BigBoss1984

So I know I posted a thread recently about processing times through Philly for AOS, but since then there has seemingly been a slew of approvals/interviews booked from people who filed as late as January this year. I don’t mean one or two, I mean quite a few...

I’m starting to wonder if my case has been forgotten about somewhere, because I don’t see how they can realistically claim that they process them in the order received if I’ve just had to send off my EAD/AP renewal and there’s people already through the AOS process before they had the chance to get their EAD/AP approved in the first place.

I’ve tried speaking to USCIS who are absolutely zero help, telling me that I can start asking questions once I’ve waited another 10 months (we’re at the 10 month mark now).

What’s my play here? I don’t mind the wait at all if I know I’m in a queue, but I feel like I’m not in a queue with the amount of approvals happening for people who filed way after me.

Noorah101

Why do you think they process them in the order received? Given how many are received and how many people work on them, I doubt they are processed in order received.

Rene

tom169

Start a dialogue with your congressperson. They can get a more detailed update thank you can.

Rete

This is actually what you should be doing. I'm assuming you are finding this odd out adjudications for the Philadelphia field office on another visa site. I haven't seen it here on BE myself. Yes, it has cropped up here and there for other field offices but not for yours.

Please contact your political rep and ask for their assistance in finding out is happening with your petition for adjustment of status. The rep pays a staff to handle just this thing so take advantage of it, particularly if you are over the timeline for adjudication for your district.

It's frustrating and we've been there and experienced the long delays 20 years ago. The cycle speeds up and slows down and then recycles constantly.

The 1-800 # was once known as the 1-800-misinformation number. And for a reason. If you have need to call them again, don't deal with the first person who answer but rather insist on speaking with a supervisor. This was the advice given for years on the forum but has fallen to the wayside since so much has been automated. But the advice is still valid.

Find the congressperson you wish to contact online. Go to their site, complete the form, and someone will get back to my next week. Remind then that every month with adjustment means one month further away from naturalizing you are. That's one less vote they can count on in the near future.

BigBoss1984

That's what I was told from an immigration officer when I asked to be transferred on the 1800 number. Not sure if it's accurate or if they were just trying to get rid of me!

BigBoss1984

Thanks Tom/Rete.

I think this is what I will do. I've already taken steps to identify the relevant person to speak to in our Congressmans office (Brendan Boyle, 13th Congressional District of PA) so I'm filling out the privacy release form now.

The odd thing is, it's not just me who filed from last summer who seems to be stuck - there are others going through that field office also who filed June/July/August who have heard nothing, but so many from November onwards have either just been approved outright or had their interviews, or had them booked already.

I'm not sure if a few of us just got unlucky enough to be sat on someones desk and for whatever reason things aren't moving or what.

tom169

It could just be you and some others that are unlucky. It's real people that process these cases. When I visited the field office for my interview it was an officer's own office with a name tag on the door etc. Maybe that person for you went on maternity/paternity leave.

There are a number of scenarios that lead you to being in your current situation.

Your congressman will have an employee that knows the system and can talk directly to USCIS. They will receive a clearer update than you/I ever could. They're usually fairly fast too. My old congressman had a weekly drop in session where you could go face to face and ask for help.

BigBoss1984

Yeah. I've submitted the privacy release to the USCIS contact at our congressmans office so we'll see what happens.

In my experiences, the 1800 number won't even transfer to a tier 2 anymore. I got transferred maybe a month or two ago to try to talk to someone but since then, no matter when I call they just tell me the lines are too busy and they can schedule me for a call back - which of course never comes. I just feel trapped. It sucked having to send off that EAD/AP renewal, which I'm pretty sure is partially why I'm so bent out of shape about it right now.

Rete

You didn't have to pay for it though, right?

BigBoss1984

No I didn't pay for it - which is the one saving grace, but still. It's still having to pull together another package, mail it etc. which as I said honestly wouldn't bother me that much if it actually felt like we were in a queue.

BigBoss1984

Just an update on this - I phoned USCIS today and managed to actually get through to a tier 2 officer. He told me he wasn't sure what was holding my case up, but he can see that it's not really been abnormally long. He also did say that he can see that the National Benefits Center has been in touch with the Philadelphia field office and has requested an interview date, so to expect that imminently.

BenK91

InfoPass was very useful for us.

He told us when our case arrived into the Denver field office and even what shelf number it was on in the building! About a month later we got our interview letter.

BigBoss1984

I'm hoping we hear back over the next month or so, it seems promising that NBC has been in touch with the field office for a solid interview date