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Laure&Colin's US Immigration Timeline

  Petitioner's Name: Colin
Beneficiary's Name: Laure
VJ Member: Laure&Colin
Country: France

Last Updated: 2024-05-14
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Immigration Checklist for Colin & Laure:

USCIS DCF I-130 Petition:      
Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:    
USCIS I-751 Petition:  
USCIS N-400 Petition:  


IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Event Date
Service Center : California Service Center
Transferred? No
Consulate : France
Marriage (if applicable): 2011-10-29
I-130 Sent : 2011-11-09
I-130 NOA1 : 2011-11-14
I-130 RFE :
I-130 RFE Sent :
I-130 Approved : 2011-11-30
NVC Received : 2011-12-12
Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : 2012-01-06
Pay AOS Bill : 2012-01-07
Receive I-864 Package :
Send AOS Package : 2012-01-14
Submit DS-261 : 2012-01-07
Receive IV Bill : 2012-01-11
Pay IV Bill : 2012-01-12
Send IV Package :
Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter :
Case Completed at NVC : 2012-01-24
NVC Left : 2012-02-08
Consulate Received : 2012-02-10
Packet 3 Received :
Packet 3 Sent :
Packet 4 Received : 2012-01-30
Interview Date : 2012-03-27
Interview Result : Approved
Second Interview
(If Required):
Second Interview Result:
Visa Received : 2012-03-29
US Entry : 2012-04-12
Comments : This journey to the visa has been smooth sailing for us! Everything was fast, from USCIS step in 16 days to visa delivered 48 hours after interview.

I've been stressed out but objectively it was extremely easy. The only real difficult part was getting a police certificate for a third country I had lived in.

Processing
Estimates/Stats :
Your I-130 was approved in 16 days from your NOA1 date.

Your interview took 134 days from your I-130 NOA1 date.


Port of Entry Review
Event Date
Port of Entry : San Diego
POE Date : 2012-04-12
Got EAD Stamp :
Biometrics Taken : Yes
Harassment Level : 0
Comments : This review is for San Diego international Lindbergh airport.
I came on British Airways daily flight from London, the most direct way to reach San Diego from Europe. We landed at 6:30 PM, and I was out by 8PM.

First, I had to go to one of the regular booths, where they took my fingerprints (worked a lot better than in Paris embassy on the day of my visa interview...) and picture.
Then I was asked to sit and wait in front of the door leading to CBP offices, and told when the lines start to clear, someone would come pick me up. (SAN is a small airport and the CBP staff that night was about 8 people).

After about 25 min, an officer came, took my passport and brown enveloppe, and asked me to wait outside.
15 more min and he came out, asking if I had additional passport sized photos, because the embassy didn't include them in the packet and he needed 2 more. I had expected that to happen and had them in my carry on bag (see my embassy review).

Finally, he came back out another 10 min later and asked me to follow him into the office. He made me sign both sides of the GC application form he was filling out, and took my fingerprints with black ink. We double checked the address to which my GC would be sent (there was some confusion about it at the embassy).

He then started to enter data into his system, not very sure what to do (he had to take out his immigration law manual to check how long he was supposed to give me on the stamp). Luckily all the other officers came into the room helping him out and joking with me. One of them even knew my home town and they told me the day my stamp expires is when I have to come back cook them a French dinner!

Eventually, they gave me my passport back and said I should contact USCIS if I don't receive my GC within 3-4 months, and escorted me to luggage screening.

I failed to realize they didn't handwrite my A# on my passport, after an 11-hour flight I was really out of it...
So, some waiting (Colin was getting crazy waiting outside), but no difficulty at all.



Lifting Conditions
Event Date
CIS Office : California Service Center
Date Filed : 2014-01-15
NOA Date : 2014-01-16
RFE(s) :
Bio. Appt. : 2014-02-11
Interview Date :
Approval / Denial Date : 2014-05-13
Approved : Yes
Got I551 Stamp :
Green Card Received :
Comments :


Citizenship
Event Date
Service Center : Online
CIS Office : San Francisco CA
Date Filed : 2024-02-01
NOA Date : 2024-02-01
Bio. Appt. :
Interview Date : 2024-05-14
Approved : Yes
Oath Ceremony : 2024-05-14
Comments : Same-day oath

Member Reviews:

Consulate Review: France
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Event Description
Review Date : March 28, 2012
Embassy Review : My CR1 visa interview was on March 27 at 1PM (Paris embassy schedules immigrant visa interviews Tuesday through Thursday, always at 1), and my USC husband came back from the US to be with me.

