I-485 Application in Initial Review for 2 & 1/2 Years

[LennyThompson 0]

My Girlfriend filed I-485 in January 2012. Shortly after, she passed the interview with no problem then biometrics in March 2012. Then, in May 2013 received letter that her case was transferred from Nebraska to Santa Ana (why? is there a problem?). Now She is still waiting. INS website shows her status as "Initial Review". She went to INS, with lawyer, to ask for status and got nothing but "in review". According to INS website, they are now processing Sept 2013's cases. Her case is much older than that. Is something wrong? If they are processing Sept 2013 cases, then what happened to her case? How do we find out were in the queue is her case at? What can we do to get her case looked at? Did the case get lost in the bureacracy? Thanks for any help !!

[Pitaya 2,577]

You should consider contacting the Ombudsman:

http://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman

[dwheels76 5,477]

My Girlfriend filed I-485 in January 2012. Shortly after, she passed the interview with no problem then biometrics in March 2012. Then, in May 2013 received letter that her case was transferred from Nebraska to Santa Ana (why? is there a problem?). Now She is still waiting. INS website shows her status as "Initial Review". She went to INS, with lawyer, to ask for status and got nothing but "in review". According to INS website, they are now processing Sept 2013's cases. Her case is much older than that. Is something wrong? If they are processing Sept 2013 cases, then what happened to her case? How do we find out were in the queue is her case at? What can we do to get her case looked at? Did the case get lost in the bureacracy? Thanks for any help !!

What status is she adjusting from? Are you sure she is registered on the uscis.gov site and you haven't missed any RFE request?

Why are you on the INS website? That's weird. Call USCIS ask for a tier 2 supervisor and inquire. 2 years is about 2 years too long and your case may be lost in system?

But again she is your girlfriend so what Visa status is she adjusting from?

How did she arrive here? That may also be the key to the long delay.

[Caryh 5,206]

You should consider contacting the Ombudsman:

http://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman

And/or your congressman or senator. They did fall way behind on AOS petitions back then, but you should have been complete a long time ago.

[Darnell 8,479]

this is your girlfriend? not a wife?

what visa did she hold, prior,

and

on what basis is she filing that I-485?

[LennyThompson 0]

friends, thank you so much for your replies ! She is adjusting from approved Refugee status (I believe it is I-589?), so technically that allows her to stay and work indefinitely. I went to the INS website (actually to the http://www.uscis.gov/) they have tools that I can use to see her status. We don't know what else to do or where else to look. The lawyer(s) that she had gone to for help had done nothing more than to inquire via infopass. She did not officially register on the http://www.uscis.gov/ website but she watch out for mail all the time. When she went to the immigration office recently with the lawyer to inquire, the INS lady did not mention that she is missing any documents.

As for answer to "on what basis is she filing for I-485" > We don't know how to answer that. As mentioned she is a approved asylum seeker (I-589?) since January 2012.

By the way, on the document that she received May 2013 notifying her that her case is sent from Nebraska center to santa ana center, the "priority date" field is blank.

Regarding the suggestion to reach out to the Ombudsman office: Would we "tick off" the immigration people by going through Ombudsman and then they may make things difficult for her?

I believe she arrived here as a tourist (not sure) and immediately did the right legal steps to seek asylum. As far as I know she did everything orderly and through lawyers and she did get her Refugee status and she has EAD card etc..etc..

I will immediately take your advise to have her register onto http://www.uscis.gov/ and also call Level 2 supervisor instead of going through the website to get an infopass to only see the "regular staff".

Any other advise? Thanks in advance.

[Darnell 8,479]

ok - now i understand.

I THINK her casefile is at a local USCIS office, and she's gonna have an interview sometime.

when? dunno. but....

make certain her mailing address is updated with USCIS, or she might be missing a postal notice.

once she signs up at CRIS, she'll be able to receive email and text /sms notifications on any new stuff.

Go Get Em, and Good Luck !

[LennyThompson 0]

Thanks Wuhan Rocks... do you think that she will be interviewed again even though she was already interviewed back in january 2012 and consequently the file went to Nebraska? her case status now is in "Initial Review".

she told me that her friends that have gotten the GC only were interviewed "upfront" just like her then no more interviews and she also know of other friends that failed the interview upfront and in those cases, the files was never sent to Nebraska or anywhere else as "being processed" but rather through "court" etc..

thanks for any light anyone can shed on this matter.