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DV 2024 AOS (Adjustment of Status) Process Only

Earlier this morning, I had my interview and was informed that I was out of status during my first semester of college. I provided the IO with the necessary documents to prove my legal status during that time. At the end of the interview, I was told that it would take weeks to receive a decision. However, when I checked my case status online later, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it said, "New Card is Being Produced." I want to extend my gratitude to everyone who supported me through this process, especially @Sm1smom , who helps everyone in this forum free of charge, which is incredible. I would have wasted a lot of money if I hadn't found this forum. Best of luck to everyone going through their cases—I hope you all get your approvals soon. This has been quite a journey!
Congratulations! Glad they figured it out pretty quickly!!!Enjoy your new status..
 
My husband received a voicemail today with a rambling message along the lines of:

"xxxxx from US immigration. I need information from you..... there was information pending on your background. I guess it's like doctors and people. I can get this done in another way."

I googled the number and it came up as Department of Defense. I called the number and it said Hawaii National Guard (not available).

1. Has anyone received a call from USCIS for information related to background check?
2. Anyone know if USCIS phone numbers go direct to their agency, or routed through generic call centers?

It seems super strange to me and want to make sure it's not spam. But also, huge coincidence considering we're dealing with USCIS at the moment.
Update:

Person called back and my husband confirmed name and location of field office. They said something was holding up background check and he sees we are DV lottery and knows the deadline is approaching.

Wanted to confirm some details (he offered up information from our file which my husband confirmed). Said he may call back if he has other questions. Said everything was looking good on his end.

An hour later I got notification that my kids EOS got approved. Feels like too much of a coincidence that all happened on the same day.

Continuing to keep fingers crossed.
 
Assuming your husband was listed on your eDV registration, I think the person that issued the RFE is tripping. Looks like they are so used to dealing with marriage based AOS applications, they have therefore assumed you need to provide proof of shared marital life as required for a marriage base AOS. Anyways, if you're yet to respond to the RFE, here's a list of some additional documents which you may want to include: insurance policies listing each other as beneficiaries, property lease/deed with both names listed, utility bills, joint bank statements, personal wills/testaments, etc.
Yes, my husband was listed on the eDV entry. We were also surprised to see the marriage-related RFE. We sent the response today, including the documents you have listed above (we received the RFE yesterday). Thank you so much Mom for your response. I hope they will review it soon.

Also, they have acknowledged the time-sensitive nature of the DV-based program and limited number of visas available towards the end of September in the RFE letter. I am not sure how common it is to acknowledge that in an RFE.
 
Please could you tell me how you found out that your current case is in the field office? thank you
We received a letter from the FO. We also asked live agents a couple of times, and one of them responded that 'your case is in transit to the field office' last week. So, they might provide some detail after multiple attempts.
 
Hi Mom,

I am extremely frustrated. Today, I received a "Notice of Intent to Deny" letter in my mailbox, and I have 30 days to respond. The reason for the intent to deny is due to my not being in legal status when I applied for the I-485 application. Even though I applied for asylum while being in L1B status, and since then I have remained in the US waiting for my asylum interview. I am trying to stay calm and do whatever it takes me to get my case approved.

What would you recommend to send in my response to provide proof to counter their claim? Some attorneys on Avvo.com mentioned that certain court decisions have helped others get approval after sending them. Here are some posts from attorneys on Avvo.
  • There is no precedent covering the DV winner, but a legal argument may be made for the expansion of the Matter of Orban. Under Orban, when I-589 filed while in status the subsequent failure to maintain status is for technical reasons and excusable.
  • It depends on the officer but you may be able to adjust. You will need to file a legal brief supporting the "technical" exception argument per the 9th Circuit Court’s decision, Peters v. Barr, 954 F.3d 1238 (2020). We have had success with these cases so please work with a lawyer.
@Sm1smom I trust your judgment and advice more than anything I find on the internet. Please help me with advice on how to respond and what documents or court decisions would increase my chances of getting my case approved by the deadline. Thank you so much in advance! You are my only hope for getting my case approved!

