Tweet
I found it difficult to find information about EB2/3 based green card application and the procedure of rescheduling the interview, especially in some very tricky cases when all the life event and timing seems to be against you: being fired shy of the 180 day threshold of AC-21 portability and a month and half away from your scheduled interview, and then the Covid lockdown throw in new dimension of uncertainty. In the end, I survived and got my Green Card in October 2020. I'd like to share my experience to help those who faces similar challenge and provide hope to those whose whole life seems to be against them, and shade some lights on the proper procedure to navigate through the difficulties.
Following is my story.
I graduated as PhD from a prestigious US graduate school in 2014. Prestigious as it is, my field of study wasn't aimed for easy employment outside academic sphere, and I failed to land on a job in the US under STEM OPT. I ended working in a foreign branch of a US company, aiming to return to the US one day. I got a chance to relocate to the head quarter in Connecticut in 2017 through a "promotion" under L1-B VISA. The "promotion" was, however, a very risky move, since it means leaving all my previous accomplishment behind and start a new. In my company, it translates into a very high likelihood of being fired should the market go against you.
In early 2018 my company agreed to file employment based green card application for me and all my dependents (my wife and two young kids). As is common is employment based green card application, the company uses it as a way to retain employees: the employee would be loyal to the company as long as the case is pending. In practice, it means technically delay all the procedure for as long as possible. While ideally, the procedure to establish PERM (DOL ETA 9089) is about 6 month including two required month-long job posting, it took over 6 month for my company to even start the filing of PERM. When the job posting is finally done and PERM filed, it's already a year after we started the journey. A tip here: you should pester the immigration lawyer hired by your company as much as you can and try to get any reference number related to your case so you can track the progress yourself. Because often, they will "forget" to inform you the status of your case has changed and there are new material needed from you.
Since the December of 2018, our company had performed mediocrely, and all went from mediocre to very bad throughout the spring of 2019. By the time of May, it had been so bad, many senior reputable people in the company had chosen to quit and the rest of the senior management was in an never-ending infight of blame-game and power struggle. A big portion of people in my department went through "rearrangement" (which was euphoria of demotion), luckily I wasn't part of it (not knowing that's the beginner of even worse destiny, think about moving out of the nasty ghetto and boarding a train in Warsaw). The company can collapse at any time, and if it happens, so is my green card application. Note, the L1-B visa is particularly malign in this case because unlike H1-B, once you lose your job, you are not eligible to find a new job under the same visa (no portability). I remember all the sleepless nights, and all the innocent smiles of my young kids only reminded me how it all can end at any moment; I felt very ill every single day, but cannot take any leave or show any sign of weakness, for it means being chosen to be fired immediately.
Due to random reasons, I asked about the progress of my PERM application in early June. The assistant of the immigration attorney replied they actually got my PERM approval a couple of weeks ago. Yes, they "forget" to inform me the update again. My I-485 and I-140 was finally filed in mid July 2019. At the time, I knew it's a race against the clock: it would take about another 6 month or so to reach the finish line in Connecticut (if there's no delay), that is around early spring 2020. And the large scale "adjustment of head count" typically happens by the end of the year during the yearly performance review (of the company, not individual employ). I happily spend $1,500 for the premium processing to get better chance to at least have a valid EAD card in hand should be worst happens. Note, for L1-B holders, the value of valid EAD is questionable since you still lose your legal status (right to work) if you lose your job; what it provides you is a right to work when your I-485 is pending, which again depends on your employment.
Throughout the summer, the performance of the company rebounded modestly, and the threat of immediate collapse was relieved. And to my surprise, my Biometric was scheduled really swiftly and I received my I-765 Combo Card in September. It seemed that I was on a fast track, and it could be OK. Then, the fate stroke again, the performance of the company went down again in the winter, and I was called to the manager's office on Jan 6 2020 (to make more drama here, it's the day before my birthday), I was fired. I told them I was by the end of my green card journey, but they were not willing to delay the termination of my case. They wanted to showed to the public that they made large scale "adjustment/shake off" in response to extended poor performance. I knew the AC-21 portability is critical for my green card application and I was about a week away from the 180 day threshold. So I negotiated to delay my termination for the purpose of AC-21, which they agreed. Now, the early sign of fast track became a terrible curse: my interview can come at any time and I need to have a job of similar function to present to the immigration officer at the interview. A tip here, it's critical to understand your current status of green card application and know all the relevant date/days to best position yourself in tricky situations.
