QAF2A

6 minutes ago, ladybirdapple said:

Hi @QAF2A

 

That was very helpful!

may I know how did you raise the SR? The one I did is your inquiry about why your case is taking longer than our processing time.

May I know how to notify USCIS that my priority date is current?

 

Thanks!!!

Hi! You are welcome. I’m glad that we all provide each other with information here.

I called USCIS and told them about PD being current and the wait is long. They can generate an SR for you. I guess it also depends on the officer if they know the procedure or not. But do let them know the key words or priority date current, and outside processing times.

Best of luck to all of us!

Hello friends, here is the reply I got from the service request I raised. Basically says to keep waiting:

Recently, you notified USCIS that your priority date is current.  When your priority date becomes current, your case automatically returns to active processing and will be worked in the order in which it was received.  Once further action is taken, a notice will be sent to the address of record.

On 6/24/2019 at 2:14 PM, thepanda said:

Thank you! 

 

So, this is my guess. Beginning of this year I tried to raise one and it wouldn't let me submit one. It immediately said that I was within processing time and that I should wait. This time I submitted it and got a SR number. I checked my local office though and they are at September 8th, 2017. Mine is April 6th, 2017. 

 

I also realized that I probably got my Green Card because I submitted my work permit renewal. When you submitted yours, was your PD already current? 

I submitted my renewal in the beginning of June. They received it on June 11th. I sent them my i-485 notice with the paperwork that stated my PD. My Green Card was approved 2 days later on June 13th. I think the officer/employee who handled my case saw that I was current and instead of wasting their resources in processing my EAD renewal, they proceeded to pull my case and approved that one. This is just an assumption. Maybe my case was also still sitting in the DC office and my officer processed here. I hope that they will see that it is just a waste of time to process your work permit request and that they should process your GC instead. They don't make any money with our renewals. 

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I agree with your guess. There is no benefit for them to go through with renew the EAD for no money if they could just approve the I-485. I hope all of the officers would realize that.

When I called, the agent mentioned that the I-485 priority date should be the date it is filed, not the I-130 priority date(Mine is Feb 2017), and thus I am still within the processing time.(Local office is processing Nov 2016 cases, and mine is March 2018)

My congressman's office just got back to me today, I submitted some release forms, and hope that it will have some impact.

On 6/18/2019 at 6:02 PM, thepanda said:

I raised a Service Request today online and it worked. (Last time I raised a ticket it didn't go through because I was not out of normal processing time). I checked the Case Tracker online before I submitted the request. My account didn't show any update and still doesn't. 

 

Guess what I got in the mail when I got home? I signed up for the USPS e-mail notification and didn't know I would get a letter from USCIS. I thought it was the receipt notice for my work permit renewal. It is actually my i-485 approval. It says to contact them again if my card does not arrive within the next 90 days. I am so happy! 

 

Timeline:

PD April 2017

Submitted AOS - May 2018

Interview - November 2018

i-130 approval - March 2019

i-485 approval - June 2019

 

Looks like my i-485 was transferred to NBC afterwards.

 

Update: the "old" case tracker just updated and it says "Card was mailed to me". For my i-130 approval they only updated the new case tracker. A little messy but I am so happy! I will keep you guys updated when I receive the Green Card in the mail.

Hi @thepanda Congratulations on getting the green card!

I want to ask you, you were mentioning that you raised a service request and it worked, because it was outside the processing time. Which processing time were you checking? I would really like to raise a request as well.

For me, I have been checking: I-485, Chicago IL, but it takes 8.5-32 months. And my PD for AOS would be March 2018, so it is still within. It won't be until next year to raise a request, if I check it this way.

Thanks!

On 6/9/2019 at 1:49 PM, thepanda said:

Sorry, I don’t understand from your post if I-130 was approved. Was it approved? My PD has been current since a month. I received my I-130 approval in March and I had my interview in November 2018. Now I’m just waiting for I-485 approval in GC. I submitted my EAD renewal on Friday because I have the feeling that it’ll be a long wait and that I’ll need a new EAD when my current expires in August. 

Hi @thepanda, my I-130 was not approved yet at the time of the interview, so the officer was trying to get it transferred to the office, which they did months later. Which is very similar to your case. I had interview in June 2018, and I-130 approved in November 2018. Now waiting. I have heard nothing back from either service request or email to the senator's office. Might plan to write to ombudsman in the next few weeks. I think my case is forgotten. ( Now seeing your post that July VB is current, whaaaat? What about us who's been waiting)

I submitted EAD renewal around a month ago, and have already got receipt, which adds 180 to my EAD, meaning it expires Jan 2019. Yet I see the processing time is long(5-8months). I do not want to lose my hard-earned job! I might look into expediting it around November. Do you think that is a good timeframe for expediting it?

