.

We have reviewed many I-485 interview questions. Most of them center around whether the marriage is real or not. There should be no doubt about our marriage since my wife and I were high school sweethearts to begin with and have been together for over 15 years even though we have been married for just a year. In any case, we have photos, letters, e-mails, and tons and tons of stuff over so many years that there are no questions about our marriage (duh... It's been over 15 years that we are together.).

I may be mistaken - It is my understanding that I-130 is indicative whether USCIS finds the evidence of marriage sufficient, which I filed for and was approved before even filing for I-485.

Now that our I-485 interview has finally been scheduled, I am wondering what they may ask in the interview. My wife worked in the U.S. in the past legally with her Canaidan TN work visa. She has only worked with proper authorization so that is not an issue either.

Just so that we are better prepared, it would be greatly appreciated if the wise folks here on VJ can shed some light on the type of questions we may be asked given our situation.

I tend to prefer to be over prepared and would love some insights from those who have gone through this. The stake is so high that I do stress over it.

Thank you for any insight

Hello Everyone,

I applied for AOS on 4/15/11 , USCIS received 4/17/11 and I got NOA 1 on 4/20/2011 for all forms ( EAD,AP and AOS) .Now I am waiting for biometrics letter. I don't know how long does it take to get it.. hope soon

So you are only 5 days apart from us... We haven't received the appointment either, and it's beginning to bother me...

It's been a month since your NOA so go ahead and call USCIS or like messybrownhair said, make infopass appointment.

How do I make an infopass appointment? How is that different from calling USCIS? Sorry, I cannot seem to find too much info about it... Thank you for your help.

April 12 is the date printed on the notice.

Using the 3-month data on VisaJourney in my area (only 3 data points), the average time between NOA and biometric appointment is more than 45 days. I am not sure how accurate that is though.

Does it ever happen that they already have the biometric data from the past 6 months so they just skip the appointment completely? I read somewhere that such situation happens from time to time as well but they don't tell you.

Any thoughts? At what point should I call USCIS to double check?

Still have questions about the highlighted portion...

Got the NOA on 4/12 for I-485. (4/12 is the date printed on NOA. It arrived in the mail on 4/18.) It's been 30 days and still not have received appointment for biometrics.

I am a bit concerned... Should I contact USCIS now or wait a bit longer?

No, biometrics appt notice only comes in mail. They don't send text/email notifications.

What is your NOA1 date?

April 12 is the date printed on the notice.

Using the 3-month data on VisaJourney in my area (only 3 data points), the average time between NOA and biometric appointment is more than 45 days. I am not sure how accurate that is though.

Does it ever happen that they already have the biometric data so they just skip the appointment completely? I read somewhere that such situation happens from time to time as well but they don't tell you.

Any thoughts? At what point should I call USCIS to double check?

Hi everyone,

We submitted our adjustment of status approximately a month ago and have not yet received an appointment for biometric... (I checked the timeline and it is taking longer than average in my area, so it is not a big concern...yet.)

However, I hate to have this messed up due to something getting lost in the mail.

My question is: We submitted the e-notification form with our Adjustment of Status app. We also received e-notification when they sent the receipt for the I-485 application. This would clearly mean that they have our e-notification info in the system.

Will we also receive the appointment for biometric through e-notification? Just want to make sure nothing gets lost in the mail.

I would think lots of people here would know the answer. Thank you again.

Well, I am just going to show everything... Not really a big deal. Just find it a bit strange that they ask for everything instead of showing sufficient ability to support.

I am a USC and have filed I-130 for my wife. Just to get ahead and get prepared for the next step, I am reviewing several forms.

One of them is Affidavit of Support. I have been working on my own business for the last two years. The business has yet to generate significant amount of income. As such, I am going to end up using assets to supplement the income to show the ability to support my wife.

In looking at the form, here are the 3 types of assets the form asks for:

1. Enter the balance of all savings and checking accounts

2. Enter the net cash value of real-estate holdings. (Net means current assessed value minus mortgage debt.)

3. Enter the net cash value of all stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, and any other assets not already included in lines 26(a) or (b).

I have no problem meeting the guidelines (as anyone here either). The question is, do I really have to show ALL assets? I mean, that would add up to be quite a lot and I don't know that I want to show that much. It would end up being many times the required amount.

My question is, should I show more than sufficient amount of assets and that's good enough, or should I show EVERYTHING? I don't actually mind that much, but is it necessary to show everything?

Please allow me to bump this topic and ask this... Thank you.

Are there any downsides to trying the AoS route in our situation? It just seems there isn't any, and I would very much like to be sure I am not missing any possible downside that I should be aware of.

ValerieA and Just Bob, thank you for your thoughtful replies. Allow me to clarify a few things.

- We know and found out that she previously overstayed because the immigration officer told her so in San Francisco airport and advised her to withdraw entry so they wouldn't have to deny her entry technically due to overstay, which would have been a more serious record in her travel history (that's what they told her). However, there is no question that they made a note that they explained to her about her overstay at that time. They did tell her that she should get a visa or waiver to visit me due to her previous overstay, and that it would also be up to the port of entry if she wanted to re-enter. As mentioned previously, we were fortunate at port of entry and 3 months ago she entered legally and with inspection. Our plan was exactly as what Just Bob wrote, but there is always the risk of not being able to enter again due to the previous overstay. The more I think about it the more worried I am about the risk of being denied re-entry to visit me while waiting for CR-1.

