Silmaril

Our sympathies! Have you tried asking for a Tier 2 officer on the phone, or asking for an infopass appointment? Best of luck!

Expedite for EAD - 34 days NO RESPONSE
Second RFE response received - 19 days ago NO RESPONSE!! Boston filer here and I’m completely over this process about to lose a good job offer due to being given false hope when I made the expedite request that I would get a response within 5-30 days. Numerous of calls to USCIS each week and still nothing no more information I hope that one time I call they will see more information than I can and give me something but nope. I get everyone’s case is different but I just find it hilarious that people that filed in October already have EAD’s and interviews scheduled and there is some of us here still waiting for one of this. Absolutely over it. Sorry I’m just ranting but I’ve been here for 7 months already and already been 5.5 months since I filed my paperwork. 

AJCM: congratulations on the end of a long journey! Best of luck to all of the rest of us still waiting.
 
There are signs that USCIS is moving faster, both for SF and SJ applicants. Two September 2019 filers from SF have, I believe, received interview notices! I wonder if the speedup is solely due to offloading cases to Sac/Fresno/SJ, or if there have been other efficiency improvements.

Hi peeps,
 
Quick update that we are fresh from our interview, and status has been updated to card in production.
 
Just a plug that VJ is a source of knowledge only because of the participation of its members. I therefore encourage everyone to add your respective timelines to your signatures and keep them updated! You never know who you'll help, even if it's only for settling some nerves.

I had my interview today. I waited for an hour. The lady only asked me about info from the I-485 form and how we met. She asked if I have any pictures, I brought 6 and showed them to her. She didn't ask for any supporting documents but when she asked me if I have any questions I asked her if she wants all those bills, bank statements and insurance papers I had with me. She said sure so I gave her everything I had just in case the person who will review the paperwork after her can see them. 
At the end she told me she will recommend me for approval. Over all it took around 15 minutes. 

Update on EAD today : New card is being produced.
 

I am a very persistent individual and have lived my life by when there is a will there is a way.  And you really can't accept no for an answer.
 
I wanted to give an update on my wife obtaining her Green Card.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with Baltimore they are unlike many offices in that they do not approve a GC on the spot.  Their standard MO is to give a letter saying that they need to review the case and to allow them 120 days to make a decision.   There are some exceptions but this seems to be done the majority of the time.  The letter which we were given actually told us to please wait at least 120 days and at that point we may make an inquiry through the national customer service center or we may request an infopass appointment.  The letter was had the name of the local field office director in Baltimore.   At 122 days I called the national customer service center requesting an infopass appointment, was routed to tier 2, and was told its not a thing to request an infopass for case update.  I asked for him to please explain to me why the field office director would have letters issued with his name and title on the bottom of the letter if its not a thing?  They Tier 2 officer kept on talking in circles and really couldn’t give me an answer.  I asked him for the email address for the officer handling my case so I could reach out directly.  He said he didn’t have it.  I asked for him to call the local Baltimore field office.  They said he can’t do it but maybe he supervisor could.   So he put me on hold and got his supervisor.
 
This supervisor told me the same thing.  That the prior officer was correct and that infopass appointments are not for case status updates and he couldn’t speak to the letter that I received.  He told me I could complain to the ombudsman about the letter.  I told him I have no interest in making a complaint as that does not solve my issue at hand.  He then advised for me to make an online inquiry.  I told him we both know that it’s a waste of time and it wont get anyone moving on the case.  He didn’t acknowledge this directly but seemed to agree with me.  I asked him to call the local office and the officer handling my case to see what was going on.  He said he couldn’t do that.  I asked him what else I could do.  He advised for me to write a letter to the local field office director that was listed on the case.  I basically did a pre writ of mandamus letter.  Outlined my concerns and said I was reaching out prior to filing a writ of mandamus and that I wanted the case to be adjudicated as its been over 120 days since the interview.  I found the email address for the field office director online and sent it to him via email and also sent signed receipt certified mail delivery via USPS.  That letter was received on Monday and this morning the case was updated to “New Card is being produced”.
 
Hope this helps someone else.

Oh wow okay, that makes sense. Well that may be why we got the interview so quick...? When they sent it over to Santa Clara it may have ended up on the top of the list. Thanks for the info!!

Hi! Yes, I received it yesterday  it will be in San Jose on February 10th!!

Had our interview today and it also went super smooth! Didn’t even ask to see our BCs, just our marriage certificate. 
 
thanks for your supportive comments!

This article was available on the USCIS website in 2017, when they had to approve EAD up to 90 days. The article is not available anymore, but it doesn't change the fact that EAD processing is still put on hold if the main application has an RFE.

Yeah! I was just joking with my family that maybe they want me to be part of a mandatory draft! Haha

Hi guys! First post here.
 
Today I received update that my case was scheduled for interview on January 6th.
 
• I applied on August 2nd, 2019

• Biometrics on August 28th 2019
 
• EAD received on December 19th 2019
 
• Interview ready to be Scheduled on December 20th 2019
 
• Interview scheduled on January 6th 2020

Ten years after arriving in the USA from the Philippines on a K-3 Visa, my wife earned a 2nd degree as a Registered Nurse and is currently serving on active duty as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps, stationed in Germany. This is after she already had served 6 years previous to this in the Tennessee Air National Guard as an Airman. Her job in the Philippines had been as an elementary English teacher, and then a school principal.
 

