Applying for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status is where a particular foreign national living in the United States can apply for a green card. You don’t have to go back to your country when you apply for a green card by adjusting your status after your visa expires.
Your destination should be the USCIS office because it is the place where your adjustment of status or immigrant visa is granted by approving your I-485 application.
If you want to update your status and become an official U.S citizen, you can submit your application in the office and follow the instruction sheet to complete the form.
You can also track the status of your adjustment application case on the USCIS website. In this article, we talk about the details like how long does it take to get the approval of the I-485 form, how to track AOS case status, who is eligible for it, and many more.
Adjustment of Status – Where to go
The place you’ll have to go will be the city, state of the USCIS office where you applied to register yourself as a permanent residence or adjust status using form I-485. Most of the time, the service center is the one that processed your I-485 application.
While submitting your application, make sure to review your original paperwork. The application can be submitted in court in some cases, especially when an immigration judge grants your permanent residence.
Another way of applying for an immigrant visa is consular processing. In this way, you have to submit your application for adjustment of status in the U.S. embassy or consulate, where you initially applied for your adjustment of status.
Eligibility for Adjustment of Status
If you meet these eligibility levels, you can qualify to submit an adjustment of status application.
- You are applying for the green card you are eligible for.
- If you are not filing a concurrent application, you must have an approved I-130 or I-40 partition form.
- Applicants must be present in the U.S. physically and come on a valid visa.
- While your Visa is still valid, you have entered into a legal marriage with your U.S.-based spouse.
- If you have to wait for a visa number for your green card application type, your primary concern date is current.
- Applicants must obtain lawful status.
- Adjustment of status eligibility is ensuring under Section 245(i) of the immigration and Nationality Act (INC)
Approval Time for Form I-485
USCIS takes a long period to approve your application to get an immigrant visa or status update. Usually, it will take seven months to 5 years, depending on the type of Green Card you’re applying for.
If there are some errors in your application, the length of your Form I-485 processing time could be longer. Most of the time, backlogs processing at the USCIS takes a longer time to handle your application.
That’s why it is recommended to check the application you wrote for adjustment of the status case and the original document before filing it in the USCIS office.
Tracking of Adjustment of Status case
Applicants can quickly check the case status of their adjustment application on the USCIS website. All you need is your receipt number from the receipt notice issued by the USCIS when they received your application.
You need to enter your receipt number into the USCIS case tracker to automatically help you see the latest status update on your application. One of the best things about this is that you don’t have to physically visit the office every time you want to check the status.