Are you wondering why your friend’s immigration case seems to be going faster? Why they received their work permit before you or why they got a nicer immigration officer to do their interview?

A common thing that happens with a lot of couples is that they’re looking for a benchmark. It makes sense because they want to know how long a case is going to take and when can they expect to receive a work permit or an interview. They look online at wait times for other individuals and maybe if they have friends going through the process, they’ll say that their friend filed later but they already have their interview or they received their work permit in four months while theirs is taking six months and they haven’t received it yet.

The reality with immigration is that even if someone has a similar type of case, trying to compare your case to someone else’s case is like comparing apples to oranges. There are so many variables and factors involved in the immigration process that while it’s good to see how long another person has waited, that doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with your case if your case is taking longer.

Some of the variables that play in an immigration case that can make one person’s wait time longer or the process that an individual goes through or a couple goes through a little different has to do with something called jurisdiction. Depending on the state you live in, the wait times would be different between someone who is living in a completely separate state.

The immigration office where the case was filed and the immigration officer assigned to the case might have a higher workload. It might take him or her longer to make a decision.

Specific factors of the other person’s case can also cause a different wait time or a different process. Even if you are going through a green card process, there are actually a lot of different paths that a couple can take and so, depending on the path, that can impact your wait time. Comparing your case to your friend’s case is not always a helpful measure.