It is tempting to compare your case is someone else’s.  This usually backfires because every case is different, even if you can’t tell from looking at it.  There are certain actions that an immigrant can take in their history or where they are from that can result in a wildly different outcome than someone else’s case that seems to have the same facts.  The cautious when taking advice from people online who are not attorneys and who do not know the specifics of your situation and relying on such advice.  I’ve had many clients come to me for help after their cases have been denied because they thought they were easy cases and they filed the case themselves or with the help of a friend. At this point, they’re often separated for more than a year already from their spouse or their loved one is in removal proceedings because of the denial.  They relied on advice from a friend or from someone they talked to on the Internet or some blog or advice they read in an Internet chat forum on immigration instead of getting competent immigration attorney advice first before filing anything. I’ve seen clients leave the U.S.  And consular process because friends have told them that’s the way to do it, resulting in triggering unlawful presence bars that could separate them from their spouses for up to 10 years.  Whereas, if they had just come to me first, I could have found a way for them to avoid the unlawful presence bar and get their green card in the United States without having to leave.  Be careful.