RiceCake

Then your employer definitely can't bother you. You have at least until July 21 of this year to work. It isn't clear if the one year extension is according to your green card expiration date or if it is according to your NOA1 date. I think someone said customer service said it is according to your NOA1 date. Either way, you are OK until at least July 21, 2016 and make sure your employer understands this. The DOJ has an Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices if it comes down to that. If you call their offices one of their laywers can help and can sometimes offer to speak to HR for you. A last resort of course, hopefully you can resolve on your own with your employer so there is no bad blood or issues.

Thank you so much for all the advices.

I will follow your advice and contact all the different offices you mentioned. My NOA1 date is 7/21/2015. Yes, they did. They said they were the busiest office in the country, and would only consider “emergency” what is an “emergency travel related to the death of a family member”. If I don't get the stamp, can I still work legally while the case is pending?

A paralegal called on my behalf last week. The tier-2 agent mentioned that the case has not been assigned to an agent yet, so the same paralegal believes the background check has likely been cleared.

Wow, so sorry to hear that.

What's your NOA1 date? Trying to understand when the one year will expire.

When you went for the emergency stamp, did they know you had potential loss of employment and they still turned you away?

Potential loss of employment is serious.

1. Have you called USCIS customer service to speak to a tier 2 officer and find out the status of your case? I would start there and make sure they explain the status i.e. is someone currently working on it or are you stuck in background check pending or is it slated to be worked on this week etc. i.e. push to get info beyond "you are within current processing time and it is taking 10 months to one year" I think Brazilguy said you have to say "i demand to speak to a tier 2 officer".

2. I would also recommend contacting today your house of representative and your senator as others have had success with that.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?Name=Capito&nState=WV

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

3. And then also emailing today USCIS headquarters (SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov) and VSC headquarters (vsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov) as well as CIS ombudsman (cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov)

https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/contact-us

@RiceCake: Merci

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been trying to book an appointment on the USCIS InfoPass website for the New York Field Office. Unfortunately, this was without success. My lawyer said I should just walk-in and request an emergency appointment considering the challenges with their system. It was not successful: emergency appointments for the NY Field Office are only for emergency travels (death in the family).

Has anyone in NY city had a similar issue? How do you get the I-551 stamp (I need this for my employer, otherwise I'll lose my job)?

Many thanks

Merci beaucoup. Bon courage à vous. Ca va aller!

Ricecake: Congratulations!

10-year green card delivered today. It took one week and two days (including weekends) from the approval date. Sending prayers and speedy approvals to those still waiting.

OK thanks so much. Usually after the status changes to 'card mailed' it changes again to say when USPS picked it up and to provide the tracking number. At least that was what happened with my AOS but it didn't happen this time. So I called USCIS and spoke with a tier 2 to see if they had a tracking number for me and they did so they gave it to me. All set.

Status went from card order to delivered nothing in between. May 26 for card order and June 2 for delivery. About 7 days total

Congratulations!!! 'Wait until the end of the month' sounds a bit stressful since it is only June 2nd but hopefully, as you say, it won't be too much longer now. Very helpful tip about using 'demand'.

So today I decided to get some courage and call USCIS, since it's been 11 months and I haven't heard anything yet after the biometrics. The first time I called I got this young lady who was very polite but at the same time was very determined not to transfer me to a tier 2 officer. I insisted several times and noticed something weird. She kept repeating the same thing every now and then: "I can transfer you to a tier 2 officer upon demand"; but every time I asked her to transfer me she gave me a different excuse. So it finally hit me and I found out what seems to be a little magical word. I said "I demand to speak to a tier 2 officer," and boy did she transfer me right away. I was baffled. She simply said "Ok, sir as per your demand I am transferring you to a tier 2 officer."

So there we go, I thought, at least I'm gonna speak to someone who know a little more than I do in regards to my case. I was already planning what I was going to say in my head. I was gonna be very polite and ask If I could do anything to help speed up my case. Man I had it all rehearsed inside my head. So suddenly I got a computerized system. "Our agents are experiencing long delays" said the system. I thought to myself, I can wait, no problem. Except that the system said they were gonna have to call me back in 68 minutes. I was disappointed and very skeptical but I said no problems at least I get to do other things while I wait.

So 3 hours passed and no one from USCIS called me. So I decided to call back once more and go through the entire system again and was finally connected to a tier 1 agent. I explained the story and she said she would transfer me to a tier 2 officer except that she was having a computer issue and could not transfer me. She told me to call again. And so I did and spoke to yet another young lady who also said they could not transfer me to tier 2 officers because they were experiencing a great volume of calls and she asked me to try calling again tomorrow morning.