A translator would be a wise precaution, if your partner cannot clearly express himself. I’ve read that if the officer feels they cannot communicate, they administer an English test.
 
this page seems reasonable on the document list
https://citizenpath.com/i-485-interview-preparation/

Just got the notification that my combo card is being produced!

My case for EAD has just changed to New Card is Being Produced too! Best Christmas gift ever! I wonder how long it's gonna take for the card to come in the mail. Hope everyone hears some good news soon!
 
9/11 Package sent
10/1 NOA
10/22 Biometric
12/23 New card is being produced

Congrats to all the approvals! We also received the approval letter for both EAD & AP today and our status also changed to "Card was mailed to me" 

Happy holidays! 

Received the approval notice of AP and EAD today. It says that the EAD card will be mailed separately. USCIS status says, "card was mailed to me" for EAD 1 day ago. 
 
I really gotta start polishing my resume and applying for jobs.

As far as I know, it'll be in SJ. Once we get the letter (i think in 5 days). No, we're not military. Spouse is on a student visa. We're a same-sex couple, for what it's worth

Hi all,
 
After some more digging and datapoint-gathering, I've determined that there's a clear divergence between those who are filing at SF and getting sent to a nearby FO for interview, vs. those who are assigned to SF.

Here, you can see that the first indication of re-assignment of field office (FO) roughly matches the announcements made by USCIS in the middle of this year. The exact criteria for assignment to a nearby FO is not clear, but one poster assigned to Sacramento (SAC) had speculated that it was due to living in the East Bay and thus presumably closer to the Sacramento office. If so, it would suggest that those in the southern periphery of SF's jurisdiction would be eligible for assignment to the San Jose (SJ) office.

Prior to mid-2019, all interviews under the SF FO are presumed to have taken place in SF. A few observations:
- 2018 filers are indeed moving along significantly faster than 2017 filers, to the order of 3 months faster overall.
- The speed is even faster for those who are assigned to SJ/SAC for their interviews, with most getting interviewed at around or prior to the 1 year mark.
- Among 2018 SF filers who remain in SF for interviews, they're getting called up around 4 weeks earlier than the average 2017 SF filer.

A bit of news to share as well: as I was in the middle of compiling these numbers, I actually got an email alert stating that we had been scheduled (no precise information as of yet — waiting for the USPS copy). So for us, we got scheduled ourselves at the 469 day mark, which is again a bit faster than what this data suggests.

From what I can tell, this is now the most complete collection of recent AOS timeline information relating to SF filers. (I guess we're not that much of a talkative bunch, anymore, despite being tied to one of the largest offices in the country). If you think this is helpful, please do your part as well by remembering to update your own timelines when your own turn comes! 

We're assigned to the San Jose office. We applied in March. Combo card in August. And just got notification that the interview has been scheduled. Haven't gotten the letter yet with the date but we're expecting the interview to take place 6 weeks from now.  Unexpectedly faster! We were expecting 2 years

The additional vetting associated with employment-sponsored GC applications has been punishing for the Bay Area. We're at the intersection of being one of the most diverse regions in the country, as well as some of the most heavily employer-sponsored populations, as well. Pair that with some mission reprioritization by the current administration + the demoralization of government employees, and voila. If it helps, know that SJ has rarely been as backlogged as SF in the past.
 
Btw (for anyone else reading too) I ended up posting my itemized findings for SF here: 
 

Very, very glad that a weight has been lifted off my husband and I’s shoulders — my green card arrived today. Ended up crying like a baby, though I will say that I was surprised to find it literally at our doorstep. It comes via a USPS Priority Mail envelope, which our postman usually places inside our mailbox.
 
I am constantly praying and hoping that you will all receive good news before the year is over, especially as the holidays approach. Thank you for all your help and reassurances, I’m sticking around to try and pass it on!

Hi SFers old and new,
 
I got a bit impatient recently and decided to do some research as far as what other SF AOS filers have been seeing in terms of timeframes. Mostly, I knew that we were (hopefully) getting close to the interview notice, and getting a head start on prepping for that. In any case, I sniffed around the various forums and dug up some helpful information (attached) on how late 2017 through 2018 filers have been faring, as they would be the most recent batch of applicants who have actually been called up for interviews.
 
As expected, and in line with my prior research, some were diverted to Sacramento and San Jose offices for their interviews... seemingly pretty early (in the 300s days into the process), suggesting that they do this on a batch basis fairly early on. Assuming transportation is not an issue, they are the lucky ones.
 
As a whole, you'll also see that compared to the 2nd half of 2017 filers, 2018 filers are indeed seeing faster processing times. On the other hand, we are now past the 2018 average, and have yet to be scheduled, so expect some additional variance. I just joke with my wife that we likely have a hard deadline of next August (our 2nd anniversary) as I'm sure that USCIS won't get in the business of giving out non-conditional GCs.