Discuss medas's I-485 USCIS Case

Can you share your field office?

Sure. San Diego.

Received the interview letter. Interview is on Jan 30th.

Here is our overall interview experience @ San Diego field office

Our appointment was @ 10:15 AM. Me and my wife reached the San Diego USCIS office around 9:20 AM.
We both dressed in a formal attire. I had white shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black jacket. My wife also wore a similar attire as mine.

Security check-in Experience:
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As soon we got in, we were asked why we are here. We told them that we are here for the interview. Security officer asked for the interview letter and ID. Both provided our letter and ID. After verification of those two, we were asked to go through a security check very similar to the one in airport. We ended up removing shoes, belts, jackets. Once security checking was complete, we were asked to go to 3rd floor. This whole process took around 5-10 minutes for both of us.

Photo and fingerprinting experience:
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In 3rd floor, there were two booths. We were asked to sit in a booth. An officer asked for the interview letters. Officer took photo and took fingerprinting for both of us. This took around 5-10 minutes. Officer put a seal in our interview letters, and we were asked to go to 4th floor for another check-in.

Interview check-in experience:
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In 4th floor, there were two counters. We gave our interview letter. There was a gentleman who was responsible to get our File from a file cabinet. The gentleman took 2 huge files (around 2 inches thick each) This is the file which has all our details. We mentioned that we are together, and they put our file together. They wrote a number in our interview letter indicating our position for today-s interview. We were asked to wait in the interview room.

Interview waiting room experience:
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We reached the interview room exactly @ 9:45 am. The interview room is so huge. I saw a sign which says the room can occu

Interview waiting room experience:
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We reached the interview room exactly @ 9:45 am. The interview room is so huge. I saw a sign which says the room can occupy 199 people. As soon as, we entered the room, we sat close to a door (Door 1) which leads to the interview cubicles. This door was located close to the rest room. We thought this was the only door through which all people can enter and exit the. Within 5 minutes, we found that they had another door (Door 2) which was around 25 feet from this door. Interview officers was calling people-s name from 2 doors almost every 5-10 minutes. We were able to hear the names very clearly if the officer calls from Door 1. If an office calls from Door 2, were not able to hear. So, we ended up looking backwards to the door 2 every 1-2 minutes. Again, the room was around 75% occupied and we could find another spot in the middle of the interview room. If you get an opportunity, please sit in the middle of the interview room. By this way, you can hear your name is called either from Door 1 or Door 2. We could use cell phone inside the room. Due to the number of people sitting in the room, the interview room was loud. People were talking most of the times. So, pay attention to the officers who is calling people-s name for interview. We though, our names will be called by 10:30 AM. Sitting in the interview room felt like we were waiting for days. We checked our watch almost every minute. Time kept ticking and it was 11:15 AM. By this time, all people who came with us and after us was called in for the interview. Finally, around 11:30 AM, a female officer from door 2 called my first name and we immediately approached door 2. Don-t panic if people came after you were called-in for the interview before you. I don-t know what the priority order is.
Officer greeted both of us and we greeted her back. She apologized for the long wait and she mentioned that they had lots of appointments today a

Officer greeted both of us and we greeted her back. She apologized for the long wait and she mentioned that they had lots of appointments today and they are trying to get them completed as best they can. We were taken to an interview room and the officer asked to take a oath even before we were seated. After the oath was completed, we were asked to sit.
First thing the officer mentioned was that she already checked for the VISA availability and VISA is available for my category. She also mentioned that she has already gone through files and she is ready to start the interview.

My VISA scenario:
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Here is a little overview about my scenario. I was in USA from 2000 to 2008. During 2004, my then employer applied for PERM, I-140, and 485. My PD was Aug 2004. Due to some personal family reasons, we had to leave USA during 2008. During this time, our I-140 had cleared and our I-485 was in progress. I was on a H1-B VISA during this 2000-2008 time period. My wife was also on a H1-B VISA. We knew that if we leave USA during the 485 in-process state, we will abandon the process. At that time, due to the situation, we had to leave USA. We reached India during 2008.

We came back to USA once again during 2017 September. This time, my wife came through L1 VISA and I had to resign my job in India and I followed my wife through L2 VISA as a dependent. I prepared all documents for filing a L2-EAD within 3 days after landing USA during September. Got my L2 EAD during Jan 2018 and I got a job during Feb 2018. My company lawyer filed for PERM and I-140 premium in EB2 category. During I-140 process lawyers made sure to port my OLD priority date from 2004 to my current I-140. My 485 process started during July 2019. I was the primary applicant for GC (I am on L2 VISA). So, we could file for GC even if you are in L2 VISA.

Interview questions:
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The officer started with the first question.
Q) W

Interview questions:
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The officer started with the first question.
Q) Why did you abandon your initial 485?.
We explained our family scenario during 2008 and she made some notes based on what we said. Next question was
Q) please show me your passport and VISA page
Q) How did you end up joining my current company.
Q) What is your annual salary
Q) can I see your employment verification letter : I provided my EVL, 3 months paystubs, and 2 years of W2. She took EVL, paystubs, and W2 and stapled it and placed it in my file.
Q) What do you do at this current job
Q) Do you have any people reporting to you : I said no. I am an individual contributor
Q) Please tell me your fathers name and mothers name
Q) Please tell me your wife-s name
Q) how may kids we have and what is their age : We explained about our kids and the officer also shared some of her stories with her kids.
Q) please show me your original Birth Certificate and Marriage certificate. We had marriage certificate only from church and she looked at both certificates and gave back the certificate to me.
These were the questions asked to me. To my wife, she did ask if I am her husband. Officer also asked my wife to tell the names of her parents. My wife was also asked to show her passport and her VISA stamping.
Finally, the officer asked all YES/NO questions from the 485 form and she again marked all our answers. Our answers were NO to all of them.
Finally, she mentioned that she is approving our GC and we should get our card in 2-3 weeks. The whole interview process took around 15-20 minutes. The officer was very friendly and polite throughout during the interview process.

After Interview Experience:
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We reached home around 12:20 PM and I was checking the USCIS page through out my UBER journey from USCIS office to my home. I got a text message from USCIS around 2:15 PM saying that my case has been updated, plea

After Interview Experience:
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We reached home around 12:20 PM and I was checking the USCIS page through out my UBER journey from USCIS office to my home. I got a text message from USCIS around 2:15 PM saying that my case has been updated, please check My case status. I immediately checked the status and found that status changed to New Card Is Being Produced for both of us. Looks like we will get the GC in another 5-7 business days.

Congratulations! and Thanks for sharing your experience!

thanks JJNeumann.