The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicates several thousand immigration requests on an average day. Their website receives an average of 1.4 million visits per day, according to SEMRUSH.
This often means that getting your immigration petition processed can be pretty complex, challenging, and time-consuming.
The secret to ensuring a swiftly moving USCIS case that doesn’t leave you constantly stressed is staying updated on your case status, and there are several ways to track your USCIS case status online easily.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The key to managing a USCIS immigration petition is to stay updated on the case status, with several methods available for tracking, including the USCIS online case tracking tool and customer service phone line.
- Free third-party apps and creating a USCIS online account are effective ways to receive updates on your case status, with the added convenience of push notifications for any changes.
- Utilizing the USCIS case processing time tool helps you understand estimated processing times, and options like premium processing or filing an expedite request can potentially speed up the adjudication of your immigration petition.
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Best Ways to Track Your USCIS Case Status
1. Using the USCIS online case tracking tool
This is the simplest way to track the status of your case. Once you’ve reached the USCIS online case status site, you’ll need the receipt number at the top of your Form, I-797C, to view your application status.
2. Calling USCIS customer service
You can track the status of your case by contacting USCIS by phone using their toll-free number: +1-800-375-5283. Their hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern Time.
This method can even help you track your status without a receipt number. While this is effective, it’s also time-consuming because it could take hours to get hold of a USCIS live agent. So, this is not a method you want to use when you’re in a hurry.
3. Emailing your USCIS service center
If you send an email inquiry to the service center where you filed your application, you can get your USCIS document status. You can find the contact information of different USCIS service centers below:
1. Texas Service Center: tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov
2. California Service Center: csc-ncsc-followup@dhs.gov
3. Vermont Service Center: vsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov
4. Nebraska Service Center: ncscfollowup.nsc@dhs.gov
#4 Using FREE third-party apps
There are many third-party mobile apps or platforms that you can use to track the progress of your USCIS application. Many of these mobile apps can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play store.
The most useful feature of these USCIS tracking apps is that they send timely notifications whenever there’s a change in your USCIS application status. Thus, you won’t need to check your case status every day.
#5 Creating a Free Online USCIS Account
If you filed your USCIS case status by paper, you can create a free USCIS online account, which allows you to track the status of your case using your Form I-797 receipt number.
Whenever there is an update on your case, this tool will send you a push notification to the primary email you used to create the account.
So, once again, you won’t have to worry about constantly checking your case status manually.
You can watch this step-by-step explainer video on how to create a free USCIS online account.
How to Check USCIS Processing Time
Understandably, it’s very easy to get impatient when you’re awaiting the result of your application. To avoid getting frustrated, it helps to learn the procedure and processing time of the USCIS service center where you filed your application.
You can find information about the processing times of your USCIS service center by using the USCIS case processing time tool.
This tool requires you to provide information about the form type, form category, and the USCIS field office or service center where you filed your application.
How to Understand the USCIS Processing Time
The processing time reported by the USCIS case processing time tool for a given form type and location is the time it takes USCIS to adjudicate – which means to reject, deny, cancel, or approve – 80% of the immigration cases received at a given USCIS location.
For example, if the processing time reported for Form I-765 (line 1) filed under the form category of “Based on a pending I-485 adjustment application [(c)(9)]” (line 2) at the National Benefits Center (line 3) is eight months…
This means that in the past six months, the National Benefits Center has taken eight months to process 80% of new petitions under this category of Form I-765.
However, this processing time is just an estimate and does not mean your case will be adjudicated within the timeframe. In reality, your processing time could be much shorter or much longer than the reported processing time, as each case is unique.
The USCIS case processing time tool lets you determine when to inquire about your case when you provide the receipt date on your Form I-797C.
When entering your receipt date on this tool, you will find that even when your case exceeds the reported processing time by a few months, your case will be said to be processing normally.
USCIS will suggest you refrain from contacting them about your case until your wait time has been many months longer than the reported processing time.
How to Speed Up USCIS Immigration Application
Several free and paid methods exist to speed up your USCIS immigration petition. Some of these include.
Requesting USCIS Premium Processing
Premium processing is a paid feature that USCIS provides that allows certain immigration petitions to be adjudicated within 15 to 45 calendar days.
The eligible immigration petitions include Form I-129, Form I-140, and Form I-765, filed by F-1 international students, and Form I-539, filed by F1, J1, and M1 international students.
The filing fee for premium processing varies between $1500 to $2500.
It’s important to know that while premium processing guarantees a faster response to an underlying petition, it does not guarantee that it will be approved.
Filing an Expedite Request
An expedite request is a free service that USCIS provides to speed up the adjudication of qualified immigration requests.
For a successful USCIS expedited request, you must provide evidence of severe financial loss or undue hardship that you’re either facing or will face in the future due to a prolonged application wait time.
For more free tips on speeding up your USCIS immigration case, please read our article on the seven best ways to speed up your USCIS immigration application.
I hope these tips have helped ease any anxious feelings surrounding your application status.
Related: What does “Case Is Ready to be Scheduled for an Interview” mean
DISCLAIMER: This post is written for general information only and is not legal advice. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you need legal advice, you may contact a licensed attorney.