December 2022 - AOS Filers

[joaovily 10]

24 minutes ago, Punjab meri jaan said:

This is very tricky. I was using old forms until end and caught it during the final check. In my view, this should not be the reason for denying as there is nothing much update in  recent version

The form was brand new, but I signed it two days before that edition was released. I was using a preview version. They claimed it was outdated but I think this was due to the signature being before the official release.

[Zzdem 37]

Been 10 days since they’ve received my package  stil no text 😑 sigh im

gurssing they probably rejected it 

[KSVJ 216]

5 hours ago, Zzdem said:

Been 10 days since they’ve received my package  stil no text 😑 sigh im

gurssing they probably rejected it 

I signed up for emails/texts, but they never sent me anything. I received a paper acknowledgement with the receipt numbers after 10 days or so from the time that FedEx delivered to the lockbox. Sometimes even if you sign up for them they just don't do it. You can try to call USCIS (to the automated person say "missing receipt number") and ask them if you can get the receipt numbers. My husband had to be on the phone for them to provide me with any information. We also had to call a few times to get it...sometimes you get someone who has no idea what they're doing. Then you call again and they give you the numbers. 

[JanaV 36]

Did biometrics in Philadelphia today. Came 40 minutes early and happy I did since there was a lot of people waiting already. The biometrics went smooth though and my status has already changed to being actively reviewed. Hoping for a speedy process! 

[Zzdem 37]

1 hour ago, KSVJ said:

I signed up for emails/texts, but they never sent me anything. I received a paper acknowledgement with the receipt numbers after 10 days or so from the time that FedEx delivered to the lockbox. Sometimes even if you sign up for them they just don't do it. You can try to call USCIS (to the automated person say "missing receipt number") and ask them if you can get the receipt numbers. My husband had to be on the phone for them to provide me with any information. We also had to call a few times to get it...sometimes you get someone who has no idea what they're doing. Then you call again and they give you the numbers. 

So I called the agent says they haven’t uploaded it to there system as yet 😢 

[zedag 61]

So I saw someone said that some cases process within a couple of months and some take longer. Does it depend by location or what's the average? Or is it just all over the place and we might get a surprise in two months or in 5 or 9? I don't really trust any predictions anymore after the i129f process clusterf*** but maybe someone has read about whatever trends may be out there?

[mashtates 25]

I received my EAD card in the mail on January 6. It comes in a priority mail envelope. I was worried that I might have to sign for it, because our local USPS office is weird about delivering packages that require a signature to apartments. But no signature was required, they delivered it right to the mailbox. Also, after getting the tracking number on USPS Informed delivery, myUSCIS did update shortly after with the tracking info as well. 

[joaovily 10]

On 1/9/2023 at 10:49 PM, joaovily said:

The form was brand new, but I signed it two days before that edition was released. I was using a preview version. They claimed it was outdated but I think this was due to the signature being before the official release.

Update:

After receiving my rejection notice, I quickly re downloaded the form i-485 completed it and signed it, sent next day air, it got in Chicago after 16 hours and they approved it after one day.

[adt22 5]

On 1/6/2023 at 9:01 AM, zedag said:

We sent in our documents early December and did biometrics yesterday, and the EAD card status changed yesterday to card being produced! And for our main documents, it says now "actively being reviewed" as of yesterday. Anyone else have that too? I wonder what that means exactly. For the i129f, we got an email status response one time that said they're actively reviewing but it still took another 9 months after that to get the visa so I have little trust in this "active review"

Went to his biometric appointment today 1/11.

 

Status on I-485 and I-765 changed within the hour afterwards. 
 

Then, I-765 changed to card is being produced before we even made it home. 
 

woooo!! 

[M&L🇺🇸 41]

On 1/11/2023 at 1:06 PM, joaovily said:

Update:

After receiving my rejection notice, I quickly re downloaded the form i-485 completed it and signed it, sent next day air, it got in Chicago after 16 hours and they approved it after one day.

Did they approve your I-485 or your I-765?

[M&L🇺🇸 41]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:12 PM, M&L🇺🇸 said:

Hello everyone, I got my Employment Authorization Document (EAD) approved too a day after my biometrics were taken. I am located in Los Angeles, California. This is my timeline:

• 12/02/2022: USCIS texted me the NOA1 receipt for combo application received
• 12/05/2022: NOA1 received in my mailbox (of the three forms)
• 12/10/2022: Biometrics appointment scheduled
• 12/29/2022: Biometrics taken
• 12/30/2022: EAD case approval issued by USCIS

Seems December is a game changer for USCIS! I hope they keep up with this timelines so that everyone can get their case approved faster.

 

Updating this, I received my EAD card on Jan 7th. This is such a relief.

[quinnscribe 121]

I can't believe how fast they're issuing you December ones Good for y'all!

[Emerick 32]

We filed December 22 and we are still awaiting for the biometrics appointment. Praying it moves fast like everyone else on the forum (bio appointment one month after filing, EAD immediately after 🤞🏾)

[KSVJ 216]

12 hours ago, quinnscribe said:

I can't believe how fast they're issuing you December ones Good for y'all!

only some of us haha! i'm not one of the lucky ones. i didn't get the EAD approval immediately after biometrics. i don't know if it depends on the location? or just luck? i never know the rationale behind what USCIS does haha

[quinnscribe 121]

39 minutes ago, KSVJ said:

only some of us haha! i'm not one of the lucky ones. i didn't get the EAD approval immediately after biometrics. i don't know if it depends on the location? or just luck? i never know the rationale behind what USCIS does haha

My husband has been waiting since May for even EAD/AP. I think it's absolutely luck of the draw as to who gets biometrics -> approval very quickly and who waits months; maybe it's the case officer who does the biometrics and how they feel that day or how empowered they are (maybe some are tier 1 and can just do the taking of them, some can do approving). 

 

Speaking very broadly: I'm trying to be happy for everyone else because  I know we're all equally worthy of getting approved, and honestly EAD/AP approval SHOULD be happening within 3 months. But it's so demoralizing to see people in Dec getting next-day when I've been waiting 200+, you know?

 

What I have noticed via trackers like Hilites and CaseStatusExt is that there seem to have been a lot of within-1-week approvals of cases later in the year (Oct, Nov, Dec) than of the mid-year or early ones.

 

Looking at my bracket, IOE-09-163: 12,237 in Pending ; 3, 729 Approved ; 117 Rejected ; 89 RFE

Looking at the 179 bracket: 14,133 Pending ; 19,132 Approved ; 1,642 Rejected ; 486 RFE

 

The 179 bracket is later, and more are Approved in that bracket than are Pending in mine.

Assuming that IOE brackets are sequential (that 160s were submitted before 170s), that seems incredibly unfair that the new ones have an almost 50% approval rate and older ones are less than 30%. I wish that a: USCIS did everything faster for ALL of us, and b: that they appeared more committed to first-in-first-out and reducing the backlogs of months old cases rather than "approve all the new ones to make stats go down". That's farirer than this current scattershot "some people wait 11 months and some wait 2 weeks". The lack of transparency as to if it's in any kind of order is what's so maddening.