JoelThai

I am still waiting for the AP to arrive.   The EAD was received just over two weeks ago.  

15 hours ago, Boiler said:

I heard about this a few weeks back, the logic of seemingly doubling the work to speed up the process escapes me.

Their language of stating that this is being done for efficiency improvement is interesting.   My best guess is they are attempting to reduce the wait time for employment authorization, and this will be coming at the cost of increasing wait times for travel authorization.  That is to say, resources are being moved from one group to the other.   But an improvement in overall efficiency is hard to comprehend.  

Current wait times at the National Benefits Center for Travel Documents (I-131) is 8 - 13 months.

Current wait times at the National Benefits Center for Employment Authorization (I-765) is 7.5 - 12 mounts.

It will be interesting to track the wait times for both the I-131 and I-765 over the coming months and see if the time gap widens and the time for Employment Authorization will be reduced.  

The "combo" card was first introduced in 2011.

https://www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-to-issue-employment-authorization-and-advance-parole-card-for-adjustment-of-status-applicants-0

Does anyone know if the Travel Document (I-131) will be issued as a second card, or as a paper document as was done in the past?

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

If it was a renewal it would not have came as a combo anyways.

EAD is allowed to be submitted 180 days before expiry while AP, only 120.

This is our second renewal for work authorization and advance parole.  The original card and the first renewal were both "combo" cards.   

Today my wife's Employment Authorization card arrived in the mail.  She applied for renewal of her previous "Combo" card last July by submitting forms I-131 and I-765.  I was surprised to see that the card that arrived is not a "Combo" card and specifically states "NOT VALID FOR REENTRY TO U.S."   I checked the receipt number for the I-131 and it currently remains at ""The above case has been received by our office and is in process."

After some investigation, I found this: https://www.uscis.gov/i-131

Alert: To improve efficiency and reduce Form I-765 processing times for Form I-485 applicants, USCIS may decouple Forms I-765 from Forms I-131 filed at the same time.

To improve efficiency and reduce Form I-765 processing times for Form I-485 applicants, USCIS may decouple Forms I-765 from Forms I-131 filed at the same time. Effective Feb. 1, 2022, when possible, USCIS will adjudicate the request for employment authorization first and, if it is approved, we will issue an Employment Authorization Document without any notation about advanced parole. We will adjudicate the Form I-131 separately and, if it is approved, we will issue an Advance Parole Document.

2 hours ago, Mike & Tanja said:

Yes, that's what I think now too. I wish, I would have known that 3 weeks ago, but I was too frustrated to check VJ. What did they say, why they don't approve you right away?

The IO we had did not say too much about post processing of the green card, other than stating that if and when we are approved, it will take approximately 2 weeks for delivery of the green card.  Our IO was "all business" but progressed through the interview process very slowly, seeming to make sure to "dot all the i's and cross  all the t's".   The interview lasted the full hour, but that was mostly because he was reviewing the i-485 very slowly and carefully.

11 hours ago, Mike & Tanja said:

So everybody else who had their interview in San Jose ( I saw that there are at least 3 other ones) and didn't get the approval right away... there is hope. Hang in and good luck!!!

Thanks for posting this!  We had our interview in San Jose last week and still waiting for a status update.  Our case still shows "Interview Scheduled".   Based on a few other recent SJ interviews, it does seem that it is not too unusual for them to take a 2 - 3 weeks for approval.

16 hours ago, Mike E said:

I see from your profile that you also interviewed at San Jose. When the lawyer learned who our IO would be, she wasn’t happy because he could be difficult in her experience.  He was a bit grumpy.

 

Ha!   I think we had the same guy yesterday in San Jose!   He grilled us for nearly the full hour and gave our state certified interpreter a difficult time as well.   He definitely was taking his job seriously, which I guess is a good thing.   We definitely got our monies worth.  😉  Our case status still shows "Interview Scheduled". 

@Mike E @PaulaMarie

12 hours ago, dittoditto said:

We were just at the San Jose office too.