I was ready to give up and go have a beer and relax when my spouse call me on the phone. To my huge surprise it was not my spouse on the phone it was a USCIS tier 2 officer calling me back. OMG I was freaking out so much. You have no idea how happy I was. She confirmed my identity and put me on hold to find out what was going on with my case.

She told me that according to her system they were working on my case as we spoke and since they were working on my case I should wait until the end of the month and if I didn't hear back from them, then I should call them again and they would send an inquire to the VSC office to try to find out what's going on.

I know it's not much but you have no idea how happy I am to have spoken to someone who can actually tell me anything real about my case. Specially since I've been having such a bad time lately. I'm sure my approval it's gonna come anytime now. What do you guys think??

Hi SIAR21. Congratulations!!! Two questions for you if you don't mind:

1. After your status changed to 'card mailed', did it ever change again to 'USPS picked up your card' and with the tracking number included and/or 'USPS delivered your card'?

2. Approx. how many days after the 'card mailed' status did you receive the card in the mail?

Card was delivered in the mail today. Good Luck everyone and Thank you for the support

I quoted the wrong person the first time around. I can't really tell if the approval was done at Vermont or at my local office. The stamp on the front has the Vermont zip code and the sender address on the front is Vermont, but at the bottom of the letter they write 'USCIS Office' and then they list the address of my local office. So not too sure.

Just recieved the approval letter the decision date was may 23th and it was sent from the local office in Newark nj

Sure thing! A fourth thing I remembered is that some applications are delayed by security checks. If the background check hasn't cleared then USCIS can't adjudicate a case. Hoping this isn't the case with you but if you call customer service to speak to a tier 2 or send email inquiries to the various email addresses, then you can start to get some information about the status of your case.

Thank you for being sympathetic. I think you're right in terms of the NOA date. My noa date was like 13 or so, so it might still take a few weeks but I'm sure it's coming soon. It's funny you mentioned checking the mailbox everyday because that's exactly what I do. As well as the USCIS website and this forum. I gotta take it easy LOL

I can't really tell if the approval was done at Vermont or at my local office. The stamp on the front has the Vermont zip code and the sender address on the front is Vermont, but at the bottom of the letter they write 'USCIS Office' and then they list the address of my local office. So not too sure.

Got my letter today, approval date was 05/23. It came from Vermont, not my local office. Thank you guys and Goodluck. So happy right now!!

Dear BrazilGuy82,

First, I completely understand how you feel because up until yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed myself with it going on 10 months and others with a similar NOA date to mine had approvals.

Second, you have to remember that the people in these forums and those represented on the timelines are only a subset of the thousands of July filers that are out there. Meaning there may be many many many other July filers that are actually still waiting like you and they just aren't in these forums and on these timelines.

Third, there doesn't appear to be a systematic order in terms of approvals, meaning people with very late NOA dates get approved before people with very early NOA dates. Your application could be in a pile with someone who is a bit slower or more meticulous or whatever it is. You literally could be a day or two or a couple of weeks away from getting your approval.

In terms of what you can do, you can try calling USCIS customer service to inquire about your case by asking to speak with a Tier 2 person (beg and plead as I hear it's difficult to be passed on to a Tier 2). In case of them saying you are within normal processing time, just explain that those updates on the website are always 45 days old and that they represent dates that were as of March 29 which is two months ago so it is fair to assume they have reached your NOA date by now and that the website also suggests that Vermont is taking 10 months to adjudicate (working on June 1 as of March 29) and your NOA is within 10 months.

Outside of that you can also email VSC headquarters, USCIS headquarters, and your cis ombudsman (if you google those the email addresses will come up).

Here's hoping you get approved real soon!

I am just so happy for all these people who have been getting approvals lately I really am. But at the same time I'm sad because I'm pretty much the only one left out of the July filers who hasn't gotten a response or RFE or anything at all. I don't know what the problem is, I sent so much evidence: 2 joint bank accounts that we share money, 3 joint credit cards, 2 years of joint income tax, dozens and dozens of pictures with relatives and friends, will and testaments, power of attorneys if something happens to my spouse. We even bought a half a million dollar house jointly. I even hired an attorney to instruct me to make sure I didn't forget anything important. We got letters from friends and relatives attesting to our marriage. Mortgage insurance cards, auto insurance cards, Health insurance cards. We even crossed referenced all the info with a second lawyer. The only thing we didn't have were kids because we just don't have kids but the rest I sent everything.

I'm so sad and disappointed. I don't really know what to do anymore. If anyone has any suggestion please let me know, that would help me a lot. Sorry for being so negative.

