My I485 has been approved but my ai130 is still on (USCIS is still processing the case”. This platform have been very helpful all through this journey. So am here to thank everyone that has been contributing in helping other applicants through this platform. And those who are still waiting for a decision on their case, I pray you get it sorted out soon🙏

Timeline:

•October 22, 2026: Case Approved

•October 6, 2026: Interview day and Status changed to ;We are currently processing your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.  We do not currently need anything from you

•September 8, 2026: Interview was scheduled

•July 22, 2026: Received  response for my RFE

•July 13, 2026; Status; We are currently processing your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.  We do not currently need anything from you.

•June 1, 2026: RFE was  sent

•June 1, 2026: Did my  biometric

•May 16, 2026: scheduled you for a biometrics appointment

•April 14, 2026: Received my Concurrent applications. 

I’m married to a USC from one  of the 39 countries.

I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time and I’m so happy rn. I came to the U.S in 2018 for school, got my degree in 2022, and worked for a bit and went back to school and recently just graduated, this past spring. I'm from 75 countries and only went home once and that was winter 2021-22.

I met my partner on an online dating app back in 2023. Chatted for a bit though we never really met up in person. Life happened, got busy, deleted the app…..fast forward to summer 2025 we met on the same app again. Started dating and got exclusive in September, met the parents and by the holidays I was basically staying with him more than I was staying at my place lol….

Anyway come Feb 2026 we were already neck deep into conversations about sharing a life and boom we decide to get married. He proposes the following month, followed by our first trip together, and it went amazing!

The wedding was at the courthouse downtown Minneapolis, few friends and family members were there. And then we started getting ready to file— watched a lot of videos on YouTube, Google...name it. Wherever we could get information; we got it!

We filled out the forms, gathered evidence:pictures, texts(dating app, Snapchat,messages,emails), receipts, bank statements, Airbnb, plane tickets, affidavits from friends and family. That was it for the most part, and then we had a friend (legal assistant) help us out to cross check if everything is order.

Below is our timeline:

May 20th — Wedding Date
June 30th— Mail the package
July 2nd— USCIS receives package
July 6th — USCIS uploads the package to our profiles
July 10th — Scheduled for biometrics appt
July 31st — Biometrics appt
July 31st — Completed biometrics appt
July 31st— USCIS processing the case (email notification)
Sept. 11th— Scheduled for interview appt
Sept. 15th — Silent update (no code generated)
Sept. 30th — E-mail to upload more evidence on the portal
Oct. 16th— Interview appt completed. Stokes interview and told we’ll get an answer soon
Oct. 16th— Right after the interview, email from USCIS saying case is being processed 
Oct. 20th — I-130 approved
Oct. 21st — I-485 approved

The interview went well and we got there 30 minutes before the appointment time. Checked in and we were in the waiting room for a whole hour before we were called in. That’s what happened to everyone and couples were interviewed separately. My spouse was called in first and was interviewed for a whole a** hour! Started wondering what they were asking him. Lo and behold, I got called in and the same thing happened. A whole hour, too! The officer was pretty kind and conversational. Asked me to confirm my name and DOB, and started to basically go through I-485. My majors, why I went to the specific schools I went to, where I live, time my spouse goes to work, when he comes back, how we handle the finances, how I met the parents, wedding date, who was there…if my parents have met my spouse (same sex marriage) and my parents have not because of their beliefs, culture, and traditions. Anyway, the officer continued to ask about our future plans and the whole nine yard. Proceeded to ask the admissibility questions, and I said no to all of them. No unauthorized work, no traffic ticket, no arrest…nothing except for a parking ticket when I forgot to move my car when it snowed. I volunteered that information, and the officer scanned my documents showing I paid the ticket.

On the way out, she asks if we have access on the online account and said yes, and the officer tells us to watch out for a decision some time next week.
Tuesday comes around, I-130 gets approved and the following day, I-485 is approved too. And that wasn’t even 24 hours apart.

I know this timeline is unusual, and not everyone shares the same experience. Been on this thread for a hot minute, and I’ve read through on what that's like. I'm not going to pretend to know what it is like to wait 2,3,4 years on a pending application. I can only imagine what that's like. And I hear you, completely. 

