Discuss abtdamntime's I-485 USCIS Case

Your application send date matches mine but USCIS receive date is Feb 10th. There is a long gap. Which city do you live in?

sorry i made a mistake. my uscis receive date is oct 30th.

Thank you for clarification. Which city are you located?

i am in SanJose, what about you? Unfortunately SJ Field Office is very slow these days. I hope they pick up speed.

Me too....Everyone who got biometrics invite are outside Bay Area.....we will be waiting for a very long time.....did you upgrade to premium for I-140?

I did not upgrade since it will be an out of pocket expense and it will be Oct 2021 when my PD will become current (hopefully). We better get our I-140 by then!
For medical i am thinking of interfiling in Sept.. it will be valid for 2 yrs... i want to somehow waive the interview.. since it will depend on SJ FO schedule right?
I wish there was a way to get a PO Box in Fremont and put the address there, so that we get the San Francisco field office and not San Jose.

Your PD is Jan 2012 and mine is May 2012. Yes, there is a good chance your date is current in October. I am thinking on similiar lines to not do 'Premium' because there is still time. As for medicals - Yes, September should be good enough. My address is in Fremont. I don't think we will be assigned SF ASC. It will be either San Jose ASC or Oakland ASC. SF ASC is also fully packed, there are tons of applicants.

Oh i see, i remember trying out some Fremont zip codes in the USCIS website and SF office was showing up. Did you try your zip code there?
If SF ASC is also jam packed then i guess it wouldnt matter.

I typed several Fremont zip codes it only gives the Oakland ASC on USCIS website --> 8000 Edgewater Drive, Suite 170, Oakland, CA 94621-2042. I am very sure both Oakland and San Francisco are super packed. Bay Area has massive number of immigrants. It won't be easy to fit appointments for 1000s of us who applied in October, November and December from Bay Area. Some Mountain House residents got biometrics done at Modesto. Their zip cod is 95391

I see, i guess we are stuck here then. Someone has started this thread:
https://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i765/2181219811/bay-area-san-jose-oakland-asc-s-biometrics-for-oct-nov-2021-aos-ead-filed-applications/page/last_page

would be interesting to see how many are stuck.

Thanks for sharing this link. It seems some people who filed last week of Oct got appointments in Oakland. But it does seems like Bay Area applications are moving at snail's pace. Let us stay in touch.

Any more information on progess of Oakland ASC appointments?

No new info on Bay area ASC appmts, its still very slow. I even contacted emma and was told that appmt will come soon, delay is due to covid etc.. Lets see what May bulletin tells us.. then depending on that i will freak out! lol

Well, some of my friends are current already who were in EB2 from 2010. They are in San Ramon and San Jose. Both of them have no update for biometrics. Looks to me Oakland and San Jose ASC have dropped the ball on us. When did you chat with a live agent?

i contacted the live agent on 14th april.
oh no, EB2 2010 are not getting biometrics? this is messed up.
i know someone who got I-140 approved for EB1 upgrade from EB2 in October, and filed AoS and other forms by end of October, with PD 2013..
still no Bio appmt..
this is getting a worrisome..

But looks people are getting letters for biometrics now. Can you bump the thread that you sent me tomorrow? I just did. Let us see if there is any response

bumped it. hope we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
i would think eb1 will be given priority first.. then h4-ead pending cases (since they are severely backlogged and are protesting on social media).. then eb2/3 current dates.. then us..!.. i would think end of May/June ..

Yes, EB1 would be priority & all the RoW applicants who are current will be prioritized. I don't know why people want to severly protest for H4 EAD. Wouldn't it better if USCIS can focus on NOT wasting a single green card? Lot of us will benefit and it will make H4 EAD useless if we all can move to GC EAD instead. I replied to the thread as well just now. Let us keep it bumped up.

I think the H4EAD is for all the H1B spouses right? i guess they cannot wait untill their spouses PD becomes current. i am guessing the full crowd from 2013 till 2020..
i dont know how uscis will solve all this.. i really hope ultimately when our PD becomes current the adjudication wont take 2 yrs..
Honestly the time to adjudication should count towards days for naturalization.. since its surely not our fault..

