Hello all,
I am very happy to tell you all that my wife and I had our interview at the Arlington office this morning and we both got approved. The interview was with a very very nice immigration officer(Ms. Sanders) and it was nothing more than a formality. We didn't know the reason for transfer, and we still dont...but we don't care now.
Interview was scheduled for 9.15 AM for me and 9.45 AM for my wife.
We both reached the Arlington office at about 8.30 AM and dropped the letters in the slot. There were about 15 people in the waiting area, most of them were accompanied by their lawyers(we didn't take our's).
We were called by Ms. Sanders at about 9.20 AM, signed and finger printed a document on both sides.
Then we followed her into her room, took the oath and sat down.
She opened my file first and started asking the questions based on the information in it. They were all regular questions like, First name, DOB, SSN, Current address, Father's first name, Mother's name, wife's DOB etc. She started putting a check mark after each line on the form as I answer her questions. Then she asked the questions like, have you been ever arrested etc.
Then she asked me to give her the copy of my passport(she was a little upset as I took the copy of my entire passport, including the blank pages. She said it was a waste of paper and there was no need to do that). She then asked me for tax returns for the last 3 years(checked both our names on 2003 returns, nothing else), employment letter(I am still with the same employer, but I saw her comparing the job duties with the old letter) and then asked for a picture with two of us in it.
Then she asked me if I had any other documents that I wanted give her. I gave her the joint credit card, insurance, bank account, county tax and deed of trust document copies and she filed all of them very patiently. I gave her the affidavit of support(I-134) though she didnt ask for it.
Then she opened my wife's file, asked her the same set of questions and took the copy of her I-94 and nothing else. She had our pictures that we initially submitted with our application, but she asked us if we had any newer ones. She asked this because the old pictures were not very clear. We gave her new ones and she was happy.
That's it. She then took our EADs, APs and took out the much awaited red stamp and stamped our passports with the I-551. She told us we will receive our cards in mail in 3 to 6 months.
That was it guys, it was really cool. Altogether it took no more than 25 minutes and most of that time was taken just to file the documents. I am not too excited but very relieved now.
All the guys who are waiting for their approvals, have faith in God and yourself. Your time will come, and you will become the Permanent residents of this country before you realize. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
For those who care, let me just give you a brief history of my case.
RIR process started(Nov 1999)
Labor(State), applied Feb'2000, approved April'2000
Labor(Federal) applied April'2000, approved October'2000
I-140 approved in 23 days in November'2000
Dates were not current, got married in August 2001, Filed I-485 for both in December'2001
Ist FP April 2002
RFE(EVL, Birth certificate for wife and affidavits for both) July 2003, response sent July 2003
2nd FP September 2003
Case transferred Novemeber 2003. My case status never got updated with the transfer information. I came to know about it only when I contacted the local senator in January 2004.
Interview letter received May 14 2004.
Interview, Approved and Stamped May 24 2004.
I used to be very active on these boards. My mother passed away at the end of March this year and the Arlington office was kind enough to approve an emergency AP on Humanitarian grounds(I never applied for AP before that). I was in India the entire April and returned first week of May. It was a pleasent coincidence that I received my interview letter within 10 days of coming back.
CMR
I am very happy to tell you all that my wife and I had our interview at the Arlington office this morning and we both got approved. The interview was with a very very nice immigration officer(Ms. Sanders) and it was nothing more than a formality. We didn't know the reason for transfer, and we still dont...but we don't care now.
Interview was scheduled for 9.15 AM for me and 9.45 AM for my wife.
We both reached the Arlington office at about 8.30 AM and dropped the letters in the slot. There were about 15 people in the waiting area, most of them were accompanied by their lawyers(we didn't take our's).
We were called by Ms. Sanders at about 9.20 AM, signed and finger printed a document on both sides.
Then we followed her into her room, took the oath and sat down.
She opened my file first and started asking the questions based on the information in it. They were all regular questions like, First name, DOB, SSN, Current address, Father's first name, Mother's name, wife's DOB etc. She started putting a check mark after each line on the form as I answer her questions. Then she asked the questions like, have you been ever arrested etc.
Then she asked me to give her the copy of my passport(she was a little upset as I took the copy of my entire passport, including the blank pages. She said it was a waste of paper and there was no need to do that). She then asked me for tax returns for the last 3 years(checked both our names on 2003 returns, nothing else), employment letter(I am still with the same employer, but I saw her comparing the job duties with the old letter) and then asked for a picture with two of us in it.
Then she asked me if I had any other documents that I wanted give her. I gave her the joint credit card, insurance, bank account, county tax and deed of trust document copies and she filed all of them very patiently. I gave her the affidavit of support(I-134) though she didnt ask for it.
Then she opened my wife's file, asked her the same set of questions and took the copy of her I-94 and nothing else. She had our pictures that we initially submitted with our application, but she asked us if we had any newer ones. She asked this because the old pictures were not very clear. We gave her new ones and she was happy.
That's it. She then took our EADs, APs and took out the much awaited red stamp and stamped our passports with the I-551. She told us we will receive our cards in mail in 3 to 6 months.
That was it guys, it was really cool. Altogether it took no more than 25 minutes and most of that time was taken just to file the documents. I am not too excited but very relieved now.
All the guys who are waiting for their approvals, have faith in God and yourself. Your time will come, and you will become the Permanent residents of this country before you realize. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
For those who care, let me just give you a brief history of my case.
RIR process started(Nov 1999)
Labor(State), applied Feb'2000, approved April'2000
Labor(Federal) applied April'2000, approved October'2000
I-140 approved in 23 days in November'2000
Dates were not current, got married in August 2001, Filed I-485 for both in December'2001
Ist FP April 2002
RFE(EVL, Birth certificate for wife and affidavits for both) July 2003, response sent July 2003
2nd FP September 2003
Case transferred Novemeber 2003. My case status never got updated with the transfer information. I came to know about it only when I contacted the local senator in January 2004.
Interview letter received May 14 2004.
Interview, Approved and Stamped May 24 2004.
I used to be very active on these boards. My mother passed away at the end of March this year and the Arlington office was kind enough to approve an emergency AP on Humanitarian grounds(I never applied for AP before that). I was in India the entire April and returned first week of May. It was a pleasent coincidence that I received my interview letter within 10 days of coming back.
CMR
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