DV 2025 AOS (Adjustment of Status) Process Only

[Sm1smom]

Hi Mom, just wanted to provide an update on what I did since my last post.

I went to the Philadelphia USCIS office on Friday, August 29. The guard at the front desk listened to my request and connected me to someone working upstairs. I’m not sure who exactly it was, but she understood my concern and said I’m not the only person with a DV case at the Philly office. She mentioned that they are aware of the DV deadlines and the limitations surrounding the process, which was somewhat reassuring.

I asked if there was any way to meet the officer handling my case, but she told me they’re not present in the building and, even if they were, it wouldn’t be possible to meet them. She suggested submitting an inquiry, so I filed a congressional inquiry as soon as I got home (August 29).

I received an update from the congressman’s office on September 3rd. They told me they submitted the request to USCIS and that the USCIS liaison has until October 3rd to respond (I had made it clear in my inquiry that my case needs to be adjudicated by September 30th, so I am assuming 30 days is the standard wait time for congressional inquiries?). I immediately emailed back to thank them and pointed out that DV cases must be approved by September 30th, otherwise I lose eligibility. I haven’t heard anything back yet.

There have been no updates on the USCIS portal either. At this point, I’m not really sure what else to do, but I feel like there isn’t much left in my control, other than wait and see. Do you recommend trying to call a USCIS Tier 2 officer, or reaching out to USCIS in any other way?

Thanks for the updates regarding what you’ve done so far.

1. Yes, that is the average turn around time. The congressman/woman has no control over when a response is received, they can possibly raise a ruckus if no response is received to their congressional inquiry after the standard response time.
2. No harm in trying to reach a Tier 2 officer.

Hang in there and remain positive!

 

[T1mko]

Hi Mom, just wanted to provide an update on what I did since my last post.

I went to the Philadelphia USCIS office on Friday, August 29. The guard at the front desk listened to my request and connected me to someone working upstairs. I’m not sure who exactly it was, but she understood my concern and said I’m not the only person with a DV case at the Philly office. She mentioned that they are aware of the DV deadlines and the limitations surrounding the process, which was somewhat reassuring.

I asked if there was any way to meet the officer handling my case, but she told me they’re not present in the building and, even if they were, it wouldn’t be possible to meet them. She suggested submitting an inquiry, so I filed a congressional inquiry as soon as I got home (August 29).

I received an update from the congressman’s office on September 3rd. They told me they submitted the request to USCIS and that the USCIS liaison has until October 3rd to respond (I had made it clear in my inquiry that my case needs to be adjudicated by September 30th, so I am assuming 30 days is the standard wait time for congressional inquiries?). I immediately emailed back to thank them and pointed out that DV cases must be approved by September 30th, otherwise I lose eligibility. I haven’t heard anything back yet.

There have been no updates on the USCIS portal either. At this point, I’m not really sure what else to do, but I feel like there isn’t much left in my control, other than wait and see. Do you recommend trying to call a USCIS Tier 2 officer, or reaching out to USCIS in any other way?

Calls to uscis doesn’t make sense. Even tier 2 officers don’t have enough information and power for help us. You can also submit inquiry with senate and ombudsman uscis. And try physical visit to congressman, maybe it gonna be better.
But i have Ukrainian chat, over there a lot of people with outstanding processing time cases and the thing what help to push forward cases - mandamus. It is just my opinion. Uscis doesn’t like go to court in this cases. They approve case for my friend, but he still waiting for delivery green card, and uscis call for his lawyer everyday with words: “please close mandamus case, we did everything what we should to do”. But i not recommend it, just my opinion.

 

[ddilipaudel]

You got married prior to your DV selection, that plus the your RFE response should be good enough to overcome your marriage being deemed as one entered into for immigration benefits.

If only your background gets cleared, while your spouse’s does not get cleared by the end of the FY, you could be approved while your spouse does not get approved.

Mom:

Thank you so much for all your responses to my queries. My case was updated to : "New Card is being produced".

Do you know how long it will take to receive the green card after this update? does that mean my status has changed now?

 

[Sm1smom]

Mom:

Thank you so much for all your responses to my queries. My case was updated to : "New Card is being produced".

Do you know how long it will take to receive the green card after this update? does that mean my status has changed now?

