Adjustment of Status - I-485

Hi everyone!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone on this forum for taking the time to share your experiences. I know I'm not alone when I say reading your stories made this process much less intimidating (though I still held my breath for a solid 6 months)!!

I don't usually add to sites like this but felt compelled to return the favor.

A bit about my case. My now husband and I have been together since early 2014. We met while I was working in the US on OPT after finishing my masters degree. While together I applied for h1-b through my work but was denied and returned home in late 2014. We stayed together though and travelled back and forth between our 2 countries (his us and mine Canada) before he proposed when I was visiting him in march of this year (2016). We married later that month (just us at the courthouse...we're pretty low key and the courthouse is really beautiful in our town). We then applied for my adjustment of status at the end of May 2016. I applied for advanced parole and employment authorization at the same time.

About a month later I received my biometrics appointment notice. The appointment itself took no more than 10 minutes. They took my prints and my picture and sent me on my way. About 2 months after that I received notice that my employment authorization had been approved as well as my advanced parole. With this notice I was sent my EAD card which also granted me advanced parole. My husband and I traveled to Canada for vacation about a week after that using my advanced parole card and had zero issues upon Re-entry.

A month after that (late September) I received my appointment notice for the initial interview. It was scheduled for a month from the notice date.

I spent the next month pulling together every last piece of evidence I could think of to show that our relationship was bona fide. I brought:

- shared lease
- various joint utility bills
- joint credit card statements
- joint bank statements
- joint health insurance
- animal adoption papers with both of our names
- phone records showing our calls and texts to one another (for past 6 months)
- plane tickets and hotel reservations for trips from 2014 onward
- emails sent from 2014 onward
- Christmas and birthday cards
- photos from 2014 onward (organized in an album with dates, names and locations for each photo). I was sure to include many with our families and friends.
- letters attesting that we are indeed a couple from my father, his mother and my close friend

I organized all of this in a binder and was sure to include an index to make sifting through all of this easier on the officer. I also brought along copies of all of our id (birth certificates, passports, license, social security cards).

In reality this was overkill but better to be safe than sorry I suppose.

We arrived to the interview an hour early and met with our attorney who sifted through the documents I brought to be sure all was in order before checking us in for our appointment. When he checked us in he received a number and then came back and sat with us. He continued to go through the documents and actually pulled the ones he thought were strongest from the binder (lease, joint accounts etc) leaving most of the others behind letting us know we probably wouldn't need them.

We waited about an hour after that before being called up to the window.

Once called we met the IO who asked for our ids. We presented them, he had a quick look, apologized for keeping us waiting and said all looked like it was in order. He then said he had a few more questions for us and showed us to his office. He was very friendly, kind and casual about the whole thing which was very nice considering how nervous I was.

Once in his office he swore us in and invited us to sit down. He asked a few basic questions (do you still live at "x", is your phone number still "y"). He only asked these questions to me (beneficiary). My spouse wasn't asked anything.
He then asked me a few more questions(do you have a criminal record and things like that). No questions were asked about the relationship, development of relationship or wedding. Finally he asked if we had any joint documents to show him. Our lawyer handed him the leAse and a few other things which he quickly glanced through. He then skimmed through our photo album noting that our wedding venue was beautiful.

This all took no more than 5 minutes. The IO then said all looked good and my case should be approved but he didn't have my completed background check. He said he'd try to get that later in the day. After that he showed us out and told us to have a great day.

We were shocked to say the least. All that prep and that was it?!!! Our attorney told us the background check might take a few weeks to complete so be patient. Frustrating but oh well at least the interview was simple and painless.

But THEN to my delight I got notice that very afternoon saying my case was approved and my green card had been ordered. My jaw nearly hit the floor. We haven't stopped smiling since.

All in all the whole process took a little over 4 months. It was scary but seamless.

Wishing you all the best of luck on your respective journeys. Sending happy thoughts!