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Los Angeles CA USCIS Office Reviews
Average Rating: 4.1
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195 Review(s)
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| Los Angeles CA |  Review #30460 on December 2, 2021: |
iaintdroid
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
My wife (a US Citizen) is my sponsor, and I am the beneficiary. I am of Indian National with an Indian Passport and working on an H1B visa in the US. We have married a year ago, filed for GC on 04/12/2021.
We received our NOA for I-130, I-765, I-131, and I-485 on 05//01/2021. Biometrics were taken on 07/15/2021. We received the NOA for our AOS interview on 10/10/2021, and we attended it on 11/10/2021 at the Los Angeles Field Office.
Our interview time was set for 11:30 AM, and we live east of Pasadena, CA. So we drove to LA downtown and parked across the Mall of LA. Most of the stores, including the restrooms, are closed.
We arrived at the office at 9:30 AM and got in line, which was long and curved around the building, at 9:45 AM. After five minutes of standing in the queue, a security guard asked and checked about the appointment letters and politely showed some applicants standing in a separate line. We realized the line was for AOS interview candidates when he asked us to join the line, which consisted of about 12 people. Once he combed everyone with AOS interview appointments, he led us to a different door which led to the federal building. A security guard let us know that it is a federal building, and we will go through a security check. And they asked if anyone was carrying a gun or knife etc. They asked us to put backpacks, wallets, watch, and other items in the pocket. We were asked to remove our shoes as well. Overall, the security people were friendly. The security check took less than five minutes. I was carrying my backpack full of documents, so it was heavy. They send my bag twice to get extra layers for contents inside. The AOS interviews happen on the 8th floor, and the room we were allotted to is 8024. We used the restroom downstairs and took the elevators upstairs. By 10:10 AM, we stood in line to check in.
The waiting area in Room # 8024 is spacious, and chairs were spaced out to give the attended a six ft. social distance. There are six counters, and if I recall correctly, only three counters are being operated. By 10:20 AM, we were at the counter, and the lady took our IDs and appointment letter. She scanned it and took my two index finger scans and my picture. She asked us to wait in the 8024 area (then I realized another waiting room, 8059). We stayed for a good 75 minutes or so. By the way, the bathrooms are across room 8024, but we did not use them as we saw two people almost missed the call by IO; however, the officer allocated a few extra minutes for the person to show up. There were two doors to interview offices, labeled as Door #1 and Door #2. There was also an announcement speaker, which was weak, and please pay attention if the room was loud with people talking.
At 11:43 AM, an IO called my name to come to Door #2. My wife and I walked to the door, and the officer introduced herself as Ms. Chavez. She was calm and neutral. We followed her into her office, and she took us for our oath. Once it was done, she asked us to sit next to each other, and she sat across from us at her desk. There was a temporary transparent barrier on her desk for the Covid-19 prevention. She asked me if I had an I-693 medical evaluation and Vaccination record; I said yes and handed the sealed I-693 to the officer.
The officer asked for my wife’s name and if she was a US citizen by birth or by naturalization, for which my wife gave her name and US citizenship by birth. She asked where she was born, what address she lives in now. My wife told the officer the current living address and added I live with my husband, and this is him with I am here for this interview. The officer also asked what does she do for work, how long she had been working in that job. The officer asked my wife to show our joint financial documents, for which my wife gave her our joint bank statements, lease, joint credit cards, which shows we both are using and payment made with our names, utility bills, car titles, and DLs with the same address. The officer skimmed through them. She asked my wife how we met and how long it took us to meet after messaging on tinder, for which we met via tinder and it only took 2-3 days to meet in person after texting. She asked my wife if she was ever married in the US or anywhere outside the US. My wife answered No.
Then the officer asked me to state my name and what I do for work in the US. I answered, and she also added that I work in the US on a temporary work visa, and I answered yes. She asked the type of work I do and where we both married. I described my work and gave the date of our marriage. I offered our original certified marriage certificate, and she said she didn’t need it as she had a photocopy from our application packet. She also asked me 10-12 Yes or No questions, which I answered No as they are. She asked me if I was ever married in India or US, and I said no.
