WHY USCIS has trebled the time needed for adjustment of status?

[Dragonsarereal 14]

Hello there!

I arrived in the USA in mid June, got married and within a month or so we sent out documents for adjustment of status. 

Meanwhile I also asked for permission to work and an SSN. Within a month I was called for the biometrics in Casper.

Back in September, the USCIS said in my own account history that a decision would be made in 5 months. 

 

I checked again 2 weeks ago and now USCIS says 14 months before they decide.

I am kinda shocked as we were planning a holiday in the UK and now we cannot.

Is there a reason why suddenly the backlog has maybe increased? Is this because Trump was to send us all back home? 🤣

 

Also, do you happen to know what makes USCIS decide if they want an interview or not?

Ours is a clear, easy case, all documents are perfect, my husband has a job, no criminal issues etc. so why now 14 months?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[K1visaHopeful 2,835]

10 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Hello there!

I arrived in the USA in mid June, got married and within a month or so we sent out documents for adjustment of status. 

Meanwhile I also asked for permission to work and an SSN. Within a month I was called for the biometrics in Casper.

Back in September, the USCIS said in my own account history that a decision would be made in 5 months. 

 

I checked again 2 weeks ago and now USCIS says 14 months before they decide.

I am kinda shocked as we were planning a holiday in the UK and now we cannot.

Is there a reason why suddenly the backlog has maybe increased?

 

Your I485 will be decided upon by an adjudicator at your local field office unless it gets sent to the NBC for a secondary review.

Using the actual processing times website of your local field office for I485 to see your estimated timeline over looking at the timeline in your account is quite important.

Your VJ timeline isn't complete so I can't look it up for you but you can Google "USCIS processing times" and input your details into the calculation to see.

Please complete your timeline here first!

10 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Is this because Trump was to send us all back home? 🤣

You'll probably want to edit your post to remove that part before you get reported. 

Politics aren't VJ welcome. 

10 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Also, do you happen to know what makes USCIS decide if they want an interview or not?

Your individual adjudicator will decide that after looking at your I485/I864 package. No one here could really say what each one is looking for other than they follow the policy manual and use THEIR individual discretion. 

10 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Ours is a clear, easy case, all documents are perfect, my husband has a job, no criminal issues etc. so why now 14 months?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Processing times often fluctuate every few months. 

Many reasons but the most often due to workload transfers.

You can Google "USCIS workload transfers" to understand more. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,835]

Also note:

1. Your VJ I765 timeline is blank although you've stated you applied. 

2. You were eligible to apply for I131 which would have given you Advanced Parole to travel. You can check the timeline for that and may be interested in applying if timelines are short. You should investigate what they are at the receiving service center for K1 I131 applicants by joining the current VJ K1 AOS Filing monthly group. That topic is often discussed. 

[Dragonsarereal 14]

53 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

 

Your I485 will be decided upon by an adjudicator at your local field office unless it gets sent to the NBC for a secondary review.

Using the actual processing times website of your local field office for I485 to see your estimated timeline over looking at the timeline in your account is quite important.

Your VJ timeline isn't complete so I can't look it up for you but you can Google "USCIS processing times" and input your details into the calculation to see.

Please complete your timeline here first!

You'll probably want to edit your post to remove that part before you get reported. 

Politics aren't VJ welcome. 

Your individual adjudicator will decide that after looking at your I485/I864 package. No one here could really say what each one is looking for other than they follow the policy manual and use THEIR individual discretion. 

Processing times often fluctuate every few months. 

Many reasons but the most often due to workload transfers.

You can Google "USCIS workload transfers" to understand more. 

Sorry but I had no computer for months. All those acronyms mean nothing to me. Since I arrived nothing else has happened that I can add to my timeline - it’s all waiting. So I have not uploaded an update.

Looking at the processing times it says it takes 300 plus days to be permanent residents.

posts cannot be edited after posting.

my comment about immigrants reflects the fact that policies will be changing. I don’t call this political and I don’t hold any views but I have a concern that immigration procedures will be even more complicated from January. It’s bureaucracy - not politics.

Thanks for your suggestion and I will look that up! I don’t know which is our office now

[K1visaHopeful 2,835]

12 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Sorry but I had no computer for months. All those acronyms mean nothing to me. Since I ,  else has happened that I can add to my timeline - it’s all waiting. So I have not uploaded an update.

I was referring to your AOS data below and EAD data above and below (EAD is blank but youve filed).

