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DV 2015 AOS Only

bharatmani777 said:
Hey Mom and everyone,
My situation is like this. My case number is AS6300 and opted for AOS. Currently on H1B but found out that employer may lay me off soon. My wife is in different H1B as well.

1.If I apply for H4 dependent(just to be safe), and if the case is pending while my DV number becomes current for June or July, can I still apply for green card (another AOS i.e. I-485) based on my pending AOS to H4 ? Is that considered as being "In Status"?
2. If I am not laid off after filing H4 when should I quit? Should I work until H4 is approved or quit as soon as I get my receipt?
2. Is changing to CP from AOS and going to home country a better option?

Please share your thoughts and opinion. It would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

First of all, changing from H1B to H4 is known as Change of Status (COS), not AOS, it's important to get the terminologies straight so as to avoid confusion. Now to your questions:

1. Yes, you can still file for AOS while your COS petition is pending. As long as the COS petition has been formally accepted by USCIS evidenced with the issuance of NOA, you're considered to be in legal status.

2. You can continue working until the H4 petition is adjudicated or your employer lays you off - whichever happens first.

3. I honestly can't tell you which is the best option for you, that's a call you'll have to make on your own. You have a better understanding and a clearer picture of your personal situation than I do.
 
Sam2015 said:
Just write down the main applicant name , case number and 4 persons as a number or should type all the full names.? Thanks
I know its my decision to do the payment but do you see its a good time to do it now as Egypt 25, 1xx?
Click to expand...

The form you'll be sending with the payment is self explanatory and straight forward, follow the instructions on it. You already know my response, it's your call whether to make the payment now or not.
 
Sm1smom said:
First of all, changing from H1B to H4 is known as Change of Status (COS), not AOS, it's important to get the terminologies straight so as to avoid confusion. Now to your questions:

1. Yes, you can still file for AOS while your COS petition is pending. As long as the COS petition has been formally accepted by USCIS evidenced with the issuance of NOA, you're considered to be in legal status.

2. You can continue working until the H4 petition is adjudicated or your employer lays you off - whichever happens first.

3. I honestly can't tell you which is the best option for you, that's a call you'll have to make on your own. You have a better understanding and a clearer picture of your personal situation than I do.
Click to expand...

Thanks mom. Sorry about the terminologies but you got the gist. I was totally confused. I am kinda relieved.
Million Kudos!!!
 
Hello


Based on the US Department of State guidelines relative to birth certificates in Guinea my wife made a document called “jugement suppletif” (an English translation would be something like “auxiliary judgment”) in a Guinean tribunal stating that as a judgment of the court she was born in (birth date), in (birth city), from (parents) … and that this court judgment is to be considered as a birth certificate and has to be transcribed in the official records. Of course the judgment is only a few months old (it was not made within one year of the birth).
However recently she checked again the same website and the guidelines now simply say that the birth certificates are available. http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/GV.html
Her family did a lot of investigations in Guinea and it appears that no one is authorized to issue a birth certificate (they only do an auxiliary judgment). In fact this auxiliary judgment is the document used routinely by the Guinean people as a birth certificate. The truth is that for most people born before 2000 there is no public archive. Now in a country like Guinea you can always find someone with a document looking closer to a standard birth certificate but it won’t be an official one. It would rather be something that an employee of the tribunal or a city employee will agree to type by himself and then put the “official” stamp that he has access to. It would not really be a false document because the information on it would be true. However it would not be the official document made according to the Guinean rules and laws. Moreover I know that the ambassy in Dakar Senegal (which handles the DV cases for Guinea) also requests this auxiliary judgment (and not an hypothetic birth certificate) for DV 2015 cases. But what about USCIS ??

The only birth certificate (made a few days after her birth) that she has is a photocopy (not a certified photocopy) of bad quality with even some mistakes on the birth dates of her parents. I think that such a document may seem suspicious to an IO. The original is supposed to be at the archives of the birth city but all the archives have been lost.
Do you think we should stick to the auxiliary judgment or ask for a city or tribunal employee to make a birth certificate and to stamp it ? If neither option is good what do you think we should do ?
Thank again for your help !
 
