I-485 Approved! Portland,Maine

dipeshc

Registered Users (C)
Hi Folks,

I wanted to post earlier but had no time. I had my greencard interview on Monday 27th March (Portland,Maine). Process lasted some 3 or 4 minutes.My wife and I both took the oath. The I-864 I had originally filed did not include my income and hence I brought a new I-864 and I-864A with my income from last year along with hers (including 2005 tax return)...I handed this to the officer voluntarily..Then he asked where my family lived, when I told him Delhi, he asked if they are the ones who make all the "sandwiches"..I didn't first get it and then laughed...The next thing he did was hand the document saying "granted conditional residence" etc-...So we were both surprised and asked him if that was it and we were done? He said he was done and was gonna go to his office, but we could stay if we wanted :-)...Well that was it, we hugged and left...i didnt feel the excitement because I had only slept 3 hours and drove 2 hours too early in the morning...I got the welcome letter yesterday (1st April) and USCIS online says I should get my card asap or wutever..So am fairly impressed with the timeline (November 8th, RD and interview done on 27th March, including an RFE for birth certificate)...

Well Thanks a ton everyone(especially Ari4U) here for your advise! A lot of info here is better than what lawyers can do...I know I would mess up paper work big time if it wasn't for this forum...
 
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Congrats...that must have been the quickest interview ever!!!
Funny joke, ha ha, the Del(h)i.

Some officers probably don't waste their or our time when they can tell it is a bona-fida marriage....common sence and gut feeling can save everybody quite a bit of time.

I challenge everyone to tell us about a faster experience....:)
 
Thanks everyone!

yes that was unbelievably fast...God bless America..My experience with USCIS in the last 6 years has been terrific, be it student visa(obtained it twice for BS and MS) and the greencard...ive got no complaints and am enjoying my status...

-Dipesh
 
dipeshc said:
Hi Folks,

I wanted to post earlier but had no time. I had my greencard interview on Monday 27th March (Portland,Maine). Process lasted some 3 or 4 minutes.My wife and I both took the oath. The I-864 I had originally filed did not include my income and hence I brought a new I-864 and I-864A with my income from last year along with hers (including 2005 tax return)...I handed this to the officer voluntarily..Then he asked where my family lived, when I told him Delhi, he asked if they are the ones who make all the "sandwiches"..I didn't first get it and then laughed...The next thing he did was hand the document saying "granted conditional residence" etc-...So we were both surprised and asked him if that was it and we were done? He said he was done and was gonna go to his office, but we could stay if we wanted :-)...Well that was it, we hugged and left...i didnt feel the excitement because I had only slept 3 hours and drove 2 hours too early in the morning...I got the welcome letter yesterday (1st April) and USCIS online says I should get my card asap or wutever..So am fairly impressed with the timeline (November 8th, RD and interview done on 27th March, including an RFE for birth certificate)...

Well Thanks a ton everyone(especially Ari4U) here for your advise! A lot of info here is better than what lawyers can do...I know I would mess up paper work big time if it wasn't for this forum...

Congrats! :)
 
dipeshc said:
Hi Folks,

I wanted to post earlier but had no time. I had my greencard interview on Monday 27th March (Portland,Maine). Process lasted some 3 or 4 minutes.My wife and I both took the oath. The I-864 I had originally filed did not include my income and hence I brought a new I-864 and I-864A with my income from last year along with hers (including 2005 tax return)...I handed this to the officer voluntarily..Then he asked where my family lived, when I told him Delhi, he asked if they are the ones who make all the "sandwiches"..I didn't first get it and then laughed...The next thing he did was hand the document saying "granted conditional residence" etc-...So we were both surprised and asked him if that was it and we were done? He said he was done and was gonna go to his office, but we could stay if we wanted :-)...Well that was it, we hugged and left...i didnt feel the excitement because I had only slept 3 hours and drove 2 hours too early in the morning...I got the welcome letter yesterday (1st April) and USCIS online says I should get my card asap or wutever..So am fairly impressed with the timeline (November 8th, RD and interview done on 27th March, including an RFE for birth certificate)...

Well Thanks a ton everyone(especially Ari4U) here for your advise! A lot of info here is better than what lawyers can do...I know I would mess up paper work big time if it wasn't for this forum...

CONGRATULATION!

And Ari deserves your/our recognition, despite his ugly face :D :D he has a good heart and helped a lot of people
:)
 
Suzy977 said:
CONGRATULATION!

