Need Advice!!!

A

aussie81

Registered Users (C)
My husband and I are preparing to file a I-130 and I-485 concurrently and I heard about the 90 day pilot program the Dallas office is running. I would like to file my application at the Dallas office not only for the pilot program but because my husbands parents live very close to Dallas and it will make it a lot easier on my husband if we can file it there as he is in the military and getting a time off is difficult.
The problem is, the office that has jurisdiction over our area is San Antonio and while it is meant to be our closest office, it's only 7 miles closer than Dallas. This means to go to the San Antonio office we have to drive at least 2hrs (more like 2.5hrs) and we would probably have to pay for accommodation over night.
Is it possible for us to go to the Dallas office rather than the San Antonio office? I called the USCIS customer service number and they weren't very helpful but they never actually said "no you cant go to the Dallas office". However I don't want to mess up my application by going to the wrong office. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm finding it really hard to get any answer. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
 
Hey,


My suggestion would be to file to an office as directed by their customer service number.

If you file to an incorrect office their is no telling how much delay you have to suffer.

Best of luck

Vik_b
 
aussie81 said:
My husband and I are preparing to file a I-130 and I-485 concurrently and I heard about the 90 day pilot program the Dallas office is running. I would like to file my application at the Dallas office not only for the pilot program but because my husbands parents live very close to Dallas and it will make it a lot easier on my husband if we can file it there as he is in the military and getting a time off is difficult.
The problem is, the office that has jurisdiction over our area is San Antonio and while it is meant to be our closest office, it's only 7 miles closer than Dallas. This means to go to the San Antonio office we have to drive at least 2hrs (more like 2.5hrs) and we would probably have to pay for accommodation over night.
Is it possible for us to go to the Dallas office rather than the San Antonio office? I called the USCIS customer service number and they weren't very helpful but they never actually said "no you cant go to the Dallas office". However I don't want to mess up my application by going to the wrong office. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm finding it really hard to get any answer. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
Click to expand...


actually... San antonio seems to be faster as folks here got GC approved in ~2.5 months. DORA seems to be taking longer than 90 days.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the advice, it's so hard to get a straight answer from customer service.
My reason for wanting to go to the Dallas office wasn't just for the 90day processing, although it does sound attractive, but for the convenience. This is costing us enough already without having to pay for accommodation overnight, driving almost 5 hours in one day doesn't sound like fun!
 
aussie81,

I would recommend going with San Antonio. DORA has not been processing quickly at all. In fact, we are on day 155 right now. They haven't touched our case since August 1st. If you go to VISAJOURNEY.com you can look at the timelines of a few others in the AOS forum, very very few at this time are being process at anywhere near 90 days.

And it is not more convenient. You will have to drive up to Dallas for your initial appointment. Then if you are not processed in 70 days (which is the likely case), you will have to go up attend another appointment at 6:00am (which you don't get to choose) to pay for EAD and AP.

You are very lucky to have San Antonio as your office, as I've heard they are one of the fastest.
 
check by making an infopass appointment, choose dora(last), enter your home zip code.. if it lets you make an appointment, Go ahead else you know you are not eligible to file for DORA. The website for dallas district office or some other page has a list of all counties serviced by dallas DO. If your county comes under San Antonio you HAVE to go to SAn Antonio DO.
 
ari4u said:
actually... San antonio seems to be faster as folks here got GC approved in ~2.5 months. DORA seems to be taking longer than 90 days.
Click to expand...

Is this the San Antonio office in TEXAS??? I've checked their processing times and they are apparently 6months for AOS and 3months for EAP. I'm really concerned about their AP processing time though. My husband and I were planning to go to Australia in December and I'm worried they wont give it to me. I haven't been able to find examples of reasons they will approve the AP for other than family emergency. We are going to Australia to have our "wedding ceremony" for my family although we endend up getting married in the US. The plan when I entered the US was that I came here to visit him and plan our wedding in Dec and I was going to go home on the 20th Oct. He decided that he didn't want us to be apart for that long, as I'd have to wait until a K visa was approved, and he thought the process would be easier here. I'm not convinced its easier here, but here we are! So almost all of the "wedding" plans are complete for Dec in Australia but now I'm unsure if they give me AP for it. This is slowly turning into a nightmare!
 
Hi Aussie, my case is very similar as yours...actually I even wasn't planning a wedding yet but here I am ouff. Anyway in any case even it sounds or can sound as a nightmare don't leave without your AP!!!
Good luck,
 
This guy got his greencard in 2.5 months through San Antonio
here
I wouldn't really trust processing times, they usually aren't very accurate

I would apply for AP yesterday, if you want to go the Australia in December. I
I've heard it usually takes 60-90 days to get, and even if you manage to go the DORA route it will take around 70 days to get the letter telling you your greencard won't come in and you can go and apply.
Yes, AP does appear to be just for emergency visits, but it's not. Just put that you plan to use it to visit family, and you should be approved just fine.
 
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