Marriage green card interview at Chicago IL field office — approved after the interview (May 2026)

Chicago field office. I-485, I-130 and I-864 were all filed together on December 10, 2025. In February 2026 we got an RFE on the I-864 — we had simply forgotten a tax form, so it was an easy fix. In March 2026 we missed the biometrics appointment because of a USCIS error; it was rescheduled and completed on April 2, 2026. The interview was scheduled on April 10 and held on May 1, 2026. Then came almost three months of waiting after the interview. On July 24, 2026 the officer emailed us for our newborn daughter's birth certificate, and on July 28 emailed again for a few more documents from the college my husband attended. Both of these came as personal emails from the officer, not as formal RFEs. The document request about the college was proof of attendance: my husband is a med student and one of his entries into the U.S. was for a clinical rotation partnered with his college, so she wanted to confirm he had actually attended. The I-130 was approved on July 29, 2026 and the I-485 on July 30, 2026 — just four weeks after our daughter was born, and seven months after filing.

Not everything after the interview arrives as a formal RFE. Our officer emailed us directly, twice, almost three months after the interview asking for extra documents — so keep an eye on your inbox, not just your case status. An RFE early on (ours was a missing tax form on the I-864) and even a biometrics appointment missed through a USCIS error did not derail the case.