FYI this is the person who got their GC while being in asylum pending in Santa Ana FO in 2018: https://forums.immigration.com/threads/dv-2018-aos-only.336256/page-201#post-2479890
 
We received a letter from the FO. We also asked live agents a couple of times, and one of them responded that 'your case is in transit to the field office' last week. So, they might provide some detail after multiple attempts.
Thank you very much
 
Hi Mom,

I am extremely frustrated. Today, I received a "Notice of Intent to Deny" letter in my mailbox, and I have 30 days to respond. The reason for the intent to deny is due to my not being in legal status when I applied for the I-485 application. Even though I applied for asylum while being in L1B status, and since then I have remained in the US waiting for my asylum interview. I am trying to stay calm and do whatever it takes me to get my case approved.

What would you recommend to send in my response to provide proof to counter their claim? Some attorneys on Avvo.com mentioned that certain court decisions have helped others get approval after sending them. Here are some posts from attorneys on Avvo.
  • There is no precedent covering the DV winner, but a legal argument may be made for the expansion of the Matter of Orban. Under Orban, when I-589 filed while in status the subsequent failure to maintain status is for technical reasons and excusable.
  • It depends on the officer but you may be able to adjust. You will need to file a legal brief supporting the "technical" exception argument per the 9th Circuit Court’s decision, Peters v. Barr, 954 F.3d 1238 (2020). We have had success with these cases so please work with a lawyer.
@Sm1smom I trust your judgment and advice more than anything I find on the internet. Please help me with advice on how to respond and what documents or court decisions would increase my chances of getting my case approved by the deadline. Thank you so much in advance! You are my only hope for getting my case approved!

FYI this is the person who got their GC while being in asylum pending in Santa Ana FO in 2018: https://forums.immigration.com/threads/dv-2018-aos-only.336256/page-201#post-2479890
I’m sorry to learn you’ve just received a NOID, which honestly speaking, is not surprising to me. Before I go into some detailed analysis of what you may be able to or may not do at this point, I think you need to shed a bit more light on your situation by answering the following questions:
1. When did you originally arrive in the US?
2. How long were you in L1B (year to year)?
3. When did your last authorized stay expire (month/year)?
4. When did you file for asylum (month/year)?
5. Have you had your asylum interview?
 
Yes, there is.
Hi mom, just FYI, I saw an update for my new application today. It says "Case was updated to show fingerprints were taken". So, I guess my biometrics for the new application have been waived. I will update the timeline spreadsheet shortly.

1. I guess I won't receive an appointment for biometrics now which is good news. Do you know if it also helps USCIS to adjudicate my application relatively faster comparing to previous application? First took around 3.5 months.
2. I also heard USCIS process more DV-based AOS towards the end of the fiscal year. Do you know if it has been the case in previous years?

Thank you.
 
Hi mom, just FYI, I saw an update for my new application today. It says "Case was updated to show fingerprints were taken". So, I guess my biometrics for the new application have been waived. I will update the timeline spreadsheet shortly.

1. I guess I won't receive an appointment for biometrics now which is good news. Do you know if it also helps USCIS to adjudicate my application relatively faster comparing to previous application? First took around 3.5 months.
2. I also heard USCIS process more DV-based AOS towards the end of the fiscal year. Do you know if it has been the case in previous years?

Thank you.
1. Maybe. Maybe not. Wait and see.
2. Majority of the FOs and IOs try to adjudicate as many pending DV based AOS applications as they can as the FY ending draws closer.
 
I’m sorry to learn you’ve just received a NOID, which honestly speaking, is not surprising to me. Before I go into some detailed analysis of what you may be able to or may not do at this point, I think you need to shed a bit more light on your situation by answering the following questions:
1. When did you originally arrive in the US?
2. How long were you in L1B (year to year)?
3. When did your last authorized stay expire (month/year)?
4. When did you file for asylum (month/year)?
5. Have you had your asylum interview?
Hi Mom,

Thanks for your prompt reply! Here are the answers to the questions.