@dittoditto @PaulaMarie Nice!  The San Jose office must be running full steam ahead.   My wife's interview is scheduled for the end of this month at the San Jose office (located in Santa Clara) as well.     I hope you get your cards in the mail quickly!

14 hours ago, JDP91 said:

Day 200 since our last update. Still no EAD or AP. Two case inquiries filed -- one this week and one about a month ago... neither of which have been responded to. Sigh.

 

Remember when USCIS got rid of the legal requirement to adjudicate EAD cases in under 90 days but promised it would still do so in the large majority of cases? About that...

I have been waiting 221 days for an I-131 & I-765 approval now.   I have also filed two case inquiries, the first online and the second (last week) via Tier 2.   Neither of the inquiries have been assigned for review.    

Now I am preparing to submit a request to the Ombudsman, just need to wait for the 60 days past "normal processing time".  But that has not moved much in the last 45 days either.    I suggest reading the 2019 Ombusman report to get an idea how bad processing "promises" are missed by the USCIS.   Starting on page 70 they discuss issues with EAD adjudication.

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/19_0712_cisomb_2019_ombudsman_annualreport.pdf

40 minutes ago, Gigi2017 said:

It’s been 222 days since my husband and I are filed and 190 days ago we’ve got the “Ready to be scheduled for an interview “ update. How many of us are still waiting for the interview?

You are not alone!   We are still waiting also for EAD/AP...   217 days since filing and and "only" 68 days since "Ready to be scheduled for an interview" .   

After contacting USCIS both with an online inquiry and Tier 2 phone call (neither of which have been assigned to an investing officer), my next step will be to request help from the Ombudsman.    But that requires waiting a least 60 days past the normal processing cutoff date.   

After reading the Ombudsman 2019 Annual Report, it seems that USCIS has many problems with case management.   It is an interesting read that provides some insight into the issues that are facing.  Here is a link to the report for those interested in reading it.

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/19_0712_cisomb_2019_ombudsman_annualreport.pdf

1 hour ago, Lebanese23 said:

This is not a new rule, it's always been an effect, if you don't bring your own translator and the officer isn't sure what you are saying, they will have to find other ways.

 

My wife had this experience at the Social Security office when applying for her SS card.  My wife was unsure of the meaning of the first question asked by the officer and looked to me for help in answering.   It was clear my wife did not fully understand the question without additional information.  Fortunately the officer knew what to do and requested a translator on the phone to assist with the questions.   Once the translator was on the phone, everything else went smoothly.

So, I guess the moral of Loren's experience is, unless both (husband and wife) are truly  fluent english speakers (sometimes I doubt that I am even one), be prepared with a translator or confirm availability of translation services at the immigration office.   Comprehension is also a two way street.   There is always a chance that the officer can have trouble understanding the spoken english of the interviewee due to accent and/or pronunciation challenges.

34 minutes ago, iwir said:

You can see my timeline on my signature. In addition to well prepared documents, I also wrote my travel plan with exact dates. I didn't say unknown. So maybe that's why the IO adjudicated my file quickly. 

You may have a very good point...   While I believe my documents were well and accurately prepared, and I have not received any RFEs, my details for travel were not specific.  So, your suggestion is a possibility.   It would be interesting to hear from others who have delayed APs as to how they documented travel plans.   Thanks for sharing your ideas.

59 minutes ago, iwir said:

Congrats, what is your local office? Mine is San Francisco and we are waiting to get our interview date since May

I am assigned to the San Francisco office and it took about 5 months to have my I-485 ready to be assigned for interview.  But the wait times for actual I-485 interviews for San Francisco are currently 18 to 26 months. 😧  https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

I see you got your EAD card in 107 days!   Did you expedite your request, or were you lucky to get one so quickly?  I am currently at 200 days of waiting.  😧

3 hours ago, Shiran said:

I haven't looked extensively, but I see some relatively fast approvals for EAD in SF.

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=295552 for example. 

