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I have been a lurker for our entire process, but I wanted to share our experience now that it is over for people who are still going through it.
This is relatively brief and vague because we're still a bit nervous about oversharing, but I'll do my best on the relevant details.
My wife is a DACA recipient who came here when she was middle school age with her parents who came for work. When her parent's visa was not extended they fell out of status and were eventually turned in.
Her parents returned to their original country and my wife, who was in college, stayed to fight deportation. This was ongoing from when we met until the DACA program was instated. Her court case was frozen and eventually we got married in 2016.
Due to the court case, we filed the I-130 first to try to get that approval so that we could hopefully have the court case dropped. It was about 14 months when I decided to call my congressman to see if we could move the application along (we were also still waiting to hear back from USCIS on a DACA renewal as well). We soon had our first interview scheduled (and received the DACA renewal). Our lawyer is certain that our interview being scheduled was because of the call, because they had many clients who had filed earlier that were still waiting, but who knows.
That interview we showed up with all the required documents plus pictures, cards from family, and leases together. We had few documents together, mostly the leases, health/life insurance (through work), and flights. We run our finances different than a lot of couples and while we certainly were concerned about getting approved, we didn't really desire to reconfigure our way of doing things just to prove that our legitimate marriage was legitimate to a stranger. On the one hand, I can see how this is perhaps headstrong and foolish, on the other hand, we felt our extensive travel within the country, letters from my family to her, pictures with them, and the taxes/leases would be sufficient.
We got approved after a fairly straight forward interview, although my wife called me by my nickname (which literally everyone, including my parents calls me) and confused the interviewer briefly. Ironically, my wife has the same situation, so we don't go by our legal names at all. We had planned to evade this using our legal names, but nerves caused forgetfulness. We explained to the interviewer and perhaps that helped our case. Regardless, we got approved.
Then we filed the documents to have the court case dismissed. That took some months, but we finally got word that it had happened.
We filed for the I-485 in October of 2017. Because of her work permit through DACA and a strong recommendation by our lawyer not to waste money or time since we'd probably be approved soon, we didn't apply for an EAD or AP with the I-485. Biometrics were taken within the month. Then the wait began.
Our status changed to ready to be scheduled for an interview around April of 2018. After we passed the year from filing and 6 months since updates mark and I had seen the numbers of months estimated creeping up on USCIS's site, (combined with the fact that her DACA work authorization would run out in 2019), I contacted our congressman again.
Within 2 weeks we had an appointment for January. It could be coincidence, because I've seen other people on similar timelines here, but I feel like it helped.
Our lawyer told us (despite my protests about the new policy) that we needed a new medical exam since we were over a year. That several of their other clients had had it asked for. We had it done, but it was expensive due to how soon we had to have it (our meeting with our lawyer was about a week before).
They also told us to arrive at the offices for the interview 2 hours early because the lines were usually ridiculously long.
The day of our interview, we showed up to the building to absolutely no line. So we waited in the lobby for 2 hours before heading up to the USCIS offices.
We had with us every immigration document she had ever received, passports, IDs, cards, photos, leases, taxes, a few flight tickets, and everything else asked for in the letter.
We were called in by a seemingly impatient and brusque older gentleman. He practically yelled at us to raise our right hands and swore us in. The way he spoke made it difficult to understand at times.
The interview is honestly a blur because we had such a high level of anxiety due to this individual. Everything he asked for seemed to have some problem with it. We had a 24 slot file folder with us, clearly labeled with a table of contents (and we reviewed and went through it the night before) and I think we would have cried if we hadn't had that, because even with it we were flustered and having a hard time finding stuff.
When I took out the leases, he was mad because I didn't know where they were signed (surprisingly not the very last page!) and then was mad that they were digitally signed. Little details I hadn't thought of or expected. He did not ask us every question from the application, just a few and rapid fire. He asked for marriage certificate, birth certificates, and passports. We also showed him our shared insurance and some flight tickets.
