CaseStatusAPI vs. free trackers and ChatGPT
There are three common ways to read the data behind your myUSCIS account: a free tracker such as the USCIS Case Status Tracker on GitHub, a general chatbot such as ChatGPT, or CaseStatusAPI. Here is how they differ, and where each one is the better choice.
We make CaseStatusAPI, so we are not neutral. What we say about the other tools comes from their own sites, checked on September 26, 2026. For a closer look at the GitHub tracker, read our side-by-side comparison.
Side by side
When another tool is the better choice
- You want nothing to leave your device: the USCIS Case Status Tracker reads your case in your browser and is free.
- You have one I-485 case and a timeline with code meanings is enough.
- You want to ask general immigration questions that aren't about your own case data: a chatbot is quick for that (check anything important with an attorney).
Free tools differ from each other, too. visa-case-tracker.vercel.app, for example, adds AI insights and comparisons with similar cases.
Getting your data, and several cases at once
With the GitHub tracker or a chatbot, you open the USCIS data page yourself, copy it and paste it in. CaseStatusAPI's free Chrome extension and iPhone Shortcut fetch it for you while you are signed in to myUSCIS, and you can still copy and paste from the links we make for your receipt number.
Families and people with several filings (for example an I-130, I-485, I-765 and I-131) can read up to 5 cases together, so a change on one case is read in light of the others.
How the report is written
Our rules engine reads your data first and works out the facts: the dates, what each event code means, the office handling your case, and whether there was a silent update and what likely caused it. An AI model then explains those facts in plain English and suggests next steps.
Pasting the same data into a general chatbot can work, but it has no USCIS code tables and can guess wrong about a code or a date. The GitHub tracker uses fixed rules, which are predictable but only cover the situations they were written for.
Event codes
USCIS uses hundreds of internal event codes. We explain more than 500 of them in plain English, each on its own page, many with real numbers from cases like yours. The GitHub tracker's list has about 70 codes; others show as a generic “Event” label with a pointer to the official NIEM code list.
Privacy
The GitHub tracker keeps everything in your browser, which is the most private option. Chats with ChatGPT go to OpenAI, and on personal accounts they can be used to improve its models unless you turn that off in its settings.
CaseStatusAPI reads your case on our servers to write the report. The AI never sees your full receipt number, and we never ask for your USCIS password. We keep de-identified case milestones (no name, A-Number or documents) for community timelines, and you can opt out at any time. A report you buy is saved for 90 days so you can reopen it, and you can delete it sooner. The details are in our privacy policy.
Checking your current status is free and needs no account.