Confusion about I-485 approval

[mohaeed 0]

Hi all,

 

I've been anxiously waiting for my EAD approval since we submitted the AOS / EAD / AP pack back in April. My company transferred offices for me to the US so we have been waiting for the EAD to come through before I can start. Luckily they have been very patient with me whilst I moved to the US and got the paperwork in place but I'm keen to get started asap.

 

I called USCIS on Friday and they advised that my EAD has been approved and I should receive a NOA this week followed by the EAD card itself. The NOA did come through the post today and read as follow:

 

"We have approved your application for employment authorization and your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Because we approved your Form I-485, you will not receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Instead , you will receive a Permanent Residence Card (also known as a Green Card) which will be proof of your employment authorization."

 

However, when I check the USCIS case checker website, it tells me that my case is ready for interview and doesn't say anything about approval. Has anyone had a similar experience where the NOA states something different to the website?

 

Thanks in advance for any help given!!!

[PedroDaGr8 245]

23 minutes ago, mohaeed said:

Hi all,

 

I've been anxiously waiting for my EAD approval since we submitted the AOS / EAD / AP pack back in April. My company transferred offices for me to the US so we have been waiting for the EAD to come through before I can start. Luckily they have been very patient with me whilst I moved to the US and got the paperwork in place but I'm keen to get started asap.

 

I called USCIS on Friday and they advised that my EAD has been approved and I should receive a NOA this week followed by the EAD card itself. The NOA did come through the post today and read as follow:

 

"We have approved your application for employment authorization and your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Because we approved your Form I-485, you will not receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Instead , you will receive a Permanent Residence Card (also known as a Green Card) which will be proof of your employment authorization."

 

However, when I check the USCIS case checker website, it tells me that my case is ready for interview and doesn't say anything about approval. Has anyone had a similar experience where the NOA states something different to the website?

 

Thanks in advance for any help given!!!

Congrats, your I-485 has been approved! The website can take a while sometimes to update, nobody knows why. The forms they send you are always the more trustworthy source of information. 

[Scandi 4,166]

I second that, can't trust the online case status. Sometimes it updates, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes it's not even the correct update.

[mohaeed 0]

Thats great! Thanks for the heads up!!

 

So a case can go straight to approval without the need for an interview?

[Scandi 4,166]

Just now, mohaeed said:

Thats great! Thanks for the heads up!!

 

So a case can go straight to approval without the need for an interview?

When you adjust from a K-1 visa it's very common with an interview waiver, yes.

[mohaeed 0]

Woo-hoo! Thanks all

[mohaeed 0]

Quick update - we called USCIS as we wanted to check how long the green card would take to be delivered. I have a job starting next week and was expecting to get the EAD this week so wasn't sure if the green card approval will mean a delay.

 

We spoke with an officer and they said they could not see any record of green card approval - just the EAD.

 

They have raised a service request to find out why the letter was sent as apparently a different office sent out NOA.

 

Does this seem odd?

[Scandi 4,166]

7 minutes ago, mohaeed said:

Quick update - we called USCIS as we wanted to check how long the green card would take to be delivered. I have a job starting next week and was expecting to get the EAD this week so wasn't sure if the green card approval will mean a delay.

 

We spoke with an officer and they said they could not see any record of green card approval - just the EAD.

 

They have raised a service request to find out why the letter was sent as apparently a different office sent out NOA.

 

Does this seem odd?

There's a big posibility that your case was sent to your local field office since your case status showed "case is ready to be scheduled for an interview", this means that that particular field office has jurisdiction over your case. So if they were the ones deciding to approve you without an interview then maybe the main customer service can't see it yet? I'm just guessing, but that might be it.

[mohaeed 0]

Update for you guys. Went round in circles with this, getting conflicting advice on the customer helpline.

 

Ended up booking an appointment at our local immigration office. They informed me that my EAD has been approved, is in production and will be in the post shortly.

 

They could see no information regarding green card approval and told me the letter I received must have been sent by mistake - maybe they clicked the wrong template letter to send. 

 

Whats strange is that I received two letters stating that my green card has been approved but apparently it is still at interview scheduling stage.

[Zhaodong Wang 0]

Do you have any updates? I got the same weird things as you. I received two identical I-797 saying that I will receive a Green Card. But actually, I am in OPT and applying for EAD card. The USCIS officer also said that this is a mistake.

[mohaeed 0]

Yes they said it was a mistake. Must have spoken to a dozen different people but no-one could explain exactly what happened, other than it must have been a clerical error.