chicinchic

We had the I-485 interview more than 9 weeks ago and were told that we should receive something in the mail in 6-8 weeks. The interview seemed to go well, and the officer was mainly concerned with checking that we had brought the correct documents. By that point, we had almost been married two years. On Dec. 17, USCIS updated my name change online, but I haven't received any notices in the mail concerning the status of the interview. Is this normal? 

I'm guessing that's the logic. They didn't ask for the boarding pass specifically, just documentation and I provided our boarding passes and itineraries. The guy at InfoPass had said that as long as we have booked the trip abroad ahead of the notice of interview and could prove so, we should be fine. Obviously not the case.

I'm guessing that's the logic. They didn't ask for the boarding pass specifically, just documentation and I provided our boarding passes and itineraries. The guy at InfoPass had said that as long as we have booked the trip abroad ahead of the notice of interview and could prove so, we should be fine. Obviously not the case.

The original notice of interview was for the I-485, but the rejection was for the I-130 (even though we never got a notice of interview for the I-130; the rejection letter stated that we failed to submit documentation for missing the interview).

I explained the reasons to the USCIS officer in person and he said that was not a problem. He said you are allowed to reschedule for non-medical reasons, and said that people do reschedule during that time of year because they are visiting family. He said I just need to show that I was, in fact, abroad and not still in the country.

But there was no request for additional marriage evidence, unless that request was to be made during the interview.

They wanted proof of the trip as indicated in a Dec. 2015 letter: "You were scheduled to appear for an interview on X in connection with your I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status application. However, on X, you called USCIS National Customer Service Center to request a rescheduling of your interview. ....Please send a written statement within 30 days explaining your absence with any supporting documents."

They have never requested additional evidence for the marriage.

The rejection letter states : "USCIS received your form 1-130 on June X, 2015. USCIS requested that you appear on January X, 2016 for an interview about your petition, but you did not appear as requested. You also did not submit any correspondence to USCIS explaining why you were unable to appear for the interview. Therefore, your form I-130 is considered abandoned and is denied."

Sounds like, from what I have read, he missed the interview for the I-130 and the two of you failed to proof a legitimate marriage. The RFE was for proof of a bonafide marriage and you did not provide evidence of this. Best as I can tell from what I read. Since you came of the VWP you can't appeal. You can refile.

We missed the interview because we were out of the country together. I explained this in a letter to the USCIS, and included copies of our boarding pass. But they apparently did not process this letter because the absence of any documentation accounting for our absence was noted in the rejection letter. TL;DR: They didn't process something I sent in. Not the first time this has happened.

USCIS (or anything related to immigration) don't care about affidavits as you could easily have written them yourself.

Sounds like you don't have much proof of relationship and you two not living together doesn't help either.

Fair enough, but we are living together. We were legally married in December 2014, and we moved in together in July 2015. We noted the reasons as to why were living apart in the application letter, and informed them about our move-in date.

Again, biggest problem seems to be that they did not receive the documents that I sent (they stated clearly on the rejection letter that no explanation was received for missing the interview), and no InfoPass appointments are available in my area. Do they accept walk-ins at the USCIS office?

We had the certificate and the photos as well as an affadavit of my husband's good friend (a lawyer himself), whom he's know since childhood, attesting to our relationship.

Proof of marriage was a certificate and photos taken of the course of several years. We didn't have a joint lease/accounts because we were living in separate cities, due to our being in different schools.

Following the USCIS phone request to reschedule our interview, we received a follow-up letter noting the date of our call, our request to reschedule and documentation. That letter arrived while we were abroad, and we included a copy of that letter when we sent in proof of our travel.

Note that the I-130 and I-485 were submitted in June and we were never asked to provide additional proof of the marriage.

Thanks. We submitted a copy of our marriage certificate in June, though. I'm still going to try and get an InfoPass appointment and will bring the certificate along.

We called USCIS the day we received our notice of appointment and asked whether it could be rescheduled because he had planned to be out of the country. The USCIS said yes and that we would receive a follow-up in the mail. The follow-up came while we were abroad and asking for documentation proving our absence. I mailed a letter to USCIS, explained our absence and included travel documentation. Four days after mailing this letter, I was able to meet with a USCIS officer in person. He told me, contrary to what I was told here, that missing an interview and rescheduling was not a problem, as long as I had AP and could prove that I was out of the country. I even showed him my travel documents and told him that I had mailed the required explanation and that it had arrived two days earlier at the center, according to USPS tracking.

