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DV 2025 AOS (Adjustment of Status) Process Only

Hi all. My case has been at “Case Was Updated To Show Fingerprints Were Taken” for about a month now. I studied previous timelines a bit more carefully, and realized my FO (Philadelphia) processed applications relatively quickly, but it still generally took a few months, and most of those cases became active earlier in the fiscal year. There are only two cases that became active as late as mine (August): one in 2024 that was approved on the first day (August 1, inverview waived), and another from 2022 that was approved the last week of the fiscal year (September 24, interview waived). I contacted a live agent who said the office has my case and is working on my application. There probably isn’t too much cause for concern; however, I’m planning to do a congressional inquiry the first week of September if I still don’t get any updates. I was wondering:

1. The field office is a 15-minute walk from where I live. Is it worth attempting a walk-in before doing a congressional inquiry? Would that reflect badly on my case / potentially backfire?

2. This might be a dumb question, but does Nairobi giving out so many interviews in September affect overall DV visa availability? Does that 600-case figure mentioned above include derivatives? If yes, that could mean 2500+ visas counting toward the quota.
 
Last week, USCIS Contact Center officers stated that my case was at the Newark Field Office. But today, two officers are saying that my case has been transferred to the National Benefit Center. What could this mean? Why is my case being moved? Can NBC make a final decision on case?
 
benjaminfranklin said:
2. This might be a dumb question, but does Nairobi giving out so many interviews in September affect overall DV visa availability? Does that 600-case figure mentioned above include derivatives? If yes, that could mean 2500+ visas counting toward the quota.
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That was 616 cases, with exactly 1179 people, but that's irrelevant. I've said it n-times here already: there's no danger of visas running out this year.

Just for comparison, in FY24 at this time of year, we had 3k more issued visas, over 1.5k more people in 221g, and over 1k more people scheduled for interviews (that's already 5.5k difference). Moreover, this year a lot of people scheduled / under 221g are subject to travel ban.
 
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benjaminfranklin said:
Hi all. My case has been at “Case Was Updated To Show Fingerprints Were Taken” for about a month now. I studied previous timelines a bit more carefully, and realized my FO (Philadelphia) processed applications relatively quickly, but it still generally took a few months, and most of those cases became active earlier in the fiscal year. There are only two cases that became active as late as mine (August): one in 2024 that was approved on the first day (August 1, inverview waived), and another from 2022 that was approved the last week of the fiscal year (September 24, interview waived). I contacted a live agent who said the office has my case and is working on my application. There probably isn’t too much cause for concern; however, I’m planning to do a congressional inquiry the first week of September if I still don’t get any updates. I was wondering:

1. The field office is a 15-minute walk from where I live. Is it worth attempting a walk-in before doing a congressional inquiry? Would that reflect badly on my case / potentially backfire?

2. This might be a dumb question, but does Nairobi giving out so many interviews in September affect overall DV visa availability? Does that 600-case figure mentioned above include derivatives? If yes, that could mean 2500+ visas counting toward the quota.
Click to expand...
To add to what xarthisius said, Nairobi as I understand has a relatively high refusal rate so even if that does represent case numbers, no way is it 2500 visas.
 
bchura said:
Hi,
My husband (principal applicant) and I, both F1 PhD students, sent our package on August 8, 2025 (our case was current in August 2025, AS10xxx). We received the NOA text (received by my husband) on August 13, 2025, and received the mail yesterday. I tried to use "Chat with Emma" to check on our biometrics appointment and was connected to a live agent. It said that I should call to get the specific information. Then I gave a call to the USCIS contact centre and said my receipt number. Then he said there's no such receipt number with my name. Then I said my husband's receipt number, but he verified my information (my name, phone, address, etc). Then he said our biometrics is not scheduled yet. I've seen some more comments like this; maybe we can share our experience too. Also, my husband is based in Orlando, Florida, and I live in Rochester, New York due to our PhDs. We filed from Florida.

1. Is this normal? Am I too early to be concerned?
2. Should I ask my husband to contact them, in case they misunderstood?
3. Does calling them multiple times affect our case negatively?
4. Since we are in 2 different addresses, is there a chance we get assigned 2 different ASCs? Or is it always dependent on the Principal applicant's location?

Also, I requested permission to edit the timeline sheet. Kindly accept it.

Thanks for the support!!
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1. Yes. Yes.
2. It wouldn’t hurt for him to call. Usually USCIS will not discuss spouse’s A application with the spouse B without spouse A being present on the call to give their consent.
3. It doesn’t affect the outcome of the case, it may just piss the front line agents off and cause them to not be friendly with the caller.
4. Yes, if you both listed your different addresses in Part 1, Q18 as that is what is used in scheduling the bio appointment AND in assigning the applicable FO by the way.