- We are on the west coast. As lovely as Montreal is (beautiful city - been there), the cost of going to Montreal alone is going to overshadow any additional cost of AoS.

- AoS is now being seriously considered because

1) Comparing the timelines, AoS is far shorter than CR-1, even though CR-1 is already in process. AoS is still going to end up being faster by several months. As pointed out by ValerieA, the wait time from the start of NVC to interview by itself is already long, and we are still waiting for NOA2. (I didn't realize such significance of timeline until now.)

2) I am concerned that there is no guarantee they will let her enter again if they take issue with her previous overstay. It will all be up to the officer at port of entry. We may run out of luck and not meet such a nice officer next time. My understanding is that if you end up with an active denial of entry, it can easily cause problems.

3) She would not be working while we wait for AoS. She also wouldn't be crossing back into Canada while waiting for AoS.

We were not planning on filing for AoS initially, which is why I sent in the I-130 petition with her Canadian address and we were planning on going through the standard process. However, the more I understand AoS, the more it appears it is something we should seriously consider due to timeline, risk of re-entry, and other considerations.

Are there any downsides to trying the AoS route? That's the thing - I can't seem to come up with any downside to it but I want to make sure I am not missing anything.

Thank you again.

In case it wasn't clear - We have been together for 19 years and finally got married last year. Probably has very little bearing to my questions, but just wanted to clarify.

My wife and I got married in August, 2010. She is a Canadian and I am a U.S. citizen. I will try to explain as concisely and to the point as possible.

From about 2004 to 2006, my wife worked in the U.S. under the TN Work Visa in the U.S.

2007 - She quit her job and moved with me to another state, which meant she was on her visitor visa now.

2007 to 2008 - She went in and out of the U.S. several times to travel.

2010 - August - we got married.

2010 - October

She went out of the U.S. to attend her grandmother's funereal.

Upon returning to the U.S. at the end of October through San Francisco airport, she was informed by immigration that she had previously "overstayed" since she stayed for over 6 months without leaving. She is a Canadian and that means she can stay up to 6 months at a time (the visa is usually granted upon entry). We did not know that until immigration stopped her. They advised her to withdraw her entry to avoid being denied entry, which she did. They said she should get either a visa waiver or perhaps a different visa to re-enter.

My wife went back to Canada after that.

2010 - Nov.

Upon reading documents at USCIS.gov, I applied for I-130 for her in November.

2010 - Dec.

In December 2010, she went through port of entry between British Columbia and Washington. She was going to ask the border officer if she could visit me. She handed the border officer both her Canadian passport and her enhanced driver license (which is used for border-crossing by land. I have a Passport card for the same purpose). The border officer looked at the passport and license, swiped one of them (not sure which one), and just waved her to cross border, so she did.

In other words, she crossed the border legally and with inspection and of course we have been spending time together since.

A bit more background -

We filed the I-130 application with her Canadian address. I have every reason to think that the I-130 will be approved soon. We have been together for 19 years with records and pictures to prove it, so I would think that I-130 would be approved as there is no question about the marriage.

Here are the questions I am hoping the knowledgeable folks can help me with.

- Should I go ahead and apply for adjustment of status for her? It seems like it would be faster by quite a bit based on the stats I can find.

- If I am going to apply for adjustment of status for her, should I wait until I-130 is approved?

- Does it matter that I-130 is currently in process?

- If her adjustment of status is denied, can we still go through the route of the standard application process (the I-130 I already sent in with her Canadian address as her residence)?

I am sure that everyone here knows the gut-wrenching process and agony a lot of these things cause so I appreciate feedback from your experience and advice on the best approach. It really isn't that complicated but it is hard to know the most appropriate course of action to take care of her status for good in a relatively timely manner.

Thank you.

So, we are planning a short trip to the U.S. in the near future.

I personally really do not like going through U.S. Immigration & Customs. I am a Canadian citizen with nothing to hide and still, they kind of scare me even though I have never had any problems going in and out (from other places on the east coast for many years, like Toronto to Buffalo - had a friend there so I went there several times). I find the interrogation-like way that they ask questions intimating and just uncomfortable.

So, I would like to ask the wise folks here - There are four border crossing points from Vancouver to the U.S. by land.

- 99 & I-5, which is the busiest and most major one.

- Truck Route which allows normal non commercial traffic as well

- Aldergrove, which is smaller than the other two, I think

- Sumas, which is too far from me to be practical

Wait time is not really a big deal as we plan to cross it when the traffic is not heavy.

If you could please share which border crossing out of the ones above, and your personal experience on which one is the most friendly one, I would appreciate it!

BTW, we went to the old Costco location near Burnaby in Vancouver and apparently it has become Walmart for almost two years... No wonder we couldn't find it. @@