Thursday, September 5, 2013

Approved!

A little over two hours ago, I checked my mail. Inside was a letter from USCIS!! It was a thin envelope and I was hoping it was an approval and not a RFE. My hands shaking, I opened the envelope. I didn't see anything blue (which was the color of the RFE letter), so I got hopeful. My hands shaking even more I read the letter. All I needed was to read the first word: Congratulations!

Approval letter

Definitely not as fancy as the NOA. It's not an I-797 notice like the others, but I read in the May filers group I'm in that someone else got something exactly like this, so I'm not worried. I'll definitely be glad to have the green card in my hand though!

Just a note: my case status on USCIS's website never updated throughout this entire process. The last update is that on May 2nd, they received my petition. And when I sign in, the "last updated" column is still 5/10/13. So, their site is definitely not reliable, lol.

Also, if you notice, the decision date of my approval is 8/29, which is the day before I even sent my second response. So it seems that USPS actually did deliver my initial police record search to them. Apparently it was just not scanned properly, thus the system never said it was delivered. Hopefully the second response won't cause any issues. I did note in the cover letter that if they did indeed receive the initial response to simply disregard that second copy. But, who knows with USCIS, lol.

I'll update again once I receive my green card. Hopefully it will be just in a few days!

~Lindsay

4 comments:

  1. That is so awesome! Congrats! That was really fast! I've been following your profile everyday watching for updates...I filed on May 31 so hopefully mine won't be too much longer...sure hope before Christmas...just feel like I'm in limbo!

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    1. Thanks! If you filed in May too, then you could hear any day about your case! Just keep an eye out in the mail ;)

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  2. YAY!
    I got my GC only 2 days after you...and I filed on May 31! Love the blue hair! The best ever!
    I read that you don't want to apply for naturalization...you really should reconsider...there are all sorts of issues that can arise from estate tax and wills and such. You are still pretty young but keep that in mind. I know both countries (Canada and US keep a "blind eye" to each other's citizenship...effectively allowing for dual citizenship).
    Besides, how am I supposed to fill out the N-400 without your example for reference?!?

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    1. Woohoo, congrats! And thanks! I'm definitely loving the blue too :)

      Not sure where you read about me not wanting to apply for naturalization, so not sure if there was an accompanying explanation, but: The whole reason I don't want to apply for citizenship is not because there isn't any benefits (trust me, I know there's a whole plethora) or that I can't be a dual citizen (well, for Canada anyways, since Canada recognizes both; the US will only see me as an American citizen), but because I can't honestly take the oath you have to recite at the ceremony; I'd never be a "proud American" due to the state of this country. So, unless the country/government shapes up, I won't be applying for citizenship.

      Despite this, I can still help you if/when you apply! I wrote up an explanation post a few years ago: http://journeythroughimmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/N-400 You can always post your questions there :) I may not go through the process myself, but I know the gist of it to help :)

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