Best of luck to everyone who got approved

Approval letter came in the mail today. These are the final dates if someone can please add me to the list for Vermont Service Center:

Date I-751 was sent: July 25, 2015

NOA1 date: July 28, 2015

Biometrics: August 28, 2015

Approval (NOA2 date): May 23, 2016

A heartfelt THANK YOU again to the VJ Family. It is absolutely invaluable being able to connect with people from around the world who are in the same boat as you. You don't have to worry when your case is taking really long or if you get a notification you don't understand because you immediately learn from various forums that there are many others going through the same thing as you and they can offer advice and encouragement. Not to mention the example forms that I followed step-by-step during each phase. Kudos to whomever created this site!!!

@AdetteAdette, we did the same thing i.e. ordered the tax transcripts in anticipation of an RFE.

Yippee yippee and see some of you at N400! :-D

I finally got the email and text this morning that my card is in production!!!! No RFE and no interview. Yaay!!! Praise God a thousand times over!!!! And thank you VJ family for everything!

I thought we would get an RFE because we don't have a joint checking or savings account and no joint credit cards either. I also completely forgot to send the tax transcripts and instead sent the tax return plus the email we received saying the IRS had accepted our return.

I haven't yet received the approval letter but here are my dates for Vermont Service Center if someone can please add me:

Date I-751 was sent: July 25, 2015

NOA1 date: July 28, 2015

Biometrics: August 28, 2015

Approval (NOA2 date): waiting to receive letter

I agree with everyone that you should file ROC now i.e. within 90 days of your August 2016 date, especially if that is when your AOS was actually approved and when you should have received your green card. And also because USCIS has sent the reminder letter. Worst case scenario, USCIS will reject your application and return it because you are filing too soon. This is far better than you receiving notice of removal proceedings because you failed to file ROC.

Hi,

I recently received a letter from USCIS reminding me that its about time i applied for my ROC on my conditional residency. I was initially approved for the 2 year conditional residency in August 2014. After the approval, we waited for our daughter and I's green cards to arrive in the mail to no avail. After much following up with UPS and sending in another application with a fee waiver that was denied, we finally sent in the documents, with full payment (2nd time), had a second set of biometrics and got the green cards in August 2015. The validity date on the green cards is up to August 2017.

Having received a reminder form USCIS recently that i should remove the conditions following the near 2 year anniversary of our initial approval, what should i do? Will my green card be technically invalid even though the validity period has not reached. Will i be out of status if i do not apply to remove conditions within this time? The thing is, I would gladly send in the ROC packet with the ~1200$ (for my daughter and I) but finances are a little too tight. Anybody been in a situation like this?

What would you advise me to do?

A & E.

Just a reminder that you should take BOTH the expired green card AND the extension letter. Don't travel with only the extension letter or only the expired green card.

I just sent my ROC package and we want to travel to Romania in Sept or Oct this year. I assume I will not have my GC before then so if we go to Europe in autumn, will I be able to enter US with my extension letter? Will they give me any hard time at the airport?

While you're editing, it looks like Iguanacouple's approval date has to be edited - it looks like December 5th rather than May 12th.

Congratulations, Jaagoda!

