Approved in record time (40 days)!!!!!

[abakor]

Guys,

A record has been set: my I-485 case (as well as my wife's, who applied as a dependent of me) was approved by TSC in 40 days!!!!! Yes, TSC rocks!
Quite unbelievable, considering that I did everything myself, without any intermediaries (lawyers).

I checked my e-mail this morning and found the following message from USCIS (it came at 10:15):

"On November 21, 2005, after approving your application, we ordered you a new card. Your card will be mailed to you as soon as it is ready."

I then checked my wife's status online (the SRC#####) and found a similar message...

Best of luck to all of you! Hang in there (there's light at the end of the tunnel)...

This forum has been of great help, so I want to thank you all...

================================================== ======
EB-2 TSC (non-retro)
LC: RD -- 10/19/04, AD -- 12/06/04
I-140: RD -- 12/28/04, RFE -- 01/08/05, ND -- 02/01/05, AD -- 02/01/05

got married, my wife came to the U.S. on a student (F-1) visa, I stayed on H-1B; what follows, applies to her as well

I-485 (AOS): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, LUD 11/04/05, AD --11/21/05
I-765 (EAD): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, AD -- 11/02/05, rec'd -- 11/05/05
I-131 (AP): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, AD -- 11/03/05, rec'd -- 11/07/05 (wife's came on 11/08/05)
FP (code 3) -- 11/03/05, Form I-797C (Rev.01/31/05) N stamped

[saras76]

abakor,

Congrats on your approval. Your approval may indeed be a record of some sorts.

For the rest of us, this proves that this retrogression has pretty much dried up most of the work for the Service Centers. They are getting a handful of 485 apps and these are getting approved in record times.

This is another indication that the dates have been pused back way to far. Having the dates retrogressed into 02 or early 03 would have been more reasonable. By pushing the dates this far back these guys have virtually halted the whole process. Atleast someone is having a nice and relaxed holiday season ... wish I worked for USCIS ..

regards,

saras76

[abakor]

Hi saras76,

Thanks and good luck to you! I share your feelings vis-a-vis retrogression... Hopefully, a law or something taking care of this should come out soon.
You know, it's a big mistery on how TSC handles the cases. Could it be the case that they speed up the process because I work for a state university? Hard to tell...

Anyway, all the best!

[andy garcia]

congrats abakor.

It looks like you won't be needing neither the AP nor the EAD. What a waste of money .

andy

[annoosa]

Congrats,

hope we all follw....

I have a question.. did u get a notice for FP or u just showed up and had them done????

[abakor]

Hi andy garcia,

Thanks! Indeed, looking in retrospect, it seems like a waste of money. However, at that time, I had absolutely no idea on how long it would take (heard way too many stories NOT to play it safe). So, playing safe was the only logical option.

All the best to you, too!

abakor

congrats abakor.

It looks like you won't be needing neither the AP nor the EAD. What a waste of money .

andy

[abakor]

Hai annoosa,

Thanks and all the best to you, too!

I did not get a notice for FP per se. However, on the receipt notice of the I-485 there were instructions with the steps to follow from that point on. Basically, the instructions said that I should call their 1-800 number (the same one that's posted on the website) to make an appointment (which I did) for biometrics code 3. My wife called them too, to schedule an appointment for her (the same day, one hour difference between our appointments). Important to note is that someone cannot make an appointment for his/her spouse (on his/her behalf). We went to the local office, had the job done in some 30-40 minutes, and a stamp was applied on the receipt notice of I-485. That's all.

Good luck!

Congrats,

hope we all follw....

I have a question.. did u get a notice for FP or u just showed up and had them done????

[moroni]

Have a Holy Jolly "Green Card" Christmas!!

Meanwhile, who knows when will be our "joyful" time !!

[Asib]

Congratulations Abakor,
Your post is a great news.
Did the entire thing (I140, I485, EAD, Advance Parole) was processed in TSC or partially in regional offices?
Was your case based on Labor Certificate or National interest/Outstanding Researcher?

