aleac

On 12/20/2021 at 5:10 AM, platinum-android said:

After your conditional GC expires and while you're waiting for ROC, what is your status? What documents do you need to exit and re-enter the country during this period? I'm assuming the expired GC won't be sufficient.

 

(Apologies in advance for the n00b question).

When you file for the ROC you get a letter that extends your green card.

You reenter the US with the expired green card + the letter

23 hours ago, millefleur said:

Same, I don't notice a particular pattern whether it's democrats or republicans who respond. It just seems like some senators/representatives are better at doing civil service and answering inquiries than others. I don't blame OP for not wanting to vote for someone if they never responded though.

In my case all 3 (2 Senators and local Rep) happened to be Democrats. But agree...who knows if a Republican would have helped.

I just visited a State completely run by Republicans and it looks like a third world country.

I'm just disappointed how the "system" failed me, starting by USCIS

10 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

Congratulations! It's a pity you had to sue but I'm glad your ordeal is over. 

Thank you!

13 minutes ago, Ben & Katy said:

I think I am going to do the same thing as you if my ROC is not approved or at least hear communication until fall of 2022 about the ROC or Citizenship application.  We applied for ROC in July 2020, fingerprints December 2020 and ever since nothing, ziltch not a word.  We will apply for citizenship once the tax refund comes this spring.  

That seems OK, sometimes I think I waited 6 months too long.

But I'm all done now thankfully

11 hours ago, Letspaintcookies said:

What response did you got from USCIS other that suddenly everything went it's way? Like an actual statement to the lawsuit.

As @igoyougoduke explains below, USCIS basically does not have time to "fight" the case so they just move the case forward, and once it's approved the lawsuit is automatically withdrawn

1 hour ago, Letspaintcookies said:

What response did you got from USCIS other that suddenly everything went it's way? Like an actual statement to the lawsuit.

Yes. About 2-3 weeks after USCIS was served the ROC was approved and the N400 interview scheduled

49 minutes ago, igoyougoduke said:

USCIS just approves petition to get rid of the case. This is pretty normal as they have a special desk within office when a lawsuit is filed. They know its less $$$ to give a decision than to fight it 

That's exactly what happened

Just now, millefleur said:

Ah thanks, must have missed it. So it worked then. Kind of disheartening to see that USCIS is turning into a "pay to win" institution (via hiring lawyers.)

Agree 100%.

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Be sure to let us know the outcome of the WoM.

It's in my original post.

"After 30 months waiting, I decided to file a lawsuit in October of this year, within 3 weeks my Removal of Conditions was approved and my N400 interview was scheduled and last week I became a Citizen."

9 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Just out of curiosity, how much it was for the whole WoM thing? 

In my case it was $4000, but I believe every case might be different

It's a LOT of money, that's why I tried every possible avenue before I did it.

24 minutes ago, RamonGomez said:

 

 

USCIS is horribly inefficient, slow, rude, and archaic. When my stepdaughter's petition got lost between USCIS and NVC (USCIS claimed to send it, NVC never received it) I called every day and was persistent until one an NVC rep got a supervisor on the phone who told me "I'll take care of this for you, we're sorry for what you're going through". 

I was not that lucky.

And trust me.... I asked probably 10 times to talk to a supervisor. 3 times I was put on a call list and never called back.

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Well, that is really frustrating. Are you sure that your requests went through? To be ghosted by all 4 of them seems crazy. You would think at least one would respond even if it's a canned answer.

 

To be honest, I don't think your delay is necessarily Covid related. Like @Crazy Cat's case, I think some people just end up in a black hole by sheer bad luck, there does not appear to be rhyme or reason behind it. The lack of transparency over why this happens is maddening.

I received automatic responses from the DHS and my representative. But it was "your request was received". Nothing else.

Never an email or call addressing my case in particular.

For both Senators I filled their forms and sent them via both email and actual physical mail. I never heard anything from them.

2 minutes ago, debbiedoo said:

have you applied for citizenship? that often gets things moving along.

 

just a thought.

Applied in June 2020.

On 9/15/2021 at 4:20 PM, seablock said:

 

 

The lawsuit forces the USCIS to make a decision  whether to contest the complaint or to process the I-751 and N-400 and moot them  out.  The writ of mandamus is asking the court to force USCIS to do their job and give you a yes or no answer.  With the N-400 you can ask the court to make a decision on your application for naturalization.  The filing fee is $402. and there are resources available for pro se plaintiffs (diy) in Maryland.  Prisoners do it all the time.   This is a case from Maryland that gave me the idea in the first place; however, it concerns a different immigration issue that was delayed unreasonably.  All you need is to write up a complaint, summons and service of process which probably get the USCIS to act on your case but there is no guarantee of that and you might have a court case on your hands.    This is the case that inspired me from Maryland.  However, it is on a different immigration issue but it gives you an idea.   The plaintiffs dropped the case when the USCIS sent the case to DOS for visa processing.

