Welcome letter says 9-12 months wait before I get the card

[moontule]

I just got approved last week after 14 yrs (yes that is not a typo) of agonizing wait, first as a derivative assylee followed by several mishaps, such as my i-485 application that disappeared into thin air while all 4 of my family members got thier's processed, a lawyer who had a nervous breakdown, aging out, filing nonc protunc (sp?), file transferred to local office. It never ends. My i-485 was transferred to Baltimore district office September 2005, got approved and stamped on April 27 2006. Now that I got my approval, and just received a welcome letter that states that I will have to wait another 9 to 12 month to get the actual card. I know I should be thankful and not complain but another 9 to 12 months? How accurate is that? Could it possible be some kind of mistake or is it a new thing? I browsed through this very helpful forum and could find anything specific about the wait after u are approved. I see most ppl get thier gc within in few months if not in weeks. The worest one I saw was 7 month and that was with some kind of screw up. So I am trying to make sense out of it. I would really appreciate it if anyone has any info on this.

Thank you very much

 

[alassea]

I know I should be thankful and not complain but another 9 to 12 months? How accurate is that?

Not too accurate. It all depends on (how hardworking the people are in) the Service Center that is processing your card. In my welcome notice, it said within a month , yeah right. I got my card a year after the welcome notice and that's after I filed for an I-90, but then that's one complicated story. A good thing to do in your case is to check the online case status on USCIS website (but that's not always accurate also), or call the National Customer Service Hotline and ask about the status of your card. If the first representative you'd talk to couldn't provide you with a helpful answer about your case, try again later, maybe you'll get a more helpful representative next time and he/she can tell you for sure how long you will have to wait. Good luck and hope it won't be that long.

Disclaimer: Not a legal advice. Please use at your own risk. It is best to seek counsel from qualified and certified immigration attorneys.