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DV 2012 - AOS - step by step

Hello waterfall123,

You are fine. Do not worry about it. NOBODY can file the I-485 before October 1st. I assume you want to do AOS so KCC will process your form in a week or so. You don't need to send anything to KCC except the DSP-122 plus the 2 pictures plus the Notification letter with your case number and bar code.

I think it would be really helpful if all of us updated our signatures with the dates and what we have sent up to this moment. This will help all of us track our process. Just my 2 cents.

Regards
 
Thanks Strictly_Analog and EternalHope

Your help was very useful.

I call both the KCC and the USCIS this morning. They confirmed more or less what you said.

But I don't need the DS-230, as this form is only used by embassy and consulate so no need for it. I still need the pictures (me and my wife) and the DS-122.

I took the pictures last tonight I followed the specs for US passport pictures. I will send the package tomorrow morning.

About the 2 * 440 dollars of fee. they said that it should be filled after my number shows up so I will wait a bit before paying. I will start to look into the medical and the 485.

Thanks you.
I guess I will let you know about the process.
 
Strictly_Analog said:
(6) As soon as you file the I-485 you should not travel outside the country. You can (if you want) apply for advance parole ALONG with your I-485, It will cost you $360 (times two if you include your wife) but in most of the DV cases that I've seen on these forums the time between filing the I-485 and having your case approved is 3-4 months so it might not be worth it to apply for AP.
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Strictly_Analog - thank you for your response. I called the KCC adn they said that they absolutely must receive the DSP-122. Based on DSP-122, they schedule interviews with the local USCIS office. She said it takes about 8 weeks for them to process DSP-122 and now October is alrady all booked for appointmentments. It sucks that I waited so long.

Just wanted to point out something in one of your previous posts to Koubiak: based on my information (from an immigration lawyer and USCIS district office), Advance Parole and Travel documents are FREE if you file them at the same time as the I-485. Also, you only need to be in the US for about 2 - 3 weeks after filing the I-485 until USCIS registers your case and sends a Receipt Notice to you. After that you can travel internationally and come back (if you have a visa of course). The only problem is if they issue fingerprinting notice to you when you are out of the country, you will have to miss it and reschedule it and they are not fast at all with rescheduling those, so you will be missing valuable time. So in general, it's a good idea to stay put until you get your fingerprints.

....I'll add my signature with details soon...it's a good idea.
 
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@waterfall123: Thanks for the info this will be very useful to me. Do you know how it work for you? You wait until the 1st of October to send the I-485 in?
 
koubiak - good question, I am not sure about me because I f***ed up the DS-122.

VZLA said:
You have to send the DS-122 to KCC as soon as possible because it´s the only way that you will let KCC know of your intention of doing AOS. Otherwise they will assume you are doing Consular Processing. In fact, if you don´t send the DS-122 before filing your final package to Chicago lockbox your application will be very delayed. KCC needs that information to later send your case file to your local USCIS office so they can send you an interview appointment.
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Does anyone know if KCC needs to just receive your DS-122 before your can send AOS docs to Chicago or they actually need to have it proccesed?? I should be able to file for AOS on Oct 1 with my low number but I only sent DS-122 yesterday and KCC says it takes them 8 weeks to process those. I am now wondering if I should wait until DS-122 is processed before I send docs to Chicago even if it brings me pass Oct 1....may be it would be safer?.... Please let me know who has an idea.
 
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waterfall123 said:


Just wanted to point out something in one of your previous posts to Koubiak: based on my information (from an immigration lawyer and USCIS district office), Advance Parole and Travel documents are FREE if you file them at the same time as the I-485. Also, you only need to be in the US for about 2 - 3 weeks after filing the I-485 until USCIS registers your case and sends a Receipt Notice to you. After that you can travel internationally and come back (if you have a visa of course). The only problem is if they issue fingerprinting notice to you when you are out of the country, you will have to miss it and reschedule it and they are not fast at all with rescheduling those, so you will be missing valuable time. So in general, it's a good idea to stay put until you get your fingerprints.

....I'll add my signature with details soon...it's a good idea.
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Waterfall123,

Hello and Thank you for taking the trouble of finding out about AP. I was well aware that applying for an EAD is free as long as you apply concurrently with the I-485, but I did not know that about AP. I stand corrected now. Again, my intentions are not to do any overseas travel until I have my GC in hand so I won't bother applying for AP. I am a F-1 Student with a valid I-20 until May 2012 so I have plenty of time to be on status while they process my case.

As far as your DSP-122 goes I would not worry to much about it. Wait till USPS says that they delivered it and then send KCC and email with your info (Case #, DOB, Full name, etc) they will send you an email acknowledging receipt of the forms.

