Returning Petitions to the United States via 221g

[chiquita 0]

I know thanks you have done alot already, just trying to comprehend all this in the last week, we have done the letters to the embassy, and actually still sending letters to them, (not like bugging them on a daily basis) but he is gathering ones from over there to send in also, and i have contact with 2 senators and 1 US rep...next step???

i so understand all the frustration of what you have been through.

the next step is not what you want to hear.

waiting.

if your efforts pay off and the consulate decides to change their minds, you fiance will get a phone call from them. i hope he has a phone available for this. i would say to wait at least a few weeks for this. i cant remember how long it took for the other 2 couples. they did not wait more than a few weeks for sure.

if you have not heard from the consulate, then you will have to assume your case was returned.

next step after that is NVC fraud unit will get your case. after a while they send it on to the service center where it was approved. after that, dang brnidokiegurl i dont want to get that far ahead. lets concentrate on now and the next week or so to see if your fiance gets a call from the consulate.

in the meantime continue to collect your proofs and try to relax. easier said than done i know, but do try.

chi

[brnidokiegurl 0]

thanks, we are fine, just taking one day at a time, he does have the phone with him and just doing as you and others have suggested. Mainly just wondering how we would know something so i guess if we havent gotten the call in a couple weeks we will know. Thanks you have been very good to help us.

[chiquita 0]

by Kiyah>>

Here is what is happens when a petition is returned:

221(g) is issued to beneficiary at conclusion of the interview stating the application and/or petition is being returned to the United States.

Petition is returned to the United States by the interviewing consulate for "further review" in what is called a diplomatic pouch.

Returned petition is received by the NVC. It is reviewed and entered into the fraud database by fraud management.

Returned petition is sent to the local service center where the petition was originally filed.

Local service center receives returned petition.

Local service center who processed the original petition sends a notice of receipt to the petitioner.

Local service center reviews the returned petition and consular officer notes on the case.

Local service center then sends either a NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny) or NOIR (Notice of Intent to Revoke) to the petitioner also asking for more proof of the relationship, many cases have specific consular objections to rebut.

Petitioner is given 30-60 days from date of NOIR/NOID (depending on the service center) to respond with additional evidence of the relationship or other specific evidence. The timeframe to respond will be provided in the letter.

Local service center receives evidence...if in the timeframe given (30-60 days) the case is reviewed and either reaffirmed or denied.

If the petition is denied the local service center sends the petitioner an 'official' denial letter. This can be be appealed if the denial letter states such.

If the petition is reaffirmed the local service center sends the petitioner an official notice of reaffirmation.

Local service center sends the reaffirmed petition AND its evidence provided in the rebuttal directly to the consulate along with a recommendation to issue a visa.

Consulate notifies the beneficiary of a new interview date.

Beneficiary has interview for the reaffirmed petition and the visa is either issued, or the case in placed in Administrative Processing which after cleared a visa is issued, or worst case scenario it is denied via 221(g) and returned again to the USCIS.

What can you do immediately when faced with this issue:

Immediately have the beneficiary send a scanned copy of the 221(g) issued.

Contact the consulate directly (immediately) and attempt to have the petition reviewed by the senior consular before it is returned.

If you are unable to get through to the consulate on the phone, contact them via email, and if you're mail has a "read verification" use it.

Contact your congressman/senator, get them involved immediately. You will need to sign a release form giving them permission to make an inquiry on your behalf.

Provide your congressman/senator with as much information as possible about your case, the interview, and the result.

If your congressman/senator is top notch, they will not just send an email or letter to the consulate, they will call on the phone and try to get the petition reviewed again before it is sent back.

If they are not successful, they can request the diplomatic pouch number the petition is being returned in. This number will allow you to track the petition until it is received by the local service center.

If you do not know who your congressman/senator is, use the following links to find out who represents your area:

US Congressional Representatives (By State)

US Senators (By State)

If the petition is returned, you are in for a wait. The diplomatic pouch the petition is returned in is sent from embassy to embassy picking up other returned petitions along the way. It could take up to 2 or 3 months for it to be received by fraud management at the NVC...then the NVC has the petition for about 1 month before sending it to the local service center where it was originally filed. One thing to also know is that returned petitions do not take priority...they are reviewed in the order they are received...that is after new petitions have been processed.

What you can do in the meantime while you wait:

Continue contacting the consulate to get an actual reason for the return...not the blanket "validity of relationship" response.

Stay in contact with your congressman/senator, they can assist you in getting the actual reason for denial.

