Green Card approved but not Work Permit, what to do next

[WhiteFox 7]

Hi again VJ, I'm a little confused!

I'm having some problems on my husband's green card process. We filed to Adjust status from a K-1 Visa (I-485). Looking at the case status online says that his GC was approved and was mailed to him, but it seems to be lost in the mail. I've been in the process of calling them to figure out what's happened to it, but so far it seems to be lost and that I'll unfortunantly have to pay the $450 to get another one.

In the meantime, I received a RFE for his work permit (I-765), asking for our address again. Since his greencard has been approved do I need to send them back something? Do you still need a work permit if you are approved for a GC already?

OR has his greencard not come in the mail yet because I haven't sent the RFE info back to them? What should I do?

Hopefully that makes sense. Thank you so much for everyone's time as always. Much love

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Please outline the time ticks for your AOS: applied, GC approved, RFE for EAD date.

RFE should not be issued after GC is issued. Maybe it really was issued before, or you mixed up the two approvals, or something went wonky.

[WhiteFox 7]

• February 28, 2013 - I-485 and I-765 packet sent
• March 7, 2013 - Confimation email received with Case number

• April 25, 2013 - Online case status shows message that greencard has been approved and mailed.
• April 29, 2013 - Form I-797C NOA received in mail for I-485 and I-765, Biometric appointment also received
• May 9, 2013 - Biometrics appointment in Oxnard, CA
• May 13, 2013 - RFE for I-765 received in mail, requesting for physical address.

This is what has has happened so far

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There is absolutely NO way that you got your GC approved 1)before you had your biometrics, and 2) in less than 2 months without an interview.

I suspect that your GC is not approved, and that your case is processing, and that they need some information on the EAD in order to approve it.

Why did it take 2 months for your NOA1s to be sent?

I think that you either have the wrong case number, or something.

Call USCIS and talk to a Tier 2 person or make infopass.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[WhiteFox 7]

Not sure why the website says we are approved then, but I checked and rechecked the case number and it's correct so maybe they have given me the wrong one, which would be stupid. The case number for the work permit says that we indeed have an RFE sent on the correct date, so that one must be accurate. Don't some people get GCs approved without interviews though?

And I'm not sure why it took 2 months to get the NOA1s, it took a similar amount of time for me to get my NOA1 for my husband's K1 so I didn't think it was odd or anything.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

People get GCs without interview, but NEVER before biometrics.

Biometrics is a critical precursor to launching a background check with the FBI and other criminal databases. It is impossible to get a GC without biometrics.

[agrabs 237]

yes, it is possible for your green card to be approved without an interview; however, I will be very jealous ( but happy for you) if this is the case, because those of us waiting for approval without an interview have been waiting 9 months or more. More importantly, it would be very strange for it to be approved without having done the biometrics -

[WhiteFox 7]

I'm not sure what has happened then, the website definitely says the greencard was approved and mailed, so was this someone's error at the office updating the status with approval but not actually having it be approved?

I'm thinking maybe I should send back the RFE info to them for the work permit and wait a little longer and see what happens then.

If I call them, I'm not sure how I could explain my problem to them. Should I say that my status says his GC is approved but it was before the biometrics so there must be some mistake?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If I call them, I'm not sure how I could explain my problem to them. Should I say that my status says his GC is approved but it was before the biometrics so there must be some mistake?

Yes. Ask them to look up your case by your person instead of by the number.

The online system is unreliable and not directly connected to your case.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

i agree completely with Harpa. Your timeline is not right and I think there's been a typo in your case number or someone mis-hit a button.

I suggest when you call asking for a tier 2 officer who can see more than the regular people who answer the phone.

And yes, reply to the RFE.

[EasternDE 35]

I had got my green card approved right away, before EAD or AP.
As a result, my EAD and AP both got denied at the exact same time.

What I mean is that if your Green Card would have been approved, they would stop processing EAD and AP, for sure.

There is no doubt that there was a mistake, answer the RFE!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'm not sure what has happened then, the website definitely says the greencard was approved and mailed, so was this someone's error at the office updating the status with approval but not actually having it be approved?

I'm thinking maybe I should send back the RFE info to them for the work permit and wait a little longer and see what happens then.

If I call them, I'm not sure how I could explain my problem to them. Should I say that my status says his GC is approved but it was before the biometrics so there must be some mistake?

Agreed. It's virtually impossible to approve AOS without biometrics since the photo taken at the biometrics appointment is the one used on the green card.

BTW, the system you use to view your case status online is called CRIS, or Customer Relationship Interface System. It's not the REAL system that USCIS uses to manage cases. The real system consist of multiple networked systems collectively called CLAIMS, or Computer Linked Application Information Management System. It would be considered a security risk to allow customers to have direct access to the CLAIMS systems, so the CRIS system only contains a very small subset of the full case information contained in the CLAIMS system. It's quite common for the status codes in the CRIS system to be wrong, or for the status record for a particular case to be missing entirely from the CRIS system. This is because data is transmitted one-way from CLAIMS to CRIS automatically after being chewed on by some filtering scripts. Nobody reviews it, and in many cases nobody corrects it even when errors are discovered. Nobody at USCIS depends on the CRIS system to contain accurate information, so nobody really cares if it doesn't.

[Nimaan 27]

February 28, 2013 - I-485 and I-765 packet sent

March 7, 2013 - Confimation email received with Case number

April 25, 2013 - Online case status shows message that greencard has been approved and mailed.

April 29, 2013 - Form I-797C NOA received in mail for I-485 and I-765, Biometric appointment also received

May 9, 2013 - Biometrics appointment in Oxnard, CA

May 13, 2013 - RFE for I-765 received in mail, requesting for physical address.

This is what has has happened so far

Are you using the biometrics receipt to check status if the I-485? Since your NOA1 and Bio came 2 months later I wonder if you are using the case # that was emailed to you which is not correct.

Make sure you use the receipt # on the biometrics appt!

[richinlove 2]

he states that on may 9 he did biometrics so i really am not following the responses! good luck but i think ur fine u and ur family might have impressed the co at k1 interview that they dont require u to do an interview now, so they just skipped that process! you will be fine dont worry too much! u must have it all sorted out by now its almost 9am and i wouldnt have been able to sleep until i spoke to someone about it!

[Hannah B 16]

I also had some glitches in the database. I sent my applications for AOS/EAD and AP in March. On April 22nd I had my biometrics and that afternoon I had an email there had been a change in status of my AOS and when I checked online on the USCIS website it said card production and that it was in the mail. It turned out to be a mistake and what had actually happened was that an RFE for the greeencard had been sent to me on April 22nd. When I responded to the RFE the status reverted back to RFE response review which is where it is still at. I just got approval for EAD and AP yesterday and received the email for both and also checked online. So all three applications seem to be correct now on the online system but im just saying that for me there was a period of a few weeks where it said I had been approved for the greencard but it was an error. Good luck. Keep us posted. I would definitely contact USCIS as when I did the tier 2 officer clarified I had not been approved as it stated.