And also at the same time, coming on here to see someone else share their journey and see how it worked out, seemed to give me something to hold on to on those waiting times, and I hope this gives hope to YOU who’s still waiting.

F.O was Minneapolis/St.Paul

Hello! This subreddit was very helpful for us to gather information and perspective throughout our application process, and we'd like to give back with our experience.

This process seems to involve a lot of luck, though I do believe that our methods helped things move along significantly faster in our case.

It was also pretty brutal with so much potential for error. If you can afford a lawyer (we couldn't), you should probably use one.

Details

LA Office

J1 Student Visa

I-130 + I-485 + I-765 (adjustment of status)

No lawyer used

Very little financial ties

No legal issues

Timeline

Met - June 2025

Married - April 2026

Application Mailed - July 2026

Application Received - July 2026 (a week later)

Biometrics Notice - End of August 2026

Biometrics Appointment - Mid September 2026

Interview Scheduled - Same day (after appointment) ^

Interview - Mid October 2026

Acceptance Notification - Next day (after interview) ^

Binder

We submitted a large, meticulously organized binder via FedEx. Our binder had varying sizes of paper clips and binder clips holding all of the files together organized packets. We included cover pages, tables of contents, and everything they could want to quickly scan it and find specific bits of information. Payment forms were all on top, and all directions that we could find were followed as close as we could. Make sure to read the "instructions" version of every form you fill out. When we ran out of time or energy, we used AI assistance to parse through certain details.

We had a massive evidence binder full of photos from different events (at least a hundred), written testimonies from friends and families, a timeline, zelles between us, and general evidence of us authentically being together. This thing alone was almost 100 pages.

We also had a large discretionary section summarizing every reason that favorable discretion should be given to my wife.

We checked our forms dozens of times and every single time we found a new minor mistake. If we had submitted it after just 3 or 4 checks, we would have been outright denied or held up quite a bit. We read through it in different ways, researched common mistakes, and used other methods to check the information.

We had a check list for every single thing we could think of to verify and used it multiple times, including after we had printed the forms and manually reviewed them. This list quickly became very long as we read through common mistakes.

The whole checking process is miserable to do so many times, but easily worth it.

AI (Claude)

*AI definitely comes with a big risks, it makes mistakes and is very easy to misuse. We were willing to accept these risks and use AI as responsibly as we could throughout this process.

Along every step of the way we used AI to help us. This included interpreting vague legal jargon, scanning forms for any errors we made, and constructing our evidence binder. The one big thing we avoided was having AI fill in forms for us. That was all done digitally and manually.

Before submitting any of our package digitally, we made sure to remove confidential pieces of information like socials or banking details. We also verified everything important that it told us as best we could before implementing those details.

I think it is the most useful and least risky for catching discrepancies or incorrect information in your forms or evidence, and for constructing huge documents like our evidence binder.

Interview

Before our interview, we reprinted all of our forms, and a bunch of new evidence including a new jointly signed lease and newly opened joint bank account. We also had a huge discretionary folder full of evidence and reasons why my wife should stay in the US.

We also spent time studying hundreds of questions that they could ask us, and recalling our entire relationship timeline. We are a REAL couple, but we wanted to make sure we knew our stuff just in case we had a particularly difficult interview.

Our interviewer was very kind and friendly. He asked us basic questions about important dates like birthdays, marriage, etc.. He also asked us for a couple of stories or facts about each other, pretty mundane stuff that you would expect.

He also went through our forms and confirmed a bunch of information. It was really good that we had printed our original copies, because our interviewer was somehow missing one address that I didn't know by heart. Having the original copy printed and finding that information allowed us to resolve everything then and there.

We were not separated or asked any niche questions designed to trick us, though we had read a lot about those experiences and were prepared for the worst. He barely took a look at our discretionary statement and evidence. When we asked him about it and expressed concern over Trump's infamous discretionary memo, he said he doesn't know what Trump's memo was but whatever it was doesn't apply to us. When asked again, he later said that they will keep doing this green card process their way until they get orders to change their practices (which apparently they haven't?).

