Employment Based Greencard

Hello everyone! I am a silent reader and I would like to share our timeline.
Everything up to this point is sort of a blessing in disguise/miracle for me because it was super fast.
My priority date is July 2015. It became current on September 2017 so we filed right away. We filed i-485, EAD and AP altogether.

Sept 18, 2017 - USCIS receipt date (Nebraska Service Center)
(At this point, I expected we would receive our biometrics appointment in 30 days like what everybody experienced. My friends who filed before me got their biometrics appointment in less than 30 days. However, 45 days have passed and we did't receive anything. So I contacted my lawyer and they raised a service request.)

October 30, 2017 - my case was transferred to NBC

November 3, 2017 - received biometrics appointment scheduled for November 16
(I believe this was a blessing in disguise. My case was filed in NSC and they must have forgotten my documents so they forgot to schedule my biometrics. However, when we raised the service request, they pulled out my file and sent it to NBC. At least that's how I see it.)

November 16 - biometrics for me and my husband. I was scheduled 2 days later than my husband and the USCIS lady was so kind and let us have it together on the same day.
(No update since then. First week of December was almost 90 days since we filed and I wanted to raise a service request again for our EAD and AP because we haven't received it. My i-485 was transferred to NBC as I have mentioned, and the status in the website says "On Oct 30, we transferred your case and another jurisdiction.... My lawyer raised a service request for my EAD and AP which were still in NSC. Only my i-485 was transferred.)

December 22 - USCIS replied after our service request for the EAD and AP. They said that my application is in line to be reviewed by an officer and to give them more time because of the backlog. They must have been bombarded with a lot of applications.

December 24, 2017 - Christmas miracle! I received an interview notice on a Sunday!!! It was scheduled for Jan 25, 2018

Jan 24, 2018 - received an email from the USCIS officer who was gonna conduct our interview. Email was sent thru my lawyer, and my lawyer sent it to me, saying that we need to bring proof of our marriage.

Jan 25, 2018 (Thurs) - interview with my husband. We were scheduled separately but the local officer interviewed us together since we were husband and wife.

For the interview, I brought everything related to my employment. All our notices since we came, my educational background docs, paystubs for the past 3 months. For the proof of marriage, my lawyer suggested to bring at least 5 of the list they gave me. They gave me a list which was intended for marriage-based applications. So I brought a personalized photo album of our vacations, 1 wedding photo, joint credit and savings bank account, lease, house insurance, and medical insurance.

Officer went through the usual questions we answered in the i-485. Did you commit a crime, arrested by a police, have you lied to an officer before... more technical questions which could be answered by No. However, what really surprised me was than she never asked for anything related to my employment as what I have expected. I even prepared paystubs from October last year. What she focused on was more on our marriage. It was as if we were applying for a marriage-based gc. She perused thru our whole album, made photocopies of our wedding pic and bank account. Never asked for anything else. I didn't get the chance to show the lease or joint insurances. At that point, she typed something in the computer and a paper printed off with our visa numbers on it. That's when we knew we were approved and a visa number was already assigned to us. She did not say "approved" but she only said "You should received your green card in the mail in 2 weeks." That was it.

Jan 26, 2018 (Fri) - status changed to "case approved" in the website. (It never changed since October when my case was transferred. I never got the "ready to be scheduled for interview status," or "welcome notice sent" or whatsoever...)

January 29, 2018 (Monday) - received the paper approval notice with the "Welcome to the United States of America" on it. My heart was about to burst from happiness! Status is still case approved. As for my EAD and A, they are still in NSC with no updates. Still "Case received" in the website.

Right now, I am just waiting for the actual green card.

So that was our journey. I consider it a miracle because it took only 4 months for an EB-3 case! Filed Sep, Got the approval on January. I think what I realized from this is that it really depends on the officer who will take up your case as I have friends who filed before me and whose priority dates were 1-2 years ahead of me and they are still waiting for interview notices until now. My advantage on my case was that my lawyer never gave me an option to interfile medicals or supplemental J. When we filed on Sep, she immediately said, "I need your medical right away to be filed with the packet altogether." All my documents in the packet was complete. I find this more advantageous because then, when the officer looked at my file and sees everything, that's when the case was transferred early, instead of sending out an RFE which takes time to send in the mail and respond. That's how I see everything on my perspective, because my friends have argued with me saying that the medical should have been done later because it only has 1 year validity, I might have to pay again if it expires, etc etc. I am just glad I listened to my lawyer instead of my friends and it worked out fine.

Thank you everyone and I hope you get yours soon as well. Keep the faith!!!