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Employment-based green card interview. No decision - file being held for review

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  • Employment-based green card interview. No decision - file being held for review

    My AOS interview experience for an employment-based green card:

    I had my green card interview today in the Los Angeles USCIS field office. My lawyer and I checked in and only had to wait 10-15 minutes before being called into the officer's office.

    Two other people were sitting behind her, not sure what they were doing. It was pretty intimidating to have 3 people there. We believe they were there to evaluate the officer who was interviewing me. Neither of them looked at me or asked any questions.

    The interview itself was straight forward, she asked to see my passports and identification, asked me a couple basic questions like my name, other names I held, what my address is when I entered the country last time, who my parents are.

    She then proceeded to ask the common YES/NO questions like "will you overthrow the government?" etc. After those, she asked "what do you do?" as the only question related to my work or employer.

    The interview overall went smooth and zero red flags or anything, basic questions.

    I'm transgender and I have an amended birth certificate for my name change and my ID documents have a combination of my old and new name. (legal name change in Belgium, still the old name in the US). She asked to see documentation about the name change, we provided surgeon letter for my surgeries, my therapists etc etc. We have pretty solid documentation why I did the name change.

    She even joked a bit about how slow her computer is. The general vibe seemed pleasant at the interview.

    She also asked for the job offer letter and my tax returns (my petition only had the tax returns of 2016). Even though I had a supplement J, they still asked for these things. In the end, she said she needs to take some copies of my EAD/AP and driving license.

    After she came back, she gave back my IDs and passports and gave me a paper saying "Your case is being held for review. At this time, USCIS does not require any further information or documents from you. Should further information or documents be required, you will receive a notice in the mail. We may also schedule you for another interview, you will receive a notice in the mail. Otherwise, a final decision will be mailed once your case is complete".

    I was hoping for an approved on-the-spot since my case is super straight forward employment-based green card. No kids, no spouse, never overstayed and never was out of status (I've been employed by the sponsor through an H1-B visa).

    Is there any reason to be concerned about the lack of instant-approval?

  • #2
    Can't speak from experience, but it seems to be very normal to receive updates a few days after the interview. Sometimes an interview officer does not have the authority to make a decision right away and needs second level of review due to their level of experience or authority. Maybe you will get an update few days later or next week?
    Field Office - San Francisco

    8/03/18 - Priority Date
    8/27/18 - Biometrics walked in
    9/05/18 - Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview
    12/10/18 - I-765 Expedition Request Sent to Congresswoman
    12/20/18 - Expedition Support sent to Congresswoman
    1/07/19 - New Card is being produced
    1/11/19 - Received I-765 and I-131 Approval Notice
    1/14/19 - Received Combo Card

    Comments are personal opinions, not legal advice.

    Comment


    • #3
      As of today, still no news from USCIS. From reading on these forums and other sites, it seems that most people get either a very quick response (days) or a really long wait (months). Let's hope my case falls in the former :fingerscrossed:

      Comment


      • #4
        Did you ask your lawyer? The lawyer might have more information and experience about similar cases.
        Field Office - San Francisco

        8/03/18 - Priority Date
        8/27/18 - Biometrics walked in
        9/05/18 - Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview
        12/10/18 - I-765 Expedition Request Sent to Congresswoman
        12/20/18 - Expedition Support sent to Congresswoman
        1/07/19 - New Card is being produced
        1/11/19 - Received I-765 and I-131 Approval Notice
        1/14/19 - Received Combo Card

        Comments are personal opinions, not legal advice.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by yvc View Post
          Did you ask your lawyer? The lawyer might have more information and experience about similar cases.
          I asked and she said: "My colleague confirmed that supervisors are finalizing the approval. There is not set time except the 120 days as the officer said. However, they want to get rid of the file as soon as possible"

          Sounds like a very good sign of an imminent approval. :fingerscrossed:

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by SarahAngel View Post
            I asked and she said: "My colleague confirmed that supervisors are finalizing the approval. There is not set time except the 120 days as the officer said. However, they want to get rid of the file as soon as possible"

            Sounds like a very good sign of an imminent approval. :fingerscrossed:
            So that's a good news! Most of posters here are filing for marriage-based i-485 application, so their experiences might not be the same as yours (employment-based).
            Field Office - San Francisco

            8/03/18 - Priority Date
            8/27/18 - Biometrics walked in
            9/05/18 - Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview
            12/10/18 - I-765 Expedition Request Sent to Congresswoman
            12/20/18 - Expedition Support sent to Congresswoman
            1/07/19 - New Card is being produced
            1/11/19 - Received I-765 and I-131 Approval Notice
            1/14/19 - Received Combo Card

            Comments are personal opinions, not legal advice.

            Comment


            • #7
              Update! I got the notification that my green card has been picked up by the USPS!

              Full timeline - Employment-based AOS (EB3) - Los Angeles (CA)

              July 23th, 2018 - Filed applications for I-485, I-765 and I-131
              July 24th, 2018 - Receipt date of I-485, I-765 and I-131
              Aug 3rd, 2018 - Received notice for biometrics
              Aug 21st 2018 - Biometrics completed
              Nov 21st, 2018 - Approval notice I-765 and I-131
              Dec 6th, 2018 - Combo card (EAD/AP) in hand
              Dec 10th, 2018 - Notice - interview was scheduled
              Jan 14th 2019 - Attended AOS Interview in Los Angeles (Held for further review)
              Jan 18th 2019 - I-485 approved - Card Was Picked Up By The United States Postal Service

              Comment


              • #8
                Green card interview.

                My interview was on february 11. It went very smoothly. We arrived 30 mins before the interview. Then was called in at the given time. We went inside with out attorney. The IO was a very nice lady. She asked us to stand and take oaths. Then she asked for our original documents like passport, birth certificate and drivers license. All the addresses were same in all the documents. Then she proceeded to ask a few questions about how we met, how he proposed, when do we have his son over with us. Then asked me to answer all the yes/no questions. Then she checked our albums. I had two albums and guest books from our reception and daily life. She didn't finish going through everything and asked us just two pictures with our faces visible on it. Then she said my husbands family is very supportive when I told them we live with the sister and most of the pictures were with my husbands family members. Then she told us about the conditional greencard and how To renew it and why I will get that because our marriage was less than 2 years old. It was very smooth so we thought our case is approved. Then she handed us a paper which said our case was held for more reviewing before making any decision. What happened? Can anyone tell me from their experience. M having anxiety.

                Comment

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