CanadianYinzer

Finally got a notification!

01/25/2018 - Case Received (Vermont)
04/03/2018 - Fingerprint review was completed
08/06/2018 - Extension Letter
03/22/2019 - Card is being produced

Just in case this happens to someone else (and it's here for search purposes)....

I got a reply from one of our senators. They found out that on March 16, my husbands i-485 was approved but someone accidentally entered the status as "Name was Updated". Since that status was put into the system, it didn't trip the process to order/print the card. When the status is changed to "approved", I guess the system automatically sends it out to get your card ordered.

So if anyone gets the "Name was Updated" status and you never submitted for a name change... chase after it. It's probably an error and can/will hold things up for a while.

My husband finally got his card in the mail yesterday.

Got the "new card was mailed" text/email at 7:43 PM EST tonight!

To everyone that's still waiting, I really hope that your USCIS nightmare is over soon

Well, you've really endured a run around with USCIS! I'm just so pleased that you have some good news right before the weekend. I know how you feel with waiting to see it before you believe it. I did get my approval notice in the mail, but I will breathe fully when I have the card. Have a fantastic weekend and do something FUN!

You too!!!!!

I am SO happy for you!! After all the waiting and worrying, you are so overdue this good news! I am hoping they are sorting out the issues and will get the backlog of not yet printed cards produced now.

What was your approval date?

We never got any approval status or letter in the mail. Just the one email reply to our 1st AOS service request that said he was approved March 16, 2016 and that the card was in production April 15.

His AOS timeline went like this:

I give up on trying to understand USCIS. haha

I just got this text/email status update. Now it's saying his card was in production May 16.

It's not called the misinformation line for nothing. Call your senator or congressman.

hahah true.

I did contact senator, but the congressman's email isn't working.... which I'm not surprised. Ahhhhhh, government.

Never talk to a tier 1 at the USCIS. Always talk to several tier 2s to get a general idea of what's up. Contacting your congressman and ombudsman when it's wonky is a fantastic idea!

Besides the 2 online service requests, we did call USCIS twice.

The 2nd time my husband called he asked for a tier 2. He asked her why he got the "name was updated" status and she said he must have put in for it. When he said he never did, her answer was "you might have been hacked then". He asked what can he do about that and she said, "not much you can do". So he asked for a supervisor, after being on hold for 20 minutes, the supervisor said he put in for a name change that's why that status is there. He told him 3 times that neither of us did that and he said he couldn't give us any answers then and to call back in 22 days.

I have zero faith in USCIS right now

Spoke with my Congressman's office earlier. They managed to find out that my case is in Newark, though why it is there when my local office is Tampa is anyone's guess (and the USCIS helpline people kept telling me my case would be in Tampa, when I called, but of course couldn't confirm for sure). Worse still, according to USCIS processing times Newark are only up to 26th April 2015 for I-485 applications compared with October 22nd for Tampa. Why on earth they sent my file to an office that is over a year behind when it would move faster through my local office is anyone's guess.

My Congressman's office are waiting for more information from USCIS with regards to my case (such as whether they have received the RFE sent last December) and will email me the results when they get them. Hopefully some progress will be made, but if my case is in Newark then that's not good news seeing as how behind they are.

This really is crazy. How hard is it to keep your file tracked in the system. Not being able to get a straight forward answer from them is beyond unacceptable. This is 2016, we have the technology.

My husbands case went from approved to not approved to moved to a field office on the other side of the country.

I thought being stuck at TSC for months and months was hell... this is worse.

We got a reply from the 2nd service request. The 1st service request said he was approved, now this 2nd request is saying he's not approved and our file is at the Sacramento field office. Our local field office is Pittsburgh. This is insane.

Infopass time!

Now I'm confused.......... On March 16 my husband's i-485 status changed to "Name was Updated". We never submitted a name update or change. After reading online, I saw a lot of people that got this status said it was an error and they were actually approved a day or two later. So we waited.

