Call me foolish, but please help

[johnandxiaoyan 2]

Call me a naive optimist if you like, but up until two weeks ago, I had thought our AOS case would grind its way -- slowly but inexorably -- toward a happy ending.

We had obtained out I-129f without hitting any stumbling blocks, gotten married soon after Xiaoyan's arrival, obtained her EAD without a problem, and, last September got a letter suggesting her AOS interview would be waived. Happy day! All we had to do was sit back and wait for her Green Card to arrive in the mail, right?

Wrong.

Our I-485 was received by USCIS on June 17, 2014. Two weeks ago, we checked the USCIS website and found that the Atlanta USCIS office (as of Jan. 31) was already processing cases filed July 19 -- a month after ours. So we called USCIS and requested an update, which I understand we are supposed to get within 15 days. Now 15 days have passed and still nothing from USCIS.

So here are my questions:

1) Should I call USCIS and make another request for an update? Does that 15-day requirement mean anything?

2) At what point, if ever, would it be smart to contact our congressman or an immigration attorney? Can they do anything to speed the process?

3) Is the Atlanta office any slower than other offices?

4) At what point should we apply for a renewal of Xiaoyan's EAD? It expires in mid August. How long does it take to obtain a renewal?

Thanks for any help you can offer -- anything that would renew my flagging optimism.

John Reiter

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Everything can be a factor for delaying approval. Maybe a pending background check. Actually waiting time counts from the day on waiver letter, which was in September. Interviewer waiver can take up to a year to receive greencard. My sister waiver letter was received in July and she is still waiting so you are still in processing time. She submitted a request last week, and they automatically notified she was in normal time.

You can renew EAD with a i485 receipt copy. Good luck.

[Darnell 8,478]

Are you certain the casefile is in atlanta?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Does your status state your case is ready for interview? You could still be approved without interview. It is taking a while for cases approved without an interview, 10+ months. So, it is possible to have to wait 11 months or a year or more. There are people in the AOS progress forums posting about the long waits on a daily basis.

You could have file for a renewal of the EAD up to 120 days before expiration. File for it now, as it could take 60-90days to get the renewal.

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based main forum to Progress Reports sub-forum - topic is case status ~

[TR&ZY 5]

It took a little over 11 months for my wife to receive her GC. Filed AOS March 2014. She received notice for the possible interview waiver in June, received her Notice and GC February 2015.

Hang in there, you will get there. But yes call for updates. We started calling after the 6 month waiting date on the waiver notice in June.

[ethomps 16]

Call me a naive optimist if you like, but up until two weeks ago, I had thought our AOS case would grind its way -- slowly but inexorably -- toward a happy ending.

We had obtained out I-129f without hitting any stumbling blocks, gotten married soon after Xiaoyan's arrival, obtained her EAD without a problem, and, last September got a letter suggesting her AOS interview would be waived. Happy day! All we had to do was sit back and wait for her Green Card to arrive in the mail, right?

Wrong.

Our I-485 was received by USCIS on June 17, 2014. Two weeks ago, we checked the USCIS website and found that the Atlanta USCIS office (as of Jan. 31) was already processing cases filed July 19 -- a month after ours. So we called USCIS and requested an update, which I understand we are supposed to get within 15 days. Now 15 days have passed and still nothing from USCIS.

So here are my questions:

1) Should I call USCIS and make another request for an update? Does that 15-day requirement mean anything?

2) At what point, if ever, would it be smart to contact our congressman or an immigration attorney? Can they do anything to speed the process?

3) Is the Atlanta office any slower than other offices?

4) At what point should we apply for a renewal of Xiaoyan's EAD? It expires in mid August. How long does it take to obtain a renewal?

Thanks for any help you can offer -- anything that would renew my flagging optimism.

John Reiter

No worries friend! Everything you've stated is entirely normal for for waiver cases. The unfortunate part is you still have a few months of waiting ahead of you, unless you're one of the lucky ones

Pay no attention to your local USCIS office, as the waiver cases can end up at pretty much any USCIS office since we don't require an interview (unless some sort of red flag shows up in your case). The service requests are a waste of time. It usually takes a good 30+ days for a response (if any), and when they finally do all it says is "Due to workload factors not related to your case, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing your case." blah blah blah blah... totally useless information!

As far as the EAD renewal goes, you're allowed to file for it 120 days before it expires. I'm not sure how long the renewal takes, but it should hopefully be faster than the first time if you kept that little tear-off portion that came with your first EAD with all the barcodes. My guess would be around 70 days since my original took around 80ish-- though I'd take full advantage of the 120 days if I were you, that should give you plenty of time.

As far as contacting your Congressman goes, I haven't done it. But, many people in this Waiver Case thread have! I suggest you check in to this thread from time to time and see where most of the waiver cases are currently at. Right now it seems a lot of people who filed around the first week of April 2014 with waiver cases are getting approved.

Come join us!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/541331-notice-of-potential-interview-waiver-case-part-ii/

[CowBoE 429]

So here are my questions:

1) Should I call USCIS and make another request for an update? Does that 15-day requirement mean anything?

2) At what point, if ever, would it be smart to contact our congressman or an immigration attorney? Can they do anything to speed the process?

3) Is the Atlanta office any slower than other offices?

4) At what point should we apply for a renewal of Xiaoyan's EAD? It expires in mid August. How long does it take to obtain a renewal?

Thanks for any help you can offer -- anything that would renew my flagging optimism.

John Reiter

EAD - I would apply around May.

AOS - If you received the potential interview waiver letter,

they should have indicated to contact them after x months

if the decision hasn't been made yet. My wife just received her's

and it says to contact them after 6 months...which is their estimated

remaining processing time.

Since we filed on Dec 9, 2014, and adding 6 months to that makes it

total of 13 months.

So I think you are very close to approval.