In cases where spouses are in your type of situation and in which they each listed their separate addresses, the Lockbox has
separated the cases and sent each case to the FO with jurisdiction over the listed addresses. The applicants in such situations ended up experiencing additional delays especially in situations where the derivative’s applicant’s FO had a faster processing time - the application could not be approved until after the main selectee’s application had been adjudicated by their own FO and forwarded their AOS case file to the derivative’s FO.

By the way, where you guys already married as at the time of the eDV entry submission in 2023?
 
Eatati said:
Hi @Sm1smom,

First, I’d like to sincerely thank you for the amazing work you are doing. Also, a big thank you to @Britsimon—because of your channel, I was able to find @Sm1smom.

Here’s my quick update: Today, our USCIS account status changed to “Card Production Ordered.” My husband was the DV Lottery winner (AF48…), and our field office was Wichita, KS. We completed our fingerprints on July 29, 2025, and it seems our interview was waived since the case moved directly from “Fingerprints Updated” to “Card Production Ordered.”

For context, my husband was on F1 status before changing to H1B, while my son and I moved from F2 to H4.

We are truly grateful for this platform—it has been such a helpful guide through the entire process, which, thankfully, has been smooth for us. Special thanks again to @Sm1smom for patiently answering all my questions.

To everyone still in the waiting period, I wish you the very best. I know it’s not easy, but may everything work out well for you too.
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Congratulations and thanks for the update.
 
benjaminfranklin said:
Hi all. My case has been at “Case Was Updated To Show Fingerprints Were Taken” for about a month now. I studied previous timelines a bit more carefully, and realized my FO (Philadelphia) processed applications relatively quickly, but it still generally took a few months, and most of those cases became active earlier in the fiscal year. There are only two cases that became active as late as mine (August): one in 2024 that was approved on the first day (August 1, inverview waived), and another from 2022 that was approved the last week of the fiscal year (September 24, interview waived). I contacted a live agent who said the office has my case and is working on my application. There probably isn’t too much cause for concern; however, I’m planning to do a congressional inquiry the first week of September if I still don’t get any updates. I was wondering:

1. The field office is a 15-minute walk from where I live. Is it worth attempting a walk-in before doing a congressional inquiry? Would that reflect badly on my case / potentially backfire?

2. This might be a dumb question, but does Nairobi giving out so many interviews in September affect overall DV visa availability? Does that 600-case figure mentioned above include derivatives? If yes, that could mean 2500+ visas counting toward the quota.
Click to expand...
1. You can attempt a walk-in. Quite doubtful you’ll be allowed to enter the premises without an appointment though. Waiting until September to initiate a congressional inquiry is a good idea considering your case became current in August.
 
T1mko said:
Last week, USCIS Contact Center officers stated that my case was at the Newark Field Office. But today, two officers are saying that my case has been transferred to the National Benefit Center. What could this mean? Why is my case being moved? Can NBC make a final decision on case?
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The case is most likely still at your FO, I would ignore the information about it being at the NBC.
 
Sm1smom said:
The case is most likely still at your FO, I would ignore the information about it being at the NBC.
Click to expand...
I received a call back from tier-2 officer today and she approved that case moved to NBC. She didn’t response to any question, didn’t accept request for expedite or something else, she sounds very angry.
But in same time i was on chat with emma and agent said that case in field office. This call and chat were an hour later than the last call and chat, and the information was completely different. I don’t who is correct
Case is under review over 10 months, after RFE nothing changes over 4 months, case status still shows “rfe was sent” over 6 months. I already requested help from senators and congressman, sent letter to field office, drop one letter in field office by myself, did all possible requests in contact center and e-request. I don’t know what i can do. I start thinking that my case will not have a decision by September 30 or the visas will run out.
I see people talking about mandamus lawsuit, but most of the attorneys I spoke with say that it is a waste of money. Maybe you can recommend something? You can also reach my case in speed sheet.
Thank you
 
T1mko said:
I received a call back from tier-2 officer today and she approved that case moved to NBC. She didn’t response to any question, didn’t accept request for expedite or something else, she sounds very angry.
But in same time i was on chat with emma and agent said that case in field office. This call and chat were an hour later than the last call and chat, and the information was completely different. I don’t who is correct
Case is under review over 10 months, after RFE nothing changes over 4 months, case status still shows “rfe was sent” over 6 months. I already requested help from senators and congressman, sent letter to field office, drop one letter in field office by myself, did all possible requests in contact center and e-request. I don’t know what i can do. I start thinking that my case will not have a decision by September 30 or the visas will run out.
I see people talking about mandamus lawsuit, but most of the attorneys I spoke with say that it is a waste of money. Maybe you can recommend something? You can also reach my case in speed sheet.
Thank you
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Again, ignore what was said about the case being at the NBC - your case is at your FO. You got a RFE issued by the IO assigned to your case at your FO.