Remember that the DSP-122 form is just you telling them: "Hey!, I am going to stay in the U.S. to do AOS, do not send anything to the U.S. Embassy on my home country!, thanks!".

As far as the interviews go you would not even get yours till November anyways assuming you are current in October. You have plenty of time to put the package together. Even if you become current in October, you still have to get your biometrics done first before the interview and that is only going to happen after you file I-485. I do not know your case # so I am just assuming that you are going to be current in October, again signatures would be useful for all of us ;). Good Luck and don't fret yourself too much!.

Koubiak,

You are very welcome. You must file your I-485 after your case number shows up on the Visa Bulletin from the Department of State.

Remember the $440 fee receipt should be included on your I-485 package so I would go ahead and pay it before my visa number becomes current. For the looks of it you will become current in November or December.

Personally, I just payed it right away only because I am on summer vacation so I have a lot of free time before school starts next week. Also, I suspect that as more people start paying for their DV cases it will take them a little longer to process payments. It only took about a week to get mine back so do not worry about it.
 
Hi,

So, what u are saying is that you received a confirmation letter back from KCC, or just the postal confirmation? Did you pay the fee, the 440 $ to DOS?
 
liloreta said:
Hi,

So, what u are saying is that you received a confirmation letter back from KCC, or just the postal confirmation? Did you pay the fee, the 440 $ to DOS?
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Hello Liloreta,

No, KCC just sent me an email confirming that they got my documents. They did it because I asked them to do it.

Yes, I paid the $440 to the DOS. You MUST enclose a self-adressed envelope so they send you the form back.
 
Strictly_Analog said:
As far as your DSP-122 goes I would not worry to much about it. Wait till USPS says that they delivered it and then send KCC and email with your info (Case #, DOB, Full name, etc) they will send you an email acknowledging receipt of the forms.

Remember that the DSP-122 form is just you telling them: "Hey!, I am going to stay in the U.S. to do AOS, do not send anything to the U.S. Embassy on my home country!, thanks!".

As far as the interviews go you would not even get yours till November anyways assuming you are current in October. You have plenty of time to put the package together. Even if you become current in October, you still have to get your biometrics done first before the interview and that is only going to happen after you file I-485. I do not know your case # so I am just assuming that you are going to be current in October, again signatures would be useful for all of us ;). Good Luck and don't fret yourself too much!.
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Thank you for the reassurance. That's what I thought about appointments too. They should be linked to I-485 filing, not the DSP-122. So far USCIS doesn't even have our filings or case numbers assigned. But then KCC told me that they are using DSP-122 for scheduling appointments. Well, whatever is done is done. I just want to make sure I don't do more damage by filing I-485 on Oct 1 when DSP-122 may not be processed yet since it takes than 8 weeks....so confusing.

Oh and I asked KCC whether I will receive any kind of confirmation from them and they said no. It seems like they did it last year but not this year. Then I don't know how you are supposed to know that they are done with you and you can file for AOS? Or even if you have to wait until they are done with you before filing for AOS? That's my biggest question right now.
 
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waterfall123 said:
Thank you for the reassurance. That's what I thought about appointments too. They should be linked to I-485 filing, not the DSP-122. So far USCIS doesn't even have our filings or case numbers assigned. But then KCC told me that they are using DSP-122 for scheduling appointments. Well, whatever is done is done. I just want to make sure I don't do more damage by filing I-485 on Oct 1 when DSP-122 may not be processed yet since it takes than 8 weeks....so confusing.

Oh and I asked KCC whether I will receive any kind of confirmation from them and they said no. It seems like they did it last year but not this year. Then I don't know how you are supposed to know that they are done with you and you can file for AOS? Or even if you have to wait until they are done with you before filing for AOS? That's my biggest question right now.
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No problem. All of us need some reassurance with this process. It is about being well informed and doing things on a timely manner.

You can file your AOS as soon as your case number shows up on the Visa bulletin.:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

You are one of the lucky ones!, your number will be up beginning October 1st!.

The fact that KCC takes 8 weeks to process each case should not hurt any of us since we are doing AOS. I assume that those 8 weeks before getting an appointment are more critical for people doing Consular Processing outside the U.S. since they only have 8 weeks to gather all the documents needed (Medicals, Birth Certificates, Academic Transcripts, Police Records, Translate everything, etc) before getting that interview. I don't know about you, but I like the fact that I can wait till October to have all of my I-485 packet ready.