He then asked us way too personal questions about our lives and marriage. Since we already had an approved I-130, we shouldn't have had those questions, but we were too keyed up to protest and I'm not sure it would have been wise anyway. We answered honestly and to the extent that I felt was appropriate, but it was disorienting and embarrassing. (for those wondering, we did not bring our lawyer with us.)
He walked out to copy some stuff. Came back, glowered and then said "You're approved."
It wasn't even like then he broke into a smile. It was very surreal and opposite of what we expected based on his body language. He pushed us out, told us to expect something in 3-4 weeks and that was that. My teeth were literally chattering from adrenaline.
If you're paying attention, you'll realize he never asked for the updated medical exam.
Our status changed online within 24 hours. We had the card within the week, before we had the approval letter which came a few days after.
In total, it was about 34 months for us, due to the court case and having to file I-130 and I-485 separately. I highly recommend that you know exactly what is in your folder, exactly where your names appear together, and be even more prepared than over-prepared for your sanity. Again, he didn't ask for that much...but I would have probably broken down if I hadn't been as prepared as I was (and I thought I was over-prepared).
Our lawyer goes in more than we do, they say that they are often being asked for new medical exams. We weren't...but that's our experience. I really can't imagine trying to instruct that interviewer on policy if he had asked for it and we hadn't had it. It is still within their discretion to ask anyway (although they should have a reason for it).
I also don't think the congressional help option should be overabused....if you've been in this for a few months, you should just expect that. We haven't been able to travel out of the country the whole time we've been together. She hasn't seen her parents in over a decade. I sympathize with everyone struggling with this, but you should use your options only after several months of no notice in my personal opinion. But at that point, it seems like an option you should look at pursuing.
I am not a lawyer, and don't want any of this to be construed as advice, because if I've learned anything, it is that everyone's situation is slightly different. But maybe knowing our situation, particularly if you are/were DACA or in proceedings, or if you're in LA and have been waiting forever, hopefully it will bring you some perspective as to what another situation was like.
This is relatively brief and vague because we're still a bit nervous about oversharing, but I'll do my best on the relevant details.
My wife is a DACA recipient who came here when she was middle school age with her parents who came for work. When her parent's visa was not extended they fell out of status and were eventually turned in.
Her parents returned to their original country and my wife, who was in college, stayed to fight deportation. This was ongoing from when we met until the DACA program was instated. Her court case was frozen and eventually we got married in 2016.
Due to the court case, we filed the I-130 first to try to get that approval so that we could hopefully have the court case dropped. It was about 14 months when I decided to call my congressman to see if we could move the application along (we were also still waiting to hear back from USCIS on a DACA renewal as well). We soon had our first interview scheduled (and received the DACA renewal). Our lawyer is certain that our interview being scheduled was because of the call, because they had many clients who had filed earlier that were still waiting, but who knows.
That interview we showed up with all the required documents plus pictures, cards from family, and leases together. We had few documents together, mostly the leases, health/life insurance (through work), and flights. We run our finances different than a lot of couples and while we certainly were concerned about getting approved, we didn't really desire to reconfigure our way of doing things just to prove that our legitimate marriage was legitimate to a stranger. On the one hand, I can see how this is perhaps headstrong and foolish, on the other hand, we felt our extensive travel within the country, letters from my family to her, pictures with them, and the taxes/leases would be sufficient.
We got approved after a fairly straight forward interview, although my wife called me by my nickname (which literally everyone, including my parents calls me) and confused the interviewer briefly. Ironically, my wife has the same situation, so we don't go by our legal names at all. We had planned to evade this using our legal names, but nerves caused forgetfulness. We explained to the interviewer and perhaps that helped our case. Regardless, we got approved.
Then we filed the documents to have the court case dismissed. That took some months, but we finally got word that it had happened.