I am also in the same situation as you (Assistant Prof. in a state university) but through Labor Cert. I filed concurrently last week but no response yet.

Asib,

[nidhi22]

hi...congrats..have a question regaring name check? i mean it got dont that fast? also ur wife was in F1 did u just send hrer 1-20 or her transcripts as well?

Guys,

A record has been set: my I-485 case (as well as my wife's, who applied as a dependent of me) was approved by TSC in 40 days!!!!! Yes, TSC rocks!
Quite unbelievable, considering that I did everything myself, without any intermediaries (lawyers).

I checked my e-mail this morning and found the following message from USCIS (it came at 10:15):

"On November 21, 2005, after approving your application, we ordered you a new card. Your card will be mailed to you as soon as it is ready."

I then checked my wife's status online (the SRC#####) and found a similar message...

Best of luck to all of you! Hang in there (there's light at the end of the tunnel)...

This forum has been of great help, so I want to thank you all...

================================================== ======
EB-2 TSC (non-retro)
LC: RD -- 10/19/04, AD -- 12/06/04
I-140: RD -- 12/28/04, RFE -- 01/08/05, ND -- 02/01/05, AD -- 02/01/05

got married, my wife came to the U.S. on a student (F-1) visa, I stayed on H-1B; what follows, applies to her as well

I-485 (AOS): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, LUD 11/04/05, AD --11/21/05
I-765 (EAD): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, AD -- 11/02/05, rec'd -- 11/05/05
I-131 (AP): mailed -- 10/06/05, ND -- 10/13/05, AD -- 11/03/05, rec'd -- 11/07/05 (wife's came on 11/08/05)
FP (code 3) -- 11/03/05, Form I-797C (Rev.01/31/05) N stamped

[abakor]

Congratulations Abakor,
Your post is a great news.
Did the entire thing (I140, I485, EAD, Advance Parole) was processed in TSC or partially in regional offices?
Was your case based on Labor Certificate or National interest/Outstanding Researcher?

I am also in the same situation as you (Assistant Prof. in a state university) but through Labor Cert. I filed concurrently last week but no response yet.

Asib,

Hi Asib,

Yes, the entire thing was processed at the TSC (nothing in the regional office -- except, of course, the biometrics). My case was based on Labor Certificate (the university did the labor certification process and the I-140 -- both were approved in some 4-5 weeks). Send me a private message if you need more info, and I'll be glad to answer your questions.

Best of luck!


abakor

[abakor]

hi...congrats..have a question regaring name check? i mean it got dont that fast? also ur wife was in F1 did u just send hrer 1-20 or her transcripts as well?

Hi nidhi22,

I have no idea how/what they did with the name check process... After the biometrics (code 3), which were taken at a local center, I was a bit worried because there was no change in online status (I called them a couple of times, and their response was to be patient).

My wife's application included just a copy of her I-20 (no transcripts). As a matter of fact, I will try to post the letters submitted with our applications in a subequent message (so that you can have a better understanding of what documents we included).

Good luck!

abakor

[abakor]

Friends,

Does anybody know how to exactly attach pdf documents? Do I need special permission from the administrator? I would like to post my cover letter models, to help other people.

Thanks!

abakor

[abakor]

Friends,

I am enclosing several models of cover letters that we used for our applications (I-485, I-765, I-131). Our I-485 applications got approved in record time (40 days), and we both received EADs and APs in between (never to be used, of course).

Make use of these models at your own will. Modify and adapt as needed. They worked for us, but I am not an attorney and therefore should not be held responsible for anything.

What I did was to put a general cover letter on top of everything. After that, I prepared the package for my I-485 and included a cover letter (used a smaller ECCO paper clip to keep the I-485 package together); next came the I-765 package and another cover letter (again, I used an ECCO paper clip); finally, the I-131 package and its respective letter (and paper clip, of course). A larger ECCO paper clip was used for all my packages (in this order -- 485, 765, and 131). I repeated the same steps for my wife, but placed my combined package on the top (since I was the primary applicant).