Immediately file a Freedom Of Information Act request for the Department of State asking specifically for the consular notes on your returned petition: DOS FOIA

Immediately file for a Freedom of Information Act request for the USCIS asking for the same specific consular notes on your returned petition: USCIS FOIA

Continue to document your relationship, emails, letters, phone bills, visits to their country, etc.

Be ready for the opportunity to rebut the consular findings.

Contact a good immigration attorney...preferrably one who has experience in returned and denied petitions.

After a period of 6 months or longer has passed and you do not hear anything from the local service center regarding the receipt of your return, or the results of the review, you can contact the CIS Ombudsman. While the Ombudsman cannot make the USCIS reaffirm your returned petition, they can assist when processing times are outside of guidelines

USCIS OMBUDSMAN

Now, there are some differences between returned fiance petitions and marriage petitions. The K1 is especially at risk due to the expiration of the original approval, many returned K1s are not given the opportunity to rebut, they receive a notice telling them their K1 has expired and may file again at any time...this is why the FOIA is so important. You need to know the exact reason the petition was returned, just filing again is a huge risk if you do not know why the petition was returned in the first place.

While the K3 does have an expiration date also, they are treated more seriously. I have not known anyone who has had a returned K3 not being given the opportunity to rebut. Obviously the CR1 does not expire. Still, it is very important to file the FOIA, not every service center will tell you exactly what the consular office findings or objections to issuing the visa are. Some people are only asked to provide more evidence of their relationship.

[morocco4ever 63]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

[limah 1]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

[morocco4ever 63]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

This is where it gets tricky. How do you know when it makes it to the service center. If your attempts to stop the return fails then it is important to have your representative get the registry number for the diplomatic pouch. From there you track it through the diplomatic pouch service (I have those numbers when/if you reach that point). You can track it up until the day it is sent to the NVC. From there you track it with the NVC. Once they show they have sent it to the service center you wait for a few weeks and start contacting the service center. They should by all rights send out another I-797 stating it has been received and give you a priority number, or even possibly a letter stating that the petition has expired. If the letter states it has expired you are free to start again. If not then you can at that point request a NOIR. If that is the road it takes then you have a wait ahead of you. It took them 8 months to send that to us. But the point is to "remind them" on a regular basis through your representative. Every 2 weeks is about adequate.

[limah 1]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

This is where it gets tricky. How do you know when it makes it to the service center. If your attempts to stop the return fails then it is important to have your representative get the registry number for the diplomatic pouch. From there you track it through the diplomatic pouch service (I have those numbers when/if you reach that point). You can track it up until the day it is sent to the NVC. From there you track it with the NVC. Once they show they have sent it to the service center you wait for a few weeks and start contacting the service center. They should by all rights send out another I-797 stating it has been received and give you a priority number, or even possibly a letter stating that the petition has expired. If the letter states it has expired you are free to start again. If not then you can at that point request a NOIR. If that is the road it takes then you have a wait ahead of you. It took them 8 months to send that to us. But the point is to "remind them" on a regular basis through your representative. Every 2 weeks is about adequate.

Ok. I do have emails from the NVC saying they returned the k-3. I also got a letter in the mail saying the CR-1 has been "returned" to the CSC. I have a letter (not I-797), saying the case was returned. No priority # but there is a priority date, which is from last year. So, I'll give it a week more, and call. According to the emails and things, its been back at the service center since the end of march.

Limah

Edited April 12, 2007 by limah

[chiquita 0]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

This is where it gets tricky. How do you know when it makes it to the service center. If your attempts to stop the return fails then it is important to have your representative get the registry number for the diplomatic pouch. From there you track it through the diplomatic pouch service (I have those numbers when/if you reach that point). You can track it up until the day it is sent to the NVC. From there you track it with the NVC. Once they show they have sent it to the service center you wait for a few weeks and start contacting the service center. They should by all rights send out another I-797 stating it has been received and give you a priority number, or even possibly a letter stating that the petition has expired. If the letter states it has expired you are free to start again. If not then you can at that point request a NOIR. If that is the road it takes then you have a wait ahead of you. It took them 8 months to send that to us. But the point is to "remind them" on a regular basis through your representative. Every 2 weeks is about adequate.

Ok. I do have emails from the NVC saying they returned the k-3. I also got a letter in the mail saying the CR-1 has been "returned" to the CSC. I have a letter (not I-797), saying the case was returned. No priority # but there is a priority date, which is from last year. So, I'll give it a week more, and call. According to the emails and things, its been back at the service center since the end of march.

