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DV 2018 AOS Only

Hi Mom,

My husband and I just saw an article posted today on USCIS. It won't let me post the link, so I have screenshot the article. Thought it would be helpful to people.
 
Sm1smom said:
If you loose your current status prior to your AOS petition being adjudicated, you’ll fall into what is know as “Adjustment Pending” status which is still valid. You just wouldn’t have a fall back status if the AOS petition gets denied for any reason.
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While I am on Adjustment Pending” status I am legally staying or that considered over staying?
 
74MARMORA74 said:
While I am on Adjustment Pending” status I am legally staying or that considered over staying?
Click to expand...

Did you see the part of my post that says “valid”? You wouldn’t have a valid status if you’re deemed to be overstaying. For as long as your AOS petition is pending, your stay is not considered an overstay. Overstay only comes into effect IF the AOS petition gets denied for some other reasons.
 
Hey everyone,

I was approved for my Green Card today and wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone -- and especially Sm1smom! -- for the great help you have been. Honestly, I am sure I would have messed this application up had it not been for the excellent guidance by this forum and the infamous AOS spreadsheet.

So just for completeness, here's a bit on my interview experience: I arrived way too early and camped out at a Starbucks, just going through all my documents. I had made sure to make a copy of all my files way back when I sent off the AOS package, so I knew exactly what was in their file. The only additional thing I brought (other than originals for everything that had a copy in the AOS package) was an updated Enrollment Verification and some tax documents. Turns out none of that was needed, but felt much more calm knowing I had it with me anyhow. When I arrived at USCIS, I was suprised to find out no food or drinks were allowed in; had to throw away my apple :( But once I was inside, I deposited my letter in the waiting box and was called for interview very quickly. The interview was super easy: I was just asked a couple of simple questions to confirm my identity (Full Name, DoB, where do my parents live) and they checked my fingerprints. Then I was asked all the "Yes/No" questions from the I-485. I was told that a VISA number had already been reserved for me (that's what I call a prepared field officer!), but that they couldn't approve me in the moment because the US security clearance system was down? My field officer also seemed worried that she might need my original file (she only had a copy), and wanted to ask a supervisor about that later. When I left I thought everything had gone well but I would have to wait for weeks until the security clearance would be back up / the original file transferred. But a few hours later I got the notification that my card is being produced!

Thanks again everyone!
 
Leon1993 said:
Hey everyone,

I was approved for my Green Card today and wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone -- and especially Sm1smom! -- for the great help you have been. Honestly, I am sure I would have messed this application up had it not been for the excellent guidance by this forum and the infamous AOS spreadsheet.

So just for completeness, here's a bit on my interview experience: I arrived way too early and camped out at a Starbucks, just going through all my documents. I had made sure to make a copy of all my files way back when I sent off the AOS package, so I knew exactly what was in their file. The only additional thing I brought (other than originals for everything that had a copy in the AOS package) was an updated Enrollment Verification and some tax documents. Turns out none of that was needed, but felt much more calm knowing I had it with me anyhow. When I arrived at USCIS, I was suprised to find out no food or drinks were allowed in; had to throw away my apple :( But once I was inside, I deposited my letter in the waiting box and was called for interview very quickly. The interview was super easy: I was just asked a couple of simple questions to confirm my identity (Full Name, DoB, where do my parents live) and they checked my fingerprints. Then I was asked all the "Yes/No" questions from the I-485. I was told that a VISA number had already been reserved for me (that's what I call a prepared field officer!), but that they couldn't approve me in the moment because the US security clearance system was down? My field officer also seemed worried that she might need my original file (she only had a copy), and wanted to ask a supervisor about that later. When I left I thought everything had gone well but I would have to wait for weeks until the security clearance would be back up / the original file transferred. But a few hours later I got the notification that my card is being produced!

Thanks again everyone!
Click to expand...

Super duper! Congratulations!!
 
Leon1993 said:
Hey everyone,

I was approved for my Green Card today and wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone -- and especially Sm1smom! -- for the great help you have been. Honestly, I am sure I would have messed this application up had it not been for the excellent guidance by this forum and the infamous AOS spreadsheet.

