Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Glad it all worked out in the end. When was the 601 waiver sent? Curious how long it took to get it approved

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Yay, congratulations!!! this is awesome.
What kind of questions did they ask you at the interview?
what kind of evidence did you have to show?
did you have to show all your DACA approvals?
how was the experience at the airport once you arrived back in USA?

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Thank you so much! The waiver was sent in 2019 and got approved earlier this year so roughly two years.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

The night before and morning of my interview I was somewhat scared thinking what if it doesn’t get approved but I did my best to suppress this and remain confident that nothing bad would happen. At the interview it was a set of very basic questions and I requested it to be done in English. I was asked stuff such as: who is the petitioner, what is your bday, how did you arrive to US, what year and month, do you have any criminal records in your home country, what do you do for living in the US, have you ever left the US at any point in time to another country…… everything I mentioned was cross checked with the documents in front of the person conducting the interview. The whole process took less than 5 minutes and before I knew it it, I was given a blue paper and interviewer was saying congrats your petition/visa has been approved.

The evidence I showed was birth certificates, tax returns, mortgage documents showing I own the house in which my family lives in, psychological evaluation results displaying the type of emotional stress my mom is going through and would suffer should I not be allowed to stay within the US with my family, flight tickets and visa stamp when I first arrived in the US which was in the late 90's and my lawyer did include Daca approvals and Work authorization copies in the packet but they were returned to me the day I dropped off all my documents in consulate as they said it was extra paperwork they did not need/require any longer.

The return flight was nerve racking to be honest. In customs (from my country) the agent was like "oh you have been living illegally in US correct and are returning?". I was like wtf you mean but then my mom stepped in and just said "I petitioned for my son, his green card was approved and we are returning home".... thankfully then he just stamped and let us through. Arriving in the US I simply handed my passport with my visa to the immigration officer and handed him the packet from embassy that only they can open, he checked my passport/visa and opened up the packet and promptly stamped both and wished me luck in the US. Very straight forward process and was glad to not have had any issues.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

wow great, thanks for sharing all the details. What a jerk comment from the customs officer. Again, so happy for you. Well deserved!

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

After almost 3 years my 601a waiver is finally approved.. excited and nervous…
Really long process I was already starting to give up..
Does anyone know how long is taking right now to get the interview app in the Mexican consulate??

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Wow, that officer is an ass. Which airport did you return to?

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

It really varies... I've been waiting for an interview since November 2019.

Some people have been getting interviews within 1-2 years, but I don't know why some are faster than others.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

I think for Mexico is 1-2 years. But look at this facebook page if you can, people there most up to date information regarding interviews in Mexico
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1384365091808264/

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

I am glad to share with you I just came back last night from my consular interview at the US embassy in Guatemala. My interview as Nov 30th 2021, I left USA 10 days before to get all the required medical stuff done, total time I was there was about 3.5hrs. the actual interview itself was just about 5 minutes, at a window. They asked me a few questions:
1st time I entered
2nd time I entered
How old was I both times
How long was in US the first time
How long was in US the second time
Why overstayed first time
What questions did the immigration officer asked me the 2nd time I entered
Where did I enter those 2 times
Did I use same visa to enter
Did I enter any other way at any other time
How old I was when I got DACA
What did I do before DACA, did I work?
Did my company petition me?
What do I do at my job?
Did I have an approved 601a?

The lady was very serious, dry and to the point. At the end she said, they had to check with US department of labor to confirm my employment with the company who file the petition (I-140 petition for alien worker). My company file this in 2018 and was approved in 2019. She took my passport and said if confirmed, they I would be reached by the designated courier service (cargo expreso in Guatemala).
I asked if I needed a confirmation or anything else, she said no. I did not receive any papers (green, blue, red, nothing) like other people have.
That the nigh I check the visa status with my case number it said in was under "Administrative Processing"
Next day it was updated to "Issued" (so happy).
In the next day it said it was delivered to courier, where I went to pick it up in person(the passport with my EB2 visa on it), and a large yellow envelope (my case was older and paper filed).

I had to do all the covid forms (attestation and covid tracing forms), and covid test 24 prior to my Monday flight back to US.
When I arrived in Atlanta the 1st officer asked for my passport and:
where I came from?
how long I planned to stay? when I answered that I live here, he asked how long and i had this was my first time entering with an immigrant visa and that I had a package with me (the yellow envelope), he grabbed that, threw in a clear bag with my passport, and called "Alpha" to get an officer to walk me to another window, next to this area. She said, sit down and we will call you by name, there were like 7 other people waiting for the same reason.
They called me by name in like 5-7 minutes. He asked, same 2 questions as above and also
where would I stay?
with whom?
was it a house or apartment?
name and phone number of the person living in the same house as me?

the he explained I would get the PR card in the mail in a couple of months, that I must not be out of US for longer the x amount of time to maintain it, and 1-2 things more he said, but I honestly was too excited to remember, but it was like regular protocol information. He asked also what did i have in my checked in luggage, if was traveling with more than 10K (no) or meats, cheese... and that was it.

I am back in USA, after 2o years living here, and finally seeing this dream come true. I truly hope for all of your cases to be successful. I know we all have to go through so many different hoops and struggles as our cases are so particular. Thank you all, @Demise, who have helped me with all the questions I have posted here.