Any February 2011 I-130/I-485 filer yet?. . .let's track progress.

Update- My EAD went to CP yesterday.

Induz- Thanks for sharing about your interview experience. This is the time to celebrate and rejoice. I hope that all the Feb filers get approved on the spot as yours did. My friend who had an interview on the same day as you was not given the verbal approval on the spot but the IO told them they will receive something in the mail in two weeks, so to me that is an indirect approval. My friend and the spouse were separated too. Dont worry about your EAD not being collected. Its all depends on the IO. The critical thing is them taking your I-94 which they did. You already received card production, so you are set :)

Noella- I am sorry to hear that your mom is not doing well. I hope she feels better and a quick recovery. You can use your approved AP to travel if you need to go see her, but please do your biometrics first. Dont worry about your hubby having a bad memory, they only ask things that are very relevant. Like date of birth, proposal and marriage and things about both your families and ofcourse your house. I think your hubby will remember those.

Ivka- Congrats on your approval. I know that you dont post much on this thread but do you mind sharing the details and the questions that you were asked. Were you guys separated as well?

abhiku, centella- Congrats on the EAD approval
 
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thomkip said:
Update- My EAD went to CP yesterday.

Induz- Thanks for sharing about your interview experience. This is the time to celebrate and rejoice. I hope that all the Feb filers get approved on the spot as yours did. My friend who had an interview on the same day as you was not given the verbal approval on the spot but the IO told them they will receive something in the mail in two weeks, so to me that is an indirect approval. My friend and the spouse were separated too. Dont worry about your EAD not being collected. Its all depends on the IO. The critical thing is them taking your I-94 which they did. You already received card production, so you are set :)
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Hey Thomkip

Anytime buddy! And congratulation on your EAD progress. For once I thought your EAD went for Consular Processing. LOL!

Where was your friend interviewed? Is there a new trend of interviewing the couples separately on their initial interview its elf? I thought that was reserved only for the Stokes interview. USCIS is getting stringent or what? I too have a feeling that they are approved but will just have to wait for the approval letter in the mail. Hope their interview went well. If your friend was interviewed in Boise, ID too, I would suggest you guys also be prepared to be interviewed separately. Nothing much to worry about but just practice through all the standard questions so that your answers match. For us, only my wife was interviewed separately and I think she convinced the IO well enough that he didn't feel the need to interview me separately.

I am not too worried about the EAD not collected but have read that usually it is taken once approved. But yeah, you are correct - it totally depends on the IO. I just didn't want to overburden myself with so many documents to keep track of. I may think of surrendering it once I receive the card. Lets see.

Good luck with your interview preparation. I know you are well aware of everything that is needed, but do let me know if you have any specific questions.
 
induz_ said:
Hey Thomkip

Anytime buddy! And congratulation on your EAD progress. For once I thought your EAD went for Consular Processing. LOL! That is funny hahahahahaaaaaa

Where was your friend interviewed? Is there a new trend of interviewing the couples separately on their initial interview its elf? I thought that was reserved only for the Stokes interview. USCIS is getting stringent or what? I too have a feeling that they are approved but will just have to wait for the approval letter in the mail. Hope their interview went well. If your friend was interviewed in Boise, ID too, I would suggest you guys also be prepared to be interviewed separately. Nothing much to worry about but just practice through all the standard questions so that your answers match. For us, only my wife was interviewed separately and I think she convinced the IO well enough that he didn't feel the need to interview me separately.

I am not too worried about the EAD not collected but have read that usually it is taken once approved. But yeah, you are correct - it totally depends on the IO. I just didn't want to overburden myself with so many documents to keep track of. I may think of surrendering it once I receive the card. Lets see.