If I was you I would not worry about a KCC delay of any sort. I would just go ahead and file for AOS October 1st. Depending on your field office you will get an appointment to be fingerprinted sometime in November. You can check how long does it take to process an I-485 application here:

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do;jsessionid=acbTA68kfFzoS8tT9zwht
 
Strictly_Analog - thank you so very much! You are awesome!
I read a ton about this last night and called KCC again this morning. This time got someone who sounded like he knows what he is doing a little better. He confirmed that DSP-122 does not really matter for AOS. It is only for them to gather information and record it in their system easier. He also confirmed that it is actually optional for AOS and that the interviews they told me about before are for Consualar Processing people. So I should be good to file everything on Oct 1 and timeframe of DSP-122 approval does not effect anything at all. Thank you to the KCC gentlemen! Huge sigh of relief.

Oh and also, KCC confirmed that this year they are not sending out any confirmation letters and we are supposed to log into the same site we used to find out about lottery results in order to see if DSP-122 has been proceessed, if we are curious at all.
 
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Waterfall123,

No Problem!. It is my pleasure to help. I am glad to hear that about DSP-122, it means my notion of the 8 week period was correct. Remember the whole premise of the DV system is to bring people from other countries to increase the diversity of the U.S. hence why most of the instructions at http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_4756.html are written for the people that are going to be doing Consular Processing.

Time for us to start filling this one out:

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

Also, some general tips given by USCIS for assembling the package:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=fe529c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Good Luck to All!
 
Police checks for AOS people? Appears unnecessary...

Dear Strictly_Analog,

You've done a great job responding to all the posts in this thread! Thanks for keeping up-to-date and offering your advice! I've been extremely busy the past few weeks and didn't have time to check-in until now. I've updated my signature will all the developments. :)

I note that you received your AOS receipt 8 days after mailing it. In my case it took 15! I think the DOS must be getting busy with processing the AOS fees they receive. I was relieved to get the "receipt" in the mail for the AOS payment, though I was expecting something more --- a printed receipt, stating my name, DOS, amount, etc. A brief mention of the next steps would have been helpful, too.

I have a question: On the USCIS "Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program" website it tells us about "Supporting Evidence for Form I-485". It says there: "Certified copies of court records (if you have ever been arrested)", but this is not the same a police checks which can apply for anyone. The instructions for submitting I-485 do not say anything about being required to submit "Police Checks" or "Police Records" for all countries you have lived in for more than 6 months, which I know is part of the process for those doing CP. Can anyone comment on the need for police checks for those doing AOS? It appears it is not required, but I'm sure I've read about AOS people getting them, and I wonder why...

@waterfall123, regarding sending DSP-122 to KCC, you are correct that it is optional. The general advice here is to send DSP-122 + photos + letter, but often it is not mentioned that it is optional. I spoke with KCC a few weeks ago and they told me DSP-122 is optional, and in fact the photos are optional too --- we will be submitting photos again in the I-485 application, so really they do not need to be sent to KCC. Yourself and Strictly_Analog are lucky with low CN and will be able to send your I-485 package very soon! Good luck with it!

Best wishes! Hope to continue reading about your experience here!
 
EighthTimeLucky said:
Dear Strictly_Analog,

You've done a great job responding to all the posts in this thread! Thanks for keeping up-to-date and offering your advice! I've been extremely busy the past few weeks and didn't have time to check-in until now. I've updated my signature will all the developments. :)

I have a question: On the USCIS "Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program" website it tells us about "Supporting Evidence for Form I-485". It says there: "Certified copies of court records (if you have ever been arrested)", but this is not the same a police checks which can apply for anyone. The instructions for submitting I-485 do not say anything about being required to submit "Police Checks" or "Police Records" for all countries you have lived in for more than 6 months, which I know is part of the process for those doing CP. Can anyone comment on the need for police checks for those doing AOS? It appears it is not required, but I'm sure I've read about AOS people getting them, and I wonder why...
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Dear EighthTimeLucky

Thank you kindly!, I have done a lot of research and I really enjoy sharing it with everybody. I find a whole lot of support from the people that share their journey through this forum and I hope that everybody feels the same way.

I agree, DOS is going to get pretty swamped in the upcoming months with everybody paying their $440 fee. I understand you, for $440 I would have expected a nice printed form with my name and address on it ;).

I understand the confusion. From the I-485 checklist it looks as if anybody with a clean record and no court hearings doesn't need to submit any police certificate when doing the AOS. To answer your question about the I-485 + Police certificate in more detail I will refer to what my lawyer told me which was essentially No: "You do not need to include the police certificate from your home country since they already did a background check of you when you got your original visa stamp. It doesn't hurt if you get it anyways, but it might not be necessary".

