Lost petition found and delivered. Problem

[jkb11 26]

Hi everyone,

here's an update from today.

We arrived at the USCIS Chicago office today, to attend our Infopass appointment. I'm sorry I have to say this, but holy #######, I have never encountered such rudeness in any governmental agency before. The lady who was there to receive all the appointments and give out numbers was in her 50ies and from Poland (what a shame for my country) and was terribly rude and obnoxious. As we approached her, she asked her for purpose of our visit. We stated that we have filed these I-129F forms, and basically shortly described everything I posted here before. She angrily replied that we're wasting money, it's improper to file I-129F when the fiancee is in the country, we do not know what we're doing. Then she noticed I was from Poland too, so she started to speak polish. She said she can recognize a Pole right away, in a rudely manner. That, Poles, nowadays, are losing their marbles, etc. etc. Not willing to carry on with the conversation, I politely asked for a number and then, we sat down waiting for our turn.

We got summoned to one of the counters, we presented our case and got an immediate reply that I-129F is not a proper form and that if we are not married and I am not in my home country, we can't file for anything. I was pretty astonished after hearing that the second time today in this office. I showed her our I-129F form, pointing our question no. 12, regarding current presence of the fiance in the U.S., class of admission and admission number. She looked at it, walked away for a few minutes, came back and unfortunately, remained unconvinced. Nevertheless, we came here to speak about current issue with duplicate petition and problem with payments. The lady officer replied that unfortunately, she can't help us with that as she doesn't have an insight on our application and that the only party that would be able to help us is the CSC. "There's nothing I can do, sorry".

I'm starting to question my actions - were we in the wrong filing the I-129F? Or do these people not know entirely what they are talking about?

Anyway, after this one completely fruitless visit, we decided to go home and change our gameplan. Since we care more about our time than money, we figured that we should pay all the invoices, extras, etc. now, and then, later down the road, seek refunds. Basically everything to straighten it out, no matter at what cost, and have a petition pending. I called USCIS Burlington Finance Center to pay for the invoice. To my surprise, apparently, CSC instructed them two days earlier to cancel the invoice and so we learn from her that now we do not owe anything and there is no debt. Finally some good news today. I'm thinking - maybe someone in the CSC limbo got to read our letter from early february and decided to take action after all. I asked about the other case, the one, which has been completely paid for, what the payment status was. She pulled out its status from the system and it seemed that that one was OK, the payment has been collected and has not been returned. Hence, the reason for rejection - lack of payment - was invalid. She asked me to fax her all our I-797/I-797C's, proof of payment (check + bank statement) and a short follow up note, personally. She is going to contact the bank and if everything checks out, she will contact CSC and see what can be done here, then contact us. Not sure how much I can rely on this to actually bring anything positive into our case, but that was the first person that was not clueless and was willing and eager to help today.

I'm still waiting for CSC's reply to our letter sent in February, but considering the fact that the invoice has been cancelled, it might indicate it's gonna be soon.

Cheers.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Are you ready to get married now? If you guys are both here I might suggest you marry and file AOS; pick a new path. Good luck whatever you decide.

[jkb11 26]

Thanks for the advice. However, I don't think that, even if we were willing to marry today, filing a brand new petition with USCIS will help the confusion that has already arisen.

Cheers!

[jkb11 26]

New update. Good news this time

Received a call earlier this morning from the same nice lady from USCIS Burlington Finance Center. She has contacted the bank and everything was OK. Then she has sent an email to CSC and got a prompt reply (good to know they have the CSC on the line and get quick responses ) stating that our second case was rejected due to the error on their side and it has already been put back into processing. I should be hearing something from then within the next few days. The online status of my case will be updated within next few days as well. I shall call USCIS national number on monday and confirm the situation.

All sounds great!

Now, as the magic term "USCIS error" has been used, I was thinking, maybe I have a fair chance of getting expedite on the case. I shall definitely try after I'm sure the case has been reopened.

I'm so glad the Burlington USCIS people are not soulless drones and honestly, they are the ones who were providing me with the most help, information and knowledge, of all the USCIS sources, since day 1.

More to come!

Cheers!

[C-ma'am 684]

Definitely good news! I hope you have a smooth process from now on

Best wishes!

Celeste

[Hank_ 9,173]

Very good news!! After all the frustration I am glad things are coming together.

[beejay 123]

What a roller coaster. Thank goodness you were able to reach someone competent that was finally willing to help you understand and resolve all the issues.

Good luck with the rest of your process. Glad the ball has started to roll.

[jkb11 26]

Finally, CSC decided to reply, after making a service request:

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX:

On 03/21/2012 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Caller indicated they are: Applicant or Petitioner

Attorney Name: Information not available

Case type: I129F

Filing date: 12/23/2011

Receipt #: WAC-XX-XXX-XXXXX

Referral ID: ETCXXXXXXXXXXCSC

Beneficiary (if you filed for someone else): Information not available

Your USCIS Account Number (A-number): Information not available

Type of service requested: Other

The status of this service request is:

Your file has been requested for review. You should receive a Notice of Action within 14 days.

*A notice of action may be in a form of an amended Receipt Notice, Approval Notice, Denial Notice, Transfer Notice, Request for Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny, Notice of Intent to Revoke or a Revocation Notice.

If you have any further questions, please call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Hopefully, good news are coming!

[jkb11 26]

Today we have received an e-mail response to our service request:

Bounced check issue has been resolved; case is under review and actively being processed.

USCIS electronic records indicate that your application/petition was filed on December 23, 2011 and is currently within current processing time. We are currently processing cases filed within five (5) months of filing.

The status of your case may be obtained online at https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do.

Thank you.

Hopefully that seals the fate of our double petition issue and we can carry on with our waiting

Cheers!

Edited April 20, 2012 by jkb11

[C-ma'am 684]

Today we have received an e-mail response to our service request:

Hopefully that seals the fate of our double petition issue and we can carry on with our waiting

Cheers!

Oh my! That's great! Still keeping you guys in my prayers... they are taking their sweet time, but it seems like they are working on your case.

[TBoneTX 43,059]

Congratulations, si man!

[jkb11 26]

Big update!

Last week we decided to contact our congressman to finally clear everything up with CSC. On monday, 23/4/2012, his office sent a mail to CSC asking for assistance in clearing things up and fixing the issue.

Today, we got our approval I'm 1000% sure it's due to the congressman's office's action. Too much of a coincidence.

Now off to the NVC stage!

Cheers!

[TBoneTX 43,059]

Sounds like someone will get your vote in November. Congratulations, si man!

[Darnell 8,478]

Holy Moly, Batman !

Congratulations !!

[jkb11 26]

Sounds like someone will get your vote in November. Congratulations, si man!

I can't vote