485 Approved after interview at Columbus

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rvssnraju

Registered Users (C)
I am happy to announce that mine and dependent's 485 approved after an interview at Columbus on May 23rd. Thanks to every one on this great forum.

Our cases were filed in VSC, but later transferred to Cincinnati in Oct '04. They were subsequently transferred to Columbus (we have a Columbus address on file)around Dec 04.

The interview letter asked for PP, I94, Employment verification letter, Medicals, proof of marriage and court dispositions, etc, if any. We went to the office about 15 mins before the appointment time, and was called in after about 5 minutes. The officer made us take an oath first. She then asked what company I work for. She then went through the file and asked if we were ever arrested, part of any terrorist organization, etc.(The same questionaire we fill in Visa/485 apps). She finally said every thing on our file is in order and that she would recommend for approval. She said the process would be complete in about 6 to 8 weeks and we would receive cards directly. She never asked and never checked a single document I carried.

I was hoping for a confirmed approval and pp stamping in the interview. No matter how seriously requested/pressed, she kept on saying every thing is OK and that she would recommend for approval. She did not stamp our passports on that day.

Surprisingly, we received approval letters from local office the very next day(05/24) at our home. I immediately took an appointment and we got the PPs stamped today morning.

The officer mentioned during the interview that they started processing all the backlog cases in that office this week. I think if any one is waiting for interview from Columbus, they will get it soon.

Good luck to every one

Thanks

VSC 140/485 - 06/10/2004
140 AD 10/23/04
485 AD 05/23/05
 
Congrats.....Could you tell why they ask for interview. Because, you are living in Columbus and filed in VSC. Or every 485 application gets interview?

Please advice....
 
I think they randomly select about 5-10% of applications for detailed verification and interviews by local office. Generally the transferred cases go the local office that is covering the geographical area you are currently in(based on your current address on file). For all transferred cases, the interview is part of the procedure to approve the case.
 
rvssnraju said:
I think they randomly select about 5-10% of applications for detailed verification and interviews by local office. Generally the transferred cases go the local office that is covering the geographical area you are currently in(based on your current address on file). For all transferred cases, the interview is part of the procedure to approve the case.
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congratulations on your approval.

I would like to make a small correction to your stmt. Interview selection is NOT random. There are 4-5 interview waiver criteria the officer can apply to your case. If none of that can be applied then your case is transferred to the local office. I was a little bit surprised to see the officer did not check any documents in your case.

I have pasted below the relevent section from SOP. This was revised earlier this year (jan 6th 2005) and it was made harder to transfer to local office. I was not able to find that PDF.



Employment-
based Criteria
The adjudicating officer must determine whether the employment-based
I-485 meets waiver of interview criteria set forth below.

Employment-based:

• The principal applicant is employed by the same petitioner who submitted
the approved underlying employment-based visa petition.

• The principal applicant has been interviewed in the course of an
investigation or field examination, and the adjudicating examiner
determines that further interview of the applicant is unnecessary.

• The principal applicant has been approved as an alien of extraordinary
ability or alien of exceptional ability and is otherwise eligible for
adjustment of status.

• The principal applicant has been approved as an outstanding professor or
researcher, or a multinational executive/manager and has a continuing
offer of employment from the same petitioner who submitted the
underlying approved petition.

• Adjustment applicants who received national interest waivers based on
performing primary medical care to a medically under-served area must
demonstrate that they intend to continue according to the terms and
conditions of the underlying petition.

Other:

• Sufficient evidence is contained in the record to support a denial of the
adjustment of status application. For example, if an I-485 that should
have been rejected at Visa Screening/INS Review was accepted in error, a
denial would be processed by the adjudicating officer.
 
rvssnraju

Congratulations! My file got transferred from Columbus to Boston. This will lead to further delay as Boston is very, very backed up. However, I feel that I would have missed all notices from Columbus local office to my old Columbus address and my case would have been denied due to failure to appear. Even my lawyer was not getting any notices.
 
pras01

Thank you.

I read your emergency AP ordeal on the other thread. I hope and pray that things are fine with your family. Don't be so disheartened about your case. From what I see things are getting improved and hopefully your case will get approved soon. As some one said on the forum, sending enquiries through local senators might help in cases like yours. You have most likely done that already, however keep reminding them for every 30 days or so. Couple of my friends got quick responses this way.


pras01 said:
Congratulations! My file got transferred from Columbus to Boston. This will lead to further delay as Boston is very, very backed up. However, I feel that I would have missed all notices from Columbus local office to my old Columbus address and my case would have been denied due to failure to appear. Even my lawyer was not getting any notices.
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