UnaMexicana

Hello VJ Friends,

SFR ASC center here.

Filed June 30 and I was just notified of my Biometrics appointment notice.

Patience is our friend with USCIS.

Hugs,

UnaMexicana

Hello VJ Friends,

Just wanted to drop by and quickly update you.
 

Sooooo USCIS did call me (or so they claimed, never got the number in my missed calls). Anyway, I apparently missed their call.

I decided to do nothing about it and the next day my case was updated and I can see my Biometric appointment notice has been mailed.

I have the PDF version from the MyUSCIS page. Do you think I can just print that one out and bring it on the date of my appointment?

Do we need to have the mailed out version?

ALSO... you may already know this, but if you filed online you can see the notices/PDF appointment in the "Documents" tab.

Thanks all... and yes: patience is our friend when it comes to USCIS.

Hugs,

UnaMexicana

16 hours ago, Chin10 said:

Hi. Anyone here still waiting for their biometrics? Bec I’m still waiting............. 

YEP! Same boat here.

I posted this reply in the June filers as I am right in the edge of June/July '20. SFR office.

This is the story of my waiting:

I filed June 30, 2020. Got NOA1 July 1, 2020. Have not heard back since.

Called to place a service request for SFR office in early November 2020. Answer took a month, and was basically "we'll call you when we'll call you."

Then I spent a few months in Mexico with family, wishing they did not call me. I could have placed a request because my time was technically passed... but decided against it as I wanted to extend my family visit.

I came back March horrified to see the processing times at SFR had jumped from a relatively healthy (by USCIS standards) 10 months to a whooping 20 months. Good Lord.

I called USCIS today and it was HARD to try to get a human. ***Tip: Say "INFOPASS" and they will eventually connect you with a human.

Said human placed a Tier 2 request for me. They will call me in 14 days.

I received an email from them confirming that someone will give me a call. I am sharing the message here (it's in Spanish).

So... still waiting, yes. Not surprising. Not even frustrating at this point. But can you image if I had waited until my green card was a couple years from expiring? I'd be SO nervous.

Anyway. Good luck to you all! ❤️

Email from USCIS.....

Gracias por contactarse con nosotros. Un oficial de inmigración le llamará o le enviará un correo electrónico muy pronto para responder a su pregunta(s), o para programar una cita para usted de ser necesaria. Los oficiales empiezan con las llamadas a partir de las 7am hora local.

Si le respondemos por teléfono, el némero que aparecerá en su identificador de llamadas (ID, en inglés) es 202-838-2200. Si usted no tiene identificador de llamadas, el oficial de USCIS confirmará el número de artículo de servicio que se le entregó a usted cuando nos contactó por primera vez.

Si usted pierde nuestra primera llamada, por favor sea paciente. Trataremos de llamarlo una segunda vez. Por favor no nos llame nuevamente a menos que usted pierda ambos intentos de llamada. El Centro de Contacto de USCIS está disponible de lunes a viernes de 8 a.m. a 8 p.m. hora del este.

Si le respondemos por correo electrónico, el remitente será no-reply@uscis.dhs.gov. Por favor agregue esta dirección a su lista de contacto para asegurar que todos los mensajes no sean enviados a la carpeta de correo no deseado.

On 3/23/2021 at 1:39 PM, leethompson said:

Count yourself lucky - here in Seattle it's looking like it'll be November before I even have my N-400 interview.

 

Was informed just before the holidays that my biometrics are being reused, but based on current tracking, I'm not expecting to be seen by USCIS until mid November this year.

 

Any other long-term waiting folks here?

Hello, yes.
 

I filed June 30, 2020. Got NOA1 July 1, 2020 and have not heard back since.

Called to place a service request for SFR office in early November. Answer took a month, and was basically "we'll call you when we'll call you."

Then I spent a few months in Mexico with family, whishing they did not call me. I could have placed a request because my time was technically passed... but decided against it as I wanted to extend my family visit.

