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Hi,
I (my wife and my daughter) just received the green cards and our long GC journey which lasted two years and a half finally completed.
I just wanted to share my timeline and bit of experiences, particularly for Step 2&3; everyone's frustration, pending I485 and newly-mandated interview.
I came to US on L1B visa and applied to EB3 Employment based green card through AOS. I live and work in New York (Manhattan).
----------------------------
Feb, 2015 - L1B visa approved
Jul, 2015 - Arrival to US
Dec, 2015 - Suggestion to my employer if they can sponsor. Agreed.
Feb, 2016 - Starting preparation of the long journey.. from preparing PERM
Aug beg, 2016 - Prevailing Wage Request sent
Aug-Sep, 2016 - PERM Recruitment done
Dec beg, 2016 - PERM Wage Determination received
Mar mid, 2017 - PERM certified (approved)
----------------------------
(Feb 15, 2017 - Priority date)
Jun beg, 2017 - I140, I485, I765 (EAD), I131 (Advance Parole), and G325A received by USCIS
Aug mid, 2017 - Biometric appointment
Nov end, 2017 - EAD approved
Nov end, 2017 - I131 (AP) denied due to the international travel while AP was pending
Dec end, 2017 - Applied to L1B visa extension with Premium Processing
Mar beg, 2018 - I140 approved
Jan mid, 2018 - L1B RFE received - the volume of RFE was immense and it took long to prepare for it
Feb, 2018 - L1B visa expired
Mar end, 2018 - L1B RFE replied
Apr beg, 2018 - Re-apply I131 (AP) - no fee necessary if I485 is pending
Apr beg, 2018 - I485 was transferred to NBC and initial review started
Apr beg, 2018 - L1B visa extension denied - as their denial notice said, due to lack of evidence of "specialized knowledge" and proprietary-ness of the skills to the company. Per lawyer, this happened a lot recently under the new presidency and was a huge departure from their past policy since they once admitted my skills were specialized enough at the original L1B judgement. Based on this decision, we decided to give up our summer vacation to Mexico because without L1B or AP, the international travel would be deemed as abandonment of I485 application while there was no guarantee that AP or I485 would be approved by summer.
May beg, 2018 - I485 interview notice received
May beg, 2018 - AP approved for my daughter
May end, 2018 - AP approved for my wife and myself - here, we turned available to go international travel but was too late because we already cancelled the summer vacation. I never imagined the AP would be approved this quickly.
Jun mid, 2018 - I485 interview - We had to wait for two hours at the waiting room but our interview itself only lasted for 15 mins (the prior applicant took an hour-long interview.) We let the officer have updated docs (medical check, W2, I485J) and gave a series of "no" to her confirmations of admissibility such as "have you ever arrested" etc. just as I485 has check boxes at its last section.
Jul 13, 2018 - I485 approved and green card produced
Jul 19, 2018 - Received the stuffs!
----------------------------
New stringent administration made us receive some denials and wait longer than we originally imagined, which drove us nervous at that time. L1B extension denial was most striking because it meant the only permission of work left was EAD and once it expired I was no longer able to work (technically, renewal was available but I felt like I was rejected by US.)
As a whole, my case must be nothing difficult. Different ppl have different situations, and I just had a few abnormalities which eventually did not ruin my whole admissibility in US.
You may feel mad when the pending period gets long or other filers get approved earlier; I cannot remember how many times I felt sick when I found in immihelp forum the marriage-based filers or EB1 filers won approval way faster than us. Just stay calm till your turn comes
Hope this will help!
I (my wife and my daughter) just received the green cards and our long GC journey which lasted two years and a half finally completed.
I just wanted to share my timeline and bit of experiences, particularly for Step 2&3; everyone's frustration, pending I485 and newly-mandated interview.
I came to US on L1B visa and applied to EB3 Employment based green card through AOS. I live and work in New York (Manhattan).
----------------------------
Feb, 2015 - L1B visa approved
Jul, 2015 - Arrival to US
Dec, 2015 - Suggestion to my employer if they can sponsor. Agreed.
Feb, 2016 - Starting preparation of the long journey.. from preparing PERM
Aug beg, 2016 - Prevailing Wage Request sent
Aug-Sep, 2016 - PERM Recruitment done
Dec beg, 2016 - PERM Wage Determination received
Mar mid, 2017 - PERM certified (approved)
----------------------------
(Feb 15, 2017 - Priority date)
Jun beg, 2017 - I140, I485, I765 (EAD), I131 (Advance Parole), and G325A received by USCIS
Aug mid, 2017 - Biometric appointment
Nov end, 2017 - EAD approved
Nov end, 2017 - I131 (AP) denied due to the international travel while AP was pending
Dec end, 2017 - Applied to L1B visa extension with Premium Processing
Mar beg, 2018 - I140 approved
Jan mid, 2018 - L1B RFE received - the volume of RFE was immense and it took long to prepare for it
Feb, 2018 - L1B visa expired
Mar end, 2018 - L1B RFE replied
Apr beg, 2018 - Re-apply I131 (AP) - no fee necessary if I485 is pending
Apr beg, 2018 - I485 was transferred to NBC and initial review started
Apr beg, 2018 - L1B visa extension denied - as their denial notice said, due to lack of evidence of "specialized knowledge" and proprietary-ness of the skills to the company. Per lawyer, this happened a lot recently under the new presidency and was a huge departure from their past policy since they once admitted my skills were specialized enough at the original L1B judgement. Based on this decision, we decided to give up our summer vacation to Mexico because without L1B or AP, the international travel would be deemed as abandonment of I485 application while there was no guarantee that AP or I485 would be approved by summer.
May beg, 2018 - I485 interview notice received
May beg, 2018 - AP approved for my daughter
May end, 2018 - AP approved for my wife and myself - here, we turned available to go international travel but was too late because we already cancelled the summer vacation. I never imagined the AP would be approved this quickly.
Jun mid, 2018 - I485 interview - We had to wait for two hours at the waiting room but our interview itself only lasted for 15 mins (the prior applicant took an hour-long interview.) We let the officer have updated docs (medical check, W2, I485J) and gave a series of "no" to her confirmations of admissibility such as "have you ever arrested" etc. just as I485 has check boxes at its last section.
Jul 13, 2018 - I485 approved and green card produced
Jul 19, 2018 - Received the stuffs!
----------------------------
New stringent administration made us receive some denials and wait longer than we originally imagined, which drove us nervous at that time. L1B extension denial was most striking because it meant the only permission of work left was EAD and once it expired I was no longer able to work (technically, renewal was available but I felt like I was rejected by US.)
As a whole, my case must be nothing difficult. Different ppl have different situations, and I just had a few abnormalities which eventually did not ruin my whole admissibility in US.
You may feel mad when the pending period gets long or other filers get approved earlier; I cannot remember how many times I felt sick when I found in immihelp forum the marriage-based filers or EB1 filers won approval way faster than us. Just stay calm till your turn comes
Hope this will help!
