I-485 · Timeline

After you file

1. 1

   1. Receipt notice

   USCIS sends a receipt notice (Form I-797C). If you filed at a USCIS lockbox, your Alien Registration Number (A-Number) may come in a second notice a few days after USCIS accepts the I-485. Keep the receipt: if you file Form I-765 or I-131 later, you include a copy of it.^[1,2]

2. 2

   2. Biometrics and interview

   ◈High confidence USCIS uses Form I-797C notices to schedule fingerprint (biometrics) appointments and interviews. Not every applicant is interviewed: sending all required initial evidence with the I-485 may avoid a Request for Evidence (RFE), and may help avoid delays if USCIS decides you do not need an interview.^[1,2]

3. 3

   3. Decision

   If USCIS approves an adjustment under INA 245, your permanent residence is recorded as of the approval date (refugees are recorded as of the date they arrived in the U.S., and asylees generally as of one year before the approval date); some spouses, sons and daughters (under INA 216) and some entrepreneurs (immigrant investors) and their spouses and children (under INA 216A) receive it on a conditional basis. A preference-category I-485 cannot be approved until the State Department allocates a visa number. If USCIS denies, the notice states the reasons.^[3,4,5,6]

While the I-485 is pending you can apply for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD) on Form I-765 under category (c)(9), filed with the I-485 or later with a copy of your receipt. Adjustment applicants are in the group that must apply for work authorization and may work once authorized. If you were already authorized to work before filing and that authorization does not expire while the I-485 is pending, the regulation says you need not apply for a new one to keep working during that period.^[7,8]