Summary: overall, it was fast and easy. People were quite nice, especially the security guards. I didn't use any of the extra evidence of bona fide that I brought. The questions asked during the actual interview were not difficult, but some where definitely meant to make me trip. By 2PM, we were out and approved!

We arrived in front of 4, avenue Gabriel around 12:20, and the guard told us to come back 15-20 min later. Luckily, there's a park across the street where we could sit on a bench to wait.

We came back at 12:35, the first guards checked my interview letter and both our passports, then we went through the security check where they looked at the appointment letter and passports again, and screened our bag in the xray machine.

After that, we entered the building, and took a ticket. We were the very first ones, so our number was A100! The place is a large hall with computers, vending machines (food, beverage, Chronopost enveloppes that are too small for immigrant visa cases, photocopy machine, photo booths and a machine giving change from banknotes) on the lower floor, and the waiting room with windows all around it on the upper floor. The place was completely empty. There's no clock in there and we didn't have a watch, so I can't say how long we waited between each step. Later more people came in, and I could see from the numbers being called that there were 4 immigrant/fiancé visa cases dealt with that afternoon.

First our number was called at window 5, where a French-speaking woman asked for my passport, ticket and appointment letter. She checked her computer and said that the fees were already paid, so I could take a seat again and wait for the next step. Then, she called the other 3 IV cases for the same things.

Maybe 20 min later, we were called again by the same person at 5, and this time she had my file in front of her.
First of all, she gave me a whole bunch of papers back saying she didn't need them. It was all the evidence of bona fide marriage we had originally sent with the I130 petition, EXCEPT that she kept the photos of us.
She asked for all my documents one by one: passport again, new Copies Intégrales d'Acte de Naissance et Mariage et Extrait de Casier Judiciaire (all these docs must be LESS THAN 3 MONTHS OLD), Chronopost enveloppe 2 kg (you have to remove the padding inside or it won't go through the narrow opening at the bottom of the window), US passport sized pictures (which she didn't take after realizing they were identical to the ones I sent to NVC, and she even gave me back one from the NVC).
Then she asked for my husband's financial evidence. I was a little surprised, because it was all sent to the NVC, but I had brought everything with me. She took the 2011 tax return, new employment letter, and latest pay stub. She asked for a copy of the biographic page of my husband's passport. I'm happy he was there and could just give her his passport, cause we didn't have a photocopy!
Then I gave her my police record from Turkey, and that's how I realized she hadn't read my file, because she didn't know I had lived there several years. She took it, read it quickly and highlighted my name and the sentence saying I don't have a criminal record there.
I also wanted to give her a new DS230 and I-864 with my husband's new address on them. There was some confusion, she didn't understand, and then she was mixing up the old forms and the new forms and I had to check that she was taking the correct, newest address. I think I'll still ask for confirmation at POE to be sure!
Then came fingerprint time, which didn't work well, and she started making strange jokes. She was saying my fingerprints were "dark" and it was probably because anxiety made me sweat, hahaha. Very funny. I had to wash my hands, clean the machine screen, but it was still not working fine, some of my fingers were not recognized. Eventually she gave up, saying it was ok.
She looked at my DS230 part II, asked me if I had never been arrested, even for a DUI when I was young? I felt like saying I was still young but just answered no. She made some comments about people being refused visas for old DUIs and "joked" about denying my visa if my name came up on a criminal database.
Finally, she asked me what name I wanted my green card in: maiden or married name? Then told us to sit back down and we would be called shortly by the CO at window 11.
This step was the longest, maybe 15 min.

Eventually, we were called for the actual interview. The consular officer was a really young American woman. She had my file in front of her. She told my husband he could stay at the window with me but should not answer any question directed to me. That's the only time she talked to him. She made me raise my hand and take the oath.
I was well prepared but it was still an awkward moment: she was throwing questions pretty fast, not letting me finish my answer to the previous one, and sometimes I really didn't know what her point was. It felt like she had just reviewed the Book of Questions and was throwing a few around. The other cause of discomfort was to be standing in front of the window, yelling so she would hear me through the thick glass, so everyone else in the waiting room could hear every single thing I said. (now everybody knows Alice... see below).
First she asked me what job my husband does. I answered he's a scientist and he does research in immunolgy. She said "what's irunology??". I corrected her and explained it's the study of the immune system. Then she threw me off by asking how much my husband makes... I didn't know that precisely!
I tried to remember what he had told me, and there was a really awkward moment when I gave her an answer: in France we always discuss salary as monthly net wage, and I think it wasn't what she expected! My husband told me later I was off by $200.
Then she asked, how we met, where, how long we had been married, then said "tell me about your wedding"... Humm, what part? I said we got married at the cityhall in my hometown and we invited our close family... she interrupted asking if my husband's family came. I said yes, his mother, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend came... interrupted me again asking the girlfriend name: Alice. She then asked how Alice was. Huh?? She added "what do you think of her?". I said she's nice I guess but I didn't know her that well, although I met her first in the US when we visited last... interruption again, "what's the longest time you stayed in the US?"
She started going through my file, drinking from her cup of coffee... until she found our pictures (sent with the I130 months ago). She picked one and said "is that your wedding?" yes, "who's that man with the photo camera?" it's my dad.
She typed on her keyboard for a moment (I tried to "read her fingers" but she was too fast ) and then asked again "did your husband's family come to the wedding?" I answered that his dad was deceased but his mother, brother, and, well, Alice came. I'm pretty sure she had just read in our file that Colin's dad passed away (you mention that in the G325A I think) and that's why she asked the same question again. I felt sorry for my husband that she used it as a tricky question...
I think that's all. She told us that I would receive my visa in 7 to 10 days. I asked "Does that mean we're approved?" and she said "yes", smiling.

