James Ridgers

Hello all,

Just another update on my case, and an FYI for those of your adjusting
through the Los Angeles district...

My wife and I went for my AOS interview on Friday and, pending FBI
background checks, I'm approved.

I think this is remarkably quick - this is just 5 months after the
initial I-485 & I-130 filing (I was on a B1 visa BTW). And the
interview was incredibly smooth and informal. Our interview was
scheduled for 9:35am, and we live in Whittier, so we got the metrolink
in from Norwalk to Union Station and were at the CIS offices by
8:10am. There wasn't much of a line so we cleared security really
quickly, found room 6024, and went and checked in. I guess the
appointment before us hadn't arrived, because we were called in
immediately (at about 8:20am) and were led in to one of the offices.

Our immigration officer was Ms. Kim, who I think was herself an
immigrant. She asked to see our wedding photos, joint lease, joint
checking, joint utility, passport, marriage certificate, divorce
papers from my previous marriage, and our state ID cards. She took
some photocopies of a couple of photos our our IDs etc., asked just a
couple of questions about how and when we met, and that was pretty
much it. She said that I couldn't get my I-551 stamp that day because
the FBI background checks are backlogged, but she said everything was
fine and as soon as that gets completed, my Green Card will be
processed, and if I need to leave the country before I get my GC I can
make an appointment to get my passport stamped.

It was way way easier and way way way more relaxed than thought it was
going to be, and at no point did my B1 visa raise a flag (even if it
did, my intentions at POE on that visa were not suspicious and were
within the law).

So hopefully this will serve as an encouragement to anyone adjusting
at Los Angeles - they seem to have gotten their stuff together
considerably. Here's my entire timeline:

April 21st 2004 - Filed I-130, I-485, and EAD
July 6th 2004 - Fingerprinted at El Monte sub-office
July 9th 2004 - Processed for, and received, my EAD
September 24th 2004 - AOS Interview, approved pending FBI background
check completion

I'll stick around here for a while and continue to lurk and read, and
update whenever I've got something to update on. But good luck to
those of you just starting out!!!!

James

CaliforniaBride

Congratulations. Does that mean that your AOS took just a few months? I thought LA timelines were showing them processing cases in over a year?

inquisitive40

From my observations here, LA processes really quick (not Vermont speeds but is fast). I am through SF and I am hoping for some speedy adjustment, some have reported similar speeds with SF (not just as fast though).

Hoping to get EAD next month, filed end of August and so from others I have seen EAD and biometrics notices sent out within 2 months.

Patrick

James Ridgers

CaliforniaBride <member12142@british_expats.com> wrote in message news

    > Congratulations. Does that mean that your AOS took just a few months? I
    > thought LA timelines were showing them processing cases in over a year?

Thanks :o) I'm stoked...

Yeah, I thought it was a year too. The Processing Dates on the
uscis.gov website show a processing date of March 29th 2004, posted
September 22nd, but that's clearly inaccurate as I filed my I-485 &
I-130 towards the end of April. 5 months for mine in total.

By the way, does anyone have any idea how long the FBI background
check might take? I asked my IO, but she didn't know.

~ James

Ndori

By the way, does anyone have any idea how long the FBI background
check might take? I asked my IO, but she didn't know.

~ James[/QUOTE]

This is what I found:

For those of you waiting for Name/Security checks for AOS.

Cite as "Posted on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 03091740 (Sep. 17, 2003) ."



Background on security checks: USCIS advises that, for most of the DV cases, there are three checks (other than IBIS) that must be completed: a fingerprint check with FBI (which looks for arrests and convictions), a name check with FBI (which looks for whether the person is or has been under investigation), and a name check with the CIA (which looks for "adverse information").

The fingerprint checks with FBI are generally not a problem. According to USCIS, these are usually completed within 48 hours.

The FBI name checks, however, can be a problem for all types of adjustment cases. In these checks, the USCIS sends a tape containing the names, dates of birth, and countries of birth of adjustment applicants. In December 2002, USCIS sent 3.2 million names to the FBI for clearance. Of those, about 60,000 are still pending. In addition, USCIS sends a tape to FBI once a week with new names. Of these, some 80% are usually cleared within 72 hours. The remaining 20% go into a triage process. If the information regarding name, DOB and/or COB is far afield of that information regarding the individual identified in the "hit", the clearance will usually be sent back to USCIS the next week. If these factors are closer to the "hit" information, the physical file will have to be retrieved from wherever it is (storage, FBI field office, etc.) and inspected. This is where the lengthy delays tend to occur.

The CIA name checks also present a problem, mostly because the information received as a result of these checks tends to be less than definitive, and the impact on the immigration application therefore unclear. CIA generally responds to name check requests within 60 days, and has agreed to expedite up to 500 per week (but has been known to expedite more).

Jason

Los Angeles do seem remarkably fast for AOS (although the work and
travel permits took *way* too long!!) We sent in our I-485 on June 9th
'04 and received our interview date two weeks ago - just over three
and a half months from filing the orginal application.

Jason

RICKRGRS

12/01/04
Hi James,
Did you get your GC yet? My wife had a successful AOS interview in LA in August but was told must wait for security name check. No answer yet. Congressman and phone calls and letters have done nothing yet. Any advise you have is appreciated.
Rick