On Jan 10, 2020, I received the notice my green card interview is scheduled on Feb 27. At the time I was "about to be fired" in a week, under a very strict non-compete clause for 6 month (ending on July 15 2020) as if I am a C-suit manager in the company, while being dumped like trash in a large scale indiscriminative layoff. How am I going to survive if I am not even allowed to work for a similar job, a core condition for my employment based green card application, for six month while my interview (the judgement day) was only a month and half away? It was stressful, especially after all the difficulties in 2019, I felt there wasn't much left in me to fight another impossible battle.
I was probably very battle-hardened at that point. Despite sleepless and feeling ill the whole time (basically, it had become a regular part of my life since the spring 2019), I put together 120% of my brightness and capability and got an job offer of similar position by the end of Jan. My new employer was deeply moved by my case and being willing to wait for 6 month until I can officially on-board the job on July 15. They also hired a new immigration lawyer for my case, and I was readying myself for the interview on Feb 27, the end of all the turmoil (I naively thought).
Two weeks prior to my scheduled green card interview, the immigration lawyer contacted me for a "technical problem." If I go to green card interview with my current job offer, the immigration officer will be in a difficult situation: I am technically not working for my new employer until July, so they cannot approve my case. On the other hand, the officer, with my priority date be current, is required to reach a decision regarding my application in 6 weeks while my on-board date is 5 month in the future. There's is a non-trivial chance the office would have to choose to deny my application because there's really no other active thing they can do. The best chance to stay alive and fight the other day is delay the process by rescheduling the interview. If you search online for rescheduling green card interview, you will find next to nothing because there's no official procedure governing reschedule request. You are allowed to file reschedule request with a "solid reason" via your attorney, or call USCIS yourself; but there's no guidelines on what qualifies as "solid reason" (beyond the obvious one like you got hit by a car and was hospitalized the night before). And worse, the practice doesn't happen that often within the immigration lawyer circle either: there's no way to guarantee your request will be granted. Followed the suggestion by the immigration lawyer, we filed the request in all four possible ways (citing "cannot attend interview due to unforeseeable personal circumstances". Yes, it sounds very sketchy), and made sure keeping good records for request being filed; did a "no-show" on the scheduled interview date, and wait to see what happened next. It was very scary.
Typically (if there's anything typical about rescheduling green card interview), you expect to hear back from USCIS about 2 weeks after the scheduled interview that pushes you to the back of the queue (of interview) if your reschedule request was granted. And then a new interview date will be assigned when you move to the front of the queue. In total, it's usually 4-6 month from your reschedule request. In my case, it means a new interview date close to or after on-board date of my new job. Under the hood, during that two week period, what happens is: the appointed interview officer reported you not showing for the interview, and put you on potential reject. Then after some internal work, they realize you requested reschedule (often days after your scheduled interview because there's no standard procedure here) and change your status to "absent from interview, pending decision", and require further information from you regarding your reschedule request. If they accept your reschedule request, then you are back to the queue like described above, otherwise, you need to file an appeal to get your case re-opened. Let me put this into medical analogy here: You are going through a brain surgery that likely will kill you. To give you a better chance, you are put on artificially induced death state to improve your chance of survive (or at least avoid immediate real death). If you are lucky, you will come back later after being technically dead for a while, otherwise, you never wake up again and were technically killed by the doctor (from your perspective). It's exactly how scary it felt.
Luckily or unluckily, my case is on fast track again. We got new interview scheduled for April 15 on March 2. The whole risky move of reschedule my previous interview only bought us a month and half time, which is still 3 month away from the end of my non-compete. I really cannot take the risk to reschedule the interview again (unless I could be so lucky to be hit by a car shortly prior to the interview). I chose to negotiate with my previous company to shorten the non-compete. This time, it's easier because they had done all the public showcase and they can afford to waive the non-compete for some nobody, whose non-compete was never that justified; better they can also save money by ending my COBRA payment. So I got a new on-board date for mid May, and everything should be fine for now. Note, at this point, I never provided a solid reason for rescheduling the interview, and my reschedule request seemed to be approved, or at least I got a new date. It turns out things can work in weird ways especially when there's no established procedure to follow (even for government agencies).