1. Roughly 1-3 weeks.
2. Technically, yes.
Congratulations.

 

[Sm1smom]

Calls to uscis doesn’t make sense. Even tier 2 officers don’t have enough information and power for help us. You can also submit inquiry with senate and ombudsman uscis. And try physical visit to congressman, maybe it gonna be better.
But i have Ukrainian chat, over there a lot of people with outstanding processing time cases and the thing what help to push forward cases - mandamus. It is just my opinion. Uscis doesn’t like go to court in this cases. They approve case for my friend, but he still waiting for delivery green card, and uscis call for his lawyer everyday with words: “please close mandamus case, we did everything what we should to do”. But i not recommend it, just my opinion.

I tried to ignore this post, because I believe it is important to respect everyone’s opinion in what they choose to believe. However, I also believe it is important to set the records straight every now and then when inaccurate information is being shared in the name of personal opinion. For the sake of future AOSers who are likely to come across inaccurate information being shared about what WOM is and what it does, it is important to dispel erroneous information, hence my below comment.

Your friend is either lying to you, or their lawyer lied to them about USCIS reaching out and imploring them to “please close mandamus case, we did everything what we should to do“. That is not how USCIS operates.

What is a Writ of Mandamus and what does it do?
A WOM is a lawsuit filed in federal court that compels a government agency, like USCIS, to perform a legally required duty. However, it does not dictate the outcome—it simply forces the agency to make a decision. An applicant may file a WOM if their application is well beyond the agency’s standard processing window. As a standard practice, most DV based AOSers should not contemplate filing a WOM on the basis of the FY end is approaching if their AOS application has not even been pending for a minimum of 6 months with no update from USCIS and if they have not exhausted all other avenues for case follow-up. A WOM filing will not be successful in that case, it will just be a waste of resources IMO! That will be the kind of WOM USCIS will be happy to litigate knowing the FY sunset factor will basically kill the case anyway.

Yes, USCIS does not like engaging prolonged litigation, when a WOM is filed for cases that have experienced significant delays, they have 60 days to respond to the WOM. Rather than engaging in prolonged litigation, USCIS will prioritize the case as best as they can.

It is important to point out the fact that mandamus lawsuit success rate varies depending on factors such as the jurisdiction and the specifics of the case. A WOM can force a case adjudication, if USCIS does not wish to pursue the case, BUT it does not necessarily lead to an approval. A case undergoing unresolved background check can essentially be denied due to the applicant’s filing of WOM because the applicant was/is reluctant to wait for the background check to get resolved. Once USCIS demonstrates good faith in resolving the prolonged delay, the litigation that would have resulted from the WOM filing is more or less dead. There’s no such thing as USCIS begging an applicant to withdraw the filing at that point.

Same thing (more or less) with ombudsman inquiries by the way. The ombudsman cannot help if all other follow up options not been exhausted.
The ombudsman cannot help if:
A) It’s been less than 45 calendar days since an applicant initiated a congressional inquiry (be it through the house of rep, or a senator) to USCIS;
B) If there is no published processing time for the application type, and less than 6 months have passed since you filed your application with USCIS and submitted a case inquiry to USCIS.

 

[mura17]

Hello Mom!
I submitted a congressional inquiry to the Congressman office 5 days ago. On Friday (09/05) I was informed by the Congressman’s office about an upcoming interview, but due to the short notice, I haven’t received an official appointment letter, and neither have they.
USCIS only gave that information over the phone to the Congressman’s staff, so I don’t have any written confirmation that I’ve been scheduled.
Also, my USCIS case status recently changed to: “Visa Bulletin Not Current or Case Held in Abeyance.” I’m not sure if that’s a standard update or something to worry about.
I’m really confused, have I actually been scheduled, and should I just show up without a notice? I’d really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!

 

[Sm1smom]

Hello Mom!
I submitted a congressional inquiry to the Congressman office 5 days ago. On Friday (09/05) I was informed by the Congressman’s office about an upcoming interview, but due to the short notice, I haven’t received an official appointment letter, and neither have they.
USCIS only gave that information over the phone to the Congressman’s staff, so I don’t have any written confirmation that I’ve been scheduled.
Also, my USCIS case status recently changed to: “Visa Bulletin Not Current or Case Held in Abeyance.” I’m not sure if that’s a standard update or something to worry about.
I’m really confused, have I actually been scheduled, and should I just show up without a notice? I’d really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!

Did the congressman's office provide you with the date and time USCIS provided them with? If they did, I'll recommend you show up for the interview as indicated in that case. If you meet with resistance at the gate, tell them you were provided with interview details by your congressman's office and request whoever you meet at the gate to check with someone inside to confirm you're being expected.

