I-751 October 2017 filers

[-PiLoT- 11]

I have two numbers to check, i have been checking the on we were all supposed to and its the CRI-89 one, no updates since october. but i read here everyone was using the other number off the extension letter. and i have had this as moved to local office. my exception is tho i HAVE had biometrics

[Daisy&Vincent 12]

15 minutes ago, GoodbyeGirl said:

My 'Case Was Received At My Local Office' has changed too today, from 26 Feb to 5 March. No clue what's going on, hoping to get some answers at my infopass appointment on 13 March. I am wondering now what'll happen to the formal process if they do allow me to have my biometrics appointment. Will I get the 2nd reference to track my case?

 

@Vincent Chu would you mind sharing what happened in your case?

I've been logging in these past few days after the USCIS maintenance tools outage both last week and last night.  So far for me... nothing has changed.  The date modified/updated is still marked as 2/27/2018.  So my case number in the online tool has not been touched since then.  After logging in... it still reads... 

Case Was Received At My Local Office

On February 27, 2018, we received your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, Receipt Number WACxxxxxxxxxxx, at your local office. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

 

NOTE: For those that may not have followed this thread prior, we were in the same boat as some of you being without a biometrics appointment letter.  We "forced" my way into the local Application Support Center office (Seattle - Tukwila, WA) via INFOPASS and ended up with postive results of our biometrics getting expedited the day of.  Wondering if there is any correlation of the "early" dates [2/25-27?] versus the "later" dates [3/4-5?] in relationship to whether the case has progressed only through (1) NOA receipt or (2) through NOA receipt and Biometrics complete.

 

See below for reference of Biometrics experience.  YMMV.

 

On 2/8/2018 at 9:20 PM, Vincent Chu said:

As most, if not all of us, October filers being processed at the CSC have not received biometrics appointment letters... we took a few measures just to get status updates and ensure our case wasn't abandoned (in hindsight probably an extreme claim... we were just getting anxious).  So we promptly received the NOA with receipt date a little less than a week after our packet had arrived to CSC.

 

However, we had tried to wait patiently over a month before we started to get anxious.  In result, we had called the USCIS 1-800 number a few times to get the same answer of "we cannot find your case information (based on the app number 1)" and "it's been over a month and your biometrics hasn't arrived??? that's weird...".  Then we had opened a Service Request (SR) mid Dec and received a response by the end of month saying we were added to the appointment scheduler.  Gave it another 2-3 weeks...

 

We then made an INFOPASS appointment for Feb 8th, then fast forward to today...

 

NOTE: May be helpful for those in the Seattle ASC service area... but YMMV.

 

We arrived for our INFOPASS appointment.  We went to the counter to the staff to explain that we had not received our biometrics letter, made several calls and opened an SR.  This staff member was too surprised that we hadn't received it after 1 month.  Since we are over 3 months out now... the staff made a call.  Soon we were brought over past the counter for fingerprint check-in into the waiting area for biometrics.  We spoke with the ASC Manager whom understood our concern but also said that since I-751 are fairly backlogged, shouldn't need to worry about biometrics just yet.  (***This still doesn't explain why most us Oct filers didn't get it, but subsequent months did***).  Anyways... took 10-15 minutes, but the Manager generated the ASC Appointment Notice right there and we were given a number to wait to get biometrics processed.  Long story short... they expedited it for us!  Either way... they told us not to worry... but feels like a burden is lifted not having to worry about waiting for the severely delay biometrics letter.  Lastly, he confirmed that once the 1 year extension passes and if the I-751/CRI-89 has not been approved yet... make another INFOPASS to get the I-551 stamp in the passport.  Also, we plan on applying to N-400 which we can do 90 days prior to the 1 year extension date -- so we'll do that to hopefully push this ROC along.  Anyways... trying to give some hope to the Seattleites, but remember... YMMV.

 

Now for the longer wait... Good Luck Everyone!

 

 

[GoodbyeGirl 144]

You could be onto something there @Vincent Chu. Perhaps CSC filers that haven't yet had their biometrics appointment (like me) now see the case status update 'received at local office' is changed to 5 March, but if you had that update around late Feb and DID complete biometrics, then no change on your status following last weekend's USCIS site update?

 

Did you get the 2nd receipt number after your successful 'forced' biometrics appointment? Just wondering if yes, how that got to you. I am hoping to do the same as you via an infopass (13 March) but now wondering what impact that will have on the formal process. 

[Daisy&Vincent 12]

7 minutes ago, GoodbyeGirl said:

Did you get the 2nd receipt number after your successful 'forced' biometrics appointment? Just wondering if yes, how that got to you. I am hoping to do the same as you via an infopass (13 March) but now wondering what impact that will have on the formal process. 

Yes, I have both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers.

 

The story on the 2nd number:  When we went to our INFOPASS at the local ASC, after the staff member transferring us to the manager... the manager made a call (maybe to the National Customer Service Center?) to get approval to generate the biometrics notice on the spot.  Following, he was able to generate the notice for our review and let us take home that "drafted" copy.  The notice had both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers and barcodes at the bottom.

 

Some time the following week, our USPS alert said their was a letter from USCIS on the way.  After opening this letter, it was the same "drafted" copy biometrics notice we took home, however officially printed on letterhead/card stock as you would expect the I-797 typically delivered by mail.

