sulpatad's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: J
Beneficiary's Name: C
VJ Member: sulpatad
Country: Japan
Last Updated: 2013-03-17
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Immigration Checklist for J & C:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Vermont Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Tokyo, Japan |
| I-129F Sent : |
2011-07-23 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2011-07-27 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2011-11-30 |
| NVC Received : |
2011-12-13 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
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| Consulate Received : |
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| Packet 3 Received : |
2011-12-22 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2012-01-11 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2012-01-23 |
| Interview Date : |
2012-02-27  Submit Review |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2012-03-01 |
| US Entry : |
2012-03-13 |
| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
Very smooth |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 126 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 215 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Chicago |
| POE Date : |
2012-03-13 Submit Review |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
No |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
Very friendly customs official opened the large sealed packet, quickly flipped through things (our entire application), and said, "Welcome to America!" |
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Norfolk VA |
| Date Filed : |
2012-06-05 |
| NOA Date : |
2012-06-07 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2012-07-10 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
2012-06-26 |
| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
2013-03-12 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Greencard Received: |
2013-03-16 |
| Comments : |
Waiting for the I-485 approval was truly a test in patience. The application was transferred to the California Service Center, "in order to speed up processing" (their words!). Well, the CSC has been extremely backlogged for months. I think this was only compounded by the fact that, as of Aug 1, 2012, the CSC no longer accepted interview-waivable family-based I-485 applications. I suspect the workforce they had assigned for those applications was reduced, causing those of us whose applications arrived before the cut-off to wait extended periods of time.
As with most people, we never expected to wait more than 5 months. After 5 months, I literally checked online every day, but my wife's application was never "touched" from 07/02/2013 (when they received biometrics), until the day it was finally approved after 9 months, 7 days. Because the wait time was becoming ludicrous, and because of certain issues pertaining to jobs and an upcoming move across the country, I became increasingly aggressive about pushing for the processing of my wife's application.
Here is what we did, and the result of each step:
1/10/13 (7 months, 5 days): Went to local field office to inquire - they simply said the CSC is backlogged, give it more time. This was not very helpful, especially after driving 45 minutes each way to the field office. So, we went a step further.
1/11/13: We filed a service request. The response came on 1/24/13, which said: "We recognize your interest in a final adjudication on your pending application and are aware of the difficulties caused by any delay in processing. The CSC is committed to processing this workload, and will be making every effort to adjudicate your case in an expeditious fashion as soon as available under our resource constraints."
1/16/13: Having heard very poor results about the effectiveness of a service request, I contacted a Senator to assist with the application before hearing the result of the above service request. I read that Senators can sometimes be more powerful than House reps, and it's helpful to find a Senator who is "pro-Immigration." I got a response the next day from the Senator's office, which quoted the CSC's response as follows: "Our current processing time is approximately 6-8 months from the date the petition was received. However, please note that our office has received a high volume of submissions in this workload. There is a current backlog and the petition is currently located with the adjudication division for the assigned I-485 workload (pending action)."
This placated us for a time.
But the thought of our upcoming move and change in jobs, plus the thought of having to either 1) apply for a renewal of the EAD/AP card, or 2) have the green card get approved and then lost in the mail because of the move, made me concerned enough to continue pursuing the processing of the I-485.
2/14/13 (8 months, 9 days): Because the response (pasted above) from the CSC to the Senator stated that the processing time for their backlog was 6-8 months, and 8 months had now passed, we returned to the local field office. The very kind lady there said the CSC is definitely back-logged and that she wished there was something she could do for us, but because the application was at a different service center she could not. She said we also could not place another service request at this point, because 60 days had not elapsed since the last service request. I asked her if it was possible to have the local field office request to have the I-485 transferred BACK from CSC to the local field office, and she said it is possible -- but that by the time it finally returned and the interview was scheduled, the CSC might have already approved it. She leaned forward and whispered, "Have you contacted a Congressman yet?" I said yes, we had, but the Congressman had not helped. She told me, "Then you should contact another one. They definitely have power."
So, that's what we did that same day.
2/14/13: Contacted a House Representative this time. There was no immediate pre-formed response from the USCIS this time, so I took that as a good sign that the House Rep's team was working hard for us. The Rep's contact for the USCIS kept me up-to-date with what happened. Initially, the USCIS replied that my application was in line, but was not currently up for adjudication. The Rep's contact requested expedited service on the application, for the reasons we provided in our initial request to the House Rep.
3/11/13: I got a message from the House Rep's contact that my wife's case had been assigned to an adjudicator, and to expect a decision within 45 days.
3/12/13: Less than 24 hours later we got a status update e-mail from USCIS saying the green card was in production. Thank you. It took 9 months and 7 days, but the wait is over. |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
Mail |
| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2012-06-05 |
| NOA Date : |
2012-06-07 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
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| Approved Date : |
2012-08-10 |
| Date Card Received : |
2012-08-20 |
| Comments : |
Biometrics for AOS, EAD, and AP all occurred on 7/10/12. We were actually scheduled for a later date for the EAD and AP biometrics, but we brought that paperwork together to the earliest appointment for all 3 (which was the AOS), and they gladly did the biometrics for all of them.
Received the combined EAD + AP card. Approval occurred on 8/10/12, the card was mailed on 8/16/12, and was received 8/20/12. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your EAD was approved in 66 days. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2012-06-05 |
| NOA Date : |
2012-06-07 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2012-08-20 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your AP was approved in 66 days. |
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*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
