/r/USCIS FAQs

You read the subject right! My interview was going so well, passed the civics,writing and English portion. I brought my tax transcripts because when we filed our taxes this year we owed the IRS. We didn't have the cashflow to pay it fully by tax return date in April so we did a payment plan. Paid 40% and then paid it off in May. The first page of the transcript showed a zero account balance since May but the officer was not satisfied or convinced that I did not owe. Says I need to provide the tax compliance report. In all of my research I have never heard of anyone providing this as proof so it was new to me. It's so frustrating because my husband interviewed a little while ago, provided the same transcripts and got approved- we file jointly. I am convinced your outcome is dependent on the experience of the officer that interviews you. UGH

Anyways ensure you have your tax compliance reports with you for your n-400 interview.

He left because he lost his privileges and won't face justice, by the way. He faces criminal investigations for alleged money laundering, embezzlement, and more. That is why he left.

I thought the new immigration policy was about criminals being out. Haha.

Filed March 31,2025
Approved October 24, 2026

Finally! After 2 RFEs, we’re officially approved! 😭❤️ Thank You, Lord, for answering our prayers! 🙏✨
Sending approval dust to everyone who’s still waiting for their good news! ✨🙏 May your approvals come soon! ❤️

Some context:
- US citizen married to Canadian
-No unauthorized work or criminal record
-He did overstay approx. 1 month. We were honest on the form (Yes to violate terms of visitor visa and yes to overstay question). We provided detail on the “more information” section.
“We eloped March 14, 2026 and his authorized stay expired March 27, 2026 - his medical took longer than expected so we weren't able to file by March 27. We filed April 29, 2026”

April 29, 2026
Submitted concurrent I-485, I-130, I-765 to Chicago lockbox

May 4
Fees deducted from account (1-765, I-130, I-485)

May 6, 2026:
RFE received and responded to same day re: most recent tax return
I submitted 2024 with original packet as I had an extension for 2025. The RFE was to submit proof of that extension. RFE was received, responded and response was accepted same day (May 6)
May 9
Biometrics scheduled

May 12
Biometrics completed
API calls indicated I-485/I-130 is at local FO (Fort Myers) I-765 at NBC. This is normal since I-765 is usually processed entirely by NBC.

Absolutely NOTHING between May 12 and July 8. No silent updates, no timestamps NOTHING.

July 8
Filed I-131 separately with a written expedite request attached as a cover letter. We tried to avoid this form because of the hefty filing fee ($580) but we planned our post elopement celebration with family and friends in Canada in August and were getting nervous

July 14
2nd biometrics for the standalone travel doc

July 31
Congressional inquiry to support the I-131 expedite request

August 4
Requested a Tier 2 appointment to request an emergency advanced parole for the August event. We received the in person appointment about a week later.

August 11
Emergency advanced parole denied at the in person appointment. Officer was nice but stated that a planned event is not an emergency.

August 13
Standalone I-131 approved!

August 14
512-L Document mailed

August 21
Advanced Parole document (512-L) in hand JUST in time for our August 23 event.

September 4
I-765 inquiry

September 14
Interview scheduled!

October 13
Filed my 2025 taxes ahead of the extension deadline (October 15) to avoid any issues during the interview/show good moral character etc.

October 14
Interview at Fort Myers Field office. The interview was relaxed. Officer went through I-130 first, then moved to the I-485. We had 2 corrections to make to the I-485 (length at previous address and dates in work history). Before she started, we proactively mentioned the updates and asked when the best time to give those are. I think that helped because she didn’t seem too concerned, she just said to let her know when we get to that section.

Most of the interview was reviewing and updating the form questions. The relationship questions she asked us were also form questions but she asked us each other’s info. as she completed/input her side of things :
- What are each others’ birthdays?
- What are each others’ phone numbers
- What are each others’ parents names
- How did you meet?

The interview lasted about an hour. She let us know we would receive RFEs and exactly what she needed from us. No on the spot approval, no white paper.

October 14
RFE received for I-485 and I-130.

