Scandi's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: S
Beneficiary's Name: S
VJ Member: Scandi
Country: Sweden
Last Updated: 2021-05-24
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Immigration Checklist for S & S:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Sweden |
| I-129F Sent : |
2015-12-21 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2015-12-28 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2016-06-22 |
| NVC Received : |
2016-07-20 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
2016-07-20 |
| NVC Left : |
2016-07-21 |
| Consulate Received : |
2016-07-22 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2016-07-26 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2016-07-27 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2016-07-27 |
| Interview Date : |
2016-08-22 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2016-09-07 |
| US Entry : |
2016-10-24 |
| Marriage : |
2016-11-18 |
| Comments : |
**
12-21-2015 - I-129f sent
12-28-2015 - Received date
01-04-2016 - NOA1 text/email
01-08-2016 - NOA1 hardcopy
06-22-2016 - NOA2 (177 days from received date)
06-24-2016 - NOA2 hardcopy
07-20-2016 - Case # assigned
08-18-2016 - Medical
08-22-2016 - Interview
09-06-2016 - Issued
09-07-2016 - Visa in hand (260 days since filing date)
10-24-2016 -Â POE LAX
11-18-2016 - Wedding Day ♡
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10-28-2016 -Â Applied for SSN
02-16-2017 -Â New passport in married name |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 177 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 238 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Los Angeles |
| POE Date : |
2016-10-24 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
No |
| Biometrics Taken : |
Yes |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
POE was super smooth. Me and my fiancé (USC) both went through the visa/ESTA line together and only got four questions. They asked me what kind of work I did in Sweden and how many times I had been in the US. They asked him what kind of work he does and what date we've set for the wedding. This POE was just as easy as the times I've arrived on ESTA. |
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Los Angeles CA |
| Date Filed : |
2016-12-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-01-10 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2017-02-02 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
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| Interview Date : |
2017-07-18 |
| Approval / Denial Date : |
2017-07-18 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
No |
| Greencard Received: |
2017-07-26 |
| Comments : |
12-20-2016 - I-485 sent
12-23-2017 - Received date
01-10-2017 - NOA1 text/email
01-10-2017 - "Fingerprint Fee Was Received"
01-17-2017 - NOA1 hardcopy
01-23-2017 - Biometrics letter
02-02-2017 - Biometrics appointment
06-16-2017 - "Interview Was Scheduled"
06-19-2017 - Interview letter
07-18-2017 - Interview - approved (209 days)
07-18-2017 - "Case Was Approved"
07-21-2017 - "Card Was Mailed To Me"
07-22-2017 - NOA2 hardcopy
07-26-2017 - Greencard in hand |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2017-01-18 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-01-25 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2017-02-14 |
| Approved Date : |
2017-05-19 |
| Date Card Received : |
2017-05-30 |
| Comments : |
First EAD application sent with AOS/AP was rejected, that's why my EAD has a different filing date than AOS/AP.
12-20-2016 - I-765 sent
01-13-2017 - I-765 returned, rejected
01-18-2017 - I-765 resubmitted
01-23-2017 - Received date
01-25-2017 - NOA1 text/email
01-28-2017 - NOA1 hardcopy
02-10-2017 - Biometrics letter
02-14-2017 - Biometrics appointment early walk-in
05-19-2017 - "New Card Is Being Produced" (115 days)
05-22-2017 - "Case Was Approved"
05-25-2017 - "Card Was Mailed To Me"
05-25-2017 - NOA2 hardcopy
05-30-2017 - EAD in hand |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your EAD was approved in 121 days. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2016-12-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2017-01-10 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2017-04-07 |
| Comments : |
12-20-2016 - I-131 sent
12-23-2017 - Received date
01-10-2017 - NOA1 text/email
01-17-2017 - NOA1 hardcopy
04-04-2017 - "Document Was Produced" (101 days)
04-07-2017 - NOA2 hardcopy
04-07-2017 - AP in hand |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your AP was approved in 105 days. |
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Lifting Conditions
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
California Service Center |
| Date Filed : |
2019-04-22 |
| NOA Date : |
2019-04-25 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2019-11-12 |
| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
2020-04-15 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
No |
| Green Card Received : |
2020-04-22 |
| Comments : |
04-19-2019 - Earliest filing date
04-22-2019 - I-751 sent with USPS (AZ lockbox)
04-24-2019 - Delivered/Received date
04-30-2019 - Check cashed
04-30-2019 - NOA1 text/email (WAC)
05-03-2019 - NOA1 hardcopy/extension letter
11-09-2019 - Biometrics letter
11-12-2019 - Biometrics done, early walk-in
11-22-2019 - Biometrics, original appointment
04-15-2020 - "New Card Is Being Produced"
04-16-2020 - "Case Was Approved"
04-17-2020 - "Card Was Mailed To Me"
04-20-2020 - NOA2 hardcopy
04-20-2020 - "Card Was Picked Up By USPS"
04-22-2020 - "Card Was Delivered To Me By The Post Office"
04-22-2020 - Greencard in hand |
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Citizenship
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Online |
| CIS Office : |
Los Angeles CA |
| Date Filed : |
2020-05-01 |
| NOA Date : |
2020-05-01 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2021-01-27 |
| Interview Date : |
2021-03-11 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Oath Ceremony : |
2021-03-16 |
| Comments : |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Sweden
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
September 6, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
Whatever you do, don't trust public transport. So unless you live close by or you're driving to the embassy for the interview I recommend you to go there the day before and stay at a hotel close by so you can just walk there in the morning. That way it doesn't matter if the trains or busses don't go on time.
