Community

EB3 RN I-485 (green card) approved (Nigeria)
My I-485 was approved on July 10, 2026. I would like to share my experience and detailed timeline for others going through this process. Agency Nurse PD: April 10 2023. F1 → OPT → EB3 ROW Country: Nigeria I-140, I-485, I-765 (EAD) , I-131 (Advance Parole) were all concurrently filed. My case was filed right before the retrogression that started in May 2023. My receipt number starts with an LIN so my case was first filed with the Nebraska Service Center. I-140 was approved on April 21, 2023 (premium processing). I-765 and I-131 were approved on May 31, 2023. At some point my case was transferred to the National Benefits Center (NBC). My case was transferred to the Atlanta FO and I was scheduled for an interview. The officer didn’t really ask me anything. Just verified what agency I was with, told me he’d love to approve me but I wasn’t current, and that I’d be approved when I became current. Also, in May 2024 I traveled to Nigeria with my Advance Parole and had no issues. In January 2025, I applied to renew my EAD and it was approved a few days later. I was given the 5 year EAD. I also applied to renew the Advance Parole at the same time but it wasn’t approved until November 2025 (also given a 5 year Advance Parole). My case was in “Case Remains Pending” for a long time because I wasn’t current. I became current in December 2025 and coincidentally, that’s the same month Nigeria was added to the ban list plus USCIS released the memo about the benefit pause. On Dec 16 when that memo was released, my case status changed to “Fingerprints have been applied to your case”. For almost 6 months, there was no movement as many others across the U.S. from affected countries also experienced. It was an emotionally and financially difficult time for many people, and I truly sympathize with everyone. On June 5, 2026, Judge McConnell issued a ruling that vacated the USCIS hold policies. On June 6, I filed inquiries with my two state senators and a case outside processing times with USCIS itself. The senators’ caseworkers responded pretty quickly and said they’d reached out to USCIS and would give them 30-45 days to respond. July 1: USCIS responds to first senator: said my case was “under review” and they expected a decision within 120 days. July 6: USCIS responds to second senator: Confirmed my case was affected by the hold policies and since they have been vacated, they were working to process cases. July 9: Case Status changed to “Interview Cancelled and Notice Ordered”. I was confused cause I had already been interviewed a long time ago. July 10: Case status changed to “Case was Approved”. July 15: Case status updated to “Card was mailed to me”. July 16: Letter received from USCIS (response to the inquiry I did with them in June) they just said my case had been approved on 7/10/26. I also got the interview cancelled notice letter which was interesting because I had my interview a long time ago. *My card says resident since 7/9 (the day when I saw that interview cancelled and notice ordered update) but my case status on myUSCIS says it was approved on 7/10. I guess it just refreshed on 7/10. This has been a long trying journey and I cannot describe how happy I am that it has come to an end. I am extremely grateful for my state senators and their caseworkers. Their efforts contributed to my results today. I am extremely grateful to Judge McConnell for his ruling and for recognizing that applicants should be evaluated based on their individual eligibility rather than circumstances beyond their control. I am grateful to everyone who makes up these groups and forums, your messages and input hold people up during such trying times. I wish everyone the very best!
15