10 minutes ago, Aviinashh said:

I hope the same and I pray for everybody  

Hang in there!

I also noticed that the USCIS processing table hasn't been updated since September.  It makes me wonder what cases they're actually working on now???

On 11/24/2017 at 4:46 PM, Klee said:

UPDATE: My EAD and AP were finally approved after 144 days!  I got my notice in the mail today with the date 11/17/2017. I had made 2 inquiries with no response and finally contacted my congressperson on November 1st. By November 10th there was no word so I asked if there had been an update and they emailed me back on November 13th to say that they asked for my case to be expedited and NBC said I would be hearing back shortly. According to my NOA it was approved 4 days later. Not sure if that was a coincidence or not, but I am over the moon!

So I'm guessing your online status never changed? Seems to be an increasingly common trend.

Just now, Beachlover said:

So she is an international student, but she's not enrolled at all? How long has she been here? It seems like she is out of status, as an international student she is required to be full-time enrolled and not be illegally working.

 

I understand that you want to protect your son, especially since you have already lost a child ( so sorry for your loss) but I don't think there is much you can do besides advising him the best you can without pushing him away from you. He is taking a huge responsibility on him; she is out of status and illegally working, which is going to be difficult to overcome with immigration's.

Yeah it's weird she's F1 but isn't enrolled. F1 status is valid for as long as whatever school program she is enrolled in. F1 contjnues for one year if she applies for optional practical training (OPT).

Also, asking for your son to go with her to her own school instead of finding her own help is a big red flag. I also understand the desire to protect your son (condolences for your loss). But he is a fully grown man so if he decides to marry, there isn't much you can do. If he asks you for a statement attesting to their relationship or if he needs help with the green card application, you obviously can say no. It's hard to say if they would get approved. If the young lady has zero criminal history, everything would look okay on paper. It would depend largely on who interviews them.

42 minutes ago, garebear397 said:

Hey all -- just wanted to share my Infopass experience recently. I don't post much on this thread but I am an August AOS filer and enjoy reading all of your all's updates. 

 

So my wife is the one that is adjusting status right now. We have our GC interview scheduled for December 8th at the Cincinnati office. We scheduled an infopass appointment (it was yesterday, 11/27) because we haven't received her EAD/AP card -- which we wouldn't normally worry about since we are very close to our interview -- but we are planning a larger wedding ceremony in her home country for January 21st (and my wife wants to go down several weeks early to finish planning it). So we went to the appointment, the lady we talked to was very helpful and totally understood our concern but basically said she couldn't do anything to speed up the AP. 

 

She said we may just never get the AP since our interview is very close. Essentially if your green card interview is scheduled close to three months after filing, they just process the GC. She did mention that if we are approved at our interview they can give us a temporary green card stamp (i-551 stamp I believe) right away, that way my wife can travel sooner than waiting for the physical card to arrive. So that is good news. She was also being super nice and said that since we didn't get an RFE we are sitting good, just bring everything to the interview, and explain after the interview of our needs for my wife to travel shortly and if we are approved we should be good to go. 

 

We were hoping to get the AP expedited from the appointment, just so we could be 100% that my wife could travel by the wedding, but it was nice interacting with the USCIS staff in a very helpful and friendly manner (I know she wasn't an IO, but still) -- and it seemed like she wanted to do anything she could to help us out. Also the info that we can get the I-551 stamp at the interview if we are approved is good news. 

 

Just wanted to share if anyone else is in similar type positions!

Yeah, the 551 stamp acts as a GC in case you don't receive the GC in a timely manner. I've been saying that if they take so long to process EAD/AP, they might as well schedule interviews more quickly. There's no point in having an EAD for only one or two months.

Speaking of EAD/AP, I just got off the phone with a tier 2 rep on the customer service line. He put in a different kind of SR for me; he called it an expedite but said it's not the usual kind of expedite. I guess it's something only they can do if they see an EAD application has been sitting around for a while (it's almost 110 days for me). Anyway he said to expect a reply within 3-10 days so we shall see. I also asked what the delay is from and he said it's massive backlog.

