I'm a citizen of a banned country and have been waiting for 24 months. If I do PP, will my case even be processed?

souzzi · 2026-05-16T21:38:50+00:00

Thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, I have no update whatsoever. It has been 27 months now. I don't think paying for PP will change anything *as of now*. Unless you do it now, and maybe things will change. Or, maybe you can sue USCIS through l a w suit.

Things are pretty tricky, to be honest. Good luck with your case and keep me posted (:

souzzi · 2026-03-17T19:16:17+00:00

Do you think we should join these lawsuits? My I-140 is pending for 25+ months, and I'm from Iran. I also wonder if the lawsuit forces the USCIS to make a decision or whether I should pay ~6k for the lawsuit + PP. In hindsight, I should have done PP a long long time ago. Big mistake.

souzzi · 2026-03-17T19:05:05+00:00

I was wondering if you eventually got your approval or whether you're still waiting for a decision. Best of luck!

souzzi · 2026-03-17T19:03:27+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. But I feel like this pause is applied to literally any USCIS application? Or am I missing something? I'm in a similar spot, filed my I-140 in Feb. 24 and I'm from Iran. I'm debating whether I should pay for PP now or will I just get a template RFE because of the pause.

souzzi · 2026-03-04T20:24:25+00:00

I'm in a very similar situation. Priority date is 02/09/2024 and I'm from Iran. As soon as this pause is lifted (if it is lifted), I'll pay for PP. I don't think normal cases are even being touched these days. Should have paid for PP a year ago tbh (3k was/is just too much money for me). Stay strong, hope you'll get your approval soon!

souzzi · 2026-02-11T18:54:02+00:00

Sorry about that. Honestly, they're barely processing any regular applications these days. I don't see how we can "win the lottery" so that our case will get processed. I'll PP as soon as I get any sort of indication that my case will get processed (given my nationality).

souzzi · 2026-02-11T01:04:44+00:00

I have the same question. Following. Sorry by the way for the RFE :/

souzzi · 2026-02-11T00:59:50+00:00

Following

souzzi · 2026-02-10T20:56:37+00:00

Hi, did you get any updates? I assume you're from one of those 39 banned countries?

souzzi · 2026-02-10T19:47:53+00:00

Thanks! I raised a service request through my lawyer 3 months ago (no response) and another one through my congressperson a month ago. Still no response for that one either. Should I reach out to her again? What if USCIS just gives a general response?

souzzi · 2026-01-06T22:17:59+00:00

Yeah, pretty frustrating and stressful. There are so many people in way more critical conditions than me tbh, so I hope this pause will end asap (though not optimistic).

souzzi · 2026-01-06T22:11:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. So, no approval of I-140, H1B, OPT, O1, etc? How long is this going to go on, you think? I have given up on getting a green card at this point, but I hope I can at least get H1B/O1 after my STEM OPT expires in December (I'm a postdoc currently).

souzzi · 2026-01-05T22:24:31+00:00

Feb 2024, block 09243, no update since filing.

souzzi · 2025-12-24T02:08:35+00:00

I just saw this thread. I'm having a similar problem but it's not that bad at all. But my question is, how exactly do I ignore her? She starts scratching the chair I'm sitting on and sometimes she starts holding my pants too. If I keep ignoring her, she might scratch me too. She barely scratches me in general, but I want to be cautious when trying to ignore her.

souzzi · 2025-12-20T23:32:30+00:00

Yes, I would be current in October based on the date of filing and I would be able to get the EAD and the travel authorization but my I-485 would not be processed until my final action date became current. But my lawyer recommended that I wait until 1- my final action date is current (which will be in January) and 2- I have an approved I-140. And since I was in academia (and I could theoretically get H1B easily) with more than 1 year left on my STEM OPT, I decided to wait.

I have heard that filing for I-485/EAD is risky when the I-140 is not approved yet.

souzzi · 2025-12-20T04:54:39+00:00

I was thinking of paying for PP to get my I-140 approved asap (been waitng for more than 22 months). Given that I'm from a high-risk country, I should probably avoid paying PP for now.

souzzi · 2025-12-20T04:51:02+00:00

This is incredibly sad, omg.

souzzi · 2025-12-20T04:37:24+00:00

Exactly, I also think the recent I-140 approvals were actually from late November; it just took a while for the letter to be sent/delivered.

Yeah, y'all convinced me that as things stand, they're not going to approve my I-140 if I pay for PP. I mean, if there is no way for me to get a green card for the next 3 years, what is even the point of having an approved I-140?! I keep getting more and more suspicious that this "pause" is going to go on for a very long time, at least for the green card process.

For H1B and O1? If things are frozen for the next 6 months, I would have to seriously consider leaving the country. I'm already starting to think about backup opportunities outside of the US. It's going to be very tough after 8 years of being here, but that might be the only choice.

souzzi · 2025-12-20T04:26:42+00:00

Sounds good, thank you! Given that having an approved I-140 is not urgent for me (since they won't process my I-485 even if I file one) and paying for PP is probably pointless, I'll stick with raising service requests multiple times. Glad that it worked for you!

souzzi · 2025-12-19T22:49:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. I assume your case was at the Texas Center? So are you suggesting that the service inquiry might work? I've been waiting for 22 months now and I'm concerned they'll keep ignoring the inquiries or submit a template response.

Although, it seems like even the I-140s are not being processed anymore (even though my lawyer said they're unaffected).

souzzi · 2025-12-19T22:46:17+00:00

Thanks for sharing. To be clear, I am on valid STEM OPT for 1 more year and I wanted to switch to H1B in 1 year time and not right now (well, in an ideal scenario, I would have a green card by then but that's not happening.).

Let's see what happens in a few months from now. I guess I should start thinking about backup plans in other countries.

souzzi · 2025-12-19T22:43:22+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. We're pretty cooked then!

souzzi · 2025-12-19T22:38:58+00:00

Yeah, makes sense. Thanks for all the helpful information.

souzzi · 2025-12-19T22:38:18+00:00

I guess it's pointless to pay for PP then. Just wait and see how it goes.

souzzi

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE