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DV 2010 AOS Only

Congrulation chooti. J am glad ur journey is over now. Best of luck for ur future.
We received our GCs yesterday. I am really thankful to everyone in this forum for making our process lot easier. Special thanks to the guys who did some experiments by filing 50 days earlier. This is something which i didn't see in 2009 forum and which gave lot of courage to the applicants whose numbers became current in August/September. I always advice 2011 applicants to read the entire 2010 forum because each minute you spend on reading it is worthy.
For those who haven't received the interview appointments yet should do infopasses or follow other methods described in the forum, as you have only a limited time. Some USCIS offices order the KCC file after the interview and if that happens it takes 2-4 extra days for your case to be approved. You should be fine if your case gets approved and your online status changes to CPO before September 30th. If you need a written proof you can get your passport stamped through an infopass as long as you have a valid reason. You can do that only if you are approved (CPO status). I personally did it as i had to apply for SSN.
Thanks again and i wish Good Luck for those who are waiting for the GCs and the 2011 applicants.
 
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! chooti. Thanks for your information, It is important to know these things
We received our GCs yesterday. I am really thankful to everyone in this forum for making our process lot easier. Special thanks to the guys who did some experiments by filing 50 days earlier. This is something which i didn't see in 2009 forum and which gave lot of courage to the applicants whose numbers became current in August/September. I always advice 2011 applicants to read the entire 2010 forum because each minute you spend on reading it is worthy.
For those who haven't received the interview appointments yet should do infopasses or follow other methods described in the forum, as you have only a limited time. Some USCIS offices order the KCC file after the interview and if that happens it takes 2-4 extra days for your case to be approved. You should be fine if your case gets approved and your online status changes to CPO before September 30th. If you need a written proof you can get your passport stamped through an infopass as long as you have a valid reason. You can do that only if you are approved (CPO status). I personally did it as i had to apply for SSN.
Thanks again and i wish Good Luck for those who are waiting for the GCs and the 2011 applicants.
 
Hi winnerdv11,
even if u r at sanantino u should me fine to my experience more than 90% of the IO for DV has been nice and cooperative so u should be fine. Now talking about the problem one can have with the lawyer I will say I had nothing but problem from te day I hired the lawyer. Tell u the truth. Just the day after I hired that lawyer I went back to see if I can withdraw the case. But I couldn't do that coz I paid all the money and she don't do refunds. So I started the process with her. The thing with he lawyer is they will listen to u till u make the payment after that u r one of the client. On my case It was handled by 4 different paralegals with on 8 month period so there was lot of confusions and also I have to repeat the things over so instead of savin time I spen more time going there to explain the deal coz every single of those paralegals looked very unaware of the process. On top of that to my 1000 suggestions not to file early they just acted as I knew nothing and filed my AOS which got denied after 3 months brought frostation and waste of money. And on top of that instead of taking the responsibility they blamed me for filing early an wanted to charge me again for the same case to redo it. Which was about the sum of $1500. So I did it myself and cost me a day of work and nothing else. So I would never advise anyone for the lawyer. However if u insist u can go ahead but the most important thing even if u hire the lawyer it's gonna be u who does everything. You r the one to fill the docs. Bring the docs and everything else. All that the lawyer does it type it back again and mail it. Remember having a attoney in this case doesn't make the process faster or gives u more advantage instead my IO praised me of doin the process myself and dumping the lawyer. I hope u will take necessary step after reading this.
PS. I am not talking against lawyer I am just giving the probability that might exist when most of the lawyer handles the DV case. One interesting story. Myfren applied the green card from lawyer with one of the beat immigration lawyer last year. He got his green card which he was very happy about and thanked the lawyer but the fact was the lawyer didn't even know about the rules. His number got current on July and the lawyer filed on July 1stcoz he said one can only file when the number becomes current so he end up gettig interview on 1st week of sept. I always wondered if he had his number current on august.
I do nt want to scare you or anything. It's always good to do it urself but if u insist first make sure she knows what she is doing. And she knows the rule of dv lottery
I do not think I can change the FO, since I was told that the FO is assigned by the place we live. Mine would be in SAN ANTONIO. I do not know SAN ANTONIO FOs are nice or not (specially DV FO's), although I have heard that FOs who do citizenship interviews are nice and easy going.

