FinkNottle
New Member
This is my story and it is long, so get a cup of coffee and settle down in a comfortable chair.
Yesterday, I received the plastic card in the mail. My spouse received it last Friday.
Receipt Number: WAC-02-130-XXXXX
Priority Date: Dec '97 (Yes sir, you read it right, December '97)
Receipt/ Notification: Mar '02
Finger Print: May '02
RFE issued: Apr '03
RFE Response: May '03
Approval/ Stamping: May '03
Cards Received: Jun '03
Regular labor certification, two I-140s, two I-485, four EAD & APs, three times finger printing, a lot of anxious waiting and may be, just may be, kindness from someone at the INS towards the end; it took a total of six years for the entire process.
Some explanation:
My labor certification was filed with the job requirements of either a Master's degree or Bachelor's degree plus two years of experience. My then attorney - whose incompetence and/or apathy can only be described as monumental - filed for the I-140 under EB 2 preference category. While we were waiting for this to be approved, our company changed law firms and the new attorney realized that the I-140, as filed, might not be approved and filed for another I-140 under EB-3 preference category. The reasons why the EB-2 I-140 could not be approved have always been nebulous to me. But it appears that for an EB-2 I-140 to be approved, the job requirements in the labor certification should have said, either:
- A "Master's degree"
- OR a "Master's degree / a bachelor's degree plus five years of experience".
Mine, you will remember, said "Maters / bachelor's plus two years of experience". Is your head spinning? Mine did. But wait, there is more.
In September '00, INS approved both I-140 petitions on the same day. Since the priority dates were not current for EB3 at that time (if you are fairly new to the green card process, you might not even know what "priority dates being current" means; I will only say - good for you), my attorney suggested that we file for the I-485 using the EB 2 I-140. Seemed reasonable to me, and so we did.
The AOS was filed in Nov 00 (WAC-01-042-XXXXX). The typical processing time was about four months for I-485 at that time. After 14 months of agonizing wait (three times finger printing for my spouse, twice for me, two EAD/AP applications during this period), we (the attorney) received a notice from the INS informing us of their intent to revoke the underlying EB 2 I-140, because INS felt that they should not have approved it in the first place.
I swallowed hard, withdrew the original I-485, applied for a new I-485 in March 02 (WAC 02-130-XXXXX) and settled for another long and agonizing wait. Sure enough, the wait was long and it was agonizing, what with the shaky economy and the threat of layoffs hanging over my head. Once I realized that the processing date was stuck at Nov '01 for the last several months, I lost all hope and was seriously exploring options for an alternate future. Towards the end of last year, I had used up all the six years of my H1B and switched to EAD.
In April this year, I received a letter from the INS denying the original I-485 filed in Nov '00. It was a little surprising since we had withdrawn this application when the new I-485 was filed. But both my attorney and INS work in mysterious ways, reason falls apart here. On the same day, we received an RFE for an employment verification letter, last two years W2, pay stubs from the date the second I-485 was filed, proof that the company is able to pay the specified salary, copies of passport, proof that I have been in continuous legal residence from the first time I entered the States (this, for the interested, was in August '94 as a student for my Master's), copies of all pages in the passport(s), copy of the I-140 petition, copy of the labor certification with all the supporting documents and my present residence address.
We replied to the RFE in a couple of weeks. Most of it is straight forward, but you may have questions about a couple. For proof of continuous legal stay, I provided copies of the I-20, student EAD, H1B approval notices, and copies of the I-94s; basically showing the overlap that I had received the next before the previous one expired. To demonstrate the company's ability to pay wage, we submitted the latest quarterly and annual reports (if yours is a small private company, you may have to submit company tax returns also). I waited with bated breath. The approvals came within a week of the RFE response.
Stamping experience:
We took the courtesy copies for stamping. We took our passports, I-94s and the pile of EADs and APs we managed to collect over the years. Since we live in Alameda County, we went to the San Francisco office of the BCIS. It was a Friday and apparently Fridays are the busiest. We parked on a surface lot around the corner, it was expensive, but somehow I didn't mind. There are some photo studios in the vicinity, we had our photos taken and waited in the line at 444 Washington street (the approval notice asked us to go to 600 Sansome street, second floor, but apparently everyone waits in the line at 444 Washington street). It was a 40-minute wait on the street and another hour wait in a second line inside the building. Eventually we got to a counter and the lady there asked for the approval notices, EAD cards and the I-94s. She stapled them to the approval notice and gave us tokens. Although (and sadly) there were not many people there for I-485 stamping, we still waited for a couple of hours before we were called to a counter. But what is a couple of hours when you have already waited for six years. The officer took the stapled bunch and also asked for the APs. We signed a form and were finger printed. We went back and waited for about ten minutes before our names were called over the PA system. We collected the passports with the stamps. The gentleman there said it may take anywhere from six months to a year for the cards to arrive, but hastened to add that it is typically much less than that. So it was that yesterday, I received the plastic card in the mail. My spouse received it last Friday.
To conclude:
As the most difficult experience of my life draws to a rather satisfactory conclusion, I was reflecting on a few things. Firstly, I worried more than I should have; I had been waiting for the green card, instead of living my life. Secondly, I was not paying attention to the attorneys for the first several years of the processing; I should have been keeping close watch on what was happening. But then again, like Schiller said: "Against stupidity even Gods are struggling in vain." Finally, I like to think that there was someone at the INS that took pity on me towards the end and processed my case, even though it was out of sequence. If this is indeed true, may their clan multiply! I have been with the same company all this while, and lived at the same place for the last three and half years...a lot of water has flown in the Ganges since I began this process.
Let me wish you all good luck. I know the frustration of an endless wait and the feeling of paralysis it can spawn. Hang in there.