I came back March horrified to see the processing times had jumped from a relatively healthy (by USCIS standards) 10 months to a whooping 20 months. Good Lord.
I called USCIS today and it was HARD to try to get a human. ***Tip: Say "INFOPASS" and they will eventually connect you with a human.

Said human placed a Tier 2 request for me. They will call me in 14 days.

I received an email from them confirming that someone will give me a call. I am sharing the message here (it's in Spanish).

So... still waiting, yes. Not surprising. Not even frustrating at this point. But can you image if I had waited until my green card was a couple years from expiring? I'd be SO nervous.

Anyway. Good luck to you all! ❤️

Email from USCIS.....

Gracias por contactarse con nosotros. Un oficial de inmigración le llamará o le enviará un correo electrónico muy pronto para responder a su pregunta(s), o para programar una cita para usted de ser necesaria. Los oficiales empiezan con las llamadas a partir de las 7am hora local.

Si le respondemos por teléfono, el némero que aparecerá en su identificador de llamadas (ID, en inglés) es 202-838-2200. Si usted no tiene identificador de llamadas, el oficial de USCIS confirmará el número de artículo de servicio que se le entregó a usted cuando nos contactó por primera vez.

Si usted pierde nuestra primera llamada, por favor sea paciente. Trataremos de llamarlo una segunda vez. Por favor no nos llame nuevamente a menos que usted pierda ambos intentos de llamada. El Centro de Contacto de USCIS está disponible de lunes a viernes de 8 a.m. a 8 p.m. hora del este.

Si le respondemos por correo electrónico, el remitente será no-reply@uscis.dhs.gov. Por favor agregue esta dirección a su lista de contacto para asegurar que todos los mensajes no sean enviados a la carpeta de correo no deseado.

I think that by calling, getting through to a human and asking them to look into your matter, you get some sort of clarity about where you stand.

We are all hoping that our process moves forward, and taking action (by calling, for example) gives people a sense of ownership and action. I don't think anyone suggested that by calling you will "jump the queue."

To be frank I doubt there is an actual "queue" that is respected: Some processes will take longer due to a myriad of factors.

UnaMexicana

On 10/1/2020 at 2:08 PM, Jtarzana said:

Hello all!

 

I'm a U.S. citizen, and my boyfriend is Mexican, lives in Mexico full-time, and currently has a B1/B2 visa to visit the United States. We are discussing getting married in Mexico this coming year, and plan to live in Mexico, although it is possible that I might be back in the U.S. for a few months at some point in the next two years to finish a degree. Based on peoples' current experience, I'm hoping you all can help shed light on some of our questions:

 

1) Would having married a U.S. citizen, in Mexico, be likely to cause problems for my boyfriend if he tries to enter the U.S. on his B1/B2 for business , to visit me (his wife), or if we're traveling together from Mexico to the U.S. to visit my family?

 

2) My boyfriend's B1/B2 visa is valid for the next 5+ years. Would you expect that he would be able to re-apply for another B1/B2 at that point if he is married to a U.S. citizen, and we are both living in Mexico, or would some other visa be required? The main goal here is not to live in the U.S. permanently, but to have the freedom to visit for several weeks at a time. Obviously no one knows how immigration law may change by then, but I just wanted to ask if anyone had gone through this process already.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Replying because I have first hand experience on this matter. Granted, every situation is different and the decision ultimately falls on the border agent.

1) This never caused any issues for me when I entered to visit my husband. I did it two or three times, and every time was upfront about my husband being a US citizen and living here in the US. Officials usually paused and asked why the husband did not file for me to become a resident, so I let them know that we were in process. I have a sense that if we had not been in the process it would not have made a difference. He can simply state the truth: that it is not in his plans to move to the US to live permanently.

One thing to consider here is that I had ties to Mexico: a stable job, extended family, car payment; and a spotless history of business and tourist traveling of over six years.

