Celebrations & Thanks

[AceMan]

Ace, I am loudly thinking about the exit strategy and a GC for Oct 2020 filers. The processing time for I-485 in TSC is 25.5 months (2 years) to 50 months (4 years). This means that you cannot open a Service Request next year for expediting. It is crazy. Don't know how you guys are going to push for a GC next year. If the application went to a local center, then Newark, NJ has 18 months mean processing time (I had to look in grenncardly.com for a friend). The applications that went to local ASC's should get approved before Oct 2022 for sure. Don't know what the TSC guys with downgrade are going to do.
Hope is a good thing. Stay positive. Something will open up.

With a Feb 2011 PD, I expect to survive the pandemonium happened after May 2011. The dates are current, kid protected by CSPA, EAD cards on the way, I am taking each and every things happening as it comes.

All I am hoping for is good health for us and near and dear loved one back in India. I have seen many of my friends and extended family losing their loved ones and the stressed travel times. Hope for pandemic to get over.

[monsieur]

Congratulations to Zenzone, mitul75, 2011Feb and kuku82!!

It feels like I am congratulating you folks for getting out of jail after long prison sentences. Enjoy new found freedom!!

[Zenzone]

Ha! True that!

[mesan123]

Folks,

I'm so delighted to inform that our I-485 status changed to "Approved" this afternoon. This forum has been a great moral support and knowledge feeder on important topics that could affect our lives here as immigrants. Thanks for all your insights and thoughts as well as mutual support and a special thanks to our own Q! Looking forward to stay connected here and help others as best as I can. Cheers!!

Congratulations Zen...

[mesan123]

Ace, I am loudly thinking about the exit strategy and a GC for Oct 2020 filers. The processing time for I-485 in TSC is 25.5 months (2 years) to 50 months (4 years). This means that you cannot open a Service Request next year for expediting. It is crazy. Don't know how you guys are going to push for a GC next year. If the application went to a local center, then Newark, NJ has 18 months mean processing time (I had to look in grenncardly.com for a friend). The applications that went to local ASC's should get approved before Oct 2022 for sure. Don't know what the TSC guys with downgrade are going to do.

Sanders? early budget proposal also called for $126 billion for processing immigrants for legal status. Hope is a good thing. Stay positive. Something will open up.

I am worrying about the same thing Idliman.... For baltimore FO the wait time is 9 months to 33months... i am like what is the point of being current looks like if i dont get lucky before oct 1 st...might be keep extending EAD till dont know when

[NJMavarick]

Folks,

I'm so delighted to inform that our I-485 status changed to "Approved" this afternoon. This forum has been a great moral support and knowledge feeder on important topics that could affect our lives here as immigrants. Thanks for all your insights and thoughts as well as mutual support and a special thanks to our own Q! Looking forward to stay connected here and help others as best as I can. Cheers!!

Congratulations Zenzone! Happy for you..enjoy the greened life...

[Zenzone]

Ty folks for your wishes.

[Zenzone]

I am worrying about the same thing Idliman.... For baltimore FO the wait time is 9 months to 33months... i am like what is the point of being current looks like if i dont get lucky before oct 1 st...might be keep extending EAD till dont know when

From my experience its usually the median processing time (or sooner) for EB AOS applications as far as FOs go. So good luck!

[andhraguy]

I am worrying about the same thing Idliman.... For baltimore FO the wait time is 9 months to 33months... i am like what is the point of being current looks like if i dont get lucky before oct 1 st...might be keep extending EAD till dont know when

Charlie mentioned yesterday that he is not expecting any retrogression until Aug/Sep 2022. The FY 2022 SO should be good enough for October 2021 fillers.

[mitul75]

Thanks all for your wishes. Finally I'll be able to shred the big box full of paperwork that I've been carrying with me like shackles that was getting longer and longer with every passing day. And now that I've tasted freedom with the "Welcome to the United States" message that I received in mail today, let me share my story while trying to stay anonymous. Hope it will help some of the GC hopefuls who are still waiting in this seemingly never-ending line.

I first came to the US 21 years ago with my first job abroad, after leaving college with an engineering degree and with just under 2 years of work experience in the field of Information Technology. I always aspired to live and work freely, home or abroad, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to live my dreams. My H1B visa was sponsored by a small startup company in the California Bay Area that was still riding high on the Dotcom bubble, never to imagine what would happen next. And then the unimaginable happened, followed by 9/11. Many got laid off and many decided to move back to their home countries. I was one of them who got disillusioned by the instability of the job market, took a job with a big tech firm in India, and decided to move back in May 2003, exactly 3 years from the day I first landed on this Land of Promise.

