Carlos.Brazil

I successfully expedited AP because work wanted me to be able to travel internationally to meet clients. Not doing so would have resulted in financial loss to the company. I'm not sure that works for everyone, but it worked for me.

@Carlos.Brazil sorry to hear about your grandparen'ts health situation. Most of expedite requests are denied, unfortunately.
You can certainly try, but do not get your hopes too high.

Have you done the research?  Your parents will not be able to work or leave the US for as many as 8 months.  They won't get a Green Card for a year or two.  If they are 65, they won't qualify for medicare for 5 years. I am always surprised that people who come to the US just for a visit can suddenly decide to stay and live in the US.  Good luck. 

Haha aw man, this phrase was used way too often... Somebody brings up a good idea, the response: "No, that makes too much sense, lets keep doing it the old deprecated way"😆

Cat, I see your a 20 Year military Vet. I myself 28 years. That being said I know you know the Slogan of the US Government. "If it makes sense dont do it ... Keep them guessing.

I haven't seen anyone mention this website, but I stumbled upon it on a Reddit post yesterday when somebody posted all the approved I-485 cases in the past day (Many of them were filed in March and July of THIS year!) 
You can also see other case types like I-131 and I-765. Apparently the average was about 10-15 approvals for the I-765 per day, but a few days ago, there were over 200 in a single day approved! (At least for cases starting in "IOE")
 
It seems a lot of people use the case numbers of the recently approved ones to see if their own cases are pretty close. For example, there were a lot of IOE09157xxxxx that were approved and apparently those were filed between March and July of 2022. Of course there is no way to know how USCIS is knocking these out, so there's no use in using this as a reference.
Here is the website and a screenshot: https://hilites.today/
You can click on the numbers to see a list of the case numbers.

 
I'm not sure how to get to this "hourly I-485 updates" on the menu, so here is the direct link and a picture of what that looks like: https://hilites.today/hourly

 
And here is the reddit post I was talking about: 
 
 

My wife is going through something similar right now, she was a Portuguese Teacher in Brazil and just landed a position at Amazon as a "Machine Learning Data Linguist" for various foreign languages that she speaks. It all started when she said she wanted to keep using her Master's degree in linguistics and keep using her native language (But she didn't want to continue being a teacher) and that's when she found out about Natural Language Processing (NLP), which would mix IT and her Linguistic Background. At first, she started studying how to code with Python and signed up on Coursera to take the "Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate" course, but decided she wanted to work more with language itself and not a ton of technical stuff yet. 
 
I'd recommend for anybody on here (Since almost everybody is from a different country, and they know a language(s) other than English) to use this to their advantage! Find a niche field that requires you to be proficient in the language you know and work towards that. For example, their are many Data analyst positions in the US, but some require you to collect, organize, sort, etc. data in a different language, that's where you come in! And if you have zero experience or don't have any technical skills at all, you can take those Google Professional Certificates on Coursera to get you started and put on your resume. 

Following are top 10 best IT jobs
some may require the person to be a USC so be care of that criteria for security reasons
look up the job and what college teaches the degree and the courses to study 
 
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/101315/10-best-tech-jobs.asp
 
and i totally agree with Carlos Brazil as Americans are lacking in foreign language skills 
Here i hear Americans say ""why should i study Spanish (example)  this is America ,  we speak English"
We are in a global economy and knowing as many languages as possible should be a must

My wife is going through something similar right now, she was a Portuguese Teacher in Brazil and just landed a position at Amazon as a "Machine Learning Data Linguist" for various foreign languages that she speaks. It all started when she said she wanted to keep using her Master's degree in linguistics and keep using her native language (But she didn't want to continue being a teacher) and that's when she found out about Natural Language Processing (NLP), which would mix IT and her Linguistic Background. At first, she started studying how to code with Python and signed up on Coursera to take the "Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate" course, but decided she wanted to work more with language itself and not a ton of technical stuff yet. 
 
I'd recommend for anybody on here (Since almost everybody is from a different country, and they know a language(s) other than English) to use this to their advantage! Find a niche field that requires you to be proficient in the language you know and work towards that. For example, their are many Data analyst positions in the US, but some require you to collect, organize, sort, etc. data in a different language, that's where you come in! And if you have zero experience or don't have any technical skills at all, you can take those Google Professional Certificates on Coursera to get you started and put on your resume. 

My wife is going through something similar right now, she was a Portuguese Teacher in Brazil and just landed a position at Amazon as a "Machine Learning Data Linguist" for various foreign languages that she speaks. It all started when she said she wanted to keep using her Master's degree in linguistics and keep using her native language (But she didn't want to continue being a teacher) and that's when she found out about Natural Language Processing (NLP), which would mix IT and her Linguistic Background. At first, she started studying how to code with Python and signed up on Coursera to take the "Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate" course, but decided she wanted to work more with language itself and not a ton of technical stuff yet. 
 