Jaagoda added

California Service Center (33 applicants, 21 approved - 64%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved
AMERICANRIZVI.........06/26/15......--/--/15......--/--/15......--/--/--
MRSVC.................06/29/15......06/30/15......07/29/15......12/17/15(Actual June filer)
RICHINLOVE............06/28/15......07/01/15......07/29/15......12/09/15
ALI.CHA...............06/30/15......07/02/15......07/30/15......02/18/16(RFE: Requested 01/29; Replied 02/05)
DANDK.................07/01/15......07/02/15......07/27/15......02/01/16
GILDA.................07/01/15......07/06/15......08/04/15......01/21/16
ITSYBITSY.............07/02/15......07/06/15......08/07/15......02/05/16(Approval letter received)
SANYATA...............07/06/15......07/07/15......08/05/15......01/28/16
JEISSON&ELLIE.........07/08/15......07/09/15......08/04/15......--/--/--
SHIVAGURU.............07/09/15......07/10/15......08/03/15......--/--/--
HILARIO...............07/08/15......07/13/15......08/13/15......01/12/16
MEHUR4E...............07/09/15......07/13/15......08/12/15......01/08/16(Waiver)
DDKORESTIN............07/10/15......07/13/15......08/13/15......--/--/--
MDGLOTZBACH...........07/10/15......07/13/15......08/10/15......02/02/16
TRIZ..................??/??/15......07/15/15......08/10/15......--/--/--
MGRD..................07/13/15......07/16/15......08/28/15......01/07/16(Bio re-scheduled from 08/11)
CODYGRACE.............07/14/15......07/16/15......08/12/15......12/30/15
JOE&LUMA..............07/14/15......07/16/15......08/14/15......01/21/16
JOCE..................07/15/15......07/17/15......08/13/15......01/05/16
ARSLAN12..............07/15/15......07/17/15......08/14/15......--/--/--
HIDROXIL..............07/15/15......07/17/15......08/12/15......04/18/16(Divorce Waiver) (RFE Requested: 01/19/2016; Replied 03/31/2016
MEGWARR...............07/16/15......07/20/15......08/18/15......04/12/16(Early Bio 08/17) (RFE Requested: 02/24/2016; Replied 04/02/2016
RYRO..................07/17/15......07/20/15......08/20/15......01/15/16
C&Z4EVER..............07/18/15......07/20/15......08/21/15......--/--/--
PREETHYV20032003......07/20/15......--/--/15......--/--/15......--/--/--
SPARKLING.............07/20/15......07/22/15......08/19/15......--/--/--
JORDAN85..............07/20/15......07/23/15......08/20/15......12/22/15
RAMU2012..............07/22/15......07/24/15......08/19/15......01/06/16
ERICSHOOT.............07/22/15......07/24/15......08/18/15......02/10/15(Early Bio 08/07)
ATENEA26..............07/23/15......07/27/15......08/30/15......12/11/15(Early Bio 08/24)
APAPAIA...............07/23/15......07/27/15......09/03/15......--/--/--
LOVEYOURLIFE..........07/26/15......07/29/15......09/04/15......01/25/16
SKIPTEX...............07/24/15......07/31/15......09/03/15......01/25/16
SWEETDELISH...........07/30/15......07/31/15......09/02/15......--/--/--

Vermont Service Center (23 applicants, 12 approved - 52%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved
ANAHM1................06/26/15......--/--/15......--/--/15......04/29/16

NEGGY PEGGY...........06/28/15......07/02/15......07/05/15......--/--/--
ALIENCUPCAKE..........06/29/15......07/07/15......08/05/15......04/18/16
PARADISEMELODY........06/30/15......07/02/15......08/07/15......--/--/--
SIAR21................06/30/15......07/06/15......08/03/15......--/--/--
MRSALFAYAD............06/30/15......07/10/15......08/06/15......--/--/--
TASSIEMAN.............07/06/15......07/17/15......08/07/15......05/05/16
NUMPTYNYC.............07/07/15......07/--/15......--/--/15......--/--/--
JUGHEAD...............07/08/15......07/10/15......08/11/15......04/21/16
COQUILLAGE............07/08/15......07/13/15......08/11/15......05/03/16

JAAGODA...............??/??/15......07/14/15......08/10/15......05/12/16
IDGLA.................07/11/15......07/17/15......08/12/15......--/--/--

CADYINHAITI...........07/15/15......07/23/15......08/26/15......05/04/16
NCPAL.................07/16/15......07/21/15......08/26/15......--/--/--
PRALI.................07/17/15......07/21/15......08/26/15......05/12/16
ATLANT70..............??/??/15......07/27/15......08/27/15......04/15/16
R&M...................07/23/15......07/28/15......08/24/15......--/--/--
MO1...................07/27/15......07/30/15......08/31/15......--/--/--

JOPINOFF..............07/--/15......07/30/15......09/23/15......04/25/16
SHERLOCK23............07/29/15......07/31/15......08/24/15......--/--/--
KIMBERLYAHMED.........07/29/15......07/31/15......09/04/15......05/05/16
RISEUPP...............07/--/15......--/--/15......--/--/15......--/--/--(Divorce Waiver)
IGUANACOUPLE..........07/29/15......07/31/15......08/26/15......12/05/16

IMPORTANT!
* Make sure that your VJ Text Editor setting is set to Rich Text Editor.
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Date of I-751 = The Date you sent your application.
NOA Date = The Receipt Date on your original NOA letter.
Biometrics = The Date of your biometrics appointment.
Approved = The Date your case was approved.

* Please Capitalize your VJ Name when adding it to the list.
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Thank you so much! So sad to hear that you can not travel before you receive the new card. We have planned a trip in July too! ( Looking forward to hear from others about their new card arrival date.

By the way the correct date of my biometrics is 08/05, if you don't mind to edit that!

Others have said that the Ombudsman was able to help them. @rstobing it's worth a try, along with emailing VSC and USCIS headquarters.