You can see when you scroll down that you only have an I129F timeline not even your consulate timeline or data nor your AOS or EAD. 

Knowing your AOS Local Field office which would be input your AOS Data at the bottom of your timeline would have been helpful for me to help you distinguish your current timeline from the website. 

You can locate your local field office by using the online local field office locator on the website. 

12 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Looking at the processing times it says it takes 300 plus days to be permanent residents.

Each LFO has its own timeline. LFOs can be in the same state even and have a vastly different timeline. 

Are you looking at YOUR LFOs timeline on the website? It's that where you got 300 days as of now?

12 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

my comment about immigrants reflects the fact that policies will be changing. I don’t call this political and I don’t hold any views but I have a concern that immigration procedures will be even more complicated from January. It’s bureaucracy - not politics.

I won't report it but likely someone will. My point was it was unnecessary. 

12 minutes ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Thanks for your suggestion and I will look that up! I don’t know which is our office now

I highly recommend joining your monthly VJ AOS filing Forum to learn the basics and to discuss with your filing peers.

And I still ask that you complete your timeline as it is missing many details that would have helped me to help you with this post. 

You can input your FILING info for both AOS and EAD and would include filing dates, locations filed to, SCs/LFOs and data for Noa1 received, biometrics dates etc simply because you've filed. 

VJ statistics help everyone while our answers help you personally but we need to be able to see your data to answer you or help you properly.

 

[Dashinka 24,538]

Processing times seem to follow a sine wave model and it appears the I485 is heading toward a peak but hopefully they will come down soon.  When my wife adjusted her status after we married AOS times were fairly long especially for those that had the interview waived (there were members here actively asking how they could switch their waiver to an interview so they could get their GC faster), but my wife had an interview and got her GC in about 6 months.  You are still in the 6 month window, so hopefully something will break soon. Also you mentioned Casper (I assume Wyoming), but for some reason that office does not show up in the processing time look up.  All you can really do is wait and assume you will get an interview.

 

Good Luck!

[OldUser 6,767]

Estimated processing times under MyProgress tab are a joke. Do not believe it, they're known to be super inaccurate.

[igoyougoduke 1,660]

10 hours ago, Dragonsarereal said:

Hello there!

I arrived in the USA in mid June, got married and within a month or so we sent out documents for adjustment of status. 

Meanwhile I also asked for permission to work and an SSN. Within a month I was called for the biometrics in Casper.

Back in September, the USCIS said in my own account history that a decision would be made in 5 months. 

 

I checked again 2 weeks ago and now USCIS says 14 months before they decide.

I am kinda shocked as we were planning a holiday in the UK and now we cannot.

Is there a reason why suddenly the backlog has maybe increased? Is this because Trump was to send us all back home? 🤣

 

Also, do you happen to know what makes USCIS decide if they want an interview or not?

Ours is a clear, easy case, all documents are perfect, my husband has a job, no criminal issues etc. so why now 14 months?

 

Thanks!

 

 

cause there are like 3 million applicants who are think their case is perfect and they should all get adjudicated in like 3 days after they file.  More applicants + finite resources = more delays. its the government ..

 

 

[mam521 2,069]

@K1visaHopeful is eluding to you haven't done a very basic update.  Basic or not, it assists with predicting timelines.  Profiles can be updated from mobile devices.  

 

As for timing, it's all up to case loads and the times stated in your My USCIS profile are a bit of a crapshoot and not typically that accurate.  

 

[Edward and Jaycel 209]

49 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Estimated processing times under MyProgress tab are a joke. Do not believe it, they're known to be super inaccurate.

 

This is the reason... Also like @Dashinka said, you will see the "Estimated" time rise and fall over the course of time because they have no good algorithm to actually give you a good estimate. My brother works in IT for a Federal Gov't agency and he says that government systems are always at least 3-4 generations behind in terms of software versions, hardware and technology.

[K1visaHopeful 2,835]

26 minutes ago, mam521 said:

@K1visaHopeful is eluding to you haven't done a very basic update.  Basic or not, it assists with predicting timelines.  Profiles can be updated from mobile devices.  

 

As for timing, it's all up to case loads and the times stated in your My USCIS profile are a bit of a crapshoot and not typically that accurate.  

 

It's even more than that.

If you scroll down below your photo on ANY profile it should state all their details if they've put any effort into being a VJ member. As you've said, you can do it by phone so if one can post, they can fill out their profile too.