9 hours ago, Hamilton said:

I feel exactly the same way! It's so unfair that people who filed after us are racing through the system -- it should be first come, first serve. How can background checks take months and months for some of us and be super fast for others? This is such a broken system.

 

I did notice in the recent venting, that it seems like some of us who are stuck waiting on EAD/APs have PDs of Aug 07 thru 10. Maybe it means something, but most likely, it's just me trying to find SOME kind of logic in a system that has absolutely none.

I agree; I heard that EAD/AP's and I-130/I-485's are adjudicated by different sets of officers and that they don't really have much to do with each other (as in EAD/AP's don't need to wait for background checks from the I-485). There has been the small percentage of beneficiaries who have EAD/AP approved but then revoked when their I-485 background check came back with criminal history or past deportation orders.

27 minutes ago, HnZ said:

OMG!! you won't believe this. i literally just went to my mail box and found i got the I797 saying they approved my EAD and Travel documents and they will send them in a separate mail!!! You are my luck star!!

 

Okay well now that you've got the approval notice, it's time to do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsABTmT1_M0 

1 minute ago, HnZ said:

Thank you so much for the explanation and hugs ( hug back). Going to check my mail box now and ready to contact the congressman. 

 

 

No problem and keep us updated!  I was saying in the May 2017 Filers thread that there's no freaking point in even giving out EAD/AP combo cards if they're going to take so long.  A lot of people are getting the combo cards only one or two months before the interview.  

Just now, breeze16 said:

Hey mushroomspore I was thinking to involved my senator and you give me another good idea now thank you I hope involving them won’t hurt and make them angry. But I can’t wait anymore I feel like they totally forget about me! And also they are processing September 15 now it’s unbelievable!! *Hugs from me*

What is your PD?  How many days has it been?  If it's been more than 120 days, I think it's okay to involve the congressperson and ombudsman. 

On 11/25/2017 at 4:29 PM, Patoga said:

I did, both senators but i didnt heard anything back yet. Its so frustraiting. I dont know what else do. I didnt contacted ombudsman... is it helpfull?

The ombudsman acts like a "channel" between you and USCIS.  USCIS knows them and congresspeople by name, so the ombudsman may prove to be more helpful if your congresspeople haven't done anything.  Just google "ombudsman USCIS" with your zipcode and call them.  By the way, I've also noticed more people saying their online statuses haven't updated but they've received EAD/AP approval notices and cards in the mail.  So keep checking your box too.  And here's an Internet hug 'cause I know how stressful this all is. *Hug*

17 minutes ago, Throwaway1515 said:

 

Both,  called them and they said it was approved, the notice in mail arrived same day.  But going off the approve date in the letter.  102 days from NOA

 

Sounds like the website is not the most reliable 

Did you talk to a Tier 2 officer when you called?  Because I've been hearing more and more people say that their online status never updated.  I thought for sure 99% of people would get the "APPROVED" or "CARD IN PRODUCTION" status.  What's the point of having the online status system if it's going to be this unreliable?!  Maybe the officers are being told to push as many applications as possible before the holidays and aren't taking the time to update online. I'm imagining papers flying everywhere as they rush around to get it all done.

9 minutes ago, Hawksquill said:

That's exactly how we felt! We received his EAD less than a month before we got the interview notice, which was scheduled a month in advance.  So basically only a two month difference.

 

He found a job within a month but doesn't start until a few days before his interview anyway.  All in all, it just seems silly that EAD takes so long when the net benefit of getting slightly earlier work authorization is almost negligible. 

Definitely agree.  I'm glad it worked out for you guys.  Good luck with your upcoming interview!  

2 hours ago, spanwilder said:

6.5 months here for EAD . RD May 1st, approved November 21st, NSC, still haven't received it. 

 

We also involved our congressman and all (around day 140)....don't think it helped.

 

Our I-485 was transfered to NBC on Nov 8th.