I-485 Birth registration - On the original application, they do not indicate birth “registration” with both parents names is required and if your birth certificate is ripped at all, it’s unacceptable. Wish we knew/realized that ahead of time. But we ordered it online and it came in a week.

I485 Corrected I-693: The civil surgeon forgot to check the box for one of the tests that were required (Syphillis). The test was conducted on the original date but he made an error on the form so when we went back with post-interview RFE, he just checked the box and resubmitted the same form from the same sample data in a sealed envelope. IMPORTANT - If the test wasn’t actually conducted for whatever reason on the original date, it would have required a brand new medical since all tests need to be conducted on the same sample. It is now flu season so he would have had to get the flu shot whereas when he had the original test, it was not flu season so that was waived even though the form was updated during flu season.

I-I30 Certified copy of divorce decree - self explanatory. I submitted it originally but for some reason the initial intake did not capture every page so I had to resubmit.

October 21
RFE responded to and mailed directly to field office as requested (medical needed to be sealed and mailed so all responses were mailed together with separate cover sheets on top of each packet, in 1 mailing envelope).

October 24
RFE delivered to field office mailbox (Saturday)

October 28
Response received notification for both forms in the portal.

As of today, October 28:
I-765: USCIS is still processing your case

I-130: RFE response received and USCIS has begun working on your case again.

I-485: RFE response received and USCIS has begun working on your case again.

HOME STRETCH (I hope)

Those who live in chicago or interview would be in chicago, did u guys receive interview notice? Im specifically asking for people those who had thier biometric in July- September 2026. Whats update on case??

If u have interview coming up in nov or december 2026. Whats ur timeline?? Im only asking for chicago field office.

I’ve recently become familiar with USCIS after attempting to apply for an AOS for my spouse. So far it’s been the most stressful, horrific system I’ve ever had to deal with. I’m truly disgusted that our supposedly advanced country is so ineffective and careless.

2.5 months ago my spouse and I meticulously put together our I-130 and I-485. We submitted the I-130 online, expecting that we’d be able to submit the I-485 immediately after or at least in the following week. We’ve had no such luck. My spouse’s current status ends in exactly a year from today, and we’d planned to give ourselves 14 months to ensure we wouldn’t have a lapse in underlying status to avoid any ICE encounters at the interview. We filed our I-130, got our receipt number, but didn’t receive a receipt notice like we were supposed to. It literally says “case was received and receipt notice was sent”. I filed everything I could to remedy this and contacted USCIS several times.

Not only did we get conflicting information and false hope from many agents, but the last one we spoke to said he could quite literally see on his end that they never sent us anything. He also said there was nothing he could do about it. Keep in mind I filed a non-delivery on September 22 which I asked about, he said in response that the last agent I spoke to had submitted another non-delivery which cancels out the first one. Now we’ll have to wait ANOTHER 30 business days if that even works (I doubt it will).

I know people are suffering through so much more than this and in much worse positions due to USCIS and ICE’s antics and reading those stories makes me even more enraged. We paid $600 to submit a form and they can’t even hold themselves responsible for giving us the receipt so we can actually file our case. We’re losing time and I’m so frustrated.

If we were in any other administration this would be a non-issue because of the authorized stay. But now that ICE has shown up to interviews and arrested people for not being in status we have to fear our loved ones being taken at our green card appointment regardless of their record. I’m sorry this is long, and I know it’s nothing compared to other stories on here, but I just can’t believe the absurdity of this system even in the simplest of issues.

Edit: I can’t thank everyone enough for all the amazing support and advice! It’s so disheartening to hear the amount of people who have had similar or worse experiences, I wish there was more we could do to change this. Like some commenters have mentioned, please make sure to vote in November!

Some extra context for anyone confused: There are currently two ways to file “concurrently” for AOS (through the mail or online). Online is an increasingly common method and will likely be mandatory sometime in 2027. In order to file online, you submit your I-130 and the computer is supposed to automatically generate your receipt notice so you can file your I-485. Unfortunately, my receipt notice was not generated or sent in the mail. According to the USCIS agent I spoke to this is a common issue.

