Case Processing

Danielle
Jun 17, 2024
AOS
I just wanted to get our here and give an update of our experience to hopefully give some insight for those still waiting to be approved. We live in Florida. We filed my husband AOS in December 2022 with an attorney . At the beginning of July 2023 we received our first RFE. It was requesting the medical and certified translated birth certificate. The RFE evidence was received in August 2023. I submitted proof on the online portal that the medical was mailed, a copy of the original birth certificate, a copy of the certified copy of the translated birth certificate, the RFE letter and a cover letting explaining what I was submitting. In August 2023 I also began to upload documents to the online portal because a lot of interviews were being waived. Each time I had new evidence I would submit it online in the portal under documents. We did not hear anything back until the end of January 2024. I logged onto the online account and the date the first RFE received had changed to January 2024. Not long after the EAD was approved. It took 13.5 months to get the EAD approval and it was a stand-alone approval. The EAD was approved at the end of January 2024 and the card was produced two weeks later. Once it was mailed we were issued a tracking number. The card was mailed directly to our attorney along with the social security card. We did not receive any notification of the approval. The approval was found under the documents tab because I would check the account daily. The I-130 was approved on March 1. 2024 and additional evidence was requested for the I-485. USCIS was requesting another medical and criminal records. We are not sure what happened to the medical as it was submitted with the first RFE in July of 2023 but we did not waste anytime in getting a second medical. Luckily the medical that my husband did the first time had not expired so we did not have to redo exams but he was required to get a second dose of the Covid vaccine and the flu shot. We only had the pay the receptionist to refill out the form. The criminal records were also sent with the initial packet but I believe that out attorney did not send all the documents for the criminal case which caused us to receive an RFE and a question was marked incorrectly on the I-485. I will explain this later. The I-131 was approved on March 12th after reaching out to our local congressman. The RFE evidence was marked as received by USCIS on March 27, 2024. We then recived our notice for interview in April 2024. We waited for a week for the notice before reaching out to USCIS to confirm the interview date as we had a trip planned to Guatemala for my father in law birthday in May. The agent was kind enough to give us the date, time and place of the interview. The notice for the interview was never uploaded. It arrived two weeks later in the mail. Our interview was scheduled for May 14th at the Montgomery Field office. We did a mock interview with our attorney before leaving for Guatemala. She basically told us because we did not have children together and because we married so soon to expect the worse and to be separated. We were dating for 6 months and had only lived together for 1 month when we got married. She said we would be interigated as if our marriage was a fraud. After having the mock interview and speaking with my spouse we both agreed that there was nothing to be nervous about because our marriage was real and our evidence proved this. We did not waste anytime when we got married at opening a bank account together. We purchased our first home together a year after marriage. We filed taxes together the following year and years after. We took trips together. We also made sure to put both of our names on everything we purchased together such as additional properties, vehicles, boats and trailers. We did all of this with just my husband passport and an ITIN. We also had proof of all infertility treatments that we were undergoing. As previously stated all of this evidence was uploaded onto the online portal beginning in August. I believe this helped us a lot. We left for Guatemala on May 4th and returned on May 12th using the Advance Parole that was approved in March. We were nervous because of mixed reviews on the Advance Parole. My husband had overstayed his visa for 12 years and also had a criminal history. No it was not anything serious and the case had been closed for 3 years. It was one charge and honestly my husband could have fought the charge if we would have had a better attorney that didn’t scare my husband into accepting a plea deal by threatening prison time. My husband has never been arrested before this or had any interactions with Law Enforcement. Not even a ticket. We finally in the end made the decision to use Advance Parole and visit Guatemala because honestly life is full of risk and whatever is meant for your life is going to happen. My father in law is also getting older and having health issues. We had previously prepared if entry was denied. This is not always the best option for everyone because not everyone is in the same position as we are so I would say make what decision is best for you. Some people cannot take that risk because they are not financially or physically prepared if entry was denied. We were. We flew into the Houston, TX airport from Guatemala. Everyone there was nice. My husband was able to go through the line with me because I have a US Passport. There was no issues using the Advance Parole. My husband was pulled into secondary inspection as expected. The officer asked him where he was coming from, about his criminal history and his address. He was told by the officer that each time he travels he must carry his documents of his criminal record to show that he has complied with all requirements. His Advance Parole document and passport were both stamped. We went to our interview on May 14, 2024. We arrived early but was not able to go into the office until 20 minutes before. We took all evidence that we had. I had probably over 400 pages or more of evidence which included copies of each piece of evidence and 2 albums of pictures. The immigration officer called us into her office. We did request an interpreter for the interview at the beginning as advised by our attorney as my husband speaks Spanish. I do speak Spanish fluently but was advised by our attorney to request the interpreter so that there would be no issues. The officer did let us know that it is always best to request an interpreter before the interview so they are aware that one is needed. The officer was nice and joking during the interview. She did not ask me the wife any questions. All questions were directed to my husband. All questions came from the I-485. The only piece of evidence she requested was certified copies of proof of the criminal history. She told us that a question was marked wrong on the I-485. It made it seems as if my husband had committed a crime that he had never been arrested or convicted of. She changed the answer to the correct answer and had him sign. I believe that this is the reason we were given an interview. I also believe that we were given an interview because our attorney did not send all the paperwork corresponding to the criminal case initially and when sending the RFE. We were requested both time to send the RFE paperwork directly to our attorney and their office sent it directly to USCIS. The reason I believe this is because when the attorney sent us the documents for the criminal case to take to the interview it only had one paper. There was more than one paper for the criminal case. Luckily I had requested all copies from the clerk of court prior. The officer did not request any additional evidence. She did not request to see any pictures. I was not asked one question and we were not separated during the interview . The interview lasted about 30 minutes. She told us she needed to review the criminal history and should receive a response by mail. She wouldn’t come out and say he was approved but at the end she told my husband to expect his green card within two weeks. Two days after the interview we received a message that action had been taken. When I logged on I found the approval under the documents tab. It was about a week after his card was produced and mailed. We received tracking and it was sent directly to our attorney along with the new social security card. We received the green card in the mail on Friday from our attorney. It was a long and frustrating experience seeing other people file after us being approved so fast but it was worth the wait. Good luck to everyone still on this journey. I pray peace and patience over your life.
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