You are thinking too far for naturalization! One of my friends in San Ramon who is current in EB2 chatted with Emma and they told him that his bio is scheduled for 15th May in Oakland. They said he will get the notices in USPS

Oh so they are prioritizing current dates for biometric.. i think the biometric appmt for i-485 (when it becomes current) gets higher priority.
For us the biometric appmt will be for AoS and EAD and since our date isnt current they are not sending us the appmt.
The frustrating part is that unless we get our EAD+AP card we cannot travel.. they need to understand that.
I think they will only process our case if we mention that we need expedited cards due to some unfortunate event.. and provide proof for that.. untill then only dates that are current will be sent the appmts.

How do we expedite? By chatting with a live agent? Did you try this?

I didnt try this, but a friend did since he had to go to india due to a death of a family member.
He requested for expedited processing (through EMMA) and provided reason/proof. He now has his EAD card, but waiting for the card for his kids and spouse.
Do not reach them unless you have a valid reason needing the card (like emergency travel or deep financial loss).. i am not sure if it could have adverse affect on ones case.

I used to hear that we shouldn't contact USCIS. But recently the feedback I am getting is if we contact them, somehow the case is getting some attention. I have an urge to contact but I am going to resist till 30th April. Not getting the biometrics letter could mean our Fingerprints are getting re-used! ??

Unfortunately it doesnt mean anything.. they are just slow and prioritizing other dates.
You can ask EMMA live agent abt the status.. i asked a week back and the agent gave me the standard covid/busy response..

I see. Nothing is in our hands anyway. Let us wait. Either way, there is a good chance that our PD will be current at some point in fiscal year of 2022.

yeah feels very uncomfortable with the whole process as nothing is in our hands......i140 isnt approved.... biometric appmt hasnt come yet.....EAD+AP card hasnt come yet due to which we cant travel in an emergency..

I got the notice for FP at Oakland for May 21st. I was about to chat with Emma this morning and the post man suprised me.

Thats awesome! This is good, now the next step is to be prepared in July to make sure if you need to file PP for i-140 and submit RFE through interfile.
I am thinking once my PD becomes current in EB3 i will apply for PP, till then since i am not getting biometrics it would be a waste of money.

You will get biometrics notice soon. Oakland ASC is very slow but the notices are rolling in. The 2 letters from USCIS for appointment I got today was stamped on 4/23 but I received in mail today on 4/27. Last week of Oct 2020 on each day they got 1000s of petitions in Nebraska, it is impossible for them to follow a particular order. Fragomen told me my company will only pay for PP when date is current otherwise I have to pay myself. For Interfile - they don't recommend it - according to them - wait for RFE for medicals and respond only then because along with medicals they might issue RFE for any other document. Fragomen says USCIS may not accept medicals and if they return it it will go waste after 60 days. I am just going to wait not do the medicals or PP till the date becomes current.

I just noticed that you RD was Oct 30th and notice date is Feb 10th. My RD was 29th and notice date was Jan 27th. So we are only 1 day apart for RD but your notice date is 14 days after me. So we can imagine that just on Oct 29th and Oct 30th probably 10s of 1000s of petitions were received in Nebraska and it took them 14 days to issue notice.

Hey i too have fragomen! a lot of the big companies seems to have sent all the applications towards the end of Oct/beginning Nov. so like you mentioned one day can have a big effect.
PP for I-140 i will check if my company pays when it becomes current. I hope it does! My plan is to apply for PP once it becomes current. I think even USCIS is planning that way. They will advance the EB3 aggressively and only accept PP for cases that are current.. i think maybe thats why they are not wasting time processing I-140 and also EAD+AP.. they want to clear the GC list soon.
For Medical RFE, Fragomen does say you should wait for RFE, but since you are not sending it along with your AoS, it should be valid for 2 yrs right? i thought only when you send it along with AoS it is only valid for 60 days.. agree, there could be other things required for RFE, but that chance might be low.. medicals is the only RFE for a majority of cases.

i have a friend who needs to rush to India.. i am asking him to find out if he can get the medical certificate now and give it to the lawyer, since he will be stuck in India for 3 months atleast due to covid situation.. he cannot get medicals in case they issue him RFE.. unless they have USCIS approved doctors in India.