 

[bchura]

Hey mom,

I contacted USCIS Tier 2 and got to know that my case is also in Orlando FO as of now and is being processed with the principal applicant (my husband). We are thinking of doing a congressional inquiry. But I got confused with the CIS Ombudsman process.

1. What should we do first? I guess it is a congressional inquiry over the CIS Ombudsman based on your earlier comment, but would you please clarify?
2. Since the principal applicant in Orlando and my case is also in the Orlando FO, we thought of doing the inquiry for the congressman assigned to my husband's zip code. Are we on the right track?

 

[MrBobert]

Hey mom,

I contacted USCIS Tier 2 and got to know that my case is also in Orlando FO as of now and is being processed with the principal applicant (my husband). We are thinking of doing a congressional inquiry. But I got confused with the CIS Ombudsman process.

1. What should we do first? I guess it is a congressional inquiry over the CIS Ombudsman based on your earlier comment, but would you please clarify?
2. Since the principal applicant in Orlando and my case is also in the Orlando FO, we thought of doing the inquiry for the congressman assigned to my husband's zip code. Are we on the right track?

If you have not previously done a congressional inquiry then that's the first step.

 

[Sm1smom]

Hey mom,

I contacted USCIS Tier 2 and got to know that my case is also in Orlando FO as of now and is being processed with the principal applicant (my husband). We are thinking of doing a congressional inquiry. But I got confused with the CIS Ombudsman process.

1. What should we do first? I guess it is a congressional inquiry over the CIS Ombudsman based on your earlier comment, but would you please clarify?
2. Since the principal applicant in Orlando and my case is also in the Orlando FO, we thought of doing the inquiry for the congressman assigned to my husband's zip code. Are we on the right track?

1. Congressional inquiry.
2. Yes.

 

[MIN A]

Hello,
I just received an RFE and I am being requested to send an I-864 form, the notice says that I-134 is not applicable for adjustment of status. Please, is it that the I-134 form is not used for Adjustment of status from F1?
How should I respond to this?

 

[bchura]

If you have not previously done a congressional inquiry then that's the first step.

Thanks!!

 

[MIN A]

Also, I'm not sure how to contact a congressperson. How do you do that?

 

[Sm1smom]

Hello,
I just received an RFE and I am being requested to send an I-864 form, the notice says that I-134 is not applicable for adjustment of status. Please, is it that the I-134 form is not used for Adjustment of status from F1?
How should I respond to this?

An I-864 is not applicable to DV based AOS applications in general - the IO is probably not familiar with DV based applications. Can you post a copy of the RFE you received (redact your personal information before posting).

Which response did you select for Part 3 Question 1 on your I-485?

 

[Sm1smom]

Also, I'm not sure how to contact a congressperson. How do you do that?

Take a look at the FAQ tab of the AOS process spreadsheet for instructions on how to initiate a congressional case assistance.

 

[MIN A]

An I-864 is not applicable to DV based AOS applications in general - the IO is probably not familiar with DV based applications. Can you post a copy of the RFE you received (redact your personal information before posting).

Which response did you select for Part 3 Question 1 on your I-485?

Part 3 question 1: I chose 1e.
For additional context, I also submitted Form I-824 for my dependent out of the country doing FTJ.

 

[Sm1smom]

Part 3 question 1: I chose 1e. For additional context, I also submitted Form I-824 for my dependent out of the country doing FTJ.

If you selected 1e for Part 3, Q1, it should be obvious to your IO that you’re not eligible to submit an I-864 per INA 213A and that you are not requesting an exemption.

In terms of how to move forward, you can either:
a) Find someone to provide you with an I-824; or
b) Resubmit page 8 of the I-485 with option 1e still selected.

Add a nicely crafted note and refer them to:
1) Chapter 6 - Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA of the USCIS Adjudicator Manual, where it says

Other Categories of Applicants Not Required to File Form I-864

The following are categories of immigrants who are not required to file an Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA with Form I-485, but who are subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility:[57]​

• Diversity immigrants;[58]

2) A winner of the diversity visa lottery has no petitioner. Diversity visas are issued under INA 203(c) which do not fall under INA 212(a)(4)(C) or INA 212(a)(4)(D).
3) Per 9 Fam 302.8 U Public Charge, an applicant who is not eligible to submit Form I-864 may use Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support to meet public charge requirements - it says as follows
“(b) (U) If any of the following applicants need formal documentation from a financial supporter to meet the public charge requirement, they must use Form I-134, as they are not authorized to use Form I-864:
(i) (U) Returning residents (SB-1s);
(ii) (U) Diversity visa applicants (DVs); and
(iii) (U) Fiancé(e)s (K-1s or K-3s).