Hey guys,

A quick question. Im preparing the AOS package and I've realized that there's a need to show financial support. The main applicant and the person who won the DV is my spouse, but she's a F1 student and has no job here the US. At the moment, I'm the one who has a job. So I was wondering, would it be OK if I send my latest pay-stubs, tax return, w-2 and SSN or do I need to complete the I-134 Affidavit of Support saying that I can provide financial support for my spouse?

Thanks!
 
Hi Mom and Britsimon,
It is now more than 4 months that my background check has not been cleared. Should I be worried? The officer told me 2 parts have been cleared but the result of one part is still pending. How long normally it takes?
 
Karimm said:
Hello


Based on the US Department of State guidelines relative to birth certificates in Guinea my wife made a document called “jugement suppletif” (an English translation would be something like “auxiliary judgment”) in a Guinean tribunal stating that as a judgment of the court she was born in (birth date), in (birth city), from (parents) … and that this court judgment is to be considered as a birth certificate and has to be transcribed in the official records. Of course the judgment is only a few months old (it was not made within one year of the birth).
However recently she checked again the same website and the guidelines now simply say that the birth certificates are available. http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/GV.html
Her family did a lot of investigations in Guinea and it appears that no one is authorized to issue a birth certificate (they only do an auxiliary judgment). In fact this auxiliary judgment is the document used routinely by the Guinean people as a birth certificate. The truth is that for most people born before 2000 there is no public archive. Now in a country like Guinea you can always find someone with a document looking closer to a standard birth certificate but it won’t be an official one. It would rather be something that an employee of the tribunal or a city employee will agree to type by himself and then put the “official” stamp that he has access to. It would not really be a false document because the information on it would be true. However it would not be the official document made according to the Guinean rules and laws. Moreover I know that the ambassy in Dakar Senegal (which handles the DV cases for Guinea) also requests this auxiliary judgment (and not an hypothetic birth certificate) for DV 2015 cases. But what about USCIS ??

The only birth certificate (made a few days after her birth) that she has is a photocopy (not a certified photocopy) of bad quality with even some mistakes on the birth dates of her parents. I think that such a document may seem suspicious to an IO. The original is supposed to be at the archives of the birth city but all the archives have been lost.
Do you think we should stick to the auxiliary judgment or ask for a city or tribunal employee to make a birth certificate and to stamp it ? If neither option is good what do you think we should do ?
Thank again for your help !
Click to expand...

Better to be over prepared than be caught off guard. I would suggest going ahead and getting the not quite official "birth certificate" as well. However use the auxiliary judgement when sending in your package (since that's what the embassy normally requests), and if USCIS refuses that, you can present the stamped unofficial B/C.
 
2015SACCS said:
Hey guys,

A quick question. Im preparing the AOS package and I've realized that there's a need to show financial support. The main applicant and the person who won the DV is my spouse, but she's a F1 student and has no job here the US. At the moment, I'm the one who has a job. So I was wondering, would it be OK if I send my latest pay-stubs, tax return, w-2 and SSN or do I need to complete the I-134 Affidavit of Support saying that I can provide financial support for my spouse?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You don't need to complete or include an I-134 on her behalf, you can send in your financial documents in place of that since you're a married couple.
 
Nirvana70 said:
Hi Mom and Britsimon,
It is now more than 4 months that my background check has not been cleared. Should I be worried? The officer told me 2 parts have been cleared but the result of one part is still pending. How long normally it takes?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no one knows for certain how long this could take. They typically don't rush background check related issues, they like to ensure a thorough job is done. Having said that though, they still try to prioritize or get DV related cases earlier than others. Wish I had some good news for you. When last where you told about the pending check though?
 
