gaffs

Hi All

First post on the forum, so go easy on me!

My wife and I moved to the US in Feb 2014 after i received an inter company transfer visa - L1B.

After the 3 year renewal, my company started the green card process for us because, as i understand it, the only way to stay beyond the 5 years you get with an L1 visa, is to go the green card route. That was January 2017.

The lawyers have filed my petition with the Department of Labor and expect to get that approved early next year, they will then file the I-140 and then I-485.

The problem is that i have been informed that since October, the USCIS has said that all I-485 applicants must have a face to face interview. My lawyers say this could be a 18 month wait!

Has anyone got any more information or experience of this? Is there a way to fastrack, or so employer sponsored green cards get any kind of priority over family/marriage based green cards for people who have not been living in the US already?

Thanks

Noorah101

Your last paragraph doesn't make sense. In order to do an adjustment of status to permanent resident (AOS), regardless of whether it's through marriage or work, the applicant must already be in the USA.

People not already living in the USA can't even apply for a green card.

And no, it wouldn't be fair to fast -track employment based AOS cases over marriage - based AOS cases, IMO.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

Wait times etc are at best a guesstimate.

gaffs

Hi. That is fair enough, im not that familiar with the marriage based process.

I thought there may be some kind of priority for work based because I have been interviewed twice already during the initial L1 and again for the renewal. I have been living here for 4 years. I see the need to interview marriage based applicants, because, as i understand it the i-485 interview is the only interview in that process.

With that in mind, i was only asking if there was a fast track option - there is in other steps of the visa process, which my company has paid for. If there is extra money to be made, the USCIS will put fairness aside and offer services like fast track, knowing companies will pay.

I think we all know that this is just the Trump administration trying to block up the system.

scrubbedexpat099

And Obama before him and everybody else before that.

You are dealing with the Federal Government.

gaffs

That is true, i guess. But the requirement for an interview for employment based green cards, for people who have been working here for years and that have company sponsorship, are particularly egregious and nonsensical, imo. I very much doubt the Trump administration will be employing extra staff to meet this new requirement, which is ironic given he claims to be such a great job creator.

Regardless of the politics, I was hoping from this thread, that i could find someone who was going though the process right now and perhaps has been recently given an interview date for an employment based green card.

MidAtlantic

Really?

gaffs

You disagree?

You think an interview for...
Adjustment of status applications based on employment (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status)

has any relation to...

Executive Order 13780, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,”

.. because that is the Trump administrations justification.

BenK91

Or it's the fact you're dealing with the federal government, and the millions of other people trying to get permanent residency.

FWIW, I'm on a marriage based adjustment and I've been waiting 9 months for an interview with no end in sight.

BenK91

Are you from a country that has a high output of terrorists?

It sucks to wait, trust me - everyone on here has dealt with waiting throughout their immigration journey. I don't like Trump one bit, but if you're pissed off because you're waiting for things to happen Trump isn't the one to blame.

gaffs

Im from the UK - our terrorists stay home! I appreciate that it is frustrating have to wait - it feels like your life is on pause, especially when you want the reassurance to progress with things like buying a house and having kids.

I do blame Trump for this one - making employment based green card applications interview, when in the case of L1 specialized knowledge, have already performed prior interviews, is nothing but a tactic to gum up the process.

And it wont help you either because if you are waiting for your AOS, you will now have thousands of people put into the same line who are employment based.

scrubbedexpat099

Obama did the same with DACA, no doubt others have as well. Nothing new here.

Processing times go up and go down, actually quicker now than when I came.

neill

Actually, evidence is suggesting that I-485 applications are not currently being held up any more than they were previously, with early transfers to ASC (local) offices for interviews. EAD and AP application pending times are drifting steadily toward 120-day average.

(However I concede we're early days into the mandatory interviews for I-140s.)

retzie

Try trackitt. They have a lot of (filterable) data, so you will get a much better idea of current trends there.


Also, welcome to BE

A word to the wise: if you prefer answers to back-chat, I'd keep the politics out of Immi forum posts. Pedantry pays around here, and it tends to be applied to everything, whether you like it or not (whether its helpful or not, etc.). We have plenty of room for spirited debate in The Trailer Park or the warm and welcoming confines of Take it Outside

fbf2006

The thing is apparently interviews have always been part of the employment based green card process but had pretty much been waived for years now. I do think it's rather silly that they've made it mandatory once again. I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was effective for applications filed after Feb or March 2017 or something to that effect. I could be very wrong though.