soprano82

My wife and I got married exactly 1 month ago today, after she entered the US on a K1 visa. We are currently completing the paperwork necessary to adjust her status to permanent resident, but we have run into a few things on the I-485 form that we are not understanding.
 
1. In the section regarding "Information About Your Immigrant Category" the Receipt Number of the Underlying Petition is asked for, as well as the priority date from the underlying petition (if you are the principal applicant, which in this case my wife is the one applying, so it is her). We are not sure what this is referring to. Is it the i-129f receipt number? What is meant by the priority date?
 
2. There is another question later in the form that asks if you have ever been involved with any organization in the US. My wife and I met when we were mutually part of a musical organization that toured the US during the summers of 2009 and 2010. The organization is US based. I think that probably qualifies as a yes to the question, but I just want to be sure that I am understanding that question correctly.
 
3. For the employment history section,  are gaps in employment permissible in the 5 year period when completing that section? I remember the G-325 did not allow gaps to exist; that is to say that you had to note periods where you were unemployed. I can't find anything on the instructions for the form that discusses that. Currently we have all the jobs she has worked in the last 5 years on the form, but we have no included unemployed gaps.
 
4. When it comes to paying the fee, do they expect a single check for the sum of the filing fee and the biometrics fee ($1225) or 2 separate checks for ($1140 and $85 respectively)
 
Thanks for the input as always. Very happy to be part of this community.

Update: We received NOA2 today! Still have quite a bit to do, but I'm glad this phase is finally over. I'm optimistic that she can get the visa by the end of the year. VJ's estimate is incredibly accurate.

At this time, I still have not received any updates regarding the application. The process does take a long time for those that file toward the middle of the year. From data on this site, I noticed that people that filed anytime from the beginning of the year to around March were getting NOA2 within 2 to 3 months, but after that time, it starts to take much longer for a reason that I don't completely understand. I think my application will be looked at in the next week or so, based on the VJ estimate, but I am a little anxious too, because I am going back to Japan to visit my fiancee in Tokyo for a few weeks next week. I never would have thought it would take this long to get NOA2. My fiancee is starting to feel anxious as well.
 
The only thing we can really do is continue to wait, but fortunately VJ tries to estimate the NOA1 dates of applications that are being processed, which I am assuming is what you have been following as I have. I tried calling USCIS at one point to check after about 3 months, but I noticed they aren't really interested in helping you look into the status of your application beyond what you likely already knew when you called in. USCIS doesn't regularly update their processing times either, so VJ is likely a more accurate source to track when you can expect your application to be viewed and hopefully adjudicated. Another source you should look at is the link, that one of the posters on this thread provided, that has the numbers for how many applications (all applications encompassed) USCIS has received, approved, and denied each quarter (this is pretty well hidden on the USCIS site). I found this to be useful as you can get a general idea of where your application is sitting; based on when you sent it in during the quarter, etc. Since their year starts in October, they are in the 4th quarter now. The 3rd quarter, which is where your application was filed, has not been added to these statistics yet, but I would think it would be done in the next couple weeks or so based on when the 2nd quarter was added (June 8th, which is 3 months after the 2nd quarter ended).
 
Lastly, while my fiancee has been feeling stressed out at times with the process of waiting for the visa to come through, she has been doing her best to distract herself from it by continuing to work a simple department store job (that she can exit from quickly when the visa comes in) and spending time with friends / family that she won't see quite as much anymore once the visa is done. I recognize that you may be doing many of these things already, but I think it's important to embrace the time you have left in Japan as you will have the rest of your life to spend with your fiance. I don't know how good your fiance's Japanese is, but I have been continuing to improve my Japanese during this time, to keep my mind off the visa, by studying for the JLPT at the end of year. Best of luck and hope your application comes in sooner rather than later.
 
