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DV 2019 AOS Only

asm_dv said:
Hi @AlyzGates,

First congratulation. I am DV2020 selectee.

I have two specific questions:

1. You mentioned "8 months bank statement" - is that a requirement or just you chose to submit 8 months? Most of the time bank only provides 6 months.

2. Is statement for saving and checking account or both? I have a savings of around $20k on my account plus my salary statement of $35K. Did the IO made any comments about such matters.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hey,
Congratulations for your selection.
Actually, to answer your questions:
1) I chose to bring 8 months bank statements but you can bring as many as you want (the more the better I think). My FO checked each of them and circled the amount of money in my account for each of them. She checked the month of August especially. Since I didn't have a sponsor, she wanted to make sure that I was never a public charge, not gonna become one and that I had incomes. You can find your bank statements in your bank's app. BOA is very easy, everything on the app, just download and print it yourself.
2) Mine was for Checking but she didn't really care. They just wanna see that you have decent incomes and that won't become a public charge I guess. I guess if you're alone, 20K is fine but depends on the IO may be?(Mom and Brit probably know better than I do). If you have dependents, you'll probably have to check the poverty guidelines. But yes, that was one of the main points while my interview.
 
Hi Everyone,

(summary) E2 living in the US, EU20xxx, Family of 5 - 4 AOS in San Francisco - 1 CP in Canada. My DV program selection was unexpected as I signed up about 15 years ago with an organization to take care of the process. Realizing it was probably a scam, I lost track of them and it was by cleaning up some junk email folders last September that I discovered that I was selected. Not proud of that but clearly, I am a lucky chap!

My timeline:

09/16/18 DS-260

01/07 2NL
03/07 DV fee sent
03/25 DV Fee Receipt Received
04/24 Medical Visit
04/29 Application Sent using USPS (I did not want to risk a denial due to early filling)
05/03 Application Received by USCIS Chicago Lockbox
05/07 NOA mailed
05/08 Text Message
05/13 NOA letters received
05/24 BIO Letters received
05/24 BIO Walk-in
06/12 Received SFR FO Request to confirm with KCC number of AOS and CP
06/14 KCC confirmed by email forwarding visa packet
06/18 Called KCC and confirmed visa packet sent to SFR FO on 06/16 and documents for CP received
06/28 Called USCIS requesting to notify SFR FO that action requested was
07/11 Called KCC that reconfirmed 06/18 for sending visa packets to SFR FO
07/22 Send request to congresswoman to help checking Interview Date
07/26 visited congresswoman office as I got no acknowledgement of my request.
08/02 Received IL. Contacted Congresswoman office to update.
09/09 Interview
09/09 CPO status updated
09/10 Card mailed

For my son to Follow-to-join:
09/09 Sent form I-824 to Chicago Lockbox with cover letter requesting urgent processing not awaiting receipt of welcome letter.
09/10 Form I-824 received at Chicago Lockbox
Waiting confirmation…

The interview 09/09:

We came 20 mns earlier and except that we were not found on the check-in list (definitively AOS DV is an exceptional process), we were requested to wait at 3rdfloor for interview. The Officer came a couple of minutes later. We had a second person in the interview room as an observer. Mood was professional and friendly. The Officer explained how the interview would run for the 4 of us. He started with usual Identification validation providing 2 means of ID (passports and driver license) except for my little one who has only his passport, but we brought his school card as well. He asked about our past travel activities one by one to determine if we had overstayed in the US (not our case). He went to validate various documents (most of the documents we sent were originals anyway), especially birth certificates (I provided them multilingual extracts and full birth certificates with translation). I was asked what my highest school degree was (MSc in CS). We went through form I-485 revalidation that he asked us to re-sign. Finally, he handed over the standard form saying that USCIS would review the documents and communicate the decision. He explained to us that this was the standard process and he would complete the review quickly and reconfirmed he was aware of the deadline.

We then started discussing the case of my son living in Canada and I requested if I could submit directly the form I-824. He was not fully aware of Follow-to-Join process and talked with his supervisor to find out what should be the right process. Unfortunately, SFR FO is not accepting any more direct application (it seems they do not accept payment either). As the Officer was very conscious of time, he proposed me to perform the review of my application immediately and asked me to wait. He took also my passport. He came back 20 minutes later with my passport stamped with temporary I-551 and asked me to send the form I-824 to Chicago Lockbox immediately with a cover letter explaining the situation. As soon as I got the confirmation number, I have to fax it back to him so he can immediately follow-up. Still crossing fingers to make it happen through the DV process. If not, we will go through the standard I-130 route.