I'd recommend for anybody on here (Since almost everybody is from a different country, and they know a language(s) other than English) to use this to their advantage! Find a niche field that requires you to be proficient in the language you know and work towards that. For example, their are many Data analyst positions in the US, but some require you to collect, organize, sort, etc. data in a different language, that's where you come in! And if you have zero experience or don't have any technical skills at all, you can take those Google Professional Certificates on Coursera to get you started and put on your resume. 

Okay so to update incase somebody has similar questions in the future. Since my wife is over 25, she did not have to do the drivers education course (Although, they do recommend you do it to learn the laws here in the US). For clarification, this is the 6 hour online course you can take that consists of videos with an exam at the end (And this exam counts as the one you would have to take at DPS, getting you your ADE-1317 Certificate). The you have to watch a 2nd course online (IMPACT Texas Adult Drivers) which is just a 1 or 2 hour long video and you print a certificate from that once you finish watching it.  
 
Now comes the confusing part. We had already scheduled a road test online at DPS, but I called and they said we had to set up an appointment for a "First Time DL" first so that they could process all the paperwork AND THEN I could schedule a road test. I asked if they could process the paperwork on my road test appointment but they said no, so we cancelled that road test and scheduled for a first time DL. We were going to use her Receipt of Notice for her I-485 to show lawful presence, but her EAD and Social Security Card came, so we used those instead, along with 2 utility bills with her name to show she was a resident of Texas.
The only problem was that now the road test were booked out for 2 months, so we decided to take the road test with a 3rd party company since we could take it with them that same week instead of waiting 2 months for the DPS road test, so the woman at DPS booked us for a week later to get her Drivers License since we would have the sealed packet with her results from the 3rd party company. 
 
NOTE: If you want to use a 3rd party to take the road test, you must first get your permit to take the test with the 3rd Party. When we went to our appointment for the "First Time DL", the DPS lady was processing our paperwork assuming we were going to schedule a road test at DPS 2 months from now, and if you are over 25 years old, you DO NOT need the permit to take your road test at DPS. However, my wife wouldn't be able to drive whatsoever until she took her road test, so I asked about getting a permit and she said it was optional, but we decided to get it so she could still practice driving with me in the passenger seat. (Plus we needed it to take the road test at a 3rd party).
 
Today we showed up for our final appointment with the sealed results of her road test and they gave her a temporary paper drivers license, the card should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.
 
To sum it all up:
Online Drivers education course with exam > IMPACT Texas Adult Driver video > Schedule for "First Time DL" (Recommend getting permit here) > Schedule Road test at DPS and get DL    OR   Take Road test at 3rd Party + Schedule for "Change permit/DL" at DPS to get DL
 
Just wanted to share our experience since I was confused with the process at first, hope it can be helpful to somebody else in the future!
 

Okay so to update incase somebody has similar questions in the future. Since my wife is over 25, she did not have to do the drivers education course (Although, they do recommend you do it to learn the laws here in the US). For clarification, this is the 6 hour online course you can take that consists of videos with an exam at the end (And this exam counts as the one you would have to take at DPS, getting you your ADE-1317 Certificate). The you have to watch a 2nd course online (IMPACT Texas Adult Drivers) which is just a 1 or 2 hour long video and you print a certificate from that once you finish watching it.  
 
Now comes the confusing part. We had already scheduled a road test online at DPS, but I called and they said we had to set up an appointment for a "First Time DL" first so that they could process all the paperwork AND THEN I could schedule a road test. I asked if they could process the paperwork on my road test appointment but they said no, so we cancelled that road test and scheduled for a first time DL. We were going to use her Receipt of Notice for her I-485 to show lawful presence, but her EAD and Social Security Card came, so we used those instead, along with 2 utility bills with her name to show she was a resident of Texas.
The only problem was that now the road test were booked out for 2 months, so we decided to take the road test with a 3rd party company since we could take it with them that same week instead of waiting 2 months for the DPS road test, so the woman at DPS booked us for a week later to get her Drivers License since we would have the sealed packet with her results from the 3rd party company. 
 
NOTE: If you want to use a 3rd party to take the road test, you must first get your permit to take the test with the 3rd Party. When we went to our appointment for the "First Time DL", the DPS lady was processing our paperwork assuming we were going to schedule a road test at DPS 2 months from now, and if you are over 25 years old, you DO NOT need the permit to take your road test at DPS. However, my wife wouldn't be able to drive whatsoever until she took her road test, so I asked about getting a permit and she said it was optional, but we decided to get it so she could still practice driving with me in the passenger seat. (Plus we needed it to take the road test at a 3rd party).
 
Today we showed up for our final appointment with the sealed results of her road test and they gave her a temporary paper drivers license, the card should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.
 
