I-485 Processing Time and Leaving the Country

[ThomasM 11]

Hello, my wife and I successfully received a K1 in July, married in August, and sent our AOS and employment authorization on September 18, 2020. There was an issue processing the credit card so I had to send a check which was worked out by the end of October. I received a RFE at the end of November and filed the evidence and documents on the online portal on December 7, 2020. The status on myUSCIS says the RFE was successfully received on the 7th. This is the last we have heard and nothing has updated. The employment authorization page has not updated either. 
 

Is this a normal processing time?

 

How can my wife leave the country to visit family in the meantime?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Liam2021 587]

Did you apply for advance parole(AP) when sending I-485. Without AP, your wife can't leave US.

[Ayrton 965]

9 minutes ago, ThomasM said:

Hello, my wife and I successfully received a K1 in July, married in August, and sent our AOS and employment authorization on September 18, 2020. There was an issue processing the credit card so I had to send a check which was worked out by the end of October. I received a RFE at the end of November and filed the evidence and documents on the online portal on December 7, 2020. The status on myUSCIS says the RFE was successfully received on the 7th. This is the last we have heard and nothing has updated. The employment authorization page has not updated either. 
 

Is this a normal processing time?

 

How can my wife leave the country to visit family in the meantime?

 

Thanks for your help!

If she leaves before receiving AP or GC (whichever comes first), her AOS will be considered abandoned. AOS can take from a couple months to a couple years. RFE also put EAD and AP on hold.

[ThomasM 11]

25 minutes ago, Liam2021 said:

Did you apply for advance parole(AP) when sending I-485. Without AP, your wife can't leave US.

We did not apply for AP. Can we still do so?

[payxibka 10,047]

Just now, ThomasM said:

We did not apply for AP. Can we still do so?

Yes, but it takes approximately 8 mos

[ThomasM 11]

Just now, payxibka said:

Yes, but it takes approximately 8 mos

Thanks for the response. How do we go about applying for AP, and how does it work?

[payxibka 10,047]

54 minutes ago, ThomasM said:

Thanks for the response. How do we go about applying for AP, and how does it work?

I131.  Once issued,  it allows the alien to travel during the green application process 

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

7 hours ago, ThomasM said:

Hello, my wife and I successfully received a K1 in July, married in August, and sent our AOS and employment authorization on September 18, 2020. There was an issue processing the credit card so I had to send a check which was worked out by the end of October. I received a RFE at the end of November and filed the evidence and documents on the online portal on December 7, 2020. The status on myUSCIS says the RFE was successfully received on the 7th. This is the last we have heard and nothing has updated. The employment authorization page has not updated either. 
 

Is this a normal processing time?

 

How can my wife leave the country to visit family in the meantime?

 

Thanks for your help!

Processing times can vary from center to center.  Unfortunately, your wife cannot leave the country.  Most people apply for EAD and AP along with AOS.