Almost 2 weeks ago , I requested expedited processing for my i-485 . But haven't heard anything back from them about whether my request is accepted or denied .

How long does it normally take

I’m curious to hear any recent approvals of cases where both petitioner and beneficiary were living outside the US (together). Everything I keep reading seems to be cases where the petitioner and beneficiary were both already in the US & were doing an adjustment of status.

Anyone have any news, updates or stores?

Here’s the latest update showing on my USCIS account regarding the Form I-90 (Green Card Replacement) application.

Hi all,

I received my approval on 10/24, approximately 5 months after interviewing. I posted about my interview some time ago here.

I've been in the U.S. for about two decades years under different statuses. Never out of status, no violations. I had initially come for school on F-1, switched to H1B after graduating, back to F-1 for a graduate degree, and then (cap exempt) H1B again in my current job. Didn't think I'd stay for this long but one thing led to another and I found myself in the green card line. My I-140 was approved in Jan 2021 but I was unable to file for adjustment because I'm from a backlogged country. Along the way I got married so my wife and I adjusted status using cross-chargeability (i.e., using my wife's country of birth rather than my own).

Here is our timeline.

Jan 12, 2026: Application received

Feb 19, 2026: Biometrics

April 6, 2026: I-485J approved. Interview was initially waived (per Emma). I thought I was headed for a quick approval.

April 20, 2026: Interview scheduled at Boston FO.

May 26, 2026: Interview day. It went well but we went in right after the May memo, so were told things would be a bit slower partly due to additional background checks. Got an FTA1 right after the interview.

Mid-August 2026: Contacted senator's office to inquire about our case. Heard back from USCIS saying our case was progressing normally. Based on what some folks were saying back then we thought the inquiry would bring our file some attention and we'd get an approval. This didn't happen.

Mid-September 2026: My wife got a silent update.

October 4, 2026: I got a silent update.

October 23, 2026: Both my wife and I got silent updates within a few minutes of each other. I started thinking we'd get an approval soon.

October 24, 2026: Approvals came in 24 hours and a few minutes after our last silent update.

I'm very glad that our journey has finally ended! I have checked this sub often, especially during the brutal 5 month wait after the interview. I'm super grateful to have seen other people's updates and approvals as these gave me some hope about my own. I thought I'd post about my approval now, in solidarity with all of you that are waiting. I'm really looking forward to traveling to see my family after a long gap and not worrying about getting a visa (have only been back once in the last 7 years because of how hard things have gotten).

Good luck and stay strong during the wait!

pd march 2025

case has been showing “currently processing “and no Api update as well . last i had fta0 and iaf when status changed.the case has also been transferred to local fields office.

Guys what to expect. how long before any meaningful action?

I called USCIS and said "info pass" and they transferred me to an agent. We had our AOS interview about 3 weeks ago and have had no updates aside from some API movement on the 9th, 16h, and 19th (FTA1 and silent update on both i130 and i485). I got multiple "an action has been taken on your case" with no real update, so i decided to call.

When i asked the officer if there was an update, they mentioned they had requested a second interview on the 19th (which is when my case updated) but it had not been scheduled yet. I asked my attorney and checked my account and could find no information saying that there is a second interview.

My question is, could this officer be mistaken and misinterpreted the information? or do they have more information that I can't see and should I be prepared for a second interview?

Hey everyone! I’m honestly pretty confused after my call with USCIS today and wanted to see if anyone has experienced something similar.

Here’s my timeline:
- April 25, 2026 — Filed marriage-based I-485.
-Around July — Called USCIS and was told that an interview had already been requested at the Houston Field Office, but nothing was actually scheduled.
- August 28 — Apparently, my case was transferred from NBC to the Philadelphia Field Office. I had absolutely no idea this happened.
- October 24 — Submitted a change of address request because I’m relocating from Houston, TX, to the Buffalo, NY area.
- Late October — Called USCIS to check my address and interview status.

