Does 485 filing date matter for approval?

[dirtyfellaw]

Experts - Please share your thoughts!

My priority date is July 2006. I missed the visa gate in August 2007 and got a chance to file 485 in Aug 2008

I'm current as of June 1st. I have noticed that a lot of folks later than my priority date (Sep 06, Oct 06) have received approvals/cards.

It seems like the Immigration Officers are approving cases based on filing date? Is this true?

If so, as more people become current next month, would my file be pushed back again?

Thanks in advance.

[pontevecchio]

It does not . What may happen is that older cases awaiting Priority dates may get stored elsewhere and often it takes time to locate these files and process them.

[rajmehta]

Nope , does not matter as far as does not go for lenghty process. Naturally will take little longer time for admin processing and might happen that applicant who filed earlier with later pd than you start getting approval. Good Luck.

Raj

[Belle]

Depends. Generally, when you file your case, the USCIS reviews it in the order it was received, so as long as PD is current, it matters. Other things may delay the case, of course.

[SRRV]

If your case was transfered from one service cente to Texas, then yes, there may be additional delays.

[chinx]

Narrowing down the question only to the I-485 cases whose PD is current,

I imagine that approval of I-485 might follow one of these 3 order,

(1) Current cases are approved based on the relative order of PD. (cases with earlier PD gets approved sooner. So if PD_A and PD_B both are current, PD_A is approved before PD_B, given PD_A is sooner and all other factors are same.)

OR

(2) Current cases are approved based on relative order of I-485 receipt date.

OR

(3) Current cases are approved randomly. (irrespective of their relative PD or I-485 receipt date.)

where current cases == all the cases whose PD is current in this month.

Are there any other possibilities?

Any insight into what order of approval is followed once PD is current?

I know, this question might sound like splitting hair,

but non-trivial events like scheduling international travel, attending marriage ceremony, job change, etc depend on this.

So any insight is appreciated.

[dirtyfellaw]

it probably does not. if the PD is current, there is a good probability the file will be picked up irrespective of the filing date. my case was approved 06/21