After no change in a month, we put in a service request. Telling them we never put in for any kind of name update. The email reply, that came from our local Pittsburgh office, was a little strange as it did say he was approved and the card was in production

Dear XXXXX:

On 04/15/2016 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

The status of this service request is:

On April 15, 2016, you contacted USCIS concerning your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence to notify us about a name change or typographical error on your Approval Notice. Below is a summary of what we found and how the issue has been or may be resolved.

On March 16, 2016 your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence was approved.

We have reviewed our electronic records and found that your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) is already in production. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop the card production, at this point in time. You will receive your PRC within the next few weeks. If you receive your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) with an error then read below as to what you may do.

What You Can Do

To receive a PRC with corrected information, you may wish to submit an original Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, with the applicable filing fee. Please read instructions on the Form I-90 instruction page carefully before filing your application with us.

You may be able to electronically file your Form I-90 application, but please read the instructions carefully before you file.

After not receiving the card in 3 weeks, we put in another service request. This is what we got back.... it says it's at the Sacramento Field Office deciding if we need an interview?? Our local office Pittsburgh and the last email said we were approved.

The status of this service request is:

On May 5, 2016, you or your representative contacted USCIS to inquire about your I-485, Application to Register as Permanent Resident. Below is a summary of what we found and how the issue has been or may be resolved.

The Sacramento Field Office received your file and I-485, Application to Register as Permanent Resident from the National Benefit Center, on January 5, 2016. The Sacramento Field Office is now reviewing your application to determine if an interview is necessary to adjudicate your case. If it is decided that an interview is necessary, we will schedule you for an interview on the next available appointment and mail the official appointment notice to the most recent address we have on file. If an interview is not necessary, we will notify you as soon as possible if any further information is needed from you, or when a decision has been made.

Anyone else ever have or heard of this issue? I'm guessing it's time for an infopass appointment? I just hope my husband can get off work to go to one

Was checking the updated processing timeline for Albany, NY office. It only moved 6 days from 9/15 to 9/21 between February and March. I know these dates are not exact, but it is still frustrating. When is an AOS considered "outside normal processing time" in order to send an e-request status? 6 months? If I called in, would they be able to tell me if the file is even in Albany yet?

Keeping the faith with the rest of you also waiting.

Great to see some of you with recent approvals!

JB

If you put in an online service request, the receipt number will have your local office at the end if it's there. Like my husbands had PIT at the end because our local is Pittsburgh and the email reply to the service request also had the Pittsburgh office address.

We did a service request a few months before for something and it didn't have the PIT on it because I it wasn't at our local office yet.

Disregard the website information, It's all over the place and some of our 'updates' have even gone backward in time! Did you ever receive a paper approval notice?

Nope. Nothing in the mail either. That's why we did the service request. If we would have at least got the paper approval, I would have felt a little more comfortable. But we haven't received anything.

Plus, the Name was Updated status. When my husband called, he told them we did not put in for any kind of name update and the tier 2 kept saying we did. Then she said maybe our account was hacked. So he asked what we can do and she said there was no much you can do. WHAT?!?!?! So that's when he put in a service request online explaining that he did not put in for a name update or change and this is what he got back....."to notify us about name change or typographical error on your Approval Notice". That's not what his service request was about.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid or impatient but I just want to make sure there isn't any problems and it's almost impossible to find out from USCIS.

On April 15, 2016, you contacted USCIS concerning your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence to notify us about a name change or typographical error on your Approval Notice. Below is a summary of what we found and how the issue has been or may be resolved.

On March 16, 2016 your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence was approved.

We have reviewed our electronic records and found that your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) is already in production. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop the card production, at this point in time. You will receive your PRC within the next few weeks. If you receive your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) with an error then read below as to what you may do.

What You Can Do

To receive a PRC with corrected information, you may wish to submit an original Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, with the applicable filing fee. Please read instructions on the Form I-90 instruction page carefully before filing your application with us.

Still no green card.

I think the "Name was Updated" status on my husband's i485 messed something up. I've put in two service requests. The first one on April 15, the email reply said the same day he got the "Name was Updated" status on March 16 that he was approved and the card was in production. Put in another service request on May 5 and the status on that is just "assigned to an officer". If I don't hear anything from the 2nd service request, I guess an infopass appointment is next?

