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Dv 2009 - Aos Only

maila said:
Hi, I have been updating this blog since I got my first NL. My case No. AS201028XXX.
I am in US and decided to do AOS and paid fees ($375x2)but after reading this blog it seems we will be in trouble doing AOS due to our high CN and hectic processing in USCIS. My wife is DV winner. Please help me decide if I should do AOS or CP but I have already paid AOs fees ( do you think I can get reimbursed?). If we happen to do CP how early we need to go home country? 'Cause I am in work visa, I can not leave US for long time. Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thank you for all the information and support.
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I wouldn't advise AOS if you have another green card application pending. If not you should be fine.

By the way,just got my interview letter for September 8th.
 
nlhanhla said:
I wouldn't advise AOS if you have another green card application pending. If not you should be fine.

By the way,just got my interview letter for September 8th.
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Great news!!
Boy, the wait to the interview is so hard!!
Best of luck!!
 
Question

Can anyone clarify whether the entire AOS has to be complete before Sept 30 or do you have to have had the interview before Sept 30 to be "safe"?
Thanks - and best of luck to all.
 
karariwalla: your AOS Interview should be approved & you should have welcome letter before September 30, 2009. Your Green Card can be issued at a date after that. This was one of our queries. Please read some back dated blogs here.

We have our query: Is it normal For Husband & Wife to receive Green Card at different times? Please someone answer.

All the Best to Everyone on this forum for a timely Successful AOS & Green Card!
 
I heard that you also can finish the Gardasil after Sept. 30 as long as the rest is approved...Since the HPV shots take 7 months to complete.
 
maila said:
Hi, I have been updating this blog since I got my first NL. My case No. AS201028XXX.
I am in US and decided to do AOS and paid fees ($375x2)but after reading this blog it seems we will be in trouble doing AOS due to our high CN and hectic processing in USCIS. My wife is DV winner. Please help me decide if I should do AOS or CP but I have already paid AOs fees ( do you think I can get reimbursed?). If we happen to do CP how early we need to go home country? 'Cause I am in work visa, I can not leave US for long time. Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thank you for all the information and support.
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Doing AOS isn't that bad. My number was current on July. Sent my AOS on July 3rd and in Aug 17 I had my successful interview.

It also depends where you are at. If you are in Chicago, Dallas or some big cities, the field office are hell busy and your application might get stucked. I am in a small city and it completed before sept30.

kathmandunp
 
bhshvKTMpk said:
karariwalla: your AOS Interview should be approved & you should have welcome letter before September 30, 2009. Your Green Card can be issued at a date after that. This was one of our queries. Please read some back dated blogs here.

We have our query: Is it normal For Husband & Wife to receive Green Card at different times? Please someone answer.

All the Best to Everyone on this forum for a timely Successful AOS & Green Card!
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Thanks!
________________________________________________
May 05, 2008: Received NL from KCC
May 14, 2008: DSP-122, DS-230 submitted to KCC for AOS
July 09, 2008: Received 2nd NL acknowledging AOS with USCIS
May 21, 2009: Paid DV FEE $375.00
May 26, 2009: Receipt for payment of DV Fee Received
June 22, 2009: Medicals Completed
July 01, 2009: Sent AOS package with $1010 Fee
July 08, 2009: Receipts from AOS package received
July 11, 2009: Biometrics Notification Received
Aug 05, 2009: Biometrics Completed
Aug 06, 2009: Interview Notice Received
Aug 18, 2009: Interview completed
 
Green card received

WE RECEIVED OUR GREEN CARD IN MAIL TODAY 1SEP2009.

Here's our summarized experience:
April2008 (beginning): Received Letter from KCC 'Winning 2009DV' AS4xxx
April2008 (end): Sent DS forms to KCC
FEB2009 (beginning): Sent $750 Cashier's TO DOS
April2009 (end): Sent AOS Package to Chicago Lockbox (+AOS Fee+Medical)
May2009 (beginning): Received NOA; Cashier's Checks cashed
June2009 (end): Received Interview Notification Letter
July 2009(end): 1st Interview; received Adjudicative Review Letter
Aug 2009(third week): 2nd Interview; Welcome Letter Received
September 1, 2009: WE ARE HONORED RECEIVING PERMANENT RESIDENCY TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

WE THANK Everyone on this Blog/Forum For Giving Correct Guidance.

All THE future AOS applicants MUST Refer to this Blog/Forum for their QUERRIES, for 100% Correct Guidance.

