GreenLight is built for USCIS applicants navigating every stage of their case. Find answers here, or reach out if something's missing.
What GreenLight is and how it works
GreenLight Track is a free, independent tool that helps USCIS immigration applicants understand and monitor their case. With GreenLight you can:
GreenLight is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to USCIS or any government agency.
No. The core tools are free and work without an account:
An account is needed for email notifications (milestone alerts, weekly digest) and to unlock Pro features.
No. GreenLight is an independent, community-powered tool. Data comes from two sources:
For your official case status, always use your receipt number on my.uscis.gov. GreenLight does not have access to USCIS systems.
Support varies by feature:
How we translate USCIS jargon into plain English
Paste any USCIS status message — like "Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS" — and get a plain-English explanation, a severity label (good news / attention needed / action required), and suggested next steps.
It uses a curated knowledge base of common USCIS statuses. For unusual messages not in the knowledge base, our AI decodes the status in plain, understandable language.
Free users: 3 decodes per day. Pro users: unlimited decodes.
The daily limit resets at midnight. Your decode count is tracked in your browser — not on our servers.
No. Status messages you paste into the decoder are never logged or stored on GreenLight's servers. They are processed only to generate your explanation and are not retained afterward.
We designed it this way intentionally — immigration case text is sensitive and should not be stored without a clear reason.
Document preparation for your interview
GreenLight's checklist is organised into three tiers for each form type:
Each item includes a brief description and an explanation of why USCIS asks for it. Currently available for: I-485, I-765, I-131.
Document requirements can change. Always cross-reference with the official USCIS instructions for your specific form and edition date.
Yes — check off items as you gather them and your progress is saved automatically in your browser. The checklist remembers your state between visits, even without an account.
The checklist auto-selects the right tab if you have a case set up in GreenLight — it reads your case type and opens the matching form checklist.
Tracking your case milestones
USCIS processing takes time at every stage. If you've recently filed, it's completely normal to see no movement for weeks. Typical early wait times:
Check the Community page to see real wait times for your case type and field office — that's the best reference for what's normal right now.
GreenLight does not predict your case outcome or a specific approval date. What you see on the Community page are benchmarks from real past applicants — the median, 75th, and 90th percentile processing times.
Your actual timeline depends on factors no tool can see: field office workload, case complexity, RFEs, and current USCIS priorities — all of which shift frequently.
Use the community data as a reference range, not a guarantee or prediction.
Where the benchmarks come from
Community data comes from GreenLight users who voluntarily and anonymously share their case milestones — filing date, biometrics date, approval date, and others.
We never collect or store:
Each contribution is a raw date + case type + field office combination — untraceable to any individual.
The live case count is shown at the top of the Community page. It grows as more users contribute milestones.
Early data includes estimates seeded from USCIS published averages — clearly labelled as estimates on the page. As real community submissions accumulate, they gradually replace seeded data to improve accuracy.
From the Timeline page, use the "Share with community" option after logging a milestone. Your submission is completely anonymous — no name, receipt number, or user ID is attached.
Contributing helps future applicants benchmark their cases. The more people share, the more accurate the community data becomes for everyone.
Subscription, privacy, and your account
Pro unlocks features for applicants who want deeper insights and automation:
Two options: $7.99/month (cancel anytime) or $59 one-time Life of Case (covers your case from now until approval).
All core features — timeline, decoder, checklist, community benchmarks — are free forever.
Yes — monthly Pro can be cancelled at any time from your Account page. Cancellation is handled through Stripe's secure Customer Portal — instant and straightforward.
When you cancel, your Pro access continues until the end of the current billing period. You won't be charged again after that.
The Life of Case ($59 one-time) is a single purchase — there are no recurring charges and nothing to cancel.
Privacy is a core design principle at GreenLight. Here's exactly what lives where:
Receipt numbers are never sent to our servers under any circumstance.
You can delete your account at any time from the Account page. All server-side data is removed immediately.
Paste your status message and get a plain-English explanation in seconds — free, no account needed.
GreenLight is not affiliated with USCIS, DHS, or any U.S. government agency. Nothing here is legal advice.