I-485 Green Card Status Tracking: Every Receipt, Status Message and Visa Bulletin Check After OPT

Which receipt numbers a green card case produces

An employment-based green card is not one case. It is a petition plus an application, and usually two companion requests. Each filing gets its own I-797C receipt notice with a 13-character receipt number.

The I-140 is the immigrant petition. Your employer files it, except in self-petition categories such as EB-1A and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver. The I-485 is your own application to become a permanent resident. If a visa is immediately available, USCIS lets you file it together with the I-140, while the I-140 is pending, or after approval.

With a pending I-485 you may also file Form I-765 for a work permit under category (c)(9) and Form I-131 for advance parole. USCIS says you may file both at the same time as the I-485. Since April 1, 2024, each one carries its own fee; check the current amounts on the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055.

Sources: Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants; Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization; Fee Schedule (Form G-1055)

• I-140 case status tracker
• C09 and other EAD category codes explained
• How to read a USCIS receipt number

I-485 status messages, in order

Case Status Online shows short public messages. The wording below is what USCIS commonly displays for an I-485. Not every case sees every message, and some steps happen without any status change at all.

The notices in your mailbox or USCIS online account are the official record. Case Status Online sometimes lags behind a mailed notice by days.

Sources: Check your immigration case status; Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

• USCIS case status tracking guide
• What each EAD status means

Biometrics, interview or waiver

After the receipt, USCIS generally schedules a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center. The appointment notice is mailed to you and is worth keeping.

The USCIS Policy Manual says every adjustment applicant must be interviewed by an officer unless USCIS waives the interview. Some cases are approved without one. If you get an interview notice, it names the office and the documents to bring.

Processing time depends on the office and the form type. Use the USCIS processing-times tool for the I-485 at your field office, not a forum average.

Sources: Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 5: Interview Guidelines; Check Case Processing Times

How the Visa Bulletin chart controls filing and approval

Most employment-based categories have a yearly limit, so you wait in line by priority date. For PERM cases, the priority date is generally the date the Department of Labor accepted the labor certification. For self-petitions, it is generally the I-140 filing date.

Every month the State Department Visa Bulletin prints two charts. The Dates for Filing chart says when you may submit an I-485. The Final Action Dates chart says when a visa number can actually be issued. USCIS decides each month which chart adjustment applicants must use to file, and posts that choice on its own filing-charts page.

For November 2026, USCIS said all employment-based applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart. The December 2026 choice is posted separately. Approval is a different test. The Policy Manual says a visa must be available at filing and again at approval, and approval uses the Final Action Dates chart in effect that day.

Sources: Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin; Visa Bulletin for November 2026; Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 6: Adjudicative Review

• December 2026 Visa Bulletin predictions
• November 2026 Visa Bulletin for OPT workers

Changing jobs or category while the I-485 is pending

AC21 portability, in INA 204(j), lets some applicants move to a new job without restarting the case. The I-485 must have been pending for 180 days or more. The I-140 must be approved, or pending and later approved. The new job must be in the same or a similar occupational classification.

You request portability, or confirm the original job offer, with Form I-485 Supplement J. USCIS reviews it as part of the I-485. Portability does not move your place in line; the visa still depends on the Final Action Date for your category and country.

A transfer of underlying basis is different. It asks USCIS to decide the pending I-485 on a different petition, such as a new EB-2 I-140 instead of the original EB-3. USCIS lists four conditions: you continuously kept eligibility, the original I-485 is still pending, you qualify in the new category and a visa is immediately available there. The request must be in writing, and generally no new I-485 or fee is required.

Sources: Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5: Job Portability after Adjustment Filing; Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 8: Transfer of Underlying Basis; Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants; Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs

Travel and work while the I-485 is pending

Under 8 CFR 245.2, leaving the United States while an I-485 is pending generally abandons the application unless USCIS granted advance parole first. There is an exception for people in valid H-1 or L-1 status who return to the same employer with a valid visa. It also covers their H-4 and L-2 dependents.

That exception does not include F-1 students on OPT or STEM OPT. If you are on F-1 status when the I-485 is filed, wait for the advance parole document before any trip abroad. Coming back on advance parole is a parole, not a readmission in F-1 status, and USCIS says a parolee is not in a lawful nonimmigrant status. Your OPT work permission may not continue after the trip, so ask your attorney before you travel even with advance parole.

For work, the (c)(9) EAD is the permit based on the pending I-485. While your OPT or STEM OPT EAD is valid, it remains your work permit. Filing the (c)(9) request together with the I-485 starts the second permit early, which matters if OPT ends before the I-485 is decided.

Sources: 8 CFR 245.2: Application for adjustment of status; Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part B, Chapter 5: Employment-Based Applicant Not in Lawful Nonimmigrant Status; Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 3: Filing Instructions; Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization

• Green card options after OPT
• Can you travel on OPT?

What an OPT worker should keep on file

A green card case can last years and cross several jobs and statuses. Keep copies of everything in one place, because a later RFE or interview can ask about any of it.

• Immigration documents to keep on OPT
• I-94 travel history for OPT and H-1B holders

• Every I-797C receipt notice: I-140, I-485, I-765 and I-131, plus any Supplement J receipt.
• Biometrics appointment notices, interview notices and every RFE with your response.
• The I-140 approval notice, which shows your category and priority date.
• Each OPT and STEM OPT EAD, your I-20s with DSO endorsements and your Form I-983 if you were on STEM OPT.
• Your I-94 records and passport pages with entry stamps.
• Pay records and employment letters for each job, to show you kept status and worked as authorized.
• A short log of each status change and date, so you can hand it to your attorney.

Tracking all four receipts together

The four receipts in a green card case move at different speeds. The (c)(9) EAD may be approved months before the I-485, and the I-131 can be approved on its own schedule. TrackMyOPT stores each receipt, checks USCIS for changes and emails you when a status moves.

TrackMyOPT is a tracker, not legal advice. Its decision-window estimates are built from OPT and STEM OPT timelines and do not predict I-485 decisions. For strategy questions such as portability, travel or a change of category, talk to an immigration attorney.

Sources: Check Case Processing Times

• How TrackMyOPT case tracking works

Example: Arjun files the I-485 near the end of STEM OPT

Fictional example: Arjun was born in Brazil and works on STEM OPT. His employer’s EB-2 I-140 was approved, and his priority date of January 10, 2026 falls before the November 2026 Dates for Filing cutoff for all other areas. USCIS used that chart for November, so he files his I-485 with an I-765 (c)(9) and an I-131.

He tracks four receipts. Biometrics finish in December, and the (c)(9) EAD is approved before his STEM OPT EAD expires. His priority date is not yet current on the Final Action Dates chart, so the I-485 stays pending. He cancels a planned trip home until the advance parole document arrives. In this example, months later the Final Action Date passes his priority date and the status changes to "Case Was Approved", then "Card Was Mailed To Me".