DACA to AOS - Page 342

Been home 2 weeks now from my consular interview waiting for my gc in the mail , daca before 17 no AP or i601 pm me if anyone in the future has questions

Thanks to everyone for their support and help

Sorry I haven't logged in in a while - My biometrics were scheduled for March 2020, but the USCIS field offices closed down 2 days before my biometrics date due to the pandemic IIRC. They ended up reusing my most recent biometrics from my latest DACA renewal. My status changed to "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" in May 2020, and stayed that way until May 2021... when USCIS changed it to say that the above update happened in May 2021 instead. LOL they're seriously gaslighting me. I was a little concerned that I got punted back another year in the line, but honestly the myUSCIS website has never been extremely reliable, and this could have easily been a dumb clerical error. Either way, it took another 3 months from that point for me to get an interview date. My EAD from the AOS process was produced in July 2020.

I got my medical exam done for the i-693 2 weeks ago (Bay Area), and asked the doctor if they get a lot of immigration exams scheduled. They said yes, they've been busy lately as the exams have been picking up. Hope this means that things are speeding up a bit for everyone!

Just got back from the interview! Overall fairly uneventful, but here is how it went for us while the memory is fresh.

• We arrived 30 minutes early (San Francisco office). The guard at the USCIS entrance told us to go around the building to the United States Appraisers Building entrance, and sure enough, there was a line there. A guard was going down the line checking on people's appointment times, so I was not worried about not getting in in time. They waited until it was 15 minutes before our appointment to let us in.
  
• We were called into the interview room maybe 5 minutes after our appointment time. Our interviewer was a friendly lady who seemed to be in a positive mood throughout the interview.
  
• After checking our IDs and the appointment letter, our interviewer started with basic relationship questions to my USC husband. Where/how/when we met, how long it took us to transition from the dating app to meeting up in real life, when was the first date, etc. I also confirmed my parents' names, but she didn't ask about my husband's parents' names. Overall, I had the impression that she was doing more confirmation of correct information and less probing to see if we are a genuine couple, but I'm sure it was both.
  
• She asked how many times I've entered the US, how long I stayed each time, and with which visas. My 2 prior visits were some 22+ years ago, so I told her as much as I remembered but let her know that I don't remember the exact durations (they were less than a month each). For the most recent entry (the visa overstay that resulted in my current lack of status/DACA), she asked me for details on how I came to lose my visa status, which I was able to provide.
  
• I intend to take my husband's last name as my middle name once the GC proceedings are over, and have listed this as my married name in my marriage license/certificate. She asked about this because it is different from the official/legal name that's listed everywhere else. I explained my reasoning on not changing the name yet: to introduce fewer inconsistencies and opportunities for error across all my documents. The Social Security office already fucked up my name once back in 2012 and didn't respond to my request to have it fixed, and this has caused trouble at every workplace since - I wasn't about to take that chance again. (But I didn't tell her about the Social Security thing, as that might sound like my current official name is wrong.) The interviewer then said "this (name on certificate) IS a legal name for us, because the marriage certificate is a legal document." I explained again that I do intend to change my name in all other documents once the current proceedings are completed. After a few minutes of this, she finally clarified that she's making sure I understand that the name on the marriage certificate was going to be the name on the green card! I said yes, of course, I have zero problems with that. My husband also added that taking his last name as my middle name was our compromise, as I want to keep my last name. This was the only time we got a little worried, but it was not a problem in the end.
  
• She checked my medical form (i-693) and started with the list of questions that basically ask if I have ever done a bad thing in the US or plan to do so. I think the only 2 questions that I answered "Yes" were: have I ever worked in the US without authorization, and have I ever violated the terms of my stay (I actually accidentally said No, and she corrected me "overstay?" with raised eyebrows). I told her the duration of working without authorization and what I did, and how I got paid.
  
• Our interviewer was a total Asian auntie and made some light jokes about us not having kids yet. We told her that my MIL is always telling us that babies are easier than puppies (we brought home a puppy in June) - she was like, yes they want grandbabies! lol.
  
• She kept the smaller photo album of more recent photos (since the time we submitted our application in February 2020), but looked through the album with older photos and remarked on seeing some of them in our application packet before returning it to us. She kept all of the paperwork/evidence we brought today, but let us know that there's no need to re-submit any of the applications. The only form I re-printed for today was the i-864, since the appointment letter mentioned it as a "bring if required" - everything else was supporting documents and evidence as listed in the appointment letter.

That's pretty much it! Going over all the paperwork and photos multiple times in the last couple of days helped me stay calm and positive. I also feel lucky that the interviewer seemed to be in a good mood (she did stay professional the whole time), although my case is pretty straightforward either way.

P.S. After spending about an hour writing this, I just checked myUSCIS and... New Card Is Being Produced!!!!! Damn, that was fast. I want to wait until the card is actually in my hands before actually celebrating, but it's very surreal to think that I'll soon be able to say the sentence: "I have a green card." It's been a long journey. Sending out my best wishes to everyone going through the process!

Come on people, nobody else having updates? Anyone apply earlier this year getting any updates? This thread is too quiet

i'm im a similar situation as you are in. looking for more information i found this on reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comme...meline_so_far/


wife filed aos for her husband the whole process lasted only 4 months or so. i think her husband was a DACA recipient. hopefully they are recognizing us already in the system and move us as fast as possible.

by doing this i assume, usics will save money/time. they'll still keep our ead application fee and approve green card.

my attorney told me, without elaborating -in this case, you might receive your green card before getting your EAD approved.

this is her most recent post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comme..._marriage_aos/

thanks so much! it's been almost a month since I saw that update. my interview still hasn't been scheduled. I received the medical exam deficiency notice.

Well, I just returned to the USA via AP. Looks like I'll be abandoning my pending I-601A and going the AOS route, already have an approved I-130.

nice good job and good luck

Anyone have a good step-by-step guide on doing DACA -> AP -> AOS?

Finally, there was some movement on my AOS. Got notice that my I-130 was approved. Still radio silence on my I-485, even though it has been 2.5 months since my interview. I haven't gotten any RFE either.

I'm not sure if they were waiting on a decision on the I-130 before making a decision on the I-485. I thought they both usually got approved at the same time (if they were filed jointly).

In any case, I ain't holding my breath for a decision in the I-485 anytime soon the way this shit has gone for me so far. I'm expecting to wait the full 4 months of review at this point.

For anyone else in the Bay Area, hope to everything you don't get sent to the San Jose Field Office or else you might get stuck in this prolonged infernal waiting game.