February 2020 AOS Filers

[ourwildjourney 103]

10 minutes ago, MIBogdan said:

One more thing to add: it feels like the EAD/AP cases with related active AOS (excluding not current, retrogressed etc.)  have better chances for getting biometrics earlier. Standalone EADs (e.g. visa-related or inactive AOS) appear to be placed in the end of the que - this is my observation

Wow. Thank you for this research and putting it all together. Super concise and helpful. Basically we all need to be watching something totally different now: whether the ASCs close again from furlough. That’s all we really should care about now. If we get biometrics before they close, we are in the que. if we don’t make it (we already missed the first closing by two days) then probably expect nothing to happen in 2020. 
 

Let’s all watch the uscis funding and furloughs. 
 

Another note: Probably stop calling uscis. We will just get well meaning reps who don’t have the answers and probably don’t really care that much because they are about to be out of a job in a week😭

[David_Norway 135]

18 minutes ago, MIBogdan said:

One more thing to add: it feels like the EAD/AP cases with related active AOS (excluding not current, retrogressed etc.)  have better chances for getting biometrics earlier. Standalone EADs (e.g. visa-related or inactive AOS) appear to be placed in the end of the que - this is my observation

Appreciate the research and info!! Quick question: What is the difference between an active and inactive AOS? 

[MIBogdan 48]

15 minutes ago, ourwildjourney said:

Wow. Thank you for this research and putting it all together. Super concise and helpful. Basically we all need to be watching something totally different now: whether the ASCs close again from furlough. That’s all we really should care about now. If we get biometrics before they close, we are in the que. if we don’t make it (we already missed the first closing by two days) then probably expect nothing to happen in 2020. 
 

Let’s all watch the uscis funding and furloughs. 
 

Another note: Probably stop calling uscis. We will just get well meaning reps who don’t have the answers and probably don’t really care that much because they are about to be out of a job in a week😭

You can keep calling USCIS regardless - but it is a gamble. I called them and did Emma chats like a dozen times already, and I can tell you chances are you can get to a nice employee (maybe the one without furlough notice?). Yesterday for example I was told my biometrics appointment was re-scheduled on July 17th and I should get notice in the mail with a date. Unfortunately most of those agents just give you useless, template-based answers - but you should try anyway. BTW 2 of my friends got biometrics re-scheduled already: March 19 -> July 27, March 24 -> July 30. They had their EAD/AP combo cards approved earlier, ahead of this re-scheduling. They both have active EB AOS cases though...

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

2 hours ago, MIBogdan said:

You can keep calling USCIS regardless - but it is a gamble. I called them and did Emma chats like a dozen times already, and I can tell you chances are you can get to a nice employee (maybe the one without furlough notice?). Yesterday for example I was told my biometrics appointment was re-scheduled on July 17th and I should get notice in the mail with a date. Unfortunately most of those agents just give you useless, template-based answers - but you should try anyway. BTW 2 of my friends got biometrics re-scheduled already: March 19 -> July 27, March 24 -> July 30. They had their EAD/AP combo cards approved earlier, ahead of this re-scheduling. They both have active EB AOS cases though...

what ASC are you ?

[amyS 52]

3 hours ago, MIBogdan said:

Guys let me tell you what I already published on reddit r/USCIS. If your EAD or AP or EAD/AP combo card is approved but no card produced, and you have never been to an ASC, this means 3 things:

- NBC is handling your case (most likely), not some other office

- USCIS was able to pull your biometrics from other source like CBP,  thru PCQS for example (google for what it is). They ran the checks using that biometrics

- USCIS needs to put your fingerprint hash onto the card, and for that they need extended biometric data, not the one they pull out of PCQS. That's why you need ASC biometrics

- In most cases your EAD/AP card will go into production within days after your biometrics feeds into the system - you do not need to wait for background checks again

 

This is general approach, there are some exceptions. Apparently there are some lucky individuals that had their hashes available from somewhere and they actually got the cards without ASC appointments - but those are exceptions. I checked thousands of cases today on USCIS website and I can tell you appx. 40% of people with cancelled biometrics have EAD/AP approved (mostly EB, less FB cases) but no cards produced. They all have to wait for ASC appointment, including myself.

Super useful information !! Thank you !! Did aTire 2 officer tell you about your biometric appointment or the tire 1 representative told you your biometric appointment is rescheduled? 