As if there's never enough climax for this lengthy drama, here came the craziness of COVID pandemic and the lockdown. USCIS closed the Hartford field office in mid March 2019 and my interview was postponed indefinitely. The field office may be closed, but it doesn't mean officers working for USCIS were idling: to be responsible for tax payer's money (which I also contributed my due share), they decided to provide me a good service by sending me Request for Further Evidence (RFE) on April 28. It asked for proof of marriage for my spouse, a valid I-693, and best of all, a solid reason for my prior reschedule request (Yes they didn't forget about it even though they gave me a new date real quick) deadline June 1 2020. With my actual on-board date set, I can provide a valid I-485J from my new company. My immigration attorney drafted a explanation to USCIS stating 3 reasons to request reschedule the interview
1. interview at 10am in Hartford is inconvenient for me especially my two (foreign-born) young kids under 5 are also required to show up for the interview.
2. Job change in Jan cause difficulty preparing for and attending an appointment with my family
3. unclear Covid situation, that renders in person interview especially with young kids imprudent.
I will let you decide how solid it sounds. From my immigration attorney, receiving RFE was a good news because it may indicate USCIS was working on waiving my green card interview (in person interview was not required for employment based green card application until late 2017). To be frank, after all the experience with immigration attorneys, I didn't really have much faith in them at that point. But I was half dead already, so let it go.
We filed the response on May 21, and I started working for my new company remotely during COVID lockdown. My original L1-B expired in May, so the immigration attorney filed new I-765/I-131 for me and my dependents preparing for an extended fight (as if it's not long enough yet). I tried my best to focus on work and keep my attention away from the I-485 craziness.
The last bit of drama. On 2020 August 28, the I-485 application for all my dependent were approved and they all received their green card by September 8. USCIS did waive our interview, and despite all the difficulties, managed to actually print the physical card for them. But, where's mine green card? If my dependents are approved, as a condition of their approval, I should be approved prior to them, I fathom. It turns out the I-485 processing can be very unorderly, even erroneous at times (like approve the dependent prior to the main applicant). My case was indeed still under the way and not approved. By October 6 2020, USCIS finally put my file together and state my I-485J (confirmation of bona fide job offer or request for job portability) was going through verification process. Three days later, my I-485 was approved and I received my green card on October 17, 2020.
Let me summarize my less than smooth employment based green card application below.
1. Keep good track on all files submitted for your case, pester your immigration attorney constantly.
Because you are particularly vulnerable during the application procedure, and delay may be your worst enemy.
2. Understand the procedure and key milestone/dates. Make sure to reduce unnecessary delay to achieve any major milestone because passing each one provides you more protection.
3. Non-compete can be the killer of your case. Try your best to negotiate out the non-compete or you may find yourself in a very tricky corner
4. It's OK to reschedule your interview. It's a murky ground, and it's very scary, but just like any major medical intervention: if it's your only chance to survive, then be brave.
5. As stated by someone else in this forum, remember green card application is a procedure. It may feel like taking forever, but just like any procedure, it will come to an end eventually.
6. Stay strong and think positively. Green Card is not the key to the "merry go happy wonder land".
After receiving it, you are just as ordinary as any other native born US citizen (and slightly less).
But you do get more protection for your right to work and right to call US your home, which is the reason we, applicant for employment based green card, filed the application in the first place.
Sometimes in life, having excitement is not a good thing, especially when it comes to green card application. I wish everyone to have as a boring journey as possible for their green card application.
Timeline
2018/02/??: start employment based green card application.
DOL ETA 9089 (Application for Permanent Employment Certification)
2018/09/26: Prevailing Wage certified by State Workforce Agency.