1. When did you initiate the congressional inquiry?
2. Have they gotten back to you, if yes what was the response?

A mandamus can lead to case adjudication which may not necessarily be an approval since it forces USCIS to make a decision about a case. So if your case is still under investigation and you file a mandamus, they can basically go ahead and deny the case at that point, as against spending more time to resolve the investigation favorably.
 
Sm1smom said:
Again, ignore what was said about the case being at the NBC - your case is at your FO. You got a RFE issued by the IO assigned to your case at your FO.

1. When did you initiate the congressional inquiry?
2. Have they gotten back to you, if yes what was the response?

A mandamus can lead to case adjudication which may not necessarily be an approval since it forces USCIS to make a decision about a case. So if your case is still under investigation and you file a mandamus, they can basically go ahead and deny the case at that point, as against spending more time to resolve the investigation favorably.
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1. Last week
2. They contacted with me, but they don’t have answer from uscis.
So, what should i do? You don’t recommend to do a mandamus lawsuit?
Did you hear about hold on all Ukrainian cases? All cases what was filed before hold still reviewing, cases filed after hold was canceled already have decisions or interview.
There is almost no time left, and it is still unknown whether there will be enough visas by September 30.
 
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T1mko said:
1. Last week
2. They contacted with me, but they don’t have answer from uscis.
So, what should i do? You don’t recommend to do a mandamus lawsuit?
Did you hear about hold on all Ukrainian cases? All cases what was filed before hold still reviewing, cases filed after hold was canceled already have decisions or interview.
There is almost no time left, and it is still unknown whether there will be enough visas by September 30.
Click to expand...


"it is still unknown whether there will be enough visas by September 30."

That is not correct. It is 100% certain that there will be enough visas left by September 30th.
 
SusieQQQ said:
If there are enough overall visas, then Egypt reaching the country cap should mean a few more for other countries?
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Yes, exactly. Some people that we now see as scheduled and are chargeable to Egypt won't be able to get it. So overall it's even less people to claim the full 52k. Everything I wrote before still stands.
 
Britsimon said:
"it is still unknown whether there will be enough visas by September 30."

That is not correct. It is 100% certain that there will be enough visas left by September 30th.
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So, what you can recommend me to do? Because i all week was thinking about mandamus, because i saw in Ukrainian community people after it received notice for interview or approval of case. I didn’t see a denial of their cases. Case under review from October 1. A few months of this year was a hold for all Ukrainian cases and i think my case still on hold or they just forgot about it after hold. As for now, i didn’t trust contact center as every agent give different information.
I need your help guys
 
T1mko said:
1. Last week
2. They contacted with me, but they don’t have answer from uscis.
So, what should i do? You don’t recommend to do a mandamus lawsuit?
Did you hear about hold on all Ukrainian cases? All cases what was filed before hold still reviewing, cases filed after hold was canceled already have decisions or interview.
There is almost no time left, and it is still unknown whether there will be enough visas by September 30.
Click to expand...
1&2. So you need to wait for them to get back to you with a response from USCIS. It takes a while, the response is not automatic. Your FO will definitely respond to the congressional inquiry, it will not be ignored. That response will give you an insight into what is going on with the case.

I can’t tell you if you should proceed with a mandamus or not. I already told you what the outcome could be, you’ll have to decide on your own if it’s worth it or not.
 
T1mko said:
So, what you can recommend me to do? Because i all week was thinking about mandamus, because i saw in Ukrainian community people after it received notice for interview or approval of case. I didn’t see a denial of their cases. Case under review from October 1. A few months of this year was a hold for all Ukrainian cases and i think my case still on hold or they just forgot about it after hold. As for now, i didn’t trust contact center as every agent give different information.
I need your help guys
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Just because your package was delivered to the Lockbox on Oct. 1 doesn’t mean they’ve been reviewing since Oct. 1st. Your FO did not have your case file as of Oct. 1st, and they have thousands of other cases to also review and adjudicate.

The previous hold on processing AOS applications from UHP applicants, plus the RFE you got issued with, plus your FO’s slow process of DV based AOS applications have all contributed to the delay you’re experiencing. If you take a look at the Timeline spreadsheet, you’ll notice a case from your FO files on Oct. 3rd only recently got interviewed - Aug. 14 to be precise and this person never even got a RFE, to indicate someone at least looked at the case file while they were waiting, no update whatsoever.
 
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