The officer asked me since I was born and raised in india; Indian culture has a significant portion of marriages arranged. How did my parents feel when I told them about my love and plans of marrying my wife. I told her my parents belong to different castes in India, and theirs was also a love marriage and because they had no problem with me marrying my love. Officer asked me what a caste is, and I explained, and she took notes on that. She asked if my parents ever knew if they were married to my wife and if they ever saw us or visited us in the US. I answered my father passed away in 2010, and the officer said she was sorry to hear that. And I continued that my mom was happy when she heard I was marrying my wife, and she gave her blessings. I added we chat with my family once every 2-3 days, and my wife speaks with them.
One of the yes or no questions, if someone ever applied for a green card on my behalf, I said yes, and it was my previous employer. She asked me if it was an employer-based GC, and I said yes. She added that I have an I-140 and you are waiting for PD to be current, and I said yes.
The officer also asked us how often we take trips; we said, since both doses of vaccination, we have been traveling together once every six weeks or so; she said it’s good to hear. We offered her our boarding passes, and she skimmed through them and kept the file with her. I also showed her my google location history (google maps -> timeline, it will only work if you have google location is activated), from the first date we met to all of our travels together. When offered, she was surprised and asked me who would do this. I explained, I always activated google location history and realized I could use it to document to show we have been traveling together. She kept the document.
We asked her if she wanted to see our photographs together, and gave her two albums, one before and wedding, and another one with after wedding pictures. The officer asked us for photos of us together from our marriage until now, and we gave her about 45, and the officer kept them in the file. I also asked if she wanted to see our communication record, and she took it, skimmed it, and returned it to me.
I double-checked and took copies of everything except our car titles, and I was embarrassed when the officer asked if I had copies of them. I said I forgot to get the photocopies, and she said, not a problem. We can ask her if we have any questions once she comes back from photocopying our DLs and car titles. Once she returned and handed us our car titles and DLs, I asked her what was next and when we would hear about the AOS decision. If she needed anything, she said she would call me ( took my cell phone number) by 11/17/2021. If I don’t get a call from the officer in a week, that means the green card will be sent by mail; it will be issued for two years until our second wedding anniversary. The officer then added that USCIS would not send any notification to alert the sponsor and beneficiary to apply for removal of conditions (I-751) 90 days before the expiration of the conditional green card. We have to track it and use it. I asked in the case if she needs any documents from me, should I mail them to her? She answered, no, don’t send it by mail as the receiving is a hassle. If I need any documents, I will tell you what that would be and receive an RFE. Once you have all the requested information, bring them in person and hand them to me in person by using your RFE as an appointment letter. We thanked the officer for her time, and she walked us out to the door. The interview concluded at 12:47 PM, so 64 minutes.
Even though the officer did not give her a decision after the interview, my wife and I felt good about how the interview went.
Today is 11/16/21; I have not received any phone calls or emails from USCIS regarding further information, so fingers crossed. I will update any new information as soon as I get it from USCIS.
On a side note, the morning before our interview, we got a notification email from USCIS that my AP had been approved, and two days later, my EAD was approved. And as of 11/15/2021, USCIS has updated that my EAD has been mailed to me.
Overall, we had a pleasant experience with the interview process.
Update as of 12/01/2021: USCIS updated my case status to "New Card is being produced".
| | | Los Angeles CA | Review #30398 on November 16, 2021: |
iaintdroid
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
My wife (a US Citizen) is my sponsor, and I am the beneficiary. I am of Indian National with an Indian Passport and working on an H1B visa in the US. We have married a year ago, filed for GC on 04/12/2021.
We received our NOA for I-130, I-765, I-131, and I-485 on 05//01/2021. Biometrics were taken on 07/15/2021. We received the NOA for our AOS interview on 10/10/2021, and we attended it on 11/10/2021 at the Los Angeles Field Office.