2018/11/06-2019-03-06: Job posting
2019/03/29: ETA 9089 filed
2019/05/21: ETA 9089 Approved (ready to file I-485)
I-485/I-140/I-765 (the smooth part)
2019/07/18: I-140 (EB-3) & I-765 filed with Premium Processing, priority date 2019/03/29 (current)
2019/07/19: I-485 Biometric scheduled on 2019/08/09
2019/08/19: I-485 transferred to National Benefits Center (NBC) at Lee's Summit, MO
2019/09/06: I-765 (EAD) approved
2019/09/10: EAD Combo Card in hand (end of I-756 process)
2019/11/06: received RFE letter for I-693 (Immigration lawyer suggests no action until clear interview date is scheduled)
I-485/I-140 (the Crazy part)
2020/01/06: company layoff over 15% of workforce. negotiate to put the termination date to 01/15 to satisfy AC21 Portability
2020/01/10: I-485 Interview scheduled on 2020/02/27 at Hartford Field Office CT
2020/01/15: officially terminated with 6 month Non-Compete condition
2020/01/27: get a job offer with actual on-board date delayed to July 15 due to Non-Compete condition.
2020/02/15-2020/02/25: Immigration Lawyer of the new company requested to reschedule the green card interview due to "unforeseeable conflict of schedule".
2020/02/27: No-show for the interview
2020/02/28: Received notice from USCIS that "due to unforeseen circumstances, previously scheduled interview on Feb 27 was cancelled"
2020/03/02: new I-485 interview scheduled on 2020/04/15
2020/03/04: Don't want to risk reschedule interview a second time, negotiate with ex-company to waive non-compete. Set on-board date to May 18.
2020/04/01: Due to Covid-19 pandemic, all in person service at Hartford field office postponed through May 3rd (and later indefinitely). Interview cancelled on 03/31.
2020/04/28: receive RFE asking for I-693 and "a specific compelling reason to reschedule the prior interview on Feb 27" deadline 2020/06/01
2020/05/21: submit response to RFE drafted by immigration lawyer. The compelling reason is composed of
* I-485J issued by new employer as proof of employment.
* a letter to USCIS stating
1. interview at 10am in Hartford is inconvenient for me especially my two (foreign-born) young kids under 5 are also required to show up for the interview.
2. Job change in Jan cause difficulty preparing for and attending an appointment with my family
3. unclear Covid situation, that renders in person interview especially with young kids imprudent.
2020/07/01: new I-765 and I-131 application submitted
2020/08/28: I-485 for all my dependent approved but my status remained "interview cancelled".
2020/09/08: Green Card in hand for all my dependents. My status remained "pending interview"
2020/09/18: I-765 approved
2020/10/05: new EAD combo card in hand
2020/10/06: USCIS acknowledged received my I-485J
2020/10/09: I-485 approved
2020/10/17: Green Card in hand (end of I-485 application)
Following is my story.
I graduated as PhD from a prestigious US graduate school in 2014. Prestigious as it is, my field of study wasn't aimed for easy employment outside academic sphere, and I failed to land on a job in the US under STEM OPT. I ended working in a foreign branch of a US company, aiming to return to the US one day. I got a chance to relocate to the head quarter in Connecticut in 2017 through a "promotion" under L1-B VISA. The "promotion" was, however, a very risky move, since it means leaving all my previous accomplishment behind and start a new. In my company, it translates into a very high likelihood of being fired should the market go against you.
In early 2018 my company agreed to file employment based green card application for me and all my dependents (my wife and two young kids). As is common is employment based green card application, the company uses it as a way to retain employees: the employee would be loyal to the company as long as the case is pending. In practice, it means technically delay all the procedure for as long as possible. While ideally, the procedure to establish PERM (DOL ETA 9089) is about 6 month including two required month-long job posting, it took over 6 month for my company to even start the filing of PERM. When the job posting is finally done and PERM filed, it's already a year after we started the journey. A tip here: you should pester the immigration lawyer hired by your company as much as you can and try to get any reference number related to your case so you can track the progress yourself. Because often, they will "forget" to inform you the status of your case has changed and there are new material needed from you.
Since the December of 2018, our company had performed mediocrely, and all went from mediocre to very bad throughout the spring of 2019. By the time of May, it had been so bad, many senior reputable people in the company had chosen to quit and the rest of the senior management was in an never-ending infight of blame-game and power struggle. A big portion of people in my department went through "rearrangement" (which was euphoria of demotion), luckily I wasn't part of it (not knowing that's the beginner of even worse destiny, think about moving out of the nasty ghetto and boarding a train in Warsaw). The company can collapse at any time, and if it happens, so is my green card application. Note, the L1-B visa is particularly malign in this case because unlike H1-B, once you lose your job, you are not eligible to find a new job under the same visa (no portability). I remember all the sleepless nights, and all the innocent smiles of my young kids only reminded me how it all can end at any moment; I felt very ill every single day, but cannot take any leave or show any sign of weakness, for it means being chosen to be fired immediately.
