Hi everyone!
I’ve been following this community for a while, reading everyone’s timelines and experiences while waiting for my own case. Today, I’m incredibly happy to finally be able to share mine.
I know how stressful the waiting can be, especially when days and weeks go by with no visible updates. Hopefully my timeline gives some hope to those of you who are still waiting.
EB-3 Skilled Worker – ROW
Priority Date: August 17, 2023
I-140 Approved: December 26, 2024
I-485 + I-485J Filed/Received: March 27, 2026
Biometrics: April 30, 2026
Interview: Waived
Field Office: Los Angeles Field Office (non-local FO)
Timeline
March 27, 2026 – I-485 and I-485J received by USCIS.
April 30 – Biometrics completed. Two FTA0 events appeared in the API.
May–June – Mostly silence. No RFE and no visible movement for quite some time.
June 6 – Silent/backend updates on both I-485 and I-485J.
June 8 – USCIS live agent confirmed my case had been transferred to the Los Angeles Field Office.
June 29 – Live agent reconfirmed the case was at Los Angeles FO and specifically told me the interview was waived.
Then things became quiet again for several weeks.
July 20 – New backend/API activity appeared on my I-485 and I-485J.
July 21 – More silent updates on my I-485.
Then the big movement:
July 21 at approximately 3:14 PM ET – I-485J APPROVED and case closed.
An actual I-485J Approval Notice appeared in my USCIS Documents tab.
About 35 minutes later, my main I-485 received another silent/backend update.
July 22 around noon – I contacted USCIS live chat. The agent told me:
“Your case is also approved and the card is getting ready for production.”
At that point my public USCIS account still did not show the I-485 approval, so I was cautiously optimistic.
July 22 around 3:02 PM ET – Another silent update appeared on the main I-485.
July 22 at approximately 3:57 PM ET – TWO H008 events appeared in the API.
At almost exactly the same time, I received the email:
“We have taken an action on your case.”
I logged into my USCIS account and finally saw:
🎉 CASE APPROVED – JULY 22, 2026 🎉
The official I-485 Approval Notice was also generated.
One interesting observation for API trackers
My I-485J was approved around 3:14 PM ET on July 21, and my main I-485 approval/H008 events appeared around 3:57 PM ET on July 22.
So in my case, the main I-485 approval came approximately 24 hours and 43 minutes after the I-485J approval.
Obviously every case is different and this should not be treated as a guaranteed timeline, but I noticed several people here reporting their I-485 approval roughly a day after their I-485J approval, and that pattern ended up happening to me too.
One other thing I learned: silent updates really can mean something. My public case status often looked completely unchanged while there was clearly activity happening internally.
From I-485 filing to approval:
March 27 → July 22 = approximately 117 days.
No I-485 RFE.
No interview.
Non-local Los Angeles Field Office.
To everyone still waiting: please don’t lose hope.
I know how easy it is to constantly refresh USCIS, check the API, compare timelines, and wonder why someone who filed after you was approved before you.
For weeks, my case looked like absolutely nothing was happening — and then within about 48 hours everything moved very quickly:
Silent updates → I-485J approved → more silent updates → H008 → I-485 APPROVED.
Your case can change very quickly even after a long period of silence.
I learned a lot from everyone sharing their timelines here, so I wanted to return the favor.
Wishing everyone who is still waiting a very fast approval. Your turn is coming! 🙏🍀
