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e c
Jan 4, 2024
835 days since filing
Our marriage-based AOS is now almost a year out of the normal processing time (married to US citizen for almost 7 years, transferred to the Houston, TX field office after relocating for work from Minnesota). The second “actively reviewing” status change happened 5 months ago (the first being the automatic update right after my biometrics appointment in February 2022). Since then we sent in two outside of the normal processing time inquiries. The first one said to contact them if there is no update on the case in 120 days. After the 120 days passed USCIS Contact Center put in another one for us and we got an even more generic response asking for our patience—this time they didn’t even give us a timeframe. I’m sitting at my desk at work and cry as I’m typing this. I feel so hopeless not knowing when this journey will end trying to prepare myself for another round of paperwork—my advance parole already expired, my 2-year EAD will expire in 2 months. I will need to talk to HR and let them know about my situation hoping they will not change my employment status from a full-time employee to a contractor because I still don’t have the permanent right to work in this country. We are saving money not for a house or a vacation together but for lawyer fees to put in a congressional inquiry and to renew my medical if a new courtesy letter comes (we sent in my medical before the first letter even arrived following our lawyer’s advice and after 2 years, now that form is expired as well). I don’t know how long I can go on like this. Since my biometrics appointment almost 2 years ago, USCIS didn’t request any new information from us, there is “nothing outstanding” yet we are still not in line for an interview in our local field office. They have everything they need from us but cannot make a decision or even call us in for the interview. I scroll through the Lwafully app every day and smile with those who found their long-awaited approval notice in their inbox and hope that I can stay strong until my day arrives too in a few weeks, months or maybe years from now. I don’t have a question. I’m just really heartbroken and discouraged today and wanted to share with people who maybe understand how hard it is to follow your spouse’s, family’s, lawyer’s, contact center agent’s and immigration officer’s advice just to be patient. I have no one around me who can offer more than those empty words of advice to deal with this. I’m patient. I respect the process and this great country I want to call my home at the end of this. I just hope this process will not take all the positive sprit I once had when starting this journey so I have some of it left for time when the letter comes and the rest of my life finally begins.

IR-1/CR-1

U.S. citizen filing for a spouse

Total Days: 930 days
Case
2021-09-21
2024-04-08
I-765
195 Days
I-131
357 Days
I-485
930 Days
National Benefits Center: I-765, I-131, I-485
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