I-130 Questions HELP!

[sgrlv]

Hello. I have questions about I-130.
I've been trying to get green card through my mother.

I am currently in US University and under student visa. My family also live in USA.
My sister was born in USA so that she got citizenship automatically. After she turned 21 yrs old, she applied for my parents to get green card. 5 years later, my mother applied for citizenship and finally, she became US citizen on Jan. 2007.

We filed my I-130 pertition Aug. 2006 through my mother. At that time, my mother was permanent resident. I recieved a letter from immigration office that my status is pending and I have to wait until I get a "Priority date" to process further of my green card.
Now, my mother is US citizen and my category should be changed.
Do I need to file or let them know that my mother is now US citizen instead of permanent resident?
Or do they automatically upgrade or change my category?

Also, I've been checking my status online.
It says "pending" and my case in filed at USCIS-CSC(California).
So, I looked up USCIS CSC(California) office Processing date.
The date of they are working on is different in each category of I-130.
"US citizen filing for unmarried son/daughter over 21" or "Permanent resident filing for unmarried son/daughter over 21".
Which category of I-130 am I?
Or will it take more than these dates? I talked different immigration lawyers and some of them say less and some of them say more than 5 years.

I am really confused. Please help.
Even if you know a little thing about my questions, please let me know.
I will be really appreciated.
Thank you.

[peace]

As far as I know, the category is changed automatically after the petitioner becomes a USC.
But still you can call the USCIS service center and ask them if it is changed automatically. The no. is 1-800-375-5283 . They will not tell you the status of your case, but only answer general queries.

By the way what is your country of birth?

[sgrlv]

Thanks for replying!

Thank you for your advise. I will call USCIS to check if they changed the category or not.

My birth country is Japan.

[peace]

The priority dates as per current state dept. visa bulletin are 1997 for F2b(unmarried children of PRs) and 2001 for F1 (unmarried children of USCs).

[sgrlv]

Thanks again for a reply.

I called USCIS to check and they haven't changed my category yet.

So, it actually takes about 5 years to get the priority date if my category is in First preference.

It seemed like I misunderstood that the Processing date at USCIS-CSC(California) is the date USCIS working on cases in order to get the priority date.
But I guess Visa Bulletin was the one that I was supposed to look up.

Okay, I have another question here.
I thought that I can get start to process further for my green card after I got the priority date.
If the Visa Bulletin is the current processing update to get the priority date, what is the processing date at USCIS-CSC(California) is for?

I apologize for asking so many questions here but I don't quite get it by asking those questions to around or even lawyers.

[peace]

No need for apologies. We are here to help each other.

There are two processes involved from filing of petition to getting a gc.

First is approving of I-130 petition. When you looked at CA service center processing times , that only meant this part.

Second is the visa wait. THis is what takes up the most time. After I-130 is approved, your case is put in the queue for your category and you will get your visa number as per the yearly quota for that category and your birth country.

Visa bulletin covers both the parts.

[dial1010usa]

I would suggest you to file a brand new petition as your mother is citizen of US. I know you have to pay the fees but it is worth it instead waiting. Hope you have all the documents. It will be much faster.
Hope it helps.