Each cover letter explains what the respective package contained (go over each and every one of them, they're self-explanatory). I was very meticulous and followed exactly the USCIS mailing instructions (all documents had holes punched for archiving them in a folder -- make sure it's a 2-hole puncher).

Good luck with everything and remember that there's light at the end of the tunnel, after all.

abakor

================================================== ====
EB-2 (non-retro) TSC
LC: RD -- 10/19/04, AD -- 12/06/04
I-140: RD -- 12/28/04, RFE -- 01/08/05, ND -- 02/01/05, AD -- 02/01/05

got married, my wife came to the U.S. on a student (F-1) visa for graduate school, I stayed on H-1B; what follows, applies to her as well.

I-485 (AOS): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, FP (code 3) 11/03/05, LUD 11/04/05, AD 11/21/05, plastics (GCs) rec'd 11/28/05
I-765 (EAD): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, AD 11/02/05, rec'd 11/05/05
I-131 (AP): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, AD 11/03/05, rec'd 11/07/05 (wife's came a day later, on 11/08/05)

[abakor]

Friends,

I am enclosing several models of cover letters that we used for our applications (I-485, I-765, I-131). Our I-485 applications got approved in record time (40 days), and we both received EADs and APs in between (never to be used, of course).

Make use of these models at your own will. Modify and adapt as needed. They worked for us, but I am not an attorney and therefore should not be held responsible for anything.

What I did was to put a general cover letter on top of everything. After that, I prepared the package for my I-485 and included a cover letter (used a smaller ECCO paper clip to keep the I-485 package together); next came the I-765 package and another cover letter (again, I used an ECCO paper clip); finally, the I-131 package and its respective letter (and paper clip, of course). A larger ECCO paper clip was used for all my packages (in this order -- 485, 765, and 131). I repeated the same steps for my wife, but placed my combined package on the top (since I was the primary applicant).

Each cover letter explains what the respective package contained (go over each and every one of them, they're self-explanatory). I was very meticulous and followed exactly the USCIS mailing instructions (all documents had holes punched for archiving them in a folder -- make sure it's a 2-hole puncher).

Good luck with everything and remember that there's light at the end of the tunnel, after all.

abakor

================================================== ====
EB-2 (non-retro) TSC
LC: RD -- 10/19/04, AD -- 12/06/04
I-140: RD -- 12/28/04, RFE -- 01/08/05, ND -- 02/01/05, AD -- 02/01/05

got married, my wife came to the U.S. on a student (F-1) visa for graduate school, I stayed on H-1B; what follows, applies to her as well.

I-485 (AOS): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, FP (code 3) 11/03/05, LUD 11/04/05, AD 11/21/05, plastics (GCs) rec'd 11/28/05
I-765 (EAD): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, AD 11/02/05, rec'd 11/05/05
I-131 (AP): mailed 10/06/05, ND 10/13/05, AD 11/03/05, rec'd 11/07/05 (wife's came a day later, on 11/08/05)

[Asib]

That's very helpful. I provided the same documents to TSC about a month ago but no news yet. Apparently TSC has slowed down I485 approval to speed up other filings.

Asib

[andy garcia]

TSC apparently sent all the officers to Nebraska to process all the I-485 for the asylees, refugees, etc. They do not care about the employment based applicants.

[pcc]

TSC apparently sent all the officers to Nebraska to process all the I-485 for the asylees, refugees, etc. They do not care about the employment based applicants.

What is the source of your information??

Thanks

[joexinhu]

Congrats,

hope we all follw....

I have a question.. did u get a notice for FP or u just showed up and had them done????

Annoosa,

How did you find out your NC is cleared? your ND is very close to NC clear date. did you contact somebody to get this information? or you receive email from FBI?