Fragomen told me if USCIS accepts medicals, it will be valid for 2 years. If they do not accept we only have 60 days from the day the doctor signs the report.

i see, hahha that is ridiculous.. i wonder who comes up with these rules. i wish there was no expiration for anyone residing in US.. even after we get a GC ppl will visit india/china and can still get tuberculosis..
i hope there is a way to get data on the number of rejected cases for medical.
maybe once your PD becomes current we need not wait for RFE to arrive and we can interfile. This chance will be high for acceptance maybe.
interfile does not cost any money right? so it only comes to taking a chance for the rejected medicals ($500 max total maybe)

Yes, rules are ridiculous, we have lived here for many years, what is the point of medicals anyway. Yes, we can interfile, if all it gets rejected, we will waste the fee that we paid to the doctor. But sometimes, even if they accept interfiled documents, they may still issue RFE which means, re-do medicals and respond to RFE. I don't have the patience to do multiple doctor vists. I have decided my best course of action --> upgrade to PP for I-140 when date becomes current, company will pay for it and wait for RFE to be issued for medicals, RFE is not nice, since we will be delayed by 2 months but what is 2 months when compared to decades of suffering?

Yeah looks like i am sitting duck too.. Fragomen adviced against medical RFE, not because it could get rejected and we now have only 60 days, but apparently AoS will take 2 yrs or more to process..!.... i dont know what to say. Moreover PP 140 i have to pay out of pocket even if the date becomes current.. so i guess i am now playing the horrible waiting game!

Medical and interview for AoS is designed to throw sand in the gear.. i dont see any reason for its dependency in getting GC. Moreover for the crazy 'public charge' proof we sent medical insurance.. so why do they care if i have tuberculosis.. i wont suck the tax payers money for my treatment.
Also why they havent thrown out the interview in 2021? it came about in 2017 intentionally to slow things down.
Also USCIS hasnt digitized any of their systems. They will physically request your PERM document to be mailed once they look at your i-140.. why isnt it online?.. why should that document be physically present? Also why isnt EB2 to EB3 downgrade automatic? if i have a valid i-140 on EB2, then i should automatically qualify for EB3 as an interfile.. why go through an elaborate system..
Biometric they can do at their own pace after they issue the GC.. they can revoke the GC if the records show we have committed a crime. Pretty sure 90% of employment based GC dont have a criminal record. They have revoked GC of ppl who have committed a crime in the past. Why is that dependent on the GC arriving i dont understand.

Brother, you are asking for 'reforms'. This is US! Here only 'voting' happens, government goes and comes nothing else. We are going to get driverless cars in US soon but DMV is still stuck in middle ages. We have AI tools or physical robots to do everything in factories but USCIS do not have the system to approve an employee's papers for the company which builds these AI tools. Anyways, don't stress, premium for I-140 is not a big deal, by the time September arrives, they will process anyway. Also, everyone will do premium, it will just flood the system. Just wait for RFE on medicals. You will also get biometrics next week. Your RD is in Feb so you were delayed. Things are happening. 1 step at a time. Let us stay patient.

Yeah you are right, PP will only flood the system.. i know someone whos PP got rejected today citing original perm not found.. even though the original perm was processed in the same service center.. so looks like USCIS is discouraging PP.

Yes, no point in rushing for PP for I-140 if out of pocket expense. Let them process at their speed.

I finally got my biometric appmt! San Jose FO, May28th.. i guess biometric cancellation for H4 really helped our case!

Awesome :-)

We did biometrics in Oakland today. I believe your PD will be current in the July bulletion. This means you can prepare to upgrade your I-140 to PP and mail it out on June 30th. You have plenty of time to think about this.

Medicals I believe just wait for RFE - unless you have heard of a sucessful interfile story. If you do now of anything - please guide me too on medicals.

I completed biometrics on Friday(28th).
yeah 90% sure next visa bulletin my date will be current.
1. For 1-140 PP, my company does not pay for it. Moreover our law firm is advising against it since it takes 1-month or so of repeated trying to get accepted. Since we applied in October and average processing time is 8months (from greencardly website) i am thinking of waiting till August to find out what happens.
2. For medicals i am going to wait for RFE to submit. Again here Fragomen is saying there have seen cases where being proactive with this interfile has affected the case negatively (i know, sounds ridiculous!)
So i guess i am a sitting duck. I am thinking of getting the blood tests for completing the vaccine records. I think this is something under my control and could be crucial. The covid vaccine booster will be recommended 6months from the second shot.. and maybe when the booster is given, you cannot take another vaccine for a month (just like the first two covid shots)
so you could get unlucky and end up with RFE right about the time you took the booster covid shot and require a vaccine.
So its good to know if you need any vaccine or not now and take it now.
Moreover i guess the insurance will pay a huge portion for the blood test/vaccine.. so you have nothing to loose.

