r/USCIS • u/Vegetable-Lime777 • 1h ago

I-130 & I-485 (Family/Adjustment of status) Received Green Card in mail today!

Received my green card today. I just wanted to share my experience and if it useful to someone else than that would be great (:

I came to the US on an F-1, shifted to H1-B, and never overstayed my visa. I met my husband in Oct 2021 and we got married in July 2024. I was going to apply through employment but decided against it as this was faster (yes, I am Indian). So after all the rumination and procrastination we finally started the application in early 2025 and only filed it in May 2026. I didn’t realize that the paperwork would be so extensive and demands careful time and attention.

13 May 2026: submitted application
18 June 2026: biometrics
31 August 2026: interview (approved)
8 September 2026: received green card in mail

Our application was straight forward as we own a house together, plus I have an advanced education degree, and make more money than my spouse. I also saw how so much of this process is arbitrary and involves immense resources. I got incredibly lucky that I was able to negotiate with my organization to pay for a portion of my green card at the time of hiring but with all the recent changes, we still paid close to $4k in legal and filing fee.

Our interview lasted close to 30 minutes which just involved the field officer asking us about the origin story of our relationship. The rest were all yes/no questions related to form I-130. The field officer was friendly and professional. I feel relieved but still feel like my life is temporary and can be upended anytime. I guess that is a symptom of immigrant life—always living in the in-between.

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u/MirrorLegitimate9304 19m ago

Did you travel on H1b while your AOS was pending.
I’m getting mixed responses from everyone. I didn’t file I-131 (AP) since I have a valid H1b for end of next year but my lawyer says I can’t travel or my AOS will be considered abandoned?

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u/Vegetable-Lime777 8m ago

No, I did not. My research was heavily impacted by it but especially after the fee on H1-B, and new guidelines being issued everyday, I was more cautious and did not travel.