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I'm a Canadian who's been in the US for about 12 years now.
2004-2009 - F1 Visa while in graduate school.
2009-2010 - OPT, EAD. While looking for a job, I worked at the same university I received my Ph.D. (physical chemistry) from. During this time, I met my wife.
2010-2011 - TN Visa. I took a job at a US National Lab, but didn't want to wait for the H1B paperwork, so I got the TN.
2011-2015 - H1B and renewal. Took my second job after graduate school and the company set up the H1B for me.
August 2014 - Married my wife
June 2015 - Got laid off from my job and technically didn't return to Canada.
August 3rd ish 2015 - Applied for AOS Marriage (concurrent filing I-130, I-485, I-765 and I-131). For "Evidence of bona fide Relationship" we submitted two joint leases, a joint bank account, joint car loan, joint car insurance, flight receipts together, pictures of us from 2010-2015 including pictures with family members, wedding pictures and a joint 2014 tax return. Submitted to Chicago Lockbox.
August 10, 2015 - Official notice of receipt (NOA) electronically received - Priority Date
September 3, 2015 - Biometric appointment
October 14, 2015 - My EAD and Authorization to travel (I-765 and I-131) were approved.
October 21, 2015 - Received the EAD card in the mail.
I waited and waited and waited and didn't hear anything back. I made a formal inquiry in December 2015 and March 2016 and got the boilerplate "due to workload factors not related to your case, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing .... "
May 23, 2016 - Online case status changed to "Ready to Schedule Interview."
June 1, 2016 - Received notice in the mail scheduling my interview.
July 19, 2016 - I-485 Interview
Interview Experience
My wife and I arrived at the office about 1/2 hour early (we didn't want to get stuck in traffic) for our 8:00AM appointment in Charlotte, NC. The doors opened at 7:30, but they couldn't process us until 7:45. At 8:00 they called us into the second, large "interviewee" room, and then the IO came and got us at 8:15. We brought along copies of our application and original documents (passport, birth certificates, SS cards and tax returns). She asked to see our passports and drivers license. She asked where we met, when we got married, where we've lived together and thumbed through our original I-485 application. She confirmed with us our names, dates of birth, my parent's names and asked if we had any children. She asked what my spouse and I did for a living and for our 2015 tax return. We didn't bring it with us, and she said that was OK. She asked when I last entered the country. She then went through the 15 or so questions from the I-485 (my wife liked the polygamy question.) She asked if my H1B was still valid (which I told her no, I no longer work for the company it was issued for, and I have since gotten an EAD.) She said she didn't need to see my original birth certificate (since I was Canadian.)
She seemed surprised that the application process had taken so long for me (I told her I was too.) She noted that our 2nd wedding anniversary is in two weeks, and that it would be easier for us if the application was approved after that date (to receive the 10 year green card instead of the conditional one). She said she would "lose" the application on her desk for two weeks, so that I could get the full approval (which we really, really appreciated!) After that she told us it should take about 10 business days to get approval and congrats. She also told us about citizenship and the wait time.
All in all, we were in the interview for about 15 minutes, she was extremely nice and it went smoothly.
2004-2009 - F1 Visa while in graduate school.
2009-2010 - OPT, EAD. While looking for a job, I worked at the same university I received my Ph.D. (physical chemistry) from. During this time, I met my wife.
2010-2011 - TN Visa. I took a job at a US National Lab, but didn't want to wait for the H1B paperwork, so I got the TN.
2011-2015 - H1B and renewal. Took my second job after graduate school and the company set up the H1B for me.
August 2014 - Married my wife
June 2015 - Got laid off from my job and technically didn't return to Canada.
August 3rd ish 2015 - Applied for AOS Marriage (concurrent filing I-130, I-485, I-765 and I-131). For "Evidence of bona fide Relationship" we submitted two joint leases, a joint bank account, joint car loan, joint car insurance, flight receipts together, pictures of us from 2010-2015 including pictures with family members, wedding pictures and a joint 2014 tax return. Submitted to Chicago Lockbox.
August 10, 2015 - Official notice of receipt (NOA) electronically received - Priority Date
September 3, 2015 - Biometric appointment
October 14, 2015 - My EAD and Authorization to travel (I-765 and I-131) were approved.
October 21, 2015 - Received the EAD card in the mail.
I waited and waited and waited and didn't hear anything back. I made a formal inquiry in December 2015 and March 2016 and got the boilerplate "due to workload factors not related to your case, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing .... "
May 23, 2016 - Online case status changed to "Ready to Schedule Interview."
June 1, 2016 - Received notice in the mail scheduling my interview.
July 19, 2016 - I-485 Interview
Interview Experience
My wife and I arrived at the office about 1/2 hour early (we didn't want to get stuck in traffic) for our 8:00AM appointment in Charlotte, NC. The doors opened at 7:30, but they couldn't process us until 7:45. At 8:00 they called us into the second, large "interviewee" room, and then the IO came and got us at 8:15. We brought along copies of our application and original documents (passport, birth certificates, SS cards and tax returns). She asked to see our passports and drivers license. She asked where we met, when we got married, where we've lived together and thumbed through our original I-485 application. She confirmed with us our names, dates of birth, my parent's names and asked if we had any children. She asked what my spouse and I did for a living and for our 2015 tax return. We didn't bring it with us, and she said that was OK. She asked when I last entered the country. She then went through the 15 or so questions from the I-485 (my wife liked the polygamy question.) She asked if my H1B was still valid (which I told her no, I no longer work for the company it was issued for, and I have since gotten an EAD.) She said she didn't need to see my original birth certificate (since I was Canadian.)
She seemed surprised that the application process had taken so long for me (I told her I was too.) She noted that our 2nd wedding anniversary is in two weeks, and that it would be easier for us if the application was approved after that date (to receive the 10 year green card instead of the conditional one). She said she would "lose" the application on her desk for two weeks, so that I could get the full approval (which we really, really appreciated!) After that she told us it should take about 10 business days to get approval and congrats. She also told us about citizenship and the wait time.
All in all, we were in the interview for about 15 minutes, she was extremely nice and it went smoothly.
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