RFE response time after AOS interview

[icecream123 0]

Hello Friends,

My wife entered the US on a K-1 visa and she had her green card interview on June 2019 at the USCIS Salt Lake City field office. Unfortunately, the IO didn't have the medical on file (the brown envelope that my wife turned in at the border security upon entering the US) and sent a RFE to send a completed new medical and be sent to the Helena Field Office in Montana. Why did the RFE mention to send the documents to a different field office in Montana and not the local USCIS office? It has been almost 2 weeks now since the RFE was sent, but we didn't hear anything back from USCIS yet. The case status still shows 'Interview Was Scheduled'. Since we mailed the documents to a different field office where the interview didn't take place, does anyone know what happens from here? Which office verifies the documents and approves the application, and from where does the green card gets printed and sent? And how long does this whole process take as we need to travel outside the country very soon to take care of my mother-in-law who has some medical issues. Is it ok to travel outside the country in this situation with a travel parole or wait until my wife gets the actual green card in hand? Your answers are very much appreciated. Thanks everyone!  

[Pitaya 2,576]

3 hours ago, icecream123 said:

Hello Friends,

My wife entered the US on a K-1 visa and she had her green card interview on June 2019 at the USCIS Salt Lake City field office. Unfortunately, the IO didn't have the medical on file (the brown envelope that my wife turned in at the border security upon entering the US) and sent a RFE to send a completed new medical and be sent to the Helena Field Office in Montana. Why did the RFE mention to send the documents to a different field office in Montana and not the local USCIS office? It has been almost 2 weeks now since the RFE was sent, but we didn't hear anything back from USCIS yet. The case status still shows 'Interview Was Scheduled'. Since we mailed the documents to a different field office where the interview didn't take place, does anyone know what happens from here? Which office verifies the documents and approves the application, and from where does the green card gets printed and sent? And how long does this whole process take as we need to travel outside the country very soon to take care of my mother-in-law who has some medical issues. Is it ok to travel outside the country in this situation with a travel parole or wait until my wife gets the actual green card in hand? Your answers are very much appreciated. Thanks everyone!  

There is no finite time limit for processing of the RFE. If you included the RFE form provided by USCIS, it will hopefully be routed to the appropriate adjudicator with your file. If your wife has the AP card she can travel outside of the country as prescribed in that forms documentation. That is the very purpose of the AP card. Go to the VJ Travel and Work During US Immigration forum to learn more about the use of the AP card. If you wait for the AOS approval you may have upwards of a year wait for it to be processed.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[icecream123 0]

On 8/15/2019 at 10:23 PM, Pitaya said:

There is no finite time limit for processing of the RFE. If you included the RFE form provided by USCIS, it will hopefully be routed to the appropriate adjudicator with your file. If your wife has the AP card she can travel outside of the country as prescribed in that forms documentation. That is the very purpose of the AP card. Go to the VJ Travel and Work During US Immigration forum to learn more about the use of the AP card. If you wait for the AOS approval you may have upwards of a year wait for it to be processed.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

I read that the AP becomes invalid once the green card is approved. Can you still enter the US with an invalid AP and an approved green card but without the green card in hand at the time of entry to the US?

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

29 minutes ago, icecream123 said:

I read that the AP becomes invalid once the green card is approved. Can you still enter the US with an invalid AP and an approved green card but without the green card in hand at the time of entry to the US?

Correct. AP is invalid as soon as the green card is approved.

 

Based on what I was told by USCIS officers, it is safe to travel with an invalid AP if the green card was approved. The real problem would be if the green card is denied. 

That said, I'd personally would choose not to travel until the green card is in hand.

[icecream123 0]

26 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Correct. AP is invalid as soon as the green card is approved.

 

Based on what I was told by USCIS officers, it is safe to travel with an invalid AP if the green card was approved. The real problem would be if the green card is denied. 

That said, I'd personally would choose not to travel until the green card is in hand.

Thanks for letting me know. The only concern right now is that we don't know the current status of how long it takes for uscis to review the sent rfe medical, approve the green card and send the card by mail. It's been almost 3 weeks now and we didn't hear anything back. Is there anything we can do to expedite this rfe review and approval process based on our immediate travel needs? How long is it taking uscis currently to approve the green card in cases like these?

