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DV 2017 AOS Only

Hi Sm1smom,
First I would like to thank you for this useful forum.
My question is we won DV lottery for 2017, AOS application submitted in Dec 2016, Biometric was done in Jan 2017 and finally we did an interview back in Mar/02/2017. Since that time we did not hear any thing back from USCIS, every time I went for info pass they said Back ground check still processing . Is it true If I do not hear back from them and get my GC approved before end of Sep 2017 I will lose every thing?
Thanks

Yes indeed, if your petition isn't approved by COB Sept 30th, that will be the end of your selection unfortunately.

You will have to continue checking on your FO intermittently. You can also reach out to your congress person to assist with following up with your FO - of course this doesn't guarantee an immediate approval if the background check is still pending.
 
Hello,

Does anyone know if receiving your EAD implies that your background check is finished or if the two processes are unrelated?

Thanks!
 
Hey all,

I am trying to book an INFOPASS. My closest field office is in Austin but there are currently no dates available in Austin. It gives me the option of booking an INFOPASS in San Antonio (1 hr 10 mins away) which I'm thinking about booking. If I do book in San Antonio, does that mean all my future INFOPASSes and my GC interview will have to be in San Antonio?

Thanks

If your home address falls under the Austin FO, that is the FO that will interview (if applicable) and adjudicate your petition. The San Antonio FO cannot influence when things happen at the Austin FO.

So if you're basically trying to find out if your background check has cleared, you may be able to get that information from the San Antonio FO, but they cannot tell you about when your interview may take place.
 
If your home address falls under the Austin FO, that is the FO that will interview (if applicable) and adjudicate your petition. The San Antonio FO cannot influence when things happen at the Austin FO.

So if you're basically trying to find out if your background check has cleared, you may be able to get that information from the San Antonio FO, but they cannot tell you about when your interview may take place.

I'm sorry for wasting your time on my previous question but I used the wrong term. Austin is my applicant support center, San Antonio is my field office - there is no Austin FO (my bad, sorry for saying that). I have scheduled an INFOPASS at the San Antonio FO which I now think is a good thing as they'll hopefully (fingers crossed) be able to give me an idea for when my interview will take place.

Thank you @Sm1smom!!! Rock star as usual
 
Just wanted to share the infopass experience. My FO is Jacksonville, FL. The experience was positive, however, the results are not as good as I hoped...
The officer was very nice and well aware of Sept 30th deadline for DV cases. He told me, that the background check is still pending and there is nothing I can do besides waiting at this point (is it true???). He warned me that if the background check won't come through on time, the case will be closed/denied. He told me that he will keep an eye on the case and said to keep following up once a month.
 
Just wanted to share the infopass experience. My FO is Jacksonville, FL. The experience was positive, however, the results are not as good as I hoped...
The officer was very nice and well aware of Sept 30th deadline for DV cases. He told me, that the background check is still pending and there is nothing I can do besides waiting at this point (is it true???). He warned me that if the background check won't come through on time, the case will be closed/denied. He told me that he will keep an eye on the case and said to keep following up once a month.

Yep, he's right. Really not much you can do outside of intermittent follow ups.
 
Hi
Everything seems to be moving smoothly on my case except I am still waiting for IL.
I had an infopass last Wednesday. Officer told me to wait a few weeks. Background check is done, file has been requested from KCC and it is on supervisors desk.
How frequently I can go to infopass. Will it have any negative or positive impact on expediting the interview date.
FO: Boston, MA
 
Hi
Everything seems to be moving smoothly on my case except I am still waiting for IL.
I had an infopass last Wednesday. Officer told me to wait a few weeks. Background check is done, file has been requested from KCC and it is on supervisors desk.
How frequently I can go to infopass. Will it have any negative or positive impact on expediting the interview date.
FO: Boston, MA

You really need to exercise some patience like they already told you - it's only been like two months since you filed.
 
