BritVsRedneck

We have some movement...yes...we received the notices for biometric appointments in Indianapolis for next week!

Is there anything I should be mindful of when going to the appointment, or is it all pretty straight forward?

Perm job description started 10/28/2015
Perm job filed with DOL for prevailing wage 2/19/2016
Perm job advertised 7/1/2016
perm recruitment ended 10/4/2016
perm application I140 (ETA 9089) 10/17/2016
perm application certified 12/29/2016
I140 receipt 1/20/2017
I140 approved 2/13/2017
EAD spouse filed 2/15/2017
EAD spouse received 4/4/2017
Priority date became current Mar-17
Medicals 4/14/2017
I-485 filed 5/2/2017
I-485 received date 5/3/2017
I-485 receipt notice 5/9/2017
Biometric appointment notice received 7/7/2017
Biometric appointments 7/20/2017
Greencard arrived TBA

Jack8602

It's boring and routine - i went a few weeks back for mine.

Stand in a line, fill out a form in the waiting area, stand in the same line, hand form in, wait for your ticket no. to be called, have photo taken, all finger prints taken by some miserable member of staff, then get given a yellow form to fill out for their feedback

BritVsRedneck

Sounds pretty familiar, similar to our US embassy experiences in London.

Do you know if they allow phones/tablets?
Just so our young-lings have something to do.

PetrifiedExPat

In Boston, at my biometric appointment, no cellular/tablet devices were allowed to be used, although, they were not taken from your person.... they just asked people to put them away.

Jack8602

Nope, they'll shout at you, happened no less than 6 times to people whilst i was waiting despite there being about 74 signs dotted around the room not to use them!

BritVsRedneck

Thanks for the heads up!
Coloring books and crayons it is then......then I'll just have to think about what to take for the kids

BritVsRedneck

So yesterday I decided arbitrarily to just check into the USCIS tracking to see if there had been any movement. And strangely there was, it said I-485 had been approved!

I re-checked my case number was correct, and then emailed the lawyer to check with them.
They confirmed that yes, all our I-485s had bee approved and we should get letters very soon. She also said we should check our mail every day for the cards. I didn't know it would be that quick.

We are undoubtedly very happy, but also confused as we are about a year behind our friends in their process, and they applied under EB1 category compared to us on EB3!

Perm job description started 10/28/2015
Perm job filed with DOL for prevailing wage 2/19/2016
Perm job advertised 7/1/2016
perm recruitment ended 10/4/2016
perm application I140 (ETA 9089) 10/17/2016
perm application certified 12/29/2016
I140 receipt 1/20/2017
I140 approved 2/13/2017
EAD spouse filed 2/15/2017
EAD spouse received 4/4/2017
Priority date became current Mar-17
Medicals 4/14/2017
I-485 filed 5/2/2017
I-485 received date 5/3/2017
I-485 receipt notice 5/9/2017
Biometric appointment notice received 7/7/2017
Biometric appointments 7/20/2017
I-485 Approved 8/29/2017
Greencards arrived TBA

Orangepants

Congrats. It is a great feeling when it comes through even quicker than you thought..

Ours took 5 months start to finish but was preceded by a 10 year journey through the ABC of visa options.

fbf2006

Congratulations!! Our EB2 took 6 months (I-485 applied mid Jan 2017, approved June 2017). Like Orangepants though, that was after many years of other visas plus a stint in Canada and the UK. The perm and I-140 process were done while we were in London. We then came back on H1/H4 at the end of Oct 2016 (I did a change of status to L1 before the AOS filing) and then did the AOS.

BritVsRedneck

Thanks Orangepants and fbf2006, it has definitely been a journey I never want to repeat.

The cards arrived on Friday! That was very quick, it was only a couple of days after the I-485s were approved..

Its not quite sunk in yet, am I supposed to feel different? Nothing's changed yet, I suppose.

What agencies/authorities should I now inform of our immigration status change?
Bank, DMV, SS office?

Perm job description started 10/28/2015
Perm job filed with DOL for prevailing wage 2/19/2016
Perm job advertised 7/1/2016
perm recruitment ended 10/4/2016
perm application I140 (ETA 9089) 10/17/2016
perm application certified 12/29/2016
I140 receipt 1/20/2017
I140 approved 2/13/2017
EAD spouse filed 2/15/2017
EAD spouse received 4/4/2017
Priority date became current Mar-17
Medicals 4/14/2017
I-485 filed 5/2/2017
I-485 received date 5/3/2017
I-485 receipt notice 5/9/2017
Biometric appointment notice received 7/7/2017
Biometric appointments 7/20/2017
I-485 Approved 8/29/2017
Greencards arrived 9/1/2017

ian-mstm

The only important one is the SSA office. Everything else can be done as services are required.

Ian

fbf2006

As Ian said, the SSA is the main one. It's not mandatory as it's the same number but I preferred to have a new social security card with no restriction noted on it.


Personally, I felt different after the approval. I've been in the US on visas since 1998 and can now change jobs as I see fit so just felt more free.