bdrew612

During the 2013 shutdown, USCIS was in the midst of a massive backlog of I-130 petitions. USCIS and NVC resumed operations.

When is your interview scheduled for? Did the person calling give you their Agent ID# (every time I have talked with an officer over the phone, that’s the first thing they gave me). I highly recommend contacting USCIS and ask to speak with a Tier 2 officer and explain the phone call. They can tell you if it’s legit. It’s an hour or two of your time, but then you’ll have a clear answer. I wouldn’t trust that phone call until I had something in my hand or confirmation on the website that my application was approved.

I doubt DHS positions are part of the hiring freeze (USCIS has a few job positions listed, too). 

"The head of any executive department or agency may exempt from the hiring freeze any positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities,” I think USCIS positions would fall under national security, no?

Under Activity Stream, when I click on "Content I Posted In", it's completely blank, yet there have been new posts in the thread. 

Also, when I search for a thread that I know exists, it states it does not exist (specifically I-751 May 2016 Filers).

If the offices are not closed then they must be there just partying and playing secret santa since no one is getting approved

But you do know that they process other kind of petitions as well, right? I don't think there are officers that process just I751 applications. Same thing happened with the K1 petition when we filled in 2012, they were taking forever to approve them, so I am kinda used with how they work. I would expect to see all CSC May fillers getting approved in January and February.

And it's the end of the year, I'm sure they're not fully staffed with people taking vacations and using up their time off before they lose it.

January has 2 federal holidays, hopefully they pick up steam in the New Year.

Federal offices are closed December 26 and January 2. Not the entire week.

Just tried to check my status with the receipt number on form I-797C and got the following error message:

Validation Error(s)

You must correct the following error(s) before proceeding:

• You are attempting to add a receipt number that does not exist in My Case Status. Please check your receipt number and try again.

I have made sure there are no typos or dashes, tried lower case, upper case, etc., and still get the same message.

Has anyone else seen this?

Are you trying to use the case # listed on your green card extension letter? If so, that's why you're getting that error. You want the case # listed on the biometrics letter (there are 2, one of them is from the NOA for the extension letter, the other is the case # to track status).

Call them as soon as they open. They open 7am EST, I almost always got through on the first couple tries.

Green card received today! Approved on the 22nd, arrived on the 2nd.

Not bad - it took 3 months to the CR-1 card in the mail!

Our packet weighed in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce (just a pound less than my baby's newborn weight lol). I printed out every single bank statement from August 2014 - May 2016. I went into overkill, honestly. Auto/home policies from 2014-2016, every joint utility bill 2014-2016, etc.

The reason they want joint bank account statements is evidence of co-mingling of finances. Things like that hold a lot more weight than affidavits and plane tickets (we send those in, too).

Yesterday, the customer service said that they are starting to open all cases in December 2015 and the decision will be made in this month (December 2016). It means my application is still so far on the way to be approved that they mentioned.

Vermont S Center

If VSC is starting to work on December 2015 and you filed in May 2016, that means you have a few months yet to wait. There's really no need to call them constantly. It's hard to hear, but be patient. Follow these boards to get a better idea.

Requesting more evidence. Now I have to research what else to give, because we gave them everything we had.

We sent:

Electric bill with both our names for 3 months prior to application

IRS tax joint tax returns for 2015 +16

Employer heath insurance form 1095.c - we get it via my work

Dental insurance card copy of both sides- both our names

My work- benefits- tuition remmision for spouse, via HR

Flights for both of us back and forth to scotland and domestic too

3 pages of photos

Not sure what else to send now. Will have to call them up. Unless anyone here has advice.

That stinks!

I'm in a similar position regarding the house. I submitted a notarized letter explaining why the house was only in my name. Of course I can't find it now :-(

Basically, I stated that I purchased my home prior to meeting my husband, and I explained why I haven't added him to the deed. I then reiterated that my home is the only address my husband has resided in since coming to the US.

I think we also included some of my husband's pay stubs which showed his address (his driver's license hadn't come in by the time we filed). Good luck!!!

Hello all!

I seem to have two different "Case Status" numbers I have been checking - the one that gives me the below message is NOT the case number that is on my 1-year extension letter (not sure where the number came from, perhaps the pre-biometrics case number?):

"On June 3, 2016, we received your Form CRI-89, Petition to Remove Conditions of Permanent Resident Status Received, Receipt Number xxx , and sent you the receipt notice that describes how we will process your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you do not receive your receipt notice by July 3, 2016, please call Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address."

