My husband and I had our interview for AOS, family based, on Dec.2nd in Detroit. She said she approved the relationship but we still had to wait for the medical report which came back on Dec. 3rd. We sent that in immediately. Yesterday my husband got an email notice that said "On December 10, 2004, after approving your application, we ordered you a new card. Your card will be mailed to you as soon as it is ready." Are we correct in assuming that this is the allusive green card????? If so it only took 10 months from filing to green card. That was much sooner than I expected. How long do you think it takes to get the card in the mail? I am guessing that we will get a NOA for the approval? The interviewer never said that the AOS was approved, just that the relationship was. Guess we just wait and see what comes in the mail!
An update! On Sat. Dec. 18th, 10 days after my husbands AOS was approved, we received both the NOA stating that he was approved and in another piece of mail that same day, his green card!!!! It took just 10 months from filing to green card. What a terrific Christmas present! Good luck to all of you travelling this sometimes confusing road called immigration and many thanks to all of you who answered out questions along the way! Eve and Gordon
It is the conditional 2 year card. It really went much faster than I had hoped. 10 months from filing to card. We wanted it to go fast but then again if it had taken til after our 2nd anniversary we could have gotten the 10 year card but just glad it is over and we can travel again!
You physically rec'd your GC 16 days after your interview (10 days after a letter saying a new GC was to be issued).
Congratulations!
Now for my rhetorical rant (which is not directed to you, Evengord, at all)..
This just does not make any sense - here is a district/regional office that can issue a GC in a few days - but Vermont is still working on I-90's from March of 2004!!!!! An I-90 should be much faster than an AOS - everything is all approved, they just need to print a stupid card.
I was approved and took my pics in and so on way back in June and I am still waiting... Actually, I have been waiting since 1999 for the ****ing thing!!!!
What the **** is going on with the **** INS???? How the **** can some regions push through stuff in a few days while others take years to do the same *** **** application?
Worse yet - I am moving again at the end of the month (same district). Now I have to friggen' file all those stupid AR-11's (KY, Newark, VSC) and forward my mail through USPS (and all the junk mail will now follow as well).
To amke matters worse, I don't want to go to DMV to change my address there as I do not have a GC in hand to prove residency (I have talked to a couple of others who had issues at DMV with their I-551 stamps).
I have been watching the processing dates at VSC for I-90's - they have not moved for quitre a while. First it was the stupid I-751 that took 18+ mos to process (and sat with the same processing date for months and months), now it is the GC itself. I look at the processing times for the I-751's now and they are more current than the stupid I-90's.
Christ, I was married in 1999 and I am still waiting for the GC to arrive...
I know they are jumping ahead on the backlog of applications to skew their statistics for that initiative, but it is not fair... The applications should be processed First-In / First-Out (FIFO) but they seem to be being processed Last-in / First Out (LIFO). They are tracking their progress on the Backlog Elimination Plan by # of cases in backlog - not the average turn-around time. This would mean it is in their best interest to push the old applications to the side and focus their work on the new applications. That way, if they have X hundred thousand applications in backlog, that number will not grow as they work the new cases... Those old cases will get even older but the number of old cases will not grow.
This is a case of blatent statistical manipulation. Are the voting public that blind to the actions of the Gov't?
Maybe, just maybe, I'll get my turn one day. I'll also remember this stuff if I ever get a chance to have my voice heard in a ballot box.
ARQU, all someone needs to do is read your timeline to discourage them from marrying just for a green card! It goes on and on and on.... too bad they don't all go as quickly as EVENGORD's!
Who knows why they do what they do at immigration? I honestly think that we just got lucky and the Detroit office was pushed to get some of these done before the end of the year. I don't know if it made any difference but my husband was already here on an L1 visa when we met and married and that visa would not have expired for sometime yet. We never expected it to go so quicky but definitely are not complaining! Good luck to everyone still waiting. I've been reading these posts for months now and am cheering for all of you. Happy Holidays.
I am very happy for you - although you are still on the 'first steps' of a very long path... I had my AOS approved in 2000 and I am still waiting... BTW - I was here on a H1B before I got married so I doubt that your Husband's L1 had anything to do with it. I think it is far more likely that Detroit is processing their applications faster than other centers...
Yes, it should help people understand that marriage <> GC in a timely manner.
The reality is that if you are here legally in the US before you get married, you should try to delay your AOS filing as long as possible!!! The key is to time your application so you are interviewed more than 2yrs from the date of your marriage (I missed mine by 4 only months). If you can manage that, a perm GC is issued at that time instead of the conditional GC. If my interview had been held only 4 mos later (it took 20 mos for the interview), I would of had my perm GC way back in 2001...
Take the case of my son, he came here to live with me in 2001 and had his permanent GC within 6 mos (as my marriage was more than 2yrs old at the time). So mine has tken 5yrs and 6 months (and still counting) while his took 6 mos.
Kind of make you think the system is all ****ed up doesn't it... Oh well, I am used to waiting so I'll continue to do so...
Just as an FYI folks - I have been dealing with the INS since 1997 when I first came here. It would be nice to have some sense of 'stability' after all those years. Oh well, maybe the GC will be in the mailbox one of these months....
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