Our interview time was set for 11:30 AM, and we live east of Pasadena, CA. So we drove to LA downtown and parked across the Mall of LA. Most of the stores, including the restrooms, are closed.
We arrived at the office at 9:30 AM and got in line, which was long and curved around the building, at 9:45 AM. After five minutes of standing in the queue, a security guard asked and checked about the appointment letters and politely showed some applicants standing in a separate line. We realized the line was for AOS interview candidates when he asked us to join the line, which consisted of about 12 people. Once he combed everyone with AOS interview appointments, he led us to a different door which led to the federal building. A security guard let us know that it is a federal building, and we will go through a security check. And they asked if anyone was carrying a gun or knife etc. They asked us to put backpacks, wallets, watch, and other items in the pocket. We were asked to remove our shoes as well. Overall, the security people were friendly. The security check took less than five minutes. I was carrying my backpack full of documents, so it was heavy. They send my bag twice to get extra layers for contents inside. The AOS interviews happen on the 8th floor, and the room we were allotted to is 8024. We used the restroom downstairs and took the elevators upstairs. By 10:10 AM, we stood in line to check in.
The waiting area in Room # 8024 is spacious, and chairs were spaced out to give the attended a six ft. social distance. There are six counters, and if I recall correctly, only three counters are being operated. By 10:20 AM, we were at the counter, and the lady took our IDs and appointment letter. She scanned it and took my two index finger scans and my picture. She asked us to wait in the 8024 area (then I realized another waiting room, 8059). We stayed for a good 75 minutes or so. By the way, the bathrooms are across room 8024, but we did not use them as we saw two people almost missed the call by IO; however, the officer allocated a few extra minutes for the person to show up. There were two doors to interview offices, labeled as Door #1 and Door #2. There was also an announcement speaker, which was weak, and please pay attention if the room was loud with people talking.
At 11:43 AM, an IO called my name to come to Door #2. My wife and I walked to the door, and the officer introduced herself as Ms. Chavez. She was calm and neutral. We followed her into her office, and she took us for our oath. Once it was done, she asked us to sit next to each other, and she sat across from us at her desk. There was a temporary transparent barrier on her desk for the Covid-19 prevention. She asked me if I had an I-693 medical evaluation and Vaccination record; I said yes and handed the sealed I-693 to the officer.
The officer asked for my wife’s name and if she was a US citizen by birth or by naturalization, for which my wife gave her name and US citizenship by birth. She asked where she was born, what address she lives in now. My wife told the officer the current living address and added I live with my husband, and this is him with I am here for this interview. The officer also asked what does she do for work, how long she had been working in that job. The officer asked my wife to show our joint financial documents, for which my wife gave her our joint bank statements, lease, joint credit cards, which shows we both are using and payment made with our names, utility bills, car titles, and DLs with the same address. The officer skimmed through them. She asked my wife how we met and how long it took us to meet after messaging on tinder, for which we met via tinder and it only took 2-3 days to meet in person after texting. She asked my wife if she was ever married in the US or anywhere outside the US. My wife answered No.
Then the officer asked me to state my name and what I do for work in the US. I answered, and she also added that I work in the US on a temporary work visa, and I answered yes. She asked the type of work I do and where we both married. I described my work and gave the date of our marriage. I offered our original certified marriage certificate, and she said she didn’t need it as she had a photocopy from our application packet. She also asked me 10-12 Yes or No questions, which I answered No as they are. She asked me if I was ever married in India or US, and I said no.
The officer asked me since I was born and raised in india; Indian culture has a significant portion of marriages arranged. How did my parents feel when I told them about my love and plans of marrying my wife. I told her my parents belong to different castes in India, and theirs was also a love marriage and because they had no problem with me marrying my love. Officer asked me what a caste is, and I explained, and she took notes on that. She asked if my parents ever knew if they were married to my wife and if they ever saw us or visited us in the US. I answered my father passed away in 2010, and the officer said she was sorry to hear that. And I continued that my mom was happy when she heard I was marrying my wife, and she gave her blessings. I added we chat with my family once every 2-3 days, and my wife speaks with them.
