The Little Alien's AOS Packet

I think a very good way to see the Adjustment of Status (AOS) application is to see it as a job application, except you get a Green Card instead of a job offer at the end, if your application is successful.  I mean, come on, you even have to include a cover letter with your application, and there is an interview for them to determine if you deserve the Green Card or not.

Fortunately, the cover letter for the AOS packet is literally just a laundry list of items that you've included for the AOS packet, so there is no need to fluff out a story about how you'd make a good Permanent Resident.  Somehow, I don't think USCIS would have cared if I had included this in my cover letter: "I would make a good Permanent Resident because I am very hardworking, I mean like, I got a Bachelor's Degree and wash my bathroom every Sunday morning."

Here is my AOS packet Cover Letter a.k.a. Laundry List.  I'm including it for 2 main reasons:

1. To show very explicitly what forms should be included in the I-485/I-130 packet: USCIS can't seem to just tell us right off the bat what forms they need if you want to do your AOS through marriage.  First they're like, "Oh you need an I-485."  Then you get the I-485 and fill it out like a good Alien, and they're like," Teehee, just kidding, you need an I-864 too."  USCIS just doesn't seem to get that people who are filing for AOS just want to file for an AOS, and not participate in a stupid game of treasure hunt:

2. To give Fellow Aliens ideas for evidence that can be included to establish a bona fide marriage: I always see Fellow Aliens asking, "Here's my list of evidence I want to include with my AOS application, do you think it's enough??"  Unfortunately there is no fixed answer to that question, and as I've said before, whether or not your evidence is enough is partially dependent on luck.  All I can say is, whatever evidence we had included was sufficient to not warrant a Request for Evidence (RFE) for the particular officer reviewing our file that day, so I hope it helps some sad lost Aliens who are trying to put together their packet.

Our evidence fell into 2 main categories: evidence establishing financial co-mingling and evidence establishing an ongoing relationship.  I suggest including some evidence from each category if possible.  Of course, there was more evidence we wished we could have included, like:

- Joint bank account statements
- Having credit card statements from our banks listing each other as authorized users
- Wills listing each other as sole/primary beneficiaries
- Medical Powers of Attorney
- Wedding pictures (we didn't have a ceremony)

Fortunately, a lot of Aliens don't have a perfect list of evidence either, so we were still OK.

That's all for today, my Fellow Aliens!

Moving during AOS

I always see other fellow Aliens asking on forums if they can change addresses while going through the AOS process, and if so, what the delay is.  I don't know about specific corner cases, but this is what I can tell you: This Little Alien changed her address while waiting to be scheduled for an interview, and I know there was no delay involved because I got my Interview Notice about 1 week after USCIS sent me a letter acknowledging my Change in Address.

This Little Alien's AOS process took 188 days.  During this 188-day period, my landlord tried to increase rent by $250 per month because our 1-year lease was about to be up.  Since the Hubby and I were not as loaded as our landlord was implicitly requiring us to be to continue staying at where we were, we decided to move.  And because of where we ended up moving, the jurisdiction of our case changed from the San Bernardino USCIS Field Office to the LA USCIS Field Office.

On an unrelated side note, I was very happy to have moved from San Bernardino County back to Los Angeles County:

Anyway.  Here's what you need to fill out and do, if you're doing the I-485 and I-130 concurrently like I did:

1. 2 AR-11's, 1 pertaining to the I-485 for the beneficiary and 1 pertaining to the I-130 for the sponsor

2. I-865 for the sponsor (I know you don't have to until the sponsorship takes effect when the AOS is approved, but we wanted to play safe)

3. Call up the USCIS service center for both the I-485 and I-130 to notify them of the change in address

Slightly over a week after I first called up USCIS, my USCIS case status changed from "Testing & Interview" to "Initial Review" after USCIS registered the Change in Address (which freaked me out), and then changed back to "Testing & Interview" after a couple more days.  And then USCIS sent letters acknowledging the Change in Address to my new address about a week later.

