What Is The Relation Between NBC and Local Field Office?

[cntzl]

Hi everyone! I and my wife got married in January 2015 and filed our concurrent application in September 2015 for green card. She is a US citizen and I'm currently on my F1 visa and working based of my OPT. Our application was sent to NBC on September 30, 2015. I got an RFE in October for I-485 regarding my birth certificate and USCIS received my response on November 12, 2015. We haven't heard anything since then.

Today, I called USCIS to check the status of our application since it's been more than 6 months now. The rep told me that my local field office (San Francisco) is still processing I-485 applications from May 23, 2015. When I checked 3 months ago SF field office was processing applications from May 21, 2015. So they progressed only 2 days. The rep told me that although our application is at NBC, we have to stick with the timeframe of the field office since they are going to make the final decision. If this true, our application could take years to get approved considering their current pace. There are people who get their green cards in 4-5 months and I just don't get this "field office" justification. Is what the rep told me true? If so, should I expect to get approved in 1-2 years? I thought family based applications were processed faster.

Thanks for the comments/help in advance.

 

[lvnp]

Your application will be sent to the local office and be adjudicated there. They are a year behind not much. With this rate around September of this year your turn should come. NBC is the central place that they make sure applications are valid then they forward them to the local offices.

 

[cntzl]

Your application will be sent to the local office and be adjudicated there. They are a year behind not much. With this rate around September of this year your turn should come. NBC is the central place that they make sure applications are valid then they forward them to the local offices.

Wow, I thought a year behind was too much based on how long it takes to process family-based applications. On average (online and people around me), approval time for a family-based green card is 5 to 6 months. That's why I'm pretty disappointed with my progress.