I filed an O-1 petition inside the country (change of status) and got flagged for a security check. Any other “lucky ones”? I’d be interested to hear who else had this and how it was ultimately resolved.
I changed my status from F-1 to O-1 inside the U.S. myself — the I-797A arrived about 8 weeks after approval; there was no security check. I was also wondering: if during a COS (change of status) you get put on an administrative check, does that also stretch out for years like with consular processing? From acquaintances who went through a consulate, it sometimes took 2–3 years there. How it works when changing status inside the country — honestly I don’t know, I haven’t seen cases like that.
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I filed inside the U.S., so I didn’t go through the consulate—only the security check for the change of status. People I know with the same change of status inside the U.S. were approved in about eight months; someone even managed to file and get an EB‑1 approved in parallel. So it’s actually moving, just slowly.
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Look, the COS (change of status) security check and consular administrative processing are fundamentally different queues. The consular one goes through the DOS (Department of State) in Washington, and there it can take 2–3 years. When you change status inside the country, USCIS runs the process itself, so eight months is more the norm than an anomaly. I saw a case where the person even had to go on a forced vacation when their student visa expired — and they were still approved after eight months.
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I read about a case like that — it was approved after eight months, but in the meantime the person ended up on forced leave for five months when their student status expired and almost moved to Singapore to avoid losing their job. The worst part is the uncertainty — you don’t know whether to plan your life for two months or for two years. I’m glad that at least within the country it’s handled by USCIS, not the DOS with their perpetual 2–3 year queue.
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You lose the status, but the case stays alive — that’s the whole point of the system.
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It’ll all work out - with USCIS in-country, 8 months is a realistic timeframe)
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A congressional inquiry really helps in situations like this — I heard of a case where someone did exactly that; they were officially told an investigation was underway, then after 30 days there was a follow-up and the case suddenly moved. If something’s been stuck for six months with no movement, don’t just sit around waiting for things to happen.
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