1 hour ago, issea said:

 

I saw sayings elsewhere that when you got your interview completed before your PD becomes current, your case could be approved in weeks, months or longer after your PD becomes current. It is really case specific. Long waiting might mean additional background check, case backlog and the like, or case being forgotten on the corner of one's desktop. In the case of the latter, an infopass appointment might draw their attention back and work on your case. 

 

For the infopass I don't remember who says on VJ but my impression is you can call USCIS and talk to a tier 2 and ask them to arrange an infopass appointment for you if they think it is necessary. Please try it and let us know the outcome. 

Thank you Issea for the suggestion. I will definitely call them again and find out what's going on after the weekend.

Take care!

On 6/6/2019 at 5:42 PM, issea said:

Hi folks, 

 

Just come to update my case. The green card is delivered to me today.

I give my brief timeline below: 

 

I-130 PD: 02/01/2017

I-130 NOA2: 08/20/2018

I-485 NOA1: 12/27/2018

I-485 Interview: 03/19/2019 (update from F2A to IR6)

I-485 Approval: 05/30/2019

Green Card arrival: 06/06/2019

Congrats! We have the same PD of I-130. Hopefully I get it soon... My case is still under F2A though. I feel it is forgotten. 

I have raised Service request few weeks ago and got no reply. Yesterday I emailed a senator and a few congressmen. Let's see how that goes.

My I-130 was not approved yet during the interview a year ago. But few months after it is approved.

Now my PD has been current for sometime, but there's no movement on my case. I hope it is not forgotten. 

Is there anything we can do?

Infopass cannot be scheduled at all in Chicago office, and the natural processing time deadline for I-485 is more than a year away..

On 4/25/2019 at 1:59 PM, Bhumi said:

Hey 

When I schedule an infopass appointment  it says like this:

Important office information

This office is not accepting walk-in requests or scheduling InfoPass appointments.

 

Only one option is to call them..

I just came back from oversea travel, using AP was pretty easy to re-enter.

I also tried to get info pass appointment and found out they are not doing it anymore, at least not for people who are within the processing times. Will definitely renew my EAD asap.

My I-485 is still considered under normal processing times,(the normal is 31months after filing I485), ridiculous. But I did manage to put in a service request online, I tried to explain that I already had the interview last year this time and as chart A has been current for more than 2 months, I am asking where is my GC, why is the wait still going. Let's see what they will say.

The new Trump immigration reform plans to cancel all pending GCs, and make us apply again. I hope it will not pass.

2 hours ago, Bhumi said:

Hey @QAF2A did you receive your green card?

 

Thanks in advance. 

Hi! I do agree with @Clotillda that it does not hurt to contact every source, USCIS, local office for info pass. I plan to do that soon.

I have not yet heard anything about the green card. Let's hope it stays that way for now since I need to use the AP to travel next week. When I come back I plan to do info pass and get to the bottom of it. 

Last time I called(earlier this month) the answer was please check the I-485 processing times, and that was not helpful.

1 minute ago, hyhy said:

in 1 week

Thank you!

1 minute ago, hyhy said:

Hi all,

 

Finally, my green card is delivered today.

 

Below is my timeline:

 

1/2017:        130 PD

4/2018:        485 RD (130 was still pending)

7/2018:        Ready to schedule interview

8/2018:        Interview scheduled

9/2018:        Interview completed. 485 returned to NBC due to F2A visa was not available

4/2019:        Priority date became current

4/2019:        New card is being produced

4/19/2019:  Card was delivered

 

Location: MI

  

Wish you all can get good news soon!

Thank you for the update! 

Congratulations! Your journey has a good end!

I do have a question, how many days is it from card being produced to card delivered for you? Did you get the card being produced notice by mail or email?

I am currently planning a trip for the end of this month using my AP, and hoping that it would not get canceled because the green card would cancel my AP.

Thank you!

27 minutes ago, thepanda said:

My date is current in April (new visa bulletin). I’m really happy but since my paperwork was transferred I wouldn’t be surprised if it took another 3 months for me to receive my GC. So exactly when I’m abroad ... (this is only a guess) 

Me too, I am also just current in April bulletin. It took the Chicago office 1 and a half month from submitting I485 till interview scheduled. I hope they slow down a bit this time.

