Philadelphia Transfer Cases

Just goy my case transfer to Philadelphia Office.

485 - RD 09/20/2002
RFE - 02/05/2004 (replied 02/12/2004)
Case Transferred to PHL office 02/26/2004

How long it takes to get interview at Philadelphia's office. Anyone has any idea ?
Did not yet received any official notification. Just checked online status today.
 
Guys,
What if I moved from Philadelphia to somewhere else say in South ?
Will my case be transfer to the place where I have moved or it will be processed by Philadelphia district only ?
 
After a Loong Long Journey --->Approved..

Hello Friends,

Today we went to the Philly Office at Callowhill street for the interview for my spouse only.

When the officer called my wife in for the interview she told him that she was not the primary and that myself and the kid were outside .
The officer then called me in and asked my A# and took down all our A#'s .He then asked us to wait for 20 min to check on the status of the security check and to locate our files .

Once he had our files he called us in for the interview.He took our signature on the forms for GC plastic card and also the right index finger print.

He then accompanied us to a room where he asked us to take the oath and obviuosly the camera in the corner was recording the proceedings.

I took out all the files i had taken with me and placed them on the table ready to handover any paper the officer needed.I carried with me all the papers listed below.

-Passport & I-94, and copy for each applicant
-Tax Return for the last three years
-Employment letter
-Last three W-2
-Birth Certificates (Original & copy), if no birth certificates then two affidavits from parents/friends
-Marriage Certificate (Original & copy for applicant and spouse)
-six months pay stubs (original and pay stubs)
-H1-copies (Original & copy for each applicant)
-Notarized form I-134 for family
-EAD's and AP's for all the members
-I-140 Approval (Original & copy)
-Children birth certificate
-Two photographs
-State ID
-SSN Card (Original & copy)
-Joint Bank Account (Original & copy)
-Apt lease/insurance/health insurance copy with spouse name (Original & copy)
-All University Certificates


He went through the files and asked us the following questions

1.Have you been arrested any time?
2.How many times have you been married?
3.How many children do you have?
4.Why i had left th company which filed for my GC?
5.Did i ever work for them ?
6.How many years did i work for them?

He noted down the address of my current employer and asked for the latest employment letter.

He kept the letter with him in my file.

He asked me what additional papers i had brought with me in the files i had with me on the table?

I told him the list of papers and he just smiled and asked for the passports.

The he logged on into a computer in front of him and asked us when we had done our medical and finger printing?

We told him that we had done it twice and the originals have been submitted along with I-485 and the RFE in sealed envelopes.And that Fingerprinting had been done a month earlier for the 3'rd time.

He checked the status of the same on his computer which clearly we could see gavethe date ,time and the status of the finger prints results when they were received.

He then took out a stamp and stamped our passports and congratulated us and said "congratulations!!..you are are now permanent resindents of United states of america." "Good luck" "your cards willarrive in 3-6 months but with the current processing rates they may come even sooner."

The he escorted us out and then "congratulated us " and wished us luck.

All this process took less than 30 minutes.

The officer was young officer and very very nice.

We were elated and very relieved but it did not sink in into us till we sat down in the lobby to check all the passports for the Alien #'s if they were correct.

We then celebrated !!!!!

He did not ask us any papers and did not evenbother to check any of the papers mentioned in the interview letter.

IT's been a Long long journey from Jan 2001 till now..

This forum has been lifeline for us for this whole GC process.Many Many thanks for Rajiv Khanna for providing an invaluable resource for all of us.

And above all thanks to you all for constantly encouraging us and supporting us int his long long journey.

signing off...from Philly..

gcsep10

RD Sep 9 2001
ND Nov 13 2001
FP1 Feb 2002
RFE (Intent to Deny) Dec 2002
FP2 March 2003
Tranferred on March 3 2003
FP3 Jan 2004
Interview on March 1 2004
AD March 1 2004
 
gcsep10,


Congratulations. Thank you for posting your experience. Did you receive any receipt notice from phili office apart from the transfer notice from vsc ?
 
I did not get any transfer notice or receipt from Philly office.the only Transfer notice i got was from Vermont when they transfered the case.

Apart from the usual FP notices i never got any communication from the Phily Office.

gcsep10
 
Congratulations to gcsep10!

I am really glad for you. I think Turkish Engineer is right. Even you did not get interview letter, your whole family still got approved because you showed up.

At least we get one evidence from you that they interviewed your case in one-year.

Please keep us posted when you receive the plastic card.

