nathan barley

Hi,
I'm a British cit living with my USC wife in NY. I traveled here on I94 for a holiday and to see my girlfriend in July, things went so well that we recently got married here (a somewhat snap decision), and a few days later filed for I130/I485 Adjustment.

NYC INS received our forms on the 7th of October, my question is, how long should it take for us to hear anything back from them, an acknowledgement or anything.

Can anyone advise us on the process which will happen now, what are these NOA's I read about?

Thanks

claudia13839

You should receive your first Notice of Action in aboout 1 week where they tell you that they are processing your application and they tell you approximateley how long the I-130 is taking. I recently got my first NOA from the VSC and it said they were taking from 150-999 days, can you believe that!!!! On this NOA you will also have a receipt number which you can use to check the status of your application online or over the phone. Also, have you considered doing the K3 process, its suppose to be quicker that way! That's what Im doing, sending the K3 apllication tomorrow. Lets see how it goes.

Good luck,
Claudia

Caro

From the original post, I looks like the foreign spouse is in the US because the I-130 and I-485 were filed concurrently at the local INS office. If this is the case, what is above does not apply.

You will get a receipt from your local INS office. Somebody who used NYC can tell you how long it usually takes. I filed in Detroit. I sent my application on Nov 17th and got a receipt dated Dec 13th. My receipt letter was very short, with my name, A#, the date of filing, and the timeline for the interview (12 months). Also, attached to that letter, I received a cash register receipt proving that I had paid the fees.

The NOAs are only received when you file your forms I-130 or I-129F with a service center. A form is submitted to the service center when the foreign spouse/fiancee is not in the US. That does not apply to you as you are in the US. This is my understanding anyway, that when you file I-130/I-485, you do not get NOAs, just the letter from your local office, and, in the end, your interview letter.

Caroline

Rete

So you know ... NYC does NOT send out notice of actions. In one to four weeks from the date of mailing and receipt at Federal Plaza of your petition you will receive in the mail a tiny little cash register receipt which will list all the petitions you filed and the amounts. On the top of that receipt is your new alien registration number. GUARD THIS RECEIPT WITH YOUR LIFE. It is your only claim to being "in status" so to speak.


As for hearing from them regarding permission to work (I-765 - EAD), you can expect a letter of appointment to go into the Federal Plaza office to pickup the EAD in around the second month after filing. NYC is not very consistent these days and people are reporting timelines of 60 days to 120 days for getting the EAD. Let's hope you are in the lower spectrum of the timeline.

Your AOS interview will be anywhere from 14 months to 32 months after filing. Most people in the past fell within the 14-16 month range. We were 21 months. Another poster yesterday was at 32 months.

Fingerprinting for the FBI/CIA clearance is normally scheduled around 3 months PRIOR to the AOS interview. So when you get that notice, if you haven't already received the AOS interview letter in the mail, you know that one will be issued shortly thereafter.

Good Luck
Rita and Jim

nathan barley

Thanks so much for the concise info Rete, it's eased my nerves a good bit; now I have a rough timeframe, I can relax a bit. I guess part of me was worried they'd lose or forget they had my application, as I've heard a few stories as such, plus I can be an impatient git, not good when dealing with the INS so it seems.

Thanks to Caro & Claudia as well, your help is very much appreciated, peeps.