For the previous worries, you are understanding me so right! I did call and ask about if you are abroad and GC is issued what to do. They told me you could talk to the CBP officers, and it is not the applicant's fault.

I just got my plane ticket for later this month. If before my travel date comes, I get I485 approval letter but not the card, I guess I have to let my plane ticket go to waste.

On the other hand, we need to be really careful, if you have applied for renewal, you cannot use the AP to travel, otherwise the renewal is considered abandoned.

So there is not that much time to use AP.

@thepanda I do also want to ask you, what kind of documents do we need to bring while traveling abroad? I know passport and AP card for sure, anything else that we need? Thanks in advance!

On 4/9/2019 at 10:25 AM, Oanagmzo said:

Hi everybody!

 

I’m coming with an update on my case:

 

i-485 interview has been scheduled.(waiting for the letter to arrive in the mail to find out the date)

 

after my my husband has become a usc back in oct 2018, we tried multiple times to upgrade the i130 pettion to IR and we got a letter back a week ago saying the request is being processed. 

Any tips you guys could have for me regarding the interview?

 

timeline:

adjusting from j1 visa

i130 sent aug 2017 (husband GC)

i485 sent aug 2018 ( after I found out I can send the i485 if the date on chart b was current)

oct 2018 husband becomes usc and we tried to upgrade the i130 petition

jan2019 received EAD and AP approval

april 2019 received online update for i485- interview was scheduled. 

Congrates.

I called USCIS and asked about my case. My PD is current this month, and had AOS interview last June. Had not heard back since. customer service told me processing time in Chicago is 12-32 months, it has been 13 months for me since filing, so weight till 19 months later to submit a request.

I’m planning to travel abroad next month, hope green card is issued after I come back, so that AP won’t be canceled.

Best of luck on waiting everyone!

8 minutes ago, senpal86 said:

Hi,

My PD (Dec 2016) is current as of March 2018.

I had my AOS interview back in November 2018.

Waiting for adjudication..

Hope i get some news this month.

Thank you @senpal86 for your reply!

Please keep us updated. Wish you the best of luck!

Hello! Everyone. 

I am very glad to see the April 2019 Visa Bulletin. That makes lots of people's PD current in our group. 

Does anyone know what happens afterwards? When will the green card be produces? Any ideas? @Tenreyro @Holly-ando

Many of us has interview done since last year or earlier this year. I hope good news comes soon!

I have been trying to call USCIS, but since the system has changed, I cannot find the way to get a live person to speak to me. Anybody could kindly provide solutions for that?

My timeline: 

I-130 PD :  02/01/2017

Filing I485: 03/02/2018

Interview: June/2018

EAD approved: Aug/2018

PD current: April 2018, now waiting for news.

38 minutes ago, Bhumi said:

Hello guys..

Today I was having interview for i485.

But after 2hr. Waiting ..

They did not take interview because my i130 is not approve yet..

It's very bad feeling ..

I don't know now I m very scared.what to do?

Please anyone can help me..

Hey QAf2A  you did your interview right.

Then how they allow you?

Hi @Bhumi, sorry about what happened to you. i’m sure you will have your interview again some time. Don’t worry. 

We were also very scared of not being to have the interview, and was fully prepared for that to happen. But somehow our IO is very informed about the process, it seems like we are not his first case like this, and we had our interview. We’ve been waiting since then.

Well, it is a new process for everyone, so it will take sometime for the standard procedure to sink in. Don’t worry as it does not affect your process.

2 minutes ago, Holly-ando said:

Hi @QAF2A i'm also interested if you have any links to share as you said to ease the stress and to get some peace of mind, i'm so stressed already, so much i can actually feel pain in my stomach LOL

@Bhumi, sorry that I do not have any specific links. What I did was I typed things like " AOS interview experience" or "I-485 interview questions" and read all the webpages, to be prepared for all possible situations. 

@Holly-ando Hey, it's totally normal to feel extremely nervous. To share my own experience, I was so nervous that it was hard to focus on anything else. But as time goes by, you start to accept that this is really happening. And try to do something you like to distract yourself. Talk to friends and family about your feelings, or watch something, go out for walks, enjoy the summer. Things will happen fast and soon before you know it, you'll start to work. Just know that all will happen, and all would take time.