NOTE: if you decide to include item 3 as part of your eligibility to submit an I-134 in your note, your relationship with your sponsor may be closely scrutinized as follows:
(i) (U) The sponsor's motives in submitting the declaration;
(ii) (U) The sponsor's relationship to the applicant (e.g., relative by blood or marriage, former employer or employee, schoolmates, or business associates);
(iii) (U) The length of time the sponsor and applicant have known each other;
(iv) (U) The sponsor's financial resources; and
(v) (U) Other responsibilities of the sponsor.
(vi) (U) When there are strong ties between the applicant and the sponsor, such as a close family relationship or friendship of long standing, you may favorably consider the affidavit. On the other hand, an affidavit submitted by a casual friend or distant relative who has little or no personal knowledge of the applicant has more limited value. If the sponsor is not a U.S. citizen or LPR, the likelihood of the sponsor's support of an IV applicant until the applicant can become self-supporting is an important consideration.

Do keep us posted on your decision and your progress.

 

[T1mko]

I tried to ignore this post, because I believe it is important to respect everyone’s opinion in what they choose to believe. However, I also believe it is important to set the records straight every now and then when inaccurate information is being shared in the name of personal opinion. For the sake of future AOSers who are likely to come across inaccurate information being shared about what WOM is and what it does, it is important to dispel erroneous information, hence my below comment.

Your friend is either lying to you, or their lawyer lied to them about USCIS reaching out and imploring them to “please close mandamus case, we did everything what we should to do“. That is not how USCIS operates.

What is a Writ of Mandamus and what does it do?
A WOM is a lawsuit filed in federal court that compels a government agency, like USCIS, to perform a legally required duty. However, it does not dictate the outcome—it simply forces the agency to make a decision. An applicant may file a WOM if their application is well beyond the agency’s standard processing window. As a standard practice, most DV based AOSers should not contemplate filing a WOM on the basis of the FY end is approaching if their AOS application has not even been pending for a minimum of 6 months with no update from USCIS and if they have not exhausted all other avenues for case follow-up. A WOM filing will not be successful in that case, it will just be a waste of resources IMO! That will be the kind of WOM USCIS will be happy to litigate knowing the FY sunset factor will basically kill the case anyway.

Yes, USCIS does not like engaging prolonged litigation, when a WOM is filed for cases that have experienced significant delays, they have 60 days to respond to the WOM. Rather than engaging in prolonged litigation, USCIS will prioritize the case as best as they can.

It is important to point out the fact that mandamus lawsuit success rate varies depending on factors such as the jurisdiction and the specifics of the case. A WOM can force a case adjudication, if USCIS does not wish to pursue the case, BUT it does not necessarily lead to an approval. A case undergoing unresolved background check can essentially be denied due to the applicant’s filing of WOM because the applicant was/is reluctant to wait for the background check to get resolved. Once USCIS demonstrates good faith in resolving the prolonged delay, the litigation that would have resulted from the WOM filing is more or less dead. There’s no such thing as USCIS begging an applicant to withdraw the filing at that point.

Same thing (more or less) with ombudsman inquiries by the way. The ombudsman cannot help if all other follow up options not been exhausted.
The ombudsman cannot help if:
A) It’s been less than 45 calendar days since an applicant initiated a congressional inquiry (be it through the house of rep, or a senator) to USCIS;
B) If there is no published processing time for the application type, and less than 6 months have passed since you filed your application with USCIS and submitted a case inquiry to USCIS.

I apologize for providing such information. I meant well, but it turned out a bit differently. Your comment is completely logical and fair. Thank you for correcting me and for providing complete and accurate information regarding this.

 

[Sm1smom]

I apologize for providing such information. I meant well, but it turned out a bit differently. Your comment is completely logical and fair. Thank you for correcting me and for providing complete and accurate information regarding this.

No worries. I truly understand you were just trying to be helpful by sharing what you were told.

 

[T1mko]

No worries. I truly understand you were just trying to be helpful by sharing what you were told.

You are 100% right! I’m so sorry again.
Question: if i have diplomas of masters and bachelor degrees, should i also have with me documents from middle and high school for interview ? Thank you