Now, personally the phrase: "It might not be necessary" is one of the phrases of the English language that I hate the most. To be on the safe side I am in the process of obtaining my police certificate from my home country and I will have it by September. It is the only thing missing from my I-485 package so I am not worrying about it too much. I think that it only becomes a necessity to have a police certificate when you are applying for CP.

Also, just in case anybody is wondering we do not need any kind of police certificate from the U.S. as per http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_4760.html . Just scroll down to "Police Certificates" and it says "Note: Present and former residents of the United States should NOT obtain any police certificates covering their residence in the U.S.". USCIS will make sure your record is clean when they fingerprint you approximately 30 days after your I-485 application is accepted.

As a little piece of trivia: I have asked 2 personal friends that have become personal residents, and the final picture on their actual cards is the one they had taken during their biometrics interview. I wonder what happens to all the pictures we have sent so far ;)
 
Regarding police records...I've seen more than a dozen AOS cases through my work (EB though, not DV but it should not matter) and USCIS never requested any police records for AOS, only for CP. Now, if we want to be extra carefull, it wont' hurt to get them but it seems to be extremely unlikely that they would be required.

On a similar note, I heard that sometimes fingerprinting doesn't go through and they can't match your records. In those cases, USCIS asks for police records from each US state you've lived in in the last 5 years. I am thinking...may be it's good idea to get those beforehand in case fingerprinting doesn't go through...or may be it's a good idea to even send them with the I-485 package to potentially avoid having to be fingerprinted all together? What do you guys think?

EighthTimeLucky - thank you for the DSP-122 reassurance. I think I am over that now :)
 
waterfall123 said:
Regarding police records...I've seen more than a dozen AOS cases through my work (EB though, not DV but it should not matter) and USCIS never requested any police records for AOS, only for CP. Now, if we want to be extra carefull, it wont' hurt to get them but it seems to be extremely unlikely that they would be required.

On a similar note, I heard that sometimes fingerprinting doesn't go through and they can't match your records. In those cases, USCIS asks for police records from each US state you've lived in in the last 5 years. I am thinking...may be it's good idea to get those beforehand in case fingerprinting doesn't go through...or may be it's a good idea to even send them with the I-485 package to potentially avoid having to be fingerprinted all together? What do you guys think?
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I would stick to my previous argument, it would not hurt to get them, but I doubt they would be required.

I think it would be wise to find out what is the procedure involved on each of the particular states we live in and have it handy just in case. Personally, I would not include anything like that on the I-485 package and I would only get my local police records if USCIS asked me too, remember the timeline:

I-485 sent-in ==> Check cashed ==> Notice of action sent to you ==> Biometrics appointment ==> actual fingerprinting + Picture taken==> Interview appointment==> Interview ==> Green Card

Just my 2 cents.
 
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Thank-you Strictly_Analog and waterfall123 for your comments on police check for us AOS folk --- really appreciate it! I have a while before my CN becomes current, so, I have time to get it. I have an old copy of my birth certificate --- am thinking of requesting a new one.

It was only a few weeks ago when we were (at least I was!) anxious/worrisome with the whole procedure. Now, it's already time for me to get the I-485 together! The process does seem quite straight-forward once the panic-stage has passed! ;)
 
EighthTimeLucky said:
It was only a few weeks ago when we were (at least I was!) anxious/worrisome with the whole procedure. Now, it's already time for me to get the I-485 together! The process does seem quite straight-forward once the panic-stage has passed! ;)
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Soooo true! I am so happy I found these forums, otherwise it would have been a lot more difficult. Now I just can't wait to get it all filed! Thank you and good luck to everyone! :)
 
Hello All!.

This thread has been quiet lately, I assume everybody is busy getting their I-485 packet ready and waiting for their CN to become current ;)

Just a little update, KCC just sent me an email acknowledging my DSP-122 form with a very nice letter outlining the next step to take (I-485, filing, etc) there is nothing new on it that applies to my case, most of it I already knew because of independent research or because of my attorney. The letter is highly personalized with our case numbers, D.O.B. and (in my case) my current address which I had to change on the DSP-122. This letter works as assurance from KCC that I am doing AOS.

Also, they sent me a form similar to the one we filed with the DOS at St. Louis, MO. It is to pay the $440 AOS fee. I have already done this, so I will not file it again.

All the Best!
 
First of all I would like to thank all of you guys for being so helpful in the whole DV process.
I have one question. So my case number is AF00046***. Could it be possible that my number to not be current until Septmeber 2012?
I know that last year the same number was current around July. But is it theorically possible that the number of visas (the 50000 available visas) to finish before.

Thank you again.
 
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