Finally aproved, WAC-01-296-
Notice date - September 27, 2001
My wife's(Primary applicant) case was finally approved on April 18th 2003, exactly 3 days after her re-Fingerprinting. No RFE, other than the re-fingerprinting. Received her I-485 approval notice by mail today. Checked online and AVM status and they both say "This case has been approved. On April 18, 2003, an approval notice was mailed."
Fingerprinting - We both went and did our fingerprinting in December 2001. BCIS received the fingerprint results in January 2002.
My case(dependent) was approved in June 2002.
Starting August 2002, lawyer's office, Senator's office and my wife contacted CSC many times, to inquire about her I-485, to no avail. Below are some of the responses given by CSC. They range from the utter BS to the absolutely ridiculous.
1) Aug 2002 - "We are currently processing cases with dates of August 1, 2001 and prior. The spouse's case somehow joined a faster group with fewer cases."
2) Sep 2002 - "The case is being processed. We will notify you as soon as a decision is made. The maximum processing time is 999 days. Both your cases have been separated and that is the reason why your husband got approved before you did."
3) Jan 2003 - "Case still pending. All I-485 files are still on freeze and that will be the case for another 10 days. Please check again in 10 working days."
4) Feb 2003 - "All I-485 cases are still on hold until further notice. However your case is up for final review and is on line to go to the workstation. It should be about 4 weeks from now."
5) Feb 2003 - "Your case has been reviewed and everything seems to be in order. It has been assigned to an officer on Feb 26, 2003."
6) Mar 2003 - "We are currently processing cases with dates of November 16, 2001 and prior. It will be at least another 2 months before your case is assigned to an officer as it has a notice date of September 2001."
She applied for second EAD in August 2002, since her first EAD was expiring in December 2002.
First interim EAD - Went to the local BCIS ofice in December, 2002. 1 week later, received iEAD at local BCIS office, valid for 4 months until first week of April 2003.
Second interim EAD - Went to local BCIS office on March 27. They said they normally don't issue second iEAD. Local BCIS office was extremely upset at CSC for not having issued her EAD yet and tried to contact CSC. As there was no response from CSC that day, the local BCIS office sent her back with the promise that they would call when they hear back from CSC. On March 31 she went back to the local BCIS office. My wife, her laywer's office, the local Senator's office and the local BCIS office all individually contacted CSC on the same day inquiring about her EAD and I-485 status. The response was the same standard "EAD will be processed in 1-2 weeks, 485 will be adjudicated soon". Local BCIS office sends her back again, promising to call her soon. Same day, lawyer's office calls us to inform us that someone from CSC called them back to inform that her file has been handed over to adjudicating officer. She came home and checked online status of her EAD: EAD APPROVED. Few days later local BCIS office calls her and asks her to come pick up the iEAD. She went and picked up iEAD on April 7, 2003. Two days later her EAD arrives by mail from CSC.
She received a re-fingerpinting notice on April 12. She went and completed re-fingerprinting on April 15, 2003(was scheduled for May 6, 2003).
Notice date - September 27, 2001
My wife's(Primary applicant) case was finally approved on April 18th 2003, exactly 3 days after her re-Fingerprinting. No RFE, other than the re-fingerprinting. Received her I-485 approval notice by mail today. Checked online and AVM status and they both say "This case has been approved. On April 18, 2003, an approval notice was mailed."
Fingerprinting - We both went and did our fingerprinting in December 2001. BCIS received the fingerprint results in January 2002.
My case(dependent) was approved in June 2002.
Starting August 2002, lawyer's office, Senator's office and my wife contacted CSC many times, to inquire about her I-485, to no avail. Below are some of the responses given by CSC. They range from the utter BS to the absolutely ridiculous.
1) Aug 2002 - "We are currently processing cases with dates of August 1, 2001 and prior. The spouse's case somehow joined a faster group with fewer cases."
2) Sep 2002 - "The case is being processed. We will notify you as soon as a decision is made. The maximum processing time is 999 days. Both your cases have been separated and that is the reason why your husband got approved before you did."
3) Jan 2003 - "Case still pending. All I-485 files are still on freeze and that will be the case for another 10 days. Please check again in 10 working days."
4) Feb 2003 - "All I-485 cases are still on hold until further notice. However your case is up for final review and is on line to go to the workstation. It should be about 4 weeks from now."
5) Feb 2003 - "Your case has been reviewed and everything seems to be in order. It has been assigned to an officer on Feb 26, 2003."
6) Mar 2003 - "We are currently processing cases with dates of November 16, 2001 and prior. It will be at least another 2 months before your case is assigned to an officer as it has a notice date of September 2001."
She applied for second EAD in August 2002, since her first EAD was expiring in December 2002.
First interim EAD - Went to the local BCIS ofice in December, 2002. 1 week later, received iEAD at local BCIS office, valid for 4 months until first week of April 2003.
Second interim EAD - Went to local BCIS office on March 27. They said they normally don't issue second iEAD. Local BCIS office was extremely upset at CSC for not having issued her EAD yet and tried to contact CSC. As there was no response from CSC that day, the local BCIS office sent her back with the promise that they would call when they hear back from CSC. On March 31 she went back to the local BCIS office. My wife, her laywer's office, the local Senator's office and the local BCIS office all individually contacted CSC on the same day inquiring about her EAD and I-485 status. The response was the same standard "EAD will be processed in 1-2 weeks, 485 will be adjudicated soon". Local BCIS office sends her back again, promising to call her soon. Same day, lawyer's office calls us to inform us that someone from CSC called them back to inform that her file has been handed over to adjudicating officer. She came home and checked online status of her EAD: EAD APPROVED. Few days later local BCIS office calls her and asks her to come pick up the iEAD. She went and picked up iEAD on April 7, 2003. Two days later her EAD arrives by mail from CSC.
She received a re-fingerpinting notice on April 12. She went and completed re-fingerprinting on April 15, 2003(was scheduled for May 6, 2003).