Searching profile timelines for the San Francisco Office K1 filers (with a few other filters to try to find useful timelines), I found 8 timelines of interest.

Of those, only 2 had AP/EAD issued in under 180 days.   The other 6 are either still waiting, or took 180 days or more.

Generally I am looking at timelines where EAD was applied for after 12/1/2018 and before 5/1/2019.   For the timeline you found, an EAD arrival in 75 days does seem unusual.   An expedited request perhaps? 

It does seem that the San Francisco office has an unusual percentage of VJ members with processing times of 180 or greater days.   USCIS currently suggests that normal processing time is between 135 - 195 days . (4.5 to 6.5 months) (It looks like they have rolled back the inquiry date to March 14th.) .  I am at 196, so I guess I am still over by one day now.  😉

For my search here is what I am finding...

Filed 2/6/2019 - No AP/EAD yet...

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=309482

Filed 3/12/2019 - No AP/EAD yet...

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=298072

Filed 4/14/2018 - No AP/EAD yet...

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=290629

Filed 12/19/2018 - AP/EAD Approved 8/3/2019 - Total wait 227 days

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=289679

Filed 12/28/2018 - AP/EAD Approved 4/12/2019 - Total wait 105 days

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=285335

Filed 1/30/2019 -  AP/EAD Approved 7/30/2019 - Total wait 180 days

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=303593

Filed 2/27/2019 - EAD Approved 8/29/2019 - Total wait 180 days

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=287275

Filed 3/6/2019 - EAD Approved 8/8/2019 - Total wait 155 days

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=284400

32 minutes ago, rye_212 said:

It is also contradictory to the evidence we see on this site, where some who have applied for EAD after March 22nd have already been approved. I guess they generate a response that they think sounds plausible.   

 

My inquiry went in Sept 12th, response deadline October 4th.  Fingers crossed. 

I am seeing evidence of delayed EAD for San Francisco filers.   Your timeline is similar to mine (first filed I-485/I-131/I-765 with received date of 3/11).    My I-485 was last touched on Aug 12th (status changed to Ready to be scheduled for an Interview) and the I-131 and I-765 have yet to be approved.   

Of the handful of San Francisco filers I have located (by reviewing VJ Timelines), they have all taken between 180 to 210 days to receive EAD/AP.   My AP status has been at "Case Received" for 196 days now.   So hopefully my "hunch" is correct and within the next two weeks the waiting will be over.    I did file an online inquiry on 9/6 with a promised response by 9/28.   But no news yet....   Once I know anything, I will share here.

5 hours ago, Bronforth said:

I submitted my second round of service requests on September 4th (for both EAD and AP). I got this response on my AP: "Due to workload factors not related to your case, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing your case. USCIS is committed to adjudicating immigration benefits in the order received and in a timely and efficient manner. "

 

This is contradictory to what was sent to the congresswoman's office. My SR for the EAD has been assigned to an officer as of 9/14 and I'm still awaiting a response.

It is really too bad that they can not supply useful information.   But it is encouraging to know that there are indications that your case is hopefully assigned to an officer.   

I submitted my first service request for my AP on September 6th  (2 weeks ago) and still waiting for a response.  (My I-485 (ready for scheduling), I-131 (case was received), and I-765 (fingerprint review completed) were submitted to USCIS in early March).   Hopefully we both hear something useful soon.

4 hours ago, Shiran said:

The current inquiry date for EAD is April 4th, so you are officially outside of normal processing. Have you put in request? I am guessing the delays have something to do when they separated your cases. You said you didn't show "Ready to schedule" until some time in August? 

I did submit a request via the web form last week.  You are correct, "Ready to Schedule" appeared for my I-485 in early August.   The only other thing I am not sure about is that the USCIS states that if your case had a status update within the last 60 days, the the case is considered to be within normal processing.  I wonder since the I-765 and I-131 underlies the I-485, and the I-485 was updated about 40 days ago, would USCIS claim that my I-131 and I-765 are within normal processing.   But this still points back to why the I-485 status update was slow, and if the local office is a factor in this.

