Adjustment of Status - I-485

I just completed the green card process and found people’s timelines helpful, so I’m sharing my own.

Married to US citizen, in the US since 2010 (F-1, OPT, H-1B), Boston field office, applied without an attorney.

7/17/2019 Priority date/receipt notices (I-485, I-130, I-131, I-765)
8/2/2019 received biometrics appointment notice
8/2/2019 biometrics completed (early walk-in because I was going to be out of town for work on the scheduled date)
8/3/2019 update “fingerprint review completed”
9/18/2019 update: “case is ready to be scheduled for an interview” (I-485)
11/7/2019 interview date received in the mail
12/5/2019 Interview at Boston field office
12/5/2019 update: “new card is being produced”
12/6/2019 update: “we approved your form” (I-485 and I-130)
12/10/2019 approval notices received in the mail (I-485 and I-130)
12/12/2019 Green card received in the mail

We were called in for the interview at the scheduled time. The officer was very friendly. We were sworn in, asked to sit, and then asked questions about how we met, the proposal, wedding rings, our marital history, the spouse’s parents’ dates of birth (which we stumbled our way through, causing some laughter), etc. The officer photocopied both our passports and driver’s licenses, but didn’t request to see any other original documents. We were asked about how we pay bills, and the officer asked us to point out documents in our application that have both our names on them. I, the immigrant, was then asked all the I-485 questions and asked to explain the one citation I have received. After that it was winding down, and the officer said that, if approved, I would receive my green card in about a week. By the time we got home, I had already received the status update that a new card is being produced.

It was a smooth and rather painless process and I have to say I have found everyone I interacted with professional and friendly. I do think it would be great if the processing of EADs and advance parole was accelerated since it seems counterintuitive that a whole green card petition could be dealt with faster than a much simpler work permit. In my case, I never received the EAD, but it took less than five months from submission to approval of the I-485 and that, in and of itself, I think is actually quite impressive, given the level of bureaucracy in government in general.

Having said that, I completely understand the frustration of those who are made to wait extremely long periods of time, especially when delays are not due to the nature of the particular case, but due to unequal workloads and backlogs in individual field offices. The system is clearly in need of some reform, and I really hope it gets there.