One of the yes or no questions, if someone ever applied for a green card on my behalf, I said yes, and it was my previous employer. She asked me if it was an employer-based GC, and I said yes. She added that I have an I-140 and you are waiting for PD to be current, and I said yes.
The officer also asked us how often we take trips; we said, since both doses of vaccination, we have been traveling together once every six weeks or so; she said it’s good to hear. We offered her our boarding passes, and she skimmed through them and kept the file with her. I also showed her my google location history (google maps -> timeline, it will only work if you have google location is activated), from the first date we met to all of our travels together. When offered, she was surprised and asked me who would do this. I explained, I always activated google location history and realized I could use it to document to show we have been traveling together. She kept the document.
We asked her if she wanted to see our photographs together, and gave her two albums, one before and wedding, and another one with after wedding pictures. The officer asked us for photos of us together from our marriage until now, and we gave her about 45, and the officer kept them in the file. I also asked if she wanted to see our communication record, and she took it, skimmed it, and returned it to me.
I double-checked and took copies of everything except our car titles, and I was embarrassed when the officer asked if I had copies of them. I said I forgot to get the photocopies, and she said, not a problem. We can ask her if we have any questions once she comes back from photocopying our DLs and car titles. Once she returned and handed us our car titles and DLs, I asked her what was next and when we would hear about the AOS decision. If she needed anything, she said she would call me ( took my cell phone number) by 11/17/2021. If I don’t get a call from the officer in a week, that means the green card will be sent by mail; it will be issued for two years until our second wedding anniversary. The officer then added that USCIS would not send any notification to alert the sponsor and beneficiary to apply for removal of conditions (I-751) 90 days before the expiration of the conditional green card. We have to track it and use it. I asked in the case if she needs any documents from me, should I mail them to her? She answered, no, don’t send it by mail as the receiving is a hassle. If I need any documents, I will tell you what that would be and receive an RFE. Once you have all the requested information, bring them in person and hand them to me in person by using your RFE as an appointment letter. We thanked the officer for her time, and she walked us out to the door. The interview concluded at 12:47 PM, so 64 minutes.
Even though the officer did not give her a decision after the interview, my wife and I felt good about how the interview went.
Today is 11/16/21; I have not received any phone calls or emails from USCIS regarding further information, so fingers crossed. I will update any new information as soon as I get it from USCIS.
On a side note, the morning before our interview, we got a notification email from USCIS that my AP had been approved, and two days later, my EAD was approved. And as of 11/15/2021, USCIS has updated that my EAD has been mailed to me.
Overall, we had a pleasant experience with the interview process.
| | | Los Angeles CA | Review #30249 on October 13, 2021: |
iaintdroid
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: General Review
Rating only
| | | Los Angeles CA | Review #30241 on October 11, 2021: |
Christopher B
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
Our interview was scheduled for 1:30 PM on Wednesday October 6th at the Los Angeles downtown office. We parked at the Los Angeles Mall across the street - it's $17 for the day, probably not the cheapest parking in the area but worth it for the convenience.
Parking entrance: https://goo.gl/maps/1iQfp4TGbyUE6NHH7
From the mall there is a crosswalk to the Federal Building. There is a dedicated USCIS entrance about 100ft to the left of the main entrance. At 1:10 PM, neither entrance had any line. We went to the USCIS entrance and did not have anyone in front of us. The security guards will want to see your interview notice.
Once through security, you end up in the main building lobby. To the left there is an elevator bank with some prominent signs for USCIS. USCIS is on the 6th and 8th floors. Your interview notice will tell you the floor and room number. For us it was room 8024 on the 8th floor. There was a security guard in the elevator who pressed the button for us.
There's another guard on the 8th floor who will want to see the interview notice again. We made it into room 8024 at around 1:15 PM (15 minutes before the scheduled interview time).
There are about 5 check-in windows, but only two were staffed when we arrived. There was one person in line in front of us, but we got checked in pretty quickly. The check-in staff will need the interview notice, and will take a photo and both index fingerprints of the applicant. They don't need anything from the USC petitioner.
