Happy New Year to everyone. :) Looks like quite a few people have some good news to share.

You might remember that my husband & I had our AOS interview on November 26th in Milwaukee and we weren't approved because we needed a co-sponsor. Well, a few days ago we received a letter saying our application had been approved - exactly 4 months after our wedding. It's estimated that the green card will take 6 to 12 months to arrive. But I'm hopeful that it might not be that long, as we had our interview several months before they estimated.

I'm curious to know whether I really need the stamp in my passport in the meantime if I don't plan to work or travel outside the USA? We don't really want to make another trip to the INS but we will if it's necessary. It wasn't mentioned at all in the papers we were sent. We were just sent a reminder to removed the conditions of my permanent residency in 2003.

If you're interested, our AOS timeline is as follows:

20th August 2001: We were married.

25th August 2001: We sent our forms to the Milwaukee office.

28th August 2001: Received the return receipt in the mail. Our forms were delivered yesterday.

30th August 2001: Received a letter and a cash register receipt for $245 from the INS. The letter states that there is currently a 6 month wait for interviews and that we will receive a notice for our appointment two weeks to a month before the interview date.

1st September 2001: Got more mail from the INS - a fingerprint scheduling notice. I have to go to Milwaukee on September 17th. They do give you some options if you can't make it but they also give a deadline - December 13th - by which my application will be denied and terminated if I'm not fingerprinted by then. An applicant information worksheet is also included, with a few basic details required, including race, height, weight, hair and eye colour.

17th September 2001: Went to Milwaukee for fingerprinting.

29th October 2001: Mail from the INS - our interview appoinment letter. Our interview is on the 26th of November - only 3 months after we got married and a lot sooner than predicted. The letter tells us the name of the officer who will interview us. Then it tells us to bring all items that are checked to the interview:

Affidavit of support.

My spouse & evidence of a common residence and shared life (include lease, bills and photos).

Proof of current employment & income.

26th November 2001: Today was our AOS interview. We weren't approved because we needed a co-sponsor.

1st December 2001: Sent our I-865 affidavit of support & tax returns and our co-sponsor's I-865, tax returns & letter of employemnt to the INS with the letter that we were given at the interview.

29th December 2001: Received a letter from the INS saying that our application was approved on Dec 20th. I'm now a conditional permanent resident.

best wishes. Jennie

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Well Move there...

Grinch

Congratulations.

Personally, I would recommend getting the stamp. Never know if an emergency in the "old" country will come up and you have to go or you might win a luxury trip and need it. Also the dream job of the century might fall into your lap.

Another issue is if the same thing happens to you that happened to us, you will be glad to have the stamp in your passport. We, too, were approved after the interview and the dipshit DAO never forwarded the paperwork to the service center for the processing of the green card. That stamp was a lifesaver since it we needed our congresswoman's liasion's help to correct the problem.

Rita

Can't use my folks address, and I work/live in Illinois

[usenetquote2]> > Nice! I wish I could file for Milwaukee, instead of Chicago...[/usenetquote2]
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Thanks for your reply Rita, you always give good advice. :) Hehe, that would be nice to just win a trip over there. Eeesh, sorry to hear about the hassles that you had. Things never seem to be simple. I kind of figured that it would make sense to get the stamp. It has to be best to have some proof of my status - plus I'm curious to see what the stamp looks like. We'll have to figure out a suitable time to go back to Milwaukee sometime soon.

best wishes, Jennie

Hey congratulations, was this through K-1 or I-130

Jememennie <[email protected]>
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