Family Based Greencard

Hello everyone,

I've been a silent spectator, reading and learning from all the wonderful people that took the time to share their experiences. Reading the experiences helped with the anxiety and the angst the process can cause - knowing that we are not alone. In that spirit, I would love to share my journey with you know as it's recently come to an end with an approved green card in hand.

I married a US citizen in December 2016, we have been together several years now and have been living together for the past two years. This is for context so you know that it wasn't a very complicated case as we had plenty of evidence of our relationship. I was working on a H-1B in San Francisco.

Timeline:
- Feb 7 2017 documents submission
- Feb 9 priority date
- March 23 Biometrics completed
- May 9 I-765 and I-131 approvals received
- May 11 EAD/AP card received
- May 30 address updated as we moved to Seattle since my wife accepted a new job
- June 8 address update confirmation received
- Nov 9 Interview notice received for 12/7
- Dec 7 interview at 9:15 AM in Seattle USCIS (details below)
- Dec 12 I 797 approval notice received
- Dec 14 Green card received in the mail

The status of the portal was pretty up to date up until the interview. But following the interview, the status is still stuck at "interview scheduled". So, as you will learn from the many experiences, fret not about the status as much as that sucks.

Interview: Lasted only about 15 minutes. The interview was held within 10 minutes of our scheduled time, so there wasn't much of a delay. The interview lasted only about 15 minutes. The IO swore us in, then asked me the standard list of "yes/no" questions that we answered in the 485. Then she asked us “What do you have for me?”. We handed over the supporting documents we brought in – joint bank statement, joint tax returns, last two leases, life insurance, employer letters, beneficiary proof, health insurance, renters insurance, plenty of pictures, travel itineraries, joint cell phone bill. She honed in on the pictures set and asked us to walk her through it. We had the pictures in chronological order of our relationship from the first date to the present day. We included tons of pictures of friends, family, travel, pets and major life events – engagement, wedding, friend’s wedding etc. Most of the interview was taken up by walking her through this. She didn’t have any more questions for us and said “ I’m not making a decision today, but you should know the status in a few weeks”. We were handed the “being held for review” document. Although the online case status never changed, we had the approval letter and the green card in a week from the interview date. We felt good walking away from the interview and felt that it was approved – as I said earlier, it was a pretty straight forward case with no immigration or marriage complications.

I hope this helps those of you that are about to start the journey or are in the process. Wish you the best!