AOS Interview Concern!

[kamran4149]

Hi Everyone,

My wife is a US Citizen. I filed for AOS in May 2003 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In December of 2003, we recieved a letter to go to the INS office in OKC for an interview. The INS officer told us that we passed the interview but our case is pending for the name checking and that he could not approve us at that time. Then we both moved to California, but we did not file our change of address since we thought we were done with our GC interview and that would cause a huge delay in our process. Our address in Oklahoma was one of our relatives address and therefore he forwarded all the letters that INS sent within the last 25 months to our CA address (So, no problem in that part). We both started working here in CA and we bought a house in September 2005. In September 2005, we found out that my FBI name checking has been cleared.

Now I just received a letter from INS office in OKC that again they need to interview both of us !! and that we need to take the following documents:

-Letter of employment for my wife and myself
-Evidence of common residence
-Federal and State tax return for the last 3 years

Now our problem is that we have not reported our change of address. Our State tax returns are in California not Oklahoma and we both work and live in CA. The fact is that we have lots of shared documents, such as a house, car, bank account, credit card, lots of photos together, etc. We just didn't report our change of address. Do you guys think it is going to be a big deal. Is it possible that our case get denied or even worse is it possible that I get deported just because of that we forgot to report our change of address. I appreciate your quick response as our interview day is approaching very fast.

 

[rbhpsj1]

My gut feeling is that they want to interview you again because of the long time lapse since you filed your case. They probably want to make sure you are still living together and acting as a married couple (having a home, filing joint taxes) as well as unlikely to become a public charge ( that's what the employment letters are probably about). I think that you are experiencing totally normal post interview paranoia, and that the change of address is not a major factor in this case. You should file the change of address, and ask them to send the case to California. I would also take an infopass appointment in California, explain the situation (you moved and didn't move the case, which is not a crime just not prudent) and ask advice.

One question: Do you mean you did not file the AR-11, which is the offical notification that you have moved, or only that you didn't update them with your status as Californians?. You should file the AR-11, but that doesn't effect any pending cases, just keeps you fulfilling the legal requirements.
I'm not a betting person, but if I was, I would put money down that they will absolutely not deport you for this. Get annoyed, yes. Deport, no!

 

[kamran4149]

Dear rbhpsj1, thank you for your quick response.
Yes, we did not file the AR-11 change of address form when we moved to CA. My concern is that if I do report my change of address now, it is more than 2 years since we moved. aren't they going to ask why I didn't file within the 10 days time frame.

Thank you.

 

[rbhpsj1]

I should really go to bed, but I will answer this now, rather than procrastinate. They may ask why you didn't file the AR-11. I would talk to a lawyer about how to handle this. I would file it now at least, so that it will have been done before the interview. I don't think this is a huge deal, they can deport and prosecute on not filing it, but I doubt they will even notice.