I have a question for u Summet. I am planning to hire a Lawyer. Share me some of the problems U have encountered hiring a lawyer if u do not mind.

Sorry Guys : Although most of U guys do not recommand hiring a Lawyer, but its only for my peace of mind. I know the lawyer won't be doing much but in case if I get RFE's then she will be responding. I won't have to worry about these things at the middle of my semester. Also she is not that expensive as others. Its a Houston based company.

Thank you
 
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Summet.

That is an awful thing happened to u. I am so sorry to hear that. Thank God U were able to fix on your own.

After reading your post, now I am debating myself wheather to hire a lawyer or not.

Thanks



Hi winnerdv11,
even if u r at sanantino u should me fine to my experience more than 90% of the IO for DV has been nice and cooperative so u should be fine. Now talking about the problem one can have with the lawyer I will say I had nothing but problem from te day I hired the lawyer. Tell u the truth. Just the day after I hired that lawyer I went back to see if I can withdraw the case. But I couldn't do that coz I paid all the money and she don't do refunds. So I started the process with her. The thing with he lawyer is they will listen to u till u make the payment after that u r one of the client. On my case It was handled by 4 different paralegals with on 8 month period so there was lot of confusions and also I have to repeat the things over so instead of savin time I spen more time going there to explain the deal coz every single of those paralegals looked very unaware of the process. On top of that to my 1000 suggestions not to file early they just acted as I knew nothing and filed my AOS which got denied after 3 months brought frostation and waste of money. And on top of that instead of taking the responsibility they blamed me for filing early an wanted to charge me again for the same case to redo it. Which was about the sum of $1500. So I did it myself and cost me a day of work and nothing else. So I would never advise anyone for the lawyer. However if u insist u can go ahead but the most important thing even if u hire the lawyer it's gonna be u who does everything. You r the one to fill the docs. Bring the docs and everything else. All that the lawyer does it type it back again and mail it. Remember having a attoney in this case doesn't make the process faster or gives u more advantage instead my IO praised me of doin the process myself and dumping the lawyer. I hope u will take necessary step after reading this.
PS. I am not talking against lawyer I am just giving the probability that might exist when most of the lawyer handles the DV case. One interesting story. Myfren applied the green card from lawyer with one of the beat immigration lawyer last year. He got his green card which he was very happy about and thanked the lawyer but the fact was the lawyer didn't even know about the rules. His number got current on July and the lawyer filed on July 1stcoz he said one can only file when the number becomes current so he end up gettig interview on 1st week of sept. I always wondered if he had his number current on august.
I do nt want to scare you or anything. It's always good to do it urself but if u insist first make sure she knows what she is doing. And she knows the rule of dv lottery
 
All i can tel you is dont under estimate yourself. You surely have some potential on you thats why u are here in states on F1. Just think that U are taking the DV AOS online class for this fall 2010 as a 1 credit class and spend sometime on it. I am sure, it will pay off. and trust me I have applied for AOS with the Lawyer and with out her. The time I did it by myself I had more confidence. Do the right thing.
May god bless all of us.
That is an awful thing happened to u. I am so sorry to hear that. Thank God U were able to fix on your own.

After reading your post, now I am debating myself wheather to hire a lawyer or not.

Thanks
 
Hello guys,
I want to apply for extension of my visa which is research j1(it is valid until Sep 10 2011)before I file the AOS application. Is it safe ? I am worry that it might hurt process of my AOS? any input appreciated
 
All i know is that..the intention to adjust the status as a PR or any immigrant visa will disqualify you from applying or renewing any of the non-immigrant visa...