[GoodbyeGirl 144]

2 minutes ago, Vincent Chu said:

Yes, I have both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers.

 

The story on the 2nd number:  When we went to our INFOPASS at the local ASC, after the staff member transferring us to the manager... the manager made a call (maybe to the National Customer Service Center?) to get approval to generate the biometrics notice on the spot.  Following, he was able to generate the notice for our review and let us take home that "drafted" copy.  The notice had both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers and barcodes at the bottom.

 

Some time the following week, our USPS alert said their was a letter from USCIS on the way.  After opening this letter, it was the same "drafted" copy biometrics notice we took home, however officially printed on letterhead/card stock as you would expect the I-797 typically delivered by mail.

That's really helpful! Thank you. Now I know what to expect if I can get my biometrics done next week. I am totally expecting to be turned away, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway!

[Daisy&Vincent 12]

1 minute ago, GoodbyeGirl said:

That's really helpful! Thank you. Now I know what to expect if I can get my biometrics done next week. I am totally expecting to be turned away, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway!

Good luck to you guys!

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

26 minutes ago, GoodbyeGirl said:

You could be onto something there @Vincent Chu. Perhaps CSC filers that haven't yet had their biometrics appointment (like me) now see the case status update 'received at local office' is changed to 5 March, but if you had that update around late Feb and DID complete biometrics, then no change on your status following last weekend's USCIS site update?

 

Did you get the 2nd receipt number after your successful 'forced' biometrics appointment? Just wondering if yes, how that got to you. I am hoping to do the same as you via an infopass (13 March) but now wondering what impact that will have on the formal process. 

VSC filer (did biometrics last November) and my status was updated twice, last week and this morning. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

11 minutes ago, Vincent Chu said:

Yes, I have both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers.

 

The story on the 2nd number:  When we went to our INFOPASS at the local ASC, after the staff member transferring us to the manager... the manager made a call (maybe to the National Customer Service Center?) to get approval to generate the biometrics notice on the spot.  Following, he was able to generate the notice for our review and let us take home that "drafted" copy.  The notice had both the I-751 (NOA) and the CRI-89 (biometrics) case numbers and barcodes at the bottom.

 

Some time the following week, our USPS alert said their was a letter from USCIS on the way.  After opening this letter, it was the same "drafted" copy biometrics notice we took home, however officially printed on letterhead/card stock as you would expect the I-797 typically delivered by mail.

Biometrics and Infopass in one office at the same location?

[GoodbyeGirl 144]

Well that blows that theory then! 

[Daisy&Vincent 12]

For anyone curious on the case number labeling of I-751 vs CRI-89... i stumbled onto this archived alert: https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/uscis-clarifies-language-form-i-751-transfer-notices-sent-petitioners

 

This happened back in Oct 2015.  The key takeaways I gather from this is...

• USCIS has always been good at misinforming people.  This article shows that the old "transfer notices" gave people the impression that they were approved when in reality it was just transferred for adjudication.
• Yet again, "transfer" is only refering to Service Centers.  Today... typically only California and Vermont file I-751.  Based on this article, historically Nebraska and Texas also took on this workload.
• The article specifically has text describing the former messaging and explanation:

Quote

From 10/19/2015: The current transfer notice currently contains the following phrase: “CRI89 approved removal of conditions (I89).” That statement means that the biometric portion of the case has been successfully transferred; it does not, however, mean that the petition itself was approved.

• Lastly, with us all on the edge of our seats... this message just encourages me to sit tight and wait...

Quote

From 10/19/2015: If the petitioner has not received additional information from the California or Vermont Service Centers, USCIS has not yet adjudicated the case.

 

Anyways... just to partially quench the thirst... but I'm still kind of itching for an official work from USCIS... if it will ever be communicated...

[Daisy&Vincent 12]

3 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

Biometrics and Infopass in one office at the same location?

Yes, that's how it's setup in Seattle at least.  There's a larger waiting area room with numerous desks with partitions to talk to a staff member (similar to our Department of Licensing and SSA offices).  Then they have another sectioned off area for biometrics processing.  When we did the I-485, this was our first time at this ASC... we got through security and lined up with our I-485 biometrics notice, following, we came back to the same place for interview.

 

Are the offices in your area different?

[emcia_81 43]

1 hour ago, -PiLoT- said:

I have two numbers to check, i have been checking the on we were all supposed to and its the CRI-89 one, no updates since october. but i read here everyone was using the other number off the extension letter. and i have had this as moved to local office. my exception is tho i HAVE had biometrics

The EAC number works too. My friend checked her case status with the EAC number and she got the same message that the file has been transferred to the local office. I checked mine but there is no change to my case as of today. We both had biometrics appointment done sometime in November.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

8 minutes ago, Vincent Chu said:

 

Are the offices in your area different?

Yes, about 10 miles apart.. in the opposite direction. 

[vajaster 7]

We completed out biometrics on 12/18/17

Checked our case status online this morning and it says case was transferred to the local field office March 4th.

 

Odd - so do you guys think there will be an interview involved? Are they really working on the cases now? Possible glitch?

[A-square 31]

I am also a VSC filer and the status was changed too. From Feb 26 to March 5 and still at my local office.