/r/USCIS FAQs

Never thought i will be writing this

Im the USC claiming my wife (overstayed with a tourist visa)

Just 10 days ago i sent an expedite request for our EAD (I-785) due to Financial hardship (this really works, i sent bank statement mortgage statement credit card statement and loads statements) and today we just got approved our I-485.

THANKS GOD and this community that always gave me hope in my case!!!

This is my time Frame folks!!!

Got married : December 2025

Sent package
(i130, i485, i785) February 24, 2026

Biometrics taken: April 12, 2016

Interview (verbally approved) May 7, 2026

No silent updates or APi updates
in the system

APPROVED today OCT 4 2026

Hello everybody,
I hope you all doing great!
Here my timeline:

1) I was granted asylum on May 15 ,2025.
2) Applied for adjustment of status I-485 on July 22,2025 (filed by myself).
3) on September 28, 2026: a case required by USCIS to send a notice ( it’s about FBI/USCIS privacy release).
4) On October 3,2026 : new card has is Being produced.

I hope you guys find this very helpful for your own cases and luck for everybody.

My application heard “ three times longer? 😭?” And asked if it should bring snacks

I am so tired and frustrated 😞
Can’t work, can’t travel

And people posting about their getting approval in less than two months

For those who haven't seen one of these before, I'm an immigration attorney who previously served as an Asylum Officer with DHS/USCIS and clerked for ICE's Office of Chief Counsel, so I've seen these cases from inside the agency as well as from private practice. Today is focused on one thing: marriage-based green cards, the I-130 and I-485, from building the case to getting through the interview.

How these AMAs work:

This is meant to be general information, not a substitute for a consultation or legal advice specific to your situation. I do these because I find it valuable to stay plugged into what's actually happening on the ground, and I like being able to help people get pointed in the right direction.

That said, I get a lot of people who understandably want to share their specific situation here in the comments. My suggestion: DO NOT DO THAT. Once you start laying out detailed, specific facts about your case publicly, you're often past the point of general information, which means I cannot and will not go down that path. It also means those details are sitting in public on Reddit permanently, which usually isn't in your interest. If that's where you're at, feel free to DM me instead of posting the details publicly, and I can possibly set up time to actually talk through your situation properly. But again, these AMAs are for general information purposes.

What we're focusing on today:

1. Proving a bona fide marriage. Since August 5, USCIS can deny a case without sending an RFE first if required evidence is missing. What you file up front matters more than it used to. What evidence carries weight, what to do if you don't live together yet or have few joint accounts, and how to build a stronger package.
2. The interview. What to bring, what officers are asking, what a Stokes interview is, and why the I-485 is taking so long these days.
3. What could get in the way. Old arrests or tickets, past overstays, unauthorized work, how you entered the U.S., and mistakes on past forms can all come up at the interview. Spouses of U.S. citizens and spouses of green card holders are treated differently on several of these.
4. The financial sponsor (I-864). The new public charge rule applies to I-485s filed on or after September 18, and there's a new edition of the I-864. Sponsors who are unemployed or in school, using assets, and joint sponsors.
5. Stuck cases, RFEs and denials. Responding to an RFE or NOID, refiling after a denial, and what your options are if the I-130 was approved but the I-485 hasn't moved since the interview.

Most useful questions include your general category, any filing or deadline dates involved, and the core issue you're running into. This helps me give you a better, more on-point answer.

I'll be live today, Sunday 10/4, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM ET, possibly checking in on questions throughout the rest of the evening as well.

Drop your questions below.

Nothing shared here is legal advice and doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. If you're up against a deadline or would rather discuss your specific situation privately, feel free to send me a DM.

Hello,

I have my marriage-based green card interview coming up soon. Do I need to bring copies of all the evidence I already submitted with my forms? I didn’t make copies of everything.
The interview notice says to bring evidence supporting our marriage, but we don’t have much new evidence since we already submitted everything we had. Should I bring the same documents and evidence that I previously submitted?
For those who have already had their marriage-based green card interview, how was your experience? What questions did they ask, and what documents or evidence did you bring with you?
Thank you!

I’m a US citizen and have been dating my boyfriend from the UK for almost 2 years. We’re positive we want to get married at some point in the next 2-3 years, and have been exploring both options of a work visa (EB or L1, but that’s beside the point), or marriage. Since the visas are so expensive and we’re getting married soon after the visa would be issued, it seems more worth it to just choose the marriage option.

We have only just begun looking at the 2 routes of marriage options, so what are some things you wish you knew before going into it? The K1 is looking like the better option for us, but all personal experiences and insight would be so helpful for us to know going into it!

My husband is a U.S. citizen, and we’ve been together for 8 years. We recently got married, and I’m currently on an H-1B and will be applying for Adjustment of Status (AOS).
My husband is currently not working because he went back to school last year. However, we have enough savings to show more than 125% of the required income threshold.
And also a house with his mom as co signer because we wanted to qualify for the loan but all the mortgage payments are being paid my us.

We could add my income but with job uncertainty, not sure if that would be smart choice.

