back to post my timeline as well and disclose some addtional details about my case. I'm/was FB1 (21+ y/o, unmarried child of lpr upgraded to usn).
June 30, 2006 – received date
in one of my initial posts in this forum I told how I had a whole 2 days to put my entire AOS packet together before the july retrogression that lasted until november for my PD. this included complete medical.
July 7, 2006 – notice date (007 days)
August 2, 2006 – biometrics (033 days)
September 26, 2006 – ead approved (084 days)
so far, so good...
October 11, 2006 – aos interview (approved, PD retrogressed) (103 days)
and this is where the rollercoaster begins. IO could not find my i-130 in my file. fortunately, he's able to approve a new one on the spot and told us so. my father and I had to complete one in his office. next, my file did not indicate that I paid the $1,000 overstay penalty. I produce a uscis receipt from the paperwork I brought to the interview.
he said I was approved but when he went to punch more stuff into the computer he realized that my PD had retrogressed, thus he could not order the gc. as we were walking out he told me that I was "done". no more interviews, no more fingerprints, paperwork, etc. the only thing that held me back that morning was the retrogression. those were his words. I specifically asked about the name check, he said I was done with that has well.
he assured me that my file would go to a special retrogress section that was monitored closely. when my pd became current again they would order the card.
October 26, 2006 – case update (118 days)
November 1, 2006 – infopass; PD current again (no information) (124 days)
scheduled my first infopass just to let them know to move my file out from the special retrogression session and order card production. my case was under review was all I got out of the lady on the other side of the window.
December 1, 2006 – infopass (pending name check) (154 days)
at my second infopass I was told that my case was pending due to name check. grrr.
January 26, 2006 – infopass (pending name check, FBI prints and “no record” result) (210 days)
third infopass. I explained that the interviewing IO had told me I had been approved the day of my interview, but due to the retrogression he could not order a card. I produced a letter written by him stating that my file was going to be moved to this "special section". the gentleman said that I was still name check pending. however, fbi come back with "no record" and my prints were clear. he further explained that the name check is a 3 prong process and I had cleared two of them. the third one was classified and no telling when they would receive an answer back.
he did offer me one bit of encouraging news. the computer told him that my interviewing IO had requested my file in mid-december but he had gone on leave. they saw each other earlier in the week. I asked if I could please have his contact information so I could ask him about my case. he couldn't disclose that.
February 6, 2007 – case update (221 days)
go over my findings of latest infopass with my attorney's assistant over the phone. and request they write a letter inquiring about my case status since it has been over 200 days. she sorta tries to tell me that I need to wait more. I insist they follow-up.
my gut feeling was the people I consulted with at the infopass were clueless and that my file was stuck in that damn retrogress section. maybe this would jolt them into action.
February 20, 2007 – attorney follow-up (case sent to visa retrogress section for review) (235 days)
here's the report I got from my attorney's assistant:
USCIS responded to our request and indicated that it forwarded our inquiry to office that oversees the pending visa regress for review. USCIS further
stated that we will be notified as to the outcome of request and that we must allow 90 days before inquiring again. Accordingly, we have scheduled a
reminder to follow up with USCIS if we have not received a response within 90 days
February 28, 2007 – case update (welcome notice sent) (243 days)
I guess I'll never know if my persistance with infopasses and asking my attorney to follow-up had any bearing on me receiving a welcome note 8 days after they received the letter. I like to think that it did.
I posted my details and timeline to serve a ray of hope for those stuck in the process.
