2017 I-485 Houston Filers

[Selma and Nermin 139]

On 7/28/2018 at 4:12 PM, JSWH said:

We went for an infopass yesterday and it seems like we had the same officer cuz he told us exect same things, word by word. Case is still with the NBC; another 6-7 months to get and interview; no, there is nothing that could be done to speed up the process; yes K-1 visa holders are processed together with all other AOS applicants regardless of whether they have had the violations of the immigrations rules before, etc. Total waste of time. 
I cannot wait this mess to be over. We've been on this immigration journey since October 2016 when we filed for I-129F. About 500 pages of paperwork submitted along the way, almost 5.5K in filing fees (we have K-2 daughter), and it's still unclear when it will be over. Definitely one of the biggest tests of the endurance and patience in my life. 

It's good that you went to atleast get some more clarity on the situation. I will be very happy if the GC comes in 6 months, let's hope that is the longest we will all wait.

[Joel&Julia 78]

On 6/7/2018 at 12:28 PM, Selma and Nermin said:

I honestly haven't seen anyone approved from the June and July 2017 time frame in Houston. It may be the system glitch they are having. Praying that we wake up soon and there will be a ton of interview dates being thrown our way!

April 28, 2017 Houston filer here.  Our status has been "We are scheduling your interview" since July, 2017.  No further updates, although the automated IVR system at USCIS told us this week that our case is still in Lee's Summit, Missouri, which seems strange since I would expect the interview to be scheduled in Houston, where it will take place.

 

We have an Infopass appointment next week.  I'll update with the outcome of that.

[emekus94 1,125]

16 minutes ago, Joel&Julia said:

April 28, 2017 Houston filer here.  Our status has been "We are scheduling your interview" since July, 2017.  No further updates, although the automated IVR system at USCIS told us this week that our case is still in Lee's Summit, Missouri, which seems strange since I would expect the interview to be scheduled in Houston, where it will take place.

 

We have an Infopass appointment next week.  I'll update with the outcome of that.

No,

that's not strange. That's how it happens.

So Missouri (NBC) is where all cases start. They schedule your biometrics and review your case. Once your case is complete (i.e. no RFEs) in sight, then they tell you that "we are scheduling your interview."
Ur case files does not get transferred down to the local office (i.e. Houston) UNTIL Houston is ready to give you an interview. Because Houston is so backed up, Missouri (NBC) can't send your case to Houston yet. So yes, all our cases seem to be stuck in Missouri until Houston gets her act together 

so, until Houston is ready to give you an interview (which IS where the interview is happening), it will stay at Missouri
An InfoPass meeting most likely will not be helpful since Houston's timeline is still in like early 2017 cases? So I doubt they will be much helpful to you. Good luck tho! Please let us know if they know when this horrendous backlog will end. Ugh

[Joel&Julia 78]

43 minutes ago, emekus94 said:

No,

that's not strange. That's how it happens.

So Missouri (NBC) is where all cases start. They schedule your biometrics and review your case. Once your case is complete (i.e. no RFEs) in sight, then they tell you that "we are scheduling your interview."
Ur case files does not get transferred down to the local office (i.e. Houston) UNTIL Houston is ready to give you an interview. Because Houston is so backed up, Missouri (NBC) can't send your case to Houston yet. So yes, all our cases seem to be stuck in Missouri until Houston gets her act together 

so, until Houston is ready to give you an interview (which IS where the interview is happening), it will stay at Missouri
An InfoPass meeting most likely will not be helpful since Houston's timeline is still in like early 2017 cases? So I doubt they will be much helpful to you. Good luck tho! Please let us know if they know when this horrendous backlog will end. Ugh

Thanks, that’s a much clearer explanation of the process than I was able to get from the USCIS help desk.

 

I’m expecting that they will tell us to check back in six months, but maybe they will be able at least to answer some questions we haven’t been able to get answered.

