Just Starting...
Hi,
First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for sharing your experiences...I know each case is different but knowing what will happen next eases the apprehension and tension...
I'm Brazilian and just started my AOS process due to marriage to a US Citizen (USC) last november; we filled the I-130 (Alien Relative), I-485 (Adjustment of Status AOS) and I-765 (Employment Authorization Document EAD) concurrently on 01/15/2005 with Chicago. We received the Notice of Action (NOA/I-797C) for all 3 applications (1 per application) on 1/25/2005. The Received Date (RD) and the Notice Date (ND) were 1/17/2005 and 1/20/2005 respectively.
The Receipt Numbers started with MSC, so I'm assuming I'm under the National Benefits Center... Anyway, the I-765 Receipt instructed me to schedule an appointment for Biometrics while the I-475 Receipt wanted both Biometrics and Fingerprints (FP).
I called the 800 number (on 1/26/2005) and after being told by the first lady to hang up and try again because she was rebooting her computer, a gentleman answered. I told him that I had received the NOAs and wanted to schedule appointments for them. He asked for my Alien Number (which was on my I-485 NOA), my Name and Zip Code and telephone number. Then he asked for the ASC Code on the receipts.
The I-765 had code 2 and the I-485 was code 3 (I'm assuming that Code 2 means Biometrics only and Code 3 means Biometrics and Fingerprints).
He told me that they didn't have anything for code 3 but I could go for the code 2 on 1/27/2005, so I took it. He also told me that I would have to wait until I was done with the code 2 in order to schedule the code 3 (contrary to what my lawyer had told me) and also that the best time to call for code 3 is 8AM...Being that my appointment for code 2 was at 9, I decided to call the 800 number again in the day of the appointment...After repeating my telephone number about 5 times to a lady (she kept mixing numbers) I was able to schedule my code 3 (FP) appointment to 3/10/2005. I wasn't happy about the date, but at least I had an appointment...
I got to the Application Support Center (ASC) at 8:30A and got in the first line, there I spoke to a security guard who checked my NOA and ID to see if I had an appointment. Once she verified that I was "on the list" she told me to stand in a second line. (Some people had to fill up a form and then stand in line 2...I didn't need a form...so I figured the form is only for people taking FP). After a little bit I spoke to a gentleman who again checked my ID and NOA, gave me a number with EAD on it and told me to sit and wait to be called. I kept observing the people that called the numbers, and they all seemed nice and courteous except for one young man who seemed a little upset, luckily I was called by an older Cuban gentleman who was very nice.
Until that time I had never mentioned the fact that I had another appointment on 3/10/2005 but I was carrying all the NOAs in my hand, so when he asked what were the other ones. I said that the fingerprinting was going to be done in March because they didn't have an appointment available.
He called his supervisor and talk to her about what they had told me over the phone, and they both seemed disappointed with the service being performed by the 800 number. She told that they were going to take care of everything and brought me the form to fill out, he collected my data, fingerprints, picture and made me sign on the computer...She then stamped my NOAs and signed them.
So now we are waiting for the next steps...this is our current timeline:
1/15/2005 - Mailed I-130, I-485 and I-765 to Chicago
1/17/2005 - Received Date (RD)
1/20/2005 - Notice Date (ND)
1/25/2005 - Received the NOAs in the mail
1/26/2005 - Called 800 number to schedule appointments
1/27/2005 - Biometrics and FP app. FP originally schedule for 3/10/2005
P.S.: Like some, I was initially confused with all the acronyms so I tried my best to explain some of them…I apologize if I made any mistake.