Hi Mom,

I appreciate your opinion once again. Please help!
If you still remember my case:

"I got selected for DV 2015 (AS 7xxx). I am currently here in US continuously since then and have submitted my DS260and received the AOS letter from KCC.
In the meanwhile I am almost accepted to start my "residency in medical post graduate training" here in US on Jul 1st , a very strict deadline that I should have a valid EAD by THEN . I have only 2 options legally as far as I know .The visa for medical training should be either:
1. A transfer from research J1 to clinical J1 which is subject to the 2 year home residency rule and does not allow any kind of AOS before I have fulfilled the 2 yr home residency waiver. This means that I will lose my DV selection and have to go back to my country for 2 years after finishing my medical training ... I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN.
2. Wait until I get my green card or at least EAD/AP before starting my medical training by Jul 1st. Basically doing AOS from my current research J 1 to green card which is allowed by law.
CP is out because my country embassy has some specific issues delaying the procedure.
H1B visa is out because my hospital does not sponsor it.
EB/O visa is out because I do not have such a great CV to apply for that.
Now the problem is that the way that I see the CN are becoming current at best my CN will become current around JUN/JUL/AUG. The 60-90 days to get the EAD after that makes it around Aug/Sept the earliest time that I will have my EAD or green card . My university program WILL NOT wait for an applicant who is absent for more than 3 weeks."

Now after few months this is my update:
I got the medical residency position . I must start it in early June.
Asia case numbers progressed slower than I expected .
I guess if I want to wait for the DV AOS I will have my EAD around Aug/September/October(too late)

I talked to a lawyer and despite not having a great CV he recommended that I go forward with National Interest Waiver. His stand point was:
1. right now I prepare my EB2 application as speedy as possible
2. submit for NIW , AOS (for a second time but this time based on NIW), EAD /AP request concurrently.
3. Get the EAD (based on NIW) in 3 months from now and start my residency training in July . (still a little late but my program can wait for 1 months ) while my NIW is pending
4. AOS based on DV becomes available and I get the GC (it does not make any difference that I have two AOS applications simultaneously one for DV and one for NIW)
5. It will take a few months until I actually have my NIW processed and by then even if it gets rejected( it will , because my CV is not that great) it doesn't even matter because I have already got the GC through DV.

Now are all these steps sensible to you? Any comments? Pitfalls?

Thank you very much.
 
Also another thing that has made things more complicated is if I even decide to give up my potential green card not to lose my residency training and do what every other alien physician does, then :

1. I have a pending application for GC on file , so I guess my application for a switch from research J1 to clinical J1 may well be rejected because J1 is non immigrant.
2. I have heard that switch from research J1 to clinical J1 inside US is very time consuming and requires DOS acceptance. This will again delay my start date.

Any help ? Which route is more sensible to you?
 
bpd said:
Hi Mom,

I appreciate your opinion once again. Please help!
If you still remember my case:

"I got selected for DV 2015 (AS 7xxx). I am currently here in US continuously since then and have submitted my DS260and received the AOS letter from KCC.
In the meanwhile I am almost accepted to start my "residency in medical post graduate training" here in US on Jul 1st , a very strict deadline that I should have a valid EAD by THEN . I have only 2 options legally as far as I know .The visa for medical training should be either:
1. A transfer from research J1 to clinical J1 which is subject to the 2 year home residency rule and does not allow any kind of AOS before I have fulfilled the 2 yr home residency waiver. This means that I will lose my DV selection and have to go back to my country for 2 years after finishing my medical training ... I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN.
2. Wait until I get my green card or at least EAD/AP before starting my medical training by Jul 1st. Basically doing AOS from my current research J 1 to green card which is allowed by law.
CP is out because my country embassy has some specific issues delaying the procedure.
H1B visa is out because my hospital does not sponsor it.
EB/O visa is out because I do not have such a great CV to apply for that.
Now the problem is that the way that I see the CN are becoming current at best my CN will become current around JUN/JUL/AUG. The 60-90 days to get the EAD after that makes it around Aug/Sept the earliest time that I will have my EAD or green card . My university program WILL NOT wait for an applicant who is absent for more than 3 weeks."

