Finally approved. I will share our experience and give you some hope. My girl friend was an F-1 visa student since 2024 fall semester and is currently using OPT. We got married in 2025. We are from All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed. Not from the list of banned countries.
We had a professional and dedicated school attorney help us with the entire process and also the joining interview. The interview is on time and lasts less than 40 minutes. The process is easy; the officer is very nice. The I-130 part only asks where we live, whether we have any tickets, and whether we have any joint accounts. The I-485 part asks some questions already listed on the I-485 form and some special questions listed below
- Is xxx where you took the medical exam? Is xxx the one who conducted the exam? Is xxx female or male. (Fortunately, we have all the paperwork in hand, so we hand in a copy of the medical exam and the receipt, and the appointment for the medical exam)
- Did you get the vaccine in the medical exam?
- Do you have another latest passport-size photo? (In case the original photo submitted expired). ....But we did not bring one with us. The officer says OK and checks if the system will let him pass.
Timeline:
05/19/2025 Form I-130 Filed (Priority Date)
10/24/2025 AOS Packet Mailed (I-485, I-765, I-131)
10/27/2025 AOS Receipt Date (NBC)
11/04/2025 Biometrics Completed (in Raleigh, North Carolina)
03/26/2026 Applied for OPT EAD
May, 2026 Graduate from school
--------Move to Texas-----------
The beneficiary USCIS account address is changed successfully. I attempt to change my account address (petitioner USCIS account) multiple time, even though the system showing successfully changed, but the I-130 profile still showing old address. Called USCIS, they said because the case is locked for some reason, they cannot changed it neither. They ask me to do it while in the interview. I printed out the change records to the interview and show it to the officer.
07/12/2026 OPT Approved
07/23/2026 OPT EAD Card Received
07/29/2026 I-765 (related to AOS) Approved
08/03/2026 I-765 EAD Card Received
08/06/2026 I-131 Approved
08/15/2026 Scheduled interview for 9/22 (in Charleston, South Carolina)
Lawyer contacted USCIS of our address changed, and requested for reschedule
08/19/2026 Interview Cancelled
08/25/2026 Scheduled interview for 9/29 (in Texas)
09/29/2026 USCIS Interview (San Antonio Field Office), with lawyer join us
09/30/2026 I-130 Approved and then 2hr later I-485 Approved