With enough data, sometimes interesting things can be discovered, so I am looking carefully at the experience of others processing through San Francisco as an explanation of why EAD/AP approval is so slow.   I think I see evidence of a pattern, but now I am looking for evidence to  prove me wrong, suggesting that being assigned to San Francisco does not necessary mean that the EAD/AP will be late.   I wish I had direct query access to the VJ database!  It would be so much easier!

For example, last year I noticed a pattern of the NVC batch mailing of I-129F paperwork to the various embassies occurring once every two weeks.  So, it became predictable, after USCIS issued you a NOA2 I-129f and the NVC received the papers as to when the NVC would forward the papers to the appropriate embassy.   I am not sure if they are still doing it that way (some embassies were transitioning to electronic transmission at the time), but there were many people who found that information pretty useful. 

Today I found something that I find interesting and revealing, and have not noticed discussed previously....   Regarding processing times, USCIS states the following:

"We are testing a new method to calculate processing times for Forms I-90, I-485, I-751, and N-400. With this method, we can post processing times that are more accurate, timely, and easier to understand.

What do the processing times mean?

We now show case processing times as a range. The first number is the time it takes to complete 50% of cases (the median). The second number is the time it takes to complete 93% of cases. 

For non-pilot forms, we will continue to use our old method to calculate processing times, but will add an upper limit that is generally 130% of the processing time.

We calculate processing times by using historical data of completed cases. We cannot project how long it will take to complete a case filed today."

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/more-info

https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-updates-webpage-share-more-accurate-processing-times

So, with respect to the I-485 at least, they are admitting that their posted processing times do not apply to 8% of the case load.  😧   And I am not sure where they define what the "old method to calculate processing times" is, but it seems they pad that number by 130% to determine the upper bounds.  But 130% of what?

7 minutes ago, ds2 said:

And I totally agree with your advice regarding K1 Visa and CR1 visa, in-fact, if I knew earlier I would have lived in NYC Queens for the first year (since they get their GCs within 6 months) and then move to Manhattan. Oh well! 

One idea I have that could help balance local processing times is to allow the applicant to choose which office performs the I-485 interview.  I bet many of us would not mind a day trip to an office with short processing times, and this would likely reduce the loads on the offices with excessive back logs.    Come on USCIS, think outside the box!  

I did see a recent USCIS directive that would allow cases to be reassigned to nearby field offices,  but that seems to have not produced any noticeable benefit to the San Francisco office as of yet...   For example the next closest office to San Franciso is San Jose, with an I-485 10 month wait on the low end vs a 17.5 month wait on the low end for San Francisco.   Living within 30 minutes of both offices, I would certainly welcome a transfer to the San Jose office!

https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-aims-decrease-processing-times-n-400-and-i-485

13 hours ago, confusedshoes said:

Our dates are very similar and we were stuck in the Finger Print received stage for a long time.

It looks like your I-485 is processing through San Francisco as well.   I think I see a possible pattern emerging for EAD/AP approval.   

For applicants assigned to local offices with with long I-485 processing times, it seems that their EAD/AP processing is excessive as well.

The pattern I am seeing for San Francisco is that EAD/AP approval often takes 180 - 210 days (or more).   

QUESTION:  If your I-485 is being processed in the SAN FRANCISO local office, and you have filed for EAD/AP between JAN 1, 2019 and April 1, 2019, how many days of processing (or waiting) has your EAD/AP APPROVAL taken?

*Rant on*

With the current administration worried about Public Charge and the expectation that immigrants should have their own personal resources available to provide for them, it is hypocritical to deny or delay permission of those immigrants some basic American human rights, such as the ability to work to pay for our living expenses, and ability to travel abroad to fulfill job requirements and family needs.    

*Rant off*

And a word of advice, for new members considering the choice between a K1 Visa and a CR1 Visa, is look carefully at your local office I-485 processing times and consider the impacts of K1 Adjustment of Status on your personal needs and expectations.   If the processing times are greater than 6 months, strongly consider the CR1 route!

