San Francisco AOS stats (mid-2017 thru year end 2018 filers)

[AJCM 17]

Hi SFers old and new,

 

I got a bit impatient recently and decided to do some research as far as what other SF AOS filers have been seeing in terms of timeframes. Mostly, I knew that we were (hopefully) getting close to the interview notice, and getting a head start on prepping for that. In any case, I sniffed around the various forums and dug up some helpful information (attached) on how late 2017 through 2018 filers have been faring, as they would be the most recent batch of applicants who have actually been called up for interviews.

 

As expected, and in line with my prior research, some were diverted to Sacramento and San Jose offices for their interviews... seemingly pretty early (in the 300s days into the process), suggesting that they do this on a batch basis fairly early on. Assuming transportation is not an issue, they are the lucky ones.

 

As a whole, you'll also see that compared to the 2nd half of 2017 filers, 2018 filers are indeed seeing faster processing times. On the other hand, we are now past the 2018 average, and have yet to be scheduled, so expect some additional variance. I just joke with my wife that we likely have a hard deadline of next August (our 2nd anniversary) as I'm sure that USCIS won't get in the business of giving out non-conditional GCs.

[AJCM 17]

Hi all,

 

After some more digging and datapoint-gathering, I've determined that there's a clear divergence between those who are filing at SF and getting sent to a nearby FO for interview, vs. those who are assigned to SF.

Here, you can see that the first indication of re-assignment of field office (FO) roughly matches the announcements made by USCIS in the middle of this year. The exact criteria for assignment to a nearby FO is not clear, but one poster assigned to Sacramento (SAC) had speculated that it was due to living in the East Bay and thus presumably closer to the Sacramento office. If so, it would suggest that those in the southern periphery of SF's jurisdiction would be eligible for assignment to the San Jose (SJ) office.

Prior to mid-2019, all interviews under the SF FO are presumed to have taken place in SF. A few observations:
- 2018 filers are indeed moving along significantly faster than 2017 filers, to the order of 3 months faster overall.
- The speed is even faster for those who are assigned to SJ/SAC for their interviews, with most getting interviewed at around or prior to the 1 year mark.
- Among 2018 SF filers who remain in SF for interviews, they're getting called up around 4 weeks earlier than the average 2017 SF filer.

A bit of news to share as well: as I was in the middle of compiling these numbers, I actually got an email alert stating that we had been scheduled (no precise information as of yet — waiting for the USPS copy). So for us, we got scheduled ourselves at the 469 day mark, which is again a bit faster than what this data suggests.

From what I can tell, this is now the most complete collection of recent AOS timeline information relating to SF filers. (I guess we're not that much of a talkative bunch, anymore, despite being tied to one of the largest offices in the country). If you think this is helpful, please do your part as well by remembering to update your own timelines when your own turn comes! 

[iwir 337]

I checked the normal processing in SF is 22 months now. Since I live in south of SF, San Jose would be a perfect alternative if USCIS assigns our interview. To be honest it's okay if we can skip ROC and get 10 years GC instead. I just sent EAD/AP renewal last week and waiting for my NOA1.  Thanks for compiling the data. My time line can be seen on my signature 

[Hemutian 68]

@AJCM

 

Thanks for compiling this data.

My wife and I are brand new members to the SF AOS community, having only POE'd 2 months ago, and submitted AOS application 1.5 months ago. We were daunted by VJ's statistic that SF is currently at 22 months wait time. If the trend is indeed for a slight speeding up of the queue, then that's good. She might just get her GC in 2020 and not 2021. 

 

Question: do you know if Marin County would be a candidate for transfer to SAC, or a remain-in-SFO candidate?

She had her biometrics in Santa Rosa, if that's any indicator.

 

Also, do you think that the increase in cases getting send from SF to SAC and SJ means that the wait time at SF should come down since they're thinning out their backlog?

Edited December 12, 2019 by Hemutian
clarification

[Moe428 129]

The other interesting to know is how that's effecting the timing for those whose address falls under SAC or SJ.  SAC is particular seems to have slowed down considerably, although not as much as SF.  

[Moe428 129]

35 minutes ago, Hemutian said:

@AJCM

 

Thanks for compiling this data.