Hi Everyone. By way of update, I had my interview today at the NY field office. The Officer asked for a few extra documents (original of college degrees, copy of lease and photos of my wife and I) which we collected a couple hours later and resubmitted. A few questions about our marriage (how long we'd known each other etc.) but nothing out of the blue. At the end, the Officer said that everything was in order and that the GC would be produced pending an FBI check. I assume there's nothing more needed on my front there (i.e. no new fingerprints need to be take etc.).

Is there a normal time for the FBI check to be completed? Thanks to everyone, and especially Sm1smom for sharing on this forum!
 
Hi Everyone. By way of update, I had my interview today at the NY field office. The Officer asked for a few extra documents (original of college degrees, copy of lease and photos of my wife and I) which we collected a couple hours later and resubmitted. A few questions about our marriage (how long we'd known each other etc.) but nothing out of the blue. At the end, the Officer said that everything was in order and that the GC would be produced pending an FBI check. I assume there's nothing more needed on my front there (i.e. no new fingerprints need to be take etc.).

Is there a normal time for the FBI check to be completed? Thanks to everyone, and especially Sm1smom for sharing on this forum!

Unfortunately, there's no 'normal' time frame for completing the background check. As you can see, you did your bio back in Nov 2016 but your background check is yet clear 7 months after.
 
Hi Forum,

Can any F-1 students please share their interview experience ? What are some questions that we must prepare as an F-1 student ? Any ideas would help.
Thank you
 
I received my interview letter today. I had an Infopass 2 weeks ago and i was told my file is on the supervisor desk. So for those who got the same response as me you should hopefully be getting the interview letter soon.

Can any H1-B visa holder share their interview experience please?
 
Hi everyone,
Me and my husband just got back from an infopass appointment with the Atlanta FO and what they told us was very confusing because it was tottally the opposite of what we were told at our previous infopass appointments. At our previous appointment we were told that we should receive an interview notice within 30-45 days and that our file is in the FO. I called KCC and they told me that the file was requested by the FO (or may be not the FO) on April 18th. Today the officer at the infopass asked his supervisor about our case and the supervisor came and explain to us that they have 6 months to adjudicate our case and that our background check was still pending (at out previous infopass they told us that the background was cleared?). When i brought that up he told it wasn't and he said that they don't physically have a file there of our case and that the NBC in Missouri will send us an interview notice once the background was cleared. I told him that when contacting KCC and asking about our file they said it was requested by the FO in Atlanta and he said that cannot be true, the NBC in Missouri asks for those files. We asked if there was an assigned officer and he said no, but we are only 3 month pending and we should expect the NBC to schedule our interview on our 5th or 6th month. We asked him about moving to a new address and state and he said there isn't going to be a problem as long as we file AR-11 and he said that since they don't have a file physically present in Atlanta the system will show to NBC that we are at a new address and they will send our interview notice and where to appear but it won't affect our case because there was no physical file in Atlanta that they would have to transfer to the new FO. Do you consider that the information that was given to us today sounds legit or it's another confusion?
 
I am here to share my INFOPASS experience. I had an INFOPASS appointment with the Norfolk FO. They said that they are aware of the DV AOS deadline (Sep 30) and expect to adjudicate all DV cases before the end of August. They also said that they already have my file at the FO but haven't requested the file from KCC. Furthermore, they said that my background/fingerprint check has already been done, otherwise NBC wouldn't have sent them my file. However, I took this note with a grain of salt because according to them, they received my file 4 days after my biometrics (I am not sure if background check was done within 4 days and my files were sent from NBC to the FO within that timeframe). Overall, it was an OKAY experience given that I drove 5 hours one way for the appointment and got not-so-specific information regarding the time-frame for receiving the interview letter.
 
I received my interview letter today. I had an Infopass 2 weeks ago and i was told my file is on the supervisor desk. So for those who got the same response as me you should hopefully be getting the interview letter soon.

Can any H1-B visa holder share their interview experience please?

Mine was H1-B - but there is nothing specific to DV from H1-B that affects the interviews.
 