I can also highly recommend STF Gärdet in case you want a hotel close by. I was very happy with my stay there and it's only a 15 minute walk across the field and you're at the embassy. It's also cheaper than many other places which might be a good thing to some (like me).
My appointment was on a Monday at 8:30 in the morning, I arrived at the embassy at about 7:40 and stood in the immigrant/US citizen line with only one other person. The non-immigrant line was very long already then, so you could really tell the difference between the two. I stood there for about 15 minutes and was then called up to the window of the security booth to show my passport, the souls of my shoes, my jacket and my folder where I kept all my papers and then he asked if I had a phone with me and if it was turned off. Before doing all this you weren't even allowed to get into the security booth, the guy talked to me through a little speaker in the wall. After all was checked I got in and had all my things scanned through the same kind of machine as they have on airports, I walked through a scanner myself and then had to stand behind a yellow line to wait for them to go through everything. He then took my phone and the extra battery I had for it and put them on a shelf and gave me a ticket with a number that I'd need to get the phone back on my way out.
I was told to follow the yellow line up to the next building, it's just a sidewalk really. The building was tiny with only a few windows for interviews, there was already lots of people in there waiting for their turn, and a guard to keep an eye on things (makes you feel kinda safe tbh). The guard already knew I was going for an immigrant visa (not sure how) and told me to walk up to window 7 when the other K-1 applicant was done there. The woman in window 7 was Swedish and spoke Swedish with me and the others, she was very friendly and collected all the documents needed. She asked for DS-160 confirmation page, passport, passport photos, my birth certificate, police certificate, my fiancé's divorce decree, form I-134, his tax return, and a bunch of proof of ongoing relationship (she took the skype- and facebook conversations I had printed, the ring receipt, an updated letter of intent from my fiancé and photos of us together and with his family). She looked through some of the pictures quickly and asked who was in the pictures (his parents and the dogs and such) and she also asked about our age difference (my fiancé is a bit older than me, enough to make her react apparently).
Then I had to sit down and wait again. I think I waited for about an hour before they called my name (the whoooole name, with middle names and all, haha) and told me what window to go to (window 4 in my case). There was a very friendly, younger man who was going to interview me. He first gave back all the proof of relationship (photos, chat logs, receipts) that I had given to the Swedish woman earlier and told me to raise my right hand and read the text on the window (he wanted it read in English, but there was a Swedish version too) about swearing to tell the truth and such. He then took my finger prints by me putting my fingers against the little machine right by the window (same as in the airports), after that he showed me a pamphlet and asked if I had seen it before. I said yes as I recognized it from the checklist the embassy had sent me earlier and so he asked if I had read it and if I needed a new one (it was the IMBRA pamphlet).
He then asked me how me and my fiancé first got in contact with each other, when we first met each other irl, other times that we met after that, when the last time we met was, if either one of us have any children (he had seen something in the pictures I provided that made him think at least one of us had children so I just explained the picture to him and that was it). He asked where my fiancé lives and what he does for a living, he also asked about our wedding plans and what I do for a living here in Sweden and if I had provided a certified copy of my fiancé's divorce decree. Right before he handed over the 221(g) paper he leaned over closer to the window and smiled and said "What about your fiancé do you like the best?" as if that was the most important question of the whole interview, it made me smile big and I told him exactly what the best thing about my fiancé is. He seemed happy with my reply as well. :D
He then gave me the 221(g) paper that said they can't issue the visa because of one missing page in my fiancé's tax return (it was like 50 pages all-in-all so we didn't notice one was missing) and also because they hadn't received my medical results yet (I only did the medical about two working days prior to the interview so that wasn't a surprise). He told me that all the info I needed was on that paper and that it was perfectly fine to just scan the missing tax return page and send it to them via email. That was it, the interview was over. Very fast and painless and all the people working there were very professional and friendly. I had a very good experience.
The missing tax return page was scanned and emailed to the embassy just a few hours later and the next day I got a reply from them saying they had added it to my folder and that all they needed now was the medical results.
The medical results reached the embassy exactly two weeks after I did the exam. That Thursday my case status was updated, the next day it shifted between Ready and AP, and on the Tuesday my case status said Issued. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Local US CIS Office Review: Los Angeles CA
Review Topic: cis_topic
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
March 19, 2021 |
| Embassy Review : |
Los Angeles County field office:
Filed the N-400 online on May 1, 2020.
Passed my interview on March 11, 2021.
Had the Oath Ceremony on March 16, 2021 (had a name change).
Aiso Parking Garage is still the cheapest option for parking when visiting the downtown L.A. field office. $1/hr for the first two hours, $5 for three hours. Plenty of parking too and only a 2 minute walk to the USCIS building.