Then I got married, bought a house and was about to permanently settle down in my hometown when the project I was assigned to required me to move to UK on a short term. So I made my way to UK where our first and only child was born, and we lived there for about 2 years before the project ended and we had to move back to India. This was the time when I started getting the 3-year itch with my job ? I felt dissatisfied with the overall work environment in India and how folks in IT were made to work like high paid laborers and being asked to move from one place to another on a short notice. Also, from my short stint in the Indian job market it appeared to me that spending long hours at work and making friends with the right people, and not necessarily work either hard or smart, is the only way to move up the Indian corporate ladder.

So in early 2007 I made a long thought out decision to try and move back to US. I took phone interviews with few of the consultancy firms who were still sponsoring H1B visas, picked one and decided to go for it. Fortunately, I got picked in the visa lottery and my NJ-based company invited me to work for them starting in 2008. That was when I took the plunge for a second time, got into a long term project contract for a large Life Insurance company, and settled down in New Jersey with my wife and my 3-year old daughter.

The very next year my company sponsored me for my Green Card and that was the beginning of my GC journey that lasted 12 long and arduous years, with some respite in 2012 when our dates got current for a brief period to allow me switch to EAD. This change of status presented me with a unique opportunity to join a Fortune 20 Big-Tech firm, where I stepped into a Manager of Data Analytics role that I am still enjoying to this date. Meanwhile, I bought a house and moved into a good neighborhood, of course at the expense of high taxes and living costs.

All these years, being in Adjustment of Status, I was more or less free to travel abroad with an Advance Parole without worrying for visa stamping at local consulates. It also allowed me move freely in the job market and make full use of my market value. The only thing that has handicapped me is the fact that I was unable to apply for in-state tuition in NJ due to my non-permanent resident status. Similarly, getting student loans was a hassle which required a guarantor in the form of a PR or a US citizen. Nevertheless, I decided to pursue an MBA degree and got admitted to a top school in the region. Of course, the immigration system was never fair for us Indians who were, and still are, suffering the most due to the per-country cap. Waiting 12 years in line for a permanent resident card is insane for any immigration category, and it is more so when you are in a high-paying employment based category that requires an advanced degree and/or other highly specialized skillset to qualify. In my mind a country?s immigration system should be fair to all and it should reward high-skilled workers by making immigration easier for them in order to attract the best and the brightest from across the world irrespective of their race, religion and culture.

Would I make the same decision of moving to the US if I had the crystal ball back in the year 2000? Absolutely! As I explained, I did go back and tried to settle down in India, but failed to do so. So however long it took, I do not repent this decision for a moment. Does it pain me to see my near and dear ones getting old and vulnerable, and some even dying in a far-off land while I am busy with my career? Sure, and even more so in the post-pandemic world where your life can change in the blink of an eye. That?s the reason why I get on video calls with them every other day just to see them and hear them talk. But even with the close ties that I have with my parents and my family back in India, I have learnt to live and enjoy this way of life like any other first generation immigrant who are here in America for a better life, not just for themselves, but for their kids and their future generations.

I am looking forward to the newly found freedom of being considered a ?permanent? resident, and I wish to make full use of it, whether in paying for college tuition, in refinancing my mortgage with better rates, or by traveling freely to other parts of the world, including more frequent travels to see my parents without the pain of waiting in line for immigration checks at the Port of Entry. At a social level, I would like to get more involved in day to day life in the USA, speaking up for an inclusive culture and for a free and fair immigration system in any shape and form that I?m able to, while hoping to become an American Citizen some day in the not too distant future!

[srimurthy]

Thanks all for your wishes.

Then I got married, bought a house and was about to permanently settle down in my hometown when the project I was assigned to required me to move to UK on a short term. So I made my way to UK where our first and only child was born, and we lived there for about 2 years before the project ended and we had to move back to India.

Congrats Mitul.
One question to you and may be other.. could you not assign the country chargeability to your child who was born in UK? I am not sure about UK Immigration if someone born their is a citizen by default. But was checking if the dependent's country of birth can be used for chargeability and visa counted against that?

[mitul75]

Congrats Mitul.
One question to you and may be other.. could you not assign the country chargeability to your child who was born in UK? I am not sure about UK Immigration if someone born their is a citizen by default. But was checking if the dependent's country of birth can be used for chargeability and visa counted against that?

Unfortunately, no. You cannot apply cross-chargeability for parents to the country of birth of their dependent children. At least that is how my lawyer had interpreted the law to me.

[qesehmk]

Congrats Mitul.
One question to you and may be other.. could you not assign the country chargeability to your child who was born in UK? I am not sure about UK Immigration if someone born their is a citizen by default. But was checking if the dependent's country of birth can be used for chargeability and visa counted against that?

cross chargeability only applies for spouses not children. For children derivatives thus their own country of birth means nothing. They only get approved when primary is approved.

[srimurthy]

cross chargeability only applies for spouses not children. For children derivatives thus their own country of birth means nothing. They only get approved when primary is approved.

