Estella76

Eight months average? Wow I never knew that. I sent in my application mid May and just received the GC in hand two days ago which is exactly 8 months. I agree that USCIS SHOULD let people know this is an estimated wait time. During our interview, our officer looked at us cross-eyed, and said that a submission in May with an interview August 30, should have already had all FBI name checks complete. He also said that pending namechecks were very rare and he did not know what in the world could have been holding up our application. I left in tears thinking something was wrong and that we were just freaks. I mean I live in NYC which has more than its share of immigration cases and this dude told me our case was not in the norm. If he would have been honest and let us know this is at the time of interview, I would not have felt like maybe something was wrong and would not have been as upset. It would have made the "black hole" seem a lot less vast and given some light at the end of the tunnel. Now I know that all officers MUST know about these namecheck delays since they are all over the news and the thorn in the USCIS side, so why do they blatantly lie and play stupid? It makes me angry they treat us with such disrespect. Anyway that is just my rant...

WOHOOOO!! okay now I can officially celebrate. I told my husband who is the Non-USC and he said "oh great...what does that mean?". Sigh anyway *I* am psyched. I dont know how it even came about since I didnt INFOPASS or anything. I wonder if calling twice to request a service check last week even though they wouldnt do it had anything to do with it.,.I doubt it but the whole thing is weird. Anyway I am going to keep lurking here for support, I know how insane and frustrating it is to be in this namecheck limbo.

Thanks to everyone here who helped me SO MUCH! I would never have made it through without all of you for information and support. Now lets get some more people through!

After my touch yesterday but no update I just checked my email a few minutes ago to see three emails from the USCIS. I was DREADING opening them for some reason, just in case it was bad or they were transferring my case or something. This is what it said....

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO

ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On January 19, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we had registered this

customer's new permanent resident status. Please follow any instructions on the

notice. Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days

following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred

to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before you get your

new card call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as

we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status

results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within

the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at

(800) 375-5283.

I think I am being very dense here because it does not say APPROVED in big bold letters. Is this it? Am I through? If so I am going to be doing a greencard dance all night! The whole bit about the greencard arriving after this notice or after ADIT processing is confusing me LOL. I think my brain is just fried. So this will be the approval notice and then the greencard come later? Will we have to fill in and send some stuff out once we get the notice or are we done?

Rebecca did you at least get your husband's new EAD? I know you filed for that a while back.

I got a "touch" today, the first one ever on my case. I had one on my old approved EAD application back in October, but never on the actual I-485 application. No change in my status at all, and I wont get my hopes up but at least it is some action and not the total deafening silence.

Just thinking about how we will file taxes this year....my husband will most likely pay income tax but he cannot be a permanent resident....lovely.

At least it's Friday!

So I got my husband to leave work early and meet me at my office to call the USCIS. Once through they typed in my zip code and said that my office (NYC) is now processing cases sent December 2005 so the woman could not make a request on my case. So one lady told me I am outside the time because Im outside 90 days, and the other one said I am not because of the delay at my local office. I tried to tell her I think the December 2005 pertains to people getting an interview and not for people like us who have had them already but she said she was not ALLOWED to make a request due to the processing times and where my case was filed, her system would not allow it. So it was all a waste! Will have to go to Infopass in March when we can both take days off...and the wait continues.

Thanks Rebecca for the clarification, the terminology is actually helpful to know. I think the USCIS lady got the drift that I wasnt the immigrant petitioner, she still needed my husband to be the one to make the request. I dont see anything coming out of it at all but at least I am trying and can document it. TGIF!! B)

I finally called the hotline today. The woman said we are well outside the processing time (interview was August 30) and would do that infamous request for info, but she said that my husband had to be the one to make the request, since he is the non-USC. I think that is silly since Im his petitioner and had all the relevant info. I can vouch to financially support him if need be, but I cant make an inquiry on his behalf?? There is totally no logic here! Anyway he works during their call center hours and has no access to phones where he is so BLAH to USCIS.

Hey all,

I took a break from here because my job had me working 24/7. I expected to come back and see a bunch of people cleared from the list and well I am very diappointed. This is the one thread where you WANT to see people fall off! Poo on the FBI!

I am about 4 months past interview now so going to call the hotline as the officer suggested. I know it will do no good, but why not...then infopass...blah

Ahhhh it just never said that before

Well they sometimes transfer the files to other offices when the burden there is too much and I know the NYC offices are way overloaded...they usually send them to CSC though. Missouri is just a local district office, I wonder if it was sent there to collect dust?

