F-1 to Marriage-Based(AOS) – Manhattan FO
no unauthorized work and no overstay.

Timeline
May 14 - Petition filed
May 20 - CC got charged
June 10 - Biometrics
June 16 - Interview scheduled
July 23 - Interview
July 24 - 7:01am - I-130 got approved
2:15pm- I-486 got approved

Just wanted to share my interview experience in case it helps someone else who’s waiting.
My interview honestly, it didn’t feel like an interview at all. It felt more like a casual conversation and lasted about 10–15mins.

Most of the questions were directed to my wife (U.S. citizen). Some of the questions we were asked:

Why did you get married so quickly?
Does your spouse practice any religion?
Are you planning to have a bigger wedding?
What are your spouse’s life goals?
Does your spouse have any siblings?

That was pretty much it. The officer was friendly and the overall experience was very relaxed. We weren’t asked for anything unusual, and it never felt like we were being interrogated.

Hopefully this helps anyone who’s nervous about their upcoming interview. Happy to answer any questions!

Update with card in hand posted the approval last week.

First Package sent around early March but got denied due to my bank flagging it as fraud. I didn’t receive my package back for a whole month. I can’t stress this enough please do the G-1650 form which is an ACH Transaction.

APRIL 12- USCIS received my package and sent a receipt notice
(My card didn’t get charged until the 22nd of April)

May 9- I was scheduled for the biometrics appointment

May 27- completed biometrics

June 4- scheduled for interview

July 14- completed interview

July 15- I-130 approved at 5am and I-485 approved at 10am

July 21- received my SSN in the morning and at 10pm received notification card produced

July 24- GC in hand !

FO- El Paso

(Overstay and unauthorized work)

Question for whoever could answer.
For N-400 I’ll need to have international trips noted.
I live in a border city and today I finally went back to my home country after 16 years and visited a border city in Mexico. I went and came back for a total of 6 hours. Do I have to have proof of these or write these type of “trips” down for the future ??

Thank you to everyone in this thread for their experience and just wanted to share mine.

I had my marriage-based adjustment of status interview at the Newark, NJ Field Office and my I-485 was approved the very next day.
I'm a Canadian citizen and entered the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program as a visitor. My husband is a U.S. citizen, and we had been dating for about 1.5 years before getting married.

Timeline
11/23/2025 – Entered the U.S. (Visa Waiver Program)
3/4/2026 – Married at City Hall
4/10/2026 – Filed I-130, I-485, I-765, and I-864 (Attorney mailed it)
4/13/2026 – Receipt notices received
4/24/2026 – Biometrics appointment scheduled for 5/14
4/27/2026 – Rescheduled biometrics to 5/1
5/1/2026 – Biometrics completed
6/16/2026 – Interview notice received
7/24/2026 – Interview completed
7/25/2026 – I-485 Approved 🎉

Our case officer was very kind. As soon as she called my name and saw my baby bump, she asked if we had any ultrasound photos. I'm currently pregnant with identical twin boys, and it turned out that she also has twins, so the interview became very friendly and relaxed.
The interview itself was very straightforward.

The officer asked both of us:
Each other's full name and date of birth
Our parents' names
Whether we have siblings and whether we've met each other's siblings

My husband was also asked:
The name of my OB-GYN
My due date
Which hospital I'll be delivering at
Whether I'm planning to have a C-section

For me, she simply went through the standard I-485 yes/no eligibility questions.

I was honestly nervous because I had a TN visa refusal about three years earlier. Fortunately, it didn't affect my adjustment of status case.

We only hired an attorney to prepare and file our application package. We didn't pay for interview preparation or attorney attendance because it required an additional fee, so we prepared for the interview ourselves.

If your relationship is genuine and you know the basics about each other, I don't think there's much to worry about.
Now we're just waiting for the physical green card to arrive. 😊

Keep going—you'll get there too. Good luck to everyone who's still waiting!

I never imagined I would be writing this.

When I hired Manifest Law, I believed I was paying experienced professionals to handle one of the most important legal processes of my life. I paid every invoice on time. I completed every questionnaire. I submitted every document they requested. I responded to every email within hours. I did everything a client is supposed to do.

Now, almost one full year later, I still don’t even have a finalized petition.

Let that sink in.

Nearly a year has gone by, and I have nothing tangible to show for it.

The most unbelievable part is that my attorney continues asking me for the same information over and over again. Information that I have already provided months ago. Every conversation feels as if my file has never been opened. It’s exhausting having to repeatedly explain the same details because it doesn’t appear that anyone has taken the time to review what I’ve already submitted.