BEST OF LUCK AND BEST WISHES TO EVERYONE FOR TIMELY APPROVAL OF AOS & FOR RECEIVING GREEN CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
We received our GC today and yesterday, my card came yesterday and today my wife's came :D ..

BUT, they switch the sex for both of us, they gave me F and M for her :mad: ..

at least we ahve it now I gues our next step will be to have a local appointment to show them and make sure they fix it.
 
i2009 said:
Hello maila,

Some people suggest that CP is better than AOS but there are pros and cons. There have been AOS cases that were filed late, and they were approved in a month or so.

The amount that you paid is for the Diversity Visa Lottery surcharge and it is paid for both CP and AOS. The difference is that in CP cases you pay it during the Consular Interview and for AOS cases you send your payment to the DOS.

If you decide to go for CP you will need to pay the rest of the fees (Immigrant visa application processing fee and Immigrant visa security surcharge) at the Consular Office at the time of your consular interview. Bring the receipt of your payment to the Consular interview so you can prove that it was already paid.

If you choose CP you need to send a note to the DOS so they can process your case and send it to the US Consulate in your country. The DOS will schedule your interview and you will receive a letter with the date, time, and location of the interview. You will need to travel early so you can do the Medical, Police Certificates, etc before the interview.

One of the risks of CP is that you could get stuck abroad if something goes wrong with your name check. Sometimes they deny your reentry after they deny the DV.

I suggest you read the forums for 2008 and 2009 before making a decision.


Good luck!
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Hi,

Thank you for taking to time write comprehensive response. Thank you rabie80, nlhanhla and kathmandunp and all.

We are still not sure whether we will go AOS or CP route. It seems kathmandunp had smooth USCIS experience. I started to worry after I had unpleasant experience in our local USCIS. After we received AOS confirmation from KCC, we did infopass and went to USCIS and the guy (I am not sure if he was immigration officer or not) seem not happy. He told us to follow the instruction which we obviously could read. He also seem unaware of DV process. I guess they have not come across any AOS case through DV. But they do quite many Marriage based AOS. As our CN is high and if local USCIS screws us unknowingly then we may miss our window of opportunity. But for sure it will be so much easier to do AOS. Any insight? Do we have to go particularly to our local USCIS or we can go to any?

If we happen to choose CP, do we have to call Kcc or email them about our option? Anyone has done it? How long they take to confirm change of AOS to CP? How early they sent letter for the interview? Are we supposed to wait for the letter from KCC about our interview in home country or we need to call them? Just trying to figure out if we need to leave for home then how early we get info and date about our interview so that we can sort out our travel plans ahead. Any insight will be highly appreciated.

Thank you again and good luck to all the winners.
 
maila said:
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Hi,

Thank you for taking to time write comprehensive response. Thank you rabie80, nlhanhla and kathmandunp and all.

We are still not sure whether we will go AOS or CP route. It seems kathmandunp had smooth USCIS experience. I started to worry after I had unpleasant experience in our local USCIS. After we received AOS confirmation from KCC, we did infopass and went to USCIS and the guy (I am not sure if he was immigration officer or not) seem not happy. He told us to follow the instruction which we obviously could read. He also seem unaware of DV process. I guess they have not come across any AOS case through DV. But they do quite many Marriage based AOS. As our CN is high and if local USCIS screws us unknowingly then we may miss our window of opportunity. But for sure it will be so much easier to do AOS. Any insight? Do we have to go particularly to our local USCIS or we can go to any?

If we happen to choose CP, do we have to call Kcc or email them about our option? Anyone has done it? How long they take to confirm change of AOS to CP? How early they sent letter for the interview? Are we supposed to wait for the letter from KCC about our interview in home country or we need to call them? Just trying to figure out if we need to leave for home then how early we get info and date about our interview so that we can sort out our travel plans ahead. Any insight will be highly appreciated.