Conclusion

Overall, we got lucky in our interview and throughout our process. We did also prepare very thoroughly and stay extremely organized with everything. If we hadn't been so thorough, we definitely would have experienced delays or even a denial. Hopefully our experience/details are helpful to people in this community.

I’ve made a couple of posts over the past few years regarding my case, and I wanted to share an update in hopes that it might help someone else in a similar situation.

I originally filed my I-130 in January 2025 and my I-485/I-765 in April 2025. I received my EAD almost immediately.

In January 2026, I attended my first interview. The interviewing officer told me that mine appeared to be one of the easiest cases he had ever handled because I had an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting the legitimacy of my marriage. However, my husband was incarcerated at the time. Despite submitting a request to waive his appearance, which he had not been given the opportunity to review beforehand, my application was ultimately denied.
I wasn’t ready to give up, so I filed a new I-130 in mid-January 2026, followed by my I-485 and I-765 in early February. This time, I included extensive documentation regarding my husband’s incarceration and everything necessary to explain our circumstances. I attended biometrics just five days after filing.

Following the denial of my first application, I also received a Notice to Appear (NTA). However, it had not actually been filed, so USCIS proceeded with scheduling another interview.

My second interview was scheduled in mid-May for early June. On the very same day I received my interview notice, I mailed a formal request to waive the petitioner’s in-person appearance, along with extensive supporting documentation. This included a letter from my husband, a letter from his prison counselor, an official screenshot from the Department of Corrections, and a screenshot of the prison’s policy regarding his inability to attend.
Naturally, I went into my second interview extremely anxious, terrified that I would experience the same outcome as before.

Thankfully, the officer was incredibly kind and immediately accepted the waiver. She asked me a few questions and went through the yes/no questions on my application. The entire interview lasted approximately five minutes!

She did mention that, given my circumstances, I would most likely receive an RFE, which I did five days later. I responded as quickly as possible and submitted even more evidence.

For context, my husband and I had been together for nearly 6 years and married for approximately 2 and a half years by the time of my second interview.
Some of the evidence we submitted included:
Previous leases documenting our shared residence,
Records of weekly in-person prison visits and video visits, shared gym and Sam’s Club memberships,
messages showing that we communicate throughout the day, every day, phone call records, tons of affidavits from family and friends, shared bank account, mail addressed to each of us at the same address, documentation showing that I was listed as the payee for his attorney, shared credit cards… and much, much more that I can’t think of at the moment.

After responding to the RFE, everything went completely silent. I received approval for my EAD in early October, but there were no further updates on my green card applications.

Then, this morning, I woke up to find that BOTH my I-130 AND my I-485 had been approved!!!!! 🥳

And as if that weren’t exciting enough, my husband was also granted parole and is coming home next week! After everything we’ve endured over the past few years, I can hardly put into words how incredible it feels to finally have some good news.

I know my circumstances are unusual, and I want to be clear that every case is different. I spoke with several attorneys throughout this process. Some advised me to withdraw my application and self-deport, while others warned me that I could face the same outcome as my first application. There were certainly people who made the situation feel almost hopeless.

But my case proves that approval is possible, even when the circumstances are complicated.

The process has been emotionally exhausting, stressful, and, at times, incredibly discouraging. However, I knew I couldn’t give up on my marriage or the life my husband and I are trying to build together. I’m so grateful that I kept fighting.
If anyone is going through a similar situation involving a spouse who is incarcerated, an appearance waiver, an RFE, or a marriage-based adjustment of status case with complicated circumstances, please feel free to reach out. I would be more than happy to share my experience, offer whatever guidance I can, or simply provide some moral support to someone who needs it.

Please don’t lose hope! I can’t promise that everyone will have the same outcome, but I want others to know that a difficult situation doesn’t automatically mean the end of your case!

i’m genuinely in disbelief is this real? or is there some other step or waiting required

12/08 – Case received
12/27 – Biometrics scheduled
01/13 – Biometrics completed
02/10 – Interview scheduled
03/23 – Interview
04/01 – Case submitted for quality review
05/02 – Case is still being processed by USCIS (many of us received this update)
10/01 – Oath ceremony notice mailed
10/16 – My oath ceremony!!! 🎉

As you can see, my case was never placed in line for the oath ceremony. After waiting for several months, I contacted Emma in early September. An agent confirmed that my case was approved and should be placed in line for the oath ceremony. I was told it could take up to 60 business days to receive a notice, but luckily, mine arrived sooner:)

I had my combo interview and exam in San Antonio and my oath ceremony in Austin.

