How long after submitting RFE ?

[idreemofgc]

We did not submit our Medicals while filing our 485s and we received an RFE on 5th July. We received an acknowledgment from USCIS on July 19th. After that we have had 2 LUD changes on the 20th and 21st of July. We were waiting for some good news and still waiting

How long does it take for approval after RFE acknowledgement ? Since we are EB3-India, do we have to wait till october ??
My husband is on H1 and he wants to switch jobs. Can he do that now using EAD /AC21 process.

EB3-India
140/485 RD : 09/07/2004
EAD1 : 09/17/2004 EAD2 : 06/19/2005
140 AD : 02/14/2005
FP :04/13/2005
485 RFE ack : 07/19/2005
485 AD : ?????????????????????

 

[saras76]

Answers ..

idreemofgc,

Here are some of the answers to your questions.

RFE - Under normal circumstances (no retrogression) there is no telling how long its takes for a case to be approved once an RFE has been received. Some cases have been approved within weeks of RFE ack while others (mine included) have been pending for over 3 months now. Right now you will not be approved because of the retrogression. You can hope to be approved come October if your PD (can be found on your 140 approval notice) becomes current in October. Your name check also needs to have been cleared by the FBI before they can approve it. If the name check has not been cleared then they will not approve your case no matter how long it has been since RFE ack.

Switching jobs - If it has been 6 months since your husband filed his 140/485, his 140 has been approved and he is in possesion of a valid EAD, then he can switch jobs under AC/21. If he decides to switch jobs his H1 will become invalid and he will be here solely on his EAD. Do remember that hos new job needs to closely resemble his current job and there should not be a huge difference in salary either.

Please note that I am not a lawyer. I am sharing this information based on my personal experience. Be sure to verify all I have said with a lawyer before making any moves.

regards,

saras