Adjustment of Status - Processing time 17 months?

[Nannub]

Hello everyone,

I sent in the paperwork for my adjustment of status and it was received Oct, 18th 2017.
I had my appointment for biometrics in November 17th, 2017. Since then I haven't heard anything at all, haven't received my work permit. I've called 6 times and sent in 4 service requests that have been ignored. I reached to a House Representative for my state who contacted USCIS on my behalf to try and expedite my case and couldn't do anything about it. They told this person that due to the volume of cases I'd have to wait in between 8.5 to 17 more months for my case to even be assigned to a person. I'm desperate... I don't know what to do anymore.

I'm wondering if any of you have been through the same situation and if you have any advice.

Case received Oct 18th 2017.
Biometrics done Nov 17th 2017.
Case has been pending for 166 days - April 2nd 2018.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Hello everyone,

I sent in the paperwork for my adjustment of status and it was received Oct, 18th 2017.
I had my appointment for biometrics in November 17th, 2017. Since then I haven't heard anything at all, haven't received my work permit. I've called 6 times and sent in 4 service requests that have been ignored. I reached to a House Representative for my state who contacted USCIS on my behalf to try and expedite my case and couldn't do anything about it. They told this person that due to the volume of cases I'd have to wait in between 8.5 to 17 more months for my case to even be assigned to a person. I'm desperate... I don't know what to do anymore.

I'm wondering if any of you have been through the same situation and if you have any advice.

Case received Oct 18th 2017.
Biometrics done Nov 17th 2017.
Case has been pending for 166 days - April 2nd 2018.

I understand your frustration. I just filed for my spouse and our case is in the second slowest field office in the country. The time range listed is 15 to 25.5 months. I would strongly suggest reading through this link to get an intuitive sense of what the processing times mean. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/more-info

Instead of giving you one piece of data and telling you "as of January 31, we are processing cases from 10/01/2017. Now your field office tells you that 50% of the cases they're processing right now are taking 8.5 months and 93% take up to 17 months. Those 50% of cases are the "typical" outcome you can expect or "median". So it would be safe to say those are the cases that have no RFIE, RFEs or any hiccups and the upper limit are those that have delays.

These processing times ONLY apply to 4 pilot forms. Those are:
Form N-400, Application for Naturalization;
Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card;
Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; and
Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.

Any other form is then a non-pilot form. Those are then I-130, I-765, I-131, (...). Then, for these forms, USCIS is saying they will continue to use their old method of calculating processing times but will add an upper limit of up to 130% of the processing time. (That's basically saying that the second number in the range - from X to Y months - will be calculated to be 2.3X greater than the first number. So it will be an outrageous number for non-pilot forms.

To keep your peace of mind, you can think of it this way. This new way of presenting processing times is actually giving you more information than the previous way. Bottom line is that knowing that as of january 31st they're processing cases from X date, does not tell you how long those cases are typically taking.
SOOOOO if you have not had any RFEs, one could say your case is a textbook, straightforward AOS concurrent filing. You could say your case is part of the median; i.e., the typical case. Therefore, if such cases are taking 8.5 months and you've waited 5.5 months already, then I would guess that your interview should be coming soon. The notice is usually issued a month in advance of the interview. So hopefully, it should be up soon. Once you get to the interview, you may even get approved on the spot.

Alternatively, as I have suggested to others, you could try requesting for your EAD to be expedited. Your best way to have such request approved is to have a job offer for right now. You can find a job. When they offer the job, ask for the offer in writing. With that you can call the national customer service center and they may ask you to forward the offer letter to them OR you may have to get an Infopass appointment and bring the letter there.

Option 3 is moving to Cleveland, OH where 50% of cases are processed in 4.5 months - (I am considering this option myself)

All the best. Please let the forum know how it goes. I think it's good for everyone to read the outcome of these situations.

[Nannub]

I understand your frustration. I just filed for my spouse and our case is in the second slowest field office in the country. The time range listed is 15 to 25.5 months. I would strongly suggest reading through this link to get an intuitive sense of what the processing times mean. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/more-info

Instead of giving you one piece of data and telling you "as of January 31, we are processing cases from 10/01/2017. Now your field office tells you that 50% of the cases they're processing right now are taking 8.5 months and 93% take up to 17 months. Those 50% of cases are the "typical" outcome you can expect or "median". So it would be safe to say those are the cases that have no RFIE, RFEs or any hiccups and the upper limit are those that have delays.

