EB I-485: No interview required

An EB I-485 application can be approved without an interview and as of summer 2022, EB I-485 applications are commonly approved without an interview.

To clarify the status of interviews for EB (employment-based) I-485 adjustment of status applicants ---

-- Historically, for about 20 years preceding the Trump Administration, USCIS did not require interviews for EB I-485 applicants. Occasionally there were interviews if there were some special facts, like getting married just before filing your I-485 or perhaps a court/criminal issue to be investigated in a local office interview but prior to the Trump years, EB I-485 applications were approved at regional service center.

-- During the first 3 years of the Trump Administration, USCIS implemented I-485 interviews for EB cases. This was consistent with the Trump Administration's general idea that everything should be slow and difficult. Misery was a feature, not a bug. But by the end of the Trump Administration, during the pandemic, USCIS was not doing in-person interviews and they were approving EB I-485 applications.

-- The waiver of interviews has continued during the Biden Administration and I have seen many EB I-485 applications approved without an interview. In fact, now I would be surprised if there are interviews. This is true even when cases are transferred from a regional office to the National Benefits Center. Traditionally a transfer to the NBC would signal that the case was being scheduled for interview but now the NBC and other offices are being used as triage overflow to approve EB I-485 applications.

-- Based on inquiries I get from people, there seems to be confusion on this point and they believe their case will be scheduled for an interview. While it is always possible an interview will be scheduled, the vast majority of EB I-485 applications should be approved without an interview.

Live long and prosper.

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