TC_person

5 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Your zip code determines your jurisdiction/Field Office. The Minneapolis Field Office serves MN, SD, ND and Western Wisconsin. Therefore, your field office is the Minneapolis Field Office. See for yourself. https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices

Your file stays at the NBC until you get the "Interview scheduled" notification. It all moves relatively fast until the "Case is ready to be scheduled for an interview" stage. After that status update, the real wait begins. Sit back and relax.  If you are in a dire to start working, you may try to expedite your EAD/AP combo card. Here is the expedite criteria. https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria

 

 

I would agree. Except that it may not move fast to the "ready for interview stage". Mine took 10 months to get to the ready for interview stage and then a lot more waiting after that. I think patience is the key here. 

On 11/14/2018 at 11:45 AM, USC4SPOUSE said:

Yup, that sounds like the MSP office. They would certainly save a lot of time by cutting down on Infopass appointments. I am sure that by posting the date they are currently interviewing, the San Diego office has been able to reduce the time spent on Infopass appointments. 

 

I wish you had asked them if they look at priority dates when transferring cases from the NBC. I bet you they don't look at it. 

 

This is why we decided to make peace with the cards we've been dealt. For now my husband has his EAD/AP.  It was approved on 07-30-18. We will file for renewal exactly 180 days before it expires and just take it from there. 

My attorney contacted MSP office about the interview wait and got a direct response from the immigration officer. The crazy thing is it was nothing useful. they simply replied and said my case is within processing time according to their website 16-33.5 months.  They didn't even bother to scroll down and point out the correct processing time for employment based petitions. 

I am trying to make my peace with this long wait.  I was told that I will get interview notice by end of October according to SR response I received from NBC. Looks like we cannot hold USCIS accountable.   

6 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Alcohol is a depressant. It will only throw off your brains chemical balance. Go for a run/go to the gym instead. Break a sweat. Find an outlet. 

I am doing all those things. Working out is my number 1 outlet. 

6 hours ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Yup, that sounds like the MSP office. They would certainly save a lot of time by cutting down on Infopass appointments. I am sure that by posting the date they are currently interviewing, the San Diego office has been able to reduce the time spent on Infopass appointments. 

 

I wish you had asked them if they look at priority dates when transferring cases from the NBC. I bet you they don't look at it. 

 

This is why we decided to make peace with the cards we've been dealt. For now my husband has his EAD/AP.  It was approved on 07-30-18. We will file for renewal exactly 180 days before it expires and just take it from there. 

Infopass is a lip service. I knew that going in but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. I did ask about the priority date and they said it doesn't matter for interview scheduling. The officers handling infopass have very little knowledge about the process or our cases. They said my case is on pre interview hold. I asked if that means I am waiting for interview and they agreed. Honestly, I think unless your file is already at the local office, infopass is useless. 

This whole situation is terrible but it is what it is.  It has resulted in me drinking more than usual  At least, this forum helps to vent. 

3 hours ago, MapleLeaf29 said:

Last week, I mentioned that my husband had an Infopass appointment to ask about his green card (our interview was on October 3rd and we were recommended for approval).  At the Infopass appointment, he learned that the officer who interviewed us had forgotten to click "approved" in the computer system when we had our interview.  The Infopass officer said that she was not able to click "approved" for us and that the officer who conducted our interview would have go to back into our account and do it.  

 

We have been checking our online case status every day and so far, it has not changed.  Our case status is still "Waiting to be Scheduled for an Interview" on USCIS MyAccount and "My Interview was Scheduled" on the old Case Tracker.  We are trying to figure out how long we should wait before setting up another Infopass appointment to inquire about an update.  One month?  Two months?  A few weeks?  I would love any ideas you might have about when to make another Infopass appointment.

 

We know that USCIS is swamped and clicking "approved" in our account probably isn't at the top of their priority list, but it seems like it would be fairly quick to fix.  We don't want to bother them with excessive Infopass appointments, but at the same time, they made an error and we would like my husband to receive his green card.  

What? That's crazy.  I don't mean to be rude but the employees at walmart are much more efficient and careful than some of the recklessness I am seeing with USCIS. 

58 minutes ago, itsdonealready said:

Thanks! I posted the review for st paul mn office. It was fairly smooth. We were one of the first few applicants to be interviewed in the morning, so there weren't that many people, the place was not crowded at all, but according to the front desk lady it will be packed very soon. 

I can only hope. During my infopass, this week there were like 8 customers in the office. For an office that has 33 months processing time with so many patiently waiting, it should not be this empty. They should  hire more people, be open on Fridays, and be as busy as the DMV.

On 11/7/2018 at 11:09 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

Sure, it's 16 to 31 months for family based. Same thing. 

The way that I understood the process is like this - the field office requests the file for interview and the NBC schedules the interview. If your case just reached the "Ready for interview" stage in August 2018, you might have a long way ahead of you OR not. There is no way to know. 

The infopass wasn't very helpful. They asked me to wait until end of February and see them again if I don't receive interview notice.

I asked them for clarity. I got none. they said something like.. if the field office has 100 interview slots open in a month or two, they transfer 100 files from NBC to field office.