I had my appointment at 1pm, there were only ~5 people in front of me in line to go through security at the USCIS entrance (they had their own entrance to the left of the main entrance, large signs saying USCIS on them). I stood in line from about 12:40, got through security at 12:45. Perfectly time to take the elevator up to the 6th floor and enter room 6024. The guard specifically asks when your appointment is and will refuse to let you in if you're earlier than 15 minutes. My husband was turned away, family members are allowed to enter the building but not the USCIS offices or waiting rooms.
Guard told me to go to Window 1, the lady at the window took my appointment letter and told me to put my forehead 1 inch from the machine outside the window to check my temperature. It was fast and easy. Then I was told to sit down and wait.
Appointment was at 1pm but my officer only called my name at 2:30, so quite the delay. I expected this as it was about the same when I was interviewed for my greencard in 2017, nothing had changed. She took me to another waiting room, much smaller, and other than the officer I was the only one there. She asked for my greencard, the passport I entered the US with (that had my K-1 visa in it), my current valid passport and my Driver License. She then told me to wait while she took copies of them and brought my file up (my paper file was HUGE btw, she had it on her desk, close to 8 inches thick).
10 minutes later she came back and brought me into her office. We both wore masks the entire time other than when she asked me to remove it briefly just so she could compare my face to my ID and passport. She was behind a plexi glass window.
She was very chatty, there was a lot of small talk which helped ease the nervousness. She asked me to stand up and raise my hand and swear to tell the truth. She then started with the civics questions right away, with a ton of small talk in between each, so the test took a long time, haha. She asked me ALL 10 questions even though I answered the first 6 correctly. These were the questions (she said they're computer generated, the office doesn't pick them):
-What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
-There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
-Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
-What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
-What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
-What did Susan B. Anthony do?
-Name one state that borders Canada.
-What is the capital of the United States?
-Where is the Statue of Liberty?
-Name two national U.S. holidays.
After the civics test a sentence popped up on the tablet in front of me, I was asked to read it out loud to test my reading skills. Then she read me a sentence that I was asked to write on the tablet to test my writing skills, writing with the stylus pen was probably the hardest part of the whole interview.
The test part of the interview was then over and she started going through each question on the N-400 to see if there was any information that had changed since I filed. There were a couple of things that needed to be corrected due to the online filing system glitches, no actual information had changed. I then had to review the corrections on the tablet and sign with the stylus pen. Same thing happened for my name change (I had only requested to have one of my two middle names removed, so I didn't add anything), I had to review the spelling of my name and other info to make sure the Naturalization certificate will have the correct info on it, and then I had to sign that with the stylus pen too.
I was never asked any definitions, didn't have to explain any of the words on the N-400.
When the whole N-400 form had been gone through and all corrections were signed, she handled me form N-652 that showed I had passed the tests and was recommended for approval. She told me I would have my Oath Ceremony the following Tuesday (five days after the interview). She then took my 2020 tax return that me and my husband had filed jointly just a few days prior (no tax return transcripts available yet), brought me back to the small waiting room outside her office and told me to wait while she scanned the tax return into their system and printed the Oath Ceremony letter.
Then she came back with my tax return and the Oath Ceremony Notice showing the date, time and place. She told me to fill out the oath form at home on the day of the oath, but only sign it once I was actually at the oath ceremony.
That was it, very simple experience, it just took a while. I walked into the building at 12:45 pm and wasn't out until after 3:30 pm. The interview including all the extra random small talk took an hour all-in-all. The only things asked for was my driver license, two of my passports, my greencard and the 2020 tax return. My feeling is that she would've asked for more documents if I hadn't uploaded so much in the online account already (I kept adding documents almost every month my petition was pending).
The Oath Ceremony was pretty casual, it was outside behind the USCIS building - since it was outdoors family and friends were welcome too. One line of people was leading up to a table where a woman asked for form N-445 (the Oath Ceremony notice that you need to fill out the day of the oath) and all greencards, work permits, travel documents etc that USCIS has ever issued you. She then asked me all the questions on the form to make sure I had filled it out correctly (I had filled it out the same morning and signed it) and that nothing had changed since the interview, afterwards she made a hole in the greencard, stapled it to the form and gave it all back to me together with a big envelope containing a cute American flag and info on what to do after becoming a citizen. I was then told to go stand in another line waiting to line up for the actual oath taking ceremony.
A very nice gentleman lined us all up one after the other in a certain order and asked us to raise our right hand and repeat after him. Once we had done the whole Oath of Allegiance he congratulated us to have become new citizens and everyone who was there to watch was clapping their hands and hooray'ed.
We were then directed to yet another line that led up to a different table where we were asked to hand over the Oath notice form with the stapled greencard that we still carried from the first table, and we finally received our Naturalization Certificates (and the name change document from the court signed by the judge was stapled to the certificate). Then we were told we could take photos next to a large U.S. flag if we wanted to. It was a nice experience, casual and quick, but yet formal enough and so nice that our spouses etc could be there to witness it. |
| Harassment Level : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*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
ver 5.0