When using the "receipt" number on the 1-year extension letter for the Green Card (not the 10-year), the below message is displayed:

"Validation Error(s)

You must correct the following error(s) before proceeding:

• My Case Status does not recognize the receipt number entered. Please check your receipt number and try again. If you need further assistance, please call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283."

The number on the letter does have dashes between the letters and some of the number groupings, but you cannot enter it exactly this way when checking status (not enough space); when I remove the dashes, it is when I get the error message. Anybody experience the same thing?

I wish I could remember where the other case number came from that gives me the first message. This may be a truly stupid question, but I suppose I should likely call the number listed in the error message? Unless, there is another way to check my status - please advise!

Hmm, I track using the WAC number and I get the same message as yours:

On May 9, 2016, we received your Form CRI-89, Petition to Remove Conditions of Permanent Resident Status Received, Receipt Number WAC1616250518, and sent you the receipt notice that describes how we will process your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you do not receive your receipt notice by June 8, 2016, please call Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

I thought that was the case # we use to track, maybe I am wrong?

I had the same problem. Having rung the number I was told the updated number was the one to use. The NOA1 number was superceded by the second one on the biometrics letter. If anyone else can confirm or deny this it would be useful. Certainly my original NOA1 is now not recognised whereas the second one gives me message you describe.

I was certainly "in the system".

The number on the 1 year extension letter is useless. The number that's on your biometrics letter is the case number. That's the one you want to check on the USCIS site.

They are working at CSC! I-751 approved yesterday!!!!!

GC was approved and ordered today! WOOT WOOT!

YAY!!!

April is only at 31% though according to the April thread. You got lucky

Nice to see USCIS is still super random in their file reviews. *sigh*

With the federal holidays coming up (Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas), I'm leaning towards an approval by the end of the year. I do hope VSC picks up the pace for everyone sitting there :-(

I got that same response, via mail. Hope they send that bio letter soon!

still no biometrics letter for me either.

I wonder what the hold up is

I hope they don't just open another case inquiry after 30 days. :-( I can't imagine your local ASCs being that busy. My plan was to contact my Congressman if there was still no word after 30 days, hopefully none of you get to that point, but it may be worth a shot?

I hope I get my biometrics soon too..thanks

I hope so, too. This is ridiculous. When I called the misinformation line on Friday they told me I need to wait until the case inquiry was 30 days old before he could transfer me to a Tier 2 "and then we'll go form there". I pressed him for what that means exactly. Another case inquiry? He just said "let's hope you get your letter by then." The butthole probably already knew it had been scheduled, too.

Did you get an answer from your case inquiry? I opened a case June 24 and I got an email from USCIS telling me that it will take longer than the usual time frame for the process because of high number of filers.

You got more than me! We didn't hear a thing from our case inquiry. I even called on Friday to follow up to find out why we haven't heard anything.

FINALLY!

After opening a case inquiry on 6/23/2016, we FINALLY got our biometrics appointment letter!

7/29/2016 at 9am.

Called up and they pretty much opened a case for me, and said that if I dont hear back in 30 days, call up again.

I called USCIS today and the guy said that he will make a service request. Is it the same as opened a case like yours? He told me to call again if I don't hear anything after 15 days.

I was told it can take up to 15 days for the case inquiry to be assigned to an officer. If I don't receive the biometrics letter within 30 days to call back. Goofy this much nonsense has to be done just for a 15 minute biometrics appointment.

What number did you call?

Thanks

The main USCIS number. 800-375-5283

It's been 30 days, I called USCIS yesterday and the first jerkface I talked to told me that he can't open a case inquiry until we've gone 30 days passed when we received the notice in the mail which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He then refused to transfer me to a Tier 2.

I ended the call and called right back.

The second agent happily opened a case inquiry and acknowledged that it has been 30 days since the receipt date and I am eligible to open a case inquiry and then opened a case inquiry! No need for a Tier 2. I think she's new, she was too helpful.

I wouldn't be surprised if the delay was caused by the local office.

Maybe you should consider walking-in.

I think the people who do early walk-ins already have their appointment letter and are just walking in prior to the appointment date.

We don't even have the appointment letter yet.

Like I said, I'll wait until Friday and then get the Tier 2 to open a case inquiry.

Still waiting on the biometrics letter here, too. We'll call the misinformation line again on Friday if we still don't have it since it will be past 30 days.

Glad to see nothing has changed with USCIS.