Congrats Dani, you guys sure went through enough yo-yoing and TOTALLY deserve this!

I just checked my case status. My I-485 has not been touched since a few days BEFORE our AOS Interview...but for some reason I decided to open up the status of the case online and look at it. And I noticed that it changed...and I am SO baffled!

Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Case received and pending.

On May 2, 2006, we received this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our MISSOURI SERVICE CENTER location. Follow the link below to check processing dates. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

Now I live in NYC so why in the world did this go to Missouri? I understand they send some to CSC but MISSOURI? And I never got a letter telling me my case was transferred! I mean not that many people open their case if it says it hasn't been touched so this is odd!

Does anyone know what this means?

Here is more info on the difference between the FOIPA check and the FBI check we are all pending:

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FOIPA) vs. Name Check: Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts (FOIPA) requests are sometimes confused with name check requests. FOIPA provides copies of FBI files relevant to a specific FOIPA request. For FOIPA, the FBI search uses the name or information as provided in the FOIPA request. A FOIPA search determines whether there is an investigative file associated with an individual—a “main file” search. For a name check, “main files” and “reference files” are both checked, in addition to searching a name in a multitude of combinations.

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/nationalnamecheck.htm

Thanks that worked.....now i have to click a few more times to be crazy and check my status 10 times a day

B)

Did anyone see the new USCIS site? I cant find a way to log in to my portfolio? Are they gone?

130,091 applications incomplete where the applicant has been interviewed but the FBI name check is not complete.

Ummmmmm...wow. Nice to know our tax dollars are working towards efficiency

But on the flipside, if someone actually is a criminal and they apply for a Greencard, they have a good long time to stay here, work, and reap other benefits, before the FBI even takes note

mzap we interviewed August 30th in Garden City, NY also pending name check and my husband is also from the UK. The officer seemed complacent about it all and while he said that it was "very strange" that the namecheck had not been done since biometrics were done in mid-may, we could tell it was almost a routine speech of his. He said to call the USCIS hotline once 3 months had passed if we didn't have anything. So that's what I'm going to do, then I will take more action from there if I have to. Infopass would be the next step for me.

Let's have some good news this week. No one has fallen off the list for a while!

Our EAD was "touched" yesterday though it was approved on July 10 and we've had it since then. I also thought the USCIS was closed yesterday for Columbus Day. It means nothing and there is no method to the madness but somehow being "touched" makes me feel less lonely in the black hole

I never knew that about the processing times. My district office is not even listed, I am assuming it is just to help the overflow from the main NYC one. I checked and NYC is currently processing 485 cases filed August 30, 2005! Ummm yikes. Guess I better keep waiting.

Dani, I am so sorry to hear what happened. For them to have given you false hope and then come up with some RFE that they cant even explain. The lack of communication that goes on in this whole process is absolutely appalling. It makes me wonder if the officers even have a clue or they just hand you a pink slip and tell you to come back in 30 days so they have time to make up another excuse. I know there are a ton of immigration cases to contend with, but America is supposedly built on the foundation of immigration and I really expect a better and more efficient system for all the talk they spout and the money we pay for these cases to be processed. We pay a ton of money for each application, we follow the rules and we are still left chasing our tails. I just don't get it.

And Rebecca that is horrible. Can you try to get a mortgage in your name and add Wes later, or do you need his income to get the mortgage? Hmm the USCIS wants us all to prove we cohabitate, so both parties names need to be on a mortgage, but how can that happen when you cant get a mortgage without a greencard? I know I am being negative but sometimes I think this is purposely made difficult so as to discourage people.

I know the "touched" means nothing but I'd love at least a little grope. Just some sort of USCIS action

I dont know how much the online update after the biometrics means, because we did get both our EAD and our AP in the mail though none of our online cases were ever updated to say they biometrics were done. Who knows? It's all insane.

(i would also summize that ANY action is good when in the black hole!!)

AMEN TO THAT!!! B)

Babyzee, being in NY does not help either Where was your interview?

I read on a few immigration law sites that contacting a Senator or Congressman does not help at all since they cannot influence the FBI or get a judgment to be made. It says that all the inquiries slow up the FBI from actually making the name checks, and slows up the whole process, so it is highly discouraged. I don't know if I buy it though.

Congrats Mrs Johnson

It looks like people are falling off this list lately and that is a very good sign!

It's all