According to my read on a transcript of a Q&A Session between the National Benefits Center (NBC) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), there should be no delay in processing times for the I-130/I-485 resulting from a change in address if you do it before your interview has been scheduled.  The transcript can be found here: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/May%202013/NBC-AILA-QA-2013-05-01.pdf.  In particular, "the NBC notifies applicants of the I-485 interview about six weeks prior to the scheduled date, and transfers the file to the appropriate USCIS field office approximately three weeks before the interview".

My guess is that the implication of that quote is that your case file doesn't have to jump between offices if you change your address before your interview is scheduled.  And I'm guessing the jump between offices (and the resulting shuffle in paperwork) is what would cause a delay, so since my file stayed at the NBC the entire time, there was no delay for me.

Moral of the story, yes you can move as long as your interview has not been scheduled, there was definitely no delay for me as a result.

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!

Putting together an AOS Application: An Overview

AOS, or Adjustment of Status, is the process of applying for a Green Card while the Beneficiary is physically present in the United States.  There are plenty of ways that an Alien can become eligible for AOS, and the most common means through which an Alien obtains eligibility is through marriage.  In fact, according to the March 2013 Annual Flow Report published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 26.5% of all adjustments to Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) in 2012 were through marriage to a US Citizen.

Because it is so common, people make the (flawed) assumption that AOS through marriage is easy.  Let me get this straight:

Myth: Getting the Marriage Certificate from the County Clerk is equivalent to getting a Green Card in your hand.

Fact: If it were that simple, all the Immigration Attorneys would be unemployed.

The Hubby and I decided to prepare the AOS Application ourselves to skip on paying a few grand to an Immigration Attorney.  This Little Alien doesn't advocate one way or the other with regards to hiring an Immigration Attorney, but here's why we didn't hire one:

1. Our case was straightforward: Girl comes to the US for school, meets Boy, fall in love, get married
2. Our relationship went back almost 4 years as of when we filed. How is an Attorney supposed to understand the progression of our 4-year relationship half as well as we did?  Why get someone else to write your story when you know it best?
3. We like living life in hard mode: Girl and Boy did college in hard mode, why not immigration too?

Even with a straightforward case, it was painfully tedious.

Apart from the fact that USCIS doesn't have a centralized location where you can query the forms you need to file for AOS based on your basis of eligibility, there is also the question of establishing the fact that your marriage was "bona fide", or entered in good faith.

What's hardest about establishing this "bona fide" thing is the fact that there is no right or wrong way to do it.  How pleased USCIS will be with a given quantity and quality of evidence submitted partly depends on luck, and there is no telling how lucky you will be.  For example, you could submit a more comprehensive set of evidence than I did, but your Immigration Officer could be having a bad day while mine is having a good day.  And suddenly you are getting a Request for Evidence (RFE), and I'm already getting my Notice for an Interview.

This Little Alien will go over in a later post the Evidence that the Hubby and I submitted, and our reasons for including each of them.  It isn't the perfect application and I'm not saying that including all of our Evidence will guarantee a successful AOS application.  But I hope it helps a few lost Aliens because this Little Alien definitely looked up a lot of sketchy sites to come up with ideas on what to include as Evidence.

And then the waiting after submitting.  I come from SoCal where everybody is trying to immigrate to because West Coast, Best Coast.  I waited all the way from Thanksgiving until the 1st week of April between my biometrics and my interview appointment.  Needless to say, these were the holidays that felt very bland because there was this AOS cloud hanging over my head: Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, and a very special person's birthday.  No, I don't celebrate President's Day or MLK Day, is this going to hurt my next background check?

And then, THE interview.  I have already posted my interview transcript, and will post about what the Hubby and I did to prepare for the interview and what we brought to the interview as evidence.  We were lucky to get approved on the spot, but I do know that some people have to wait more after the interview.

But trust me, all the pain and frustration is worth it when you get your alien hands on the Green Card, and  you don't have to ever worry about forcefully being separated from the people you care about :)

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!