1. When did you originally arrive in the US? - first arrival on L1B visa in November 2018 and the last arrival on L1B visa in July 2021
2. How long were you in L1B (year to year)? 2018 - 2021
3. When did your last authorized stay expire (month/year)? October 2021
4. When did you file for asylum (month/year)? September 2021
5. Have you had your asylum interview? No

@Sm1smom Thanks in advance for your time! I appreciate your help! I look forward to your advice! God Bless You & Your Family!
 
Hi Mom,

I am extremely frustrated. Today, I received a "Notice of Intent to Deny" letter in my mailbox, and I have 30 days to respond. The reason for the intent to deny is due to my not being in legal status when I applied for the I-485 application. Even though I applied for asylum while being in L1B status, and since then I have remained in the US waiting for my asylum interview. I am trying to stay calm and do whatever it takes me to get my case approved.

What would you recommend to send in my response to provide proof to counter their claim? Some attorneys on Avvo.com mentioned that certain court decisions have helped others get approval after sending them. Here are some posts from attorneys on Avvo.
  • There is no precedent covering the DV winner, but a legal argument may be made for the expansion of the Matter of Orban. Under Orban, when I-589 filed while in status the subsequent failure to maintain status is for technical reasons and excusable.
  • It depends on the officer but you may be able to adjust. You will need to file a legal brief supporting the "technical" exception argument per the 9th Circuit Court’s decision, Peters v. Barr, 954 F.3d 1238 (2020). We have had success with these cases so please work with a lawyer.
@Sm1smom I trust your judgment and advice more than anything I find on the internet. Please help me with advice on how to respond and what documents or court decisions would increase my chances of getting my case approved by the deadline. Thank you so much in advance! You are my only hope for getting my case approved!

FYI this is the person who got their GC while being in asylum pending in Santa Ana FO in 2018: https://forums.immigration.com/threads/dv-2018-aos-only.336256/page-201#post-2479890
Hi Mom,

Thanks for your prompt reply! Here are the answers to the questions.

1. When did you originally arrive in the US? - first arrival on L1B visa in November 2018 and the last arrival on L1B visa in July 2021
2. How long were you in L1B (year to year)? 2018 - 2021
3. When did your last authorized stay expire (month/year)? October 2021
4. When did you file for asylum (month/year)? September 2021
5. Have you had your asylum interview? No

@Sm1smom Thanks in advance for your time! I appreciate your help! I look forward to your advice! God Bless You & Your Family!
Okay, so here's the fact - asylum pending on it's own is not a valid basis to AOS from. I think I've alluded to this fact in one or two previous posts to you (which I'm not quite sure registered considering you keep talking about having filed for asylum while your L1B was still valid, and never undertook any unauthorized employment). Asylum pending puts you in a period of authorized stay which prevents you from accruing an illegal presence while you asylum application is pending, it however does not serve as a legal status. Having said that, I also have to say, yes there have been quite a couple of reported DV based applications that got approved with asylum pending "status".

If you take a look at the "Asylum Pending" tab/sheet of the DV Tracker - Unique Situations, you will come across a compilation of some the the reported asylum pending cases in this forum. Some got denied, while some got approved. For most of the ones that got approved, they did not do anything special, they were basically fortunate with their assigned IOs loosely interpreting asylum pending. I guess one of the things they take into consideration is the totality of the circumstances of the applicant in question, the IOs have the discretion on how they choose to apply that.

Having said that, I think I vaguely remember a couple cases where the NOID or initial denial got overturned based on the applicant being able to appeal the decision in person by visiting their FO - that was back in the days of when INFOPASS appointments could be scheduled directly by the applicants, or when one could drop in at the FO without an appointment.

There was also one that got approved on because the OOS fell under one of the Exceptions Category - "The applicant’s failure to maintain status was through no fault of his or her own or for technical reasons" - I think this one is also listed on the DV Tracker spreadsheet which I referenced above, by the way. This is the case I had in mind when I asked about certain dates in my last post to you.