The problem is that, from the I-130 rejection my husband received, it seems like they never processed my letter/documents. I never received a notice stating that they had received it. And even though the notice of appointment had been addressed to me, the notice of rejection was addressed to my husband.

I sent both of our boarding passes to show that we have been out of the count y together. Yes, he is a USC. I am confused as well.

No, I did not receive a confirmation of receipt of my letter.

TL;DR: The I-130 was denied because USCIS said my husband didn't provide a letter/documentation for the missed interview, even though I had sent USCIS said letter/documentation 1.5 months ago.

My American husband and I filed for the I-130 and I-485 back in June. I received Advance Parole in October and we went abroad in January 2016. When we returned from abroad, we found a letter from USCIS addressed to me requesting proof of trip abroad. The forum here was harsh about our judgment, telling me that we were idiots for traveling, and I freaked out and made an InfoPass appointment, scheduled a few days after I had submitted our documentation. The appointment went well and the USCIS officer said something along the lines of no worries, you had AP, many people travel this time of year for the holidays and to see family, this is allowed, when we process your document you should get a new interview date--all standard procedure. I was extremely relieved, because of him, rescheduling the interview was not a big deal so long as you had AP and could provide evidence of your absence.

Unfortunately, my husband just got a letter saying that the I-130 had been denied for failure to provide enough proof of marriage without the purpose of immigration. The letter then stated that he missed his interview date and never followed up on provided documentation, even though USCIS received my letter and documents (according to USPS), which included a copy of his boarding pass.

I'll try to get another InfoPass appointment in the upcoming days, but we live in a high-service areas and 99% of the time no appointments are available.

What should we do? Can this be resolved without hiring a lawyer? And if so, how?

I have tried to get an InfoPass appointment, per the instructions at the bottom of the letter, but o InfoPass appointments are available.

I am Canadian.

Why go on the trip? Because it was literally the only week in the upcoming years when we could. Keep in mind that I thought that we had been cleared for the trip; I had mentioned the trip as my basis for parole, and when I called USCIS, I had been told that the interview would be scheduled. I took whatever precautions I could, and acted accordingly.

Ok, thanks for your help. I wish the USCIS representative had been clear that the appointment hadn't definitively been rescheduled, and that rescheduled appointments were only possible for medical reasons.

I actually did some work-related research while there, although it was minimal. As an unemployed academic without any research funds, I don't see why I trip that combined pleasure and research is unfathomable. Our destination was chosen with my research in mind.

Obviously the latter, but from the phone conversation, I thought that an interview date was going to be rescheduled, so we went abroad and returned (I have AP, and had given this time period in my original AP application). Upon our return, we found the USCIS letter.

My parter and I filed for AOS back in June, and booked our honeymoon for January. Unfortunately, our interview was scheduled during our trip and I called the USCIS office to reschedule an appointment as soon as we received our notice. There were just over two weeks between the receipt of notice and the date of departure, and the tickets were non-refundable. I thought we would receive a new rescheduled date but instead we received a request for a written explanation as to why we missed our original interview date. On a page on the USCIS site, it says there are no penalties for rescheduling an appointment, but elsewhere it says that you can only miss an appointment for medical emergencies. How should I frame my recent trip--that it was a research/honeymoon combined trip that couldn't be cancelled and rescheduled due to financial hardship? The honeymoon was also in my field site (I'm an anthropologist), if that matters.

I can't seem to edit the OP, and I realized that in my fatigued state, I didn't state the question! Is the fact the we missed the trip for a reason other than illness or medical emergency grounds for denial? Or is it sufficient to say that the flights were non-refundable and that financial hardship would be entailed in skipping the trip?

My parter and I filed for AOS back in June, and booked our honeymoon for January. Unfortunately, our interview was scheduled during our trip and I called the USCIS office to reschedule an appointment as soon as we received our notice. There were just over two weeks between the receipt of notice and the date of departure, and the tickets were non-refundable. I thought we would receive a new rescheduled date but instead we received a request for a written explanation as to why we missed our original interview date. The honeymoon was also in my field site (I'm an anthropologist), if that matters.

When I applied for the I-485 AOS (married a U.S. citizen), I also applied for the I-131, in order to do research in my home country (Canada) and in Italy. They sent me two copies of the I-131 form that are valid for a year. My question is, when I travel to both of these countries, will I be asked upon my return for "proof" of my research? Or will be ok, so long as I show my passport, I-131 and marriage certificate?