Adjustment of Status - I-485

Office: Seattle, WA

Married to my wife who is an American Citizen.

Notable issues prior to applying for I-485:

In 2009 I be-knowingly overstayed my ESTA by 13 days. When I came back to America in 2013 for a vacation, the CBP noticed this, arrested me and put me in a detention centre because there were no flights out of North America that night and subsequently was barred from having an ESTA in the future. I had to apply for a B2 visa in my home country and was given slim chances of receiving it, but I did. It was a temporary 3 month B2 visa if I abided by all the conditions, I may be eligible for a lengthier B2 visa. I did and then applied for a 5 year B2 visa, received it then travelled regularly on it to America until I met my wife and got married.

Timeline:
I-485, I-765, I-131 Receipt: September, 2017
Biometrics: October, 2017
EAD Combo card mailed: April, 2018
Ready for interview schedule: July, 2018
Interview scheduled: January, 2019
Interview day: February 20, 2019
New card being produced: February 20, 2019

Arrived 30 minutes before our interview is scheduled with our lawyer. We had to wait for about an hour after our schedule time as the IO was running late with a previous interview.

IO was apologetic for having us wait for so long. We went to the first room and had my biometrics done, then we left that room and went into the IO own room.

IO was polite and extremely professional which put us at ease immediately. IO asked me the following questions:
- Date of last arrival into America
- Confirm my name
- DOB
- Country I was born
- My address
- Marital status
- How many times I have been married
- Have I ever been divorced

IO then asked me 20 of the yes/no questions from the I-485 application. IO then asked my wife (American Citizen) the same questions but none of the yes/no questions.

IO then asked my wife to tell her how we met and our story of being together, my wife told the first half of our story, I chimed in and told the second half of our story. IO asked when I went back to my own country how we talked, I said via Facetime. IO asked my wife why she married him, she said because she loves me. IO then asked if we have any further evidence to support my application.

I gave the IO the following:
- Photos
- Boarding passes from trip together
- Joint healthcare
- Joint utility bill
- Joint apartment lease
- Wife's paystubs
- Wife's W2
- 2017 joint tax return

Tip: Do not bring in a photo album, this makes their job severely cumbersome. it may look cute but they have spend time taking the photos out, asking you to keep them or going to photocopy them. What to do is; scan all of your photos and put 2-4 per each page in a word document and put in a time line. We had 20 photos in total over 6 pages. IO was so thankful for this and commented on how we made their job easier. Also, make sure you have photos in front of landmarks or with family members, selfies mean nothing!

After that, the IO implied that I was granted my green card but couldn't say those words. IO stated that if they require any further evidence we will receive a notice within the next 5 business days.

Later that evening I received a notification that my new card is being produced - 18 month journey is finally over.

Apart from the IO being polite and extremely professional, the system as a whole needs an overhaul. It is extremely unnecessary for an applicant to wait 6-8 months without the ability to work or leave the country before they receive their EAD combo card. I can only imagine the strain this would've had on some relationships. We are all here to make America our home and continue to contribute to make America a more wonderful country than it already is.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.