Thanks Mitul and Q. Does it apply to spouse only if the Spouse also is a primary applicant, if they are not primary on their own application then even the spouse is a dependent and are they considered as derivatives?

[qesehmk]

Thanks Mitul and Q. Does it apply to spouse only if the Spouse also is a primary applicant, if they are not primary on their own application then even the spouse is a dependent and are they considered as derivatives?

Sri - my understanding is that cross chargeability applies regardless who is primary and who is dependent. In fact my guess is it applies even when only one spouse is applying. You don't need your spouse on your application to benefit from cross chargeability.

[idliman]

Thanks all for your wishes. Finally I'll be able to shred the big box full of paperwork that I've been carrying with me like shackles that was getting longer and longer with every passing day. And now that I've tasted freedom with the "Welcome to the United States" message that I received in mail today, let me share my story while trying to stay anonymous. Hope it will help some of the GC hopefuls who are still waiting in this seemingly never-ending line.

Thanks for detailed post on your journey. My PD is one Business Day after you and glad that you are through this ordeal.

Off topic. Happy that you are in NJ. In the last few years there have been few people moving from NY/NJ to "warmer climates" (NC, TX, FL, etc.). I tell them that in NJ you guys live a dream life (except the morgage, taxes and weather) with so many stores and accessability to everything in minutes. When you move away to other parts of the country, you will have to compomise and adjust. Maybe the first thing one needs buy is a bigger refrigerator. Cheers!

[idliman]

Sri - my understanding is that cross chargeability applies regardless who is primary and who is dependent. In fact my guess is it applies even when only one spouse is applying. You don't need your spouse on your application to benefit from cross chargeability.

You are correct Q. From the Service Manual.

In practice, cross-chargeability is used where the preference quota category is backlogged for one spouse's country of chargeability but is current for the other spouse's country of chargeability. The principal applicant may cross-charge to the derivative spouse?s country, and the derivative spouse may cross-charge to the principal's country.

Derivative children may cross-charge to either parent's country as necessary. Parents may not cross-charge to a child's country. In other words, the principal applicant or derivative spouse may never use their child's country of birth for cross-chargeability.

[Kesid23]

Finally 485 approval for both me and derivative.
Very mixed emotions!!
EB2 India
NBC
FO: San Bernardino, CA
PD: Nov 2009
RD: 10/20/2021
Biometrics: 12/2/2020 code 3 for me, code 2 for derivative
Biometrics code 3 for derivative: 5/18/2021
RFE for medical: 3/30/2021
Response to RFE: 4/16/2021
Case moved to FO: 6/3/2021
EAD approved : 7/7/2021
485: new card is being produced: 7/21/2021

[andhraguy]

Finally 485 approval for both me and derivative.
Very mixed emotions!!
EB2 India
NBC
FO: San Bernardino, CA
PD: Nov 2009
RD: 10/20/2021
Biometrics: 12/2/2020 code 3 for me, code 2 for derivative
Biometrics code 3 for derivative: 5/18/2021
RFE for medical: 3/30/2021
Response to RFE: 4/16/2021
Case moved to FO: 6/3/2021
EAD approved : 7/7/2021
485: new card is being produced: 7/21/2021

Kesid23 - Many congratulation!. Enjoy your freedom.

[idliman]

Finally 485 approval for both me and derivative.
Very mixed emotions!!
EB2 India
NBC
FO: San Bernardino, CA
PD: Nov 2009
RD: 10/20/2021
485: new card is being produced: 7/21/2021

Congratulations. The median processing time in your FO is 13.5 months. Glad that it took you less than that. Enjoy the moment.

[aGCHopefull]

Finally 485 approval for both me and derivative.
485: new card is being produced: 7/21/2021

Congratulations!!

[MeraNumber09]

Congrats Kesid23, Cherish these times!

[2011Feb]

Congratulations to Zenzone, mitul75, 2011Feb and kuku82!!

It feels like I am congratulating you folks for getting out of jail after long prison sentences. Enjoy new found freedom!!

Thanks, yes Big relief. :-)

[donkeykong]

Just saw update on USCIS website that our 485 application was approved (EB2 March, 2011)
Timeline (NBC):

Receipt Date: Oct 26, 2020
Notice Date: Nov 13, 2020
Fingerprints: Jan 6, 2021
EAD: Jan 11, 2021
Medical RFE: June 8, 2021
Medical RFE Response: June 20, 2021
I485 approved: July 21, 2021

[aGCHopefull]

Just saw update on USCIS website that our 485 application was approved (EB2 March, 2011)
Timeline:

Receipt Date: Oct 26, 2020
Fingerprints: Jan 6, 2021
EAD: Jan 11, 2021
Medical RFE: June 8, 2021
Medical RFE Response: June 20, 2021
I485 approved: July 21, 2021

Congratulations. Would you mind sharing your notice date as well? Also the service center?