These processing times ONLY apply to 4 pilot forms. Those are:
Form N-400, Application for Naturalization;
Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card;
Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; and
Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.

Any other form is then a non-pilot form. Those are then I-130, I-765, I-131.Then, for these forms, USCIS is saying they will continue to use their old method of calculating processing times but will add an upper limit of up to 130% of the processing time. (That's basically saying that the second number in the range - from X to Y months - will be calculated to be 2.3X greater than the first number. So it will be an outrageous number for non-pilot forms.

To keep your peace of mind, you can think of it this way. This new way of presenting processing times is actually giving you more information than the previous way. Bottom line is that knowing that as of january 31st they're processing cases from X date, does not tell you how long those cases are typically taking.
SOOOOO if you have not had any RFEs, one could say your case is a textbook, straightforward AOS concurrent filing. You could say your case is part of the median; i.e., the typical case. Therefore, if such cases are taking 8.5 months and you've waited 5.5 months already, then I would guess that your interview should be coming soon. The notice is usually issued a month in advance of the interview. So hopefully, it should be up soon. Once you get to the interview, you may even get approved on the spot.

Alternatively, as I have suggested to others, you could try requesting for your EAD to be expedited. Your best way to have such request approved is to have a job offer for right now. You can find a job. When they offer the job, ask for the offer in writing. With that you can call the national customer service center and they may ask you to forward the offer letter to them OR you may have to get an Infopass appointment and bring the letter there.

Option 3 is moving to Cleveland, OH where 50% of cases are processed in 4.5 months - (I am considering this option myself)

All the best. Please let the forum know how it goes. I think it's good for everyone to read the outcome of these situations.

Thank you so much for this information!!!! Very very very helpful and it helps with the frustration I'm feeling right now. As of today, I got an email about my first service request (1/1/2018) saying "Your case is currently under review. You should receive a decision or notice of other action shortly." Fingers crossed. I'll keep you all updated.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Thank you so much for this information!!!! Very very very helpful and it helps with the frustration I'm feeling right now. As of today, I got an email about my first service request (1/1/2018) saying "Your case is currently under review. You should receive a decision or notice of other action shortly." Fingers crossed. I'll keep you all updated.

You're so welcome! That email is a good sign. Keep us posted. Once you get your interview notice, we'll know if my Sesame Street math 8.5 mo- 5.5 mo = 3 mo holds up. If we can each estimate the progress of our case like that, that would be awesome. But let's just see.

[tchatliz]

More explanation please !!!

February 7, 2018 (i485)
We are scheduling your interview
You do not need to do anything at this time
We have a large volume of interviews to schedule so you may not hear from us immediately. We will notify you when we have scheduled your interview and mail you an appointment notice with details.
If your mailing address changes, update your address with us.

December 29, 2017 (i765)
We received your case
Read the notice we mailed you for more information about how we will process your case
We will begin processing your case and will review it to make sure you have submitted all of the required information and documents. We will let you know if we need anything else from you.
If you do not receive your notice by January 28, 2018, send us a case inquiry and select that you did not receive your notice by mail.
If your mailing address changes, update your address with us.


Filed Dec 18
Received Dec 22
Bio Jan 25
Case pending for 103 days
I filed in Dallas

Thank you so much for your responses.

[j1313]

Just got a REF after 175 days

I have almost the same timeline as you. NBC 2 days ago after several SR I checked online and it says a RFE was mailed to me and that my cases are on hold until I respond. I have no idea what it is I am waiting desperately for the letter to come. I can't believe it took so long for a RFE. My 765 and 131 are on hold because of it until I respond. Hope its something simple since is been a long time. Please lets keep posting so we know what to expect. I am going insane with this time frames and this forum is the only thing that gives me hope.

Good luck to all

Hello everyone,

I sent in the paperwork for my adjustment of status and it was received Oct, 18th 2017.
I had my appointment for biometrics in November 17th, 2017. Since then I haven't heard anything at all, haven't received my work permit. I've called 6 times and sent in 4 service requests that have been ignored. I reached to a House Representative for my state who contacted USCIS on my behalf to try and expedite my case and couldn't do anything about it. They told this person that due to the volume of cases I'd have to wait in between 8.5 to 17 more months for my case to even be assigned to a person. I'm desperate... I don't know what to do anymore.