2) I was in a similar situation as a wife of US citizen: I renewed my B1/B2 while the I-130 was in process. Had no issues, Simply stated in the application that my husband was a USC and that I intended to use the B1/B2 to come visit him pending I-130 approval. Visa was renewed without any issues and I was able to visit a few times in the two years and a half that the I-130 took to be approved.

I UNDERSTAND THAT I MIGHT HAVE BEEN VERY LUCKY... but this is my experience. I had a job in a big company and I think my travel history helped. If they had asked for financials that might have been a different story, as I had no property other than the car payment I was making. But never encountered any issues.

Hope it works out for you.

UnaMexicana

3 minutes ago, jealob said:

I also tried calling but wasn't able to reach a human. But I put in a request last month through my online portal and got a reply today. No update yet on my case status though but hopeful that will happen soon.

Pretty straight forward on how send a request, but for those that don't know. Click on  My Account --> Inbox then click on New Message. See screenshot below

I am so happy for you! 👏👧

Thank you for sharing the good news, as it gives us all hope.

Best,

UnaMexicana

On 11/5/2020 at 12:19 PM, J1student said:

I also sent a message on October 25th on my.uscis.gov account inbox and receipt what seems to be a generic reply:

 

 

I am sorry you are in the same boat. At least know that you are not alone, and based on the canned reply I received, clearly you are at least a bit ahead of me.

Hang in there 💫

Una Mexicana

This is the update that I received upon successfully calling and having the operator place a service request:

Hello All,

A few days ago, I advised you to contact USCIS and get some anwers... I just thought I'd share the reply from USCIS:

Hi @jvip,

Yes SFR = SF (I did not know this but she mentioned it when she gave me the service request confirmation number)
I am sorry the agent did not do it, perhaps try again and choose option 2 to get to a Spanish speaking agent? She did say though that I was outside of the window (meaning I had not heard from them in over 60 days)... I did not even know that was a thing, but that's what she mentioned before creating the request

To your last question, when I started the call I told her "my case status hasn't been updated since I filed and I'd like to know what is the status as the last I heard was the day after I filed...", but you know I was super nice and apologetic about it... and reassuring of her time spent bla bla.

Hope this helps! See my timeline as it might also be helpful for an estimate.

UnaMexicana

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to update the group. I tried creating an inquiry about my case, but the online tool sent me an error message as my case is still within processing time.

So I listened to @ToysneATX in a different thread about calling USCIS anyway. If you want, give it a try: 800-375-5283.

I tried three times with the English menu and kept stuck in a menu loop until it eventually kicked me out. I tried in Spanish and it connected me to a human right away when I asked "representante".

The person I talked to asked my information, and I mentioned that I have not had any movement except for the receipt notice which I got the next day after submitting my case online. She went ahead and created a service request for me and provided a confirmation number.

Now I have to wait 30 days, but at least a human has typed something in my case and there will be some movement. I hope they reuse my biometrics so I can spend the holidays with the family abroad--but I will not complain if I get a biometrics appointment this year! 😂

Thanks,

UnaMexicana

Back so soon... Just wanted to update you all. My online case went on countdown from NOA to next step for about 2 weeks and now when the countdown is over. I just got the dreaded message:

Oh no, not at all... I am just stating this (and apologies if I were not clear):

Rather than bicker over politics, we should be more concerned about inequality, as that affect us all the same.

As for Bezos, most tend to think about him as "super rich..." when whatever he has is only a drop in the ocean of what the very small number of super rich have.

It's useless for us to bicker when we have more in common between each other than what we could have in common with those really making the decisions.

I guess I was not clear in my initial comment. In a nutshell: pointless to bicker over politics (dems better than reps, reps better than dems sort of thing), let's address inequality.

UnaMexicana

11 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

How exactly do people think of Bezos when seeing their cities burn and chaos erupt?

Not sure what you are trying to say by making that association. Perhaps you can elaborate?