AOS Interview Transcript

I know this is a post that a lot of Aliens will want to see, as the interview is the one shot you get at showing USCIS in person that your marriage is bona fide, which is the key requirement to getting a Green Card through marriage.  It's long, but our interview took about an hour.

Spaces between dialog lines indicate that the topic of conversation has shifted.  Phrases in square brackets "[  ]" were not spoken, but were either my thoughts at the time or what someone did during the interview.  Phrases in parentheses "(  )" were spoken, but I have withheld information because I am a bashful Alien.

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Q: Do you swear to tell the truth, and only the truth?
Alien: Yes.
Hubby: I do. [Because saying "I do" once apparently wasn't enough for him]

Q: Can I see your [Hubby] Passport, Birth Cert, Marriage Cert?  Can I see your [Alien] Passport, Birth Cert, I-94 and all copies of your I-20's?
[We furnish all requested documents]

Q: When did you graduate?
Alien: (Graduation year and month).
Q: Your school's International Office never updated your case to reflect your graduation?
Alien: Um, they didn't?  Would you like to see my diploma?
IO: Yes please. [IO actually looks interested in diploma]
[Alien also gives Hubby his diploma]
IO: Could I please have your [Hubby] diploma too?
[IO peers at graduation dates on both diplomas and sees that we overlapped for some time at The American School, loses interest in the diplomas]

Q: How many times have you [Alien] entered the United States?
Alien: I used to go home once every winter break and once every summer break when I was in school, so I re-entered the US every time I went home.
Q: No, I mean in total, how many times have you [Alien] entered the United States?
Alien: I don't remember, can I have my passport back so I can count the visa stamps in my passport?
[IO surprisingly lets Alien take back passport]
Alien: (Gives IO a count of the number of visa stamps in Alien passport).
[IO seems to just take it for an answer and completely loses interest in this]

Q: Where do you [both] work?
[Alien and Hubby tell him our employer's company names]
Q: Can I see your paystubs and 2013 tax returns?
[We furnish them, IO notices that Alien and Hubby are each listed as "Single" on paystub]
Q: Why are you [Alien and Hubby] listed as "Single" on your paystubs?
Hubby: We don't want to under-withhold taxes from the IRS.
Alien: I'm also required to file my W-4 as "Single" as a non-resident Alien regardless of marital status.
Q: IRS marital status and HR marital status are separate, why are your company paystubs showing you both as "Single"?
Alien: I guess our HR's use IRS marital status on the paystub?  We both told our HR's about our marriage, we have Company insurance policies with each other listed as the Primary Beneficiary on our AD&D policies.
[Hubby gives IO copies of our company insurance policies, we are listed as "Spouse" on both companies' policies]
[IO glances at it and is satisfied]

Q: What did you do for your wedding?
Hubby: We did a civil ceremony at the County Clerk's office in (City).
Q: Why did you not do a full ceremony for the happiest day of your life?
Alien: My parents spent a bunch of money for their wedding and so they were against the idea of me having a proper wedding ceremony.  They'd rather we save for a honeymoon or the down payment for a house.
Q: Ok, who attended the civil ceremony?
Hubby: The judge and the County Clerk witness.
Q: Why? Where were your families?
Hubby: Parents and (some siblings) were in (state faraway from California), (some sibling) was travelling around the US because (said sibling) just returned to the US from his graduate studies in Europe.
Alien: My parents were also kind of on the other side of the world.
Q: Ok, did both your families approve of the wedding?
Hubby: Yea, we've visited each other's families before. [shows IO pictures and points out family members to him]
[IO asks for details on each of our trips to visit each other's families, fact-based and straightforward]
Alien: Actually my parents are visiting now, so they're definitely aware of this.
Hubby: Here are the pictures from her parents' current trip here.
[IO glances at them, looks satisfied that our family members are all aware of our marriage]

Q: Do you have a shared bank account?
Hubby: No.
Q: Why?
Hubby: We haven't really needed to... It just hasn't felt like there was any need to combine finances yet.  But we have a shared car, here's the registration to show that it's current and the car insurance, with both our names on all the documents.
Q: Can I see your bank statements?
[We furnish them, IO peers at them]
Q: Why are there no transactions on your [Alien] account statement?
Alien: Huh, yes there are?  I paid for utilities via ACH from this account.
[IO seems to accept the extent of our co-mingling of finances]

Q: What are her parents' names?
Hubby: Dad is (name), Mom is (name).
Q: What are his parents' names?
Alien: Dad is (name), Mom is (name).
Q: Have you talked about children?
Alien: Ya, we want to make sure we have enough money for a down payment on a house before we have any.  But we want children.

