nobhill4

My wife received two e-mail updates this morning with the same exact info. The first one was that the card has been mailed to the address on file (status on website remained as "Card/Document Production"). The second e-mail stated that the case status has been updated, and the status is now showing "Post Decision Activity". I guess we will see if she receives her card in the next day or two ...

She received a third e-mail this evening with the following message:

"The USPS reported that they picked up mail from USCIS containing your new card on May 8, 2013. The USPS tracking number assigned is #DCN. You can use this number at <a href="https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?origTrackNum=#DCN" target="_blank">www.usps.com</a> to view updates to the delivery status of your mail. You should receive your new card within 7 days. If you do not, or if you move before you get it, please call our customer service at 1-800-375-5283."

The tracking number was not included in the e-mail, but is available on the USCIS website. Status of this has also been changed back to "Card/Document Production" from "Post Decision Activity" on the website.

One interesting thing....I got text/email saying EAD is mailed today then another notification saying EAD was approved and approval notice is mailed as well. However the status of the case actually went one step backward and now says Post decision activity which is the step before card production!!! Weird!!!

Anyone else???

My wife received two e-mail updates this morning with the same exact info. The first one was that the card has been mailed to the address on file (status on website remained as "Card/Document Production"). The second e-mail stated that the case status has been updated, and the status is now showing "Post Decision Activity". I guess we will see if she receives her card in the next day or two ...

We had the same experience... all the updates were about her EAD nothing about AP. But when the cards arrived, they were combo cards. Even now that we have the cards in hand, there is no change in the status on the USCIS web site!

Good luck - I am guessing you will get them together as a combo card.

Charles

That's very good to know. Best of luck with the rest of your journey. Thanks again.

Jack

Updates are unreliable. Same thing happens to a lot of people. If her EAD was approved, the AP was very probably approved too. Her EAD card should have the AP mention on it, just check it when you get it!

Appreciate the feedback. Guess we will find out in a week or so (hopefully) when she receives her card.

My wife got an email that her EAD was approved on 5/2, and the status for EAD on the website was updated as well. However, there was were no updates on her AP. Has anyone received an EAD card but without AP permission on the card, even though they are now supposedly issuing EAD/AP combo cards? Thank you.

I was reading the question and thought that you should respond only if you are in the military. I guess we'll wait and see.

I left Part C blank last year because I had never been in the military. Unfortunately, it had to be filled out regardless whether you had been in the military or not. USCIS didn't catch the error before approving and sending my petition to NVC, so my approved petition was returned 3 weeks to USCIS. Here is the RFE that I received (took 6 months for me to get ... petition somehow got lost when it was returned to USCIS):

"The petitioner's I-129F was returned by the American Embassy on October 4, 2011. The USCIS California Service Center approved the petition in error. The form was not properly completed. No response was provided to page 3, Part C, questions 1, 2 and 3.

OMITTED ITEMS: Complete item(s) circled in red on the attached copy of the petition. If any item does not apply, please write "NONE". N/A is not an appropriate response. If the item applies, please read and comply with the instructions below"

It's an easy error to correct and won't take much time, IF you receive an RFE in a timely manner. Good luck.

I feel horribly that you are going through this. I had a similar experience last year and ended up hiring an attorney to track down our application after exhausting all other options. Basically, once NVS sent the application back to USCIS, it got lost somewhere (or just sat on someone's desk). I was supposed to have received an RFE from USCIS immediately after the case was returned from NVS, but USCIS never issued one until my attorney asked them to find my case.

The reason that our case was returned was not due to something that came up during background check, but because I didn't write in the word "NONE" for the question "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I have never served in the military but apparently leaving that section blank was unacceptable. This error ended up costing us 8 months of time.

I am not able to post a link to a message that I posted last year in this forum sharing my experience because I haven't posted enough times in this forum. However, if you do a google search on "NVS Returned Approved Application to USCIS for Further Review", you should be able to locate that message. Good luck.

Sorry that I keep referring to "NVS" instead of the proper name, "NVC", as in National Visa Center. Made the mistake in my post last year and just kept going with it ...

We are experience the same situation, our case was sent back from NVC to USCIS and they told me to way 120 days, I called yesterday and they told me that I have to wait for the 120 to pass, fortunately it is going to be soon on March 1, and hoping this wait ends. I contact a congresswoman working on this case and the only thing I got is a report. I know this wait is very hard, but it seems that the only thing you can do is wait or withdraw and reapply. I can keep you inform for any changes.