I'm wondering if any of you have been through the same situation and if you have any advice.

Case received Oct 18th 2017.
Biometrics done Nov 17th 2017.
Case has been pending for 166 days - April 2nd 2018.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

February 7, 2018 (i485)
We are scheduling your interview
You do not need to do anything at this time
We have a large volume of interviews to schedule so you may not hear from us immediately. We will notify you when we have scheduled your interview and mail you an appointment notice with details.
If your mailing address changes, update your address with us.

December 29, 2017 (i765)
We received your case
Read the notice we mailed you for more information about how we will process your case
We will begin processing your case and will review it to make sure you have submitted all of the required information and documents. We will let you know if we need anything else from you.
If you do not receive your notice by January 28, 2018, send us a case inquiry and select that you did not receive your notice by mail.
If your mailing address changes, update your address with us.


Filed Dec 18
Received Dec 22
Bio Jan 25
Case pending for 103 days
I filed in Dallas

Thank you so much for your responses.

It looks like your case is moving smoothly. I am inferring from the fact that USCIS did not issue a RFE between December 29th, 2017 & February 7th, 2018 . They said they would let you know if they needed anything from you. They didn't ask for anything. So everything is good.

Now the February 7th, 2018 notice is really a way to prevent a stampede of people requesting infopass appointments at the field office to ask about the status of their case. Doing so ties up the officers. It seems like they just want to make sure they can keep their heads above water.
When they say "we are scheduling your interview", it really means your case has been moved to the queue for that to happen. It sounds faster than it is, though. Think more of being at the airport and waiting at the gate for updates on your delayed flight that has technical issues. Once the aircraft is cleared for operation, all those seats (interview slots) will be assigned. A lot goes into scheduling manpower.

One more thing, you didn't provide the category under which you filed your I-485. In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications. Again, I would say your case is moving quite quickly and I would just patiently wait.

All the best. Keep the forum updated. It's good for all of us know.

[tchatliz]

Thank you so much your promt reaction.

Thank you so much for all the effort and time you are putting in to bring answers to our questions. Actually I am the applicant and my wife is US citizens so I apply for adjustment of status coming with a B2 visa.
I am so anxious, but whenever I come on this website I always find hope bcs I know I can find people like you who can be of help and tell us yeah everything is alright you just need to be patient. And of course I am and I know soon everything will come to pass.
So now I want to ask you what?s the meaning of RFE . And like you said since then the only notification I received was the courtesy letter since I didn?t send in my medical.

In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications.... is this one for the GC or the EAD?

Thank you so much once again


QUOTE=UScitizenFilingforspouse;561311]It looks like your case is moving smoothly. I am inferring from the fact that USCIS did not issue a RFE between December 29th, 2017 & February 7th, 2018 . They said they would let you know if they needed anything from you. They didn't ask for anything. So everything is good.

Now the February 7th, 2018 notice is really a way to prevent a stampede of people requesting infopass appointments at the field office to ask about the status of their case. Doing so ties up the officers. It seems like they just want to make sure they can keep their heads above water.
When they say "we are scheduling your interview", it really means your case has been moved to the queue for that to happen. It sounds faster than it is, though. Think more of being at the airport and waiting at the gate for updates on your delayed flight that has technical issues. Once the aircraft is cleared for operation, all those seats (interview slots) will be assigned. A lot goes into scheduling manpower.

One more thing, you didn't provide the category under which you filed your I-485. In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications. Again, I would say your case is moving quite quickly and I would just patiently wait.

All the best. Keep the forum updated. It's good for all of us know.[/QUOTE]

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

[QUOTE=tchatliz;561414]Thank you so much for all the effort and time you are putting in to bring answers to our questions. Actually I am the applicant and my wife is US citizens so I apply for adjustment of status coming with a B2 visa.
I am so anxious, but whenever I come on this website I always find hope bcs I know I can find people like you who can be of help and tell us yeah everything is alright you just need to be patient. And of course I am and I know soon everything will come to pass.
So now I want to ask you what?s the meaning of RFE . And like you said since then the only notification I received was the courtesy letter since I didn?t send in my medical.