Limah

this is good news!

now be proactive and have your reps contact the service center and make an inquiry for you.

if you want to you can also write the service center addressing your return and asking as the reason why your case was returned. not that it will do any good mind you. but you are letting them know you are staying on top of your case.

you may also want to include copies of all your proofs. you will also do it again once you get the NOIR but it is my opinion that if you do this it can speed your case along faster since they are only following procedure by sending the NOIR but they will already know you have concrete proof of a valid relationship prior to the NOIR and are just waitng on your responce which will be approved once you reply.

i hope this all makes sense.

chi

[limah 1]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

This is where it gets tricky. How do you know when it makes it to the service center. If your attempts to stop the return fails then it is important to have your representative get the registry number for the diplomatic pouch. From there you track it through the diplomatic pouch service (I have those numbers when/if you reach that point). You can track it up until the day it is sent to the NVC. From there you track it with the NVC. Once they show they have sent it to the service center you wait for a few weeks and start contacting the service center. They should by all rights send out another I-797 stating it has been received and give you a priority number, or even possibly a letter stating that the petition has expired. If the letter states it has expired you are free to start again. If not then you can at that point request a NOIR. If that is the road it takes then you have a wait ahead of you. It took them 8 months to send that to us. But the point is to "remind them" on a regular basis through your representative. Every 2 weeks is about adequate.

Ok. I do have emails from the NVC saying they returned the k-3. I also got a letter in the mail saying the CR-1 has been "returned" to the CSC. I have a letter (not I-797), saying the case was returned. No priority # but there is a priority date, which is from last year. So, I'll give it a week more, and call. According to the emails and things, its been back at the service center since the end of march.

Limah

this is good news!

now be proactive and have your reps contact the service center and make an inquiry for you.

if you want to you can also write the service center addressing your return and asking as the reason why your case was returned. not that it will do any good mind you. but you are letting them know you are staying on top of your case.

you may also want to include copies of all your proofs. you will also do it again once you get the NOIR but it is my opinion that if you do this it can speed your case along faster since they are only following procedure by sending the NOIR but they will already know you have concrete proof of a valid relationship prior to the NOIR and are just waitng on your responce which will be approved once you reply.

i hope this all makes sense.

chi

It does make sense and I am going to start organizing things a bit more as soon as I get home. Do you have any idea why I would have a priority date of 6/02/06? This is the priority date on the notice telling me the cr-1 was returned. The date from my NOA 1 5/2/06, and it was approved in 9/23/06, so I dont see how THAT makes any sense...

Limah

[morocco4ever 63]

Thats the reason i was questioning IF we didnt get the letter after application expires, from her experience

One of the main problems here is that we are dealing with the call center, which is outsourced, so these people aren't really knowledgeable with anything out of the normal petitions. Chi is right, you need to request the NOIR if they don't provide it to you, but again, I am 100% sure it is still in Casa.

At what point do you request the letter?

Limah

This is where it gets tricky. How do you know when it makes it to the service center. If your attempts to stop the return fails then it is important to have your representative get the registry number for the diplomatic pouch. From there you track it through the diplomatic pouch service (I have those numbers when/if you reach that point). You can track it up until the day it is sent to the NVC. From there you track it with the NVC. Once they show they have sent it to the service center you wait for a few weeks and start contacting the service center. They should by all rights send out another I-797 stating it has been received and give you a priority number, or even possibly a letter stating that the petition has expired. If the letter states it has expired you are free to start again. If not then you can at that point request a NOIR. If that is the road it takes then you have a wait ahead of you. It took them 8 months to send that to us. But the point is to "remind them" on a regular basis through your representative. Every 2 weeks is about adequate.

Ok. I do have emails from the NVC saying they returned the k-3. I also got a letter in the mail saying the CR-1 has been "returned" to the CSC. I have a letter (not I-797), saying the case was returned. No priority # but there is a priority date, which is from last year. So, I'll give it a week more, and call. According to the emails and things, its been back at the service center since the end of march.

