slavaskii

These were exactly what I was looking for - thank you so much! And yes, sorry if I was unclear, I was looking for the I-485 and I-765 numbers and not the I-129F (thankful for that every day, lol). Although I do have a question, if you don't mind. So taking a look at my wife's particular group in that I-765 chart, I see numbers for "approved," "processing," and "received." I I presume approved is EAD being produced / in-hand, but what's the difference between processing and received? Are there really, for some IOE groups, the same number as people with both an approved card and just having their documents received (i.e., no biometrics)? And the bottom chart: this is letting us know the daily updates, correct? If that's the case, then my presumption about FOs controlling goes out the window. It's quite weird that the, say, IOE-19189 group is skyrocketing whereas the others are being left behind. The work is not just uneven, but grouped around 4 clear parts of the map. Last thing, if you don't mind: I presume you have been following these for a while. Does the attention USCIS gives to these 'blocks' fluctuate (i.e., from IOE-09131 to IOE-09141) or does it seem like they're just beating down one group? I also don't presume we have any way to see how many of these approvals are expedites (I originally thought the vast, vast majority, but after talking to my filing group on FB, it seems like there's some of us just inexplicably left behind - lots of them got GCs in 3 months or less).

Is there some group here or elsewhere that tracks IOE numbers like WAC numbers for the I-129F? I presumed case tracker wouldn't be helpful from here on out, but I'm starting to have doubts after seeing certain groups move faster than others. Thanks!

Thanks for your insight! Unfortunately the GC times going up across the country appears quite standard nowadays. DC went from 15 - 18 months iirc, and I checked a few other places and it seemed similar. I'm not sure where the resources are going to if not the EAD / AP / GC front.

Any more non-expedite updates? Approaching 7 months of silence, curious as to why as I didn’t think our FO was particularly slow. A bit nauseated imagining having to do an inquiry in 2 months if nothing comes through.

No EAD, AP, or GC here. The Facebook group is similar, so I’m not really sure what to make of EADs coming so rapidly here. Fast field offices, perhaps? My wife’s adjustment package was filed *early August,* so we’re actually approaching the 9 month inquiry date.

Sorry I've been MIA for so long here! The documents in the email from Warsaw Embassy are the same for everyone. They contain the IMBRA disclosure, Appointment Eligibility Letter (basically, what you need for the interview and confirmation you can begin next steps), and Medical Examination Information. I think that was the email where we also got our I-129F scan back, but I could be mistaken (we 100% had it before the interview). All of these documents are available online through this page here - it's actually different from the one linked above. To my understanding, Warsaw now requires you to have received this correspondence and your WRW number before scheduling an appointment through US Travel Docs. In any event, the medical center will ask for it. Moreover, it is absolutely imperative that you have all of the documents received from Warsaw before your interview day comes; other users had their appointments cancelled the night before because Warsaw, though having their packet, didn't actually send out the email correspondence. Again, I think that's now irrelevant, but just FYI that Warsaw will guide you through everything so long as you just wait for / follow their directions. Lastly, Warsaw won't physically send anything to your fiance's address, so don't worry - everything is electronic to you. However, because he has a Polish address, there seems to be particular benefits; most obviously, as a resident he'll qualify for the 'expedited' resident queue when he finally gets to schedule an interview, which to my knowledge is still notably faster than the Russian/Belarusian line. He should also get that email correspondence from Warsaw pretty quickly after the packet physically arrives at the embassy, probably 2-3 weeks max. There's an inquiry form through US Travel Docs, but I think Warsaw's pretty fast on things now. They're an excellent Embassy - you can't go inside as the US Petitioner, but everyone was extremely friendly and professional. Please do let me know if you have any questions, and again I apologize for being inactive for a while here.

Congratulations @LemonLemonade! Did you expedite, by chance? We still have absolutely nothing, which is frustrating but at least we don't have one of the notoriously slow field offices. Good luck to everyone here! Edit: I should ask, did the people with EADs/APs/GCs here all have then expedited, or has anyone gotten it without? And if someone doesn't mind sharing, what was the expedite reason(s)?