Here's the link I discussed again for convenience:
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-all-uscis-application-and-petition-form-types
 

At this time, I still have not received any updates regarding the application. The process does take a long time for those that file toward the middle of the year. From data on this site, I noticed that people that filed anytime from the beginning of the year to around March were getting NOA2 within 2 to 3 months, but after that time, it starts to take much longer for a reason that I don't completely understand. I think my application will be looked at in the next week or so, based on the VJ estimate, but I am a little anxious too, because I am going back to Japan to visit my fiancee in Tokyo for a few weeks next week. I never would have thought it would take this long to get NOA2. My fiancee is starting to feel anxious as well.
 
The only thing we can really do is continue to wait, but fortunately VJ tries to estimate the NOA1 dates of applications that are being processed, which I am assuming is what you have been following as I have. I tried calling USCIS at one point to check after about 3 months, but I noticed they aren't really interested in helping you look into the status of your application beyond what you likely already knew when you called in. USCIS doesn't regularly update their processing times either, so VJ is likely a more accurate source to track when you can expect your application to be viewed and hopefully adjudicated. Another source you should look at is the link, that one of the posters on this thread provided, that has the numbers for how many applications (all applications encompassed) USCIS has received, approved, and denied each quarter (this is pretty well hidden on the USCIS site). I found this to be useful as you can get a general idea of where your application is sitting; based on when you sent it in during the quarter, etc. Since their year starts in October, they are in the 4th quarter now. The 3rd quarter, which is where your application was filed, has not been added to these statistics yet, but I would think it would be done in the next couple weeks or so based on when the 2nd quarter was added (June 8th, which is 3 months after the 2nd quarter ended).
 
Lastly, while my fiancee has been feeling stressed out at times with the process of waiting for the visa to come through, she has been doing her best to distract herself from it by continuing to work a simple department store job (that she can exit from quickly when the visa comes in) and spending time with friends / family that she won't see quite as much anymore once the visa is done. I recognize that you may be doing many of these things already, but I think it's important to embrace the time you have left in Japan as you will have the rest of your life to spend with your fiance. I don't know how good your fiance's Japanese is, but I have been continuing to improve my Japanese during this time, to keep my mind off the visa, by studying for the JLPT at the end of year. Best of luck and hope your application comes in sooner rather than later.
 
Here's the link I discussed again for convenience:
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-all-uscis-application-and-petition-form-types
 

I was wondering if I could get some testimony as to the accuracy of Visa Journey's NOA1 to NOA2 processing times for the I-129F? For the CSC, where my application was forwarded to, the current processing date has been floating around March 31st, 2017 for about a week now for some reason. I've seen it advance as far as April 2nd, then move right back to March 31st today. The processing time for the CSC, as reported by Visa Journey, had been steadily moving by a day with the passing of each day until recently. Additionally, USCIS reports that they are currently processing I-129F's from January of 2017 (on the web and over the phone), which I cannot understand as there seem to be people that have submitted their applications after that date (as late as March) and have already received NOA2 (from the reports I have seen on this site). Another question I had was how many days/months worth of I-129F applications does USCIS typically cover in a given month? The answer to that question may explain why there are so many discrepancies between Visa Journey's processing date and USCIS's processing date. Since USCIS updates where they currently are each month, I was thinking someone may have potentially determined this statistic.
 
Here's a little background on my case. My I-129F was received by USCIS on April 28th, 2017, so it has been nearly 3 months, but I still haven't heard back from USCIS regarding NOA2. I realize this is to be expected on some level, but I am confused as to how this site calculates the estimated time in comparison to what USCIS is reporting and what is going on with the Visa Journey's processing date as of late. Maybe the algorithm Visa Journey uses to assess what date each service center is currently processing is gaining more data from users inputting data to support a particular date, but I am not sure. I was really hoping to potentially get NOA2 by early September at the latest, before I go to visit my fiancee in her country, so I could hand deliver the paperwork that is needed for her interview and avoid having to mail it there. However, I'm beginning to question whether that is a realistic possibility at this point.
 
Thank you in advance for the advice. I am very thankful to have such an amazing community of people to consult regarding questions I have related to the visa process.