      Then as for me, the more I prepare for the interview, the more relaxed and confident I get.  You might think the same way as me? Try to prepare for it and see what other millions of people who had their interview have to say. You'll realize that it can be so easy and you have little to worry about.

 Relax, try to enjoy the time! Good luck.

5 hours ago, Bhumi said:

Hello guys , Can Anyone tell me about what type of questions will be asked in uscis interview?

Can anyone send me link?

Hey bfree3 you have any idea?

Also QAF2A can you tell me from where you prepared?

Because they send me text message that my interview was scheduled?

Hi!

It’s been 2and a half months since my interview, status has not changed. But my I 130( PD: Feb 2017) recently was transfered from California to NBC. 

To prepare for the interview, we just read all the posts online, so we could be prepared for all kinds of situations. It was not necessaey, but the peace of mind it gives you! 

Good luck!

Hi all, so happy to hear all the good news! We are just back from a long long vacation(before we left, I was checking online status too much everyday and was starting to lose my mind). So we did a vacation with little internet access, which felt really good. 

When we came back, there was the approval notice of I-131 in the mail(good news but no use.) Then online status of EAD changed to card is being produced a few days ago(but no actual card yet). We waited almost 160 days since filing in the beginning of March.

Hope we receive the card soon! And hope everybody get what they want soon!

Thanks for the good luck guys! 

interview went very smooth. Standard questions, nothing out of the ordinary. Asked about spouse’s family, job. Showed financial papers together, went through all of our photos. And went again through all the questions in I 485. 

The IO(super nice guy) said there’s no action required at this point, he’ll wait for I-130 to be mailed to him from CSC and he will act on it. My case is thus put on hold for further review. But the interview part is done. There’s should be some update within 120 days before we can raise and SR. Got a paper as well saying case is held for further review.

The IO is very familiar with our  situation,(F2A with pending I130) . So it seem to me like we all in this group did a very legit application:) Guess we could relax a bit now!

Good luck to all and wish your case go smooth. 

Hi all, 

I was away for sometime because I went to my trip after all. I see we have lots of wonderful discussions going on here in this thread! Congrats everyone with their progress!

My interview is next week so we have to fly back home briefly during the trip to prepare for it(And then hopefully fly to CA to continue our trip).

I understood as previously people have mentioned that there are problems with the officer not having the I-130 ready, and have to get rescheduled. So this is our tactic below, so that hopefully it can save us some trouble. We are going to bring every original document, IDs passports for the photocopies we've ever sent, we are going to bring a photo album of our photos together. For the forms(I130/I131/I765/I485), we are just going to reprint everything to bring as back up and hopefully it will help.

Dear friends, it's been exactly 500 days since we sent the I-130 and more than 100 days since the I-485 package. Let's hope it all works out.

And if you have any suggestions for the interview package, please let me know. Thanks a lot!

8 minutes ago, thepanda said:

I will!

I have a question: Do you think people who submitted their medical with their package get an earlier interview date? I think @QAF2A also submitted her medical docs with her package, right?

Hi! I did submit medical with the application. I don’t know if it is related. 

5 hours ago, helloharsha said:

Can you apply for an AOS while i-130 i spending ?

 

i have  a PD of dec 7 2016.. i-130 still pending

 

i am in an impression that you can file 485 and EAD after 130 is approved,,please correct me

Thanks everybody for your input! And thanks @Tenreyro for the beautiful comment as usual.

We called USCIS for a tier 2 officer this morning, and she explained that the interview notice was not a mistake, as we thought. If we pass the interview, we will wait for chart A to be current to get the Green Card. So do not freak out.

She also confirms that we need to wait for 5 months to put in a service request for EAD and AP. But as we see in the processing times, the date is moving on almost a day at a time. So it might happen soon, all we can do is wait.

Hopefully the interview would be smooth! We'll keep you all updated on how it goes. 

4 hours ago, Tenreyro said:

That's extrange, I look up examples of interview notices, and for IR it even has PD, same as the received date in their case.

After your comment, I’m also researching about an AOS interview letter format. This is strange! We will definitely call and ask about why. We’ll probably have to cancel our trip to do some Infopass appointments. But this issue is so important and need to be taken care of. I hope we can resolve this.

1 hour ago, Tenreyro said:

That would be safer to request the interview after PD becomes current.

I just got the interview letter. It’s for June. But in the priority date section it is left blank. They should have put my PD. I think they mistaken me for an immediate relative case. We will call them and ask for tier 2 officer to clarify on Monday.