Edward and Jaycel

Jaycel arrived on Aug 20, 2024 and we got married on October 25, 2024. We filed AOS Packet (I-485 & I-765) on November 14th, 2024 (13 days before her visa expired) at the Phoenix Lockbox. We sent it via FedEx so we mailed it to the physical address and not the PO Box as the website instructed. It was received on Monday, 11/18/2024 and our checks were shown as cashed on the morning of Friday 11/22/2024. We also received the text messages with the receipt numbers on Friday 11/22/2024 in the afternoon and received the Account Acceptance letter with the Online Access Code on Tuesday 11/26/2024. We got the NOA1s for both applications in the mail on Monday 12/2/2024. Nothing happened after that until yesterday, Friday 12/20/2024 we got an email from USCIS that said, "We have taken an action on your case and it needs your attention". We logged in and saw that the status of the I-485 application had changed to, "Biometrics Appointment Was Scheduled". We were able to see the notice in the Documents tab and the appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2025. That's our experience so far!

I don't know how common it is but there's lots of questions here in VJ forums so I would imagine it happens quite often. We got an RFE on our I-129F petition. We gave them exactly what they asked for and they approved us 3 days after they received our RFE response. When the RFE comes, post it here with the personal information blacked out and we will try to help you as best we can

and you are still waiting for biometric appointment ? Case status updated to "Biometrics Appointment Was Scheduled" today!!! 🎉🎉

Case status updated to "Biometrics Appointment Was Scheduled" today!!! 🎉🎉

I think you're right because when Jaycel got her Online Access Code when we filed her I-485 and she signed up and added her case number, it has a documents tab

When I filed my I-129F for Jaycel, the online account they allow you to have for that did not include a documents tab. When I got an RFE, I had to wait for it to arrive in the mail.

That's a good philosophy! If Jaycel wasn't wanting to get to work so bad, we would just let it go too. I hope you guys have a great holiday together!

Oh Jeez.... sorry to hear

Oh Good deal! Best of luck!! It usually goes to Ready pretty quickly after it goes In Transit

How long has it been at NVC?

The Consular Officer conducting the interview will extend the validity of the NOA2 by 4 months at the time of the interview. They will not extend it beforehand. If it has been expired for a while, be prepared with updated Letters of Intent to Marry and proof of continuing relationship. This is nothing to worry about. They know that the interview stage can face several delays which is why they have the authority to extend the validity date in 4 month segments for up to one year.

Our application is at the National Benefits Center now, out of the lockbox which is where all receipts with an IOE go. The lockbox in Phoenix processed us quickly

This is a shot of the stats in our receipt block.... we are one of only 729 remaining who have had no action taken on their case since receipt.

Yes sadly..... Status still sitting at "Case Was Received and A Receipt Notice Was Sent". My wife just wants to be able to work and it's driving her crazy to see movement on over 90% of the cases in our IOE receipt block but absolutely nothing done on her application

Sorry I missed this - I was still sleeping Glad you got it figured out!

Good catch.... I missed the part about being a freelancer. 100% agree, should include that for sure

Yes it seems they send them separately now. Jaycel got an account acceptance notice in the mail with her online access code and then like 4 or 5 days later she got her NOA1s for the I-485 & I-765

The embassy in Manila over the last few months has been doing mass expedites of immigrant visas in order to help clear some of the backlog for interviews. They will expedite your case wether or not you requested it. When you have been expedited, you are required to schedule the interview yourself on their online scheduling portal once it shows "Ready".

@esiiI got your PM but I'm going to answer here so that anyone reading this thread can benefit from the answer. When we filed the I-129F for Jaycel, she was still completing her college degree and had never had a job. In the place for "Your Beneficiary's Employment History" we put "Not Applicable - College Student" and we had no trouble.

Are you asking about the part titled "Your Beneficiary's Employment History"?

It means that they are processing the application.... can't say wether it's positive or negative as it's still being processed and no one can predict what the embassy will do. Especially Pakistan embassy is known for extended Administrative Processing delays.

The status being changed to "Non-Immigrant Visa" and "Application Received" are the normal updates as a K-1 Visa is being processed by the embassy.

This happened to us - For the K-1 visa, in the process from NVC to Embassy to Interview, the status in CEAC will say "Immigrant Visa" because for the paperwork needed and the medical needed it is treated like an immigrant visa. Once the Consular Officer approves it at the interview, since it is technically a Non-Immigrant visa, they have to change the status to "Non-Immigrant Visa" and "Application Received" when they pass it to the Non-Immigrant Visa Section to actually process and print the visa. Do not worry, we went through this same thing and a day or two after that happened, our status changed to "Issued". My guess is it will show an updated status very soon.

If you file it, you may as well file it concurrently with the I-485. It is not needed once you get the green card as you then travel with that. It does cost $630 now so we decided not to file it as we felt that having the ability to travel for a few months until the green card is approved (hopefully ) was not worth the filing fee.

Oh dang.... well, the DS-3025 included with your I-485 basically serves as a "reminder" to USCIS that you had a medical exam overseas so as they don't reject your application due to the new rule and also a reminder to the adjudicator that they should look for your full medical report sent by CBP in your A-File. That medical report should have its own copy of the DS-3025 in it. Keep us all posted if they give you any trouble with the copy that you have