Good luck with your interview preparation. I know you are well aware of everything that is needed, but do let me know if you have any specific questions.
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I think it depends on the IO or the DO. I have also noticed that most people that go out of status or you are an overstay, they will most likely separate the couples. But then again, I know a few people that were in status and were separated. My friend was interviewed at a different DO in MN. From what I know, if they separate the couple, the US citizen/LPR gets called in first for questioning. We are preparing for either.
 
induz_ said:
@immiresearch

Congratulations on the EAD buddy! Any word on the I-485 yet? What does the online status say?
We did pop the cork yesterday, but only for a muscato. Thanks for the wishes.
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Thank you buddy! Nothing on the I-485 yet, still on "Testing and interview". Guess it will be like that until after interview at least. How is the family, they should be in "rejoice" mode right now.
 
@ thomkip

Congratulations friends, that is really a good one. How is the interview preparations going? I am actually preparing for the worse and hoping for the best. Me and my spouse met on the internet and i dont know how the IO might see that if we are asked how we met? I have overstayed my status for some months but have not accrued any illegal presence before i met my spouse so am kind of skeptical as overstayed applicants are more suspicious. But it always feel good to be doing things the right way. We are ready as long is something about us and our relationship.

@ musicaa ad those expecting updates

Please be calm and positive. God's willing you will hear something soon!
 
immiresearch said:
@ thomkip

Congratulations friends, that is really a good one. How is the interview preparations going? I am actually preparing for the worse and hoping for the best. Me and my spouse met on the internet and i dont know how the IO might see that if we are asked how we met? I have overstayed my status for some months but have not accrued any illegal presence before i met my spouse so am kind of skeptical as overstayed applicants are more suspicious.
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My preparations are going well. We have been compiling all the documents that we are gonna take and just going through questions about ourselves, families and the place we live. Don't worry about the fact that you met your spouse online. A lot of people meet online now, its very common and it leads to marriage. As long as you can show the marriage is for real. I actually met my spouse online too :) I am still on good status(F1) though. How are your preparations going?
 
@immiresearch

My family is more excited with the fact that they got my lazy bum to go ahead and file my application. They have been persuading me for the past 1 year to do it and I never took it very seriously until last few months of 2010. Now that is it over everyone is relieved. I am too :)

A question for everyone now:

Once one receives the physical GC in hand, am I obliged to go and get my status changed with the social security department? Or should I wait until I get the conditional clause removed? Any other thing I need to take care of?
 
Well after taking a mental break for a few days and reading all your thoughts I feel much better, thanks :)
I still want to smack the slowness of USCIS tho....LOL

@Janedoh -Thanks for your words and thoughts.

@Musicaa -Thanks for your thougts as well, I hope its moving well for you.

@Thomkip -I always feel better and smarter after reading your posts, thanks.

@Induz -Again Congrats and a cyber high 5 to you!! Thanks for your well written thoughts too.

@Immiresearch -Thanks for your reply, I feel better now.

@Noella -I always feel peppy and happy after reading whatever you post, thanks.

Thanks to all and hope we all move along to our end goals.
 
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TonyGman said:
Well after taking a mental break for a few days and reading all your thoughts I feel much better, thanks :)
I still want to smack the slowness of USCIS tho....LOL


@Thomkip -I always feel better and smarter after reading your posts, thanks.
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Thanks. Are you filing the I-130 alone or are you doing a concurrent filing(I-130, I-485)?. If you are filing the I-130 alone, the case will be transferred to California and the NOA that you have should have a receipt # that starts with CSC. If you are doing concurrent then its different. Filing single I-130s takes longer because it takes about 2-3 months for it to be approved then another 3-4 months for the I-485 to be approved. If its a concurrent filing, it takes 3-4-5 months for approval depending of the DO. I had asked you this question on a previous post.
 
thomkip said:
Thanks. Are you filing the I-130 alone or are you doing a concurrent filing(I-130, I-485)?. If you are filing the I-130 alone, the case will be transferred to California and the NOA that you have should have a receipt # that starts with CSC. If you are doing concurrent then its different. Filing single I-130s takes longer because it takes about 2-3 months for it to be approved then another 3-4 months for the I-485 to be approved. If its a concurrent filing, it takes 3-4-5 months for approval depending of the DO. I had asked you this question on a previous post.
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Yes, I guess you could call it the I-130 alone (along with 325). The NOA shows it went to Calif. It starts off as WAC##########.
My understanding is that it could take 2-5 months to get out of USCIS in Calif and move to NVC at which point it would be far less time there (perhaps 1-3 months).

