• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

DV 2018 AOS Only

I haven't received any decision from USCIS but my interview's done, so I'm going to share my Interview experience. Will update with more information later once I hear more from USCIS regarding my case.

So here's how the Interview went down: my wife's the Primary Applicant, I'm the Derivative. Our number became current back in May. Our case falls under the Asia Region. Field Office is Chicago, IL. On the Appointment Letters, I was supposed to get interviewed at 8.30am, my wife at 9am. We arrived at USCIS around 8am. We got called together around 9.30-9.45am. The Interviewer made us take an oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, then we sat down and he started opening our files and shuffled around documents. He asked for our Passports, Driver's License, State ID, Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificate. Then he started asking us Qs and we took turns to answer:
  1. Name and DOB
  2. Address
  3. Did we ever leave the country again after our last arrival date stated on I-94
  4. If we live together
  5. A lot of the Yes/No Qs from the I-485 Form such as practicing poligamy, being spies etc.
  6. He asked if I've ever got caught for speeding? I said yes, once. But it's not a big deal to him.
  7. How we first met.
After all of the questioning, in the end he said since our application is not marriage-based and so there's no need for him to question us further on our marriage.

Didn't get an immediate decision and the IO told us to wait until after (or did he say "in" instead?) September to see if there'd be visa available for us. He also asked if I could ask my employer to sponsor my GC application as back up in case no visas are available for me. My first thought was "this IO has no idea about DV at all", so I naively corrected him, saying "my number became current back in May and so technically our Visas should be available now and that's why we're doing AOS and the interview". Now looking back, maybe that's indeed the case - that no Visas are immediately available for me? I just learned lately that AOSers do not get pre-allocated Visas. But it could still be the case that my IO doesn't know enough about DV - that's the feeling I got from the contradicting statements he gave me and also he asked if I received a letter at all saying that I have visas available already and I just gave him the 1NL and 2NL. He said he'd follow up on my case. So now, i'm just hoping and praying that I'll get approved soon and hear back from USCIS.

Another problem I ran into was the I-693 form. My Civil Surgeon didn't use the latest/most recent version and the IO pointed it out to us and said he'd look into it - whether we'd need to give them the most updated version, but he did say most likely, yes. I reached out to the Civil Surgeon as soon as the Interview was over and she transferred all of the information over from the old form to the new form and I now have the new form, in a sealed envelope. Just waiting for USCIS to request it from me. I also have an InfoPass appointment for next Monday, and the Monday after that as well.

So, I'm back in the waiting game. Anxiously waiting. Checking USCIS Case Status websites (there's two of them) almost every hour. No change in status so far.

But I'd like to thanks everyone who has been a huge help, and special thanks definitely to @Sm1smom and @Britsimon. Their dedication, time, and relentless effort in answering to our questions, have all been invaluable.

As I've said, I'll update when I know more about my Case. At this point, just waiting...

Actually, if you don't mind, @Sm1smom and @Britsimon, I'm still at this point not clear on how Visa Allocation works for AOSers. It's been mentioned a couple times that CPers get pre-allocated Visas and AOSers don't. I've tried my best to dig around but still don't get a clear answer. I even asked a question on Avvo.com and got shot down by a lawyer who said "You pretty much 'heard' wrong... As the saying goes, it is dangerous to have little information about something than not having any information at all..". I hope you'd be able to shed some lights on this - how Visa Allocation works for AOSers? And if let's say, all Visas for a particular region have been all exhausted/pre-allocated to CPers, does that mean that AOSsers will only get what's remaining i.e. maybe some CPers didn't show up in the end, and that's when AOSers get these unused Visas?
 
Last edited:
Hi mom,

I'm going for an infopass tomorrow morning - AS region case, completed biometrics on 7/13/2018. I am planning to ask the following questions:

a. Confirmed biometrics are in your system?
b. Background/name check completed?
c. Has the FO requested the file from KCC? Have they received it?
d. Is it possible to check on IVAMS to see whether AOS for AS region is still possible?

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to ask the IO to do the interview during infopass even if the background check has not cleared?
2. Is it possible to ask to reserve a spot in the visa allocation system (IVAMS)?
3. Can I ask anything else in particular?

