Folks,
Good mornin\'! I had to wait for almost 5 yrs (entire GC process) to be able to say "I am a permanent resident". My spouse\'s case is still pending. My case was approved on 2/26 even though I heard the mesg on 2/28. I recd the courtesy copy and my lawyer got the original as well. I will heave a bigger sigh of relief once my spouse\'s case is cleared as well.
Here are the details. During this 5-yr ordeal, we\'ve gone thru some real challenges. My company made me sign a doc saying I will reimburse them of the GC expenses if I leave them before the 1 yr period after I get my GC. They probably thought my case was a walk in the park. I\'ve ended up with the same bozos for 7 yrs. Kinda long for a contracting company. They started my paperwork with reluctance in Sept \'96 and finally filed for labor in 4/97 convincing me that EB3 was safe even though I have a Masters degree in Comp Engg (a trademark for contracting dogs). My labor got cleared sometime around Oct-Nov 97 and they filed for I-140 in 1/98 which got cleared in 4/98. I waited till 7/99 to file our 485s since the dates retrogressed. Meanwhile, I was in a dilemma \'cos I was getting offers from the client and I hesitated \'cos I didn\'t want to start from scratch and I underestimated the processing time of TSC. Man, lil\' did I know about the waitin\' time in store for me!
Finally, we filed our 485s in 8/99, got our 1st FPs in 11/99 (thought that was a good sign:-( not realizing that they had just started the electronic FP scheduling process which randomly threw FP notices out!). The dates went back again in early 2000. Our papers got shelved. I had been under the impression that once u file 485 u r fine. Nope! They refused to pick up the papers even though I contacted the senator\'s office. 2001 rolls around and we\'re still waiting in the wings. Meanwhile I had become a veteran on immigration.com and isn.org had started (winning some laurels huh!) racking up posts after posts and watching my batch mates if u will bid adieu. Since I kept the pressure I guess, they said oh your FPs have expired. Even though we\'re scheduled for 6/2001 we got the FPs done in 5/2001 hoping that would trigger an approval. People who filed eons later were celebrating and the INS refused to budge saying they had to look on a case-by-case basis. My foot!
The congressman\'s office didn\'t prove useful either. The rep was more eager to hang up the phone than badger the INS for approval. I have seen reps being real useful in other states where they even dug up cases which had been archived somewhere. I kept gett\'n offers elsewhere, but I couldn\'t take it. Then the 180 days memo came about although it was just a memo and NOT a official regulation. I know a lot of folks switched jobs w/o any problems. Meanwhile, it was time for our 3rd EAD/AP. I had applied sometime in June 2001. I got a rejection notice for my EAD and it said explicitly that the reason was that my underlying 485 petition had been approved. I was ecstatic! However,the TSC mesg wouldn\'t change to reflect what that doc said even after a week had elapsed and to top it we got our EADs in the mail. Finally after a lot of diggin\' in and faxing the doc to TSC (that officer\'s attn.), as annoying and frustrating as it was, they said it was just a snafu. Man, I was pissed!
If I had the resources, I wouldn\'t hesitate to sue the INS. To continue, my congressman\'s office was asking me to exercise patience. I guess 5 yrs of untold misery didn\'t suffice! If u think we\'re done, we got an RFE in Dec 2001 to prolong the trials and tribulations. They had asked for my employment letter and I-864 (affidavit of support for a family-based case!). I said how inefficient can the INS be. I sent in the affidavit even though my lawyer advised me not to. Meanwhile, the job scene started to look shaky all of a sudden and boy was I gett\'n ancy.
Good mornin\'! I had to wait for almost 5 yrs (entire GC process) to be able to say "I am a permanent resident". My spouse\'s case is still pending. My case was approved on 2/26 even though I heard the mesg on 2/28. I recd the courtesy copy and my lawyer got the original as well. I will heave a bigger sigh of relief once my spouse\'s case is cleared as well.
Here are the details. During this 5-yr ordeal, we\'ve gone thru some real challenges. My company made me sign a doc saying I will reimburse them of the GC expenses if I leave them before the 1 yr period after I get my GC. They probably thought my case was a walk in the park. I\'ve ended up with the same bozos for 7 yrs. Kinda long for a contracting company. They started my paperwork with reluctance in Sept \'96 and finally filed for labor in 4/97 convincing me that EB3 was safe even though I have a Masters degree in Comp Engg (a trademark for contracting dogs). My labor got cleared sometime around Oct-Nov 97 and they filed for I-140 in 1/98 which got cleared in 4/98. I waited till 7/99 to file our 485s since the dates retrogressed. Meanwhile, I was in a dilemma \'cos I was getting offers from the client and I hesitated \'cos I didn\'t want to start from scratch and I underestimated the processing time of TSC. Man, lil\' did I know about the waitin\' time in store for me!
Finally, we filed our 485s in 8/99, got our 1st FPs in 11/99 (thought that was a good sign:-( not realizing that they had just started the electronic FP scheduling process which randomly threw FP notices out!). The dates went back again in early 2000. Our papers got shelved. I had been under the impression that once u file 485 u r fine. Nope! They refused to pick up the papers even though I contacted the senator\'s office. 2001 rolls around and we\'re still waiting in the wings. Meanwhile I had become a veteran on immigration.com and isn.org had started (winning some laurels huh!) racking up posts after posts and watching my batch mates if u will bid adieu. Since I kept the pressure I guess, they said oh your FPs have expired. Even though we\'re scheduled for 6/2001 we got the FPs done in 5/2001 hoping that would trigger an approval. People who filed eons later were celebrating and the INS refused to budge saying they had to look on a case-by-case basis. My foot!
The congressman\'s office didn\'t prove useful either. The rep was more eager to hang up the phone than badger the INS for approval. I have seen reps being real useful in other states where they even dug up cases which had been archived somewhere. I kept gett\'n offers elsewhere, but I couldn\'t take it. Then the 180 days memo came about although it was just a memo and NOT a official regulation. I know a lot of folks switched jobs w/o any problems. Meanwhile, it was time for our 3rd EAD/AP. I had applied sometime in June 2001. I got a rejection notice for my EAD and it said explicitly that the reason was that my underlying 485 petition had been approved. I was ecstatic! However,the TSC mesg wouldn\'t change to reflect what that doc said even after a week had elapsed and to top it we got our EADs in the mail. Finally after a lot of diggin\' in and faxing the doc to TSC (that officer\'s attn.), as annoying and frustrating as it was, they said it was just a snafu. Man, I was pissed!
If I had the resources, I wouldn\'t hesitate to sue the INS. To continue, my congressman\'s office was asking me to exercise patience. I guess 5 yrs of untold misery didn\'t suffice! If u think we\'re done, we got an RFE in Dec 2001 to prolong the trials and tribulations. They had asked for my employment letter and I-864 (affidavit of support for a family-based case!). I said how inefficient can the INS be. I sent in the affidavit even though my lawyer advised me not to. Meanwhile, the job scene started to look shaky all of a sudden and boy was I gett\'n ancy.