thedjlink

What would happen if I filed for divorce before I-751 approval, and do not notify USCIS, but the divorce gets finalized after approval?

I don't think you are even required to notify USCIS of anything. However, much depends on your spouse's attitude.

You might get approved with no further contact. In that case, you haven't done anything wrong - all the information you submitted was accurate at the time.

If your spouse is supportive of your application, then if you get an RFE or are called for an interview, you can deal with the matters at that time. The evidentiary standard is the same, did you marry in good faith? Keep in mind that your spouse's endorsement will be far from definitive. As far as USCIS is concerned, it remains highly possible that the marriage was a sham from the start. You'll still need proof.

If your spouse is not supportive, you might want to change to a waiver filing. This requires some proof of an impending divorce. You do not need a final divorce decree. Proof that you have filed for divorce or are legally separated is adequate. At this point, your spouse is no longer part of the process.

My spouse is supportive. What I am worried about is if this would be a problem when I file for N-400.

is it hard to just tell USCIS that you are filing for divorce? You should have done that when you submitted i751. Otherwise you might get your 10-year green card, but it would raise a red flag later on when applying for naturalization.

It's not. However, at the time of the filing we were not thinking about a divorce. It was not an issue at the time.

I can write to VSC and inform them, but how can I make sure they indeed received it and made a note to my file?

Anyone? Please?

Hi guys,

I filed for I-751 jointly with my USC spouse in September with quite a bit of evidence. We were "happily" married then. However, we may file for divorce sometime after Christmas. I'm not sure if it will be finalized before I-751 is approved. We do not have children so all that is concerned is money. I think we can work that out fairly quickly, it just depends on how long the judge takes to get to our case.

What should I do?

1. Do I need to amend the application as soon as I filed for the divorce? If so, how do I do that (and make sure they received my amendment)?

2. Can I wait until I received the final divorce decree before notifying USCIS? What if the application is approved by then?

What I am trying to do here is to avoid filing for another I-751 that could potentially confused the ISO or incur another application fee.

Thanks!! Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks guys! I guess I'll make sure to bring my marriage license with me when I travel, just in case.

I changed my name after I got married. The name on the green card will not match the name on my passport. I think it may be a problem if I travel internationally. What should I do in situations like this?

The online status says:

Decision

On December 5, 2012, your I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS was approved. You will be notified of the decision by mail. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case, including when the approval notice is mailed. If you do not receive the approval notice within 30 days, please call customer service at 1-800-375-5283 for further assistance.

During this step the formal decision (approved/denied) is written and the decision notice is mailed and/or emailed to the applicant/petitioner. You can use our current processing time to gauge when you can expect to receive a final decision.

Does it mean I'm approved? Or is it still unsure until GC is in hand?

Still haven't heard anything

I am sorry, I am dense a bit..

After thinking and reading - here's the twist.

The casefile is at a local office.

You sent off RFE stuff into a local office, the same local office.

USCIS won't update the computer at a level where an ISO or a CSR can 'see stuff' until the casefile hits into the next status, and that next status (in the computer) will be made by a member of staff at the local office.

So, throw all of what I wrote aside, you need to focus on the local office, for now.

Got any appointment letter from the local office, from earlier? a copy of it? anything with your name on it and the local office address? Yes? No?

If yes, then you need to bring it with you , to the local office, and sweet talk the security guard into letting you into the building . Sure, you'll get some flak, as you won't have an infopass appointment, but if you can get past the security guard, you can talk to the human that's sitting on your casefile. If you can't get ahold of the human that has your casefile, at least try to get that human's boss as it may be that the human you need is on vacation or dead or transferred out.

Good Luck !

Thank you very much for your help!! It just worries me because a motion to reopen (and its approval) seems like a big deal to me, and the online status is still showing the denial (at the decision stage). :/

ok - so, try it again (getting an ISO on the phone) on monday, use my short list of questions.

I thought that was what I asked. And the ISO seemed very confused. My case is a bit complicated because it was denied at first but then reopened due to a new fact. (The reason of denial was non-compliance of J-1 2-year rule, but I am actually not subject to it - I have letter from DoS explaining it.) The online status shows only the denial and nothing beyond it, and the ISO could not see past the denial.

The first person that answers the phone is useless, alas.

ISO - http://www.dhs.gov/files/publications/gc_1305658440339.shtm

Yes I talked to the second person (the ISO), and waited 75 minutes for that... She seemed very impatient and all she wanted to do was to get me off the phone... She said all she could see was what was on the online status. So she said the only thing she could do was put in a service request. I also asked if the local office received my RFE reply, she said she couldn't tell and I'd have to write to the local office (because they don't have a direct phone number to call). So I did, and haven't heard anything. This was about 3 weeks ago.

