Booyah,
Ok finally its my time to write that I got my approval. How do I feel? To be honest I have mixed emotions about this....on one side when I saw the approval I felt happy but on the other side I felt "What a travesty"...this need 'nt be this long and hard. I feel I contributed to the boards and also learnt from it. I just feel that I should let people know about my story....so here I go....I applied for my labor in Jan 2003 and got it in 25 days(yah I was surprised too and I did not prepare anything for the next stage) then I applied for 140 and 485 with about 20 days gap. The thing was, the place I work, they do not allow lawyers to file instead they had their own HR(which sucks big time) and pretty much I filed everything by myself from labor to 485. So 140 finishes after a little bit of struggle. Then comes the 485 saga. I waited waited waited. In retrospect I should have gone for consular processing as that would have been really fast but by that time it was too late. Anyways next I explored the AC I-140 option which was to send my 140 papers to the consulate directly and ask them to do a consular processing. For more info on this you can read on the consular processing forum. Well that route did not work as my consulate was the only one which did not accept that route
So again the 485 wait continued. In April 2005 all the people I know who had filed around my time or later had got some sort of reply or approval, except me. I was so impatient(guys this period sucks and hope no one goes through this) as all the folks were getting approved. Then I contacted my Senator by writing a letter explaining my problems. I did not get a reply for about 20 days and then I got a letter from them saying that all checks were complete and waiting to be assigned to an officer. I followed it up with Senators office as they gave me more information than the USCIS folks. On May 20th I see an LUD on my application...2years later, boy I was happy ..but it was a RFE. They sent me a 4 page letter stating all the possible immigration laws and saying that I was ineligible for adjustment of status. The reason being that I worked illegally after filing 485...hmmm that was weird, the amount of time they would have taken to type that RFE they could have just spent to see their EAD database. Anyways I sent the reply ASAP and was waiting waitn waitn...only LUD changes. In the mean time on May 18th I applied for my 3rd EAD online but did not go for Biometrics instead I sent my photos(since I got my AP along the same lines). Anyways my LUD changed 06/16,06/17 then on 06/20 an RFE was issued on my EAD asking me to come for Biometrics. Initially I had a weird feeling that someone had my 485 and 765 together...but thought that may not be the case....I went for biometrics on 07/05 and boom I got approved along with my wife today......so I bet they were with teh same officer and that person wanted biometrics completed. Anyways that is my long story..so if you are still awake and with me good....now what are the moral's of the story here:
a. have a good immi attorney...I did not have one but I always asked good lawyers for consultation for RFE's ...I have seen lot of folks here suffer becoz of bad lawyers. Having done everything by myself(I am an Open Source fanatic)...this is not very hard you ahve to be careful...ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK and take SECOND OPINIONS.
b. DONT UNDERESTIMATE USCIS OFFICERS, they are good believe me...they might not be efficient but they sure will see every minute detail..again alot of lawyers do underestimate them......Take extra precaution and cover your butt with a concrete seal.
c. if you dont know the word "patience" take cover or run. Boy this process made me a sage....Many times I cursed myself why I came to this country and have to go through this sh*t when I could have done wonders in my country. One another thing was I learnt not to question the decisions already taken but move on. I even thought about filing a Mandamus law suit...srireddy if you are reading this booyah....
d. Never give up PERIOD, fight till your clothes are torn if you give up on this there will be lot of struggles ahead in life whuich will need more balls. My son is coming into this world in a month and I need baaaaaaallllllllssssssss.
e. finally this system has to be reformed believe me a lot of folks just walk out after they are out of this torture. Efficiency is the key word that USCIS misses/lacks. If they dont work on your application in a timely fashion sue them...I ahve lot of belief in the judicial system. I would ahve done it if they would not have approved my case by the month end. I see a lot of people suffering with retrogression...I feel a lot of pain for all of them...I seriously do...congressional lobbying is the only way that this can be rectified. I get pissed off when people make a hue and cry about this...how many of you contributed to Mr. Khanna's fund drive .....if everyone is selfish about their own motives then the system will remain the same and people will suffer.
Ok I should stop rambling and go to sleep.