We were just approved! On the day I post asking a question, we got approved! The email/text came through at 4PM eastern time! Card being produced! That means approved with no interview!!

YAY!!! Congrats!

Yeah, it does depends on your local office. We didn't get any RFE's and he was approved without an interview. Every office is different. My list is just everything the instructions ask for.

I am just doing my AOS paperwork now, this is suce a great thread to use as a reference! What is form I-797?? I dont seem to have this... I have 129f, is this the same thing?

Thanks!

Form 129f is just to petition for the K1

If your doing your AOS from a K1 visa you should be sending in:

I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

I-864 Affidavit of Support

I-765 Application for Employment Document

I-131 Application for Travel Document

My husband was off today, so he had the chance to call USCIS about the "Name was Updated" status we got on March 16. (I tried to call and they wouldn't tell me anything without my husband on the phone)

He just got this email regarding his call to USCIS today:

"On March 16, 2016 your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence was approved.

We have reviewed our electronic records and found that your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) is already in production. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop the card production, at this point in time. You will receive your PRC within the next few weeks. If you receive your Permanent Resident Card (PRC) with an error then read below as to what you may do. "

So the Name was Updated status was a mistake and an approval? It's been a month and no GC yet? Does it usually take that long? Or maybe they found the error today and pushed it through to production?

Either way, I'm glad we don't have to do the interview. With his new job, it's hard for him to get time off right now. WOO HOO!

Well, calling USCIS was useless (I'm not surprised). My husband's status was updated 03/16/2016 to "Name was Updated". I finally got through TODAY and she said it was because we must have submitted a name change. We didn't. I told her we didn't and she said she couldn't go any further with me because the applicant has to be on the line to give out any more information about the I-485.

So frustrating. I guess we'll try to call together again tonight and maybe have to wait another 22 days to get through to USCIS. *sigh*

TurboTax is asking you how he qualified to live and work in Canada where the foreign income he wishes to exclude was earned. Well he is a citizen of Canada so a bonafide resident of Canada for sure.

Bonafide residence began? Maybe the day he was born. Ended? Sept 9, 2015 (POE) for the purpose of this form.

When it asks what visa type, it wants to know what visa allowed him to work in CANADA. The US is not the foreign country in these questions. Choose "other" and type in the box "none needed" or "Canadian citizen" to get TurboTax to move on.

I want to thank you again, Nich-Nick. I wasn't sure on how to do my taxes this year. The tax guy I found, who was familiar with this type of immigration tax filing, was going to charge me $300. I went through all your tax posts, downloaded TurboTax, and did it myself. It was actually quite painless.

You are one of the reasons this website is so helpful. So again.... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

TurboTax is asking you how he qualified to live and work in Canada where the foreign income he wishes to exclude was earned. Well he is a citizen of Canada so a bonafide resident of Canada for sure.

Bonafide residence began? Maybe the day he was born. Ended? Sept 9, 2015 (POE) for the purpose of this form.

When it asks what visa type, it wants to know what visa allowed him to work in CANADA. The US is not the foreign country in these questions. Choose "other" and type in the box "none needed" or "Canadian citizen" to get TurboTax to move on.

THANK YOU

So I'm using Turbo Tax Deluxe addition (download version). It's asking "Choose How to Qualify for this Exclusion" with either a Bona Fide Resident Test or Physical Presence Test. I'm not sure what to do because he hasn't been here 330 days or a full 12 months.

he moved to the US Sept 9, 2015

only worked in Canada, not the US in 2015

has SS#

he already filed his taxes in Canada

Anyone know what to do on this step?

Ugh... the pittsburgh office processing time says April 4, 2015 for AOS

I just got a weird text update. I never sent in for any kind of name update.

"Name was Updated

On March 16, 2016, we updated your name for your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status, Receipt Number MSCXXXXXXXXX"

Wow! Congrats to everyone who got their green card already!

We're still stuck at "fingerprint fee received"