I-485 Adjudication Update : "Fast" Approvals Continue
Posted Sep 17, 2004
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We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. have been periodically noting those I-485 cases that seem to be benefiting from changes in USCIS Service Center procedures made on April 30, 2004. As regular MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers know, the revised procedures involve placing the I-140 and I-485 cases on the same track for adjudication. These cases were previously adjudicated separately. We have reported on this procedure and some of our case approvals in earlier articles, including a July 30, 2004 MurthyBulletin article, I-485 Update : I-140 Approvals Await I-485 Adjudication, and our August 13, 2004 article, CSC Cases Now Approved Faster, both available on MurthyDotCom. September 2004 has been a good month, so far, in terms of fast I-485 approvals. This month, we have seen some of our fastest approvals to date.
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NSC : I-485 Approvals
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September 2004 began with notification of the approval of one of our fastest Nebraska Service Center (NSC) cases to date. The case involved an I-485 filed on December 22, 2003 and approved just eight months later, on August 30, 2004. The I-140 in that case was approved on July 15, 2004. The I-140 and the I-485 were not filed simultaneously but the I-485 had been filed soon after the I-140 filing. This processing time is more than a year faster than our previous "fastest time" and almost two years faster than the USCIS published processing dates. We do note, however, that all of these fast cases are still isolated incidents. The patterns of case adjudication continue to be erratic.
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CSC : I-485 Approvals
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The California Service Center (CSC) has also been processing some cases faster. On September 3, 2004, we obtained the approval of a case that had only been filed in early 2004. The case involved an I-140 that was approved before the I-485 was filed on January 26, 2004. Thus, the case took just over seven months for the I-485 processing. This is about a year ahead of USCIS posted processing times.
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VSC : I-485 Approvals
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September 2004 also brought our fastest approval yet at the Vermont Service Center (VSC). In this case, the I-140 was filed on August 7, 2003 and the I-485 filed on September 26, 2003. The I-140 approval arrived on May 4, 2004; the I-485 was approved on September 8, 2004. Thus, the case took just over a year to complete both the I-140 and the I-485 adjudication. This, like the case at the CSC, is about a year ahead of USCIS posted processing times.
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TSC : I-485 Approvals
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The trend continued with the Texas Service Center (TSC), that also approved a case faster than its posted processing time. In that case, the I-140 was filed on April 1, 2003; the I-485 was filed on May 21, 2003. We received the approval of the I-140 on July 26, 2004 and the I-485 approval on September 7, 2004. The processing time of about 14 months is fairly fast for TSC, which is posting processing times of around two and a half years.
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Conclusion
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The changes in USCIS processing seem to be having a positive effect in all of the Service Centers. We reiterate, however, that these fast cases are still isolated incidents. The processing times are still unpredictable, and many cases are plodding through at rates indicated on the published processing times, or even beyond those timeframes. [Current USCIS processing times are posted by the USCIS and made available through MurthyDotCom via our Processing Times page.] We are optimistic that these trends for faster approvals will grow and become the norm in due course to benefit all those involved in the immigration process.