So just for completeness, here's a bit on my interview experience: I arrived way too early and camped out at a Starbucks, just going through all my documents. I had made sure to make a copy of all my files way back when I sent off the AOS package, so I knew exactly what was in their file. The only additional thing I brought (other than originals for everything that had a copy in the AOS package) was an updated Enrollment Verification and some tax documents. Turns out none of that was needed, but felt much more calm knowing I had it with me anyhow. When I arrived at USCIS, I was suprised to find out no food or drinks were allowed in; had to throw away my apple :( But once I was inside, I deposited my letter in the waiting box and was called for interview very quickly. The interview was super easy: I was just asked a couple of simple questions to confirm my identity (Full Name, DoB, where do my parents live) and they checked my fingerprints. Then I was asked all the "Yes/No" questions from the I-485. I was told that a VISA number had already been reserved for me (that's what I call a prepared field officer!), but that they couldn't approve me in the moment because the US security clearance system was down? My field officer also seemed worried that she might need my original file (she only had a copy), and wanted to ask a supervisor about that later. When I left I thought everything had gone well but I would have to wait for weeks until the security clearance would be back up / the original file transferred. But a few hours later I got the notification that my card is being produced!

Thanks again everyone!
Click to expand...
Congrats. could you please record your process in the timelines. I could not find your ID if that is the same with Leon1993.
 
Sm1smom said:
Did you see the part of my post that says “valid”? You wouldn’t have a valid status if you’re deemed to be overstaying. For as long as your AOS petition is pending, your stay is not considered an overstay. Overstay only comes into effect IF the AOS petition gets denied for some other reasons.
Click to expand...
thanks a lot for the clarification
 
Sm1smom said:
Average EAD processing time is roughly 4 months. In order for you to get the AP card in June, you’ll need to have filed your AOS petition with the I-765 form in February.

Does your J1 have a 2 year home residency requirement? If it does, you’ll need to get an approved waiver first before you can even file for AOS.

Once you use a an AOS based EAD to undertake employment, your current status is no longer applicable and you cannot return to that status if the AOS petition gets denied for some reason.
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Hi Mom,

Thanks, no 2 year home residency requirement for me, I am almost about to file for AoS (+EAD/AP) :)

1- Can you file AoS without the I-693? What are the risks?
2- Form I-485 (PART 3 -14b.) Date of employment: my current DS2019 declares that my appointment ends at the end of April, however a new one is currently being processed to extend that appointment to the end of June. What should I put as a final date of employment?
3- Can I print (=answering at the PC) just part of an USCIS Form and respond to the remaining questions with a black ink pen?
4- Who should file I-767C? I never received one.
5- I suppose it should be fine if I include in the AoS package only my Medical Diploma (and ECFMG certification) and avoid including the High School Diploma?
6- As a J1 during the first year I do not pay taxes: would you add some kind of document to the AoS package to prove this?

Thank you!
 
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ph1ll1ipswaya said:
Hi mom and everyone,
My CN is AF29xxx. I am the principle applicant (F2). CN is expected to come current in June or July.
1. i-485 can be filed as soon as May 15 (assumed date of advance VB) for CN current in July, right?
2. The background check is launched the moment you do the Biometrics. Right?
3. When the I-94 says D/S, is that a reliable way to be sure you are in legal status for a F visa?
4. My US citizen son is currently enrolled under Medicare and goes to a public school. My wife (DV-derivative) also received medical assistance when she was pregnant with my son 10 years ago. I understand there is a USCIS proposed draft about denying applicants whom children (or themselves) got any form of government assistance. Is this correct?
5. Under the current criteria for public charge determination, given age, health, education and professional experience, we would have been confident not to fall under the presumption of public charge. My wife has got an offer and will start working under OPT in April. I will also have a solid I-134 from my US citizen brother. However, I don't think it is unlikely that an IO, under influence of such proposal, would proactively apply the stricter criteria to deny a case. Am I reasonable in my assumption/worries? Although one can argue you can appeal if you have time left and access to the right people …
6. Under CP, I believe no such question about ever receiving public assistance is asked in an application form. Am I correct?
7. Are there other forms than the DS-260 to be filled for a CP application?

Regarding the CP option, please bear with me:
7. Once you receive the 2NL from KCC, re AoS, is there a way back to CP (before submitting the i-485)?
8. Once you pay the $330 admin fees to KCC, and before submitting the i-485, is there a way back to CP?
9. Once you submit i-485, is there a way back to CP?
10. My wife and I are expecting. She can only travel in early August. In case we decide to go for CP, Is it possible for us to have the CP interviews separately (say, me in July and she in August?). I am thinking that it is more likely that I be under AP than her, if any.
11. Is it possible for me (principle) to go CP and she (derivative) goes AoS?
12. If the KCC sends us for an interview in July, how to postpone it to August?

Thank you. If you feel the second part of the inquiry does not fall under this thread, I understand. Thanks.
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Dear mom, I can't thank you enough for your assistance ! Thank you!
 
Dr. Europe said:
Hi Mom,

Thanks, no 2 year home residency requirement for me, I am almost about to file for AoS (+EAD/AP) :)

1- Can you file AoS without the I-693? What are the risks?
2- Form I-485 (PART 3 -14b.) Date of employment: my current DS2019 declares that my appointment ends at the end of April, however a new one is currently being processed to extend that appointment to the end of June. What should I put as a final date of employment?
3- Can I print (=answering at the PC) just part of an USCIS Form and respond to the remaining questions with a black ink pen?
4- Who should file I-767C? I never received one.
5- I suppose it should be fine if I include in the AoS package only my Medical Diploma (and ECFMG certification) and avoid including the High School Diploma?
6- As a J1 during the first year I do not pay taxes: would you add some kind of document to the AoS package to prove this?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

1. Yes it’s possible to do so with the mind of presenting when you go for you interview. I wouldn’t do so though if this was my case considering DV petitions are time sensitive. Your AOS package may be rejected and sent back as incomplete if a newbie who is not aware this is allowed is the one that’s tasked with processing it. Your FO May decide to issue an RFE for the medical to be submitted before scheduling you for an interview instead of waiting for you to present it during your interview. If your FO was considering approving the petition without an interview, a missing medical will hinder that.

2. If employment is still ongoing, put “Present” as end date.

3. Either fully type or hand print for consistency, except for a few sections in which in which hand print is being used in sections that wouldn’t accept full text in place of numbers.

4. It’s not applicable if you’ve never been issued one from USCIS.

5. HS Diploma should be included.

6. If you haven’t filed a tax return, then you have no IRS documents to include.

P.s. number your questions if you’re putting up a post with two or more questions, makes it easier to keep on track when answering. I edited your post
 
Sm1smom said:
1. Yes it’s possible to do so with the mind of presenting when you go for you interview. I wouldn’t do so though if this was my case considering DV petitions are time sensitive. Your AOS package may be rejected and sent back as incomplete if a newbie who is not aware this is allowed is the one that’s tasked with processing it. Your FO May decide to issue an RFE for the medical to be submitted before scheduling you for an interview instead of waiting for you to present it during your interview. If your FO was considering approving the petition without an interview, a missing medical will hinder that.

2. If employment is still ongoing, put “Present” as end date.

3. Either fully type or hand print for consistency, except for a few sections in which in which hand print is being used in sections that wouldn’t accept full text in place of numbers.

4. It’s not applicable if you’ve never been issued one from USCIS.

5. HS Diploma should be included.

6. If you haven’t filed a tax return, then you have no IRS documents to include.

P.s. number your questions if you’re putting up a post with two or more questions, makes it easier to keep on track when answering. I edited your post
Click to expand...
Thanks Mom, such a quick answer!

1.Gotcha. If I get a REF for not sending the I 693, will that freeze my EAD other than the GC itself? It looks like the EAD is quicker than the GC but I've been hearing of people waiting for 150 days!
2. The ECFMG is the US certification that allows me to get into an American medical residency. This means that the US is officialy recognizing me as a doctor (even though my med school was out of the US). Don't you think that will be considered enough to prove my level of education (thus allowing to bypass the HS diploma)?

7. Form I-485 (PART 1 - 22a) "how was I admitted?" - I entered the US with a J1: Can I actually type in "Research Scholar J VISA" or should I type something like "Exchange visitor"?
 
To people doing early filing: a friend of mine pointed out to me that there's been a recent spike in (wrongful) rejections of DV related i-485s. DHS recognized the problem. They recently (on 01/11/2018) updated the following page: https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity-visa
She recommends to print that page (along with the memo mentioned in the AOS spreadsheet) and highlight the following part:
As soon as a monthly Visa Bulletin is published, anyone with a lower rank number than the rank cut-off number shown in Section C is eligible to file for adjustment of status. ...
 