There are basically 3 major Exception categories where being OOS could be forgiven in this case, they're all listed below. Take a look at the USCIS Manual to read up more on those to figure out if you can make your situation rightly fit under any of them (you have a better insight into your situation that I do):
  • The applicant was reinstated to F, M, or J status;
  • The applicant’s failure to maintain status was through no fault of his or her own or for technical reasons; or
  • The applicant was granted an extension of nonimmigrant stay or a change of nonimmigrant status.
Pay particular attention to the No Fault of His or Her Own or For Technical Reasons section and see if you can make your appeal fit under that category. Best of luck, and do keep us posted.

 
Okay, so here's the fact - asylum pending on it's own is not a valid basis to AOS from. I think I've alluded to this fact in one or two previous posts to you (which I'm not quite sure registered considering you keep talking about having filed for asylum while your L1B was still valid, and never undertook any unauthorized employment). Asylum pending puts you in a period of authorized stay which prevents you from accruing an illegal presence while you asylum application is pending, it however does not serve as a legal status. Having said that, I also have to say, yes there have been quite a couple of reported DV based applications that got approved with asylum pending "status".

If you take a look at the "Asylum Pending" tab/sheet of the DV Tracker - Unique Situations, you will come across a compilation of some the the reported asylum pending cases in this forum. Some got denied, while some got approved. For most of the ones that got approved, they did not do anything special, they were basically fortunate with their assigned IOs loosely interpreting asylum pending. I guess one of the things they take into consideration is the totality of the circumstances of the applicant in question, the IOs have the discretion on how they choose to apply that.

Having said that, I think I vaguely remember a couple cases where the NOID or initial denial got overturned based on the applicant being able to appeal the decision in person by visiting their FO - that was back in the days of when INFOPASS appointments could be scheduled directly by the applicants, or when one could drop in at the FO without an appointment.

There was also one that got approved on because the OOS fell under one of the Exceptions Category - "The applicant’s failure to maintain status was through no fault of his or her own or for technical reasons" - I think this one is also listed on the DV Tracker spreadsheet which I referenced above, by the way. This is the case I had in mind when I asked about certain dates in my last post to you.

There are basically 3 major Exception categories where being OOS could be forgiven in this case, they're all listed below. Take a look at the USCIS Manual to read up more on those to figure out if you can make your situation rightly fit under any of them (you have a better insight into your situation that I do):
  • The applicant was reinstated to F, M, or J status;
  • The applicant’s failure to maintain status was through no fault of his or her own or for technical reasons; or
  • The applicant was granted an extension of nonimmigrant stay or a change of nonimmigrant status.
Pay particular attention to the No Fault of His or Her Own or For Technical Reasons section and see if you can make your appeal fit under that category. Best of luck, and do keep us posted.


Thank you very much, Mom! Your assistance has been incredibly helpful and informative. As you mentioned previously, I'm unsure whether I can now schedule an appointment at the Field Office (FO) to appeal my case or if it is possible to walk in with the prepared documents without an appointment. Is this feasible now? If not, is the only option to prepare thorough documents, references, and levers, and send them via mail?
 
Hi mom! Happy Friday everyone! I have an interview scheduled for August 12th - which I am excited but nervous about. I have few questions about the relevant documents:
1) My interview letter says to bring an original entry document (i-94). I obvi do not have an original from entry, would online I-94 that is obtained within 30 days per the interview would be valid enough?
2) I graduated my US University but my physical diploma is in my homecountry because my mom wanted it. She sent it via mail but the delivery estimate is end of August (after interview date). I have been using my online copy of my diploma and applied to jobs in the US with it. Would the printed copy of diploma be sufficient?
Thank you so much!
 
