General Q.- What happens after a 30 day service request

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Hi, this Friday I will be able to put in a service request for USCIS to begin searching for my application as they have apparently lost it so.......assuming the worst, after the 30 day search period what happens next?

I thought I had read that you are given a case officer name and address to send a second application to so that they can begin processing it right away...or this may be wishful thinking on my part, though I would assume they wouldn't make me refile with the January filers as I would have waited 4 months for them to tell me if they had lost it or not. If that were the case I would have been much better off ignoring protocol and sending the second app. weeks ago.

[rebeccajo 14]

What makes you think your case is lost?

[payxibka 10,044]

What makes you think your case is lost?

Lack of NOA maybe?

[SusieK 3]

What makes you think your case is lost?

Lack of NOA maybe?

No there are quite a few of us waiting since august for this little item - I made the call, did a tracer and got email yesterday and it stated...you are not in the system, please provide us with your receipt number.....ummm hello that was the jest of the tracer lol.

Not going to get upset anymore, let it take its course cause their are too many of us and they will get caught up. I was on the mindset that it was lost until I spoke with some people and their timeframes.

Good luck to you and for now I would not refile. IMOW tho. And no I was never told about the new file being assigned to someone to expedite since we are not in that timeframe yet and I think its there, just buried with alot of other app's.

Cheers

Susie

look at my timeframe and some others and the threads for august sept filers and you will see what is going on. BE PATIENT and yes i hate that sentence but am applying it now for nothing much else we can do right now.

[Craneman 2]

Did you send it "Return Receipt", to know that they had recieved it.

Sent mine Nov 19, NOA Nov 21

[mox 298]

Hi, this Friday I will be able to put in a service request for USCIS to begin searching for my application as they have apparently lost it so.......assuming the worst, after the 30 day search period what happens next?

After 90 days, they initiate a search that can take up to--as you mentioned--30 days. Anecdotal evidence indicates that it almost always takes less than 30 days, usually only a week or two. After the investigation they will either instruct you to re-file if they can't find your application, or they will have located your petition and will schedule it for processing based on the received date.

If I were you, I wouldn't wait until Friday. Do it now and just tell them that it's been 90 days since you filed. Get the process started, they're not going to quibble about a few days. I mean, they might whine about it only being 87 days *after* they find your application, but by then they'll have found it.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

So your saying that if they can't find it, they've basically wasted 4 months of my time?

And to Susie you really should give them a call your well over 90 days.

[rebeccajo 14]

What makes you think your case is lost?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I'm day 80 something with no cashed check / no NOA1 and no file reference and I had a post receipt saying it arrived.

[rebeccajo 14]

Ok. Thanks for answering.

Now - have you researched around here and other immigration forums to learn if there is STILL a problem with USCIS issuing NOA1's? Is the delay still happening?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

In general the delay has diminished for filers after October 1st. However there are still a handful of August/September Filers without NOA1s. My conclusion is that in the mad rush that occured July-September the applications have likely been misplaced but are probably not perm. lost. However, the likelyhood of them finding a misplaced application in a year with 2.4m apps seems wishful thinking.

[rebeccajo 14]

I'm not saying you should not file a service request.

But you are using words like 'in general' and 'handful'. What does that tell you about what is going on?

In general the delay has diminished for filers after October 1st. However there are still a handful of August/September Filers without NOA1s. My conclusion is that in the mad rush that occured July-September the applications have likely been misplaced but are probably not perm. lost. However, the likelyhood of them finding a misplaced application in a year with 2.4m apps seems wishful thinking.

[mox 298]

So your saying that if they can't find it, they've basically wasted 4 months of my time?

Not exactly. If they can't find your petition then they will honor the original received date when you send in your new petition. So you will still go back into line as an August filer.

It's highly unlikely that they irretrievably lost your petition. I just did a quick VJ search and couldn't find a single instance of anyone having to re-submit their petition because it was lost.

Call today and get them started working on it. Tell them you sent it in on (today - 90 days).

Edited December 4, 2007 by mox

[rebeccajo 14]

So your saying that if they can't find it, they've basically wasted 4 months of my time?

Not exactly. If they can't find your petition then they will honor the original received date when you send in your new petition. So you will still go back into line as an August filer.

It's highly unlikely that they irretrievably lost your petition. I just did a quick VJ search and couldn't find a single instance of anyone having to re-submit their petition because it was lost.

Call today and get them started working on it. Tell them you sent it in on (today - 90 days).

It happens. But it's rare. Extremely rare.

Files are tracked by bar codes.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I agree Mox, I'll call first thing tomorrow morning. (I find the morning ppl alot more helpful)