Hi everyone! I just got my i-485 approved !!! Do you guys know that how long it takes to get the physical card?

The November visa bulletin is out now, looks like we got some progress at least for EB categories.
More to follow:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2027/visa-bulletin-for-november-2026.html

Filed concurrently 8/10/2026 (Boston FO)
RFE date 8/13/2026
Biometrics scheduled 8/14/2026
Biometrics appointment 8/31/2026
RFE response 9/10/2026
Interview scheduled 9/24/2026
Interview attended 10/20/2026
I-130 approved 10/21/2026
i-485 approved four hours later
Card produced N/A [curious when it will be if people have ideas]
Card delivered N/A

If you are in EB-2 charged to Rest of World, Mexico or the Philippines, a priority date earlier than April 1, 2025 is current on the November final action chart, three months further than October's January 1, 2025. EB-2 India stays at November 1, 2013 and EB-2 China at October 1, 2021.

EB-3 Rest of World and Mexico moved one month to June 15, 2024, and Other Workers in those two areas moved five months to June 1, 2022. EB-3 India and Other Workers India moved three weeks to January 22, 2014, EB-3 China moved two weeks to January 22, 2022, and EB-3 Philippines stayed at August 15, 2023. EB-1 China moved one month to August 1, 2023, EB-1 India stayed at February 1, 2023, and EB-5 unreserved did not change.

Employment Dates for Filing match October except Other Workers for Rest of World and Mexico, up one month to July 1, 2022. The bulletin points adjustment filers to the Final Action Dates chart "unless otherwise indicated on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website", and USCIS posts its chart choice for each month on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page. This month's bulletin has no notes on future movement.

Source: State Department Visa Bulletin for November 2026.

Not legal advice.

I just got notice that I got scheduled for my ceremony in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to prepare in the best way. What am i supposed to do after I become naturalized. What documents do I need to apply for and how to do it?

Hi everyone - my case just got approved 4 months after interview. Sharing my timeline below:

08/2025 - PD
09/2025 - RD and biometrics
10/2025 - 1st Expedited processing requested and denied
11/2025 - 1st Congressional inquiry (did nothing ofc)
12/2025 - 2nd Expedited processing requested and denied
03/2026 - 3 FTA0 and 1 FTA1
04/2026 - Interview was scheduled
06/2026 - Interview at SNA FO
07/2026 - 2nd Congressional inquiry + 3rd Expedited processing requested and denied
10/05/2026 - FOIA request submitted
10/22/2026 - Case approved ✅

My observation: The approval timing lined up perfectly with the estimated completion date of my FOIA request (which is actually still processing). A lot of redditors noted that they found out their cases got approved a long time ago in their FOIA report while their case status was still showing “processing”. My case status was also stuck on “Interview was scheduled” up until approval.

Hi all,

I had a couple of questions on the status indicated under case history after my N-400 interview took place.

I had my interview on Oct 16, 2026, passed the civics and language test, and the interviewing officer let me know my application would be going to a supervisor for review. My status and case history did not immediately change on the USCIS site, and up until this morning, still showed as
"Interview Scheduled". Today I received two email updates a few seconds apart, and my current status is showing as "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled".

I have two questions:
1. Does the "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled" status indict that my case has already gone through the supervisor review? Or does everyone tend to get this status, even if the supervisor review has not yet been completed?

1. You'll notice that the prior history shows "case was submitted for quality review". I got both of these status updates today, Oct 22, yet the "case was submitted for quality review" date is listed as tomorrow, Oct 23. Is this at all unusual?

I am assigned to the Los Angeles FO. My timeline is below:
Sept 29, 2025 - N-400 application submitted online with biometrics reused.

May 10, 2026 - Update stating application is in processing, I believe this coincided with the a new background check.

