US Immigration from Poland

Hello

In January I became a US citizen and in March, my parents have applied for AOS. My mom did not have a SS# but my dad did. My mom received her EAD card a month ago but my dad's case is still in review. My dad desperately needs his EAD approved before 6/17 as he is a truck driver. I will be able to support my parents financially after 6/17 if my dad does not receive his EAD but I know this will stress him out and it will bring him down. He loves being a truck driver.

I know that USCIS works at their own pace and I do not believe we can expedite it as we are probably still within the processing window but just thought I would get on here and see what others are experiencing.

I wish I knew someone who works at the Chicago USCIS office but I don't think that would help (asking the person to look into the status of my dad's case).

Thank you.

Timeline (Parents):

3/17/2023: Case was Received and a Receipt Notice Was Sent (Dad and Mom)

4/14/2023: Biometrics Done/Case is Being Actively Reviewed by USICS (Dad and Mom)

4/14/2023: Card is being Produced (Mom)

4/22/2023: Card was Produced (Mom)

4/25/2023: Card was Delivered (Mom)

*Had to go to SSA office to request the number and card as USCIS did not send the approved I-765 form to SSA. Went in the SSA office 5/24/2023 and we should be expecting a SSA card in two weeks.

Just an appreciation post. My Polish fianc e got her K1 visa approved (it s all in my timeline ). We filed in October 2021. It s been a long process but we re nearly there. A lot of people here provided the great guides and timely helpful responses when I had questions.

Thank you to all the kind people.

How long does it take on average? I know about 120 days mark.

I had my interview on May 11th, since then my case have been in quality review stage.

My wife entered on a K-1 and we married and filed AoS within 1 month of her arrival. That was 26 months ago. We still have not had an interview. (however, that is not the topic here please).

We do anticipate getting an interview soon and getting her GC (my understanding is it will be an unconditional one since we have been married for more than 2 years).

Our AoS took more than a year longer than pretty much all of the couples that were in our cohort of K-1's we stay in touch with.

My question is does the citizenship clock only start when she gets here GC?

(Or does it start when she started living in the USA back when she entered on her K-1 or when we married or when we filed for AoS?)

(my fear/understanding is that it only starts when you get the GC, so the past 2+ years of married living together in the USA don't count at all towards the 3 years rule for citizenship? So our long wait vs. our peers will also cause us to get her citizenship later than all of them too?)

My wife (the immigrant) needs to travel back to her home country later this month, in fact she wants to travel to Europe the day after our interview.

I have searched the web without success trying to find out if this is allowed and also what the implications and concerns are of doing so...(since she won't know if she was approved or denied until she is out of the country and wouldn't have her GC if approved before she returns - so she would return on the EAD/AP combo card and her foreign passport).

She has her EAD/AP combo card (and its valid until late this year). Her trip to Europe would be 3 weeks.

Anyone have experience with this and/or know where I should look for guidance or regulations about this?

Thanks.