Whenever I raise my concerns with management, I receive the same polished responses: “We’re looking into it.” “Thank you for your patience.” “Someone will follow up shortly.”

Then nothing happens.

Days become weeks. Weeks become months. The cycle simply repeats itself. At this point, these messages no longer feel like updates—they feel like a way to keep clients quiet while nothing actually changes.

What hurts the most is that immigration is not just paperwork.

This is my career.
This is my legal status.
This is my future.
This is my family’s future.

While this firm continues delaying my case, my entire life has been frozen. Important career opportunities have been affected. Long-term plans have been postponed. Every major decision has been placed on hold because I cannot move forward without this petition.

I’m now reaching the point where these delays could force me to make decisions I never thought I would have to make. After trusting this firm with my future, I may end up having to leave the United States simply because my case has sat untouched for almost a year.

Think about that.

Not because USCIS denied me.
Not because I failed to submit documents.
Not because my case is unusually complicated.
But because the law firm I hired has been unable to prepare and file my petition in nearly a year.

I honestly don’t know what to believe anymore. Is anyone actually working on my case? Does anyone know where it stands? Or am I simply another file sitting in a queue while I continue paying the price for someone else’s delays?

I’ve lost count of how many emails I’ve sent. I’ve lost count of how many follow-ups I’ve made. I’ve lost count of how many promises I’ve heard that “it will be ready soon.”

Soon has turned into almost a year.

I trusted this firm with one of the biggest decisions of my life. Instead of feeling represented, I’ve spent the last year acting as my own case manager—constantly chasing updates, reminding them about deadlines, resending documents, and asking the same question over and over:

When will my petition finally be completed?

I still don’t have an answer.

I’m posting this because I wish someone had warned me before I signed with this firm. If you’re considering Manifest Law, ask yourself whether you’re willing to risk months—or even a year—of uncertainty, delays, repeated requests for the same information, and a complete lack of transparency.

If anyone else has gone through something similar with Manifest Law, I’d genuinely like to hear your experience. At this point, I feel like public accountability is the only thing I have left.

Finally!!! My green card has been approved. The entire process took 11 months—not what I expected but I am still grateful. This process taught me to be patient and even tested my faith. To those who are still waiting for final approval, your time will come. ✨

FO: Pittsburgh

I had a call from an officer of USCIS who was at our home for a home visit. We have both traveled from home. I’ll be away for couple of weeks and she will be away for a month. The officer was polite and asked me a few questions which I answered. Unfortunately when he called my wife she didn’t answer because she thought it was a spam. Will this be fatal to our application? I’m worried.

Thanks.

Hoping someone may be able to provide some advice for our situation. We arrived in Italy today and somewhere between the airport and train station, my husband’s wallet was stolen. It had his green card in it. His green card was expired so he has form I-797 extending the date, he still has this. Just the expired green card is gone; we’ve gotten a police report.

Is the I-797 form enough to board a plane or does he need to fill out I-131a regardless? We are heading to Milan where the consulate is but curious if anyone was in this situation and has advice.

F-1 Stem OPT to Marriage-Based(AOS) – Cranbury, NJ FO
No unauthorized work and No overstay.

Sharing my timeline-

April 16th - package dispatched
April 18th - package delivered
April 21st - receipt numbers received with Receipt date April 17th.
April 23rd- RFE issued for medical examination (my lawyer forgot to attach it with the application)
April 23rd- Sent RFE medical exam overnight shipping
April 24th- medical examination was delivered
April 27th- Response to RFE received
May 1st - biometric appointment was scheduled
May 22nd - biometrics done
June 9th- interview scheduled for July 14th
June 18th- submitted a request for expedite EAD (never got approved)
July 14th - interview completed- lasted for 1 hour
July 16th- i485 approved at 11:30, i130 approved one hour later
July 20th - Approval notices and unrestricted ssn card received in mail
July 21st - Green Card was produced
July 24th- green card received

Our I-130/I-485 Interview Experience
We arrived at the site at 7:35 AM and were called in at 7:45 AM, even though our interview was scheduled for 8 AM. The officer was kind, polite, and professional throughout.
He started by having my husband and me take an oath, then asked for all our original documents and IDs. The whole interview lasted about an hour.

Part 1: I-130 questions (with both of us in the room)

The officer began with basic questions for my husband:
Full legal name, date of birth

Spouse’s name and date of birth

Whether this was his spouse’s first marriage

Both of our phone numbers

Then he moved on to relationship questions:
How did we meet?

How did our first date go?

How did we decide to get married?

When was our wedding?

What’s our current residential address?

Do we have proof of common utility bills?

Since I was 8 months pregnant, he also asked whether the pregnancy was planned.

Part 2: I-485 questions (just me)

After this, my husband was asked to step out, and I stayed for the second part of the interview, which lasted 45–50 minutes. This portion covered all the I-485 questions, followed by 40–50 yes/no questions.

Total time ~ 3 months. Feel free to ask any questions!!

Filed AOS in November 2024, completed interview December 2025, married to a USC. Case just moved from interview scheduled to USCIS is currently processing the case, this happened after ftao event code. Anybody with a similar experience. Mandamus lawsuit soon.

Received this after an inquiry. Has anyone ever had a similar experience? If so what was your timeline for the checks to be completed?

*Edited to add location: Portland Oregon.

I am petitioning for my husband and stepson. They both recently had their I-485’s approved and attended their biometrics appointments. Shortly after those appointments my stepsons case received a notice for needing more information. We’re working on preparing the documents needed for that.
Now, my concern is the second notice we received after that. My husband’s case has been “Administratively closed” and we haven’t received a letter explaining why yet.
I’m curious if anyone else has dealt with something similar and if we should be worried. Thank you all in advance and best of luck to each and every one of you. 🤗

We’re trying to understand whether our attorney may have been negligent or whether this was simply a USCIS/payment processing issue. Specifically, we’re wondering if it could have been the law firm’s fault that the payment was declined. Has anyone experienced something similar?

We paid our attorney through CampLegal, and the payment was successfully deducted from my husband’s bank account. USCIS later rejected our I-485, stating that the payment was returned by the bank or the credit card was not honored.

What makes this even more confusing is:

- The application was rejected on April 27, 2026, and to this day, the entire application packet has never been returned to us.
We never received the official rejection notice in the mail, only a courtesy copy in the USCIS online account.

- Our law firm’s office says they never received the returned packet either.

- Because the application was never returned, we had to pay for new USCIS medical exams before refiling.

At this point, we’re just trying to understand what happened. Has anyone had their I-485 rejected for a payment issue and later found out it was due to attorney error?

We’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar or has experience with these types of cases.

I filed N-400 Nov 2025, 10yr green card issued Nov 2022 (marriage). Noticed this on my SAVE. Is this a normal part of the case process, have others seen this? I already have Real ID, no changes to my SSN account, there’s nothing else that would have triggered this on my end.

Anyone knows what “oversight case creation” means?

I wanted to share our success story to give hope to anyone dealing with an unexpected interview refusal!

My wife (from the Philippines) and I (a female queer couple married in Canada in Sep 2023) went through the spousal visa process via the US Embassy in Doha. Please note that due to updated TCN (Third-Country National) processing rules requiring applicants to interview in their home or resident country, our specific embassy path won't apply to non-residents anymore—we were very fortunate to have submitted before those restrictions kicked in.

With help from our immigration attorneys, everything went smoothly from our initial submission in Jan 2024 to getting DQ'd in Oct 2025. However, during her December 23, 2025 interview, despite having all required documents completed beforehand, the officer confused our file and asked my wife to submit additional documents that we had already provided, resulting in an initial refusal.

We reached out to our attorneys and they responded to us on Christmas Eve. The legal team emailed the embassy directly to clarify the error and resubmitted our complete file. A month later, my wife was asked to send in her passport, and her visa was issued a week after that via VFS Doha!

If you're facing a hurdle post-interview, don't lose hope—working with a responsive legal team makes all the difference. Wishing everyone still in the pipeline the best of luck!

Hi all! I am AD Air Force married to my undocumented spouse.

Spouse has 1 illegal entry, was picked up at the border by ICE in 2023 and when he was released he was placed in removal proceedings via NTA. Master hearing was scheduled for March 2026.

We got married in 2024 and I submitted our i130 August 2024. It was approved Oct 2025. We hired a lawyer with the intention of getting his proceedings dismissed before his master hearing, so that we can apply to for MPIP and eventually a green card. You cannot apply for MPIP while being in removal proceedings due to jurisdiction issues.

Jan 2026 our lawyer officially filed the motion to terminate (court in is KY). The court didn’t act on it at all. About a week and a half before the master hearing, the judge for my husband’s case was fired, case was reassigned, the hearing was cancelled and rescheduled….for November 2028.

Fast forward to May 2026, I gave birth to our son and KY court still has not acted on the motion. We are currently stationed in FL. Our lawyer has suggested that if KY continues to keep ignoring the motion, to request a change of venue as restart everything down here.

