January 2017 Priority Date, Still Have Not Heard Back for Interview (I-130 with USC)

[UncertainEagle]

Here is a short summary of our situation:

? 01/16/2017: I got married to my Turkish boyfriend. I am a US Citizen.
? 01/24/2017: USCIS Surgeon Medical completed.
? 01/28/2017: We created one of the most well-organized and detailed application files (when compared to some we saw online), with color-coding, full list of items, cover letter, various lines of evidence (with no repetition), many professionally translated documents from Turkey, etc.
? 01/31/2017: USCIS accepted our application (I-485 & I-130 along with other stuff like EAD). Priority Date is this.
? 02/06/2017: Fingerprint fee accepted.
? 02/22/2017: Request for Initial Evidence sent to us.
? 03/02/2017: Biometrics is done.
? 03/09/2017: We sent he Further Evidence to the USCIS and they received it.

Nothing for a while...

? 06/26/2017: Inquiry made for I-765 (EAD) due to out of processing time.
? 07/11/2017: EAD Card Ordered. (Not sure if inquiry helped but the response was close to immediate for USCIS standards).
? 07/13/2017: New EAD Card received (with I-131 Travel Document)

Nothing since then! Now the problems begin:

? 12/18/2017: After 10 months of no-processing, we contacted USCIS Customer Service. For I-485, they said they are within normal processing dates. But for I-130, they said it is out of 6 months processing time for USC spouses. They said we are being processed at Dallas Office. They gave us a tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days, if they don't contact us in the meantime.
? 01/18/2018: After not hearing anything, we called back. They said they did/could not check the status. They gave us another tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days. The officer (I have the name and badge ID) said "This process could technically go forever and USCIS does not need to process anything within the posted time frame".

We decided to get serious, as obviously something is wrong. Everybody we know and read online who applied in January 2017 got their Green Cards. We have not even gotten the interview yet! So:

? 01/19/2018: Contacted Ombudsman's Office (they said they will return to us in 45 days, which will be 03/26/2018)
? 01/19/2018: E-mailed NCSC Followup and SCOPSSCATA. Heard nothing back since then.
? 01/30/2018: Contacted Jodey Arrington's (Congressman's) Office and filled the Privacy Release Form.

Updates:

? 02/07/2018: The Congressman's people e-mailed USCIS with the Privacy Release Form.
? 02/07/2018: Contacted FBI's Fingerprinting Division to see if that is what is holding up. They said that "they believe it is the previous President's fault" and that they thought we "had at least another year". No kidding, it is on record.

Here we are... Our medical exam is expired (due to the new law that says they expire in 1 year), we are completely in the dark about what is going on, we have not heard back from any of the USCIS branches or process.

Any help or idea is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

[platoondelta]

I seem to have some similarities with your case. PD June 2017 (IR1), and both I-130 and I-485 have seen no movement - Still says "Fingerprint Fee was Received".

I am told application is pending background check. My congressman's office thinks that they possibly have not even initiated the background check yet and that they (USCIS/FBI) may be badly backlogged.
If I may ask, how did you get in touch with FBI ? I would like to get in touch with them too, and see if I can get status updates.

[UncertainEagle]

I seem to have some similarities with your case. PD June 2017 (IR1), and both I-130 and I-485 have seen no movement - Still says "Fingerprint Fee was Received".

I am told application is pending background check. My congressman's office thinks that they possibly have not even initiated the background check yet and that they (USCIS/FBI) may be badly backlogged.
If I may ask, how did you get in touch with FBI ? I would like to get in touch with them too, and see if I can get status updates.

It's slightly reassuring to hear there are others in the same situation. I hope all of this mess will be resolved soon enough.

We found the recommendation on this website. Unfortunately, it is a bit old (if you read article 7 there, you can see it). In article 9, they gave the following number for FBI: 304-625-5590. But both on their automated system, and when you get to the operator, they strictly say that they cannot help. They are not very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Good luck, and let us know if you can figure anything out.

[Mellymoo]

It's slightly reassuring to hear there are others in the same situation. I hope all of this mess will be resolved soon enough.