Their profile is not complete at all beyond I129F FILING, never mind K1 Visa Consular data and now AOS and EAD filing and biometrics. 

A complete profile not only helps us answer posts without having to ask a trillion questions BUT it also allows silent readers to educate themselves and prevents mass confusion of new ppl who read and can't make the conclusions most others can. The value of that data is immeasurable. 

#1: I learned a lot here so now I pay back by helping. My time and help is free with the understanding that VJ stats are important to ALL members so it's everyone's duty to pay back. Having an incomplete one is selfish.

[Dragonsarereal 14]

thanks for all the suggestions! Very appreciated. To explain why the delay, I had all sort of tech problems. I remember in August I tried to add more dates but the system would not accept them. Probably the acronyms and dates got me confused. It takes ages for me to work out what they mean! I then gave up trying as my information is spread everywhere in my old computer (which is now gone after shutting randomly for months) and I lost lots of emails with dates/docs summaries. And it's been hectic here (as I guess it's for everyone) to settle/get and provide translated documents/get daughter in school and then college, sort out house sale abroad etc.

 

I will try to gather the dates and add them (I am not very good at navigating this site to be honest). 

 

To respond to some questions, yes we are in Wyoming, close to Cheyenne, and the biometrics office was in Casper.

The processing time of about 12 months is in this very website under processing times. I think I understand it correctly but maybe not! 😂

I will check my profile and update now...

[OldUser 6,767]

Just now, Dragonsarereal said:

thanks for all the suggestions! Very appreciated. To explain why the delay, I had all sort of tech problems. I remember in August I tried to add more dates but the system would not accept them. Probably the acronyms and dates got me confused. It takes ages for me to work out what they mean! I then gave up trying as my information is spread everywhere in my old computer (which is now gone after shutting randomly for months) and I lost lots of emails with dates/docs summaries. And it's been hectic here (as I guess it's for everyone) to settle/get and provide translated documents/get daughter in school and then college, sort out house sale abroad etc.

 

I will try to gather the dates and add them (I am not very good at navigating this site to be honest). 

 

To respond to some questions, yes we are in Wyoming, close to Cheyenne, and the biometrics office was in Casper.

The processing time of about 12 months is in this very website under processing times. I think I understand it correctly but maybe not! 😂

I will check my profile and update now...

The thing is, each case is unique and there are many variables...

 

For example, my AOS was relatively fast, around 8.5 months. I was lucky, somebody who filed few weeks after me, probably was affected due to COVID. I got appoved few days before the lockdown started.

 

With I-751, the processing time was 7 months when I filed, but I ended up waiting 20.5 months. All cases in my batch were delayed by 4-5 months. Somebody I know filed case 2 weeks after me and got approved 5 months before me.

 

[mam521 2,069]

1 hour ago, Dragonsarereal said:

thanks for all the suggestions! Very appreciated. To explain why the delay, I had all sort of tech problems. I remember in August I tried to add more dates but the system would not accept them. Probably the acronyms and dates got me confused. It takes ages for me to work out what they mean! I then gave up trying as my information is spread everywhere in my old computer (which is now gone after shutting randomly for months) and I lost lots of emails with dates/docs summaries. And it's been hectic here (as I guess it's for everyone) to settle/get and provide translated documents/get daughter in school and then college, sort out house sale abroad etc.

 

I will try to gather the dates and add them (I am not very good at navigating this site to be honest). 

 

I would definitely make a concerted effort to organize yourself and keep documentation together.  Additionally, I would start a spreadsheet with all travel history when you leave the US and update religiously.  If you are asked to provide information, you will be required to do so in a timely manner. If you plan to naturalize at some point, you will need this information and your travel history. Have your partner help you, if you need to, but please take it seriously. 

 

If you have the old computer, I would have the hard drive pulled and attempt to recover your data.  It is legitimately important and USCIS isn't going to accept "my dog ate my homework" as an excuse, if you know what I mean.  

 

Immigration is a privilege, not a right.  We all need to remember we've requested the opportunity to come to the US and reside permanently and that it's not a guarantee.  

[OldUser 6,767]

15 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Additionally, I would start a spreadsheet with all travel history when you leave the US and update religiously. 

 

I just filed N-400.

Because I had a spreadsheet of travel since becoming LPR that I kept up to date, answering questions related to travel was easy.

Edited 23 hours ago by OldUser