The agent confirmed that my new address was already updated, which was great.

But here’s where things got weird.
She told me my I-485 has actually been at the Philadelphia Field Office since late August, and an officer was actively reviewing my case just recently.
I was genuinely surprised because I’ve never lived in Philadelphia, and my case was originally associated with Houston.

I asked whether my interview would be scheduled in Philadelphia or Buffalo. She explained that Philadelphia is currently handling my case, but if USCIS needs me to attend an interview, it should be scheduled at the office near my new address in Buffalo.

Now I’m even more confused lol.

Does this mean Philadelphia might be reviewing my case for approval without an interview? Or are they just processing it before sending an interview request to Buffalo?
And what happened to the original interview request in Houston? Does that request carry over, or does the whole scheduling process start over?
Has anyone had their marriage-based I-485 transferred to a completely unrelated field office? Especially Philadelphia?
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences, whether you eventually got approved without an interview or had to wait for your local field office to schedule one.
Thanks everyone!

With all of the transfer for I-130 consular processing from Service Center to field office.

Now everything all depends on how the field office is busy or less busy.

I checked on I130suffering post and shock that some people with pd 2024 CR1/IR1 US citizen are still pending, some already wait 30 months with no movement.

I think USCIS should revive K3 visa so the spouse can come to US legally and wait for I-130 to be approved.

How can wife and husband can start a life being separate for more than 2 years? How is this acceptable? There is an option to move to beneficiary country and wait but then later you have to prove your tie to the US + income above poverty guideline during NVC stage.

Why there is no choice in between can be given here?

K3 should be revive, i know people said this visa is dead long time ago.

I’m so happy to share with you all that I got approved this morning. I did my paperwork myself no legal assistance but got so much help from this thread and @KseniyaInternational on YouTube.

My case:
Family based through marriage to USC. Married 1 year prior to my entry in US on a B1/B2. Filed packet before period of stay expired on I94.

My timeline:

May 19: Packet sent to Elgin via UPS

May 21: Official Receipt date (Package delivered)

May 26: Notified via text that packet was received.

June 26: Biometrics scheduled notice (scheduled for July 20 something, rescheduled to earlier date)

July 2: Biometrics completed (multiple FTA updates on API immediately after completion)

July 9: Interview scheduled. (My spouse is in the military and would’ve been deployed on the day of the interview. I had planned to attend without my spouse after getting advice from this thread. Eventually my spouse was able to submit documentation to command and was cleared to attend interview.) PLEASE EXHAUST EVERY OPTION BEFORE RESCHEDULING AN INTERVIEW, it could delay your case badly.

August 13: Interview at ATL FO. It went well, was relaxed. Officer said walk me through the timeline of your relationship. (We’ve been together a total of 9 years including marriage) The officer was interested in the details so he typed a lot while we spoke. He didn’t interrupt he just used hand gestures which meant “keep talking” so we talked all about everything we’ve done over the years. At the end the officer said “We could’ve been done a while ago but I just let you keep talking.” At the end we went over the 485 questions then he said. “This isn’t apart of the interview I just want to know how many kids do you plan on having.” We found that very funny. He handed us the paper about my case being under review. My spouse smartly asked so “Based on our interview what can we expect?” The officer said “Based on what I saw here I’d say your i130 is looking like an approval but other checks need to happen so I’d give it a few weeks.” We were happy about that answer.

It indeed took a few weeks during this time my grandmother had passed and I wanted to attend the funeral . I did three requests on the basis of humanitarian need. I did an expedite request of my I485 using secure messaging on myuscis website. (Later denied after the funeral) I submitted one congressional and one senatorial inquiry. I only heard back from Jon Ossof after the funeral. I was offered emergency parole by USCIS but was warned not to take it due to several unjustified ICE arrests. So I missed her funeral that was a hard blow.

September 29: Email saying USCIS took action on your case. Status change from interview scheduled to currently reviewing. API updates showed multiple FTA1 on I130

September 30: I130 approved (I genuinely thought my 485 would be approved the next day and I could make it to the funeral but unfortunately it did not happen.)