We found the recommendation on this website. Unfortunately, it is a bit old (if you read article 7 there, you can see it). In article 9, they gave the following number for FBI: 304-625-5590. But both on their automated system, and when you get to the operator, they strictly say that they cannot help. They are not very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Good luck, and let us know if you can figure anything out.

I spoke to them last week. The woman was actually really nice. She said she could not help as they only deal with a different type of check but she did say that the USCIS checks are usually completed within about 30 seconds as they come through electronically. She suggested a FOIA request through uscis to find out if the checks had been completed but the waiting time is something like 130 days to get a response. I'm just impatient but learning to settle in and wait my turn.

[UncertainEagle]

I spoke to them last week. The woman was actually really nice. She said she could not help as they only deal with a different type of check but she did say that the USCIS checks are usually completed within about 30 seconds as they come through electronically. She suggested a FOIA request through uscis to find out if the checks had been completed but the waiting time is something like 130 days to get a response. I'm just impatient but learning to settle in and wait my turn.

These people are contractors, just like USCIS Customer Service. So it is a lottery to get a nice or annoying person.

Yeah, we just filed a FOIA too, we'll see how that goes.

I doubt this issue is just about being patient. There are numerous instances on this forum where people got their Green Cards, let alone their interviews by now. I feel like there is a problem.

[gurueb1]

Here is a short summary of our situation:

? 01/16/2017: I got married to my Turkish boyfriend. I am a US Citizen.
? 01/24/2017: USCIS Surgeon Medical completed.
? 01/28/2017: We created one of the most well-organized and detailed application files (when compared to some we saw online), with color-coding, full list of items, cover letter, various lines of evidence (with no repetition), many professionally translated documents from Turkey, etc.
? 01/31/2017: USCIS accepted our application (I-485 & I-130 along with other stuff like EAD). Priority Date is this.
? 02/06/2017: Fingerprint fee accepted.
? 02/22/2017: Request for Initial Evidence sent to us.
? 03/02/2017: Biometrics is done.
? 03/09/2017: We sent he Further Evidence to the USCIS and they received it.

Nothing for a while...

? 06/26/2017: Inquiry made for I-765 (EAD) due to out of processing time.
? 07/11/2017: EAD Card Ordered. (Not sure if inquiry helped but the response was close to immediate for USCIS standards).
? 07/13/2017: New EAD Card received (with I-131 Travel Document)

Nothing since then! Now the problems begin:

? 12/18/2017: After 10 months of no-processing, we contacted USCIS Customer Service. For I-485, they said they are within normal processing dates. But for I-130, they said it is out of 6 months processing time for USC spouses. They said we are being processed at Dallas Office. They gave us a tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days, if they don't contact us in the meantime.
? 01/18/2018: After not hearing anything, we called back. They said they did/could not check the status. They gave us another tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days. The officer (I have the name and badge ID) said "This process could technically go forever and USCIS does not need to process anything within the posted time frame".

We decided to get serious, as obviously something is wrong. Everybody we know and read online who applied in January 2017 got their Green Cards. We have not even gotten the interview yet! So:

? 01/19/2018: Contacted Ombudsman's Office (they said they will return to us in 45 days, which will be 03/26/2018)
? 01/19/2018: E-mailed NCSC Followup and SCOPSSCATA. Heard nothing back since then.
? 01/30/2018: Contacted Jodey Arrington's (Congressman's) Office and filled the Privacy Release Form.

Updates:

? 02/07/2018: The Congressman's people e-mailed USCIS with the Privacy Release Form.
? 02/07/2018: Contacted FBI's Fingerprinting Division to see if that is what is holding up. They said that "they believe it is the previous President's fault" and that they thought we "had at least another year". No kidding, it is on record.

Here we are... Our medical exam is expired (due to the new law that says they expire in 1 year), we are completely in the dark about what is going on, we have not heard back from any of the USCIS branches or process.

Any help or idea is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

I feel your pain.. dont worry, you are not alone !!
I got the exact same response when I asked my congresswoman to inquire.