You are right, they publish statistics from 45 days ago. Common sense says after 45 days they should be much ahead and that's where this forum and timelines are helpful. For instance, we know currently they are onto July cases at VSC from VJer data. But if you call the customer service, since that's the only data they have, they would claim you are within normal time and try to dismiss your call. USCIS customer service deals with thousands of calls in a day and they do not want to transfer the calls to Tier 2's unless it is really necessary. They don't care it is 20 days, 11 months or 3 years, if you are within normal time, their motto is "don't call us, just wait".

Ombudsman's link also says this "If you waited 60 days past USCIS processing times and have tried the USCIS customer service options listed above but still need help resolving a problem with an application or petition, you can ask the Ombudsman’s Office for help" basically it is kinda a last resort, you have to tell them what actions you took and didn't work. And it only promises to take action within 90 days of submission. Very very long process.

1. I don't understand the statement about 'current processing time' or 'normal processing time' because what gets posted is always 1.5 months old. They were working on June 1 "as of March 31st". Not as of May 12th when it was posted, or even as of April 30th which is a little bit more recent. Therefore, it is very plausible to assume that by May 12th they have reached your NOA1 date.

2. You can contact your Ombudsman and also VSC via email. If it has been 11 months, these might be good options to consider.

- Here is a link for contacting the Service Center and USCIS Headquarters: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/uscis-update-case-status-inquiries-service-centers

- Here is a link for contacting the Ombudsman for case assistance and their email address: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

I was able to request a "Service Request" and this the confirmation email looks like:

Thank you for your request:
USCIS will review and process the request
Expect a reply by June 4, 2016
Your request ID number is ***************

This is just sad

Because June VSC is still within normal time, they may just respond as so and you cannot complain a bit. The best bet for you guys is to call customer service and somehow manage to talk to a Tier 2 agent. Remember "at long last" managed to talk to tier 2 who revealed someone was working on her case and few days later she was approved? It may take several tries to reach to Tier 2 but they have all the information under their hands.

The saddest and the most unfair part for me is a CSC filer who filed more than 4 months after you guys (say Oct 12th) could easily reach to a Tier 2 officer and learn what is going on, whereas after 11.5 months they would resist revealing anything to a June VSC filer.

Has any of the pending cases become eligible to file for naturalization yet?

Thanks! It does show the Hartford office at the bottom.

OK thank you!

Approval came in the mail today and dated 5/5/2015. Status has not been updated online.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I know you have been anxiously waiting. Did it come from the local Hartford office?

Hi guys,

I also filed in March and still waiting. Last update that I received said that my case was placed on hold due to Security background checks pending...that was a month ago. I also had 2 InfoPass apointments where they stamped my passport with the 6 month extension stamp.

Tried to call too, spoke with the Tier 2 officer and the same answer again...just wait...

So tired of that waiting!

You may receive the same response but you could try the following:

1. You could try contacting your Congressman. Enter your zipcode at this link: http://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep

2. You could try contacting CIS Ombudsman: cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov

https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

3. You could also try any of the following per this link: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/uscis-update-case-status-inquiries-service-centers

The error message was related to the fact that I was not able to connect to the https network. I tried other https sites and it worked so I don't know if USCIS was updating their site yesterday or something.

I am still waiting for a decision. I really can't believe it takes so long to get a decision. We are really unlucky.

Oh ok. Yes I receive that from time to time and I just ignore it and continue on to the website.

Yes, 9+ months...

Hi, I tried to check my status online today but I got an error message. I think the site is down. Anyone with the same issue?

Not very active on here but I've gotten information on the site and forums over the years, so I figured I'd let everyone know my dates for VSC. Just got the letter this week, card didn't arrive yet, did not require an interview.

Receipt Date: 07/30/15

Biometrics: 09/23/15

Approved: 04/25/16

Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations!!! This gives me hope as I'm also an end of July filer.

Hey guys! Today I woke up to the best news ever. My conditions were removed. Only God knows how bad I needed this. I prayed to him every single night and never gave up hope. Me and my husband split up shortly after I applied and I knew it would be a lengthy process if they asked for more evidence and I had to tell them to wait for my divorce. I literally checked the website every single day every thirty minutes. I know I sound like a psycho but the anxiety was the worst. I checked my status on the app at 9 this morning and still nothing and then I checked at 9:30 and there it was new card being produced. I wish every single one of you the best of luck!

Congratulations, Deysic!!! That is such excellent news! Real real happy for you! :-) What is the name of the app you are using by the way?

Hello. Since yesterday when I try to log in to my USCIS account I receive this error message: AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED. PLEASE CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

I have cleared my cache and cookies, restarted the computer and my cell phone, used a different browser and reset my password but the problem still persists. Does anyone know how to fix the issue?