Due to random reasons, I asked about the progress of my PERM application in early June. The assistant of the immigration attorney replied they actually got my PERM approval a couple of weeks ago. Yes, they "forget" to inform me the update again. My I-485 and I-140 was finally filed in mid July 2019. At the time, I knew it's a race against the clock: it would take about another 6 month or so to reach the finish line in Connecticut (if there's no delay), that is around early spring 2020. And the large scale "adjustment of head count" typically happens by the end of the year during the yearly performance review (of the company, not individual employ). I happily spend $1,500 for the premium processing to get better chance to at least have a valid EAD card in hand should be worst happens. Note, for L1-B holders, the value of valid EAD is questionable since you still lose your legal status (right to work) if you lose your job; what it provides you is a right to work when your I-485 is pending, which again depends on your employment.
Throughout the summer, the performance of the company rebounded modestly, and the threat of immediate collapse was relieved. And to my surprise, my Biometric was scheduled really swiftly and I received my I-765 Combo Card in September. It seemed that I was on a fast track, and it could be OK. Then, the fate stroke again, the performance of the company went down again in the winter, and I was called to the manager's office on Jan 6 2020 (to make more drama here, it's the day before my birthday), I was fired. I told them I was by the end of my green card journey, but they were not willing to delay the termination of my case. They wanted to showed to the public that they made large scale "adjustment/shake off" in response to extended poor performance. I knew the AC-21 portability is critical for my green card application and I was about a week away from the 180 day threshold. So I negotiated to delay my termination for the purpose of AC-21, which they agreed. Now, the early sign of fast track became a terrible curse: my interview can come at any time and I need to have a job of similar function to present to the immigration officer at the interview. A tip here, it's critical to understand your current status of green card application and know all the relevant date/days to best position yourself in tricky situations.
On Jan 10, 2020, I received the notice my green card interview is scheduled on Feb 27. At the time I was "about to be fired" in a week, under a very strict non-compete clause for 6 month (ending on July 15 2020) as if I am a C-suit manager in the company, while being dumped like trash in a large scale indiscriminative layoff. How am I going to survive if I am not even allowed to work for a similar job, a core condition for my employment based green card application, for six month while my interview (the judgement day) was only a month and half away? It was stressful, especially after all the difficulties in 2019, I felt there wasn't much left in me to fight another impossible battle.
I was probably very battle-hardened at that point. Despite sleepless and feeling ill the whole time (basically, it had become a regular part of my life since the spring 2019), I put together 120% of my brightness and capability and got an job offer of similar position by the end of Jan. My new employer was deeply moved by my case and being willing to wait for 6 month until I can officially on-board the job on July 15. They also hired a new immigration lawyer for my case, and I was readying myself for the interview on Feb 27, the end of all the turmoil (I naively thought).
Two weeks prior to my scheduled green card interview, the immigration lawyer contacted me for a "technical problem." If I go to green card interview with my current job offer, the immigration officer will be in a difficult situation: I am technically not working for my new employer until July, so they cannot approve my case. On the other hand, the officer, with my priority date be current, is required to reach a decision regarding my application in 6 weeks while my on-board date is 5 month in the future. There's is a non-trivial chance the office would have to choose to deny my application because there's really no other active thing they can do. The best chance to stay alive and fight the other day is delay the process by rescheduling the interview. If you search online for rescheduling green card interview, you will find next to nothing because there's no official procedure governing reschedule request. You are allowed to file reschedule request with a "solid reason" via your attorney, or call USCIS yourself; but there's no guidelines on what qualifies as "solid reason" (beyond the obvious one like you got hit by a car and was hospitalized the night before). And worse, the practice doesn't happen that often within the immigration lawyer circle either: there's no way to guarantee your request will be granted. Followed the suggestion by the immigration lawyer, we filed the request in all four possible ways (citing "cannot attend interview due to unforeseeable personal circumstances". Yes, it sounds very sketchy), and made sure keeping good records for request being filed; did a "no-show" on the scheduled interview date, and wait to see what happened next. It was very scary.