Cheers and God bless you
Ok finally its my time to write that I got my approval. How do I feel? To be honest I have mixed emotions about this....on one side when I saw the approval I felt happy but on the other side I felt "What a travesty"...this need 'nt be this long and hard. I feel I contributed to the boards and also learnt from it. I just feel that I should let people know about my story....so here I go....I applied for my labor in Jan 2003 and got it in 25 days(yah I was surprised too and I did not prepare anything for the next stage) then I applied for 140 and 485 with about 20 days gap. The thing was, the place I work, they do not allow lawyers to file instead they had their own HR(which sucks big time) and pretty much I filed everything by myself from labor to 485. So 140 finishes after a little bit of struggle. Then comes the 485 saga. I waited waited waited. In retrospect I should have gone for consular processing as that would have been really fast but by that time it was too late. Anyways next I explored the AC I-140 option which was to send my 140 papers to the consulate directly and ask them to do a consular processing. For more info on this you can read on the consular processing forum. Well that route did not work as my consulate was the only one which did not accept that route
So again the 485 wait continued. In April 2005 all the people I know who had filed around my time or later had got some sort of reply or approval, except me. I was so impatient(guys this period sucks and hope no one goes through this) as all the folks were getting approved. Then I contacted my Senator by writing a letter explaining my problems. I did not get a reply for about 20 days and then I got a letter from them saying that all checks were complete and waiting to be assigned to an officer. I followed it up with Senators office as they gave me more information than the USCIS folks. On May 20th I see an LUD on my application...2years later, boy I was happy ..but it was a RFE. They sent me a 4 page letter stating all the possible immigration laws and saying that I was ineligible for adjustment of status. The reason being that I worked illegally after filing 485...hmmm that was weird, the amount of time they would have taken to type that RFE they could have just spent to see their EAD database. Anyways I sent the reply ASAP and was waiting waitn waitn...only LUD changes. In the mean time on May 18th I applied for my 3rd EAD online but did not go for Biometrics instead I sent my photos(since I got my AP along the same lines). Anyways my LUD changed 06/16,06/17 then on 06/20 an RFE was issued on my EAD asking me to come for Biometrics. Initially I had a weird feeling that someone had my 485 and 765 together...but thought that may not be the case....I went for biometrics on 07/05 and boom I got approved along with my wife today......so I bet they were with teh same officer and that person wanted biometrics completed. Anyways that is my long story..so if you are still awake and with me good....now what are the moral's of the story here:a. have a good immi attorney...I did not have one but I always asked good lawyers for consultation for RFE's ...I have seen lot of folks here suffer becoz of bad lawyers. Having done everything by myself(I am an Open Source fanatic)...this is not very hard you ahve to be careful...ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK and take SECOND OPINIONS.
b. DONT UNDERESTIMATE USCIS OFFICERS, they are good believe me...they might not be efficient but they sure will see every minute detail..again alot of lawyers do underestimate them......Take extra precaution and cover your butt with a concrete seal.
c. if you dont know the word "patience" take cover or run. Boy this process made me a sage....Many times I cursed myself why I came to this country and have to go through this sh*t when I could have done wonders in my country. One another thing was I learnt not to question the decisions already taken but move on. I even thought about filing a Mandamus law suit...srireddy if you are reading this booyah....
d. Never give up PERIOD, fight till your clothes are torn if you give up on this there will be lot of struggles ahead in life whuich will need more balls. My son is coming into this world in a month and I need baaaaaaallllllllssssssss.
e. finally this system has to be reformed believe me a lot of folks just walk out after they are out of this torture. Efficiency is the key word that USCIS misses/lacks. If they dont work on your application in a timely fashion sue them...I ahve lot of belief in the judicial system. I would ahve done it if they would not have approved my case by the month end. I see a lot of people suffering with retrogression...I feel a lot of pain for all of them...I seriously do...congressional lobbying is the only way that this can be rectified. I get pissed off when people make a hue and cry about this...how many of you contributed to Mr. Khanna's fund drive .....if everyone is selfish about their own motives then the system will remain the same and people will suffer.
Ok I should stop rambling and go to sleep.
Cheers and God bless you