Thank you very much, Mom! Your assistance has been incredibly helpful and informative. As you mentioned previously, I'm unsure whether I can now schedule an appointment at the Field Office (FO) to appeal my case or if it is possible to walk in with the prepared documents without an appointment. Is this feasible now? If not, is the only option to prepare thorough documents, references, and levers, and send them via mail?
Quite doubtful the frontline agents would be open to scheduling an INFOPASS appointment for this, but it is worth trying. Contact them to see if they’re open to doing that. If they’re not, then you can attempt a walk-in in addition to mailing in your documents. Walk-in may be allowed or denied, but you’ll know you at least gave it a try also.
 
Hi mom! Happy Friday everyone! I have an interview scheduled for August 12th - which I am excited but nervous about. I have few questions about the relevant documents:
1) My interview letter says to bring an original entry document (i-94). I obvi do not have an original from entry, would online I-94 that is obtained within 30 days per the interview would be valid enough?
2) I graduated my US University but my physical diploma is in my homecountry because my mom wanted it. She sent it via mail but the delivery estimate is end of August (after interview date). I have been using my online copy of my diploma and applied to jobs in the US with it. Would the printed copy of diploma be sufficient?
Thank you so much!
1. Downloaded I-94 is fine.
2. You probably could be okay with the copy. However, I have to say I remember about two or so cases in similar situations, the IO wouldn’t approve the case until after the original diplomas were received by the applicants and subsequently presented at a later date.
 
Sharing an update: today, my case status changed to "On July 20, 2024, we approved your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Receipt Number ***. We sent you an approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice."
I’ve updated the Timeline gdoc.
I received the approval notice today. COA is also F1 as it is for @studentwinner @ClaudiaC
 
We applied as a family in January, the month we became current. Since then there has been nothing but fingerprints. Last week only my wife and son's work permits were approved. In the meantime, we made a congressional inquiry because of the delay. And uscis said that there will be action within 45 days but again it didn't happen, congressman made inquiry again and we are waiting for update. In the meantime, our lawyer made an expedite request to uscis and according to the case tracker app , our expedite request was accepted and completed but we still have no update. I started to lose hope, we have very little time left. My advice to everyone is; never, never, never apply in an area where the washington field office is authorized. They are never interested and it is an incredibly slow office. Move if necessary. Although our number is in the 11,000s and we applied in January, we are about to lose our rights because of the slowness of the officials in this office
 
We applied as a family in January, the month we became current. Since then there has been nothing but fingerprints. Last week only my wife and son's work permits were approved. In the meantime, we made a congressional inquiry because of the delay. And uscis said that there will be action within 45 days but again it didn't happen, congressman made inquiry again and we are waiting for update. In the meantime, our lawyer made an expedite request to uscis and according to the case tracker app , our expedite request was accepted and completed but we still have no update. I started to lose hope, we have very little time left. My advice to everyone is; never, never, never apply in an area where the washington field office is authorized. They are never interested and it is an incredibly slow office. Move if necessary. Although our number is in the 11,000s and we applied in January, we are about to lose our rights because of the slowness of the officials in this office
I understand the frustration, but applying for an immigration benefit is a privilege, not a right. I hope all the best for you.
 
We applied as a family in January, the month we became current. Since then there has been nothing but fingerprints. Last week only my wife and son's work permits were approved. In the meantime, we made a congressional inquiry because of the delay. And uscis said that there will be action within 45 days but again it didn't happen, congressman made inquiry again and we are waiting for update. In the meantime, our lawyer made an expedite request to uscis and according to the case tracker app , our expedite request was accepted and completed but we still have no update. I started to lose hope, we have very little time left. My advice to everyone is; never, never, never apply in an area where the washington field office is authorized. They are never interested and it is an incredibly slow office. Move if necessary. Although our number is in the 11,000s and we applied in January, we are about to lose our rights because of the slowness of the officials in this office
I'm so sorry and understand the frustration completely.

Have you followed up again with your Congressman? If you're not getting any action from them, I would recommend contacting your Senator. You've waited this long, I'd throw everything at it and take every opportunity you can to get updates on your case.

How long ago was the expedite request? And what reason did you give for it? That's a positive that it was accepted at least. Maybe try calling USCIS and ask them directly what the status is based on the expedite request. What has your lawyer recommended?
 
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