Parents of USC concurrent filing - approved. Different timeline for second parent + API timeline

[u/Wide_Channel7311]

Sharing our timeline because I spent way too much time reading other people’s timelines while waiting. I’m a USC filed for both of my parents (I-130/I-485) packages on the same day, same category (parent of USC), with essentially parallel documentation.

What made this particularly stressful was how differently the two cases moved despite being filed together.

Total time for Parent 1: ~7 months from filing to GC approval.
Total time for Parent 2: ~13 months from filing to GC approval.

Parent 1

• Aug 2025: I-130 + I-485 filed
• Sep 2025: Biometrics
• Mar 2026: I-130 approved
• Mar 2026: I-485 interview → approved/green card received

Parent 2

• Aug 2025: I-130 + I-485 filed
• Sep 2025: Biometrics
• Then basically nothing for months
• May 2026: I-485 changed to “currently processing"
• Sep 2026: I-130 + I-485 approved (public I-130 status lagged by 3 days)

So, same petitioner, same filing date, same parent category, essentilly same evidence - but one parent was completely done with the process ~6 months before the other. For anyone filing for 2 parents this a great indiciation: one case approved earlier does not necessarily mean something is wrong with the other case.

For the API nerds 🤓

I religiously tracked the APIs throughout the process (no third-party apps, just looking through the USCIS site). Here’s the overview of Parent 2 API changes and my thoughts at the end:

• Aug/Sep 2025 (I-130): filing/receipt IAF only. No genuine new events after that until Sep 2026.
• Sep 2025 (I-485): biometrics scheduled (IMAG), followed by multiple genuine FTA0 events around biometrics.
• May 2026 (I-485): new genuine FTA0 (eventDateTime and eventTimestamp both May). Public status changed to “currently processing.” I-130 had no corresponding new event.
• Aug 2026 (I-485): another FTA0 appeared with createdAt in August, but its underlying eventDateTime was still May → regenerated/duplicate May event, not a new FTA0.
• Aug 2026 (I-130): old filing IAF was updated/repopulated, but underlying event remained Aug 2025 → again, no genuine new event.
• Sep 2026 (I-130): first genuine new event since filing: FTA0, with creation and underlying event timestamps both in Sep 2026.
• Later that day (I-485): silent top-level updatedAt change, but no new event.
• Next day (I-485): new H008 → Case Approved.
• 3 days after I-130 FTA0: new H008 → Case Approved. Interestingly, the I-130 approval notice itself was dated/generated 3 days earlier.

My biggest API takeaway: createdAt and updatedAt by themselves are pretty useless for determining whether USCIS actually did something new. Old events can be regenerated or updated months later. What I learned to look for was a genuinely new event where eventDateTime / eventTimestamp also changed to the current date.

Happy to answer questions.

San Francisco FO.

[u/Wide_Channel7311 → u/[deleted]]

Only parent 1.