In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications.... is this one for the GC or the EAD?

Thank you so much once again

You're so welcome! Glad to be of assistance. RFE means Request For Evidence and even though it sounds like getting the red card in soccer, it really is an opportunity for you to provide missing information/evidence in order for your application to be complete. This memo explains it nicely and it also explains the timeline. It is from 2006 but most of what it says still holds today. Page 2 and 3. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...e/casemgmt.pdf

So when a RFE is issued, that delays your case because the review will not move forward until the application is complete and it will not be considered complete until you send in the missing information/evidence. On the upside though, when a RFE is issued, you then know for sure that's all that is missing because the adjudicator has to review your entire packet to make sure that's all that's missing. You always want to respond ASAP. In your case, you don't have to worry about any of this. You got a courtesy letter asking for the I-693 and you will provide that at the time of your interview. (Side note: flu season is still on. Make sure you get a flu shot and have that documented on your I-693,)

Here's the link where you can check processing times. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/#mainContent
You have to scroll down to see the results for employment based and family based. That big first result in blue that you get combines both. So you want to know specifically for family based.
Keep in mind that the first number is how long it takes to process 50% of the cases and the second number, how long it takes to process 93% of the cases. You filed 12/18/17. So you've been waiting for 3.5 months already. Your field office processes 50% of family based AOS in 14.5 months. I do not think you have to be too concerned about that. You took care of everything you had control of. Proof of that is that you had no RFEs and now, your case is ready to be scheduled for interview.

Hope this helps. All the best!

[kaylip]

[QUOTE=UScitizenFilingforspouse;561438]

Thank you so much for all the effort and time you are putting in to bring answers to our questions. Actually I am the applicant and my wife is US citizens so I apply for adjustment of status coming with a B2 visa.
I am so anxious, but whenever I come on this website I always find hope bcs I know I can find people like you who can be of help and tell us yeah everything is alright you just need to be patient. And of course I am and I know soon everything will come to pass.
So now I want to ask you what?s the meaning of RFE . And like you said since then the only notification I received was the courtesy letter since I didn?t send in my medical.

In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications.... is this one for the GC or the EAD?

Thank you so much once again

You're so welcome! Glad to be of assistance. RFE means Request For Evidence and even though it sounds like getting the red card in soccer, it really is an opportunity for you to provide missing information/evidence in order for your application to be complete. This memo explains it nicely and it also explains the timeline. It is from 2006 but most of what it says still holds today. Page 2 and 3. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...e/casemgmt.pdf

So when a RFE is issued, that delays your case because the review will not move forward until the application is complete and it will not be considered complete until you send in the missing information/evidence. On the upside though, when a RFE is issued, you then know for sure that's all that is missing because the adjudicator has to review your entire packet to make sure that's all that's missing. You always want to respond ASAP. In your case, you don't have to worry about any of this. You got a courtesy letter asking for the I-693 and you will provide that at the time of your interview. (Side note: flu season is still on. Make sure you get a flu shot and have that documented on your I-693,)

Here's the link where you can check processing times. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/#mainContent
You have to scroll down to see the results for employment based and family based. That big first result in blue that you get combines both. So you want to know specifically for family based.
Keep in mind that the first number is how long it takes to process 50% of the cases and the second number, how long it takes to process 93% of the cases. You filed 12/18/17. So you've been waiting for 3.5 months already. Your field office processes 50% of family based AOS in 14.5 months. I do not think you have to be too concerned about that. You took care of everything you had control of. Proof of that is that you had no RFEs and now, your case is ready to be scheduled for interview.

Hope this helps. All the best!