Now after few months this is my update:
I got the medical residency position . I must start it in early June.
Asia case numbers progressed slower than I expected .
I guess if I want to wait for the DV AOS I will have my EAD around Aug/September/October(too late)

I talked to a lawyer and despite not having a great CV he recommended that I go forward with National Interest Waiver. His stand point was:
1. right now I prepare my EB2 application as speedy as possible
2. submit for NIW , AOS (for a second time but this time based on NIW), EAD /AP request concurrently.
3. Get the EAD (based on NIW) in 3 months from now and start my residency training in July . (still a little late but my program can wait for 1 months ) while my NIW is pending
4. AOS based on DV becomes available and I get the GC (it does not make any difference that I have two AOS applications simultaneously one for DV and one for NIW)
5. It will take a few months until I actually have my NIW processed and by then even if it gets rejected( it will , because my CV is not that great) it doesn't even matter because I have already got the GC through DV.

Now are all these steps sensible to you? Any comments? Pitfalls?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

I'm flattered that you're seeking my opinion with regards to what your lawyer has suggested. Unfortunately the case is a bit more complicated than I'm used to dealing with, I therefore cannot recommend an appropriate line of action regarding the case. Sorry!
 
Hello everyone,

I had my interview last week. It took about 5 minutes, during which the officer and me were occasionally joking back and forth mostly about military service and how I got exempted from it. The officer was very friendly, and I had absolutely no stress. Since I had put copies of everything in my application packet, the officer thanked me. And now I thank all of you who put together the spreadsheet.
All the information in this forum has been extremely helpful.
The IO only asked to see my passport. She told me she did not have my file from KCC, so could not make a decision right away. However, she told me if I did not receive a decision letter in 120 days, I should make an infoPass. This to me seems a long wait. She hoped though that I would hear from her in a matter of weeks, so fingers crossed.

Thanks
 
Sm1smom said:
Unfortunately, no one knows for certain how long this could take. They typically don't rush background check related issues, they like to ensure a thorough job is done. Having said that though, they still try to prioritize or get DV related cases earlier than others. Wish I had some good news for you. When last where you told about the pending check though?
Click to expand...

It was last week. I will try to schedule an infopass for later this month to follow-up. Thanks for your time and help!
 
Sm1smom said:
Better to be over prepared than be caught off guard. I would suggest going ahead and getting the not quite official "birth certificate" as well. However use the auxiliary judgement when sending in your package (since that's what the embassy normally requests), and if USCIS refuses that, you can present the stamped unofficial B/C.
Click to expand...
thank you.
And do you think it makes sense to add a copy of her passport from guinea (in addition to the french one where the US visa is) so that it makes another document from guinea mentionning her date of birth and place of birth ? I was considering doing it but then I thought it might increase the burden of background check.
 
Sm1smom said:
We've said it over and over again, nothing wrong with doing a bio walk in. Several people have done it in the past, nothing gets messed up and it of course doesn't necessarily speed up the process in general. You can check past postings on this thread for already posted bio walk in experience.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot @Sm1smom :) Our biomatric was scheduled for 15th. We went for walk in yesterday and it was done in 10 minutes.

I've got another question. I was going through our I-485 form and I noticed that my husband ( dv main applicant) has misspelled his father's name. In his passports, his father's name is " Mohammad Mahdi". It's all one name and the second part in not a middle name. In his I-485 form, he has typed "Mohammadmehdi" (misspelled an "a" with "e" and wrote it without the space). Can this be an issue? Should we do anything about it?

Thanks Mom for all your help :)
 
Karimm said:
thank you.
And do you think it makes sense to add a copy of her passport from guinea (in addition to the french one where the US visa is) so that it makes another document from guinea mentionning her date of birth and place of birth ? I was considering doing it but then I thought it might increase the burden of background check.
Click to expand...

Since you guys are charging to the AF region, I would strongly recommend you go ahead and do as suggested. As a matter of fact, when I processed my AOS, I included copies of both my Canadian and African chargeable country's passports with my package. My Canadian passport in view of the fact that my current status was based on it and the African passport since I was charging to that country. I also listed both countries under my citizenship section on my I-485 form as I wanted to have total/full disclosure from the get go.
 
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