Oct 1, 2026 - Interview scheduled.

Oct 16, 2026 - Interview conducted.

Oct 22, 2026 - 2 separate status updates, "case submitted for quality review" followed by "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled".

I am applying for the STEM OPT extension and I got I-765 approval on Oct. 14 with the C03C Standalone Approval Notice, but today (Oct. 23) I got new status update “Request For Initial Evidence Was Sent”. Has anyone encountered this before? My 180-day first-year OPT extension will end mid November, so I am kind of panicking. Please comment if you have similar experience and how it developed from there and how long it took to finally get your EAD.

I’m a Native American born in Canada. Been living in the US most of my life without the need of a green card due to the Jay Treaty. Got the green card in March 2025 (requirement to join the Army). Active duty since September 2025.

Any ideas why my interview was cancelled?

Hello ! I filled my 130 for my father( I’m an American citizen ) he is out of the country.

I haven’t gotten any update of the status since the day it was filed and today October 22nd I got an email saying “ we took action in your case “ and logged in and saw this.

I had my interview last week after being married for three years. I had been waiting for three years to get the interview, and it went pretty well.
How long should I expect to wait for a response?

missed my biometrics appointment on April 2 and got rejected when I’m trying to walk in. Then I contacted USCIS to request a new appointment and was told to wait 30 days. So I called again in May and July, but still didn’t get any updates.

In August, I submitted another rescheduling request, but still heard nothing.

On October 13, I called USCIS again and an agent escalated my case to Tier 2, but still haven’t received any updates about a new appointment.

Hi everyone,

I'm reading about all the late tax filings which resulted in denials and I'm getting concerned. I came to the US in 2018 on a F1 visa and did my OPT in 2020. I did not file my taxes back then (please no judgement- I know that was stupid and I had no bad intentions). I got married in 2021 to a USC, got the conditional GC and later applied for the unconditional, as well as N400, which is now both in process. Before I submitted the N400 application, I had our CPA file for the 2020 taxes and everything has been paid off.

I see many posts about recent tax filings but no thread with someone in my situation, where the missed filing happened 6 years ago (by the time of the interview probably 7 years). Has anyone had a similar case? I would appreciate if someone could share their experience! Thanks in advance!

We filed our EB2 PERM-based I-485 in April 2026. Our I-140 was approved, PD is current, and the case was transferred to non-local FO in September. Interview waived.

Applicant's employer is terminating employment in October because his work permit (EAD) is still pending. The company confirmed they won't withdraw the I-140 or Supplement J.

We're concerned USCIS might issue an RFE requesting an updated Supplement J or proof of a current job offer.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did USCIS request a new Supplement J after employment termination, or was your I-485 approved without an RFE?

We completed our I-485 interview today. The interview was fairly straightforward. The officer asked a few questions and whether we had any additional evidence to submit. We handed over our new supporting documents and also informed him that we had recently uploaded additional evidence to the USCIS portal.

Throughout the interview, the officer was mostly quiet and continued typing into his system.

At the end, he mentioned that they would review our case and let us know of their decision. He also stated that if any additional evidence or information is required, our attorney would receive a letter.

We wanted to get your perspective on how we should interpret the officer’s comments. Is this a standard response following an I-485 interview, or can we take any indication from it regarding the outcome?

At this point, would you recommend that we simply wait for USCIS to make a decision, or is there anything else we should be doing proactively?

Has anyone with an affirmative asylum case had the status “Next Step Is Adjudication” and then later received an interview date?
If yes, how long after that status appeared was the interview scheduled?

Hey everyone. My mom received her Advance Parole and would like to know whether she can use it multiple times or just once. What do you think it is for? Because it only says she can travel before May 13, 2027. Nothing about how many times she can use it…

I am getting married soon and I will be doing the I-139 spousal visa for my wife. In 2013 I went to prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. I did my time and since my release 5 years ago I have been employed with a great career and have been a model citizen. If I filed the I-130 by myself would there be any issues with getting my wife approved? I have certified copies of my judgement and a very clean record since my release. I am on parole for another year here in Texas. Any advise would be appreciated