Celebrations & Thanks

**srisri** · 07-04-2021, 08:07 AM

Thanks all for the wishes. It felt different for a few minutes after that life and emotions are business as usual, I wondered why I had such a short excitement after waiting for more than a decade for this decision.

Others who got their approval recently was your excitement short lived, how did you feel after getting the card in hand and how did you celebrate?

**smuggymba** · 07-05-2021, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by srisri

Thanks all for the wishes. It felt different for a few minutes after that life and emotions are business as usual, I wondered why I had such a short excitement after waiting for more than a decade for this decision.

Others who got their approval recently was your excitement short lived, how did you feel after getting the card in hand and how did you celebrate?

I did not celebrate at all, didn't feel the excitement.

I just put 6 of my EAD cards and bunch of H1 packets and tons of USCIS letters in a box and stored them away. I'm happy and relieved though.

**kuku82** · 07-08-2021, 07:14 AM

Folks, my status got changed yesterday to new card being produced. Still waiting for spouse status update.....still in fingerprints received status.

The RFE response was mailed to the local field office on July 1st. Quick turnaround in less than a week.

Hopefully card arrives without much drama.

**Zenzone** · 07-08-2021, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by kuku82

Folks, my status got changed yesterday to new card being produced. Still waiting for spouse status update.....still in fingerprints received status.

The RFE response was mailed to the local field office on July 1st. Quick turnaround in less than a week.

Hopefully card arrives without much drama.

Awesome and great news. Which FO btw. Our timelines are very similar and hence curious. My app is with Boston FO.

**kuku82** · 07-08-2021, 07:23 AM

Thanks. Philly.

**srimurthy** · 07-08-2021, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by nbk1976

Many thanks for your congratulations and best wishes.

A quick question to those that were approved. I received my approval notice with the card en route by mail. But the approval notice doesn?t ?welcome me to the US? nor provide any of the information that new permanent residents are supposed to receive. All mine says is that my application was approved and that I might have to submit for biometrics and they will contact me if they need my biometrics. Since the card is already en route, I presume there will be no biometric/photo needed.

But I am a little disappointed in not receiving a ?welcome? notice. After over a decade of waiting, I was looking forward to that.

What has been your experience? Did you get a similar approval notice?

Guess they knew you are already in US with AOS application and hence skipped the Welcome letter. :-)
I know it is a bad joke :-)

**Noesis** · 07-08-2021, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by kuku82

Folks, my status got changed yesterday to new card being produced. Still waiting for spouse status update.....still in fingerprints received status.

The RFE response was mailed to the local field office on July 1st. Quick turnaround in less than a week.

Hopefully card arrives without much drama.

Many Congratulations.!

**gammaray** · 07-08-2021, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by kuku82

Folks, my status got changed yesterday to new card being produced. Still waiting for spouse status update.....still in fingerprints received status.

The RFE response was mailed to the local field office on July 1st. Quick turnaround in less than a week.

Hopefully card arrives without much drama.

Great news. I'm sure the drama is pretty much done and over with, at this point.

Out of curiosity, did you end up sending SuppJ along with the RFE response? And at least anecdotally it does look the previous administrations memo for requiring interviews for all AOS applicants is not being followed. Hopefully the current administration formalizes that approach with a written notice.

**kuku82** · 07-08-2021, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by gammaray

Great news. I'm sure the drama is pretty much done and over with, at this point.

Out of curiosity, did you end up sending SuppJ along with the RFE response? And at least anecdotally it does look the previous administrations memo for requiring interviews for all AOS applicants is not being followed. Hopefully the current administration formalizes that approach with a written notice.

Thanks. Yes, I did include the SuppJ (for job change) as part of the RFE response. That was the part that took the longest for the response packet to be assembled....working with HR and lawyer. The SuppJ filed in Oct as part of AOS package got approved today as well.

**TheLureoftheGreen** · 07-09-2021, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by TheLureoftheGreen

Dear All -- I received my green card yesterday. It's still surreal, but I am slowly starting to feel relieved.

I did have to seek help from my congresswoman. It took about three weeks since then to get an approval. Except, USCIS only approved my case, but not my wife's. So I won't celebrate quiet yet. We were also near the very end of a house sale/an out-of-state move from Cambridge MA when I received USCIS' approval notification; the timing meant that it was a bit too late to separately seek help on my wife's case from the MA congress rep. Now we've asked for assistance on my wife's case from our NY congress rep. I am just hoping that USCIS approves my wife's case without any hiccups (and soon).

Meanwhile, I have emailed my attorney a set of questions regarding the terms of employment tied to the green card. I'd love for your thoughts on these, please:

1. Can I go on an unpaid sabbatical for a few months? If not, how long would I need to wait to do so (in order to satisfy the intent for AOS)?
(An unpaid sabbatical for a few months would reduce my base annual wage below the offered base wage stated in AOS. I would be an employee of the firm and avail benefits but not a wage)
2. Am I still bound by the intent to hold full-time job at the firm or can I reduce my hours for few months at reduced wage below the AOS wage?
3. Does a promotion to a different title and wage affect my AOS intent if such a promotion were to happen in about 6 months?
4. Are there risks with any of these? I am concerned about the risks to the terms of my GC or when I file N-400 in five years.
5. Is there anything else I should be aware of? I do understand the GC residency requirements.

We heard back from our congressman's office on my wife's I-485 application. First, USCIS' NBC notified that the case was under the jurisdiction of the Boston field office. This was about a month ago. Today, the Boston FO responded that it is "awaiting the arrival of a relating A-file, and when that arrives, the case will be assigned to an officer for review and final determination".

I am not sure I know what a "relating A-file" is, but my attorney posits that it's the I-485 application itself and that it is in transit to the FO (apparently all this is normal). Perhaps it is. But wouldn't that mean that the case was transferred to the FO at least a month ago, and as of yet, the application is yet to arrive at the FO? Weird.

Not sure we have any options but to wait. After all, they have up to 29 months from last August to noodle on our application.

One question: My wife's EAD/AP expires in January. She has her own H1B, which needs to be renewed in November. Her employer is going to do that. But we want to also have a valid AP as we expect to travel later this year. Is the renewal process for EAD/AP simple enough for us to do it on our own or do I need to work with an attorney (I could likely have my firm pay for it; they did it the first time for the both of us)? If it's a routine application that we can file ourselves, I'd rather go that route.

**nbk1976** · 07-11-2021, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by andhraguy

Many congratulations !! How you feel after waiting for 9 years and 3 month ?

I am relieved that the waiting is over and the process has at last ended, but I have ambivalent feelings of having moved from a dysfunctional society to another that is on its way to becoming one.

**2011Feb** · 07-13-2021, 03:36 PM