54 minutes ago, Shiran said:

Notice for biometrics we did a "walk in" We went to ASC basically right away after getting the notice, and not on a scheduled date that was a month out. I don't know if it played any role in speeding up the process. Case changed to "Ready to be scheduled" for I-485 on 8 of May. So that is quite a bit earlier than the date you mentioned.

Thanks for sharing your data.   I guess you were quick to get the California ID card before your I-94 had less than 30 days left.   We just missed that mark, so, another reason why we need the EAD, to get a California ID card.   

We did a walk in for the BIO appt as well to the assigned San Francisco office, but I guess it did not help.  It seems that there is no rhyme or reason to predicting how USCUS does things.   Why it took so long for our I-485 to update to "ready" is also a mystery.   

Tonight I reviewed several VJ profiles indicating K1 AOS for the San Francisco office, and it seems that it is not too unusual to see processing of the EAD/AP taking 180 - 210 days, so that gives some hope.   If not, at about the 210 day point I will have the option to contact the ombudsman, but hopefully that will not be necessary.

14 minutes ago, dr01d3k4 said:

I agree. My local office is also San Francisco, and I'm still waiting for my EAD/AP after 11 months! Wife and I filed October 18th 2018, had 2 RFEs, went ready to schedule for interview on July 24th 2019, but no update on EAD/AP at all. Sent 3 service requests to USCIS, contacted a senator with no response, and also submitted a case assistance request to the ombudsman earlier today.

Yikes!   This is not encouraging.   Which Senator did you contact?   That was going to be my next step after my current enquiry "expires" on the 28th.   I know one of them is busy trying to become President.....  🙄    I am going to follow you to see what happens with the ombudsman.  I hope it is good news soon.

 Clearly something is wrong....   Now I wonder if the SF office is the common denominator....

31 minutes ago, Shiran said:

Yeah, I don't blame you. And I looked at your timeline, and seeing how you had no RFE, I am not sure why your EAD/AP not approved yet, you filed 2 full weeks before us, and as far as I could tell they go mostly in chronological order for EAD approvals. I was using CaseTracker to scan batches of 500 apps, and we were approved at about time I expected when other people who filed at/around same date were getting approved. Obviously GC is a different story. SF has over 12000 cases backlog last I checked. 

Thanks for your insight.   It aligns mostly with what I see when I scan 500 cases around mine.    But, I do see many other I-131 cases also in a "Case Was Received" state within my scan, but I just am not sure if this may be because they have already received greencards, or they are in the same boat as me.   But yes, no RFEs.   

A possible clue is our I-485 was updated to "Case is Ready to be Scheduled for an Interview" during the first week of August, about the same time I would have expected the EAD/AP to be issued.  I wonder if it is the national office that sets the status to "Ready to be Scheduled", or the local office.   I ask because I am thinking that the I-485 status should have normally updated earlier than August, but maybe delays due to the backlog in San Francisco.   My best hope is that the EAD/AP is somehow slightly delay due to the delay in the I-485 being ready for scheduling.  But I just have no idea.

If anyone has any insight into the "normal" timeline of EAD/AP processing and the I-485 changing status to "ready to be scheduled", I would be interested in what your experience was.

3 hours ago, Bronforth said:

I'm at 194 days and counting and the most I've heard on my EAD/AP/AOS is my AOS case is ready to schedule an interview as of early last month.

Your status sounds very similar to my wife's.  She filed her AOS papers about one week after you, and we are still waiting.   Her I-485 updated a month ago to "Case is Ready to Be Scheduled for An interview."   It seems the only difference from you is she did not receive any RFEs for the underlying petition.  (Hopefully with her case ready to be scheduled, she will not get an "RFE"),  Like you, we are still waiting to be approved for permission to work and travel card.

I know there are a few others waiting here as well.  Last week I filed a case inquiry via the web page.   My hope is the more noise we make, the sooner our EADs will be approved.  Hopefully we will have good news to share with each other soon.