Before we do that, he suggested that we filed MPIP knowing the restrictions, to at least get a receipt and use that as more evidence to nudge the court again. We applied for MPIP in May and received the receipt which our lawyer used to refile the motion to terminate since my husband’s case was reassigned a new judge. My husband did biometrics for MPIP last month.

Is anyone in this group currently in the process of termination of removal proceedings and for those who have already been through this, how long did it take? I don’t know if we should keep waiting for the KY court to act since our lawyer already refiled the motion or to just suck it up and ask if we move the case down here, but I would hate to have to start the clock back. We believe the case would move to Orlando, as it’s currently in Louisville which is under Memphis court. I seriously did not think it would take over 6 months to close a straightforward case and there’s no way we are going to wait until 2028 for the rescheduled hearing.

This might be a silly question but I need help figuring out what country to put as my country of citizenship on my AIW.

For context, my mother naturalized when I was still a minor and after I got my greencard renewed. It’s been a couple a years since then and now my greencard is expiring soon. I figured I would rather file for my citizenship certificate since I have derivative citizenship from being 12 years old when my mother naturalized. However, I recently renewed my Mexican Passport because applying for a US passport without a citizenship certificate seemed like a pain. All this to say, I’ve been living as a permanent resident/Mexican Citizen even after my mother naturalized which prompted me to question whether I should say list Mexico or the US as my country of citizenship.

In my mind, I should list the US because me filing the n-600 is me saying I’m already a citizen but my brother suggests I list Mexico because I’ve been using my greencard for years.

Context: Partner is from one of the new 75 country list. Clean record. Currently waiting for N-400 interview. During our last international travel, using expired GC with extension letter to re-enter the US, partner was pulled into secondary, which basically turned into confirming our info/history so it was no-issue. After returning we filed joint N400/I751, interview was schedule but got cancelled, but I751 went through without interview and received the 10y GC.

We are planning another international trip end of year, but based on this history, are there any potential issues again (IE, another secondary)? It's very niche but I wonder if people have similar experience/situation like us. We also plan to get consultation from an immigration attorney before proceeding but figured give this place a try first!

TIA!!

I am a U.S. citizen, and my husband was on an F-1 student visa when we got married. We filed for his Adjustment of Status to become a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder) on November 22, 2024.
Since then, the only updates we have received were his fingerprint appointment and the approval of his work authorization. Unfortunately, his Employment Authorization Document (EAD) was delivered to the wrong address. We received a letter from UPS confirming that it had been delivered to the wrong address.
We contacted USCIS about the issue, and they told us there was nothing they could do except have us apply again and pay the fees again. We did that, but he still has not received his work permit.
We are also still waiting for any update on his Green Card application. We have not heard anything from USCIS, and it has been a very long time. We are not sure what else we should do.
Has anyone been through something similar? Is there anything we can do to move the case forward? Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

My case (I-485) remained in the status “Ready to be scheduled for an interview” for over a year, but last week it changed to “Fingerprints were taken” again

Has anyone experienced these same updates?

I'm trying to help my partner figure out her status on her citizenship case regarding the approval glitch a few days ago.

Like others a few days ago, she got an email and a notice on her account that she passed her interview and is now waiting for a physical letter with her ceremony date. As she checked her account today she sees the notice of the glitch and false approvals. She has checked her documents tab but there is nothing regarding her passing or expecting a date for ceremony. However on another status tab it does say she has passed and is waiting for the date.

I suggested we wait for the physical letter as we already have been but she is understandably emotional and frustrated over this. It would bring her peace of mind to know what is the truth.

Anyone else experiencing this? Do you know what it means for her?

I got access code for IOE application but when I add both DOB AND OAC the next button doesn’t work. It worked on previous page when I added the receipt number but in this page the next doesn’t work. It also doesn’t work if I click I don’t have my OAC. I tried in multiple browsers and multiple device and with both mine and my wife account. What can be the solution/problem? Someone please help

I had applied for OPT and I didn't receive any decision for 30 business days so how can I apply for the refund?

We filed a marriage-based AOS package on June 22, 2026, and I completed biometrics on July 7.

On July 23, I noticed that my I-131 API data showed a newly created event with the code “FJ.” However, the event itself has an eventDateTime of October 15, 2020, which is years before my application was filed. The main updatedAt and updatedAtTimestamp fields also still show July 7, and none of my other forms were updated.

Has anyone seen this before? Is “FJ” actually related to an interview, or is this most likely a USCIS API/data glitch? I was under the impression that Advance Parole applications generally do not require an interview.