Hello guys,
I want to apply for extension of my visa which is research j1(it is valid until Sep 10 2011)before I file the AOS application. Is it safe ? I am worry that it might hurt process of my AOS? any input appreciated
 
Dear DV 2010 folks,
I am a DV 2011 winner and I am posting this question here since you have more expreience.

I just noticed that I had forgotten to write my case number on the cashier check sent to DOS. it has my name on it and all other documents, the envelope and my receipt were complete and had my case number on it. What do you guys think? have you read about any similar situation any where?
I am gonna call KCC on Monday but wanted your take on this and what I need to do?

Thanks and good luck to you all in your life after GC. and to DV 2011 in the journey.
 
Hi feel,

First of all I should mention that
you should contact with your
congressperson and/or ombudsman
as a last resort after exhausting all
the other options.

How long it will take depends on your
congressperson, his/her staff handling
immigration cases, how busy they are
at the moment, your case, the complication
of the problem etc. etc.

In my case I got contacted by my congressman's
staff within a week. I had to persuade them to
take action because of the complication of my case.

Within weeks a started seeing some action.
But as I said it depends...

Hi Capeolive,
I wonder how fast congressman office and CIS Ombudsman office act to DV cases . Also, mailing docs too them would take some time, isn't it?
 
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Hi chooti,

Congratulations on getting your green cards.
I hope they serve your family best in the long
run...

We received our GCs yesterday. I am really thankful to everyone in this forum for making our process lot easier. Special thanks to the guys who did some experiments by filing 50 days earlier. This is something which i didn't see in 2009 forum and which gave lot of courage to the applicants whose numbers became current in August/September. I always advice 2011 applicants to read the entire 2010 forum because each minute you spend on reading it is worthy.
For those who haven't received the interview appointments yet should do infopasses or follow other methods described in the forum, as you have only a limited time. Some USCIS offices order the KCC file after the interview and if that happens it takes 2-4 extra days for your case to be approved. You should be fine if your case gets approved and your online status changes to CPO before September 30th. If you need a written proof you can get your passport stamped through an infopass as long as you have a valid reason. You can do that only if you are approved (CPO status). I personally did it as i had to apply for SSN.
Thanks again and i wish Good Luck for those who are waiting for the GCs and the 2011 applicants.
 
Hi winnerdv11,

Since you are in the forum already
I think you can educate yourself in
the process and do it yourself.

Unless you believe that your case is
extremely complicated, you can do it
yourself...

I do not think I can change the FO, since I was told that the FO is assigned by the place we live. Mine would be in SAN ANTONIO. I do not know SAN ANTONIO FOs are nice or not (specially DV FO's), although I have heard that FOs who do citizenship interviews are nice and easy going.

I have a question for u Summet. I am planning to hire a Lawyer. Share me some of the problems U have encountered hiring a lawyer if u do not mind.

Sorry Guys : Although most of U guys do not recommand hiring a Lawyer, but its only for my peace of mind. I know the lawyer won't be doing much but in case if I get RFE's then she will be responding. I won't have to worry about these things at the middle of my semester. Also she is not that expensive as others. Its a Houston based company.

Thank you
 
Hi winnerdv11,

It won't hurt to get extra documents since
you have plenty of time to get them.

As a rule of thumb:

"It is better to be over prepared than to be under prepared!"


Hi Guys,
Do I need to show my past 3 years tax return even if I have a sponsor. If no need then I am not going to bother getting those.

Thanks.
 
Hi mitondaw,

A1. I believe if you don't do anything at two opposite coasts.
A2. It depends, usually around a month.
A3.
1. Call KCC and find out if your file(s) has been requested yet.
2. Call USCIS, try to talk to a supervisor.
3. Make an InfoPass try to talk to a supervisor.

Depending on the outcome of your search merging interview places
might help. It depends.

A4. Out of 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY: 2 good, 1 very bad experience.

I think:
1. CP not AOS should have been a better option if you had been able to travel.
2. You should have applied around July 10, 2010...

