still unapproved CR1 (March) and getting close to PD-- what's next?

[shallot343 116]

Hi All, 

 

March CR-1 filer at Texas (UK spouse). According to the VJ timelines, we are some of the last unapproved March filers at Texas and the official PD for case inquiry on the USCIS website is slowly creeping up to ours (March 26th). We received NOA1 at a normal times and the check was cashed so I know the petition actually made it there. 

 

I have given up hope of receiving NOA2 without having to call USCIS once we are outside of normal processing times and asking whats up... has anyone had to do this? What is the procedure? I have read some older threads where people just get a canned "we are working on it, please wait 60 more days" response which seems completely nuts to me!

 

Does calling once we are outside of normal processing times actually do anything? Is there another step I can take, or are we just stuck in a line ad infinitum  and they get to us when (if?) they get to us.  

 

And I know this is unlikely but is it possible our case is physically lost? How can I find out if that is what happened, and if I have to send everything in again because of USCIS error, does that put me back at the end of the line? 

 

All and any comments appreciated! I know everyone has to wait and I was fully expecting for this part to be excruciating, but it is really disheartening seeing July approvals at Texas when haven't heard anything at all! 

 

 

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

12 minutes ago, shallot343 said:

they get to us when (if?) they get to us.  

Oh, they'll get to you, it's just the matter of when. 

 

12 minutes ago, shallot343 said:

 

And I know this is unlikely but is it possible our case is physically lost?

Anything is possible, but in my 18 years dealing with Legacy INS and USCIS, I've never seen once that they lost the entire case file. They might lose bits and pieces of the case file here and there but not the entire case file. The one thing I know our federal government agencies do very well, is to keep records. 

 

12 minutes ago, shallot343 said:

but it is really disheartening seeing July approvals at Texas when haven't heard anything at all! 

Yes, but that is part of normal processing. The cases are distributed among the adjudicators and maybe you just get a really slow guy when some other guy already finished his pile and started on the July pile. Also, the date is the expected date when they start looking at your file. Just be a little more patient. The tortoise wins the race, not the hare. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by USS_Voyager

[DGF 730]

We were in a similar situation to you where our approval took just over 11 months at Texas. We filed in September and January/February approvals had already started when we finally got approved. Once you get past normal processing times you'll be able to submit an inquiry online. For us, this did absolutely nothing and took 2 weeks just to tell us we were in line for processing. If I were you, I'd skip it. What I'd recommend is calling and requesting to speak to a tier 2 representative as they are actually able to look into the status of your case. You could even start trying this now, but you'll have better luck getting transferred once you're actually out of normal processing times. You might have to speak to a few tier 2 reps before someone is actually helpful, and you might have to be firm with them to get anything other than them brushing you off. For us, it took a bit of insisting, but the tier 2 representative was able to see what the problem was and escalate it to the correct team and we got our approval approximately 2 weeks after that. There is also the option of involving the petitioner's congressperson or senator, who will reach out on your behalf to USCIS and are often able to get information out of them when your attempts have been unsuccessful.

From what I've read, if your case takes significantly longer than average, there's either something wrong on their end or you're stuck in background checks. Problems on their end can be fixed, but you can't do anything about background checks, they just take as long as they take. I've heard of cases being misplaced but never lost. They have a system that requires the cases to be scanned every time they are touched, so they always know where a case is/is supposed to be. If by some awful stroke of luck your case has been lost, you won't be pushed to the back of the line as it is their error. 

 

I remember how frustrating it was to know absolutely nothing about our case or why we had seemingly been forgotten and many times I got to the point where I would have been relieved just to hear that we were in background checks (despite them being frustrating in their own regard) because at least it meant that our case wasn't lost. I am by no means an expert on delayed cases, but feel free to reach out if you have any questions about our experience or just need to vent! 

[shallot343 116]

Thanks both!

 

bit of a disheartening update-- I got through to a Tier 2 officer today (even though I am still within normal processing by 3 days) and she told me that she can't see anything about the case except that it is "still under review"  and she can put in an inquiry for me as soon as I am out of normal processing but "they probably won't respond until I am at least 30 days outside of normal processing" which seems completely ludicrous to me-- if the point of concern is the normal processing time frame + 30 days, then I just don't understand what to make of the normal processing period at all. 

 

I will call again in 3 days, put in an inquiry and perhaps contact my state senator's office too to see if they can move this along.

 

Any hints on how to steer the conversation with the Tier 2 officers to actually receive real information? I did ask specifically about if the case was being handled, if she could see whether we were stuck in background checks or something else was going on, etc, but she told me the only information available was that it was still under review and no decision had been made at this time. I don't know if that true. Maybe they will be able to tell me more when I call back. 

[shallot343 116]

Hi Everyone, 

thought I would supply an update-- I put in a case inquiry and unsurprisingly received the "you are delayed due to additional review" response, with no 30-60-90-120 day timeframe attached.

 

I called USCIS this morning and luckily thought to ask about potential RFE (we have received nothing and our status hasn't changed from "Case was received"). The officer told me that an RFE was requested on December 31st, 2019 but was never actually mailed or escalated. I was transferred to a Tier 2 officer who said he was unable to see the RFE note so he put in a case request for me to have this resent (deadline for reply Feb 19th). 

 

I have no idea what the RFE was about because I am pretty confident our petition was airtight-- it may have been a mistake in and of itself. I also don't know why the Tier 2 officer was unable to see the actual RFE? 

 

I will keep you updated at this nightmare progresses. 

[shallot343 116]

Hi all, 

thought I would keep this thread updated in case it helps someone in the future.

 

Got notice today that the RFE was sent, to arrive no later than February 27th. I have absolutely no idea what it is about-- we sent a full notarized marriage certificate, 8 years of relationship evidence (including shared bank account, photos, letters addressed to us both from family and friends, chat logs, emails, you name it), filled signed forms, scanned passports and birth certificates, passport photos with names on the back).  This is going to take us to over a year from NOA1 to approval.