My wife and I are brand new members to the SF AOS community, having only POE'd 2 months ago, and submitted AOS application 1.5 months ago. We were daunted by VJ's statistic that SF is currently at 22 months wait time. If the trend is indeed for a slight speeding up of the queue, then that's good. She might just get her GC in 2020 and not 2021. 

 

Question: do you know if Marin County would be a candidate for transfer to SAC, or a remain-in-SFO candidate?

She had her biometrics in Santa Rosa, if that's any indicator.

 

Also, do you think that the increase in cases getting send from SF to SAC and SJ means that the wait time at SF should come down since they're thinning out their backlog?

Given that Marin is about 1.5 hours to Sacramento on with good traffic, I can see them moving some of those cases to SAC.  But as mentioned, this is all speculation.

 

And yes, SF should come down, as noted in the second post - they seem to be taking 3 months less (might be even more in 2019).

[AJCM 17]

@iwir Yes, same here. Knowing the additional complication of the removal of conditions process, it seems like an even trade-off to get the long-term GC. That said, USCIS is likely not interested in losing out on that source of revenue, so that's why I mentioned earlier that 24 months is truly the "hard" deadline they're holding themselves up to internally. From the data, I would be really surprised to see a plain vanilla AOS in SF take 22mo at this point.

 

@Hemutian To be honest, without more details from each poster we can only guess at the way they designate some for different FOs for interviews. My best guess is location (maybe by zip code). As I mentioned in the 2nd post, it appears that those who are diverted to other FOs are informed much earlier, so if you're getting to month 13/14 and still don't have word, it is probably going to be SF.

 

@Moe428 Yes, the flip side of this all is the effect on neighboring field offices, which I'm sure is going to get longer than before. I started noticing the effect of transfers from the last batch of released data (which is on a Quarter+ lag). Earlier post about it here: 

 

For what it's worth, it's nice to see that there's some level of consideration (?) being given to the process of rebalancing FO case loads. When the announcement started going out, I feared that they were going to start scheduling people for interviews across the country, etc. — which I'm sure the administration could have just as easily done. While I'm sure that's great for people with means to travel at the drop of a hat, it would have also meant lots of turmoil among those who can't.
 

[iwir 337]

@AJCM, 22 months from feb 13 (My NOA1) would be in December 2020. It would be very close to my second wedding anniversary in January 11. I would be happy if the interview would be held after that so we can skip ROC but who knows what's with USCIS beside more paper works and waiting time. I'm expecting my EAD/AP renewal will be adjudicated sometimes in May 2020 and I don't mind of sending them another renewal in December 2020 if I haven't heard from them about interview date. I told my friend, applying anything with USCIS is like cooking rice. You put the rice in rice cooker, add some water, close it, punch the button and let it be. Don't even think of open it or ask when it will be cooked or you risk yourself of driving you crazy. I'm happy with my EAD/AP,  got my driver lisence which is good til 2023, got a job and not to worry about getting GC except I have to pay attention to the dates for EAD/AP renewal. I already feel at home here in SF.

[Moe428 129]

@AJCM

You might be interested in this.  I received my interview notice today.  My field office is supposed to be Sacramento, but the interview notice is asking me to show up in Fresno.

[AJCM 17]

1 hour ago, Moe428 said:

@AJCM

You might be interested in this.  I received my interview notice today.  My field office is supposed to be Sacramento, but the interview notice is asking me to show up in Fresno.

Congrats! That's a super fast turnaround by Sacramento (maybe even Fresno) standards. Do you live in Sacramento, or is it geographically a bit further in between (Stockton, Modesto, etc.)
We were indeed scheduled for SF office.

[Moe428 129]

4 hours ago, AJCM said:

Congrats! That's a super fast turnaround by Sacramento (maybe even Fresno) standards. Do you live in Sacramento, or is it geographically a bit further in between (Stockton, Modesto, etc.)
We were indeed scheduled for SF office.

I filed in July 2019, so I think I am within average processing time for Fresno.

 

I live further south from Sacramento, near the Manteca/Lathrop/Tracy area.  It's still going to be about 2 hour 30 min drive.