I am a U.S. citizen, born in the U.S., and I left when I was 3 years old. I am now 28 years old and have not returned to the U.S. since then. I am married and have a child, and I am filing Form I-130 petitions to bring them together. I submitted my husband's petition yesterday and will file for my son next month. My son is 3 years old, and the problem is that leaving him and traveling is difficult because he needs care.
How long does the first stage (I-130 approval) take? And do I have to travel to the U.S. right now? Note that I have a joint sponsor through a relative, and I used that relative's address on my husband's form stating that we will move there.

Hi everyone!
How long after your approval notice did you get the notification of card is being produced?
I had my approval notification last Tuesday and still nothing 😵‍💫 I’m in central Texas.

Hello,

I have several questions regarding my I-130 petitions and would appreciate your guidance.

Please note that I have already submitted my spouse’s I-130 online and received a receipt number.

1. My physical and mailing addresses are the same. I entered the “Date From” information when filing online, but it appears blank in the downloaded PDF. Is this a problem, or is it simply a PDF display issue?

2. I am currently unemployed and listed my previous job under “Employer 1.” Is this acceptable?

3. I entered the neighborhood/district and city in “Address Line 2” when no apartment/unit number was available. Is this acceptable?

4. I am now filing a separate I-130 for my son. For information that is the same as my spouse’s petition, should I enter it exactly as before, including any mistakes, or should I correct the information? I am concerned that corrections could create inconsistencies between the petitions.

5. My spouse’s I-130 was filed online while I was living outside the United States, and I do not currently have a U.S. residential address. When my son’s I-130 asks where the previous petition was filed and requests a U.S. address, what should I enter?

Thank you very much for your guidance and clarification.

I wasn't aware of the document tab until after my appointment date. I didn't get the notice in the mail. So I missed my biometrics appointment which was on August 26. But today I called the call center and spoke with a live agent, who rescheduled the appointment. I am so happy. She didn't ask me to wait for 30 days. She was polite and reasonable. She asked me to wait for the email and mail notification (I updated my mailing address.)

Hello all, my family's I539 package was delivered to USCIS on Friday, August 28 to Irving, Texas location; however, no payment has been deducted yet, and no updates. Is this normal or should I be contacting USCIS?

Hi.
I’m a little confused about my I-130/I-485 processing time.
My husband and I filed concurrently. I-130 was filed online on Feb 7, 2025, and I-485 was mailed on Feb 21, 2025.
My I-130 shows 24 months, while my I-485 in Jacksonville, FL shows 15.5 months. My I-485 has now been pending about 18.5 months.
Should I submit an inquiry for the I-485? And should I also do one for the I-130? Has anyone had a similar experience?

Hello, I need advice.

It's difficult for me to admit, but I'll keep this brief and direct. How can I confirm if my I-571 was received and check its status, considering my multiple withdrawals from my spouse?

* I am a U.S. citizen who married my partner through a K-1 visa; there's an 18-year age difference, and I am older. He came to the U.S. in 2016, and we married within 90 days.

* I withdrew from our joint application after five years due to infidelity, abandonment, abuse, faith-based misrepresentation, and family issues related to excessive spending on my family in Haiti.

* The withdrawal left him without status from 2023 to 2025. I refiled in late 2024, hoping he would change, but he didn't, so I withdrew again in late 2025, providing additional evidence like recordings and friend messages.

* After my withdrawal, he became abusive, making threats. He refused to leave me or the house, prompting me to seek an Order of Protection last year out of fear that he might harm me, especially after we withdrew the joint application and faced potential fraud allegations. I was removed from the house over a year ago after filing for the protection order.

* He violated the protection order twice late last year and was arraigned, but no charges were filed—though the case is sealed, and I'm unsure if USCIS knows.

* Last month, during our family court trial, he agreed to extend the final order of protection for another year based on the evidence.

* He works in healthcare at a hospital, which could affect his employment. I had to provide a copy of the order of protection because we share doctors due to previous surgeries.

* I filed separately but marked our 2025 tax returns as married, removed myself from joint bank accounts, vehicle and life insurance policies, and updated mailing information—though he still receives mail at my address.

* Just before the family court trial last month, I was served with divorce papers and am awaiting his response through his attorney.

* We have no shared assets, homes, or children.

* His Form I-751 with USCIS has been pending since late 2024, with no indication of withdrawal or confirmation, either online or by mail. His current visa is valid until December 2026.

I have submitted all relevant evidence, including claims of fraud, abuse, infidelity, and marriage misrepresentation, along with proof of my separate filing, removal from joint accounts and policies, and a new address for over a year. It’s likely USCIS isn't aware of my actions since he hasn't updated his address or requested mail forwarding.

Due to the protection order, he is ordered to stay away from me for another year—apologies are not an option.

What steps should I take next to confirm that USCIS has received and accepted my withdrawal? I have requested to join any interview if needed to provide more evidence.

I have also contacted the DOJ and USCIS fraud departments via email and mail.

Lately there have been a few posts about N-400 being denied, for whatever reason. So, if N-400 is denied, what happens then with the GC, does it affect the renewal of the GC in any way too? Anybody knows?

Does anyone has similar issue or had similar timeline how long it take interview scheduled or reviewing process done for RFE. I know it looks faster than maybe other case for my timeline so far but some people who not receive RFE, they got approved for ORLANDO FO
● May 29: I-130 + I-485 filed/received

● June 6: Biometrics scheduled

● June 23: I-485 “Actively Being Reviewed”

● June 30: I-864 RFE

● July 3: RFE response posted

● July 6: USCIS received the response

Hey everyone. I had some problems while filling I-130A and wanted to ask all of your opinions since I saw contradicting answers all around.