Dr. Europe said:
Thanks Mom, such a quick answer!

1.Gotcha. If I get a REF for not sending the I 693, will that freeze my EAD other than the GC itself? It looks like the EAD is quicker than the GC but I've been hearing of people waiting for 150 days!
Click to expand...

Do you have a particular reason you don’t want to send the I693? Most people attempt to do this process in a way that will ensure the fastest, least-hassle method. You’re knowingly choosing a route with potential problems despite the time limit, and possible quantity limit, on visas.
Are you aware btw that some people processing AOS last year did not get visas because visas ran out before their interviews? This included a couple on the forum that had used their EADs, no longer had status, and had to leave the US immediately. I guess I’m trying to figure out why you would consciously risk such an outcome instead of doing everything you could to avoid it.
 
This is a TAX question which I know is not related to the AOS process but I would think some people in here might be facing this issue, if not accepted by the Admin, please remove.
My 2 dependents kids never issued SSN when I first started working in US since they are not eligible to work, when filing tax 2017 (first year to file) the accountant wants to get ITIN for the kids so she can file them as dependents on myself, I was hoping that by the time we file we would have the GC and SSN, but since the process have been slowed down for AF winners this is not the case any longer, my dilemma now is applying for ITIN this time of year could be up to 10 weeks which still does not help we might have the GC by then I hope, any one have had a similar situation to deal with?
 
I have all my police records with Finger printing / background check from the 3 different countries I lived in before moving to US available and valid, is there a way to send these to USCIS? hoping it would speed the background check process, I am a bit worried about the way things usually not on a good time manner in my birth country that might slow down the background check!
 
Dr. Europe said:
Thanks Mom, such a quick answer!

1.Gotcha. If I get a REF for not sending the I 693, will that freeze my EAD other than the GC itself? It looks like the EAD is quicker than the GC but I've been hearing of people waiting for 150 days!
2. The ECFMG is the US certification that allows me to get into an American medical residency. This means that the US is officialy recognizing me as a doctor (even though my med school was out of the US). Don't you think that will be considered enough to prove my level of education (thus allowing to bypass the HS diploma)?

7. Form I-485 (PART 1 - 22a) "how was I admitted?" - I entered the US with a J1: Can I actually type in "Research Scholar J VISA" or should I type something like "Exchange visitor"?
Click to expand...

1. An RFE will not impact EAD processing, EAD is processed by the NBC and GC by the FO. EAD and DV based GC tend to tend 4 months on average to process, assuming background check processing isn’t pending and the FO. The EAD has turned out to be a useless peace of card for most DV AOSers as they tend to get the cards around the same time. A few however found it useful as their GC interview was delayed.

2. If you think your HS diploma shouldn’t be required based on what you plan on presenting, don’t include it - your call. I happen to know of cases where the IO did request to see the HS diploma. My practice is to recommend front-loading the package with as much pertinent information as necessary based on what I’ve observed over the years, everyone can determine/decide on their own what they deem necessary.

3. Use your best judgment based on the examples already provided on the form itself.
 
SusieQQQ said:
Do you have a particular reason you don’t want to send the I693? Most people attempt to do this process in a way that will ensure the fastest, least-hassle method. You’re knowingly choosing a route with potential problems despite the time limit, and possible quantity limit, on visas.
Are you aware btw that some people processing AOS last year did not get visas because visas ran out before their interviews? This included a couple on the forum that had used their EADs, no longer had status, and had to leave the US immediately. I guess I’m trying to figure out why you would consciously risk such an outcome instead of doing everything you could to avoid it.
Click to expand...

He’s hoping to gain some time to enable him start his medical residency program in June, he’s not quite paying attention to the consequences I already pointed out to him.

The fact that he could actually loose valuable time (up to one month) if his package was treated as incomplete by the Chicago Lockbox and sent back to him doesn’t seem to bother him. Getting an RFE in place of an IL looks acceptable to him as long as he has his EAD which can subsequently cost him his program and his stay in the US if his GC petition is not approved by 9/30 or gets denied.
 
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