So, as a summary, Field Office and Officer were very professional, not stressful at all, and caring. Not only for me as I was observing others and saw the same behavior.

Finally, BritSimon, Mom and this forum are invaluable resources that makes this AOS DV process manageable. So, a big BIG THANK YOU!

@mom, do you think having a specific tab or cell to mention for follow-to-join process in the spreadsheet would be beneficial? First to help fill correctly the DS-260 form but also to proactively tell KCC about it. I am not sure what to say about the best way for form I-824. I saw that it can be sent at the same time than form I-485 but not sure if applicable in this particular case. And in my case, I was not able to submit it to the Field Officer.

Best of luck for the ones still waiting.
Eric.
 
DVERIC said:
Hi Everyone,

(summary) E2 living in the US, EU20xxx, Family of 5 - 4 AOS in San Francisco - 1 CP in Canada. My DV program selection was unexpected as I signed up about 15 years ago with an organization to take care of the process. Realizing it was probably a scam, I lost track of them and it was by cleaning up some junk email folders last September that I discovered that I was selected. Not proud of that but clearly, I am a lucky chap!

My timeline:

09/16/18 DS-260

01/07 2NL
03/07 DV fee sent
03/25 DV Fee Receipt Received
04/24 Medical Visit
04/29 Application Sent using USPS (I did not want to risk a denial due to early filling)
05/03 Application Received by USCIS Chicago Lockbox
05/07 NOA mailed
05/08 Text Message
05/13 NOA letters received
05/24 BIO Letters received
05/24 BIO Walk-in
06/12 Received SFR FO Request to confirm with KCC number of AOS and CP
06/14 KCC confirmed by email forwarding visa packet
06/18 Called KCC and confirmed visa packet sent to SFR FO on 06/16 and documents for CP received
06/28 Called USCIS requesting to notify SFR FO that action requested was
07/11 Called KCC that reconfirmed 06/18 for sending visa packets to SFR FO
07/22 Send request to congresswoman to help checking Interview Date
07/26 visited congresswoman office as I got no acknowledgement of my request.
08/02 Received IL. Contacted Congresswoman office to update.
09/09 Interview
09/09 CPO status updated
09/10 Card mailed

For my son to Follow-to-join:
09/09 Sent form I-824 to Chicago Lockbox with cover letter requesting urgent processing not awaiting receipt of welcome letter.
09/10 Form I-824 received at Chicago Lockbox
Waiting confirmation…

The interview 09/09:

We came 20 mns earlier and except that we were not found on the check-in list (definitively AOS DV is an exceptional process), we were requested to wait at 3rdfloor for interview. The Officer came a couple of minutes later. We had a second person in the interview room as an observer. Mood was professional and friendly. The Officer explained how the interview would run for the 4 of us. He started with usual Identification validation providing 2 means of ID (passports and driver license) except for my little one who has only his passport, but we brought his school card as well. He asked about our past travel activities one by one to determine if we had overstayed in the US (not our case). He went to validate various documents (most of the documents we sent were originals anyway), especially birth certificates (I provided them multilingual extracts and full birth certificates with translation). I was asked what my highest school degree was (MSc in CS). We went through form I-485 revalidation that he asked us to re-sign. Finally, he handed over the standard form saying that USCIS would review the documents and communicate the decision. He explained to us that this was the standard process and he would complete the review quickly and reconfirmed he was aware of the deadline.

We then started discussing the case of my son living in Canada and I requested if I could submit directly the form I-824. He was not fully aware of Follow-to-Join process and talked with his supervisor to find out what should be the right process. Unfortunately, SFR FO is not accepting any more direct application (it seems they do not accept payment either). As the Officer was very conscious of time, he proposed me to perform the review of my application immediately and asked me to wait. He took also my passport. He came back 20 minutes later with my passport stamped with temporary I-551 and asked me to send the form I-824 to Chicago Lockbox immediately with a cover letter explaining the situation. As soon as I got the confirmation number, I have to fax it back to him so he can immediately follow-up. Still crossing fingers to make it happen through the DV process. If not, we will go through the standard I-130 route.

So, as a summary, Field Office and Officer were very professional, not stressful at all, and caring. Not only for me as I was observing others and saw the same behavior.

Finally, BritSimon, Mom and this forum are invaluable resources that makes this AOS DV process manageable. So, a big BIG THANK YOU!

@mom, do you think having a specific tab or cell to mention for follow-to-join process in the spreadsheet would be beneficial? First to help fill correctly the DS-260 form but also to proactively tell KCC about it. I am not sure what to say about the best way for form I-824. I saw that it can be sent at the same time than form I-485 but not sure if applicable in this particular case. And in my case, I was not able to submit it to the Field Officer.

