#1, panacea, Approved! WAC02100xxxxx (2 apps)
Our applications were approved on June 1st according to the emails and online status. The message was a real sight for sore eyes.
Labor: EB2, applied: Jan 2001, RD: Mar 19 2001,
approved: Apr 16 2001
I-140: RD: July 30, 2001, approved: Dec 7, 2001
I-485: RD: Jan 29, 2002, ND: Jan 31, 2002
Ist FP: Done Feb 29 2001 San Francisco.
(early FP, actual appointment Mar 28)
2nd FP: Done May 20 2004, San Jose.
(early FP, actual May 28 2004)
2 APs, 2 EADs.
I was introduced to this forum by a friend who had just got his approval around the time we filed for our 485. I've been a very sporadic visitor since then, checking status occsionally. Its been a real morale booster to see posts and especially approvals!
Here are a few takeaways from my experience:
* Both my husband and I were fortunate to have the support of a really nice HR person who encouraged us to start the process early. We could have started a few months earlier which may have made a big difference in 1-485 application dates. I sent in my labor application in Jan, my husband sent in his Labor in March. While mine got approved in 4 months, his was still still stuck in Labor till end of last year (after which point he moved jobs on EAD).
Moral: Start as early as you can.
A few of our friends delayed because of various reasons - some were not sure if they wanted to stay in that particular company for long (hey those were the tail of the good times, we hadnt seen the horrors yet ), some because they wanted to get married first, others didnt realize it would be such a long process. Utimately, it doesnt matter. You should always start sooner rather than later. If you have change jobs, its fine. Cross that bridge when you come to it.
Another note on Labor from my lawyers: be descriptive about the job position without being overly specific about the exact job you are doing right now. Like use the detail to specify the duties of a software engineer (which can be applied to many software positions) instead of being
very specific about this exact position. The idea is to emphasize on your skills. This makes the labor application a little harder to write, but it will help a lot when you have to change jobs if you need to later on.
* For new I-485 applicants:
While there is promise of quicker adjudication in the
near future, dont rely on it. If you can, do
consular processing. A friend who applied the same time
I did, got aproved in CP within 6 months, while I waited
more than 2 years for AOS.
* We were fortunate not to have major hiccups along the
way -- but that was not because the lawyers did not
make mistakes, but rather because we always tried to
anticipate and correct proactively. Also, its basically
your case, and its always in your best interest to take
care of the details yourself.
* Make copies, ask for copies of approval notices, scan and
keep both soft and hard copies around for all documents.
After we started scanning and sending documents via pdf,
there was a significant improvement in how fast the various application filing processes were. Make soft copies of all your docs, transcripts, graduation certs, health records, I-94s, I-20s (if you have em), H1-B
approvals ... And make sure that not only do you have
all that your lawyer has, but also make sure your lawyer
has all that you have too - like fingerprint receipts (after completing your fingerprints), AR-11 copies etc.
* Try to keep a good realtionship with your HR. This was
critical when we wanted copies of our Labor and I-140
approval notices. The lawyers were reluctant to give
those to us, but my HR contact was extremely helpful.
I know this is useful as some folks had trouble with their
documents getting lost at various stages, and they were
stuck helpless.
* I moved jobs twice. Once because of an acquisition (almost
two years after my I-485) and once by my own choice. My
lawyers (who kept changing) used AC-21 in both cases.
This was not an issue. And, for each move, we made sure
that the new lawyers had the complete set of documents
with them.
* We moved residence last year. Both our workplaces moved
about 30 miles away and we wanted a shorter commute.
Both of us submitted AR-11 within 10 days of the move. We
sent copies of the AR-11 to our respective lawyers, who
sent in another note to USCIS about the move for specific
applications ie. our lawyers sent in a note saying, this
AR-11 was filed, this affects case WACxxxxx please update
your records. They did this for every pending application:
I-485, AP, EAD etc. We then received "receipt" notices
from USCIS to the new address informing us that the
Address on record has changed for application WACxxxx.
We also received fingerprint notices and EAD, AP approvals
to the right address. We did not face issues with AR-11.
* Fingerprinting: We did our FPs early both times. For the
first time, in SF, we got it done in the very first try. For
the 2nd FP, in SJ, we tried 3 times. The person in the desk
was very polite, she said lots of people are trying to do
early FP, they keep getting bursts of people every day - so
today there are already folks with appointment waiting, so
not possible but feel free to try again later. The third
time was the charm, @ 3:15 on a Thursday In both cases,
FBI finished the processing the same day. I got the number
for FBI (FBI Finger print check: (304) 625 5590)
from this forum (thank you). I used it only the second time.
* While the wait was very long and uncertain, I think USCIS
has made some improvements along the way: I was very glad to
have online case status check, the email notification system
and the new steps to start electronic filing of some
applications. The H1-B premium processing was a boon when I
had to change jobs. Some of my friends who started a little
later than me were very excited about concurrent filing and
the new AC21 rules. I think that though they havnt really
picked up a lot of speed in adjudication, at least they have
improved their infrastructure quite a bit. Some older folks
I know said that during their times, GC took atleast 5
years, very often 6-7 and they had much less communication
from the department than we have now. I know we should not
stop asking for even better standards, but for those
waiting, please be encouraged by the signs of improvement,
instead of being discouraged by the long wait times. And try
to focus on things that are under your control: like
spending time with your families and not letting this wait
take over your life. The difficult part is the labor and
I-140, the approval record on I-485 is very high. So try not
to stress yourself about it. Campaigns and petitions are
great, they are actionable steps. Just feeling helpless and
frustrated only makes the wait more stressful. I know a
friend who tackled his frustration by going out for a run or
taking his family out everytime he felt stressed about the
I-485. He is now quite the athelete, and has many fun
memories about the last few years
* Finally many thanks to everyone in this forum for sharing
their knowledge. I know havnt visited often enough to know
many of the active contributers, but even I know about PCee
and kashmir And many thanks to Rajiv Khanna for setting
this forum up.
* Good luck and best wishes to everybody.
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=128675
