Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Hi Mom @Sm1smom. We went for our interview yesterday. After checking in, the officer called our number about 10-15 minutes passed the scheduled time for the interview. He then directed us to his office and asked us to raise the right hand and say the aoth ( I did not expect that!). Then he asked for our passports and explained that it is his first DV case so he will follow the instructions from a printed draft he had on his desk. He then went over our documents again and again and again... for about 10 minutes and did not say a word but took some notes sometimes. Then he asked us the questions on I-485 form and spend a few more minutes reviewing the documents and checking the instruction. Finally, he removed the I-94's from both of our passports and said everything is OK and he will approve our case after requesting visas from department of state and that we'll recieve the GCs in 2-4 weeks. I asked him if background checks have been done and he responded yes.
I have two questions now: 1) Why did he remove I-94? I was told it should'nt be removed until we exit the country for the first time! ( I asked him and he said we should keep it in file). And 2) How long does requesting visas from DOS take? It's been more than 24 hrs and our case status has not changed. I thought it would get approved yesterday!
Thans again Mom!
Remove the I-94 is a standard practice especially when the IO is convinced the petition will be approved (some forget to remove/collect the I-94 though), nothing to worry about.
Relax! There's no rule that says the case must be approved immediately following the interview or in no more than 24 hours. Obviously, the IO has shown an indication of approving the case with the collection of the I-94, I however wouldn't be surprised if he decided to review the case again on his own since it's his first DV case like you stated, hence the delay. You're through with the major part of the process. Exercise some patience.