I feel horribly that you are going through this. I had a similar experience last year and ended up hiring an attorney to track down our application after exhausting all other options. Basically, once NVS sent the application back to USCIS, it got lost somewhere (or just sat on someone's desk). I was supposed to have received an RFE from USCIS immediately after the case was returned from NVS, but USCIS never issued one until my attorney asked them to find my case.

The reason that our case was returned was not due to something that came up during background check, but because I didn't write in the word "NONE" for the question "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I have never served in the military but apparently leaving that section blank was unacceptable. This error ended up costing us 8 months of time.

I am not able to post a link to a message that I posted last year in this forum sharing my experience because I haven't posted enough times in this forum. However, if you do a google search on "NVS Returned Approved Application to USCIS for Further Review", you should be able to locate that message. Good luck.

Thank you. Definitely learned it the hard way. My careless error of not following instructions or simply putting down "NONE" or "NOT IN MILITARY SERVICE" ended up costing me 8 months of time that I could have been spending with my fiancee and moving my life forward. Please DO NOT repeat my mistakes!

Welcome to the forum.

It is great news that you were finally able to get your visa process back on track after your protracted delay.

I would hope that folks beginning their visa journey would take heed or your words of wisdom that you learned the hard way.

This posting reinforces the often stated recommendation of thoroughly reading all of the printed instructions, Form I-129F instructions. Another excellent forum reference tool available to forum members is the example form(s), Form I-129F example..

Thank you for sharing with the forum your visa journey. :thumbs:

Wishing you and your SO good fortune on your immigration journey.

Just wanted to share my experience with the board on this because this has led to a lot of anxiety, frustration and much wasted time (almost 8 months after NOA2), but was finally resolved. Perhaps this will help some of you, although I sincerely hope that it did not/will not happen to you. Here is a chronology of the events that took place:

California Service Center

Country: Japan

Jul 10, 2011

NOA1: I-129F petition has been received.

Sep 21, 2011

NOA2: approval notice.

Oct 7, 2011

NOA3: "This is to advise you that we have received the above application or petition back from the Department of State with their request that it be reviewed. We will notify you of any action we take on this case."

Jan 3, 2012

Called USCIS to find out the status of the case. Was told to call back after 120 days have elapsed from the date (10/7/11) that I received the last notice.

Feb 12, 2012

Called USCIS again. No new information given. Was told to wait for another 30 days.

Feb 13, 2012

Contacted local congressman's office for assistance. Office liason called back 2 days later saying that there was "something" missing in my application but didn't have the details. Told me to wait for the RFE letter which should be coming soon.

Mar 2, 2012

Still have not heard from USCIS. Decied to hire an immigration attorney to look into the case.

Mar 31, 2012

NOA4: USCIS has reopened my case after being contacted by my representative.

Apr 3, 2012

NOA5: finally got the RFE letter:

"The petitioner's I-129F petition was returned by the American Embassy on Oct 4, 2011. The USCIS California Service Center approved the petition in error. The Form I-129F was not properly completed. No responses were provided to Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3" (see more on this below)

Apr 4, 2012

Returned completed petition to USCIS.

April 11, 2012

NOA6 received, petition re-approved.

April 25, 2012

Fiancee finally receives package from U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

So, hopefully we are on our way barring any more disasters. What are Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3 that I failed to complete, which caused a delay from last October until April? Part C. is "Other Information", which says "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I had left the section blank because I am/was not in the Armed Forces, and from the rest of the application it is abundantly clear that I am not in the Armed Forces or overseas, but apparently I had to put in the word "NONE" instead of leaving it blank.

I am sure that there could be other situations that resulted in NVS returning an approved application to USCIS for further review, but this was mine, missing the word "NONE". Can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and asking questions about why this happened (it is very unusual for an approved petition to be sent back) but came up empty, and finally decided to drop some money to seek professional help. The lesson here is to DOUBLE, TRIPLE or even QUADRUPLE check every item in your petition and to make sure that you put in "NONE" or "N/A" wherever necessary. I guess if USCIS had caught the mistake before sending an approval notice to me, maybe it would not have taken this long. Still, try to catch everything on your own if you can before it gets too messy like my situation.

Good luck.