Thank you!
 
febzz said:
Actually, if you don't mind, @Sm1smom and @Britsimon, I'm still at this point not clear on how Visa Allocation works for AOSers. It's been mentioned a couple times that CPers get pre-allocated Visas and AOSers don't. I've tried my best to dig around but still don't get a clear answer. I even asked a question on Avvo.com and got shot down by a lawyer who said "You pretty much 'heard' wrong... As the saying goes, it is dangerous to have little information about something than not having any information at all..". I hope you'd be able to shed some lights on this - how Visa Allocation works for AOSers? And if let's say, all Visas for a particular region have been all exhausted/pre-allocated to CPers, does that mean that AOSsers will only get what's remaining i.e. maybe some CPers didn't show up in the end, and that's when AOSers get these unused Visas?
Click to expand...

UPDATE: Simon answered my question on his website. This is his response:

"I have kind of explained to you already. The IVAMS system controls the visa allocation for US based cases. AOSers go through the whole process, background checks, biometrics interview, and right at the very end the IO is happy to approve the case. At that point they check IVAMS to “draw down” a visa (or visas). At that point they know whether there is a visa or not.

My point to you was that the IO is ready a memo that talks about halting allocation, and he/she won’t understand that is actually region specific. My *hope* is that IVAMS knows it is region specific."
 
Mxmlittle said:
HiBritsmon
why different regions have different scenarios. Like AS cannot run out, and EU will exceed as such? any insights here? Thank you!
Click to expand...

Each region has its own quota.

AF is NOT near it's quota, but KCC are "assuming" all scheduled cases will be approved. There are nearly 10000 people scheduled in August and September. THOUSANDS of those 10000 won't be approved - hence there will be a shortfall. The unused visas from August will be returned to KCC at the end of August, and re-allocated in September - but we don't know whether there will be enough of those to satisfy all remaining cases by then. Same thing will happen with unused visas from July interviews - but there are a LOT less of those because fewer cases were scheduled in July.

EU is very near it's quota already, and and there are not many interviews scheduled. Success rate in EU is higher than AF, so the quota will be met.

AS is nowhere near its quota and has few interviews scheduled, so quota should NOT be a problem for AS. The visas are only allocated to AOS cases at the end of the process (drawn down from a system called IVAMS), and I am assuming (hoping) that the system is smart enough to be able to see the numbers available by region.

OC and SA are near the quota and have enough cases scheduled to reach or nearly reach the quota.
 
Last edited:
febzz said:
UPDATE: Simon answered my question on his website. This is his response:

"I have kind of explained to you already. The IVAMS system controls the visa allocation for US based cases. AOSers go through the whole process, background checks, biometrics interview, and right at the very end the IO is happy to approve the case. At that point they check IVAMS to “draw down” a visa (or visas). At that point they know whether there is a visa or not.

My point to you was that the IO is ready a memo that talks about halting allocation, and he/she won’t understand that is actually region specific. My *hope* is that IVAMS knows it is region specific."
Click to expand...
Good luck brother I hope all the best to u and to all of us. I really feel what you feel.
 
lightfish said:
Hi mom,

I'm going for an infopass tomorrow morning - AS region case, completed biometrics on 7/13/2018. I am planning to ask the following questions:

a. Confirmed biometrics are in your system?
b. Background/name check completed?
c. Has the FO requested the file from KCC? Have they received it?
d. Is it possible to check on IVAMS to see whether AOS for AS region is still possible?

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to ask the IO to do the interview during infopass even if the background check has not cleared?
2. Is it possible to ask to reserve a spot in the visa allocation system (IVAMS)?
3. Can I ask anything else in particular?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

a. Unnecessary ask, you already did the bio.
d. Pointless ask - the IO you meet with isn’t likely to know about it, and possibly wouldn’t have the time to start digging around on that.

1. The IO assigned to the front desk isn’t necessarily going to be the IO assigned to your case. The decision on when the interview takes place lies with the IO in charge of your petition. But you can ask anyway if you like.

2. You can ask if you like - they have no way of reserving visas.
 
Hello everyone. It's been a while.