Best of luck for the ones still waiting.
Eric.
Click to expand...

Congratulations and best of luck with your son’s process.

Re putting FTJ info on the AOS process spreadsheet - I’m actually reluctant to do that because:
1. The process is only applicable to a rather tiny % of DV based AOSers - I would rather not spend time trying to explain the process to everyone. I’m however willing to provide some guidance based on what I know if asked in the forum.
2. Also, the process unfortunately is not quite defined for a DV based AOS petition. Typically (from past reports) there’s no fee payment associated with submitting an I-824 for a DV based FTJ. Most IOs we’re willing to accept the form at the end of the AOS interview. We’ve also had reports of IOs who actually forwarded the case case file to the embassy without an I-824 submission - those IOs are quite familiar with DV based AOS process, they’re aware of the time crunch involved
 
DVERIC said:
Hi Everyone,
My DV program selection was unexpected as I signed up about 15 years ago with an organization to take care of the process. Realizing it was probably a scam, I lost track of them and it was by cleaning up some junk email folders last September that I discovered that I was selected. Not proud of that but clearly, I am a lucky chap!
Eric.
Click to expand...

You’re quite fortunate with your approval by the way considering the pictures used for you and your family on the eDV entry forms are 15 years old!

Curious - all your children were listed on your registration form with this company 15 years ago? No change in family status/information from 15 years ago when you registered with the company?
 
Sm1smom said:
You’re quite fortunate with your approval by the way considering the pictures used for you and your family on the eDV entry forms are 15 years old!

Curious - all your children were listed on your registration form with this company 15 years ago? No change in family status/information from 15 years ago when you registered with the company?
Click to expand...
I was also wondering about this. I suspect this poster is very lucky indeed by probably doing AOS with likely someone not that familiar with DV, the kind of thing that CP would likely have picked up and denied immediately. It does make me wonder about whether anything would be picked up at the consulate in the FTJ process, though given only a couple of weeks of FY left that might end up having to be an F2 petition anyway.
 
Hi Mom,

Noted. Sure, i would imagine that it is a fraction of a fraction.

Related to I-824, it is not clear if DV FTJ is free. At least from USCIS fee calculator, it does not distinguish.
 
DVERIC said:
Hi Mom,

Noted. Sure, i would imagine that it is a fraction of a fraction.

Related to I-824, it is not clear if DV FTJ is free. At least from USCIS fee calculator, it does not distinguish.
Click to expand...

Right it doesn’t. If the I-485 is concurrently filed with the I-824 though, or the I-824 is mailed in to the the Lockbox after the AOS approval, yes an applicable payment is expected to accompany the form or the Chicago Lockbox folks will reject the entire package.
 
And my share on this was more to say to whoever read this that they should care of the eDV application by themselves. There is more luck that I can share here about this selection and i am humble about how this opportunity came and how it ended so far. Luck is also about knowing you all.
 
Just to share for anyone in the same situation, my current status was an issue at my interview. Was on F1, but program finished in June and I didn’t file I-485 until July. There is a 60 grace period in which to transfer I20, change status or leave, but AoS is a gray area apparently and the officer didn’t know about the grace period and asked for evidence, which I didn’t have. Officer gave me a continuance notice on the day and said they needed to look into it.

A week later my online accounts have changed to “case approved” and “new card being produced”. I’m not sure if that means it’s all done, or if any risk of missing out remains, but I wish I’d had something from my DSO declaring my status 60 days beyond the program date. Would have avoided a nervous week-long hold up.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. It’s been my best resource.
 
Kris77 said:
Just to share for anyone in the same situation, my current status was an issue at my interview. Was on F1, but program finished in June and I didn’t file I-485 until July. There is a 60 grace period in which to transfer I20, change status or leave, but AoS is a gray area apparently and the officer didn’t know about the grace period and asked for evidence, which I didn’t have. Officer gave me a continuance notice on the day and said they needed to look into it.

A week later my online accounts have changed to “case approved” and “new card being produced”. I’m not sure if that means it’s all done, or if any risk of missing out remains, but I wish I’d had something from my DSO declaring my status 60 days beyond the program date. Would have avoided a nervous week-long hold up.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. It’s been my best resource.
Click to expand...