Typically (if there's anything typical about rescheduling green card interview), you expect to hear back from USCIS about 2 weeks after the scheduled interview that pushes you to the back of the queue (of interview) if your reschedule request was granted. And then a new interview date will be assigned when you move to the front of the queue. In total, it's usually 4-6 month from your reschedule request. In my case, it means a new interview date close to or after on-board date of my new job. Under the hood, during that two week period, what happens is: the appointed interview officer reported you not showing for the interview, and put you on potential reject. Then after some internal work, they realize you requested reschedule (often days after your scheduled interview because there's no standard procedure here) and change your status to "absent from interview, pending decision", and require further information from you regarding your reschedule request. If they accept your reschedule request, then you are back to the queue like described above, otherwise, you need to file an appeal to get your case re-opened. Let me put this into medical analogy here: You are going through a brain surgery that likely will kill you. To give you a better chance, you are put on artificially induced death state to improve your chance of survive (or at least avoid immediate real death). If you are lucky, you will come back later after being technically dead for a while, otherwise, you never wake up again and were technically killed by the doctor (from your perspective). It's exactly how scary it felt.
Luckily or unluckily, my case is on fast track again. We got new interview scheduled for April 15 on March 2. The whole risky move of reschedule my previous interview only bought us a month and half time, which is still 3 month away from the end of my non-compete. I really cannot take the risk to reschedule the interview again (unless I could be so lucky to be hit by a car shortly prior to the interview). I chose to negotiate with my previous company to shorten the non-compete. This time, it's easier because they had done all the public showcase and they can afford to waive the non-compete for some nobody, whose non-compete was never that justified; better they can also save money by ending my COBRA payment. So I got a new on-board date for mid May, and everything should be fine for now. Note, at this point, I never provided a solid reason for rescheduling the interview, and my reschedule request seemed to be approved, or at least I got a new date. It turns out things can work in weird ways especially when there's no established procedure to follow (even for government agencies).
As if there's never enough climax for this lengthy drama, here came the craziness of COVID pandemic and the lockdown. USCIS closed the Hartford field office in mid March 2019 and my interview was postponed indefinitely. The field office may be closed, but it doesn't mean officers working for USCIS were idling: to be responsible for tax payer's money (which I also contributed my due share), they decided to provide me a good service by sending me Request for Further Evidence (RFE) on April 28. It asked for proof of marriage for my spouse, a valid I-693, and best of all, a solid reason for my prior reschedule request (Yes they didn't forget about it even though they gave me a new date real quick) deadline June 1 2020. With my actual on-board date set, I can provide a valid I-485J from my new company. My immigration attorney drafted a explanation to USCIS stating 3 reasons to request reschedule the interview
1. interview at 10am in Hartford is inconvenient for me especially my two (foreign-born) young kids under 5 are also required to show up for the interview.
2. Job change in Jan cause difficulty preparing for and attending an appointment with my family
3. unclear Covid situation, that renders in person interview especially with young kids imprudent.
I will let you decide how solid it sounds. From my immigration attorney, receiving RFE was a good news because it may indicate USCIS was working on waiving my green card interview (in person interview was not required for employment based green card application until late 2017). To be frank, after all the experience with immigration attorneys, I didn't really have much faith in them at that point. But I was half dead already, so let it go.
We filed the response on May 21, and I started working for my new company remotely during COVID lockdown. My original L1-B expired in May, so the immigration attorney filed new I-765/I-131 for me and my dependents preparing for an extended fight (as if it's not long enough yet). I tried my best to focus on work and keep my attention away from the I-485 craziness.
The last bit of drama. On 2020 August 28, the I-485 application for all my dependent were approved and they all received their green card by September 8. USCIS did waive our interview, and despite all the difficulties, managed to actually print the physical card for them. But, where's mine green card? If my dependents are approved, as a condition of their approval, I should be approved prior to them, I fathom. It turns out the I-485 processing can be very unorderly, even erroneous at times (like approve the dependent prior to the main applicant). My case was indeed still under the way and not approved. By October 6 2020, USCIS finally put my file together and state my I-485J (confirmation of bona fide job offer or request for job portability) was going through verification process. Three days later, my I-485 was approved and I received my green card on October 17, 2020.