To sum it all up:
Online Drivers education course with exam > IMPACT Texas Adult Driver video > Schedule for "First Time DL" (Recommend getting permit here) > Schedule Road test at DPS and get DL    OR   Take Road test at 3rd Party + Schedule for "Change permit/DL" at DPS to get DL
 
Just wanted to share our experience since I was confused with the process at first, hope it can be helpful to somebody else in the future!
 

Thank you for your courtesy and thoughtfulness in taking the time to provide the details.  

Okay so to update incase somebody has similar questions in the future. Since my wife is over 25, she did not have to do the drivers education course (Although, they do recommend you do it to learn the laws here in the US). For clarification, this is the 6 hour online course you can take that consists of videos with an exam at the end (And this exam counts as the one you would have to take at DPS, getting you your ADE-1317 Certificate). The you have to watch a 2nd course online (IMPACT Texas Adult Drivers) which is just a 1 or 2 hour long video and you print a certificate from that once you finish watching it.  
 
Now comes the confusing part. We had already scheduled a road test online at DPS, but I called and they said we had to set up an appointment for a "First Time DL" first so that they could process all the paperwork AND THEN I could schedule a road test. I asked if they could process the paperwork on my road test appointment but they said no, so we cancelled that road test and scheduled for a first time DL. We were going to use her Receipt of Notice for her I-485 to show lawful presence, but her EAD and Social Security Card came, so we used those instead, along with 2 utility bills with her name to show she was a resident of Texas.
The only problem was that now the road test were booked out for 2 months, so we decided to take the road test with a 3rd party company since we could take it with them that same week instead of waiting 2 months for the DPS road test, so the woman at DPS booked us for a week later to get her Drivers License since we would have the sealed packet with her results from the 3rd party company. 
 
NOTE: If you want to use a 3rd party to take the road test, you must first get your permit to take the test with the 3rd Party. When we went to our appointment for the "First Time DL", the DPS lady was processing our paperwork assuming we were going to schedule a road test at DPS 2 months from now, and if you are over 25 years old, you DO NOT need the permit to take your road test at DPS. However, my wife wouldn't be able to drive whatsoever until she took her road test, so I asked about getting a permit and she said it was optional, but we decided to get it so she could still practice driving with me in the passenger seat. (Plus we needed it to take the road test at a 3rd party).
 
Today we showed up for our final appointment with the sealed results of her road test and they gave her a temporary paper drivers license, the card should be coming in the mail in a few weeks.
 
To sum it all up:
Online Drivers education course with exam > IMPACT Texas Adult Driver video > Schedule for "First Time DL" (Recommend getting permit here) > Schedule Road test at DPS and get DL    OR   Take Road test at 3rd Party + Schedule for "Change permit/DL" at DPS to get DL
 
Just wanted to share our experience since I was confused with the process at first, hope it can be helpful to somebody else in the future!
 

You already have the certificate. So use it. I would not recommend the ITD test. I think it's 1 hour and done at the DPS computers, back then. I don't wanna sit at DPS for 1 hour. Nope 
 
As such, I always recommend testing online, irrespective of age. It's 6 hours but you can just let sections run out (as you can't fast forward) then just come back and answer the question. It's $25.
 
Additionally, you can take this certificate, ring your auto insurer and tell them that you've done defensive driving. That'll knock off some $$ off your monthly payment. 

You have to do it afresh like DPS told you. No shortcuts.
 
As soon as she gets the permit, you can schedule a road test for the next available date. 
 
And yes, she can test the same day as the day she got her permit, provided there's availability for road test.

~~ Topic moved from Working & Traveling during US immigration to Moving to the US & Your New Life in America where DL questions are posted ~~

Thank you for taking time to explain the steps, you have been very helpful. Yeah I’m looking at filing the AOS before the end of the month, I’ve applied for the SSN already.   Yeah it’s difficult getting around except using Uber. Hopefully everything will be sorted out. Patience and immigration, two words that go together lol

Well we signed up for the "Hiring our Heroes: Career Forward" program for veterans and military spouses, and so far it seems good. They provide a free subscription to Coursera to complete a Google Career Certificate within 6 months, and after you complete it, they push out your profile and resume to partnered companies that are looking for these candidates, some of them big companies like Google, Amazon, etc. The companies partnered with Hiring our Heroes also reach out frequently asking if there are any candidates that recently completed the certificates in ordered to potentially hire them. As you are completing the certificates on your own time, they offer workshops to help you build up your resume, brush up your LinkedIn profile and prepare you for interviews as well. We decided for her to do the "IT Automation with Python Certification" as it would teach her the basics of programming and open up a lot of career paths. 
 