We filed for the I-485 in October of 2017. Because of her work permit through DACA and a strong recommendation by our lawyer not to waste money or time since we'd probably be approved soon, we didn't apply for an EAD or AP with the I-485. Biometrics were taken within the month. Then the wait began.
Our status changed to ready to be scheduled for an interview around April of 2018. After we passed the year from filing and 6 months since updates mark and I had seen the numbers of months estimated creeping up on USCIS's site, (combined with the fact that her DACA work authorization would run out in 2019), I contacted our congressman again.
Within 2 weeks we had an appointment for January. It could be coincidence, because I've seen other people on similar timelines here, but I feel like it helped.
Our lawyer told us (despite my protests about the new policy) that we needed a new medical exam since we were over a year. That several of their other clients had had it asked for. We had it done, but it was expensive due to how soon we had to have it (our meeting with our lawyer was about a week before).
They also told us to arrive at the offices for the interview 2 hours early because the lines were usually ridiculously long.
The day of our interview, we showed up to the building to absolutely no line. So we waited in the lobby for 2 hours before heading up to the USCIS offices.
We had with us every immigration document she had ever received, passports, IDs, cards, photos, leases, taxes, a few flight tickets, and everything else asked for in the letter.
We were called in by a seemingly impatient and brusque older gentleman. He practically yelled at us to raise our right hands and swore us in. The way he spoke made it difficult to understand at times.
The interview is honestly a blur because we had such a high level of anxiety due to this individual. Everything he asked for seemed to have some problem with it. We had a 24 slot file folder with us, clearly labeled with a table of contents (and we reviewed and went through it the night before) and I think we would have cried if we hadn't had that, because even with it we were flustered and having a hard time finding stuff.
When I took out the leases, he was mad because I didn't know where they were signed (surprisingly not the very last page!) and then was mad that they were digitally signed. Little details I hadn't thought of or expected. He did not ask us every question from the application, just a few and rapid fire. He asked for marriage certificate, birth certificates, and passports. We also showed him our shared insurance and some flight tickets.
He then asked us way too personal questions about our lives and marriage. Since we already had an approved I-130, we shouldn't have had those questions, but we were too keyed up to protest and I'm not sure it would have been wise anyway. We answered honestly and to the extent that I felt was appropriate, but it was disorienting and embarrassing. (for those wondering, we did not bring our lawyer with us.)
He walked out to copy some stuff. Came back, glowered and then said "You're approved."
It wasn't even like then he broke into a smile. It was very surreal and opposite of what we expected based on his body language. He pushed us out, told us to expect something in 3-4 weeks and that was that. My teeth were literally chattering from adrenaline.
If you're paying attention, you'll realize he never asked for the updated medical exam.
Our status changed online within 24 hours. We had the card within the week, before we had the approval letter which came a few days after.
In total, it was about 34 months for us, due to the court case and having to file I-130 and I-485 separately. I highly recommend that you know exactly what is in your folder, exactly where your names appear together, and be even more prepared than over-prepared for your sanity. Again, he didn't ask for that much...but I would have probably broken down if I hadn't been as prepared as I was (and I thought I was over-prepared).
Our lawyer goes in more than we do, they say that they are often being asked for new medical exams. We weren't...but that's our experience. I really can't imagine trying to instruct that interviewer on policy if he had asked for it and we hadn't had it. It is still within their discretion to ask anyway (although they should have a reason for it).
I also don't think the congressional help option should be overabused....if you've been in this for a few months, you should just expect that. We haven't been able to travel out of the country the whole time we've been together. She hasn't seen her parents in over a decade. I sympathize with everyone struggling with this, but you should use your options only after several months of no notice in my personal opinion. But at that point, it seems like an option you should look at pursuing.
I am not a lawyer, and don't want any of this to be construed as advice, because if I've learned anything, it is that everyone's situation is slightly different. But maybe knowing our situation, particularly if you are/were DACA or in proceedings, or if you're in LA and have been waiting forever, hopefully it will bring you some perspective as to what another situation was like.
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