After checking in, it's just a waiting game until your officer comes out and calls you. There's no numerical queue like the DMV and the check-in staff can't give you an ETA. Some people were sent to a different waiting room (8007) after checking in. This might be for COVID social distancing reasons.
We waited for about an hour and a half after checking in. At least the chairs are comfortable. Most people in the room did not have to wait that long - many people who checked in after us were called before us. Finally an officer came out and called us (using my - the applicant's - full name) to Door 1.
One thing that surprised me was that all of the officers were in business casual dress - no uniforms. I had imagined they would wear uniforms similar to CBP at the border. I suppose this was my first in-person interaction with USCIS. Anyway, this made it seem a lot less intimidating than if they had been in uniform.
The officer sort of explained the delay - apparently the officer originally assigned to our case was not available so it got assigned to this new officer instead after we checked in. He had taken some time to look over our case, but didn't seem intimately familiar with it (especially the evidence of bona fides that we submitted).
The interview itself was straightforward and short. I can't remember the officer's name. I think he was Hispanic/Latino. He didn't have a strong accent but he spoke quickly and quietly and was a bit hard to understand at times. He was on the opposite side of a plexiglass partition (COVID measure) so that may have made him more difficult to hear.
He asked some basic demographic questions of my USC husband and me. He asked us what each other's birth dates were and when I last entered the US. After that he asked us to describe the history of our relationship. Key things he wanted to know:
- How we first met (a gay dating app in our case, he wasn't familiar with it LOL so asked us to spell it out and he wrote it down).
- When we first met in person (month and year) and how long it was after we met online.
- Where we went for our first date.
- When we became an "official" couple.
- When/how we met each other's parents.
- When we started discussing marriage and making wedding plans.
It was all a pretty casual conversation that flowed naturally. After the relationship questions, he went through all of the security questions on the I-485. My USC husband hadn't read these before (he is allergic to paperwork so I did all of it) and thought some of them were kind of silly ("are you a communist?" etc.).
The officer asked for any additional evidence we wanted to submit. We had already submitted a lot of evidence with the initial application so didn't have a lot more to add. We added joint bank and credit card statements for the past three months, and the bill of sale, title, and insurance for a vehicle we recently bought together. We also had a small photo album which the officer flipped through but didn't want any of the photos.
The officer said he was satisfied that we had a genuine marriage, but couldn't approve us on the spot because of a delay on my husband's background check. He had to clarify some info with us related to prior names (we made a small mistake on the I-130). So he handed us a "continuation" letter and sent us on our way, but mentioned that we would likely be approved later that day or the next day.
After the interview, we ate at "The Little Jewel of New Orleans", which I'd recommend if you want a big portion of greasy seafood to celebrate. The Po'Boys were great (I got the catfish & shrimp, husband got the seafood lover). The poutine gravy fries were all right - I liked them, but too salty for the husband.
Overall it was a straightforward and unintimidating experience. Both my husband and I were incredibly nervous and anxious leading up to it, but it wasn't that bad in the end. Still very relieved to get it over and done with. My I-485 case tracker updated to "card being produced" later that same day, and both the I-485 and the I-130 updated to "approved" the next day. We received approval letters for the I-130 and I-485 in the mail on Sat Oct 9. I haven't received the Green Card in the mail yet, but should hopefully get it this week.
| | | Los Angeles CA | Review #30200 on October 1, 2021: |
JacobP
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Adjustment of Status
The local office was the San Fernando Valley location, Visa Journey doesn't have an option for it specifically.
Interview was incredibly quick. Very little wait, the officer went over the standard I-485 security questions, informed us of the I-751 process, looked at some of the photos we submitted in advance, took some additional documents (joint tax transcripts, health insurance plan, retirement savings with my wife as the beneficiary, letter from parents attesting that we live at their house along with mortgage statement). We weren't even asked about our relationship, just told us to wait for a decision and sent us on our way. Her green card was approved later that day.
(updated on October 1, 2021)
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