Thank you again and good luck to all the winners.
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Hi,

Just wanted to add some more info. We went home last year to renew our visa and did not have any trouble with name checks.Do you think we may run into name check trouble this time? So far we have maintained our visa status.
 
maila said:
I started to worry after I had unpleasant experience in our local USCIS. After we received AOS confirmation from KCC, we did infopass and went to USCIS and the guy (I am not sure if he was immigration officer or not) seem not happy. He told us to follow the instruction which we obviously could read.
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Maila, my first infopass with the local USCIS was very similar to yours. But now, looking back, I would suggest not to make any fast conclusions based on that first experience. Here are a few things to consider. Infopass people are too ignorant to be the officers who make any decisions. They are much more like regular front desk clerks. Some of them are better, some are worse. In general, it is rare when people get any useful information from them... On the other side, your AOS petition is initially processed NOT at your local office. You mail it to Chicago, then it goes to Missouri Service Center, and I assume that a huge part of decision is made in Missouri. Also, if you look at the signatures with time lines, you'll see a tendency for faster processing of AOS cases... Of course, the decision is yours. Just be informed about all the pros and cons.

maila said:
He also seem unaware of DV process. I guess they have not come across any AOS case through DV.
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Hard to believe. There are not so many field offices in the nation, and every year there are at least a few thousand DV winners doing AOS. So it is unlikely that your case is the first in your office.

Good luck!
 
Congratulations bhshvKTMpk and mabdall2,

mabdall2, do you know if the mistake is because your I-485 was incorrect or was it an USCIS error? I think you should have an infopass and bring your copy of the I-485 and the Green Cards for them to fix them. I would do it asap before the end of September just in case.
 
maila said:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,

Thank you for taking to time write comprehensive response. Thank you rabie80, nlhanhla and kathmandunp and all.

We are still not sure whether we will go AOS or CP route. It seems kathmandunp had smooth USCIS experience. I started to worry after I had unpleasant experience in our local USCIS. After we received AOS confirmation from KCC, we did infopass and went to USCIS and the guy (I am not sure if he was immigration officer or not) seem not happy. He told us to follow the instruction which we obviously could read. He also seem unaware of DV process. I guess they have not come across any AOS case through DV. But they do quite many Marriage based AOS. As our CN is high and if local USCIS screws us unknowingly then we may miss our window of opportunity. But for sure it will be so much easier to do AOS. Any insight? Do we have to go particularly to our local USCIS or we can go to any?

If we happen to choose CP, do we have to call Kcc or email them about our option? Anyone has done it? How long they take to confirm change of AOS to CP? How early they sent letter for the interview? Are we supposed to wait for the letter from KCC about our interview in home country or we need to call them? Just trying to figure out if we need to leave for home then how early we get info and date about our interview so that we can sort out our travel plans ahead. Any insight will be highly appreciated.

Thank you again and good luck to all the winners.
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Most of the DV cases are CP. Only about 1,400 cases per year are reported to be AOS. It means that the Field Offices don't process much DV AOS cases. Some people have said that small Field Offices are better because the big cities ones are swamped with all kind of cases.

Also, the AOS cases are processed by the National Benefit Center and then they are sent to the Field Offices for interview and final processing. I am sure that the National Benefit Center does know how to handle DV cases but that's just my opinion.

About your infopass experience. Sometimes you take an infopass and you are lucky that the immigration officer knows about your inquiries and is willing to help. Some other times you find that they know nothing and sometimes they are rude. You may need to take another infopass and hope that they assign another IO.

I understand that you already informed KCC about your intention to proceed with AOS. I asked the KCC about switching from AOS to CP in the event that my AOS case takes longer than expected. They told me to call back if I decide to switch and that they will give me instructions of how to proceed. They said that they have to process the CP case so that they need about 2 months until they can schedule the consular interview and send my case to the Consulate.

After you make the switch, and they finish processing your case, the KCC will send you a notification of the location, date, and time of your interview.

BTW, for the Fiscal Year 2009, cut-off numbers for cases ranging in 28,000 in Asia were current in June. It might not be too high for AOS.

Check the following links:
AOS vs CP
CP Procedure
AOS Procedure
 
i2009 said:
Did you have your interview today? Can you share your interview process?

I hope everything went well
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Had to work right after interview so didn't get a chance to post.

The interview was the same as everyone else describes it. You take the oath and they ask you questions on the I-485 form. She also asked us to write notes saying we were withdrawing our Employment based I-485, but only after she told us she would be approving the application and obtaining the visa numbers. As far as stamping the passports, she said they only do it if one has an immediate need for the status change, like travel plans before the actual card comes. She took all our EAD's and I-94's. She even went into my student history even though I had been out of the country for about 2 years between that time and when I came back on H1b.

Am now waiting for the actual cards.

Thanks to all for all your support and help. Special thanks to those who took the time to post thier timelines and answer questions.

And Imados, it's only a matter of time. They're waiting for your EB case to get to them.
 
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