I do not recall anything that suggests we need the I-485. I could be wrong tho.
The above time frames were from a manager at USCIS so I hope its a good timeframe.

Thanks.
 
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my timeline

02/05/2011 ~ Mailed I-130
02/07/2011 ~ Package signed for at Chicago lock box
02/07/2011 ~ Priority date
02/10/2011 ~ NOA1 notice date
02/18/2011 ~ NOA1 hard copy received in mail
********** ~ Routed to California Service Center
02/18/2011 ~ Last Touched

I-130 filed for my spouse living abroad.

my receipt # starts with WAC.

I expect approval of a petition somewhere around mid-June.:confused:

TonyGman you are not alone.
 
Induz!! congrats. It feels good to hear success stories like yours. Hopefully everyone else s goes just as smoothly . Truly, congratulations brother!
 
induz_ said:
@immiresearch

My family is more excited with the fact that they got my lazy bum to go ahead and file my application. They have been persuading me for the past 1 year to do it and I never took it very seriously until last few months of 2010. Now that is it over everyone is relieved. I am too :)

A question for everyone now:

Once one receives the physical GC in hand, am I obliged to go and get my status changed with the social security department? Or should I wait until I get the conditional clause removed? Any other thing I need to take care of?
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Ideally you should go ahead and get your status changed with your SS as soon as you get your conditional GC.
This will eliminate the requirement of the EAD completely :D and if you are looking at Naturalization eventually, it will also account for your length of stay on your GC.
 
@dunee88

Thanks a lot bro! I too wish for everyone to have a smooth sailing. I see that you received your EAD recently. Congrats on getting one step closer! We did have the biometrics on the same day and as I had mentioned before, NY must have one of the busiest DO in the country and that's the reason you haven't heard anything about your interview. But as they say, all in good time my friend. Good luck preparing for your interview. And thanks again! :)

@TonyGman

Thank a lot man and here's me returning the cyber high five! Good to have you back.
The Consular Processing you are going through is not that slow too. The person I filed through is in CA and she was telling me that CA Service Center is pretty fast. You have already received your NOA and your I-130 should be getting approved soon (2 months give or take). When your case is forwarded to the consulate, it might take another 2-3 months to receive the visa. So it should take a max of 5-6 months which is what most of the people doing AOS experience too. So hang on there buddy! Keep faith and good luck to you!
 
Noella said:
Ideally you should go ahead and get your status changed with your SS as soon as you get your conditional GC.
This will eliminate the requirement of the EAD completely :D and if you are looking at Naturalization eventually, it will also account for your length of stay on your GC.
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Thanks Noella! I guess I will do it then. As well as my driver's license.
 
induz_ said:
A question for everyone now:

Once one receives the physical GC in hand, am I obliged to go and get my status changed with the social security department? Or should I wait until I get the conditional clause removed? Any other thing I need to take care of?
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It really does not matter. I still have the SS card that I got while I was a student.
It did not affect my Naturalization Process. And according to the summaries I got every year from the social security office, I am accruing working time for my retirement.

if you don't want to see "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION" in your card, you can go ahead and ask for a new one.

Note: my SS card is so old that it says "INS" I don't know how they are now may be "USCIS" ?
 
eggluze said:
Is there anyone on this thread with DO in Fairfax, VA? Any interview letters in this DO?
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@eggluze

Even I'm with DO in Fairfax,VA but still my status shows "Initial Review" ...After walk-in-biometrics I haven't heard anything, I am little worried :( waiting for next step...I hope you should hear something soon about your interview letter..Good luck with that and please keep us posted!

@induz

Congratulations for ur GC! That's really great news and glad to know everything went well :)

@Everyone
Congratulations to all those who got their interview letters and Good luck to every one for the next step :)
 
@immig4us: I called USCIS today, and they told me that Fairfax, VA DO is now processing applications that were filed on 27th of June, 2010. So I guess there is a long wait for us still. I read somewhere that our DO is one of the busiest in the country...
 
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