My today's experience at the interview in San Antonio
We are back from San Antonio and I was APPROVED!!!!
We are back from San Antonio and I was APPROVED!!!!
Hey Everyone!
We got approved in Atlanta today. Everything went really well, but anyways I wanted to share my experience with all of you:
Left from Alabama at 7:30 AM. Took us about Two hours to get there.
The DO is a 3 story building with the USCIS logo and name... impressive and yet scary.
We entered they building at 11:23 AM and went through the security (metal detector and x-rays) Make sure you empty your pockets!
My wife got FTJ IV visa stamped in her passport in Chennai. EB3 - PD 4/30/2001.
Below is the process, in her words, she went thru:
Medicals:
Called two days ahead for a 10.00 AM appointment with "Lister METROPOLIS Laboratory Research Center Pvt. Ltd" and a 4.00 PM appointment with "Dr. Mathai Thomas".
Flew in from Hyderabad to Chennai, had in-flight breakfast, took a taxi from airport to the Lab, 30 min ride.
Please see signature for updated timeline. Really impressed with how quickly this case has been processed.
We got married in May and dont live together because of our work situation but I have the following documents so far :
NOTE : The joint financial stuff is only a month old since we just got married in May.
FINANCIAL STUFF
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1. Joint savings account
2. Joint credit card
3. Added her name to my apartment lease
Hi everyone,
I've got good news to share ,
I received 6mails from USCIS last night that my 1-485 & I-130 have been approved and my approval letter & welcome letter was mail yesterday
I just want to say thank you to everyone on this forum; your kind words, encouragement & prayers has help make the waiting a success. I deeply appreciate your help, support & friendship.
I pray that everyone still waiting will get their name check clear soon
Cheers
One can petition for parents only if the petitioner is US Citizen. GC holder or LPR cannot apply for parents.
Parents cases of USC are processed differently from the Spouse of USC though they come under the same category.
If parents are already in US, they can go thru the AOS process or CP.
If parents are outside of US, they can go thru the CP only.
For Whom Are You Petitioning?
For AOS or CP, I-130 is the common form.
Our interview was at the Federal Building in Los Angeles at 11am
I got a call from my attorney’s office at 8am saying he was taken ill to the hospital during the night and he can’t make it to the interview. The office said we can go by ourselves or they could postpone the interview.
After speaking with my wife we decided to go by ourselves. Part of me thought, “what a way to start the day” and another part of me was glad because I always thought taking an attorney might show that we had something to hide.
We had our interview today in Los Angeles at 10:35 am. Up to now, I'm still a bit confused and worried whether or not my Green Card has been approved. The officer simply told us that he has to wait for a background check (without looking into his computer) before he can make his final decision. He says it usually takes 30 days. He also didn't discuss anything about conditional status. However, there was no sign of doubt on his side when we presented our evidences. In fact, my husband and I felt that the interview went well.
DOL statistics on the PERM program includes number of applications received, top occupations, work site states, industries, visa classifications, country of citizenship, and minimum educational requirements, as well as number of certified, denied and withdrawn applications.
Please check the attached document to see the statistics.
We just had a very nice and quick interview at the Los Angeles DO!
Now, my case is pretty complicated and i was anticipating a very difficult interview. I have overstayed my B2 visa for a few years. On top of that, in my B2 visa application, I declared myself as married even if i had been separated from my husband for many years. A couple of years ago, i found out that the marriage was not even valid.
Where on the ETA Form 9089 should I enter the foreign worker's qualifications, such as certifications, licensure, or other credentials, to show that he/she meets the actual minimum requirements?
First of all I want to thank God for His favour upon us during the entire interview. I will also like to say a big "Thank you" to everyone on this forum. After I found this forum we did not need any lawyer again.
We got to the interview about 45mins earlier. About an hour later a young lady came out to call our names. We got up and met her at the door. She said she will like to talk to me first and I followed her to her office. She was very pleasant & laugh went I told her how we met.
She ask me the follow:
I Had my interview today, in the DO of Atlanta, GA at 10:00. I was really stressed. The officer who called us was a nice young lady in her mid 30's. We took the Oath to tell the truth, she asked for IDS, marriage ceriticate, previous divorce certificate, she asked where my husban worked, she verified our address and phone number. And finally she asked for most recent taxes for my husband and jpint sponsor. We had a bit of a problem with the taxes because we didnt have the most resent tax return/w2 for my joint sponsor or my husband for 2005.
