Sm1smom
Super Moderator
I would take them along, if I was in your shoes.
DV 2025 AOS (Adjustment of Status) Process Only
- Thread starter Sm1smom
- Start date
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
We have no way of knowing what could be the reason for the new invitation you received, your lawyer has a better insight into your case situation than we do here.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
If I were you I would take the chance. You’ll kick yourself if they do interview on the spot and your family isn’t there
tonnykirugu
New Member
hello
I am helping a friend with follow up with her case. she did interview on monday and has received no updates yet. her case shows fingerprints taken. how do i go about getting some attention from uscis knowing the timeline is very short
I am helping a friend with follow up with her case. she did interview on monday and has received no updates yet. her case shows fingerprints taken. how do i go about getting some attention from uscis knowing the timeline is very short
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Can you add your friend’s case updates to the Timeline spreadsheet?
They said they uscis doesn’t provide any information. Also, i don’t like this lawyer as i told this before, it was mistake for hiring them. But i don’t understand why officer at first interview said that everything good and she doesn’t need anything more from our side, she saw our response to rfe and satisfied with it, so thats why she didn’t ask about marriage a lot and now invite us second time
So we did a walk in this morning and it was very helpful. We were there for about 2 hours total. The person that helped us was very good, he knew immediately about our case and was away checking stuff for a while. He came back at first and said there was a glitch in the system with one of the cases.
Either way after that he came back and told us that my wife's background check had cleared but mine was still pending. He said that they submitted an expedite request on Wednesday. He hopes that they'll be able to clear it on time. We also mentioned to him that maybe it's an issue with my last name, since it has an apostrophe. When filling in the I-485 PDF, it didn't allow me to add the apostrophe so I omitted it. I was torn on adding it or not and regret not asking here for clarification at the time. I knew that there were ways of adding it and bypassing the restriction. However I also was worried that forcefully adding it could cause issues with their electronic system, as apostrophes are a very common way (mostly in legacy systems) to break/exploit database logic in the code and cause a lot of problems in general with computer systems. So I decided to follow the PDFs coded logic and requirements and not bypass it to add the apostrophe.
The guy understood what we were saying and he said that's interesting and it could be the problem. So he took note of my name with the apostrophe and without and I think he also added one with just a space in place of the apostrophe. He said that he would try adding that to the system and see if it helps clear the background check. He also took my phone number and said that he will call on Tuesday morning, no matter what happens, if it's cleared or not and let me know.
So all in all very enlightening. It could all be my fault for not adding the apostrophe if we don't get it. At least we were able to talk to someone and clear up this stuff and that gives us some little hope...
Either way after that he came back and told us that my wife's background check had cleared but mine was still pending. He said that they submitted an expedite request on Wednesday. He hopes that they'll be able to clear it on time. We also mentioned to him that maybe it's an issue with my last name, since it has an apostrophe. When filling in the I-485 PDF, it didn't allow me to add the apostrophe so I omitted it. I was torn on adding it or not and regret not asking here for clarification at the time. I knew that there were ways of adding it and bypassing the restriction. However I also was worried that forcefully adding it could cause issues with their electronic system, as apostrophes are a very common way (mostly in legacy systems) to break/exploit database logic in the code and cause a lot of problems in general with computer systems. So I decided to follow the PDFs coded logic and requirements and not bypass it to add the apostrophe.
The guy understood what we were saying and he said that's interesting and it could be the problem. So he took note of my name with the apostrophe and without and I think he also added one with just a space in place of the apostrophe. He said that he would try adding that to the system and see if it helps clear the background check. He also took my phone number and said that he will call on Tuesday morning, no matter what happens, if it's cleared or not and let me know.
So all in all very enlightening. It could all be my fault for not adding the apostrophe if we don't get it. At least we were able to talk to someone and clear up this stuff and that gives us some little hope...
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
Sounds like they are trying hard to ensure it’s cleared on time, which is the best you could hope for from them. Hoping you get good news soon.
I found this operating manual for USCIS agents performing background checks:
Specifically this section:
I wondered if it was worth printing this out and asking a security officer there to get it to the agent I was speaking to today, maybe it could be helpful. I know the agent's name so could ask it to be given to him, not even bother them with entering the establishment and waiting around.
Maybe that's too much though and now it's just time to wait.
Specifically this section:
I wondered if it was worth printing this out and asking a security officer there to get it to the agent I was speaking to today, maybe it could be helpful. I know the agent's name so could ask it to be given to him, not even bother them with entering the establishment and waiting around.
Maybe that's too much though and now it's just time to wait.
Hi @Sm1smom , my status just updated to “new card is being produced”. Thank you very much for your guidance. I appreciate it!
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Great news. Congratulations and thanks for the update.
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Honestly speaking, I don't see a need to visit your FO again with this document because the folks conducting the background checks are already aware of the need to query the different name variations as part of the process. They do not stick with just what an applicant has written on their application forms. However, you may do so if it gives you some peace of mind.
I wish they had submitted the expedite background check earlier…they gave it so little time. Just a few business days to complete.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
I wish they had submitted the expedite background check earlier…they gave it so little time. Just a few business days to complete.
Complete what? An "expedite background check" may be as simple as checking with someone to essentially make a decision (perhaps risk based) to "ignore" whatever checks are being done. Look at the 4 UK cases. I'm guessing none of them actually had background checks done before each of them were approved.
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
You don’t know for certain what was or was not done before then. Just because the person you met with stated they submitted an expedited request on Wednesday may not necessarily mean that was the first time such a request was submitted considering they informed you of the pending background check clearance (through your congress person) on Sept. 16th. They’re not likely to have simply not done anything since then until Sept. 24th to get things resolved.I wish they had submitted the expedite background check earlier…they gave it so little time. Just a few business days to complete.
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
We’ve had cases of applicants clearing the background check within a day of bio completion - we know this based on some applicants completing the biometric appointment within a day or on the same day as their interview date, and the case being approved the following day. So I wouldn’t conclude the 4 UK cases did not go through the required background checks before they got approved. My conclusion will be the initial check for each of them did not throw up any flag requiring additional checks.
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
By the way, does your work experience (either present or past), or area of study fall within the Technology Alert List (TAL)? The TAL is a set of guidelines used by to identify applicants whose work involves sensitive technologies that could pose a national security risk. If your application is flagged under the TAL, it often results in administrative delays, additional security checks, or even visa refusals. Take a look at the FAQ tab of the AOS Process spreadsheet to see some of the links provided there regarding TAL.I wish they had submitted the expedite background check earlier…they gave it so little time. Just a few business days to complete.
Also, if you're from or you've been to certain countries in the past which the US government considers countries of particular concern or under the government watch list, that could impact the speed of background check clearance.
None of that should apply. I'm from Ireland, only ever been to countries that are part of the European Union and once to Paraguay and I'm a software engineer. So as far as I can tell I wouldn't match anything on the TAL.
From what he said my understanding is that he submitted an expedite request to the FBI to finish the background check and cited the September 30th deadline as the expedite reason they gave as part of the request.
I wish I shared your optimism here but I’m definitely losing hope.
I don’t see any reason we’d have such a difficult time with a background check but…who knows. My understanding is there can be a lot of manual checking required by these agencies if the name has any “hit” for any reason. So you can just end up very unlucky.