(part 2 / 2 of our DV interview report commenced in the previous post)
So now we're wondering what to do. The adjudicating officer might approve - nice. Might deny. Potentially we could appeal, since so plainly that would be an administrative error, denying against USCIS policy. My wife pointed out that, whilst the guy did seem nice and friendly and kept saying that he hopes he is incorrect in understanding our case to be automatically invalid due to when we filed, there is still the conceivable possibility that he got annoyed with us and decides to deny our case on any of the other things that he had said at the start of our interview were not a concern to him. I don't think that outcome likely. Or who knows - might the case languish on his desk for weeks or months due to his uncertainty about the policy? Dunno. And of course, any AOS case has a chance of even being told at the interview you'll be approved, yet getting an RFE later by mail. So there are a bunch of possible outcomes. I wouldn't be bothered, except only the arbitrary but strictly-enforced September 30th cut-off. i.e. were it not for that arbitrary cut-off, I'd be content to let some time run, and see what happens next, and appeal if necessary. Or hey - perhaps we should try something extreme like temporarily move to some part of Florida where processing times are much faster, and simply re-submit our package (well, a new version of basically the same package). Of course, with 4 people being filed for, and expensive I-601 fees in the mix (the guy assured us that re-filing would require re-filing EVERYTHING - can't simply refer to things previously filed), that's a very expensive proposition, and while the E-3 does allow me to work for up to 90 days outside my LCA geographic area, which might be long enough for some much faster field offices to receive & fully process our case, nonetheless, there would be huge disruption and expense going that route. But here's the kicker: if it takes a month before we even get a decision from the Memphis office, that month probably costs us most of the reasonable chance of taking that extreme-but-presently-conceivably-viable course. So, my key concern is simply time, and how opaque USCIS processing is.
We can schedule an Infopass, but what will that accomplish? I'll drive 7 hours return to Memphis, to get a junior USCIS officer to confirm that PM-602-0088 is still current? Or maybe to tell me that they don't actually know for sure? And even if they can confidently tell me it is current, if they're not the officer adjudicating our case, how will that even help? But if I don't do any follow-up at all, how long might our case languish on the officer's desk if he doesn't feel he has the time or whatever to do whatever research he feels he needs to do to confirm that PM-602-0088 is still current? And my wife again, pointing out that he isn't necessarily feeling terribly motivated to do that research either.
So, it is an interesting - and stupid - world. As my wife said, our entire lives & futures, including us, and a total of four young children (two born in Australia, and two born in the USA, all under age 7), have our entire futures, hanging in the balance, over a disagreement relating to the date in which we filed. He fully agrees visas are currently available. He approves every other aspect of our case. The very fact that the Lock Box accepted our package and processed the fees etc and we were booked for biometrics etc, is yet more evidence, as per PM-602-0088, that we were found to be filing within an appropriate advance notification period. But whether our children will continue their violin lessons with a world-class violin teacher, and whether we will continue to build our friendships and networks in the USA, or whether life will end up unrecognisably different with a totally different set of educational opportunities for our children, and a totally different set of friends and professional acquaintances; and even such major things as who our children meet & grow up with, who they ultimately marry; everything about our lives, will be extremely different one way or another, all based on whether one guy in one USCIS field office ends up following USCIS policy or not? Again, if he issues a denial and does it promptly, then perhaps we have a chance at an appeal, so the game isn't necessarily over. But if he "drags his feet", we're going to run out of options just on account of time, just because USCIS computer systems and/or training procedures aren't sufficient to ensure USCIS field officers are adequately familiar with and properly applying current USCIS policy. Hmmm. It's a ridiculous situation to be in, but, courtesy of the current immigration system, here we are. For now I guess we wait a little bit and see if anything happens, but if any of y'all have suggestions or recommendations, we're interested in hearing!
By the way, a big THANKS to you all - your stories and advice to others on this forum have been an invaluable aid in our own preparations. Without that, we would've felt much less prepared for the process. Of course, it is still unclear at this point what the outcome of the process will be for us personally, but regardless, y'all have been an invaluable aid for us along the way, and for that, we are extremely grateful!
