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Rei Al
6h
USCIS response to congressional inquiry, what’s next?
my initial OPT application has been pending with USCIS since tbe day it was submitted on December 8 with no further updates. on March 11 (3 months in) I requested a congressional inquiry to be submitted on my behalf asking for expedited decision, or at least application status, as I was urgently expected to start a new position at a nonprofit. on April 10 (30 days after the inquiry was made; 4 months into waiting) the congressional office received the follow message: “Thank you for your inquiry on behalf of your constituent, (name) regarding their Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records indicates that the Form I-765 is undergoing pre-processing and security checks. USCIS makes every effort to process cases within the projected time frames and in the order in which they were received; however, your constituent’s case has not cleared all required security checks at this time. Until we receive the results of these security checks, we cannot move forward on this case. We cannot predict when we will receive the results of these security checks. Please be assured that USCIS will make every effort to make a decision on your constituent’s case as soon as the security checks are complete. Your constituent does have the option to create an online USCIS account. USCIS’ electronic immigration system is an online, account-based system that allows users to submit requests for immigration benefits and certain immigration services, as well as new certain applications, petitions, and requests; receive electronic notification of USCIS notices and decisions. This system allows attorneys and accredited representatives and other personnel to conveniently and securely set up and manage online accounts. For more information, please visit https://myaccount.uscis.gov/.” I am freaking out at the sound of this as I have never had any criminal history or anything significantly interesting outside my academic career for the years I spent in the US. further, I see mixed experiences online from significantly long waiting periods that extend 6-16 months after receiving similar wording while others say it’s just a generic response USCIS uses to buy time. I’m really confused at this point and unsure of the next step. is premium processing worth it at this stage? trying to expedite on basis of urgent needs of a nonprofit employer? please let me know from your experience.

Based on a request by a qualified F-1 academic student

Total Days: 127 days
Case
2025-12-08
Today
I-765
127 Days
Potomac Service Center: I-765
Comments
Ocean NG
13h
My journey with I-130
Hi all, I would like to share with you my journey in this process, when I started all I was doing every day was checking this app, I was dreaming with the approval and I loved to see your stories about your approvals, that gave me hope, so I’ll start: I am from Colombia and my husband is in Puerto Rico, we got engaged on December 31st 2023, it was like centuries ago for me 🥹, we got married on January 11th 2024, we couldn’t wait to start this process and we submitted all the documents for I-130 on February 6th 2024, we also filled the form for the Fiancée visa, just in case that one gets the approval first, it was free at that moment so we wanted to try everything. For the next 20 months we had the longest and difficult journey, as you well know having a long distance relationship with the person you love the most is not easy and is painful every single day, we went through a lot we even thought about breaking up, we didn’t saw the light at the end but finally on December 30th 2025 we got the approval, it arrived when we forgot about the process, when we weren’t checking Lawfully or the USCIS web site, when we almost lost the faith, but it arrived and with it the dreams, the faith, the hope, the feelings that we had when we filled the documents at the beginning. So the question that I was asking to my self always that I saw the approvals in this app: What comes next? The visa arrives to my place? Can I travel immediately? Well in the real word the answer is not that perfect so let me share it with you: We had to fill more documents, send all of our civil documents again and pay more fees, we took some time to get all the documents together ready to submit them and we finally paid and submit all the documentation on April 10th and WOW by surprise today we got a request to send more documentation regarding the TAXES so please remember to have all of the required paperwork ready and be sure to have all of them correctly. This has been my journey so far and I hope you can find something that maybe is similar to your case, I just want to tell you, the approval will arrive, soon or later but it will arrive, my advice is to have more patience than usual, be kind with yourself and your love one, never forget about the reason you started this process, we will get there, we will have a family, we will accomplish all of the dreams and goals we have been thinking about all nights.

IR-1/CR-1

U.S. citizen filing for a spouse

Total Days: 696 days
Case
2024-02-06
2026-01-02
I-130
696 Days
Vermont Service Center: I-130
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