Wife received green card in Jan '19, my daughter's I-485 case is still pending

[srg3037 5]

Hello all,

 

I'm concerned that my daughter's I-485 my have hit some brick wall.  As the subject line indicates thankfully my wife got her green card approved in Jan '19 but my daughter's I-485 application status is still the same since the Oct '18 interview.  My wife came over on a k1 and our daughter came over at the same time on a k-2 (now 8 years old).  Filed the two I-485 applications as  I should, got an interview date for October 21, 2018 for the both of them (same time but separate letters).   When my wife's case was approved in January but my daughter's was not at the same time I was told that was normal.  In mid-March '19 I scheduled an Infopass because it was 120+ days without a decision post interview.  I was told at the Infopass (after they emailed the officer) that it would be escalated to a supervisor and I should hear back in 2-3 weeks.   I received no word so I decided to try my Senator.  I wrote a letter in mid-May and the Senator's response was the local office in Baltimore said the standard time was 11 months to 30 months and I was in that time period (I-485 was filed in June '17).      

 

Is this wait time still normal?  Should I schedule another Infopass?  Any other avenues?   

 

The other side issue is without a GC I cant get my daughter an SSN and without a SSN I cannot claim the full child credit (applied for extension).  So the difference in taxes is I owe $1,600.00 or I owe nothing (tax credit with valid SSN is $2,000 or just with a TIN is $500.00

[Scandi 3,970]

Your wife and daughter could've gotten SSNs as soon as they landed in the US, is there a reason you didn't apply for SSNs then?

 

The daughter can get an SSN with her EAD, she doesn't need to wait for the greencard.

[Ontarkie 13,913]

My experience was long long ago but it did take an additional 4 months for my kids k2's to be approved. One thing different from your wife's case than mine. Is I had my approval in Sept but they did not send my card until my kids K2's were approved. 

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Your wife and daughter could've gotten SSNs as soon as they landed in the US, is there a reason you didn't apply for SSNs then?

 

The daughter can get an SSN with her EAD, she doesn't need to wait for the greencard.

The K2's cannot get a SSN until EAD. 

[Scandi 3,970]

17 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

My experience was long long ago but it did take an additional 4 months for my kids k2's to be approved. One thing different from your wife's case than mine. Is I had my approval in Sept but they did not send my card until my kids K2's were approved. 

The K2's cannot get a SSN until EAD. 

Alright, so she can get one now then, as I assume they filed for AOS/EAD many months ago.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Scandi

[srg3037 5]

4 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Alright, so she can get one now then, as I assume they filed for AOS/EAD many months ago.

 

I'm confused, how can my 8 year old daughter apply for an EAD?  They would never issue it because she is not old enough to work. 

Edited June 10, 2019 by srg3037

[Ontarkie 13,913]

33 minutes ago, srg3037 said:

 

I'm confused, how can my 8 year old daughter apply for an EAD?  They would never issue it because she is not old enough to work. 

Yes she can have an EAD. It's needed to work but in K2's situation it is also needed for ID and SSN. I had no issues getting them for my kids.

[Ontarkie 13,913]

38 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Alright, so she can get one now then, as I assume they filed for AOS/EAD many months ago.

I guess he did not from his other comment

[srg3037 5]

14 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

I guess he did not from his other comment 

 

That is correct I did not 😪  Part of it probably was prior to tax year 2018, a TIN would get you the full child tax credit.  However with the tax change in 2018 and to combat fraud they no longer allow you to claim the credit with a TIN and you cant go back and amend once the SSN is issued.

 

Let's hope they can approve my daughter's adjustment soon, otherwise this will be a costly mistake on my part tax wise since it appears I could have got her an SSN all along.  

 

As far as my daughter's I-485, since it has been pending 8 months since the interview is it worth going to another Infopass?   

[Ontarkie 13,913]

1 minute ago, srg3037 said:

 

That is correct I did not 😪  Part of it probably was prior to tax year 2018, a TIN would get you the full child tax credit.  However with the tax change in 2018 and to combat fraud they no longer allow you to claim the credit with a TIN and you cant go back and amend once the SSN is issued.

 

Let's hope they can approve my daughter's adjustment soon, otherwise this will be a costly mistake on my part tax wise since it appears I could have got her an SSN all along.  

 

As far as my daughter's I-485, since it has been pending 8 months since the interview is it worth going to another Infopass?   

I would try just about anything at this point. I have not seen where it has taken this long after the k1 got their GC. It sure can't hurt. 

[srg3037 5]

14 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

I would try just about anything at this point. I have not seen where it has taken this long after the k1 got their GC. It sure can't hurt. 

That is what I was thinking as well.  Does my daughter have to be at the Infopass appointment?  She is going away from summer camp with my grandparents for 6 weeks.  

[Ontarkie 13,913]

3 minutes ago, srg3037 said:

That is what I was thinking as well.  Does my daughter have to be at the Infopass appointment?  She is going away from summer camp with my grandparents for 6 weeks.  

That I am not sure about.