Hi, I just got a call from my IO saying my GC was approved! I was supposed to go to Canada for a couple of days this weekend. Does my approval mean I can't leave the US until I get the card? Thanks!
 
Hi Forum,

Can any F-1 students please share their interview experience ? What are some questions that we must prepare as an F-1 student ? Any ideas would help.
Thank you
1- They asked me all teh YES/NO questions in I-485 again. Actually, the officer reviewed I-485 again with me.
2- Asked about my research field and the projects I am working on.
3- The relationship with my sponser
4- work experience back in my country (it's part of g-325a form)

Generally, it was very easy and officer was kind. He told me "your background check is not completed. But I will follow up and also request your file from KCC". I was told it takes usually about 4 weeks (My interview was on June 5th).
 
Hi everyone,
Me and my husband just got back from an infopass appointment with the Atlanta FO and what they told us was very confusing because it was tottally the opposite of what we were told at our previous infopass appointments. At our previous appointment we were told that we should receive an interview notice within 30-45 days and that our file is in the FO. I called KCC and they told me that the file was requested by the FO (or may be not the FO) on April 18th. Today the officer at the infopass asked his supervisor about our case and the supervisor came and explain to us that they have 6 months to adjudicate our case and that our background check was still pending (at out previous infopass they told us that the background was cleared?). When i brought that up he told it wasn't and he said that they don't physically have a file there of our case and that the NBC in Missouri will send us an interview notice once the background was cleared. I told him that when contacting KCC and asking about our file they said it was requested by the FO in Atlanta and he said that cannot be true, the NBC in Missouri asks for those files. We asked if there was an assigned officer and he said no, but we are only 3 month pending and we should expect the NBC to schedule our interview on our 5th or 6th month. We asked him about moving to a new address and state and he said there isn't going to be a problem as long as we file AR-11 and he said that since they don't have a file physically present in Atlanta the system will show to NBC that we are at a new address and they will send our interview notice and where to appear but it won't affect our case because there was no physical file in Atlanta that they would have to transfer to the new FO. Do you consider that the information that was given to us today sounds legit or it's another confusion?

Sounds to me like the supervisor you spoke with is not familiar with DV based AOS petitions. I will say

1. Most of what you were told is BS.

2. It didn't help that you weren't adequately prepared for the appointment IMHO. You should have attended with documents showing DV based AOS petitions are time limited, which you would have been able to use in letting them know the 6 months scheduling process shouldn't apply. I mean what happens to a DV based petition that's filed or received by them in August for instance?

3. You were both talking but not quite communicating with each other when you asked about your 'file'. You were asking about your KCC file, he was talking about your AOS file. Yes the NBC sends your AOS file to the FO, which is what he was referring to, whereas you were asking about your KCC file.

4. If the FO was yet to receive your AOS file from the NBC like the supervisor claimed, how can they tell your case is assigned to them?

5. I already told you initiating a change of address at this point in time will further delay your case, but feel free to go with the supervisor's response though.
 
I am here to share my INFOPASS experience. I had an INFOPASS appointment with the Norfolk FO. They said that they are aware of the DV AOS deadline (Sep 30) and expect to adjudicate all DV cases before the end of August. They also said that they already have my file at the FO but haven't requested the file from KCC. Furthermore, they said that my background/fingerprint check has already been done, otherwise NBC wouldn't have sent them my file. However, I took this note with a grain of salt because according to them, they received my file 4 days after my biometrics (I am not sure if background check was done within 4 days and my files were sent from NBC to the FO within that timeframe). Overall, it was an OKAY experience given that I drove 5 hours one way for the appointment and got not-so-specific information regarding the time-frame for receiving the interview letter.

The NBC does not wait for the background check result before forwarding the AOS case file to the applicable FO - we've had cases of people who received the IL before they had attended the bio, or a matter of days after the bio. Their FO wouldn't have sent out the IL if the NBC was waiting for the bio result and was yet to send the AOS file.
 
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