We just have to keep waiting and waiting.. We dont have an option !

[GC_]

Same - PD 01/31/2017 - DALLAS

Here is a short summary of our situation:

? 01/16/2017: I got married to my Turkish boyfriend. I am a US Citizen.
? 01/24/2017: USCIS Surgeon Medical completed.
? 01/28/2017: We created one of the most well-organized and detailed application files (when compared to some we saw online), with color-coding, full list of items, cover letter, various lines of evidence (with no repetition), many professionally translated documents from Turkey, etc.
? 01/31/2017: USCIS accepted our application (I-485 & I-130 along with other stuff like EAD). Priority Date is this.
? 02/06/2017: Fingerprint fee accepted.
? 02/22/2017: Request for Initial Evidence sent to us.
? 03/02/2017: Biometrics is done.
? 03/09/2017: We sent he Further Evidence to the USCIS and they received it.

Nothing for a while...

? 06/26/2017: Inquiry made for I-765 (EAD) due to out of processing time.
? 07/11/2017: EAD Card Ordered. (Not sure if inquiry helped but the response was close to immediate for USCIS standards).
? 07/13/2017: New EAD Card received (with I-131 Travel Document)

Nothing since then! Now the problems begin:

? 12/18/2017: After 10 months of no-processing, we contacted USCIS Customer Service. For I-485, they said they are within normal processing dates. But for I-130, they said it is out of 6 months processing time for USC spouses. They said we are being processed at Dallas Office. They gave us a tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days, if they don't contact us in the meantime.
? 01/18/2018: After not hearing anything, we called back. They said they did/could not check the status. They gave us another tracking number and told us to call back in 30 days. The officer (I have the name and badge ID) said "This process could technically go forever and USCIS does not need to process anything within the posted time frame".

We decided to get serious, as obviously something is wrong. Everybody we know and read online who applied in January 2017 got their Green Cards. We have not even gotten the interview yet! So:

? 01/19/2018: Contacted Ombudsman's Office (they said they will return to us in 45 days, which will be 03/26/2018)
? 01/19/2018: E-mailed NCSC Followup and SCOPSSCATA. Heard nothing back since then.
? 01/30/2018: Contacted Jodey Arrington's (Congressman's) Office and filled the Privacy Release Form.

Updates:

? 02/07/2018: The Congressman's people e-mailed USCIS with the Privacy Release Form.
? 02/07/2018: Contacted FBI's Fingerprinting Division to see if that is what is holding up. They said that "they believe it is the previous President's fault" and that they thought we "had at least another year". No kidding, it is on record.

Here we are... Our medical exam is expired (due to the new law that says they expire in 1 year), we are completely in the dark about what is going on, we have not heard back from any of the USCIS branches or process.

Any help or idea is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Well, I can say we are on the same boat. My PD is Jan 31, 2017 and my field office is also Dallas. Last time I called the USCIS they said that I was on a list to be scheduled for interview which didn't sound like it was going to happen any time soon.

I was able to see that I've been ready to be scheduled for interview for monthsss now. I used a tracker I found on another thread ( https://myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov/ ), if you haven't looked here I recommend you do since it gave me more details on my case.

They have also updated the Processing times per Field Office, [ https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-ti...me#mainContent ] and based on this it says Dallas takes from 11 - 28.5 months which is really discouraging with such a big window. It also says that unless your PD is before September 07, 2015 your case technically doesn't fall under ?outside normal processing time? . I am just trying to stay positive but this is taking a toll on me as well.. all we can do is pray and hope for this to pick up a faster pace. Hang in there!

[juliakingsley]

SAME! I'm in Dallas and my PD is January 30, 2017. NOTHING. Fingerprints recieved. People in Arizona have applied Jan. this year and have their interview dates already! I'm so frustrated I don't know what to do. My husband's mom is sick and we want to go visit her but we just feel stuck here! It's causing severe anxiety and depression for me and my husband that we feel like this country doesn't care about us even though we did everything the RIGHT way!