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

3 minutes ago, icecream123 said:

Thanks for letting me know. The only concern right now is that we don't know the current status of how long it takes for uscis to review the sent rfe medical, approve the green card and send the card by mail. It's been almost 3 weeks now and we didn't hear anything back. Is there anything we can do to expedite this rfe review and approval process based on our immediate travel needs? How long is it taking uscis currently to approve the green card in cases like these?

There's no way nor reason to expedite a green card approval. Even less considering you already have the EAD/AP card. 

 

Your only option now, is calling customer service and asking for a tier 2 to inquire regarding the RFE. They will be able to tell you if they received the new medical and where is it at the moment. 

[Pitaya 2,576]

2 hours ago, icecream123 said:

How long is it taking uscis currently to approve the green card in cases like these?

I already gave you an estimate for current AOS processing, there are a lot of variables, such as, the service center or field office assigned to adjudicate your application. Some offices are slow, some are faster....... you paid your money,...now you takes your chances.

Quote

If you wait for the AOS approval you may have upwards of a year wait for it to be processed.

Check out the VJ processing timelines, the USCIS site, fellow VJ folks in the various monthly folders over at the AOS Progress forum.

 

It is hard to tell where you are in the process, your timeline is vacant. It helps everyone that uses or gets info from the forums. Additionally, the statistics derived from everyone's data gives more meaning to the VJ stats. 

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

16 minutes ago, Pitaya said:

I already gave you an estimate for current AOS processing, there are a lot of variables, such as, the service center or field office assigned to adjudicate your application. Some offices are slow, some are faster....... you paid your money,...now you takes your chances.

Check out the VJ processing timelines, the USCIS site, fellow VJ folks in the various monthly folders over at the AOS Progress forum.

 

It is hard to tell where you are in the process, your timeline is vacant. It helps everyone that uses or gets info from the forums. Additionally, the statistics derived from everyone's data gives more meaning to the VJ stats. 

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

The OP already went through the interview and the RFE was issued afterwards as the medical examination was missing. 

There are no statistics for these cases.

[Pitaya 2,576]

20 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

The OP already went through the interview and the RFE was issued afterwards as the medical examination was missing. 

There are no statistics for these cases.

There are no statistics or timelines with associated with any RFE, before/after/whatever, it takes as long they need it to take. There are a lot of guesstimates.

[Alisa_ 22]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:18 PM, icecream123 said:

Thanks for letting me know. The only concern right now is that we don't know the current status of how long it takes for uscis to review the sent rfe medical, approve the green card and send the card by mail. It's been almost 3 weeks now and we didn't hear anything back. Is there anything we can do to expedite this rfe review and approval process based on our immediate travel needs? How long is it taking uscis currently to approve the green card in cases like these?

I had similar situation - RFE after the interview, not medical though. The same thing with the status, was “Interview was scheduled “, and my biggest concern was - had USCIS even received my response???

I called them like one month after I’d sent the documents, tier 2 officer submitted request on my behalf and in a few days (less than a week) I got my approval.

[icecream123 0]

28 minutes ago, Alisa_ said:

I had similar situation - RFE after the interview, not medical though. The same thing with the status, was “Interview was scheduled “, and my biggest concern was - had USCIS even received my response???

I called them like one month after I’d sent the documents, tier 2 officer submitted request on my behalf and in a few days (less than a week) I got my approval.

Thanks for letting me know. What should I request for exactly when I talk to the tier 2 officer? I was trying to contact uscis customer service yesterday and the wait time was like 7 hours and the call got disconnected after an hour of waiting. I guess I need to try calling them very early morning.

[Alisa_ 22]

8 hours ago, icecream123 said:

Thanks for letting me know. What should I request for exactly when I talk to the tier 2 officer? I was trying to contact uscis customer service yesterday and the wait time was like 7 hours and the call got disconnected after an hour of waiting. I guess I need to try calling them very early morning.

When I called I had to wait 40 minutes. I hesitated to ask for level 2 officer, but I should’ve not, because  the customer service representative was nice but couldn’t really do anything and almost sent me away with nothing- until I asked if she could contact the field office and make sure they received my documents. She said she couldn’t but she arranged a call back from level 2 person. So what I asked was “How can I make sure they received my response since the last status update was even before the interview?” I also couldn’t wait for their official sixty something days because that would’ve been past my response deadline which they indicated in rfe 

Edited August 21, 2019 by Alisa_