Good luck for after GC.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Recently, I received my 3rd AP from philadelphia. It's less than 30 days from the date I mail the application. The good news is that it's fast. The bad news is that it's too fast: my current AP expires in May; the new AP is only good for 1 year, expires in next Feb. %*#$)@)*!
 
help

Hi, folks,
My case: I140 approved 07/2002
I-485 received 08/2002
FP 10/2002
Transfer to Pittsburgh 03/2004
I applied GC based on NIW. I am still F-1 PhD student with $20000 fellowship, will graduate in July 2004.
My questions:
1. Do I need EAD when I interview? (I never apply this one)
2. If need, should I apply it based on I485 or OPT? OPT is much faster than I-485.
Thanks a lot!
ding rong
 
EAD is better than OPT

You may need signature from your school to apply OPT. and OPT is only for one-year. There maybe some restriction related to OPT, such as area of fields for working. For EAD, you don't need anybody else' signature to apply except yours. I believe you can use EAD to work for anybody, not necessarily in your field (but better in your field for your future interview). EAD can be renewed for more than one time as long as your I-485 is pending. But after one-year for OPT, it is done.

I think Pittursbugh can get EAD in one day if you apply in person. I am not sure if it is still true these days.
 
Dear Lowell,

Thank you so much for kind reply.

Do you know what differences are between OPT-EAD and 485-EAD regarding the EAD card?

Thanks in advance!

You may need signature from your school to apply OPT. and OPT is only for one-year. There maybe some restriction related to OPT, such as area of fields for working. For EAD, you don't need anybody else' signature to apply except yours. I believe you can use EAD to work for anybody, not necessarily in your field (but better in your field for your future interview). EAD can be renewed for more than one time as long as your I-485 is pending. But after one-year for OPT, it is done.

I think Pittursbugh can get EAD in one day if you apply in person. I am not sure if it is still true these days. (Because I applied for 485 in service center, I can not apply for EAD in local, they changed it about two years ago)
 
I thought you indicated your case was transferred to Pittsburgh

If transfer is true, you may need to apply for EAD at local office where your case is pending.

It seems for me on OPT-EAD card under the terms of restriction it is marked for optional practical training. On the I-485 EAD card, the restriction is marked NONE.
 
Dear Lowell,

Thanks again for help!
If transfer is true, you may need to apply for EAD at local office where your case is pending. (Yes, my case was transfered to local office on 03/04/2004)

It seems for me on OPT-EAD card under the terms of restriction it is marked for optional practical training. On the I-485 EAD card, the restriction is marked NONE. (I will call local office see whether I can apply EAD in local)

The key questions are "Do I must have an EAD when I interview?", "Do I must have a job offer?", I do have monthly income from my medical school, do they count it as a job income?since I am F-1 student now, my I-20 will expire end of 2005, I have never apply for the EAD.

Sorry to bother you again and thanks in advanced!

Ding
 
FYI

Applied for AP and work permit by mail to Philadelphia. They returned the forms back to me asking me to fill additional suppliement for AP and they asked 3 photos for AP and a money order in favor of DHS,USCIS. I sent them back as requested. I also got a small receipt back from them last week.
 
To dingrong: I think this document may help you

I guess only your lawyer can answer your specific question in your specific case. A lot of things depend on how you addressed in your I-140 and your specific case.

Most cases I found in this forum got approved during interview. You may want to read this document. It may give you a better idea how the adjudicator is supposed to work. However, this document may be old-dated and replaced by other manual.
 
I got a interview notice for my ead (mailed application to phili).

Did anyone get any interview notice for ead like this before from phili office? I dont understand why? Can it be because I am working on H-1b (renewed lastyear). ?
Yellowcard, Did you get any notice like this ?

Thanks
 
Please advice

My case has been transferred to philadelphia ins on May 2003. I applied for my 3rd EAD in November 2003. After 90 days passed I contacted local ins to get interim ead. But they asked me to come after 2 weeks to collect the EAD. Then they send a letter to come after one more week. So at the same time I got my Interview notice and 2nd finger print notice. My EAD was not backdated,the date on the ead was March 4th, there is a gap of aroud 40 days.

I stopped working since i do not have my valid Ead. By the time i go for the interview i will have the most recent paychech dated march-15th but i will be missing a couple of checks before that, Is that ok, Do yous guys think INS officer will not ask for the paychecks for the missing period, I do have an evidence of visitiing the Local INS couple of times for the Ead and the letter from the INs postponing the EAD date.

My interview is on March 17th for me and my wife and daughter.
Please help.


Thanks

RD ---- Nov 21-2001
ND----- Dec 7 2001
TD----- May 5 2003
Interview--- march 17th
 
To jvs1

Did you send 2 ADIT photos and evidence of I-140 with your renewal of EAD to Philly? Did you apply just for yourself and for your families?

I hope the interview for you is just a simple check. Such as requiring you to do fingerprinting and photo for EAD.

I also mailed my renewal of EAD to Philly one month ago. They did not send me any receipt or any notice yet. But my bank told me they cashed my money order one week ago. I hope they processed it.

Please keep us posted what happened later. I really appreciate that.
 
GC2MUCH, I think you are worying too much!. You will be fine, God willing. You have a job! that is all which matters. Bring your W2s and pay checkes for the last year! They are just trying to establish that you are working and not a bum. Cheer up now! Let us know how the interview turned up.
 
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