IT'S APPROVED!!! Marriage-Based AOS Success Story (Filed Jan 10th, Baltimore FO)

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share some incredibly exciting news - my marriage-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) case was APPROVED this morning! 🎉🥳 For those in the process, here's a timeline and some details of my journey:

• Filed I-485 (Marriage-Based): January 10th

• EAD Approved & Received: About one month later

• Interview: Yesterday at the Baltimore Field Office. The interview lasted about half an hour.

• No Lawyer, we sent our application through boundless (basic package) their platform was easy to use and they reviewed our case before we submitted it.

• Interview Questions: The officer was so nice and made us feel very comfortable. The majority of her questions focused on our relationship: how we met, when we officially started dating, when and how we got engaged, and our wedding date. It felt like a genuine conversation about our life together.

• Evidence We Brought: We brought some additional evidence to support our bona fide marriage, including more photos of us together, proof of trips we took together a joint bank statement, our most recent joint tax return, joint apartment lease and our individual employment contracts.

• Addressing Potential Issues: I had prepared two written statements beforehand because I had a couple of things I wanted to be upfront about:

  • I had worked without authorization for a period.
  • I had a minor traffic violation from about 2 years ago that I hadn't initially included on the application (my mistake!). I included a bank statement of the paid fine, and a print screen of the online portal from my home country that showed I all my fines have been resolved. I presented these statements during the interview. The officer was understanding, adjusted the answers on the application based on my explanations, and didn't seem overly concerned.

• Recommendation for Approval: At the end of the interview, the officer told us she would be recommending my case for approval!

• Case Status Update: Woke up this morning to see the glorious "Case Approved" status online! I'm still waiting for the official notice, but this is HUGE!

This whole process has been a mix of stress and hope, and I'm so incredibly grateful for this outcome. To everyone still waiting, hang in there! Your time will come. Preparation and honesty are key.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about my experience! Wishing you all the best on your immigration journeys!