So I had my interview today in the Manhattan office.
Everything went down smoothly, I was the only one and I didn't have to wait for long. The officer was super nice and helpful. He said t I had to be called for another interview because the lady that performed my interview back in April was not certified to conduct it so that was a big mess ( not surprised tbh).
But anyways he just needed the originals of the affidavit and a copy of my diploma.

He ended up handing me a "notice of interview results"paper that says that my case is being held for review. He said that he has about 120 days to make his decision but he understands that this is time sensitive to that he would make it within a week ( yay!) . He also apologized for having me come all the way there and took some copies of my ID/Passport .


I'll post more updates as soon as I got them, hopefully this is the last step!
 
ChillyPenguin said:
Hello everyone. It's been a while.

So I had my interview today in the Manhattan office.
Everything went down smoothly, I was the only one and I didn't have to wait for long. The officer was super nice and helpful. He said t I had to be called for another interview because the lady that performed my interview back in April was not certified to conduct it so that was a big mess ( not surprised tbh).
But anyways he just needed the originals of the affidavit and a copy of my diploma.

He ended up handing me a "notice of interview results"paper that says that my case is being held for review. He said that he has about 120 days to make his decision but he understands that this is time sensitive to that he would make it within a week ( yay!) . He also apologized for having me come all the way there and took some copies of my ID/Passport .


I'll post more updates as soon as I got them, hopefully this is the last step!
Click to expand...

Oh boy, this must have been an emotional year for you. You have been in this process for so long already! Good luck and hopefully this will be resolved soon.
 
Are we supposed to be getting something from the IO at all at the end of the Interview?

My Spouse and I never got anything from the IO.
 
I recived today an update in my case statuse:
Your Case Status: Testing and Interview

I have infopass tomowrrow! do you advise me to go to ask about my case or its pointless?
 
reza11 said:
I recived today an update in my case statuse:
Your Case Status: Testing and Interview

I have infopass tomowrrow! do you advise me to go to ask about my case or its pointless?
Click to expand...

You can still go, they may be willing to print out a copy of the IL if the interview has been scheduled.
 
Hi Mom/Simon,

In what scenarios/situations is asking for help from the State Senators helpful? Do you know what would be the typical turn-around time if we send an an email asking for assistance from the State Senator(s)?
I'm not thinking of using this option right now, but if/when I become desperate enough, it seems like a good last resort.

In Mom's Guide, there's something that says, about AOS: "Access to others for help in making enquiries about your case – e.g. congressman/woman’s office"

Thanks!
 
febzz said:
Hi Mom/Simon,

In what scenarios/situations is asking for help from the State Senators helpful? Do you know what would be the typical turn-around time if we send an an email asking for assistance from the State Senator(s)?
I'm not thinking of using this option right now, but if/when I become desperate enough, it seems like a good last resort.

In Mom's Guide, there's something that says, about AOS: "Access to others for help in making enquiries about your case – e.g. congressman/woman’s office"

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Congressional inquiry is used for getting status updates on long pending cases; can be used for following up on IL or decision updates for cases outside normal processing timeframe. A congressional inquiry cannot force USCIS to make a decision or issue an approval, it is an attempt at obtaining status updates which an applicant hasn’t succeeded in getting on their own.
 
Sm1smom said:
Congressional inquiry is used for getting status updates on long pending cases; can be used for following up on IL or decision updates for cases outside normal processing timeframe. A congressional inquiry cannot force USCIS to make a decision or issue an approval, it is an attempt at obtaining status updates which an applicant hasn’t succeeded in getting on their own.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Mom.

Also, from what you've been seeing, how does submission of an older/wrong form version affect the DV AOS Application, specifically I-693?

As mentioned previously, my Civil Surgeon apparently didn't use the most recent version.

And also, to your knowledge, other than waiting for RFE from USCIS (which may take some time as they only do snail mail), what other options do I have? Does USCIS typically accept additional documentation submitted during an InfoPass Appointment, a) with the RFE Letter, b) without RFE?

And does the additional documentation usually needs to be mailed to the Interviewing FO or a centralized office (then from there, they'll forward to the FO)?

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top