Adjustment of Status - I-485

Hi Everyone,

I learnt a lot from this forum, and I promised to share my experience.
My husband filed a green card petition for me. We were living in Georgia then so Atlanta was our field office. I got a good job in Memphis afterwards, and we moved (I moved first and he joined me later). We successfully changed our address, and surprisingly got our interview scheduled 8 months after PD (Memphis field office is pretty fast).
We were immediately separated and had two interviewers in the room. My husband went in first and was asked series of questions. My husband didn't care to know about the process or paper work (like most men), so I was the one that put all our evidence and paperwork together. That was a problem because he didn't know all the evidence we had and took time locating them in the file. Moreover, he had just lost his brother to a senseless police killing and he was at a loss on everything in life. The interviewers also asked him what exit leads to our house. My husband had just moved to Memphis, he had wrecked his car before leaving Georgia, so he never drove in Memphis before the interview. He didn't know the exit. He was also nervous and forgot our apartment address until later in the interview. The interviewers were pissed at this point. He was also asked to show his Facebook profile and messages. We had messages back and forth on Facebook so that wasn't an issue. They called me in and started to ask me questions. I answered confidently but I knew my husband might have flopped. I was then told that we will be contacted later. They forgot to ask for my medicals, and I forgot to give them too.
I was very angry with my husband (as expected). The next day, I got a letter requesting for my medicals which I sent immediately. We didn't hear back for over 3 months. We had expected a home visit or stoke interview.
We suddenly received two letters after the long wait. At this time, I had applied for EAD renewal. One letter was addressed to my husband, requesting more evidence. The second letter was addressed to me as a notice to deny I-485. Shock, frustration and anger was all I felt. Apparently, they were going to deny me because my medical wasn't properly signed. I then remembered that the doctor had forgotten to include Gonorrhea test during the physicals. I learnt about the Gonorrhea test online and called her office. I was told to do the test at a Walgreens and bring the result. By the time I got to the office, she had traveled outside the country and would not be back for months. The nurse just added the test result and date without a new physician signature. I called her attention to the earlier signature date and later test date. She said it wasn't going to be an issue. Well, it was a big issue. USCIS said my current work permit will be void 2 weeks after the date on the letter.
My world came crashing down because I was going to lose my job. I quickly got a lawyer and was told that the best solution is to submit a fresh application. Several legal advice said there was no point fighting the decision since I would not be allowed new evidence if I appealed. Since there was a RFE for the I-130 anyway, it sounded like the best approach.
We submitted a new filling 8 days after that letter. My job said they could wait for me for 3 months since I said that is the usual timeline for work permit (boy, was I wrong).
I waited and waited for my work permit because my life literally depended on it. Let’s just say it did not arrive until 5 months after the filing. Several expedite request was made by me, lawyer, Senator, and Ombudsman's office. Fortunately, my job was kind enough to wait for me.
I first got a notice of interview before EAD approval. I was sad because I really needed the EAD before interview since I don't know how long it will take to get a response after interview. I was also sad because the interview was scheduled exactly 3 months before our second anniversary. The process had drained the life out of me that I never wanted to go through this again. I really wanted the 10yrs GC. In fact, I didn't mind waiting longer just for the 10yrs GC.
Alas, God had a different plan.
We had our interview some weeks back. I guess the IO went through our file before we arrived. We submitted a lot of evidence with the new filing. She only asked how we met, and that was it. It was a very conversational and jovial experience. It was definitely much better than the first. Our lawyer was there but that didn’t change anything. The IO said we had too much time between the interview day and our 2nd anniversary so she can only approve the conditional GC. She understood my frustration and said the next one shouldn’t be as stressful. I got my GC a week after the interview.

I will be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks.