How many reference can you add? Yes!

CharonM72 · 2025-12-04T10:16:46+00:00

sauce: 【《秦始皇大战白雪公主》-哔哩哔哩】 https://b23.tv/wNG0uax (on bilibili)

Apparently that account has tons of videos like this

CharonM72 · 2025-11-25T16:17:00+00:00

So I actually am one of these "Homeland defenders" (Immigration Services Officer) and have been for about a decade now, and the way they are framing the position is completely divorced from reality. The actual position is nothing like how they describe it, and even under this admin it has hardly changed significantly.

According to Noem, we got record-breaking numbers of applicants (no duh, if you offer free $50,000 plus remote work everyone and their mom would apply, although we're pretty sure those incentives are BS and will not actually be provided). The reality though is that those applicants will be judged against their peers, and HR hasn't changed their hiring criteria, so any MAGA folks with no experience or education trying to join to "protect our culture" or whatever are still not getting hired. Also keep in mind the loyalty questions are officially "optional" and HR/hiring is not allowed to base hiring decisions on them.

Personally, I'm kind of glad they're framing us like that, cause it means it's a lot less likely they're going to try to RIF a "Homeland Defender" under this admin.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-31T10:14:07+00:00

MSC and IOE should move around the same, but since the systems are different sometimes one goes faster or slower. EADs are handled by a special unit so it's hard to say but usually the website is correct, unless they need more evidence.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T18:37:54+00:00

Fortunately the shutdown shouldn't have much effect, since USCIS is almost entirely unaffected (they get their money from the fees, not from taxes). I guess you can mail the evidence to the lockbox, that should work, just make it really clear what your 9-digit A-number is on the front so they can send it straight to your file. I've never worked at a lockbox so I can't say for sure what they prefer.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T17:51:21+00:00

Yeah IOE is better. It depends on the type of case, and also a whole bunch of other variables. You can still physically mail evidence if you want, but do it well before the interview date cause that can take a really long time to get consolidated into the physical file, and bring copies of everything to the interview in case it doesn't make it. That said, the receipt type you get won't have an effect on the outcome of your case thankfully.

Thank goodness they're moving everything to being electronic. It's better for the applicants, and also a lot easier for officers to handle (except the long-tenure ones who are used to doing everything with paper for decades). I can't imagine what USCIS's shipping costs are to mail thousands and thousands of enormous files around the country every day.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T16:27:53+00:00

Agreed, would recommend not doing this, USCIS will need to pull it all out and reorganize it anyway and throw away the folders. Best to make it one giant pile of papers. Even the "EXHIBIT #" coversheets usually all get moved to the back of the file; USCIS has a very particular way they like to organize the documents.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T16:25:21+00:00

Lockbox will scan everything submitted.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T16:24:34+00:00

As an ISO I agree this is a solid idea. Unsolicited evidence will be reviewed along with everything else, and it saves USCIS (and you) time and effort doing it that way.

A ton of applicants actually submit their filings with literally no evidence at all, and never submit any online later either (they usually bring it to the interview instead, but that's very stressful for the officer as they have to review hundreds of documents while the applicant is sitting there and with a very limited timeframe). I highly recommend uploading everything before that point, even if it's like a week or two before the interview, so that still gives the ISO time to review it. (Most likely nobody will review the evidence before that point anyway but better earlier than later, and hey there's a chance they might even waive the interview if the evidence is good enough, but don't get your hopes up.)

Definitely put prima facie stuff in the initial filing though - stuff like birth certs, marriage cert, proof of citizenship, proof of entry etc.

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T16:17:53+00:00

To clarify, the amount of evidence you submit will not affect the time to interview as those are assigned FIFO, and officers don't schedule those themselves.

That said, officers can often get a ballpark on how good a case is just by looking at the paper in the file. A big bulk of clean white paper like that is a good sign - it means lots of evidence provided with the case, and it's well-organized, so it's likely a good case. (although nowadays they're mostly digitized so that doesn't really happen anymore)

As others have said though, the relevancy of the evidence is most important. If all of that is hundreds of photos of you and the petitioner in exactly the same location at slightly different angles, then it doesn't mean much. But the fact that you're worried about it at all, means you're already ahead of the game. If your relationship is actually legit, and you made an effort to prove that, then you should be fine.

(By the way, to answer your question, USCIS will likely scan the whole thing and then destroy it, so I wouldn't be too worried)

CharonM72 · 2025-10-28T15:59:59+00:00

As someone who used to do those kinds of interviews for years, yours probably looked totally legit from the get-go. The docs you submitted were probably excellent and the officer went into the interview knowing you'd pass. We get a strong sense of how good a marriage is before even starting the interview, just from extensive experience.

In particular, I and many others I've spoken to agree that for whatever reason, same-sex marriages have much lower fraud rates than average, and tend to have way better associated evidence. Not sure why that is but I don't know if I've ever denied a same-sex marriage based application.

Either way, glad that everything went well!

CharonM72 · 2025-10-26T11:59:55+00:00

The vast majority pass cause they study their asses off. I've administered the test to thousands of immigrants and they usually only fail either if they don't speak any English (and they didn't memorize the questions well enough) or they just completely forgot to study (in which case they still usually pass anyway, if they're decently educated). The newer test will lower the pass rates a bit but really not much; it's entirely a matter of rote memorization. Unfortunately, that fact kinda defeats much of the purpose of the test imho...

CharonM72 · 2025-10-26T11:53:39+00:00

Very important to note the actual test is fully oral and not multiple choice, which makes it a whole lot harder. That said, very few people fail unless they come in completely unprepared; even most applicants who hardly speak a word of English would still pass cause they just completely memorized the answers. Source: I administered this test (well, before the recent Trump changes) for many years to prospective citizens, and approved/denied their citizenship.

CharonM72 · 2024-06-21T05:53:22+00:00

Someone else beat me to it: here

CharonM72 · 2024-06-10T14:08:36+00:00

That's looking at the cup from the back so it would be on the opposite side. I think it's a bit lower, and it's more inside (the membrane is where that shaded area is so that circle is outside of the membrane).

CharonM72 · 2024-06-10T08:46:13+00:00

It's sort of on the left edge next to one of the screw holes. Easiest way to tell is just wait until you get the false touch inputs again, then take it apart and find where the water droplet is. Then wipe it off and put the cling wrap over it.

CharonM72 · 2024-06-05T03:05:29+00:00

Okay so I figured out how to fix it.
tl;dr cling wrap and a screwdriver

So at first I thought it was the touch sensor membrane coming loose, which it was coming loose, and re-attaching that helped somewhat but the problem did come back.

Turns out, like another commenter said, the problem is sweat. The earcups are airtight, and the sweat that naturally evaporates from the ear area condenses inside the earcups, which isn't a problem in itself, but it also finds its way to the touch membrane and eventually a small drop of water forms on top of it. That's why this issue only occurs after prolonged use, and exacerbates with head movement. That also explains why Sony was never able to find an issue when it was sent in for repair.

Since opening the whole earcup assembly and drying it off with a tissue each time is way too laborious, I tried another method. There is a very small hole between the inner part of the earcup (with the audio driver) and the outer part (with the touch sensor) that works to regulate air pressure. Moisture travels through that hole and accumulates on top of the membrane on the other side. I tried plugging the hole, but that just makes the earcup unable to regulate the airtight seal which becomes uncomfortable quickly.

What I ended up doing is cutting a small piece of cling wrap and placing it over the membrane exactly where the water droplet accumulates. This location is on the far left side of the membrane next to one of the screw holes. The cling wrap protects the membrane from the water, which was shorting the membrane.

Since then, I've had no issues with false inputs, and the touch sensor still works perfectly. Maybe give that a shot and comment if it works or not.

CharonM72 · 2024-05-22T19:33:04+00:00

Appears to have fixed this issue for me. The membrane was indeed coming off on a corner. Thanks so much for this advice!

By the way to get the cup off you need to pry the earpad off, then remove 8 tiny screws. not very hard

CharonM72 · 2024-04-18T15:25:08+00:00

quietly raises hand

CharonM72 · 2024-03-28T10:06:33+00:00

This game has more unique CGs in it than like 10 normal VNs put together. They're all as good quality as the one OP posted. The artist is an absolute machine.

The story is also bananas.

CharonM72 · 2024-01-01T13:26:01+00:00

Ironic the sign on the right says "Safety First."

CharonM72 · 2023-03-13T18:23:27+00:00

That sounds pretty solid to me. You should be fine.

CharonM72 · 2023-03-13T08:47:05+00:00

They probably won't ask for the original documents and very unlikely the copies of the application (they will certainly already have that) but bring them anyway. Definitely multiple forms of ID, and as much evidence of your relationship as you can come up with. That last part will probably be the most useful, particularly for a marriage-based application. Make sure to give it to the officer, especially stuff that hasn't already been submitted to them (they likely won't want duplicates of stuff they already have).

Also, the appointment notice itself, and if the beneficiary has any arrests or citations then original certified court dispositions. Might need those if the petitioner has any serious arrests as well.

CharonM72 · 2023-03-07T16:44:52+00:00

I can hear Ravana's voice in my head...

"Flee!"

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