 

Based on the statistics reports that they are still receiving more applications (1,000/mo) than they are processing (600/mo) and that they have a backlog of 20,000 applications, it looks like there is no end in sight for the backlog.

 

We are thinking about moving to another city just to get out of the Houston logjam.

[emekus94 1,125]

23 minutes ago, Joel&Julia said:

Thanks, that’s a much clearer explanation of the process than I was able to get from the USCIS help desk.

 

I’m expecting that they will tell us to check back in six months, but maybe they will be able at least to answer some questions we haven’t been able to get answered.

 

Based on the statistics reports that they are still receiving more applications (1,000/mo) than they are processing (600/mo) and that they have a backlog of 20,000 applications, it looks like there is no end in sight for the backlog.

 

We are thinking about moving to another city just to get out of the Houston logjam.

San Antonio and Dallas are bad (not as bad as Houston) but bad
Leaving the state really is the only option right now.

[Joel&Julia 78]

23 hours ago, emekus94 said:

San Antonio and Dallas are bad (not as bad as Houston) but bad
Leaving the state really is the only option right now.

We are looking at Kansas City:  Faster USCIS processing and faster internet with Google Fiber.  

[Jeff Z 1]

On 7/19/2018 at 11:42 AM, JoAndLo said:

Hello Guys! I just want to share my timeline, I am a Houston Filler. 

 

04/21/2018  - AOS Package sent thru Fedex
04/24/2018 - AOS Package Delivered by Fedex
05/01/2018  - Text Message & Email  Notification. 
05/05/2018 - Mail Notification Receipt
05/12/2018 - Biometrics Mail Notice
05/24/2018 - Biometrics Appointment
06/22/2018 - REF notification update
06/27/2018 - REF Mail letter (Certified Translation of Birth Certificate)
07/02/2018 - REF Sent thru FEDEX
07/06/2018 - REF delivered by FEDEX
07/10/2018 - REF was received (update text message and  website)

07/19/2018 - Case Update:  Ready to Be Scheduled for an Interview (Text, E-mail and website)

 

*All my updates are only for my I-485 form. all the other ones just appear as received*

 

Now what I need to do is wait... and wait, more.

 

so here is my timeline

Houston 

PD 5/2/2018

Bio letter received on 5/15/2018

Bio done 5/21/2018

Case ready for scheduling a interview 5/31/2018

and no further update 

[santiagosilva 8]

i'm a i 751 feb 2017 / n 400 feb 2018 filer, and my case was sent to Lee's Summit march 2018. Haven't heard anything since, and can't seem to find processing times for these types of applications for that location.

 

Does anyone have a clue?

 

 

[JoAndLo 47]

3 hours ago, Jeff Z said:

so here is my timeline

Houston 

PD 5/2/2018

Bio letter received on 5/15/2018

Bio done 5/21/2018

Case ready for scheduling a interview 5/31/2018

and no further update 

Sounds good... and faster! 

[Joel&Julia 78]

We had an infopass appointment this week and asked why Houston is so slow and whether there is any hope of clearing the backlog.  

 

Unfortunately, the field officer’s perspective was that the backlog is going to keep getting worse for the foreseeable future.  She said they got behind for a number of reasons including Harvey, and that the workload has since doubled with no additional staff to help, so they will continue getting further behind. She suggested that moving to another city might help, as long as your case hasn’t already been transferred to Houston.  

 

One actionable piece of advice she had she had was that since our medical exam was more than a year ago, they will want a fresh one. She advised that when we finally get an interview appointment, it would save time to get a new medical exam and bring that evidence to the interview.

Edited August 9, 2018 by Joel&Julia
Medical exam tip

[emekus94 1,125]

9 minutes ago, Joel&Julia said:

We had an infopass appointment this week and asked why Houston is so slow and whether there is any hope of clearing the backlog.  

 

Unfortunately, the field officer’s perspective was that the backlog is going to keep getting worse for the foreseeable future.  She said they got behind for a number of reasons including Harvey, and that the workload has since doubled with no additional staff to help, so they will continue getting further behind. She suggested that moving to another city might help, as long as your case hasn’t already been transferred to Houston.  