Yesterday, I received the plastic card in the mail. My spouse received it last Friday.
Receipt Number: WAC-02-130-XXXXX
Priority Date: Dec '97 (Yes sir, you read it right, December '97)
Receipt/ Notification: Mar '02
Finger Print: May '02
RFE issued: Apr '03
RFE Response: May '03
Approval/ Stamping: May '03
Cards Received: Jun '03
Regular labor certification, two I-140s, two I-485, four EAD & APs, three times finger printing, a lot of anxious waiting and may be, just may be, kindness from someone at the INS towards the end; it took a total of six years for the entire process.
Some explanation:
My labor certification was filed with the job requirements of either a Master's degree or Bachelor's degree plus two years of experience. My then attorney - whose incompetence and/or apathy can only be described as monumental - filed for the I-140 under EB 2 preference category. While we were waiting for this to be approved, our company changed law firms and the new attorney realized that the I-140, as filed, might not be approved and filed for another I-140 under EB-3 preference category. The reasons why the EB-2 I-140 could not be approved have always been nebulous to me. But it appears that for an EB-2 I-140 to be approved, the job requirements in the labor certification should have said, either:
- A "Master's degree"
- OR a "Master's degree / a bachelor's degree plus five years of experience".
Mine, you will remember, said "Maters / bachelor's plus two years of experience". Is your head spinning? Mine did. But wait, there is more.
In September '00, INS approved both I-140 petitions on the same day. Since the priority dates were not current for EB3 at that time (if you are fairly new to the green card process, you might not even know what "priority dates being current" means; I will only say - good for you), my attorney suggested that we file for the I-485 using the EB 2 I-140. Seemed reasonable to me, and so we did.
The AOS was filed in Nov 00 (WAC-01-042-XXXXX). The typical processing time was about four months for I-485 at that time. After 14 months of agonizing wait (three times finger printing for my spouse, twice for me, two EAD/AP applications during this period), we (the attorney) received a notice from the INS informing us of their intent to revoke the underlying EB 2 I-140, because INS felt that they should not have approved it in the first place.
I swallowed hard, withdrew the original I-485, applied for a new I-485 in March 02 (WAC 02-130-XXXXX) and settled for another long and agonizing wait. Sure enough, the wait was long and it was agonizing, what with the shaky economy and the threat of layoffs hanging over my head. Once I realized that the processing date was stuck at Nov '01 for the last several months, I lost all hope and was seriously exploring options for an alternate future. Towards the end of last year, I had used up all the six years of my H1B and switched to EAD.
In April this year, I received a letter from the INS denying the original I-485 filed in Nov '00. It was a little surprising since we had withdrawn this application when the new I-485 was filed. But both my attorney and INS work in mysterious ways, reason falls apart here. On the same day, we received an RFE for an employment verification letter, last two years W2, pay stubs from the date the second I-485 was filed, proof that the company is able to pay the specified salary, copies of passport, proof that I have been in continuous legal residence from the first time I entered the States (this, for the interested, was in August '94 as a student for my Master's), copies of all pages in the passport(s), copy of the I-140 petition, copy of the labor certification with all the supporting documents and my present residence address.
We replied to the RFE in a couple of weeks. Most of it is straight forward, but you may have questions about a couple. For proof of continuous legal stay, I provided copies of the I-20, student EAD, H1B approval notices, and copies of the I-94s; basically showing the overlap that I had received the next before the previous one expired. To demonstrate the company's ability to pay wage, we submitted the latest quarterly and annual reports (if yours is a small private company, you may have to submit company tax returns also). I waited with bated breath. The approvals came within a week of the RFE response.
Stamping experience:
We took the courtesy copies for stamping. We took our passports, I-94s and the pile of EADs and APs we managed to collect over the years. Since we live in Alameda County, we went to the San Francisco office of the BCIS. It was a Friday and apparently Fridays are the busiest. We parked on a surface lot around the corner, it was expensive, but somehow I didn't mind. There are some photo studios in the vicinity, we had our photos taken and waited in the line at 444 Washington street (the approval notice asked us to go to 600 Sansome street, second floor, but apparently everyone waits in the line at 444 Washington street). It was a 40-minute wait on the street and another hour wait in a second line inside the building. Eventually we got to a counter and the lady there asked for the approval notices, EAD cards and the I-94s. She stapled them to the approval notice and gave us tokens. Although (and sadly) there were not many people there for I-485 stamping, we still waited for a couple of hours before we were called to a counter. But what is a couple of hours when you have already waited for six years. The officer took the stapled bunch and also asked for the APs. We signed a form and were finger printed. We went back and waited for about ten minutes before our names were called over the PA system. We collected the passports with the stamps. The gentleman there said it may take anywhere from six months to a year for the cards to arrive, but hastened to add that it is typically much less than that. So it was that yesterday, I received the plastic card in the mail. My spouse received it last Friday.
To conclude:
As the most difficult experience of my life draws to a rather satisfactory conclusion, I was reflecting on a few things. Firstly, I worried more than I should have; I had been waiting for the green card, instead of living my life. Secondly, I was not paying attention to the attorneys for the first several years of the processing; I should have been keeping close watch on what was happening. But then again, like Schiller said: "Against stupidity even Gods are struggling in vain." Finally, I like to think that there was someone at the INS that took pity on me towards the end and processed my case, even though it was out of sequence. If this is indeed true, may their clan multiply! I have been with the same company all this while, and lived at the same place for the last three and half years...a lot of water has flown in the Ganges since I began this process.
Let me wish you all good luck. I know the frustration of an endless wait and the feeling of paralysis it can spawn. Hang in there.