Let me summarize my less than smooth employment based green card application below.
1. Keep good track on all files submitted for your case, pester your immigration attorney constantly.
Because you are particularly vulnerable during the application procedure, and delay may be your worst enemy.
2. Understand the procedure and key milestone/dates. Make sure to reduce unnecessary delay to achieve any major milestone because passing each one provides you more protection.
3. Non-compete can be the killer of your case. Try your best to negotiate out the non-compete or you may find yourself in a very tricky corner
4. It's OK to reschedule your interview. It's a murky ground, and it's very scary, but just like any major medical intervention: if it's your only chance to survive, then be brave.
5. As stated by someone else in this forum, remember green card application is a procedure. It may feel like taking forever, but just like any procedure, it will come to an end eventually.
6. Stay strong and think positively. Green Card is not the key to the "merry go happy wonder land".
After receiving it, you are just as ordinary as any other native born US citizen (and slightly less).
But you do get more protection for your right to work and right to call US your home, which is the reason we, applicant for employment based green card, filed the application in the first place.
Sometimes in life, having excitement is not a good thing, especially when it comes to green card application. I wish everyone to have as a boring journey as possible for their green card application.
Timeline
2018/02/??: start employment based green card application.
DOL ETA 9089 (Application for Permanent Employment Certification)
2018/09/26: Prevailing Wage certified by State Workforce Agency.
2018/11/06-2019-03-06: Job posting
2019/03/29: ETA 9089 filed
2019/05/21: ETA 9089 Approved (ready to file I-485)
I-485/I-140/I-765 (the smooth part)
2019/07/18: I-140 (EB-3) & I-765 filed with Premium Processing, priority date 2019/03/29 (current)
2019/07/19: I-485 Biometric scheduled on 2019/08/09
2019/08/19: I-485 transferred to National Benefits Center (NBC) at Lee's Summit, MO
2019/09/06: I-765 (EAD) approved
2019/09/10: EAD Combo Card in hand (end of I-756 process)
2019/11/06: received RFE letter for I-693 (Immigration lawyer suggests no action until clear interview date is scheduled)
I-485/I-140 (the Crazy part)
2020/01/06: company layoff over 15% of workforce. negotiate to put the termination date to 01/15 to satisfy AC21 Portability
2020/01/10: I-485 Interview scheduled on 2020/02/27 at Hartford Field Office CT
2020/01/15: officially terminated with 6 month Non-Compete condition
2020/01/27: get a job offer with actual on-board date delayed to July 15 due to Non-Compete condition.
2020/02/15-2020/02/25: Immigration Lawyer of the new company requested to reschedule the green card interview due to "unforeseeable conflict of schedule".
2020/02/27: No-show for the interview
2020/02/28: Received notice from USCIS that "due to unforeseen circumstances, previously scheduled interview on Feb 27 was cancelled"
2020/03/02: new I-485 interview scheduled on 2020/04/15
2020/03/04: Don't want to risk reschedule interview a second time, negotiate with ex-company to waive non-compete. Set on-board date to May 18.
2020/04/01: Due to Covid-19 pandemic, all in person service at Hartford field office postponed through May 3rd (and later indefinitely). Interview cancelled on 03/31.
2020/04/28: receive RFE asking for I-693 and "a specific compelling reason to reschedule the prior interview on Feb 27" deadline 2020/06/01
2020/05/21: submit response to RFE drafted by immigration lawyer. The compelling reason is composed of
* I-485J issued by new employer as proof of employment.
* a letter to USCIS stating
1. interview at 10am in Hartford is inconvenient for me especially my two (foreign-born) young kids under 5 are also required to show up for the interview.
2. Job change in Jan cause difficulty preparing for and attending an appointment with my family
3. unclear Covid situation, that renders in person interview especially with young kids imprudent.
2020/07/01: new I-765 and I-131 application submitted
2020/08/28: I-485 for all my dependent approved but my status remained "interview cancelled".
2020/09/08: Green Card in hand for all my dependents. My status remained "pending interview"
2020/09/18: I-765 approved
2020/10/05: new EAD combo card in hand
2020/10/06: USCIS acknowledged received my I-485J
2020/10/09: I-485 approved
2020/10/17: Green Card in hand (end of I-485 application)
Comment