I think you have a point for I-140. You can wait it out till August. If they are not paying for it, why rush it?

You did good research on medicals. Let me review which shots are needed for medicals. Let us stay in touch.

I asked Fragomen to upgrade I-140 to premium. They are slow but hopefully they will file it

Thanks for letting me know. I too am leaning to get PP done.
Did they first discourage you for PP? What is their reasoning?

My company was clear from day 1 --> They will only pay for PP if the date was current. Now it is, so Fragomen is preparing the documentation so by Friday hopefully they will ship it. But now it seems PP is useless because there is no way our cases are moving forward before September 2020 based on Charlie's yesterday comment that 'large numbers of visas will be wasted'. I-140 will get approved anyway so now I do not see advantage of doing PP. But since they are paying for it and I was actually not asked - they doing it themselves.

Yeah i have decided to wait further for PP since i have to pay for it.
Also from Charlie's talk, things are super slow, so i am not even sure if they will even get to AoS applications with RD Oct 28-Nov2 which are documentarily ready.
will they speed up at the last moment? someone from USCIS should do a chat every month.. no point in talking to Charlie anymore..

Charlie's info is not good enough. USCIS is the one holding all the cards. Charlie has done his part. My PP request was received by USCIS on July 2nd. I will update you when it gets approved. But it is pointless. If an officer is seeing our file - he should adjust I-140 and I-1485 together and issue RFE. I just don't see an advantage of just having I-140 approved. Anyways, we all have to wait.

I am seeing a lot of cases on trackitt where straight EB2/EB3 cases (no downgrades) are getting approved from NBC very quickly.. especially ppl in 2012 PD EB3 straight cases.
i wonder what Nebraska is doing!
Fragomen said i140 and 485 is a parallel process and medicals were issued to some candidates even without 140 approval..
They can issue medical RFE now for everyone.. i wonder why they wait untill last minute.

The process is not very clear to me. Somewhere I read that local field office is needing medicals. San Jose/Oakland is super slow compared to rest of the country. I don't know how they are handling the case load. I was thinking of doing Medicals and use interfile option earlier as we discussed but now I am not sure where we have to send them. Fragomen doesn't want to deal with interfile.

Same here, Fragomen mentioned that medical interfile could negatively affect your case.. i just dont understand why on earth could it negatively affect our case!! arent we making the officers life easier? i sure would love to open a package and see everything ready.. why would anyone not encourage that?

It seems my case is similar to yours and my PD is 16-Jan-2012. Lot of things matching - LINXXX, received: 30-Oct, Notice:3-Feb. Only thing I140 approved on premium. Lets hope for the best if we start seeing seeing any movements for downgrades.

Thats great! lets keep in touch.
i am still waiting on i140 regular processing. If there is a movement in your case, let me know, i will upgrade to PP.
Right now the data shows that USCIS is focusing on straight EB2/EB3 cases (which are being processed in NBC).
It will be interesting to see what happens in August.. they will have to send a bunch of RFEs in August, and wait for it in Sept in order to reduce wastage.

@raj2close: Fragomen is now saying they are ready to interfile for everyone who is current.. doesnt make sense as previously they mentioned it could negatively affect the case. i dont know why suddenly they have changed their tune and mentioned that it has mostly zero impact to the processing time.
i am very very skeptical of doing interfile.. however i got to know that lab results (like Tuberculosis and STDs like syphillis) are valid for 1 yr.
So i am thinking of getting it done and waiting for RFE..
Also if i feel like interfiling before that i can just get it signed from the doctor and then interfile.. but if i get the test done now, i can wait for a year.

thanks for this update.....I am PP to go though for I-140....it will take at least one more week.......