Something worth mentioning, since most people here speak foreign languages, you could try looking into the "Data Analytics" Google Career Certificate as there are many positions everywhere (Especially remote ones), and knowing another language could potentially get you a job. For example, if we type in "Portuguese Data" as keywords in a job searching website like Indeed or LinkedIn Jobs, we get a lot of positions for "Brazilian Portuguese Data Linguist", "Data Entry Specialist(Portuguese)", and "Portuguese Data Analyst", all which require a native level speaker of that language and some sort of data analytics experience, which the google career certificate could help you out with. (Most of these jobs pay very well, the average I saw was about $70k-$80K)
 
Even if you can't get into this Hiring our Heroes program, you would only have to pay about $40 per month for a subscription to Coursera and you could potentially finish one of these certificates in about 2 months if you put the time in(About 30 hours a week). For $80 to get upskilled with a certificate in a high paying field along with being a native level speaker in your language, that's a great deal!
I will update as we go along in the process.

Husband can call in to one of his credit cards , add you as authorized user and you get instant credit existence. Within a couple of months you will get credit offers in your name only. 
 
Pre paid T-Mobile is an excellent choice to have your own line .
 
Good luck with job search, you will have no problem with your I-551 stamp as proof of LPR existence. 
 

Thank you for your effort to update and the excellent details provided…most get their answers and are Gone ..Lol! 

Well we signed up for the "Hiring our Heroes: Career Forward" program for veterans and military spouses, and so far it seems good. They provide a free subscription to Coursera to complete a Google Career Certificate within 6 months, and after you complete it, they push out your profile and resume to partnered companies that are looking for these candidates, some of them big companies like Google, Amazon, etc. The companies partnered with Hiring our Heroes also reach out frequently asking if there are any candidates that recently completed the certificates in ordered to potentially hire them. As you are completing the certificates on your own time, they offer workshops to help you build up your resume, brush up your LinkedIn profile and prepare you for interviews as well. We decided for her to do the "IT Automation with Python Certification" as it would teach her the basics of programming and open up a lot of career paths. 
 
Something worth mentioning, since most people here speak foreign languages, you could try looking into the "Data Analytics" Google Career Certificate as there are many positions everywhere (Especially remote ones), and knowing another language could potentially get you a job. For example, if we type in "Portuguese Data" as keywords in a job searching website like Indeed or LinkedIn Jobs, we get a lot of positions for "Brazilian Portuguese Data Linguist", "Data Entry Specialist(Portuguese)", and "Portuguese Data Analyst", all which require a native level speaker of that language and some sort of data analytics experience, which the google career certificate could help you out with. (Most of these jobs pay very well, the average I saw was about $70k-$80K)
 
Even if you can't get into this Hiring our Heroes program, you would only have to pay about $40 per month for a subscription to Coursera and you could potentially finish one of these certificates in about 2 months if you put the time in(About 30 hours a week). For $80 to get upskilled with a certificate in a high paying field along with being a native level speaker in your language, that's a great deal!
I will update as we go along in the process.

Well we signed up for the "Hiring our Heroes: Career Forward" program for veterans and military spouses, and so far it seems good. They provide a free subscription to Coursera to complete a Google Career Certificate within 6 months, and after you complete it, they push out your profile and resume to partnered companies that are looking for these candidates, some of them big companies like Google, Amazon, etc. The companies partnered with Hiring our Heroes also reach out frequently asking if there are any candidates that recently completed the certificates in ordered to potentially hire them. As you are completing the certificates on your own time, they offer workshops to help you build up your resume, brush up your LinkedIn profile and prepare you for interviews as well. We decided for her to do the "IT Automation with Python Certification" as it would teach her the basics of programming and open up a lot of career paths. 
 
Something worth mentioning, since most people here speak foreign languages, you could try looking into the "Data Analytics" Google Career Certificate as there are many positions everywhere (Especially remote ones), and knowing another language could potentially get you a job. For example, if we type in "Portuguese Data" as keywords in a job searching website like Indeed or LinkedIn Jobs, we get a lot of positions for "Brazilian Portuguese Data Linguist", "Data Entry Specialist(Portuguese)", and "Portuguese Data Analyst", all which require a native level speaker of that language and some sort of data analytics experience, which the google career certificate could help you out with. (Most of these jobs pay very well, the average I saw was about $70k-$80K)
 
Even if you can't get into this Hiring our Heroes program, you would only have to pay about $40 per month for a subscription to Coursera and you could potentially finish one of these certificates in about 2 months if you put the time in(About 30 hours a week). For $80 to get upskilled with a certificate in a high paying field along with being a native level speaker in your language, that's a great deal!
I will update as we go along in the process.

Thanks everybody! Looks like we can move forward with some of these programs then. I'll check back here to let you guys know how they go and if its something that could be beneficial to others here in the future.

Thanks everybody! Looks like we can move forward with some of these programs then. I'll check back here to let you guys know how they go and if its something that could be beneficial to others here in the future.