Hello ETL,
I stand corrected
, D.O.B. is not on the AOS letter.
I am starting to sound like an IT guy with all those acronyms....
In all seriousness. I did read through several pages of the AOS 2011 thread. The DV system was a little bit different last year, for example they got actual notification letters (NL1) on the mail telling them that they were selected. Also, before they filed for AOS they got a second Notification Letter (NL2) listing the steps, besides that everything seems straightforward.
Personally, I am only reading through the AOS 2011 thread to get an idea of processing times (about 90% of the cases I've read took between 2-4 months). Some others take 5-6 months because of name checks or because the field office has to many interviews booked. The longest case I saw off the top of my head was a F-1 student that became current in October, but only received his GC in June because he forgot to put his last I-20 on the I-485 package and that delayed his processing time. I will hunt down the case and post if if I find it. That is something to keep in mind for all of us that are on F-1 status.
Also, it is a good idea to read through the interview experiences. 99% of the ones I have read are very smooth as long as you bring all the documents to the interview. It seems that people that are served by the Detroit field office DO NOT get an interview letter, their case status goes from "Biometrics" to "Card Production" directly!. They are so lucky
. I live in Florida though, so I will most likely have a face to face interview.
The 1% of interviews that do not go smoothly are either because:
A) The selectee did not bring all the documents and they are rescheduled (a college student actually forgot to bring his transcripts for the current semester and they rescheduled him because of that).
B) The interviewing officer had very little knowledge of the DV Category (An officer actually told a selectee that he needed a job offer in order to get his visa and took an hour to find from a superior that this was not the case).
C) USCIS mix-ups. Only one or two cases like this. One guy had an interview at 10:00 am and they made him wait till 2:00 pm. When he stepped to the counter to inquire what was going on they found out that his interview WAS NOT listed on the day's schedule. They took him to a room interviewed him in 10 minutes and approved his case.
What can be learned from this is very simple. First, BE PREPARED. Have copies of ALL the documents that you have submitted. I personally have an expanding folder where I have copies of EVERY document that pertains to me. I take it with me every time I have to run an errand (DMV, renewing car insurance, switching schools, etc). I can not tell you how much time it has saved me because of not having to go home to look for a missing piece of paper.
Second, DON'T BE SHY. specially when it comes to your interview. If you feel a notice of action is taking to long, drop USCIS an email or call the customer service line. Familiarize yourself with every step of the DV process and be ready to correct your attorney (I have a couple of times) and even the adjudicating officer in case something like B) above happens.
We cannot control all the things that will happen along the way, but we definitely can control how we react to them and how well prepared we are to face them.
All the Best
