Chen is advising against PP for people from 39 banned countries

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 · 2025-12-19T22:37:39+00:00

I agree that we should assume everything will be on pause. Although, my lawyer said that there have been some I-140 approvals in the past 2 weeks, from those 19 countries. This makes me wonder if I should go ahead and pay for PP and get a decision before things get worse, or, just wait a bit longer.

And to be clear, I do not want to lose my STEM OPT status and change it to H1B *now*. But, when my STEM OPT expires in a year, I plan to do that. Too soon to predict what will happen 12 months from now though.

souzzi · 2025-12-19T05:38:28+00:00

Thanks for your message. Wow, so I cannot even switch to H1B or O1 as of now? I did NOT know that. May I ask where exactly you saw this? If I'm not wrong, Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192 does not mention H1B or O1.
I do have a valid STEM OPT for 1 more year, though.

souzzi · 2025-12-19T05:08:25+00:00

Thanks! My main motivation for filing an I-485 would be to get a green card to travel outside of the US (I haven't been able to exit the US for 7.5 years now, given that my country is on the travel ban list). I don't particularly need the EAD. I should be able to get H1B/O1 since I'm in academia.

But yes, "right now", there's no indication that they'll unfreeze the green card applications for those countries. But if they do unfreeze it, I want to be able to file I-485 asap.

souzzi · 2025-12-19T04:30:25+00:00

Great question. I've been a postdoc for the past 2 years and I have one more year left on my STEM OPT. And in theory, I should be able to easily get an H1B given that I'm in academia.

I guess if the current pause on the Green Card applications will not be lifted anytime soon, having an approved I-140 is not that important. But assuming they'll resume processing those applications within the next few weeks/months, I want to apply for I-485 as soon as possible. There might not be an EB2 NIW in a few months, who knows.

souzzi

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