In addition to what others have said, you need documentation almost always to support your expedite request. An attestation won't suffice. Right now, it seems like all of this is conjecture - and that's ignoring the fact there's no reason why they can't get treated just as well in Poland (that we're aware of). I'm sorry for your situation, hoping for the best.

The EAD is highly, highly location-dependent. Some people do get it within 30 days, but the great majority will be waiting up to 9 months for the EAD. It's probably best to check timelines of users in similar locations, rather than those who filed at similar times.

There was a post here yesterday iirc of someone having a petition automatically transferred to Almaty. I highly, highly doubt that visa services can resume in Moscow anytime soon - not only would it be tremendously bad PR for the Administration, but also a logistical nightmare. Such simple things like flying American staff there or paying for groceries with certain credit cards are nigh impossible considering sanctions. Speaking of which, Steven, how have you been with everything? I don't recall seeing any updates from you in a while, hope all is well.

Wow - that's quite incredible! In my FB group, only one even has an EAD. It's much of the same in the AOS threads here, it seems. Do you happen to know what your estimated time for AOS was at the closest FO to you?

Yes, it's all quite random, but I haven't heard of such speedy green cards in a long while - congratulations! Those who filed in August 2022 are almost all universally still waiting, most assume we'll wait out the full 12+ month USCIS estimates. A lot of it is definitely tied to your local FO, Baltimore and Atlanta are notorious for being exceptionally slow.

Thanks for filling in! That Atlanta number is rough, that's probably second to slowest (Baltimore's a whopping 49 months). Hopefully they start transferring around, on Reddit people are always posting their AskEmma chats and a few claim to have gotten transfers to quicker FOs. I don't know where you'd have an interview (maybe those are routinely waived?), but I sincerely hope you don't have to wait anywhere near 32.5. As to your unknown, I'm pretty sure if you're waiting over 2 years for AOS, that'll turn into the 10-year green card without having to go through ROC. See this thread here, only one answer but it seems like it's an identical process as CR-1 --> IR-1. I looked up a similar question before, as I thought it would be a bit unfair if everyone was just waiting only to be eligible for the 2-year conditional. Also, I may be incorrect, but aren't spouses of USCs eligible for naturalization after 3 years not 5? In any case, it's been explained to me that having an EAD/AP effectively functions equivalent to a green card. As all of those seem to be processed at the same speed for everyone, I suppose there won't be much practical difference between cases until naturalization.

Nothing here. There's a FB group for old March 2021 I-129F filers, only one posted that they got their EAD (submitted in May 2022 and got it November 2022). I presume if we haven't gotten it already, we'll be waiting out the USCIS expected processing time. Although there seems to have been measures to speed things up, and I would assume EADs are a higher priority for USCIS than fiancee petitions. Here's hoping, best to all.

That's very interesting she's actually going to Moscow. The ambassador appointed to Belarus under Trump - Fisher - never actually got to Belarus because the meeting with Lukashenko was refused. If I recall correctly, she set up operations in Vilnius with Tsikhanouskaya. Does this imply Tracy will actually be meeting with Putin?

Thank you for linking me! The procedure is still the same, though I recall hearing from some applicants that there's more 'failsafes' built in to TravelDocs to ensure you have Packet 3 before scheduling an interview. The medical facility (the only one authorized in Poland) is also very strict about ensuring you're eligible; in some cases, even asking for the interview date. TLDR: any applicant going through Warsaw should definitely wait to do anything until being contacted. To help OP, we got an email from NVC that our case was on its way to Warsaw about two months after the I-129F approval. Though most people had a really long wait to then be contacted by Warsaw, ours came very quickly - only 2-3 weeks after that. My (now) wife left for Poland and had a Polish address at the time, though, so I'm not sure if our timeline is 'standard' for Belarusians. As a note, we received only 1 email from Warsaw and nothing physically in the mail - neither to me nor to her. The email from Warsaw included all relevant instructions - translated to Russian - and a scanned copy of the I-129F, which I found pretty interesting. The correspondence from NVC was merely a formality to say the packet was being sent out, though I think it did contain the case number (we had managed to call for it at the time).

As others have suggested, I definitely think there is a 'movement' brewing to phase out the K-1. The fact K-3 has virtually disappeared makes me think the utility of the K-class is no longer recognized by USCIS, and there is an even stronger push to spousal. Why the I-129F can't be filed online - and why there doesn't seem to be any hints of this happening - is also a giveaway for me. Paper filing is long and burdensome, especially with the 100+ pages applicants routinely file either because they (a) are overly cautious or (b) watched some YouTube video saying so. I simply think USCIS is saying "enough is enough." Separately, this puts people already waiting for AOS in a really weird position. I would be very happy if these increases allowed my wife to get her EAD/AP and Green Card faster - especially because we already paid those fees, and because we weren't lucky to have one of those 'same-day' EAD/AP approvals. But as others have said, there's no guarantee that speeds will actually increase, and that removal hike is massive.

Ours recently said the same as well ("any day now"); I haven't opened the VJ prediction emails for a while because I was expecting we'd wait out the full 8.5 months as USCIS says. Has a batch of early August filers at NBC been approved recently? I also read on Reddit (so not an ocean, but a galaxy of salt) that USCIS was 'decoupling' EAD from AP cards in an effort to speed the former up - so maybe that's what we're seeing? Side note: can we use CaseTracker to scan EAD approvals, or does that app lose all relevance after the I-129F approval?

This is correct. If someone wants their legal middle name to be their patronymic, it appears as if they can without problem. But because it is by default not a middle name, it is completely fine to leave it blank. While patronymics in some languages are legal middle names, because they appear at the very end of the name in Russian, I would tend to believe they shouldn't be entered at all. Honestly, it's more of a limitation of the form than anything, so that's why I think you can really do anything you want with it.

Definitely a very critical read. Though one thing that I think we need (not sure if it exists somewhere) is a master list of which embassies allow a co-sponsor. It also amazes me that some embassies would deny a co-sponsor if the petitioner has $0 income; that would catch most people completely off-guard, so a list of those locations would be helpful, as well.

USTravelDocs is telling you to miss your interview before rescheduling ... ? That sounds ... very wrong. But if that's what they're saying, I mean, that's the protocol I guess. I just don't see how it wouldn't register in the system as a forfeiture of the application, especially when you can reschedule in advance so easily (and ostensibly for this very purpose). Call USTravelDocs in the morning or when they open around midnight (they work Polish time). Clarify this ASAP. You can also call the one for Israel while you're at it and see if they can give more guidance about transferring over-the-phone. I wouldn't give up just yet with the Schengen hunt, either. I know it's a pain, but as the procedure is unlikely to change, this is now part-and-parcel of the US visa process.

No news here! Though I actually just swooped by the August thread to comment on a strange 'update' to my wife's USCIS account; everything's the same, except now the I-131 has a "reminder" on it that she may update contact information if parole was filed for a beneficiary (?). I didn't even know you could file for parole for someone else, and I just reviewed her documents and everything's fine. So I'm not sure why we have that reminder, or why it showed up in the past couple days. Anyone else see the same?

Thank you both. Yes, as I indicated in the original post, I know we must update the address with USCIS. I was only curious what happens to our place in the queue, especially because we would then be moving back to a 'speedier' processing center. I suppose there's no way of knowing, but so long as it doesn't completely reset, it's not the end of the world.

Our Congressman was able to get from USCIS a page-long response about where they were with processing, which actually revealed more information than both the website and our previous inquiries. USCIS most certainly has a 'congressional liaison' office and it was my understanding those individuals specially answered representative inquiries. Thus, while I agree with the above 100% that the rep won't be able to do anything you cannot, there is something to be said about having their backing. In OP's case, the worst the rep can say is 'no' and then they just request themselves.

Random question, but does anyone know how switching addresses / switching back affects processing times? I will be moving for work out in Texas this summer, with my wife and pup obviously moving with, so we'd have to update the address with USCIS. But after a couple months, we'll be back in DC, where we are now. Granted, the times between Texas and DC are pretty similar, but what happens to our position in the 'queue'? Does the application transfer, or stay at the filling location? TIA, it's an IOE case number but as I understand that's everyone's nowadays. And continual well-wishes and prayers to all the August filers in here.