Limah

this is good news!

now be proactive and have your reps contact the service center and make an inquiry for you.

if you want to you can also write the service center addressing your return and asking as the reason why your case was returned. not that it will do any good mind you. but you are letting them know you are staying on top of your case.

you may also want to include copies of all your proofs. you will also do it again once you get the NOIR but it is my opinion that if you do this it can speed your case along faster since they are only following procedure by sending the NOIR but they will already know you have concrete proof of a valid relationship prior to the NOIR and are just waitng on your responce which will be approved once you reply.

i hope this all makes sense.

chi

It does make sense and I am going to start organizing things a bit more as soon as I get home. Do you have any idea why I would have a priority date of 6/02/06? This is the priority date on the notice telling me the cr-1 was returned. The date from my NOA 1 5/2/06, and it was approved in 9/23/06, so I dont see how THAT makes any sense...

Limah

That is pretty weird, I can't say I have seen where they have retro dated it before. Anyone else?

[chiquita 0]

It does make sense and I am going to start organizing things a bit more as soon as I get home. Do you have any idea why I would have a priority date of 6/02/06? This is the priority date on the notice telling me the cr-1 was returned. The date from my NOA 1 5/2/06, and it was approved in 9/23/06, so I dont see how THAT makes any sense...

Limah

That is pretty weird, I can't say I have seen where they have retro dated it before. Anyone else?

my quess is it an error. i wouldnt worry about it. there were plenty of errors made in our case such as these.

chi

[limah 1]

It does make sense and I am going to start organizing things a bit more as soon as I get home. Do you have any idea why I would have a priority date of 6/02/06? This is the priority date on the notice telling me the cr-1 was returned. The date from my NOA 1 5/2/06, and it was approved in 9/23/06, so I dont see how THAT makes any sense...

Limah

That is pretty weird, I can't say I have seen where they have retro dated it before. Anyone else?

my quess is it an error. i wouldnt worry about it. there were plenty of errors made in our case such as these.

chi

I was thinking it's an error myself. I was just reading the link brnidokiegurl provided, along with my daily dose of VJ,the exclusive group, and other internet sources............ what is the NVC compared to the NBC? Thats always confused the heck outta me?

Also, what is the purpose of the priority date? Is this supposed to be a date they would have to review the returned CR-1..... had the date been for sometime in the future?

Limah

[morocco4ever 63]

The priority date is suppose to be similar to the date that they originally gave you for the initial petition. The only problem is that there is no site you can go to to see what priority date they are working on for this type of situation. Not only that, when you call to try and find out what dates they are working on you will be told that these returns are not "high priority" and that they will "get around to them when the have the time". They will also tell you "this is the price you pay for marrying a foreigner. I just love those people, don't you?

Anyway, I think I would try to get your senator or congressman involved to get the date fixed, and let them deal most of the time with the USCIS. Once they have crossed the line of a reasonable wait time then you can get assistance from the ombudsman. You don't want to contact the ombudsman though until it is unreasonable or they will not help. I did find them very helpful. Once they got involved it was amazing how within 1 week the sent the NOIR, although they claimed to the ombudsman that they were still within their timelines.

[chiquita 0]

The priority date is suppose to be similar to the date that they originally gave you for the initial petition. The only problem is that there is no site you can go to to see what priority date they are working on for this type of situation. Not only that, when you call to try and find out what dates they are working on you will be told that these returns are not "high priority" and that they will "get around to them when the have the time". They will also tell you "this is the price you pay for marrying a foreigner. I just love those people, don't you?

Anyway, I think I would try to get your senator or congressman involved to get the date fixed, and let them deal most of the time with the USCIS. Once they have crossed the line of a reasonable wait time then you can get assistance from the ombudsman. You don't want to contact the ombudsman though until it is unreasonable or they will not help. I did find them very helpful. Once they got involved it was amazing how within 1 week the sent the NOIR, although they claimed to the ombudsman that they were still within their timelines.

this is great info to know!

chi

[limah 1]

The priority date is suppose to be similar to the date that they originally gave you for the initial petition. The only problem is that there is no site you can go to to see what priority date they are working on for this type of situation. Not only that, when you call to try and find out what dates they are working on you will be told that these returns are not "high priority" and that they will "get around to them when the have the time". They will also tell you "this is the price you pay for marrying a foreigner. I just love those people, don't you?

Anyway, I think I would try to get your senator or congressman involved to get the date fixed, and let them deal most of the time with the USCIS. Once they have crossed the line of a reasonable wait time then you can get assistance from the ombudsman. You don't want to contact the ombudsman though until it is unreasonable or they will not help. I did find them very helpful. Once they got involved it was amazing how within 1 week the sent the NOIR, although they claimed to the ombudsman that they were still within their timelines.

this is great info to know!

chi

Well, I have emailed the NVC asd the congressional reps that have been assisting me from day 1. So we shall see......

Limah