Family Green Card Processes

Consular Processing & Adjustment (without concurrent filing)

Form I-130 Approval

I-130 Processing Times matter to all applicants going through Consular Processing, as well as applicants going through Adjustment of Status without Concurrent filing. In other words, unless you are filing Form I-485 and Form I-130 concurrently, you are going to be interested by I-130 Processing Times. Note the following:

• I-130 Processing Times are at this point more of an indication of USCIS’ backlog than the actual time it takes to approve a form I-130. So using appropriately these processing times takes expertise.
• I-130 processing times vary primarily depending on the immigration category of the applicant. Essentially, USCIS will take more time to approve Form I-130 when it knows that the applicant will have to wait anyway because of Annual Numerical Limits and the associated Visa Bulletin wait.
  Immediate Relatives though are treated the same way and there is no distinction made between parents, spouses, and children of U.S. Citizens as far as processing times are concerned.
• I-130 Processing Times may vary depending on which Service Centers process the I-130. This is actually more true for Immediate Relatives than it is for applicants under a family-preference. Most applicants under a family-preference see their I-130 processed by the California Service Center while Immediate Relatives see their I-130s see their I-130 processed by 3 service centers.

Consular Processing

NVC Timeframes

The National Visa Center (NVC) is a unit of the U.S. State Department which essentially makes sure that applicants Green Card Case is ‘interview-ready’, so that the Interview with a Consular Officer can take place. Note the following:

• Case Creation represents the time it takes for the NVC to create an NVC Case Number once they have received an approved I-130 from USCIS.
• Case Review represents the time it takes for the NVC to review a complete filing in the CEAC and determine whether it is ‘Case Complete’ (once the DS-260, Affidavit of Support, and all documents have been submitted).
• EMail Response, which normally represents the time it takes for the NVC to respond to ‘AskNVC’ emails, is considered ‘Not Available’, because the NVC is unable to respond to all inquiries due to staffing reductions (NVC will only respond to inquiries with urgent medical or humanitarian concerns or other necessary updates. NVC will not respond to any routine emails submitted March 27 or earlier – Source: cliniclegal.org)

Because of staffing reductions linked to Covid-19, the time it takes Applicants to get to Documentarily Qualified has increased:

Adjustment of Status

Form I-485 Adjudication

I-485 Processing Times are the one and only driver of the Interview for applicants going through Adjustment of Status. Note the following:

• I-485 Processing Times are computed differently than I-130 or I-765 Processing Times. They actually reflect the age of the cases that were recently adjudicated by USCIS. They are therefore not an indication of a backlog, but a more accurate indication of how long it takes USCIS to make a decision on 50% of the cases of the cases that were submitted to them, and 93% of the cases
• I-485 Processing Times are the addition of two Processing Times:
  1. the time it takes the NBC to make sure that the I-485 of the applicant is interview-ready;
  2. once the case of the applicant is deemed ‘interview-ready’, the time it takes for the USCIS Field Office to schedule the interview. The higher the number of waiting applicants, the longer it takes 
• The following tables represents current processing times for the 10 busiest USCIS Field Offices.

As of March 2020, the ‘average’ across all USCIS Field Offices look something like:

• 50% Scenario?  50% of the I-485 Interview take place within 10.5 months of their filing.
• 93% Scenario?  23 months.

Adjustment of Status

Form I-765 (and I-131) Approval

The National Benefit Center (NBC) is a unit of USCIS that makes sure that the Green Card Cases of applicants are ‘interview-ready’, so that an Interview with an ‘Adjudicating Officer’ at a USCIS Field Office can take place. While doing that, the NBC is also in charge of delivering the Employment Authorization Card (through Form I-765 approval), and Advance Parole (through Form I-131 approval).

How long it takes to approve Form I-765 has a limited impact on the date of the Interview. The most important factor is how long applicants have to wait for their Interview at the USCIS Field Office, which varies greatly depending on how ‘busy’ the office is, and which is captured through Form I-485 Processing Times.