 

One actionable piece of advice she had she had was that since our medical exam was more than a year ago, they will want a fresh one. She advised that when we finally get an interview appointment, it would save time to get a new medical exam and bring that evidence to the interview.

Thanks for the update
They make it sound as if people can just up and move for the benefit of a GC
Like I don't understand why USCIS cannot move workers around. Really, Wichita Kansas probably can do with a few less staff -lol
They really should try to balance the workload

Maybe ask people if they want to FLY to another city just for the interview
Am fine flying to Wichita in one day and back for my interview. I don't see why Houston HAS to be the one that does it. 

[Visitor User 253]

My PD for I-130 is 6/9/11

 

I-130 approved 5/19/14. 

 

10/4/17 RD: I-485A & I-765. 

 

11/6/17 Biometrics completed. How do I know the results of biometrics?

 

4/30/18 RFIE: Birth Certificate with English  Translation. 

 

7/19/18: RFIE received by USCIS.

 

7/31/18: Case is ready to be scheduled for interview. Does this mean my RFIE document was satisfied? Less chance of my getting another RFIE/RFE for same/another document?

 

8/8/18: New Card is being produced (I-765). 

 

8/9/18: Case was approved (I-765). When will they mail my EAD?

 

I-693 was done in June of 2017. Do I have to re-do TB skin test again and pay the full fees one more time?

 

 

Edited August 10, 2018 by Visitor User

[Joel&Julia 78]

5 hours ago, Visitor User said:

 

7/19/18: RFIE received by USCIS.

 

7/31/18: Case is ready to be scheduled for interview. Does this mean my RFIE document was satisfied? Less chance of my getting another RFIE/RFE for same/another document?

 

Yes, the field officer told us that they don’t mark the case as ready for interview until all the requests for evidence have been satisfied.  However, more evidence could be required later if it expires before the interview actually occurs.

 

5 hours ago, Visitor User said:

 

8/8/18: New Card is being produced (I-765). 

 

8/9/18: Case was approved (I-765). When will they mail my EAD?

 

We got our card about a week after the notice that the card was being produced.

 

5 hours ago, Visitor User said:

 

I-693 was done in June of 2017. Do I have to re-do TB skin test again and pay the full fees one more time?

 

Yes, the field officer told us that the medical exam results expire after a year.  USCIS will make new RFE for that exam during the interview unless you bring fresh evidence to the interview. It’s probably best not to schedule another exam until you actually get an interview appointment since it can take 2-3 years waiting for the interview and it would be a pity to have a second exam expire as well.

[Visitor User 253]

5 hours ago, Joel&Julia said:

 

Yes, the field officer told us that they don’t mark the case as ready for interview until all the requests for evidence have been satisfied.  However, more evidence could be required later if it expires before the interview actually occurs.

 

 

We got our card about a week after the notice that the card was being produced.

 

Yes, the field officer told us that the medical exam results expire after a year.  USCIS will make new RFE for that exam during the interview unless you bring fresh evidence to the interview. It’s probably best not to schedule another exam until you actually get an interview appointment since it can take 2-3 years waiting for the interview and it would be a pity to have a second exam expire as well.

So I will not get another RFIE/RFE? What about at the day of interview? I know I will have to re-do the medical exam. 

 

Is there a tracking # issued for the EAD card mailed?

 

 

 

[Joel&Julia 78]

4 hours ago, Visitor User said:

So I will not get another RFIE/RFE? What about at the day of interview? I know I will have to re-do the medical exam. 

Right, you might get another RFE or RFIE on the day of the interview (specifically for the medical exam), but not before then.

 

 

Quote

 

Is there a tracking # issued for the EAD card mailed?

 

 

We did not receive a tracking number for the EAD card. It just arrived in the mailbox in a regular first class mail envelope.