Hi first of all congratulations on your approval and I am a selectee for 2020 and will do AOS too, just wanting to know if your submitted affidavit of support or showed some financial docs? I am really concerned in this part, any suggestion would be of great help.
Thank you
 
AOS2020 said:
Hi first of all congratulations on your approval and I am a selectee for 2020 and will do AOS too, just wanting to know if your submitted affidavit of support or showed some financial docs? I am really concerned in this part, any suggestion would be of great help.
Thank you
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I didn’t submit an affidavit of support. I didn’t show 6 months of bank statements.

I did show two account verification letters from my banks (one US and one home) showing my balance as at 2 days prior to the interview (I also printed out my share portfolio to demonstrate the long term nature of those funds). Mostly the officer was interested in my US bank balance.

I was also concerned about this, because I‘ve had no income on F1, but in my case the evidence was adequate and it wasn’t a big deal at all. An attorney told me for AoS he’d like to see at least $50k in my bank (which I had). I dont know how valid this advice is though.

Hope this helps and good luck for next year.
 
Kris77 said:
Thanks.

I didn’t submit an affidavit of support. I didn’t show 6 months of bank statements.

I did show two account verification letters from my banks (one US and one home) showing my balance as at 2 days prior to the interview (I also printed out my share portfolio to demonstrate the long term nature of those funds). Mostly the officer was interested in my US bank balance.

I was also concerned about this, because I‘ve had no income on F1, but in my case the evidence was adequate and it wasn’t a big deal at all. An attorney told me for AoS he’d like to see at least $50k in my bank (which I had). I dont know how valid this advice is though.

Hope this helps and good luck for next year.
Click to expand...

Oh ok great, this information is of great help and honestly a bit of relief to me, coz this is doable to me.
Just curious, so when you sent the i 485 package, no financial docs were sent from you right, coz you said you took the account balance letter printed 2 days prior to the interview?
Thank you
 
AOS2020 said:
Oh ok great, this information is of great help and honestly a bit of relief to me, coz this is doable to me.
Just curious, so when you sent the i 485 package, no financial docs were sent from you right, coz you said you took the account balance letter printed 2 days prior to the interview?
Thank you
Click to expand...
You need to send everything with I-485 (financial documents included). During the interview it's recommended to have everything that you've sent + more current statements or tax documents if applicable.
 
AOS2020 said:
Oh ok great, this information is of great help and honestly a bit of relief to me, coz this is doable to me.
Just curious, so when you sent the i 485 package, no financial docs were sent from you right, coz you said you took the account balance letter printed 2 days prior to the interview?
Thank you
Click to expand...

I did NOT include any financial documents in my I-485 application package. The first I showed these was at the interview. I don’t have the link, but I read on USCIS website somewhere that for DV cases, financial evidence was not required to be submitted with I-485 application, my attorney confirmed this. Do your own research to be sure.

One problem I did have however, was that my initial I-485 application received a rejection notice, without explanation. The exact same package was re-submitted, except this time we highlighted where on the cover letter it stated the application was for a DV case. Second time around it was accepted with no issue, biometerics 3 weeks later and interview 5 weeks after that. Perhaps the reason for the initial rejection notice was the absence of financial documents in my package, as they’re normally required for non-DV I-485 applications. I’m not sure, but it caused a 2 week delay.
 
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Kris77 said:
I did NOT include any financial documents in my I-485 application package. The first I showed these was at the interview. I don’t have the link, but I read on USCIS website somewhere that for DV cases, financial evidence was not required to be submitted with I-485 application, my attorney confirmed this. Do your own research to be sure.

One problem I did have however, was that my initial I-485 application received a rejection notice, without explanation. The exact same package was re-submitted, except this time we highlighted where on the cover letter it stated the application was for a DV case. Second time around it was accepted with no issue, biometerics 3 weeks later and interview 5 weeks after that. Perhaps the reason for the initial rejection notice was the absence of financial documents in my package, as they’re normally required for non-DV I-485 applications. I’m not sure, but it caused a 2 week delay.
Click to expand...

I remember of reading abt non requirement of financial docs for DV selectee on the 39th page of the 42 page long I-485 instruction, and that was were i was confused since i noted almost every applicant have mentioned about the submission of some sort of fin docs, but it's technically not required, so i was confused as to include it or not for my i-485 package.

Oh ok that makes a lot sense now, thanks for sharing this experience so that now we know to definitely include a cover letter with detail category of application.
Thank you
 
AOS2020 said:
I remember of reading abt non requirement of financial docs for DV selectee on the 39th page of the 42 page long I-485 instruction
Click to expand...
Evidence of financial support mentioned in the instruction is defined as a filled form i-864 (page 12). While it's true that this form is not necessary for DV based AOS, you still need to prove that you will not become a public charge (also page 12). Form i-134 exists for a reason...
 
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