I-485 processing date current - now what?

[metalk]

Sorry, I think I posted this in the wrong place so I'm reposting here.

Hello,

I am new to this forum and I'm posting this on behalf of my boyfriend who is awaiting approval for his I-485 petition. (We will probably get married soon. I am American but this application has nothing to do with me. It's employment based, and we want to get this before we get married).

We're coming up on 2 years waiting (his receipt is from the July 2007 batch). We checked the Website the other day and were very excited to see that this date has now become current.

So we're wondering what happens next. We are under the impression that the notification of approval will come in the mail next (and then a greencard will arrive about a week after that). The question is - when will this letter come? A few weeks? Months? We tried calling his lawyer but they really gave us no information and said there is no way to know what the time frame is. (They are very good at sending us bills, but not very good at keeping us in the loop about how the process works!)

Also, we were under the impression that this was a done deal. The lawyer says that all his interviews, background checks, etc have already been done, and this waiting for approval was just a formality. But now I'm reading this forum and seeing people being denied for seemingly no reason. Are people frequently denied? What reasons could there be? (He has no arrests, criminal history or any issues like that).

Also, I should say that the received date on his receipt is 7/25/2007 (now current under the Texas service center), but his "notice date is September 17th 2007. His online account says "On September 14, 2007, we received this I485 APPLICATION." So we're not really sure which date counts towards the "processing date."

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[desperado140]

What is his PD (priority date). My understanding is that they both need to be current in order for them to process the case. And the dates you see on the TSC website are for next month I think. You need to check the visa bulletin that came out a week or so ago to see where his PD stands for next month.
A word of caution, if he is EB3 (ROW) the PD moved backwards from May 2005 to March 2003. Just FYI.

 

[metalk]

Thanks so much for your response. I keep reading about "priority dates" but I don't know what that is. How do we know what his priority date is? Also I'm not sure whether he's EB1, 2 or 3. I'm assuming 3. Does it have to do with the type of work you do? It's skilled worker, no advanced degree.

 

[metalk]

And I just looked at the site with the priority dates, and it does say Mar03, but when I called the hotline, it says May05. Which is correct? How often do these dates change? Mar03 seems like a really long time ago. Do these jump up by a few weeks at a time once a month like the other dates do? Or do they jump a few years at a time once a month. Thanks.

 

[empee]

Priority date is the date in which the labor application was filed. EB2 category is possible only if the job description requires a Masters degree with XX years of experience and also pays the prevailing wage for the position. If your boyfriend comes from a country other than India, then you are right, the PD for EB3 is March 2003. I am not sure why the hotline told you May 2005. There is no rhyme or reason on how dates move. Conventional wisdom is that, as they start issuing GCs to people whose dates are current, they move dates forward. However there is usually a spike in forward movement towards the end of a fiscal year (around July, Aug) to make sure they use all the visa number made available by Department of Labor. Also if you think March 2003 is a long way out, then think about people from India who are stuck in Nov 2001. Atleast it will make you feel better

 

[susomething]

EB3 (ROW) cut-off date is May 2005 for the month of March 2009.
EB3 (ROW) cut-off date will be March 2003 for the month of April 2009.
I believe the hotline says the current cut-off date and you looked at the Visa Bulletin for the next month in the USCIS web-site.

 

[Jackolantern]

Thanks so much for your response. I keep reading about "priority dates" but I don't know what that is. How do we know what his priority date is?

The priority date would have been assigned when his employer filed his labor certification (he probably knows the approximate month and year when that was done), and is printed on the I-140 approval notice.

It's skilled worker, no advanced degree.

Yes, that is EB3.

(We will probably get married soon. I am American but this application has nothing to do with me. It's employment based, and we want to get this before we get married).

If his priority date is not current and not close to being current, and you are a US citizen, I would advise you to get married soon and help him get a green card via your sponsorship. That's because a marriage-based green card (when the sponsor is a US citizen) is typically processed within a year, whereas that employment-based green card could take another 2 or 3 years or longer, depending on his country and priority date.