By the end it turned out that we were waaaaay overprepared. We did our final preparations last night, the only thing we were worried about were those 3 months that we didn't live together after we got married so my husband even printed out a calendar and made references to receipts for every single weekend that he went to visit me while I was up in school.
For updates, see my blog page on Obama's Immigration Action.
Takeaway points for legal immigration from President Obama’s executive action:
1. USCIS is “about to” publish the final rule on H-4 work authorization. That will make it possible for certain spouses of H-1 holders to get work authorization.
2. Improving employment-based green card backlogs by:
a. Making visa issuance more efficient so no immigrant visas are wasted;
b. Providing for better AC21 rules and other ways to keep immigrant visas intact after a change of jobs. USCIS will clarify what constitutes “same or similar” job so that AC21 will not stop workers from getting promotions or even changing to related jobs within their field. USCIS must clear the path to career progression for green card applicants.
3. Expandingfurther the OPT time for STEM students, but creating tighter control on which universities/schools/degrees are eligible and ensure local workers are protected (Implement some sort of a “mini PERM?”).
4. Creating opportunities for foreign “inventors, researchers and founders of start-up” companies to come to the USA through an existing program called “National Interest Waiver.” Unfortunately for India, this is an EB-2 category program requiring several years of wait. But the following parole program will help:
a. Creating a parole (which is usually a temporary, but very quick measure and could eventually lead to a green card) program so that on a case-by-case bases, “inventors, researchers and founders of start-up” companies can be brought quickly into the USA where:
i.They have raised financing in the USA; OR
ii.Otherwise hold the promise of innovation and job creation through development of new technologies OR cutting edge research
5. Creating guidelines for exceptionally qualified or advanced degreed individuals to come to the USA through an existing program called “National Interest Waiver.” As noted, unfortunately for India, this is an EB-2 category program requiring several years of wait. But the parole option above could be helpful.
6. Providing clear guidance on L-1B program as to who can qualify.
PERM Processing Times (as of 12/02/2014)
Processing Queue |
I am a US Permanent Resident from Nepal. My girlfriend (soon to be wife) is a student doing her MBA and is in F-1 visa (student). She is graduating in May 2015 and will start her OPT soon after that.
We are planning to get court married real soon (within a month) and file for her green card soon after that. Once she gets her green card, we'll go home and get married with all the religious ceremonies. <p>
I had few questions about the green card process for my wife. I looked through various threads of various forums and I am more confused than before on how exactly this process works. I got conflicting answers for these questions. So, I am posting these questions so that I could get the correct answers from the expect himself.
<p>
I understand that for my wife's GC, first I need to petition I-130 and she needs to wait until her priority date becomes current (which the people say can take several years to be current), then she needs to apply for Adjustment of Status. <p>
1. Could you go briefly on the whole process from start to finish? <br>
2. Some of the threads on the other forums said that the Congress changed the law so that there is no wait time for Spouse of Permanent Resident to apply for her green card. How much truth is in this statement? <br>
3. Some people who applied about a year or two ago said that they got their GC on hand within 6 months. How is that even possible when the wait time to just apply for GC under this category is several years? <br>
4. What happens if she applies before her priority date becomes current? Will her application be denied or will it just sit in a queue (first come first serve) until the priority date becomes current and then it will get processed? <br>
5. If she starts her OPT in May 2015 and the OPT lasts for 1 year (till May 2016), would that be enough time for her to apply for GC through my petition?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvnIAm0nQJ8#t=99
FAQ Transcript
Need your esteemed advice for my mother (75 years old, sick and disabled). We are only two sons and our father passed away last year. We have nobody back in Pakistan who can keep her and look after her. My brother lives in UK. I am living and working in USA (on EB-2 green card). My mother had been refused UK visa twice as she has no sufficient family ties to home country (Pakistan). I received my green card in April 2011 therefore I have some time still remaining to apply for my US Citizenship (January 2016) and then sponsor her. <p>
My mother B-1/B-2 visa is expiring in August 2015 and keeping in view her long frequent trips to US (she always departed before I-94 expiry, no overstays) and insufficient family ties to home country (Pakistan) her B-1/B-2 re-stamping seems very hard.
<p>
Can you please advice what can be done here? What are the options to keep her with us in US?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.