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Case Stories
✅ EB-3 ROW Approved - Priority Date May 2023, RD Oct 2025
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✅ **Case Status: Approved**
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An EB-3 ROW applicant received I-485 approval approximately 5 months after filing, following a birth certificate format RFE that was resolved within 18 days. The case was routed through NBC, briefly transferred to a Field Office, then returned to NBC for final approval.
An EB-3 ROW applicant filed their I-485 in October 2025 with a priority date of May 2023, which became current in the February 2026 Visa Bulletin. The interview was waived. The case was initially processed at the National Benefits Center (NBC), where the I-485J was approved in January 2026. The case was then transferred to the San Fernando Valley Field Office in February 2026, at which point an RFIE was issued for a birth certificate format error. The RFE response was submitted and received by USCIS on March 13, 2026. Two notable silent API updates occurred on March 24 and March 30 before final approval on March 31, 2026. Total time from receipt date to approval was approximately 5 months. The applicant also tracked backend USCIS API events throughout the process, noting specific event codes (FTA0, FTA1, IKA, HA, H008) that correlated with case status changes.
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**[📎 View Original Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/1s91f9p/approved_eb3_row_rd_oct_2025_direct_nbc_approval/)**
*Source: Reddit EB-3 search*
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*This post was automatically curated from online sources to share real case experiences with the community.*
This case demonstrates a ~5 month I-485 processing window for EB-3 ROW with an October 2025 receipt date under NBC jurisdiction. The RFE for a birth certificate format error was resolved in roughly 18 days from USCIS receipt to approval, suggesting NBC is processing RFE responses relatively quickly. The case routing pattern — NBC → Field Office → back to NBC for approval — is worth noting, as it may cause confusion when tracking office assignments via tools like Emma. Two silent API updates ('updatedAt' timestamp changes without status text changes) in the week prior to approval appear to be a recognizable pre-approval signal for cases at this stage. Applicants monitoring USCIS API payloads may find the H008 event code sequence to be a reliable approval indicator.