Originally Posted by
rabp77
USCIS tries to merge the cases for family members even if they are filed separately, but its not guaranteed. Personally know a friend, where the principal and derivative application were applied almost 3 months separate, and had fingerprints separately, but the subsequent interview and approval etc happened together. In this case they had the applications initially processed by different service centers, but eventually both were moved to the same service center. So i believe, they will try to merge it. Also you cannot normally say by the case status number where you application is being processed, because cases are often transferred between centers.