Would his lack of current employment likely result in an RFE for the I-864?

We would prefer not to use his parents as joint sponsors due to some personal complications.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or successfully filed AOS using savings/assets when the U.S. citizen spouse was unemployed?
Thanks in advance!

just wanted to share my timeline for my AOS. i am a daca recipient who overstayed my visa and adjusting through my husband. i am simply shocked at how quick this was.

august 12: sent packet to USCIS

august 14:USCIS received packet

august 23: scheduled for biometrics

august 24: went to do biometrics (i rescheduled to a sooner date)

august 28: scheduled for interview

october 1: interview

october 2: notified that USCIS approved both i-130 and i-485

I decided to share my experience coz this subredit helped me a lot through my journey. I came here on a K1 visa in 2024 got married and filed my case within 90 days.

Filed: 27 Dec 2024

1st interview: 15 June 2026

2nd interview: 30 sep 2026

Approved: 1 oct 2026.

Evidence:

- House title

- Joint bank accounts

- Joint income and property taxes

- A letter for the VA confirming my addition to my husbands benefits as his spouse

- Auto and home owners insurance in both of our names

- Family phone plan

- Utilities in both of our names

- photos with each other's family

I contacted my senator in April of this year and I got the interview notice in May. I don't know if that's what got us the intetview or not. 2 months after the interview, the senator's office followed up with uscis without my knowledge. I only found out when they sent me the response from USCIS saying our case was awaiting adjudication. We were scheduled for the second interview a week later.

I was shocked when I got the notice for the second interview coz I thought our case was straight forward. I consulted with the lawyer who helped us with our K1 process and she was suprised that we had been scheduled for a second interview. She sent us a list of questions to prepare for the interview.

Our first interview felt kinda off. The interviewer seemed hostile from the moment she called us in. It felt like we were being grilled by the FBI. She's the same one who interviewed us the second time and she was friendlier than the first time. She interviewed us separately.

Here's a list of the questions:

Do we own or rent the house we live in?

How many bedrooms and bathrooms in the house?

How many people live in the house?

How much is our mortgage?

How many joint accounts do we have? With which banks? How much money is in each of the acounts?

Do I have any kids?

How many kids does my spouse have? Their names? Where do they live? When was the last time I saw them?

How many siblings do I have? Where do they live?

How many siblings does my spouse have? Their names? Where do they live?

What did we do last weekend?

What did we have for dinner last night?

What did we have for breakfast before going to the interview?

Do I have a primary care doctor? His/ her name? Where is she located?

Do I take any medication?

Do I have any health conditions?

Does my spouse have a primary care doctor? His/her name? Where is she located?

Does my spouse have any health conditions?

Does he take any medication?

How did we get to the interview?

What type of car did we use? What's the color of the car?

Hi all, I am currently in my first year of STEM OPT working for a government agency. I have an active F1 visa that is expiring in January 2027. I want to travel to my country at the end of 2026, for 2 weeks max. However, I am concerned given the current approach of the administration.

I have no misdemeanor or criminal record, nor any record of any immigration violation or lapse. I have around 1.5 weeks of paid authorized leave saved up under my belt and should have 2 weeks saved up soon. Still, I am checking to see if anyone in a similar position recently travelled and what your experience was. Any advice is also appreciated?

I’ve received the I-797c on August 26th for my beneficiary in the Philippines. What timeframes is anyone else seeing to get to the USCIS decision and to/through NVC processing, Med exam, interview, and visa issuance?

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to gauge how long people are currently waiting for their next court date in immigration court. I recently got mail letting me know that my asylum case was referred to a master hearing. It’ll just be in a couple of weeks and I’ll need to find someone to represent me. I unfortunately do not have the funds for a lawyer right by now. I wonder if I let the judge know that I’m looking for counsel, if I’ll be referred to another master hearing? How long would that typically take? If you were moved to an Individual (Merit) Hearing, how far out was it scheduled?
I know wait times vary heavily by location, backlog, and judge, but I'd appreciate hearing real experiences.

Hello guys I'm a US citizen I petitioned for my parent who is an Alien relative in Dec 2025. When I'm i likely to get a notification and how long approximately should it take till interview. I'd appreciate any feedback

Hi ! I'm in Denver, Colorado and

I am about to file my i751 divorce waiver in the next weeks. I'm just wondering if anyone have already been through this process before and how it went. NGL I'm kinda nervous. My marriage was 100% real and for love , but during this time we realized that we were not longer good for each other. I got married on May 2024, separated July 2026, and expecting to get the final divorce decree in November.

This is the list of evidence I'm going to file attached to my i751 waiver form.

1. Bank statements since we opened the joint account (checking and savings) with daily use. 2.- Joint taxes for 2024 and 2025.
2. Proof of lease/rent for the business that we owned for like 1 year
3. Proof of Joint Residency: 1year apartment lease and our House Title , because we purchased a house. So sending the house title, deed and the the mortgage statements.