I know the case is at the field office because I've been getting letters from the local office address. There is also an ISO's name on the RFE.

If the Ombudsman decides to help in your case (they will do so where they see they have clear jurisdiction, such as an application being out of processing times) they will contact USCIS who then have 45 days to respond to the Ombudsman.

As it happens, today is my 45th day for USCIS to reply to the Ombudsman and I have heard diddly squat about my case, but YMMV.

Do you think getting help slows down my case? Now I'm worried that the officers working on my case will get annoyed by all those inquires...

what news from an ISO, today or next monday, about location of casefile ?

I don't get what you were asking...

Don't know when you filed? Ours took 10 months, senator was worthless for us, I sent a request to the Ombudsman at USCIS and that worked.

USCIS Ombudsman Liaison

The USCIS Ombudsman Liaison Unit (OLU) is responsible for managing the flow of information between USCIS and the Ombudsman's Office. The OLU responds to questions posed by the Ombudsman's Office, coordinates and prepares responses to the Ombudsman's formal recommendations and annual reports, and facilitates the implementation of policies and procedures to ensure that USCIS customers receive the best possible service.

To help improve customer service, we seek feedback from our customers, stakeholders, and affiliated agencies to help identify issues that directly affect you. Email the Ombudsman Liaison Unit at OLUInquiries@dhs.gov. Please explain your concern, question, or suggestion as clearly as possible. Regrettably, we cannot post any inquiries online if they have case-specific or personal information in them.

I took your advice and contacted the Ombudsman. Although I feel bad because the Senator's representative was really nice, I just hadn't heard back for over 2 weeks.

Don't know when you filed? Ours took 10 months, senator was worthless for us, I sent a request to the Ombudsman at USCIS and that worked.

USCIS Ombudsman Liaison

The USCIS Ombudsman Liaison Unit (OLU) is responsible for managing the flow of information between USCIS and the Ombudsman's Office. The OLU responds to questions posed by the Ombudsman's Office, coordinates and prepares responses to the Ombudsman's formal recommendations and annual reports, and facilitates the implementation of policies and procedures to ensure that USCIS customers receive the best possible service.

To help improve customer service, we seek feedback from our customers, stakeholders, and affiliated agencies to help identify issues that directly affect you. Email the Ombudsman Liaison Unit at OLUInquiries@dhs.gov. Please explain your concern, question, or suggestion as clearly as possible. Regrettably, we cannot post any inquiries online if they have case-specific or personal information in them.

Last time we got a RFE letter was in September and we replied in October. Haven't heard from them since. I called the customer service mainly because the online status hadn't updated since April and there had been several interactions between the local office and us. We contacted the Senator in the beginning of this month and hasn't heard back either.

Yes.

If you search around on these forums you will find numerous examples of people putting in a service request and hearing nothing within the allotted time-frame.

Ok! I guess my only hope is at the Senator's office.

They have to answer a congressional enquiry, it isn't optional on their part.

So it is optional to answer a service request?!

Either make an Infopass appointment at your local office or contact one or more of your congressional representatives for help.

We live 3 hours away from the local office and don't really have the time do go for an INFOPASS, so we contacted the Senator's office instead. They said they'd sent in an inquiry for me 2 weeks ago and I'd have to wait 4 weeks for a reply. I'm just wondering if it really helps? Will they answer the Senator's office even if they don't answer me? Thanks!!

My I-485 online update was paused since the end of April, so I called the NCSC number and the 2nd tier supervisor said she'd put in a service request for me and I would hear back in 2 weeks.

It's now over 3 weeks and I haven't heard anything from them. What is going on? It took me over 75 minutes waiting to talk to the supervisor and she wasn't very patient with me.

Ok I called the 1-800 number and they've put in a service request. But I wasn't able to get a straight answer on my case.

You could also request and Infopass appointment to ask if they recieved it.

Thanks!

I thought about going for an infopass, but we live in another state. We don't have a local office in this state and it's such a long drive.

Well did you get a delivery confirmation or not?

Yes and I also have proof of mailing.

Wow, hate to say it but you're probably in even worse trouble now with Hurricane Sandy's damage in Atlanta. Do you know if that office received any damage?

I don't think it's hitting the southeast. We are 2.5 hours from Atlanta and not feeling anything.

Did you send your mailing with delivery confirmation? You always want to do that so you have evidence of them receiving your parcel. Also, did you include the copy of the RFE with you document? If you didn't do either then resend the document properly.... Best of Luck!

Yes and Yes. But no response since.