Hi everybody,
After almost 3 years of waiting, I received my approval.
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who helps here and to wish everyone strength, patience, and good luck.
I will try to share my process in detail, hoping it will help other people, especially those who have to wait a very long time for their decision. I understand how this can be exhausting.
I will also try to cover as far as I know topics like: status "Application is Pending", FOIA request, attorneys, inquiries, checking EAD clock, etc.
First, here is my timeline.
Office: Los Angeles Asylum Office (Tustin, CA (originally Anaheim, CA).
Application and Biometrics
— November 2018. I sent my form I-589 ("Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal"). I didn’t have time to translate all the evidence and finish my declaration, so I attached an explanation that I would send it later.
— November 2018. Acknowledgement of Receipt. After waiting a long enough time, I have not received any updates on my application. I wrote an email to Los Angeles Asylum Office. After checking the records, I was informed that the problem was that they put my physical address as my mailing address and sent my confirmation to the wrong address. Fortunately, they have attached as PDF my Acknowledgement of Receipt and Appointment Notice for biometrics.
— December 2018. Biometrics appointment. The photo that was taken that day will be used for EAD.
Interview and Evidence Submission
— August 2019. My status has been updated to "Interview Is Scheduled". This happened just 3 weeks before the interview. I sent an inquiry to Asylum Office and they told me that additional documentation should be submitted "by mail at least one week (seven calendar days) prior to the scheduled interview". So I hurried to finish my documents and sent them. I used certified mail and received confirmation that they received my documents on time.
— August 2019. Interview. The interview took place in a rather friendly neutral atmosphere. It took two hours. At the beginning of the interview, the officer said that she had not received any of my additional documents and that she only have my I-589 form. She offered to reschedule the interview, or if I agree, then she will check my documents after the interview is done. After almost a year of waiting for an interview, I for sure agreed that she would read the documents afterwards. It is very important that I had a copy with me and that I was able to give it to her. I may also suspect that the problem may have been caused by the fact that the office moved to a new address at that time.
Inquires and Status Updates
— September 2019. My status updated to "Decision Is Pending".
— October 2019. My status updated to "Application Is Pending".
I tried to make several inquiries about this status. A few months later, one of the employees informed me that this was due to the fact that a preliminary decision was entered and then removed. But they cannot give me any decision before they finish mandatory checks.
EAD (Employment Authorization Document)
— January 2020. I sent my form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.
— February 2020. Service sent my Approval Notice and my EAD.
FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
— February 2021. After waiting for a long time for a decision, I decided try to send FOIA request.
— March 2021. I received the entire copy of my case including USCIS documents. However, some documents have been removed from my copy for various legal reasons. But I found out that my case was internally approved by the Service back in 2019, a month after my interview.
Decision
— March 2021. My EAD clock de facto stopped even though the system said it's "currently running".
— April 2021. I got a call from Los Angeles Asylum Office. They said they were going to send me a decision, but they wanted to confirm my address.
— April 2021 (around one week later). My status updated to "Fees Were Waived".
— May 2021 (around one week later). My status updated to "New Card Is Being Produced" and after this on the same day to "Case Was Updated To Show Fingerprints Were Taken".
— May 2021 (2 days later). My status updated to "Decision Was Mailed".
— May 2021. I got my approval decision. I want to note that this was sent as certified mail and I could only get this mail at the post office after I sign. Unfortunately, no notice has been put in my mailbox. And I did not miss it only because subscribed for the Informed Delivery service by USPS.
— May 2021. I received my new EAD card.
— May 2021. My EAD clock has been updated and it now system actually said that it's stopped.
Here I want to discuss some important questions that are regularly raised.
Status "Application is Pending"
What does this status mean?
There is no clear answer. But it would be wrong to say that this does not mean anything.
It seems to appear at least in some cases where the Service has made a preliminary decision, but some checks have not yet been completed.
But this may depend on the specific case.
How long can a case remain in this status?
It depends on the specific circumstances.
In my case, I had this status for about 1.5 years.
In some cases, it may only be a few weeks or months, in some several years.
Will the status change back to "Decision is Pending"?
It also depends on the specific case.
In some cases, yes, the case may return to this status and remain in it for several weeks before a decision is made, in some cases for a much longer time.
In my case, it never returns to this status (or it was a period shorter than a day).
Inquiries
Sometimes the Service makes mistakes, sends your documents to the wrong address, or sometimes you need to clarify the date of the interview. In this case, it can certainly be useful.
I did not see that my requests helped to somehow speed up the decision and I decided not to send it anymore. On the other hand, if you are lucky with an employee, he may give some details about your case (for example, that a preliminary decision was made and now they requested some additional checks).
EAD Clock
As noted here, it can be very helpful to call (+18003755283) after business hours to check your EAD clock.
It is important to know that EAD clock can de facto be stopped and not increase, even if the system says it's running. To find out, count the number of days from the receipt of your application or check the counter for several days to see if this changes.
FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
I think it might help to send a FOIA request if you waiting for your decision already more than one year.
In my case, it gave me confirmation that my case was actually approved a month after the interview, but some other processes took a long time.
In any case, it makes sense to send a request if you received a Denial or Referral to an Immigration Court.
Postal Issues
If the Service has sent you documents, but you have not received anything, then it makes sense to contact USCIS.
I highly recommend using the free service Informed Delivery by USPS.
In my case, it saved me from having my decision sent back. When USCIS sent me my decision, I received a tracking number in the email and this informed me that a certified mail was waiting for me. For some reason, I have not received any notice in my mailbox. And without this service, I would not have known that I have to come to the post office to pick up my decision.
Attorney and Case
In my case, I did not have an attorney or translator. I cannot recommend this path to everyone. Perhaps this is suitable for you if you feel confident to completely prepare your case on your own and if you understand the details of the process.
I spent long time putting together my case. I tried to include any details of persecution. Evidence can be calls to the police, the prosecutor's office, screenshots of messages. I tried to remember all the details and the exact time of each incident.
I also asked a lawyer from a nonprofit organization in my country of origin for legal clarifications on my case since most likely asylum officer cannot evaluate legal documents from the point of view of the laws of your country.
In my case, I tried to pay more attention to incidents where I had documentary evidence, but also briefly mentioned cases that I cannot confirm in any way, except for my words. This is fine if you do not have any documents for some incidents.
It took quite a long time to prepare, so I sent the rest of the documents only a few weeks before my interview (check your office on how and when additional documents can be sent). In my case, the officer was not able to get them by the time of the interview, so it is critical to bring a copy of your documents to the interview.
Interview
The interview in my case took two hours and was in a fairly comfortable environment. The officer was neutral but it is clear that it can be difficult to talk about the events that happened to you or your fears.
However, I was not ready for the short time limit, so it is worth preparing in advance what you consider most important in your case.
At the end of the interview, the officer gave me a short opportunity to talk about something that we did not discuss, but I think it is important.
Selective Service
Important to know that all male who are 18 through 25 are required to register with Selective Service.
This includes undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and all males with visas of any kind which expired more than 30 days ago.
This will help you to avoid problems in the future.
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