I haven't asked Fragomen for interfile but if you decide to do it......let me know your experience.......the problem with interfile is......medicals may be requested by Field Office or by NBC (if case is transfered from Nebraska)......so first they have to accept the interfile and 2nd thing is the record need to be properly updated.......this is a hassle but might be worth to try......worst case have to re-do medicals and send it back when RFE Is issued inspite of interfile

yeah exactly. thats why i am concerned abt interfile..
i will get the tests done and keep things ready to minimize the turaround time in case i get RFE. But this relies on the fact that i will get RFE by Aug2022.. i am optimistic abt that.

Did you make the 1st appointment for medicals already? Any update on your I-140?

first appmt is next week. I will have the medical envelope ready by Aug 24th.
No update on my i-140. I am upgrading to PP after what happened on Friday with the USCIS sending text message.
The common factor with all those who got the message is that they have their i140 approved. Everything else doesnt make sense and is random.

Where are you going for medicals? I have heard of text message too. Can you elaborate on these text messages?

Dr Korina in San Jose.
A big surprise took place last Friday:
www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i485-eb/2221897705/text-from-uscis/page/1
and
www[dot]reddit[dot]com/r/USCIS/comments/ousuc3/my_husband_and_i_both_received_this_text_while/
we dont know how they were selected, just know that they had i140 approved.. (so far).
so seems like there is some lottery happening on documentarily qualified applicants.
So this could mean that the NSC officers are prioritizing minimizing the wastage. So they are going to be busy with PP for i140 (they are obligated to do this) and GC.. so regular downgrades might be least priority.

Please move your I140 application to process on PP as few of us getting RFE based on 3 Aug NSC processing

I am regretting that I did not do PP back in November! I got RFE now....company is taking forever to prepare a reponse

Haha me too, but we didnt know back then. Same with medicals, i should have submitted them last year itself.
Anyway the chances to make the boat by Oct1st is over for us. Right now only 3000 NSC applicants have been given RFE, given the small amount of officers present i guess this is all the extra capacity they have to process untill Oct1st.. lets wait and watch what happens..
BTW what is the RFE? in a way its good that its RFE and not rejection.. rejection due to original PERM not being there would be a guarantee 30 day wait.

Fragomen said it is related to "company" so they won't share.......I am not sure if boat has sailed......a lot of downgrade applicants from Nebraska have received RFEs for medicals......if my I-140 was approved I would hope for medical RFE but now not sure when Fragomen will file the response for RFE and when USCIS will take action.........the loop is even more complicated now for me.......if i had upgrade to PP earlier.....RFE would be issued earlier and by now everything would be settled.

You dont have to regret not doing i140 earlier. RFE loop surely will be closed by a month, same as original perm not found rejection.
Moreover at this point getting selected for medical RFE is like a lottery.
check this: https://hilites.today/uscis_cases and look for the bar chart for your receipt number. Across the numbers only around 7% of the applicants were chosen for the medical RFE. Not sure how many more will be selected. People who applied for PP i140 in Apr and May are selected,.. Unless you wanted to change jobs there was no indication to spend $3000 and do PP.
I am sure things will work out fine for you. Just keep an eye on Fragomen to make sure they dont forget to respond to your case soon.

Fragomen replied last night and said all documentation is received for RFE. They asked me to sign ETA9089 and send it back to them. I posted it today. They will get it by Monday. I am sure my employer also has to sign and send some documents too. Paralegal said they will file response soon. Let us see where this leads. I think you have a point - what is need to waste $3500. They will approve I-140 anyway. Let us be patient and wait a little bit longer. I am not going to interfile medicals.

i have sent the medicals to the lawyers today. They will proceed to interfile next week. Meanwhile from the chat with charlie it seems like there is going to be a lot of wastage and USCIS will take the first quarter of FY22 to also work on it, so based on this i feel like i wont get my GC untill next year. I have opened a service request for Advance Parole. i feel that during emergency i would like to visit my parents in India and i dont want to deal with any complication that could arise with no AP.

How did the medicals cost? Can you give me breakdown?

Medicals was $400, but there is no breakdown, its all inclusive, for all the possible tests.. and no extra fees for additional sealed envelope.

BTW my i140 PP got approved yesterday. Got incredibly lucky that it didnt get rejected.. anyway.. not that it would matter for the Oct1st deadline.

Also latest news is that COVID is required in the medical forms after Oct1st.. so the medicals i did is useless after Oct1st.. hopefully my interfile is successful before Oct1st.

$400 includes everything per person that too with an additional envelope? That is awesome....