On a side note.  why is the local field office so empty? there were like 8 customers there. I think they don't have enough officers to conduct interviews. Considering this long line, shouldn't they hire more people and be as busy as the DMV? San Diego field office for instance even tells on their website when you try to book infopass, what dates they are interviewing currently and asking for people to set up infopass if they haven't heard anything before that date. I am not liking the MSP field office or this weather.. 

17 hours ago, doctor_cle said:

Yes, as soon as you have the interview, you should be approved. By the way to be considered current, are they looking at 'Filing date' or 'Final Action Date'?

Final action date

41 minutes ago, doctor_cle said:

Hi TC_person

My application was received March 29, 2018. Non current filing, so my PD is from my i140. I think I got lucky though because I have heard of multiple others for who it took 14-15 months to schedule interview, sometimes months even after the status said "ready for interview"

Wow. So lucky! Keep seeing the visa bulletin.  I know many cases where the interview was completed in April or May 2018 and the cases were sent back to NBC and still waiting. 

My PD is current though. So, it's a matter of getting  the interview scheduled for me. 

43 minutes ago, doctor_cle said:

Hi

Is there anyone here who has completed his interview already at Minneapolis-St Paul, and is waiting for i485 approval and Green Card because of retrogression? I am EB1A India with a PD of April 3, 2017. My interview is scheduled Dec 10th but not sure if the final action date for India will be current by then (unlikely). Just want to establish contact and stay in touch to follow progress. I have upcoming travel in February and will have to plan a little bit around my i485 despite having an active H1B visa (and EAD/AP)

I think there are several whose cases were transferred to NBC after interview. Your application was received April 2017? So it took more than a year and half for interview to get scheduled. Wow. Mine was received july 2017 and still waiting for interview. Guess I need to be patient for a few more months. 

Even if PD is not current, at least you will have the interview completed. 

How are they scheduling interviews? Are employment based applications prioritized over marriage based applications? or everyone in a single queue? I am really frustrated. L2 officers seem to know nothing about the case. I called and they read the processing times out of the uscis web page and told me 16 to 33 months. Lol. I already know that and I also know those are not accurate. It's like waiting for a miracle or something.. this interview scheduling.. huh!

46 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Sure, it's 16 to 31 months for family based. Same thing. 

The way that I understood the process is like this - the field office requests the file for interview and the NBC schedules the interview. If your case just reached the "Ready for interview" stage in August 2018, you might have a long way ahead of you OR not. There is no way to know. 

Thank you. I have an infopass coming up. Let's see what they have to say. 

11 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

You make it sound way more streamlined than it is. It's choppy and very manual. It's all very disjointed. 

They just updated the processing times. It's now 16 months to 33.5 months. I mean... seriously...

We're happy to get the interview on or after our 2 year anniversary. That way we won't have to deal with filing the I-751. 

I see. That's unfortunate. I am just trying to understand how this works. I am really puzzled. Someone from NBC has to talk to some one at field office and transfer the file. I just wish they would be more transparent and tell me how this works. It is so puzzling but I see where you are coming from. It is very random and inconsistent. Sad.

The processing times for employment based applications are at 13.5 Months to 23.5 Months for all field offices in America. I wouldn't read anything into that. But Minneapolis is very slow. Sucks.. big time. 

23 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

A trusted source recently learned from an Immigration Services officer at Infopass that being selected for interview is pretty much luck of the draw. They select cases from the "Ready to interview" pool. The system does not prompt them to check priority dates. Therefore, PDs become irrelevant if you are in the "ready to interview" pool.

So, the officer at NBC sends the interview ready list to the officers at the local FO. The officer at local FO randomly picks candidates from this list. I thought a bit more effort goes into interview co-ordination between officers at NBC and local FO. I guess I was wrong. 

On 10/22/2018 at 5:01 PM, USC4SPOUSE said:

Most cases move at about the same speed up until they reach the "case is ready to be scheduled" stage. Once you get to that point, you are at the mercy of your field office. 

Remember that the k-1/CR-1 process is the path that USCIS prefers you take to immigrate to the US. Those applicants have already been vetted by a consular officer at a US Embassy. Hence, it makes sense that they move a little faster than other AOS petitions. Interviews for k-1 applicants used to be waived. They're really only required to submit a marriage certificate as evidence of bona fide marriage with their AOS petitions. Again, it makes sense that those applications may be processed faster. 

Even though k-1 AOS applications now require an in-person interview, these interviews are a formality for the most part. 

 

I would say hang in there. While the Minneapolis Field office has hired additional staff and has been moving more quickly, it may still be a while before they're able to interview folks within 6 months of filing for AOS. That used to be the case before the Minneapolis Field office started serving North Dakota, South Dakota, and part of Wisconsin. 

 

 

That's good news that they have additional staff. I have been waiting for 16 months now since I filed AOS employment based.  Ready for interview status since August 2018. Any idea when the wait will end? 

Hello! I filed for I-485 (employment based ) in july 2017. My case has been reedy for interview since beginning of August 2018 sitting at NBC. No interview notice yet. Infopass appointments and calls to L2 officers seem useless. At infopass, they said they have more help but they simply asked me to wait for interview. Any idea what is causing this significant delay? People who applied way later than me got interviews. So, what's up with this random delay? Whats is my recourse? I have been waiting for a total of 14 months now since I applied.