Q: How did you two first meet? [directed at Alien]
Alien: Well there was a Facebook group for incoming freshmen, so some upperclassmen will join to help answer questions that the incoming freshmen had.  And we both joined the group, and randomly started talking then.  Then the first friendly meeting in person was during Halloween when there was a Pumpkin Drop event, so...
[IO interjects to ask me to stop being nervous, says he thinks we have a good marriage and to please slow down when I talk]
Alien: Yea um, so the Pumpkin Drop event, it's where we freeze pumpkins in liquid nitrogen and throw it off the tallest building on campus and watch it smash into little bits.  So ya we talked online before the event and said we'd meet up, so we did.
[IO starts cracking a smile when he hears details about Pumpkin Drop]
Q: Ok, then after the Pumpkin Drop, how long did it take for you to become boyfriend/girlfriend?
Alien: Um, Halloween is end-October, we got together in the 2nd week of December, so I guess a month and a bit.
Q: Ok, then when did you get engaged?
Alien: April 28, 2013.
Q: Ok, so 3 to 3.5years to get engaged.  And what's the marriage date?
Alien: 3rd September, 2013.
[IO peers at marriage cert, checks that date matches.  IO stifles a smiles again, points out that Alien is still saying date-month-year, hasn't Alien been in the US long enough?]
Q: Where did the 2 of you travel together prior to the marriage?
Hubby: [Lists all 4 trips that we did together, 3 within the US and 1 international flight, shows IO the official flight itineraries from airline]
Q: When did you move in together?
Alien: Well the official lease says June 2011, but uh, our landlord kind of let us move in earlier than when the lease said.  So really it was May 2011.
Hubby: Here are our leases, up until the current lease.  And here are also all the utility bills for the current apartment.
Q: Can I see both of your keys?  Tell me which key you use to get into the apartment, like the one that unlocks the door to the apartment.
[We give IO our keys, he compares them, is satisfied that the keys are identical, returns us our keys]

[IO starts flipping through our photo album and we chat for a bit about the photos]

Q: Why did you [Alien] choose to come to The American School?
Alien: To be honest, I didn't really choose because I got rejected by all the other schools I applied to.
[IO nearly laughs.  Alien observes that IO seems to have the habit of nearly cracking a smile and then holding back because he's supposed to be stern]
Q: The American School is a good school, isn't it?  You make it sound so bad...What other schools did you apply to?
Alien: (List of schools in the US that I applied to and got rejected from), I mean, my top choice school was The American School anyway so it was all good...I was figuring that if I was going away this far for college, I might as well go for a good school.

[IO continues putting documents in order so I can walk out of the Interview Room as a Permanent Resident. I-94 removed from Alien Passport, IO retains all I-20's.  EAD was returned to Alien as the 12-month leg of Alien's OPT was due to expire anyway.]
[IO asks list of questions about "Are you a communist", "Have you ever done drugs", "Have you ever been a prostitute", etc]

Q: Did you [Alien] marry him for love and not for Immigration?
Alien: Yes.
Q: Why do you [Alien] love him?
Alien: Because I can always talk to him about anything.
Q: What about you [Hubby], do you love her?
Hubby: Very much.
Q: Why?
Hubby: For the same reason I guess... Every Saturday we have a tradition of eating dinner together, and we never run out of things to talk about.

[IO puts down his final signature on PR Welcome Letter, congratulates me on my new PR status, interview over, IO walks us to the exit door.]

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!