Wow...I-140 approved.....you are very close now.......even if interfile fails.....you can still get RFE and get it resolved.....

Best of luck my friend!

Thanks! but there is no indication that they will process mine first. On the last day of July, they granted RFE to 2500 cases and after that nothing has happened. So the ones that got that RFE will get GC. For us the processing might be Q1 or Q2 quarter of FY2022.
Take a look at the dashboard here hilitestoday/uscis_cases for MSC and NSC (only RFE and approvals), you will see that MSC is doing the right thing and issuing 1500 GC a day for the past week. NSC is approving only 100 or less a day.
Get you i140 approved by a month or two and hope that our cases are selected by Q2 of 2022. I hope they dont extend it to Q4 of 2022 and it will be a nail biting finish.
last 2 months it has become apparent from the data that all cases are separated into 2 categories: straight cases go to MSC and downgrades go to NSC or TSC. The former is being processed correctly, the latter is the cash cow for PP i140.

Thanks for this data. Downgrade means a new I-140 so obviously only Nebraska or Texas can process I-140. NBC doesn't do I-140s. What I have learnt is that in the past Nebraska and Texas send the file to NBC for I-485 adjudication and about 90 % of GCs issued by NBC but now looks like NSC or TSC are either directly adjudicating applications or sending to FO without going to NBC. Either way I still think you have a chance to get your I-485 adjudicated by September 30th. My I-140 RFE response will be filed next week. I am not planning to interfile medicals since many told me they got RFE for medicals even after interfile. I am just going to wait.

Hope your i140 gets approved this time! fingers crossed.
Yeah if you get RFE after interfiling, you can respond to the RFE and send the medicals again. So thats not a problem with medical interfiling.

the problem with interfile that could occur is that you will not even get RFE for medicals if they think you already submitted it.

One question - when you went for medicals - what is the criteria for 'chicken pox'? Which other injections did you have to get?

Some doctors just need an oral confirmation from you if you ever had chickenpox when you were young.
The doctor's office i went to do the complete profiling of the blood work.
First appmt is where you give blood+urine and they test for TB, syphilis, Gonorrhea, chickenpox, MMR, TDAP.
if you dont show antibodies for chickenpox,mmr,tdap then in the second appmt they will give you a shot and then sign the forms.
Personally i had antibodies for chickenpox,mmr&tdap. Wife didnt have chickenpox so in the second appmt they gave her the first shot and gave us the sealed envelopes ( you dont need second shot to be completed for the sealed envelopes)

This is very helpful.....I will get my 1st appointment after my I-140 is approved.....for the 2nd one I will ask the doctor if they can wait to sign till I get RFE.

Do not wait for the first appmt untill i-140 is approved. Call up and check out the availability for the doctor.
i heard other companies have started recommending interfile for medicals and that might create a crisis for doctor appointment.
Call around and make sure you get the first appmt (doctor signature is not required for 1st appmt, also the test result is valid for a year)

Fragomen still hasn't submitted the response to RFE for I-140. It is almost 5 weeks since all documents are ready. The paralegal says every week - "Your file is at the attorney's desk for review and final signature". It is quite frustrating. Employer is busy, Attorney is busy, Paralegal is busy, USCIS is busy. It seems like ONLY the applicant is free all the time. What a lousy life we have. Can't wait to get out of this slavery. I will just wait for USCIS to approve I-140 before poking around medicals.

Dont give up and keep up the pressure on Fragomen. Follow up with them everyday, call them up everyday if you must. (find out the attorneys desk phone number).
You can wait for medicals, better to do it after Oct1st, safer with the new form where you will have flu and covid vaccination box ticked.
i asked EMMA day before abt my interfile, i was told noone has even seen it! so you dont have to worry abt medical interfile.

I called and spoke to one of the supervisors at Fragomen and they send the RFE response yseterday. I was not comfortable to pester them too much. I thank you for this helpful advice.

I will follow your suggestion and wait for RFE to send in the medicals. I will however, make the 1st appointment with the doctor when my I-140 is approved and get an agreement to not sign till USCIS issues RFE.