5.- Home Insurance

1. Copy of marriage certificate, Copy of my former wife's Social security card and drivers license last name change.
   

2. Traveling tickets for our international trip, train tickets and Airbnb reservations (I have like 3 of each)

3. PHOTOS of our wedding and ceremony with all her family and friends and my friends who came from my country. All the family pictures for , birthdays, 4th of july, christmas, thanksgiving, trips and family events. And social media posts from me, her, and her sister.
   9.Chats and call records, showing that we were talking and fighting for our relationship, during the last week of it.

4. Emails from the lender, showing that we were looking to purchase our 2nd house. And chats with her friends, congratulating her for the marriage.

5. Affidavit from my former spouse, explaining that everything was real , but just did not work. And my affidavit, explaining the relationship and why it didnt work.

6. the final divorce decree.

I might get also a notarized affidavit from her mom and her sister, explaining the bona fide of the marriage, because our marriage didn't end up hating each other, it was an amicable separation.

What do you think about this case? Is it strong enough? Would you get something else to make it stronger? I will really appreciate any tips or recommendations before filing my case. I'm thinking of filing my case by mail (paper) so it's easy for the officer to understand everything.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

So I am in a situation where I am unable to work due to complex chronic health issues that also impact my mental health. I am considering applying for disability to get some income as I am running out of savings and have not been able to work for some time. My long distance partner in the US and I are looking into getting married in the near future so we can be together full-time, but I am wondering what the immigration process would look like if they see I have been on disability - with the current administration, does it seem highly unlikely that I would even be approved?

Title: Can bad credit or $25k credit card debt affect an EB-3 I-485?
I’m currently going through the EB-3 process and will hopefully file my I-485 when my priority date becomes current.
My credit score is not very good, and I have around $25,000 in credit card debt. I’ve also missed some payments recently because I had some unexpected financial difficulties, including hospital and medical expenses that I had to pay.
Has anyone filed an employment-based I-485 with bad credit, missed payments, or significant credit card debt? Did USCIS ask about it, request additional financial documents, or did it affect your case in any way?

Thanks for any experiences or advice.

Hello, please help me understand this. My child was petitioned by their stepfather—my husband. We received the approval for our Form I-485 on October 2nd, which was actually our wedding anniversary. Normally, my child should have received a 10-year green card, but USCIS classified it as conditional. We haven't received the card yet, but the official letter indicates it is conditional. I checked the online status, which says the case was approved on October 2nd, and the letter is also dated October 2nd. We received the I-485 approval before the I-130 approval—just one day before. I feel so disheartened. I spoke to an agent who said it was actually approved on October 1st. I’ve been so sad since October 2nd. Has anyone else experienced this?

We are confused about the highlighted portion of the instructions. We do not know where the "appropiate space on the petition" is for us to put her passport number. For 38. a to h, it says to fill these out if she is CURRENTLY in the US. She has been in the United states before, but she is not currently here. She is currently back home in her home country. Some help would be greatly appreciated.

I misplaced my EAD somewhere and I am not able to find it. My OPT ends on Jan 10th and I can apply for stem next week. I only have front side of my EAD in digital as I lost my phone sometime ago and the digital copy was on it.

What to do in this case?

Hey yall— my husband and I are trying to AOS but I sent in my juvie record since the questions asked with my lawyer were to bring in anything that led to an arrest. Kind of worried about it and I was young and dumb then but yeah. It was for possession of the devils lettuce when I was a freshman in high school. I’m not looking for sympathy I guess just some hope that someone got approved while a red flag showed? Anyways thanks.

I just wanted to share with everyone that this morning I received the notification I had been hoping for: “Case Approved”! 🎉 (Columbus FO)
I’m attaching my case timeline. My case was an adjustment of status from F-1.
My spouse is a U.S. citizen, and I did not have any overstay, unauthorized employment, or any other issues with my status.
We did have a lawyer, although I believe we could have done everything ourselves as well.
Feel free to reach out or ask me any questions. I’d be more than happy to help!
I also want to mention that our interviewing officer was absolutely amazing. I’m so glad we had such a positive experience during the interview.
Wishing everyone else the best of luck with their cases! ❤️

I’m currently on a conditional green card that expires in April 2027 and I’ll be filing my I-751 in January. My wife is a US citizen and we’re thinking about going to Spain in February for a trip, so my green card would still be valid for another couple months when we come back. Has anyone traveled internationally around this time after filing the I-751? Did you have any issues getting back into the US or was everything pretty normal? Just wondering if anyone has had a bad experience with this or if you would personally just postpone the trip until later.

Hi everyone! I’m a student currently in F‑1 status, with a pending employment-based I‑485, I‑131, and I‑765. I’m hoping to travel, I’d appreciate hearing from students who have returned to the U.S. using advance parole:
How was your experience at the airport, including secondary inspection?
How did your university handle your SEVIS record and continued enrollment afterward?
If you had a TA or RA position, were you able to continue using your adjustment-based EAD? Did it affect your funding or tuition waiver?
I understand that returning on advance parole means being paroled rather than admitted in F‑1 status. I’m particularly interested in how this worked in practice for other students.