We left the building, still excited, and it was only 2PM!

The next day after 6PM the Chronopost tracking tool told me the enveloppe was shipped, and I received the package (passport with visa + brown enveloppe) the next morning, less than 48 hours after the interview.


(updated on March 30, 2012)

(updated on March 30, 2012)
Rating : Good


POE Review: San Diego
Event Description
Entry Date : 2012-04-12
Embassy Review : This review is for San Diego international Lindbergh airport.

I came on British Airways daily flight from London, the most direct way to reach San Diego from Europe. We landed at 6:30 PM, and I was out by 8PM.

First, I had to go to one of the regular booths, where they took my fingerprints (worked a lot better than in Paris embassy on the day of my visa interview...) and picture. Then I was asked to sit and wait in front of the door leading to CBP offices, and told when the lines start to clear, someone would come pick me up. (SAN is a small airport and the CBP staff that night was about 8 people).

After about 25 min, an officer came, took my passport and brown enveloppe, and asked me to wait outside. 15 more min and he came out, asking if I had additional passport sized photos, because the embassy didn't include them in the packet and he needed 2 more. I had expected that to happen and had them in my carry on bag (see my embassy review).

Finally, he came back out another 10 min later and asked me to follow him into the office. He made me sign both sides of the GC application form he was filling out, and took my fingerprints with black ink. We double checked the address to which my GC would be sent (there was some confusion about it at the embassy). He then started to enter data into his system, not very sure what to do (he had to take out his immigration law manual to check how long he was supposed to give me on the stamp). Luckily all the other officers came into the room helping him out and joking with me. One of them even knew my home town and they told me the day my stamp expires is when I have to come back cook them a French dinner!

Eventually, they gave me my passport back and said I should contact USCIS if I don't receive my GC within 3-4 months, and escorted me to luggage screening. I failed to realize they didn't handwrite my A# on my passport, after an 11-hour flight I was really out of it... So, some waiting (Colin was getting crazy waiting outside), but no difficulty at all.

However, later, as I applied for a social security number, I was made aware of a problem with my records. USCIS then informed me that the CBP made a wrong data input when I entered the country: my last name has been "shortened" in the arrival record. Over one month later, I'm still trying to have this error fixed, and nobody at CBP knows what to do...
Harassment Level : Low


Local US CIS Office Review: San Francisco CA
Review Topic: cis_topic
Event Description
Review Date : May 17, 2024
Embassy Review : SF field office has 2 entrances: one on Sansome St and one on Washington St. I started waiting in line at the Sansome St entrance as it was the address listed on my interview letter, but the security guard sent me, and all visitors with appointments before 8am, to the other entrance around the corner. Getting into the building was a disorganized and painfully slow process.
Once inside it was pretty confusing to find where I was supposed to go. Entrance is on 1st floor, check-in was on 2nd floor, and waiting area on 3rd floor. Once seated I waited for a full hour before being called, despite having a very early 7:35 appointment. Interview itself went well, officer was friendly but did unexpectedly ask a lot of questions about my marriage although I applied for Citizenship under the 5-year rule. Harassment level 1/5.
The best part of the SF field office is that they offer same-day oath ceremony for naturalization. I did have to wait 1.5 hour after the interview, and there was a big cockroach in the seating area, but hey, at least I got to be done in one day.
Naturalization ceremony itself was perfunctory - do not expect it to feel like an important event.
Harassment Level : Moderate


Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!

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*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.

** Not all cases are transfered

vjTimeline ver 5.0




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