I don't see the point of bickering when decisions affect us all the same. I guess I am becoming more of a cynic now, but all this division seems useless to me. We know that there is not one man at the top making the calls, but big money. And when I say big money, I don't mean Jeff Bezos.

Take a look at the real inequality that we are living in:

https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/

I think we could all agree that we (you and me, and everyone reading in this forum) have way more in common than what we have in common with the top 400 that really call the shots here. Which is nothing other than we're humans, really.
It is scary how we can become violent and disrespectful towards someone who is one of us over something that neither has any control over.

We should all see past that and stop fighting against each other to fight the real fight: the one against inequality...

UnaMexicana

Oh boy... and here I am, June 30 2020 filer, thinking the online tool is right and I should hear from USCIS tomorrow... 😂

Hang in there, everyone. At least we're now here with our loved ones (those who filed based on family/marriage), as opposed to living the waiting game away from each other.

Hugs for all,

UnaMexicana

I'm probably one of the last filers of June 2020. Filed June 30, online. I paid and got an email receipt right away, the NOA the next day. MyUSCIS account says it is one more day of wait time (to get the biometrics letter, I assume).

Have any earlier online filers gotten their biometrics appointment letter yet?

Thanks!

UnaMexicana

Every situation is unique, as you mentioned. You can look at the history of my posts and kind of realize mine. I logged in to answer this question because I was a B1/B2 holder and renewed with the I-130 in process.

- Assume they are able to view EVERYTHING related to this and past/pending visa/immigration requests

- Assume they are able to see exactly the reasons you've provided before

- Assume the process is a request on our end, and there is no actual "right" to anything

- Assume it really is a matter of luck, in that it all comes down to the officer's interpretation of the law and your particular evidence and situation

I am not sure why you ask whether or not they're able to see past requests... but I will advise to be truthful. You do not want to omit things that may be construed as misrepresentation.

When I applied to renew my B1/B2 I explained that my I-130 was under processing, provided my receipt number and stated that I was planning to follow the process as expected and not suddenly stay.

Every time I walked to the CBP officer I provided the same truthful answers: I am a B1/B2 holder, my spouse is here and I come to visit. He has filed the I-130 for me. I never had a problem.

It is fair to say that I did have a history of coming on business trips and tourism, always abiding by the rules (never overstayed).

I wish you luck. Please do not complicate your case by omitting anything. Not saying you will, just my advice.

Best,

UnaMexicana

I just filed... good luck with yours too!

3 hours ago, Emad Mo said:

What does the estimated wait time in my account home page means? It says 12 days. Is it the wait until the next step which is the Biometrics? I can see the timeline coincides with my local ASC opening date of July 13 (Alexandria VA)

I think it means time until the next step as in the time it will pass until you get the notification of when are you supposed to go get your biometrics taken. So not necessarily getting in in twelve days, but knowing when can they see you in twelve days.

If it helps, I filed yesterday online.. got the receipt today and my messages changed to Wait Time: 14 days. Also, estimated completion time is 12 months... so July 2021. :( Oh well, we are all familiar with the wait game by now. .: I Will Stay Positive :.

Cheers,

UnaMexicana

Hello Everyone!

I'm adding my post to the June 2020 N-400 Filers. I think I might be the last one in the group. Filed today 6PM PST.

Cheers everyone,

UnaMexicana

Google Upwardly Global. You have a PHd and they helped me gain the skills I needed to succeed in my job search in the US.

After three months of looking, I landed a high profile job that matched my skills. They helped me and it was all for free.

Upwardly Global dot org.

UnaMexicana

Mother in law had that issue in her passport: birth date and month inverted. Nobody realized it.

-i130 stage ok

-NVC STAGE OK

-Medical went OK

-Fingerprinting was denied due to this a week before interview

Hotel and airfare were paid already. Had to cancel interview, get corrected passport and request new interview date.

Whole process was delayed about three months but its not the end of the world.

You can choose to say nothing but the birth certificate will be compared to the passport and all docs. Better to correct than be denied at consular appointment.

Good luck.