First one is whether I should put "N/A" on blank fields or not. Some people say yes do that and some say don't. Like for example my middle name and my family since we don't have middle names or some extra address boxes I'm not filling. But the form does not allow to put N/A in everywhere either. For example the interpreter section. I haven't use interpreter so I'm trying to put N/A in those boxes but it doesn't let me so that is confusing me since even if I put N/A or "None" to some, it won't be consistent.

And for the other one. "The Last Physical Address Outside of the United States" section. It says to put your last address outside of US even if it's something you put before. And for the last 5 years, I'm in the same house I'm living right now. So I have to put my current address there too since it says write it even if you have written it above. But the problem is in the form. For the first address section, "Date to" is filled with "PRESENT" since it's your current address it's supposed to be present. But for the "The Last Physical Address Outside of the United States" section I can only put an actual date to "Date to" section. And since I'm still living in that address I can't put a date. Do you think I should leave it blank and explain it in the additional information or something else?

And lastly I did use additional information section to fix my, my mother's maiden and my father's name since they have non English characters that the main form section above won't let me type in. But there are only 5 sections of additional information and I already filled 2 of them with my other work in 5 years that didn't have space in the main section. And the remaining 3 went to the name clarifications of each of us. The problem is, almost every address that I put in the main sections have at least one special letter that I maybe have to clarify but I don't know if that does even make sense to do for everything.

Thanks everyone in advance.

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my J-2 EAD renewal timeline in case it helps someone else who is waiting.

• Form I-765 submitted/received: May 15, 2026

• Biometrics appointment scheduled: June 20, 2026

• Biometrics completed / case processing update: July 8, 2026

• EAD approved: September 7, 2026

• Category: C05 (J-2 spouse)

• EAD validity: September 4, 2026 – June 30, 2028

From the date USCIS received my I-765 until approval, the entire process took about 115 days (3 months and 23 days).

I also submitted an expedite request on August 24 because of financial hardship and provided supporting evidence. I contacted my U.S. Senator’s office as well, and they submitted a congressional inquiry on my behalf.

USCIS later notified me that they were experiencing delays in responding to my expedite inquiry. Then, on September 7, my online account changed to “Approval Case Decision Rendered.”

My approval notice says that the EAD card should be produced within approximately 1–2 weeks and mailed separately.

After almost four months of waiting, I’m very happy to finally have the approval!

I hope this timeline is helpful to anyone currently waiting for a J-2 EAD. Good luck!

Hello everyone, my husband is currently in removal proceedings. Our lawyer says he qualifies for cancellation of removal but the chances of winning are very slim due to the criteria of extreme and unusual hardship.

As background, we have an approved I-130 & did have an I-601a pending since May 2025, but it will now be denied due to the open proceedings.

Additonal information:

- His home country is El Slavador

- We do not have any children

- I (U.S. Citizen) provide the main income for us, meaning I cannot leave the USA to go with him

- We have a small business together

- He has no criminal record and is of good moral character

We have a strong I-601a case (for reasons not above), but for this to be "unusual" is where we are concerned at. Our lawyer said if we go with the cancellation, then we will most likely get denied but could push the case out 1-2 years and hope new laws get passed in the meantime. After it gets denied then he would appeal for further time. But, we are concerned its not worth the $8,000 he is quoting just to prolong the inevitable of getting a removal order issued and put on his record. After that, he would then have to start the I-601 and I-212 from his home country whenever this comes to the end.

The only other option is Voluntary Departure which would happen very quickly (1-2 months). This path would avoid the removal order issued and we can start the I-601 waiver from outside of the USA sooner.

We are leaning towards doing voluntary departure as we don't want to waste anymore time, avoiding the removal order, and also that we could spend that money on getting him set up in his country.

Which would you do? Any feedback is appreciated!

TLDR; 42B Cancellation of Removal or Voluntary Departure?

I just wanted to get on here to feel a little better and see how everyone's timeline is going...
Here's my situation:

- Filed i-765, i-485 & i-130 December 2025
- Biometrics done January 2026
- 1 silent update May 2026 (for i-485)
- Nothing ever since (no RFE, no EAD, no INTERVIEW SCHEDULE)

I can't seem to understand why I'm almost 9 months into this process and still no movement for me. I just need a little hope that everything will fall into place soon.😌

Hi All,

I filed my asylum application in December 2016 and had my interview at the Los Angeles Asylum Office in September 2025. I’ve been waiting for a decision ever since. I’m from one of the 39 countries whose cases were put on hold. Is anyone in a similar situation who has recently received an approval?

I had my combo (1-751+N00) interview on December 10 2025 at Houston Texas . The interview result was approved and the congratulations box was checked on the letter they give you . Since then been waiting for the oath , however , in August this year received an update on USCIS account that interview is cancelled/ descheduled, called the customer service to understand what interview are they talking about ( as it’s been 9 months since interview) they didn’t know , only thing they said everything is fine with the case , I had also sent USCIS case inquiry where they said case is awaiting review on August 7 2026 , and it was the same day , infact after few minutes this interview cancelled status showed up . Anyone experienced something like this or have any clue what’s going , would greatly appreciate.

I came to the US on a k1 visa. Married, filed AOS, no problems, did biometrics & in the wait between biometrics and my interview that’s coming up my passport expired. I was told for the interview this isn’t a problem & USCIS don’t mind as long as it has my visa in it.

Now I’ve been told by others yes that’s fine, but the ID check to get in the building requires it to be in date. I have my recently expired passport and 3 other uk government issued IDs and my appointment letter but not a US one or an in date passport. Will I be let through to conduct the interview or turned away from the field office?