And Ari deserves your/our recognition, despite his ugly face :D :D he has a good heart and helped a lot of people
:)

Thanks. I agree..Most of the advise I took seriously here were posts from Ari...
 
it seems like Portland ,Maine is a good DO, i love that town,congratulations again thanks for sharing your experience.
 
eric v said:
it seems like Portland ,Maine is a good DO, i love that town,congratulations again thanks for sharing your experience.

Yes it's an amazing DO..Completely unlike what others describe USCIS offices to be. It's laid back and comfortable and unbelievably cooperative. When my father passed away, they issued me an advance parole after I went there without an appointment. Then later when my EAD was pending (applied Jan 16th), the University said they could no longer let me hold my assistantship unless I got the EAD approved. So I went to talk to the DO(it had been less than 15 days since application) and they approved and made a full 1 year EAD for me. Of course NBC sent me the actual EAD in just 1 month which was also very good. The officers r pollite and caring at Portland DO and very friendly. The entrance guard and us(my wife and myself) had long discussions on deer/alligator hunting and US army(wife's an army brat) lifestyle for like an hour before my interview..
 
Dubu said:
hey Dipesh!
Congrats! Was the officer's name Plourde?? He seems to be a decent guy over there. I had my N-400 interview with some older guy who had a very dry sense of humor, probably in his mid 50s.

I don't remember his name anymore..But is it right to disclose officer names in a public forum?
 
My DO is Miami I wish I was back in Portland Maine where I grew up my wife would have her GC by now, Thanks!
 
dipeshc said:
Hi Folks,

I wanted to post earlier but had no time. I had my greencard interview on Monday 27th March (Portland,Maine). Process lasted some 3 or 4 minutes.My wife and I both took the oath. The I-864 I had originally filed did not include my income and hence I brought a new I-864 and I-864A with my income from last year along with hers (including 2005 tax return)...I handed this to the officer voluntarily..Then he asked where my family lived, when I told him Delhi, he asked if they are the ones who make all the "sandwiches"..I didn't first get it and then laughed...The next thing he did was hand the document saying "granted conditional residence" etc-...So we were both surprised and asked him if that was it and we were done? He said he was done and was gonna go to his office, but we could stay if we wanted :-)...Well that was it, we hugged and left...i didnt feel the excitement because I had only slept 3 hours and drove 2 hours too early in the morning...I got the welcome letter yesterday (1st April) and USCIS online says I should get my card asap or wutever..So am fairly impressed with the timeline (November 8th, RD and interview done on 27th March, including an RFE for birth certificate)...

Well Thanks a ton everyone(especially Ari4U) here for your advise! A lot of info here is better than what lawyers can do...I know I would mess up paper work big time if it wasn't for this forum...

Congrats!!! :D :) :cool: You must be loving it. You processing time is correct. It's not fast, it is just right. After all, they say it takes between 120 and 180 days to process such cases. Enjoy freedom :)
 
dipeshc said:
I don't remember his name anymore..But is it right to disclose officer names in a public forum?

Why not? We're not talking about a CIA secret Agent infiltrated at Kremlin...is just a public servant working for USCIS, and a nice one...ooops, that may be the problem, being an exception he may get in trouble with the other coworkers :D :D
 
icman said:
Congrats!!! :D :) :cool: You must be loving it. You processing time is correct. It's not fast, it is just right. After all, they say it takes between 120 and 180 days to process such cases. Enjoy freedom :)

True...But it was that time frame including my 1.5 month stay in India and an RFC (which took over a month to respond to)..Oh yeah and I also postponed my Biometrics appointment by a month (since i was on India till Jan 15th and it was scheduled for Jan 3rd)..This would have been a pain for other DO's since you would have to send written confirmation etc- and neither my wife (she was in NY) or myself had the biometrics letter..I simply called up the DO number(from India) and luckily got connected to the district admin (mr Lara) who took down my A number and rescheduled it for 21st jan...

The other most amazing part is that a friend of mine whose status was pending in the Tucson,AZ DO decided to simply go with me to the Portland DO the day of my biometrics (he didn't receive his notice yet)..The office however took his biometrics along with mine and he got his call for interview directly in AZ(he's also been cleared for his GC pending name check)..so it was a walk-in biometrics...i am just completely amazed at these guys....
 
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Suzy977 said:
Why not? We're not talking about a CIA secret Agent infiltrated at Kremlin...is just a public servant working for USCIS, and a nice one...ooops, that may be the problem, being an exception he may get in trouble with the other coworkers :D :D

LOL...Well i still don't really remember his name.but yeah he was in his 50's had glasses hung over his nose..he intimidated me to start with cause of his strict appearance and definitly meant business...so i dont think people should take this DO for a ride...but it's a reliable center...
 
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