October 21: Expedite request for 485 denied (USCIS did not state why, just unable to expedite at this time. But the funeral already passed so it didn’t matter.)

October 26: API Updated at timestamp now saying October 26. No notifications

October 27: Case approved.

God be praised. Happy to answer any questions.

Would love to hear from someone who has been in this situation:

Marriage based GC application (Married to a US Citizen)

Application sent to USCIS on 9/11/26

Application received by USCIS on 9/18/26

Biometrics appointment on 10/14/26

Interview Letter received on 10/17/26

Face to Face Interview Scheduled 11/24/26 (NJ Office)

Shouldn't I have received my employment authorization card from USCIS before an interview?

Would really appreciate if someone has been in this situation and what did they ask you in the interview.

Please share your experience.

I submitted an e-Request for a missing I-485 approval notice. On October 28, USCIS marked it completed and said they sent a response, but there’s no email or document in my account.

For context: I got an approval email on October 7, but my case still shows processing and no physical notice has arrived.

Anyone who filed a non-delivery-of-notice e-Request: did your response come by email or mail, and how long after “response sent” appeared?

Hello. We received a notice for an interview. We’re still in I-130 “phase”
Is that the new normal now? Cause I thought the interviews were during AOS. Thanks

Hi! I am concerned about my STEM OPT - no PP

Date of application: April 6 (I’ve noticed later dates getting approved now as well)
Biometrics done: April 28
First Silent API Update: October 7

Since the single API update, I have not received an approval, no RFE, no rejection either. Any one else in a similar situation? Not sure why all cases are moving forward except mine. Would appreciate any advice.

Thank you! 🙏

Hi Guys, I received my work permit (EAD) card but I wanted to know if I will be receiving the SSN as well within 14 days. My case is already stated as closed on myuscis account and on the form didn't ask if I wanted a SSN, only on I-485. So, is it going to be delivered or do I need to wait for my schedule at the nearest office?

Hi everyone, I am in a stressful situation and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has been through something similar.

My timeline:

• MS program started September 2024
• Full-time CPT from August 2025 to December 2025 (about 4 months, only CPT I used)
• Original program end date on my older I-20: December 20, 2026
• Program end date was shortened to August 29, 2026 (early completion)
• OPT I-20 issued and DSO recommendation entered: September 10, 2026
• I-765 filed online with premium processing: September 11, 2026
• Biometrics completed: September 22, 2026
• Silent API updates on October 26 and October 27
• Denied on October 28, 2026, with no RFE or NOID
• The denial notice is not in my account yet, so I do not know the reason

What looks odd:
My OPT I-20 shows my current session as January to April 2026, even though I was enrolled in Summer 2026. My guess is that USCIS saw April as my completion date and decided I filed too late, but I am not sure.

Where things stand:
Today, October 28, is day 60 after my program end date. My DSO is entering a new OPT recommendation so I can refile today. I am also talking to an immigration attorney.

My questions:

1. Has anyone been denied because of a shortened program end date or a session date mismatch on the OPT I-20? What did the denial notice say?
2. Has anyone refiled on the last day of the 60-day window and been approved?
3. Should I refile and also file a motion to reopen as a backup, or is one enough?
4. When you refiled, did USCIS reuse your biometrics or schedule a new appointment?
5. If you refiled with premium processing, how long did the second application take?

I have a full-time job offer waiting, so any experience or advice would mean a lot. Thank you.

Originally from Staten Island, NY. Biometrics done in Elizabeth, NJ.

I submitted my application on October 16th 2025. Had my biometrics scheduled 2 days later, and done within the next week, which I was super excited about how fast things were going. Than in May I received a notification update that "USCIS Is currently Processing the Case". Ever since May - complete silence. No updates, no advancements on the status. I also cannot check the processing times on the website, since they don't have Elizabeth NJ as an option. Does anyone have an idea of what should I do at this point? What are my next steps?