British Expats - AOS Experience at Detroit INS office

I have just returned from the Detroit office of the INS. I have in my grubby little paws my passport with a temporary greencard which also includes AP and EAD!!!!!! :)

Can ya tell I'm pleased.

Short version
We got there at 6:35am. We were seen by the first person who checked the documents were in order and kept one copy of everything at 10:05am. I had my interview (at which BestGirl was present) at 12:20pm and were done by 12:30pm.

The things we needed were; I-485(Alien), G-325(Alien), I-134 (USC), visa approval letter, birth certificates (Alien and USC), tax returns for last 3 years (USC), 2 ADIT photos and a copy of the visa in my passport. Bring copies of everything.

The one thing we did not know was what my current INS status was, the answer is K-1. That is on the I-485 form.

Here are all the gory details of what happened........

We set off at about 6:15 am to make sure that we got there in plenty of time. We arrived at the place at 6:35 to find a line already outside the front doors. They opened the doors at about 6:50 and slowly started letting people in. We stood in line and chatted for a bit with a guy stood behind us.

Once we were inside, we went through security and queued up to get a ticket. When we got to the front, we told the lady what we were there for and she gave us a ticket with a number on. We went and took a couple of seats.

We had to wait another 2 and a bit hours until 10:05am until we were called to one of the windows. During that time we amused ourselves by talking to a couple of people around us and by playing hangman (we have brought in some paper and a pen and something to read because we knew what it would be like). People around us joined in the games a little, so it helped pass the time.

When we were called up to the window, the woman took all the paper work and looked through it. She took only one copy of all the documents we had taken, but she looked at the originals too. We had a couple of questions about the documents, there were two things we had not filled in and she told us what to put and we filled them in there and then. She asked for a check for $255 which we gave her and then she told us to sit back down. She then said we would be called by name. She called me back to get a photocopy of the visa in my passport as it did not mention this on the forms, but she did it in a couple of minutes and it was not a problem.

We sat down and waited again, playing more hangman and just talking. We had also picked up a copy of a booklet called "A guide to Naturalization which has lots of useful FAQs and guides on what you need to do. In the back there are some sample civics questions. BestGirl tried them on me and I got about 80-85% correct :) They are not too terribly hard, but she was impressed with some of the things I knew.

At about 11:30 someone came out and announced that the building was full and they could not let anyone else through the door (due to fire regulations) and that those in the room who did not have a number were not guaranteed to get a number. My advice: Arrive as early as you can

We were called for the interview at about noon and were taken to a little cubicle in the back part of the building. The officer we saw introduced himself and then asked us to raise out right hands and swear we were telling the truth which we did. He then looked through the paperwork. He asked when we met and how and when we met in person, questions we can answer in our sleep. He took a fingerprint of my right middle finger (there is a problem with my index finger) and said I would just have to mention that is what was done if anyone checked in the future (he did make a note of it though). He then proceeded to explain that I would get a temporary greencard stamped into my passport, it would allow me to leave and re-enter the US at any time and it also authorised me to work here. He told us that my greencard proper would arrive in the mail within the next 6 months, but that if it did not come in 8 or 9 months to contact the Nebraska service centre (he gave us a green form to us if we needed to, it is also used if you need to change your address before you have the conditions removed - form I-551). He wrote my Alien number in my passport above my Temp GC and said that would be my file number now and should be included in any correspondance relating to my file.

The officer told us about applying to have conditions removed and gave us a form with the date when this had to be completed (two years from today) and the date when we could start to submit paperwork (90 days before the final date). He explained what we would need to do and that if we had enough evidence we probably would not need to go in for an interview but would have it approved straight away. He told us what to included as evidence too.

We asked if I could go to Canada tomorrow and he said yes and I would be able to return, BestGirl asked him if he promised this was ok and he said yes :)

All in all, it took less than ten minutes. He did not ask to see any medical stuff or ask any questions about it (I was worried cause I have not had the MMR yet, but I am now on BestGirl's insurance, so I can get them) and he did not ask to see any evidence.

We left there very happy. Hungry too, but very, very happy.

Phew, that was long.

Rick