6.5 months?! What the hell....that's so ridiculous. If they're gonna take that long for EAD, they should just schedule the interview super fast for you guys and approve your GC.

47 minutes ago, Hawksquill said:

We filed May 11 and have our interview December 14.  Received his EAD/AP in October.

 

Best of luck to everyone still waiting! 

Five months to get the EAD?? Did you have to contact your congressperson or ombudsman?

2 hours ago, neeqochan said:

Any update?

 

 

We were out of town for Thanksgiving, go back last night & the priority mail envelope was already here ( I think it was delivered on Wednesday) So my husband has EADmCombo card in hand.

 

Nope, no updates (no mail and no online status changes). I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed for receiving the combo card before Christmas. 😪 

Wow, it looks like some people are receiving their EAD/AP approval and cards without the online statuses updating.  Guess I'll just keep checking the mail....

Have you both tried contacting your congresspeople and ombudsmen?

19 hours ago, T_P said:

I would like to have an idea of how many members of August still didn’t receive their EAD and how many already received. If you are reading this post can you quote Yes If you received and No if you didn’t?

A big fat "noooooooope".

17 hours ago, neeqochan said:

Update: We received 2 notices for my husband today. I765 &  I131 even though the status did not change on the AP. 

Card Was Mailed To Me

On November 17, 2017, we mailed your new card for Receipt Number MSC*********, to the address you gave us. If you do not receive your card by December 17, 2017, please go to www.uscis.gov/e-request to request that we send your new card to you. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

Congrats!

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here in the usual pool of anxiety.

Keeping my fingers crossed for us, @Aviinashh & @Texasfiler. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the weekend since I don't have high hopes for hearing anything from USCIS today.

5 minutes ago, Aviinashh said:

If they can concentrate more on working on our cases than updating website, am sure we would've received our EADs by now. 

HAH! This wait is causing me to go into some weird existential confusion. 

47 minutes ago, GoodVibesOnly said:

Same boat here.   No response to SRs or anything. Pd for i485 is the same (8.8) and Pd for the other forms is 8.4.

it's like they have forgotten us, hah. If this was the titanic we would definitely be still swimming in the cold ocean. Hopefully an officer will come back for us. Just hang in there. Not sure why background checks are longer for some people though, I'm pretty positive I'm the only person in the world with my first and last name combined since they are very unique. Not sure if that even matters or if they check the entire internet :/ or if they even interact with our own government etc that's taking so long. I'm also pretty sure I'm clean in every country I've been to. Maybe it's because we are adjusting from a B2 visa, who knows. Hopefully we will hear news soon. Although thanksgiving is coming, this would be a great time for news to come and be grateful about them too haha. 

I do think adjusting from a B2 has something to do with it.  Plus I found another thread on another forum of someone complaining about EAD processing times. An immigration lawyer simply commented, "Extreme vetting". So I think USCIS is trying to do more thorough background checks while they are backlogged. 

For perspective, I received an EAD back in 2015 for F1/OPT. It took only three months for me to get that card.

1 minute ago, Hamilton said:

Welcome! I'm in the exact same position, same PDs, no response to SRs. No idea why our background checks are stuck while almost everybody else's here was complete back in Sept/Oct. Let us know when you hear something!

 

Wow we have basically the same timeline!  I was wondering if maybe the incomplete background check affects our EAD/AP processing time?  Anyway I'll post updates as they happen.  It's kinda nice to be able to talk to other people going through the same situation.  Good luck and hope you hear good news soon!

Hey all, I'm filing from Los Angeles.

PD 08/08

SR raised for EAD 10/23

Case statuses are stuck at "case received" and "fingerprint fee" received".

No response for the SR yet.  I did call the USCIS hotline.  I was told our I-130/I-485 are still pending at the NBC (which I guess means my background check hasn't quite cleared?).  I was also told to wait another week for the SR.  Today's day 100.  I'm trying not to lose my patience!  I was so hoping we'd have the EAD/AP card two weeks ago!!