From the recent threads here on Trackitt, seems like NSC is nudging ppl to interfile to an address. This is very strange. Its not an RFE, but they are asking them to send medicals.
Even strange is that the address is of DHS (Dept of Homeland Security) in Nebraska and not Nebraska service center.
Nebraska has created a huge confusion! hahah.
check out these 3 threads:
https://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i485-eb/2249413833/i-693-medical-examination-reminder-from-lin/page/last_page
and
https://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i485-eb/2247495309/i693-courtesy-notices-for-i485-filers/page/last_page
and
https://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i140/2248126175/form-i-693-medical-examination-reminder/page/last_page

7 more days to the purge and we have already entered twilight zone.

This is really good development. Thanks for sharing these links. I wish USCIS woke up from sleep 6 months ago. 3 more days and the sun sets.

i would recommend interfiling asap. Get an appmt (after Oct1st) and go ahead and be ready (use new form for covid checkbox).
Even though if USCIS accepts the interfile after Sept30th its only valid for 2 yrs (instead of 4 yrs), its still good enough for your adjudication.

I-140 approved today. IT was filed in October. But there was an amendment petition I-140 which was filed in January since company name changed. This is not approved yet. Not sure if that matters. I wanted to ask you if the courtesy letter from the threads you sent was sent to applicant or the attorney? Fragomen did not report anything. Alright, let me find out if I can schedule medicals, at least 1st appointment.

Same here Frag didnt report anything. In some cases they are reporting it to attorney only and in others both get the notice. Somehow it seems attorneys get it first before the applicant.
When you schedule your first appmt, make sure that USCIS has provided the updated 693 form. Keep a watch on Oct1st for the new form. I would expect the vaccination checklist page to be updated with covid.
Also dont forget to ask for flu shot and fill it up. Its officially flu season for USCIS starting Oct1st.

Thank you for this guidance......I am looking into I-693 forms and will make sure flu/COVID is included.

I asked a question to Fragomen and this is a verbatim copy/paste from yesterday:
=========================
? Do you recommend to interfile medicals now without USCIS sending a request for medicals?
Fragomen : You are able to submit an unsolicited I-693 medical exam to USCIS. However, there are several reasons why we recommend you wait to submit the medical until an RFE is issued: 1) Filing an unsolicited medical runs the risk of not being matched to your AOS matter and end up lost; 2) It may not be filed at the correct location and end up lost. If your priority date is current, your case may be with the local USCIS office or in transit. It is best to wait for the RFE so we know the medical will be linked to the pending case at the correct USCIS office. If the medical is lost you will likely need to resubmit when the RFE is issued at a later date and incur additional costs. USCIS may also need to ask for other information/documents prior to being able to adjudicate an application. An RFE should request all outstanding information/documents in its request and will indicate the specific address where those documents should be submitted. Lastly, submission of the medical to USCIS is within the scope of services your employer provides, thus our office would file the medical on your (and dependents, if any) behalf once. If you decide to submit the medical now the cost will be covered however if an RFE receive is issued at a later date, you will be held responsible for the legal fees affiliated with responding to that RFE. If you still wish to proceed, please find next steps below................email continues

The consequences listed in all the scenarios talk only abt monetary loss. if you are ok with that then go ahead.
if you decide to interfile, and in case you get RFE, you can minimize the out of pocket cost.
You will have to do some research and call clinics and ask them how much they charge only for the doctor signature.
Your physical test will be valid for a year, the doctor signature is what you will have to provide for the RFE since its only valid for 2 months.
so it might not cost a whole lot.

The consequences listed in all the scenarios talk only abt monetary loss. if you are ok with that then go ahead.
if you decide to interfile, and in case you get RFE, you can minimize the out of pocket cost.
You will have to do some research and call clinics and ask them how much they charge only for the doctor signature.
Your physical test will be valid for a year, the doctor signature is what you will have to provide for the RFE since its only valid for 2 months.
so it might not cost a whole lot.

You have a point....it is only the money which is impacted.......let me think about this a little bit more because in Q1 I don't think the applications will move much since they will have to issue more GCs to ROW applicants......waiting for RFE is actually not a bad thing to do.

I am tracking my series on Hilites.today (LIN219014XXXX). It seems they are approving 10-15 EAD cards per day and about 2-3 GCs per day. At this rate it will be a long time before I see any light. What is your situation?

You missed the PD by 2 days in November 2021 bulletin. But you will get GC since easily FA chart can inch a little bit in coming months. I don't have that chance any more. I have to wait till 2023

Anything new?