IR1/IR3 case got approved in a letter from DHS. But no status update for a month now?!? (merged)

[ZRomper 42]

Hi everyone,

 

I filed I130s for my wife and my adopted daughter back in June 2021. I've filed an expedite request on January 26th of this year. 
After about a month and a half, on March 13th I got an official response from the DHS Potomac office in my email. Listing all the case information, at the end of the letter it said the following:

 

Quote

We are unable to expedite your case at this time as our service records indicate that we recently approved your Form I-130 and mailed an approval notice to the address of record.

 

And below information that I should be checking my case status online, etc.

 

It is now April 11th, the case status online did not change for my wife's nor my daughter's cases from Actively Reviewed.

 

I have called USCIS. I was told by the agent that the case doesn't appear as approved in their records, however they do see the official response sent by the DHS quoted above. 

The agent told me that neither he nor Tier 2 agents have such detailed information as what DHS agents who reviewed the case have access to and that I should basically continue to wait.

 

This is unnerving as I have no idea as to what's actually going on with the cases. I have received no official approval notice neither online nor physically. The cases are basically stuck in limbo?

As it stands now, I have no way to find out the status of the case nor expedite it as it's "approved" yet there's no way to confirm this and no way to get in contact with someone who can?

Looks like the only option at this point is contacting the ombudsman, but I'm not sure how effective this actually is.

 

Has anyone ever gotten a letter like this and how long it actually takes to get an approval notice currently?

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[ZRomper 42]

* my daughter is IR2, not IR3.

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

Honestly, it sounds like your case has not yet been approved. Sounds like the email was a mistake. 

[ZRomper 42]

24 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Honestly, it sounds like your case has not yet been approved. Sounds like the email was a mistake. 

But then I can file an expedite based on a USCIS processing error.

Also, the email mentions all the details of the case, quotes the IOE number, status, etc.
Besides they mentioned that the email response from DHS is in their computer records....

Edited April 11, 2022 by ZRomper

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

3 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

But then I can file an expedite based on a USCIS processing error.

What was the processing error?

Edited April 11, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

From USCIS regarding Potomac I-130 processing:

 

[ZRomper 42]

9 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

From USCIS regarding Potomac I-130 processing:

 

Oh yes, aware of the timing.

 

That's why I filed an expedite request based on a humanitarian reason and it was accepted.

 

Above you mentioned that the email might be a mistake. But then they processed the expedite request incorrectly and gave me the wrong response, thus it would be an error in expedite processing on their side.

Edited April 11, 2022 by ZRomper

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

36 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

Oh yes, aware of the timing.

 

That's why I filed an expedite request based on a humanitarian reason and it was accepted.

 

Above you mentioned that the email might be a mistake. But then they processed the expedite request incorrectly and gave me the wrong response, thus it would be an error in expedite processing on their side.

It seems to me that your I-130 is well within normal processing time.  I don't see the error.   Good luck.  I hope you receive good news soon.  

[ZRomper 42]

6 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

It seems to me that your I-130 is well within normal processing time.  I don't see the error.   Good luck.  I hope you receive good news soon.  

Thank you!

No question about the processing time of the I-130, the issue is with how they handled the expedite request and the information they provided regarding its status.

[ZRomper 42]

Dear @Crazy Cat

 

Lo and behold I just contacted USCIS and they said my wife's case has been transferred to the National Benefits Center where my daughter's case has been all this time.

 

However NBC doesn't have a processing time table for I-130 petitions. So I guess it's wait and see time.

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

15 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

Dear @Crazy Cat

 

Lo and behold I just contacted USCIS and they said my wife's case has been transferred to the National Benefits Center where my daughter's case has been all this time.

 

However NBC doesn't have a processing time table for I-130 petitions. So I guess it's wait and see time.

I'm glad you got some good info.  Per other VJ members:

 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Chancy 6,233]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:04 PM, ZRomper said:

Lo and behold I just contacted USCIS and they said my wife's case has been transferred to the National Benefits Center where my daughter's case has been all this time.

 

Are your wife and daughter in the US?  If not, it's strange that the I-130 petitions for them would be transferred to NBC.  Unless the USCIS agent actually meant NSC (Nebraska Service Center)?

 

[ZRomper 42]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

Are your wife and daughter in the US?  If not, it's strange that the I-130 petitions for them would be transferred to NBC.  Unless the USCIS agent actually meant NSC (Nebraska Service Center)?

 

No, they're both outside the US.
Actually this seems to be the normal process for cases with an adopted child. My daughter was processed at NBC from the get go. It was my wife's application that started out in Nebraska, then got transferred to Potomac and is now at NBC since my wife's petition got approved according to the DHS letter. They do this because a spouse-child linked together, don't get processed in separate centers when the child is adopted. They process the parent first to see if everything's ok to continue with the child. This is also why my wife's case was under the "Actively being reviewed" status since October 20th, 2021 and my daughter's case got that status only on February 22nd of this year.

Edited April 12, 2022 by ZRomper

[ZRomper 42]

Hi everyone,

 

So my wife finally got her I-130 approved on Friday!!

However I also filed for my adopted daughter at the same time as my wife and my daughter's case has been processing at the National Benefits Center all along. We got a case being actively reviewed on February 21rd, 2022.

 

My question is, since my wife got her approval letter, hopefully USCIS notifies NBC about this? So they can go ahead and process the child?

 

Because it's impossible to check the timeline for NBC unlike normal processing centers.

 

I've heard conflicting reports, can someone share their experience?

[Lil bear 3,831]

3 hours ago, ZRomper said:

Hi everyone,

 

So my wife finally got her I-130 approved on Friday!!

However I also filed for my adopted daughter at the same time as my wife and my daughter's case has been processing at the National Benefits Center all along. We got a case being actively reviewed on February 21rd, 2022.

 

My question is, since my wife got her approval letter, hopefully USCIS notifies NBC about this? So they can go ahead and process the child?

 

Because it's impossible to check the timeline for NBC unlike normal processing centers.

 

I've heard conflicting reports, can someone share their experience?

No each petition stands alone and is processed separately. The child's petition is dependent on evidence of relationship to you, the petitioner, not to her mother  Once they are both at the NVC, you can request they be linked, and pace the submission of documents to keep their processing on the same timeframe. When they are sent to the Consulate you can remind the consulate that the two family members want to be interviewed at the same time