AOS Application to GreenCard in 4 Months

[Voyageur]

I know that many in this forum, like Jet and Bruce have had long waits and battles with the USCIS.  But, for others whom may be interested in the USCIS timeframes, I just wanted to post our time frame for application for Adjustment of Status, I-131 (Advanced Parole and the Advanced work authorization.

 I applied for AOS the same time as SoC - about the second week in October 2005. We had our biometrics appointment in second week of November 2005. In January, we were notified that our case had been transferred to the California Service Center. This is a good thing - as others have attested to in the VisaJourney site. My wife received her two year green card in the mail the third week in February.

We are lucky in our location, I am sure, but this great time will give hope to others not living in New York City or Miami.

[RacerX]

While I think this is basically good news, it remains to be seen what the policies/procedures will be on the lifting of conditions for those given a conditional green card without interviews.  Normally there is no follow-up interview for those who have done so for their initial GC, so one might assume an interview would be done in 2 years.

At this time I cannot think of any real downside of being subjected to an 'in person' interview two years from now, other than I suppose your wife could have some infraction of the law which could put her status in jeopardy, but would probably be true for those who have already been interviewed. Also, whether any of the provisions in the new IMBRA law enters into the equation for people being interviewed later will be interesting.

Other than waiting an additional few months  (for most), one nice thing about being interviewed now is it feels very good to have put nearly all real contact with the USCIS into the far distance.

[ConnerVT]

My wife and son received their 2 yr Cond. Resident Alien Cards in about 5 months after filing the AOS paperwork.  And they did have an interview...

[Son of Clyde]

I did everything letter perfect, according to what I read on Visajourney. Her biometrics were done in November, her son's biometrics letter never arrived so I wrote to a member of the US House of Representatives.  The I-131's were both received in December. My stepson's biometrics were done two weeks ago. His letters were received two month's late. Her EAD was approved January 24 and her approval notice was never received. The USCIS wants me to refile the I-765 so they can collect an additional $180.00 from me.

I personally think it may be the Vermont Service Center, the bad US Postal Service delivery in my neighborhood AND the local office I use, the Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore that may all be part of the problem. Actually, if the forms are being approved the problem probably should be directed at the USPS in my area. The mail carriers do not really care about how the mail is delivered. For a few months I was receiving mail for another address two blocks away. Not an occasional errant piece of mail, I am talking 30 pieces of mail a week delivered to me for another completely different street name with the same numeric address.

[Son of Clyde]

With all my gripes about the USCIS and USPS and I find my wife's EAD unopened in a desk drawer, this is my fault for not recognizing the Missouri postmark and date.

This does not completely let the government agencies off the hook. (I work for a government agency myself). The fact remains that when you call DHS you are presented with a barrage of menu options and you are lucky to find the right option and be connected with a human. About 3 years ago I was receiving 30 pieces of mail a week with a different street name but the same numeric address. Something was happening with the USPS and the mail delivery in my neighborhood. My street was one of the last deliveries on the route and the mail was sometimes arriving after 4pm. After speaking with an office manager more than once, I presented him with a  bag full of misrouted mail. He told me to start saving the misrouted mail and I had a bag full of it.

So what is wrong with government agencies? It could be the fact that they are understaffed, overworked and stressed out to the point of not caring anymore. keeping up with the ever increasing workloads can be very demanding but should they forget about accuracy to deal with the increased workload? There has to be a way to give quality service even with huge workloads. Maybe it means to provide quality training for the employees.

It appears to me that the USCIS phoneline has the many menu selections as a way to discourage callers. There is a lot of info on the website and within the many menus on the telephone line but it has the effect of discouraging people from calling. Maybe it is their objective.