[Shan181 59]

Anyone who has received Biometrics appointment after ASC reopening? Do they follow first come first serve basis as in the past?

[MIBogdan 48]

14 hours ago, David_Norway said:

Appreciate the research and info!! Quick question: What is the difference between an active and inactive AOS? 

An example for inactive AOS is a one that has a priority date that is not current. For EB cases it means that your I-140 is in but I-485 cannot go ahead. You can also fall into retrogression i.e. the number of GCs available for a given year for your country of chargeability is exhausted.

11 hours ago, James120383 said:

what ASC are you ?

Philadelphia

11 hours ago, amyS said:

Super useful information !! Thank you !! Did aTire 2 officer tell you about your biometric appointment or the tire 1 representative told you your biometric appointment is rescheduled? 

Tier 1, but a nice one

[bodgie19 54]

34 minutes ago, MIBogdan said:

Tier 1, but a nice one

Some teir 1 are actually pretty decent. I know we bash them alot, but they also are probably doing the best job they can. we called one yesterday who was literally rude and reading off a scripted response. we called again about an hour later and we got a lady from the south, super nice. she offered to put in a service request as to when we can get rescheduled for biometrics. she also offered up information that we can call a tier 2 and have them see what they can find out. I KNOOOOOW all this information is the same old run around, but there are some who want to help and you can tell.

[xakc 6]

Hello.. Ive been following this thread religiously... I filed in February was supposed to have biometrics done in March but covid happened. I havent heard anything up until about a week ago saying that my case got approved.. received the 1-797 notice of action a few days ago and yesterday I received a social security card in the mail. Has anyone received one? It does say "Valid for work only with DHS authorization" but i havent seen anyone post about receiving a SSN. 

[Lyubov 117]

Status changed from "New card is being produced" to "Case was approved". Seems to be a common pattern these days. Still no update on i-485 status "Interview scheduled - notice ordered". And no letter either

[Sarge2155 4,587]

37 minutes ago, xakc said:

Hello.. Ive been following this thread religiously... I filed in February was supposed to have biometrics done in March but covid happened. I havent heard anything up until about a week ago saying that my case got approved.. received the 1-797 notice of action a few days ago and yesterday I received a social security card in the mail. Has anyone received one? It does say "Valid for work only with DHS authorization" but i havent seen anyone post about receiving a SSN. 

Well that's  how it's  supposed to work. But many people don't receive their SS card, so consider yourself lucky,  that you did not have to fight with the SSA about your card.

[David_Norway 135]

1 hour ago, MIBogdan said:

An example for inactive AOS is a one that has a priority date that is not current. For EB cases it means that your I-140 is in but I-485 cannot go ahead. You can also fall into retrogression i.e. the number of GCs available for a given year for your country of chargeability is exhausted.

Thanks! So every one doing FB AOS based on an immediate relative would all be active then. 

[MIBogdan 48]

Just now, David_Norway said:

Thanks! So every one doing FB AOS based on an immediate relative would all be active then. 

Good question! I checked a few thousand cases on USCIS yesterday and I looks like EAD/AP approvals (without biometrics) mostly apply to EB cases, not FB ones. There's far less activity for FB cases overall

[AFCF 273]

I saw another Facebook post of someone who filed in late April and already got approved for EAD & AP without biometrics. I am happy for everyone getting approved and also aware that it’s a case to case basis. It just gets really frustrating seeing someone who filed 2 months after I did gets approved first, especially after having my expedite request denied due to no biometrics. 
 

Lol sorry for the rant! I know it doesn’t help anything or anyone, I just need to say it lol. But hopefully we all get good news soon!

 

Stay safe, everyone. 

[fabianafcm 34]

10 minutes ago, chxakx said:

I saw another Facebook post of someone who filed in late April and already got approved for EAD & AP without biometrics. I am happy for everyone getting approved and also aware that it’s a case to case basis. It just gets really frustrating seeing someone who filed 2 months after I did gets approved first, especially after having my expedite request denied due to no biometrics. 
 

Lol sorry for the rant! I know it doesn’t help anything or anyone, I just need to say it lol. But hopefully we all get good news soon!

 

Stay safe, everyone. 

Don't feel bad at all. Of course we all want to see people succeeding but I feel you. We filed our case in late february and had to resend everything in mid march due to new docs and still haven't heard anything since then. It is so frustrating.. I am calling USCIS today. Can't wait to start working and being in this limbo is the worst.