So does that mean that when they send u a courtesy letter they don't send RFE's? I really hope I don't get one

[tchatliz]

Good tip for the flu shot

Once again thank you for always being available to bring light to our various preoccupation. As I said yesterday, every time I am on this forum I always find joy, hope because I know am not alone and I know there is someone somewhere to always bring me that hope.
Your active participation in this forum is really a blessing not only for me, but for many other people going through the same situation. It?s at times frustrating, but we know and we believe that things shall come to pass soon.
I am just crossing my fingers and patiently waiting the next level which I believe is there already.
I want to thank you for the vital information as far as the flu shot is concerned. But I have a question. Do you think I can take anywhere like in Sam?s club, Walmart, Target... and keep a record of that or I should wait and do it along with the medical examination for the interview ?
Once again thank you for your time


[QUOTE=UScitizenFilingforspouse;561438]

Thank you so much for all the effort and time you are putting in to bring answers to our questions. Actually I am the applicant and my wife is US citizens so I apply for adjustment of status coming with a B2 visa.
I am so anxious, but whenever I come on this website I always find hope bcs I know I can find people like you who can be of help and tell us yeah everything is alright you just need to be patient. And of course I am and I know soon everything will come to pass.
So now I want to ask you what?s the meaning of RFE . And like you said since then the only notification I received was the courtesy letter since I didn?t send in my medical.

In any case, the I-485 processing times for your field office are 8 to 11.5 Months for Employment-based adjustment and 14.5 to 31.5 Month for family-based adjustment applications.... is this one for the GC or the EAD?

Thank you so much once again

You're so welcome! Glad to be of assistance. RFE means Request For Evidence and even though it sounds like getting the red card in soccer, it really is an opportunity for you to provide missing information/evidence in order for your application to be complete. This memo explains it nicely and it also explains the timeline. It is from 2006 but most of what it says still holds today. Page 2 and 3. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...e/casemgmt.pdf

So when a RFE is issued, that delays your case because the review will not move forward until the application is complete and it will not be considered complete until you send in the missing information/evidence. On the upside though, when a RFE is issued, you then know for sure that's all that is missing because the adjudicator has to review your entire packet to make sure that's all that's missing. You always want to respond ASAP. In your case, you don't have to worry about any of this. You got a courtesy letter asking for the I-693 and you will provide that at the time of your interview. (Side note: flu season is still on. Make sure you get a flu shot and have that documented on your I-693,)

Here's the link where you can check processing times. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/#mainContent
You have to scroll down to see the results for employment based and family based. That big first result in blue that you get combines both. So you want to know specifically for family based.
Keep in mind that the first number is how long it takes to process 50% of the cases and the second number, how long it takes to process 93% of the cases. You filed 12/18/17. So you've been waiting for 3.5 months already. Your field office processes 50% of family based AOS in 14.5 months. I do not think you have to be too concerned about that. You took care of everything you had control of. Proof of that is that you had no RFEs and now, your case is ready to be scheduled for interview.

Hope this helps. All the best!

[flyforever85]

Am I the only one in Dayton, OH? It sucks that I have the slowest office of Ohio (Cincinnati).

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

[QUOTE=kaylip;561538]

So does that mean that when they send u a courtesy letter they don't send RFE's? I really hope I don't get one

So by now, your file has been checked for completeness, accuracy and the only missing item was the I-693. Since there's no need to hold up your case for that, they issued you the courtesy letter. Take a moment to look at this memo. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...e/casemgmt.pdf It's old but it explains nicely the difference between Request for Initial Evidence and Request for Additional Evidence. When you get a Request for INITIAL evidence, the clock resets and starts over when you answer reaches USCIS. When you get a Request for Additional Evidence, the clock stops and when they get your response, it resumes right where it'd left off.
This here is a quick read if you know what you're looking for. https://www.***.com/seminars/august2002_citation2b.pdf When a case is ready to be scheduled for interview, that means of course, that it's about to be sent to the field office. It would not get to that point unless everything checks out. I'm sharing the links because otherwise I would be speculating out of thin air.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Am I the only one in Dayton, OH? It sucks that I have the slowest office of Ohio (Cincinnati).

Still... Cincinnati processes 50% of family based AOS cases in 6.5 months. That's pretty good. It's 14.5 months where I am. I don't think it will take 6.5 months if you have zero RFEs and your background checks clear quickly.

[flyforever85]

Still... Cincinnati processes 50% of family based AOS cases in 6.5 months. That's pretty good. It's 14.5 months where I am. I don't think it will take 6.5 months if you have zero RFEs and your background checks clear quickly.

I read 8. Still is good of course but compared to other offices in Ohio it seems to be the slowest.