P.S. Be prepared for questions about your "marriage arrangement"




Hi Everyone,
I was selected for the 2010 DV lottery and I have been following your forum for a while now. I would like to thank you for all of the information that you have provided. I have some questions. My DV case number is 2010AF00079xxx. Below is a timeline of our case. My husband and I are both on H1-B visas but we are living in different states. I am in NY and he is in CA. Due to my work contract, I could not move to CA before now and I will be moving to CA at the end of September.
My questions are the following.
1)Where do you think that our interview will take place?
2) How long does it take to get an interview letter after the Bios? We know taht our case is complicated because os the living arrangement but we have proofs that our marriage is not a sham( marriage pictures from our country, thousands of dollars in plane tickets,Tax returns..)
3) What can we do to accelerate the process on our side?
4) Has anyone been to the downtown NY office for interview and how was the experience?

Thanks you all for your help, and please feel free to give me any additional infos or tips that you think may be helpfull

May 2009- 1Nl
August 2009- 2NL
Case current in Sept 2010
Aug 5 2010- Sent Complete package to Chicago
Aug17 2010- NOA
Aug 25 and 26( husband)-No Bio letter so did walk in Bio
Aug 26 -Bio appontment for Sept 17
Now waiting for interview letter...
 
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You need more information before taking any action.
For starters learn where the files are.

Do not complicate things more by taking
a wrong action at this point...

Another question is do you think that I should just change my address with USCIS and put our CA address given that I will be moving there in september? I can still leave the NY one given that I still have the apartment... Please let me know what you think about this.

Thanks
 
When you check your case status online do you see
the date (LUD) has moved to the date of your BIO,
or the day after?

As I said it will be wiser to get more information
before taking any actions...

Thank you so much for your infos. I have schedules an info pass for the coming week. I will do as you say and ask to speak to someone knowleeable about DV cases. I will also ask about the change in adress. Yes. Both my husband and i were able to walk in without the appointment letters. I believe that we were already in the system and the accepted to let us do the BIO.
Again. Thanks for your help
 
My take on the subject is:

1. Call KCC and find out if your file(s) has been requested yet.
2. Call USCIS, try to talk to a supervisor.
3. Make an InfoPass try to talk to a supervisor.

Depending on the outcome of your search merging interview places
might help. It depends.

To me DO NOT change your address until you get more information.


Also, I should mention that for the most people with high numbers:

A. Do CP if possible.
B. If not at least apply around 50 days in advance (early filing)



For all the applicants:

Learn the process thoroughly.


I hope I do not confuse or make you impatient with my advise. But per my understanding of DV AoS it only helps if the PA and derivatives do the intvw at one and the same place at same time. (let other pros also chip in here)

My advise is if you CAN change to CA do it and do it asap!
You do not have to wait for infopass to do it. (do not rush, take sometime and decide, wait for some more advise....hey cape??)

a) file AR 11 CoA both paper and online.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa

b) Call KCC (and follow up with email to them) and say you are changing address.

c) DO NOT leave NY till you know that file is in CA and a intvw date in CA is scheduled (so that info passes can be done if needed)

d) Go to your next week infopass and say that you've changed address and just transfer the files. (if you wait for their advise and if all what you may get is confusing answers or worst- none at all, then it will be waste of time....act asap)

Good Luck!
 
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Hi winnerdv11,

Once you hire a lawyer you will lose the control
over your case. This will hurt you more if you
know the process.

There are still good lawyers but not every good
lawyer knows the DV AOS process.

My advice is: Since you got plenty of time, if there
is not a big complication in your situation, learn the
process and do it yourself.

If you decide to do it yourself, you gotta do your "homework"...

That is an awful thing happened to u. I am so sorry to hear that. Thank God U were able to fix on your own.

After reading your post, now I am debating myself wheather to hire a lawyer or not.

Thanks
 
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Hi chance1,

Applying for AOS does not give you special rights.
Until you get your card you must "maintain your
legal status" in US...

Hello guys,
I want to apply for extension of my visa which is research j1(it is valid until Sep 10 2011)before I file the AOS application. Is it safe ? I am worry that it might hurt process of my AOS? any input appreciated
 
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