 

"11. Preet Kamal is the spouse of Vishal Thakur and is the spouse visa petitioner for Vishal Thakur’s immigrant visa application.
12. Under federal immigration law, USCIS is authorized to approve a spouse visa application filed by a U.S. citizen and to issue an immigrant visa to allow the spouse to enter the U.S. and obtain lawful permanent resident status.
13. Vishal Thakur is a citizen of India.
14. Preet Kamal filed a visa petition for Vishal Thakur with the USCIS on January 15,
2020. The receipt number is IOE0908273365.
15. Plaintiff paid, and Defendants accepted, all applicable filing and visa fees.
16. USCIS has failed to adjudicate Plaintiff’s I-130 spouse visa petition.
17. Preet Kamal has made repeated attempts to obtain a decision in this matter
without involving this honorable Court. Plaintiff has contacted USCIS multiple times. This has led nowhere.
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Agency Action Unlawfully Withheld and Unreasonably Delayed)
For their first claim for relief against all Defendants, Plaintiff alleges and states as follows:
18. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates by reference the foregoing paragraphs as
though fully set out herein.
19. The APA requires that “[w]ith due regard for the convenience and necessity of the
parties or their representatives and within a reasonable time, each agency shall proceed to conclude a matter presented to it.” 5 U.S.C. § 555(b). Section 555(b) creates a non- discretionary duty to conclude agency matters. Litton Microwave Cooking Prods. v. NLRB, 949 F.2d 249, 253 (8th Cir. 1991). A violation of this duty is a sufficient basis for mandamus relief."

 

 

 

 

https://www.law360.com/cases/60c11685e65a6202df8a4eab?article_sidebar=1

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the deailed info!

1 minute ago, bing10 said:

 

Have you contacted your senators and representative to enquire on your behalf? Also, you should file an ombudsman request on this too. Even if these don't do anything, it will help with the future law-suit, as it shows you've attempted to resolve this yourself through every means possible.

 

In my case, after 2 years 2 months of waiting for the N-400, it was moving states that prompted them to take action on my case. They approved it the same day as they processed the change of address. Who knows how USCIS operates though. 

 

Contacted Representative, 2 Senators, Ombudsman already, nothing happened, and yes already have everything documented.

Thanks for the help, If I decide to file the lawsuit I will update it here

Just now, bing10 said:

 

Yes, it can speed I-751, but also as you've found delay it. My experience was the latter.

 

It's too soon to be thinking of a lawsuit though in my opinion, as you are still within the official processing time for Baltimore (https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/).

 

 

In my case that's correct for the N-400, not for the I-751 which is far out of processing times.

Regardless I am considering waiting for the N400 to be out of processing times too to include it in the lawsuit.

Who knows what's right and what's wrong at this point.

On 8/18/2021 at 2:58 PM, seablock said:

UPDATE:  The lawsuit was filed and shortly thereafter there was a notification that the  I-751 was approved (second time).  The Assistant U. S. Attorney emailed me and told the green card had been approved and sent me documentation of the first approval and wanted me to sign a stipulation to drop the case.  I told her we had not received the green card nor had we been approved for the citizenship.  She never responded but shortly thereafter the citizenship was approved and a oath date scheduled.  So we took a trip with the new green card and only showed it abroad at the airport and never took it out in the USA as we passed through the Global Entry.  Lesson learned?  Filing the N-400 with a pending I-751 opens up the possibility of bureaucratic confusion with the dual track, an error regarding issuance of the green card and then and both cases blocking each other.  In this case, they didn't have  procedures to self-correct even after supervisory contact with the folks on each of the dual tracks but were forced to by agency officials in response to a lawsuit.

" Filing the N-400 with a pending I-751 opens up the possibility of bureaucratic confusion with the dual track"

I am this exact position. Filed my I-751 July 2019 (29 months ago) and my N-400 July 2020 before the I-751 got approved. I even read some posts and lawyers blogs that applying for the N-400 would help move the I-751.

At this point I am seriously considering filing a lawsuit. Spending thousands of dollars with a lawyer because of USCIS incompetency is bothersome though.

On 8/24/2021 at 10:36 AM, ashley_ann said:

The system has gotten wise to the "technical assistance" and "technical problem" 

 

It will now prompt you to submit a technical problem on their website haha

but "lost receipt" did work and I'm in the hold que.

Same here!

On hold for 45 min already, but at least the Lost Receipt works

18 hours ago, Tico2932 said:

I just got my I751 approved after having a bad interview after divorce and a lot of time waiting

that's great news, congrats!

2 minutes ago, Rosa Garcia said:

Hello! Do you know why is your case taking so long? Did they transfer it to NBC? Did you contact Ombudsman? You are outside normal processing time. 

Hi,

It was transferred yes...I contacted Ombudsman, filed 4 Service Requests, and nothing. 

Yes I am outside of normal processing time.

I just filed a complaint to my local representative, I have nothing to lose at this point

My wait for Removal of conditions has now turned 2 years old. Happy birthday! 🎂

On 5/21/2021 at 4:22 PM, gray_cat said:

I don't know why we were separated, our case didn't have any red flags I think. The officer asked all sort of questions, from how we met (with specific details that I forgot because it was 10 years ago and she seemed mad because of that) to things from our daily life: our hobbies, our jobs, how we split the house chores, how we split the bills, our siblings, our cell phone carriers, how many TVs we have, etc. She wanted details for all those things, it wasn't just a general question and moving on to the next one. Also what our plans for the future are.

 

 

That's ridiculous. It reminds me of our Adjustment of conditions interview. The interviewer (immigrant with really poor English) was upset because we didn't have kids. She even highlighted in RED on our file "NO KIDS". All the time she was looking for that Gotcha question. My wife cried after the interview ended.

On 12/29/2020 at 4:13 PM, swji89 said:

"Technical Assistance" at the first prompt followed by "Technical problem" just worked for me. Operator was actually very helpful in my case!

Quick May 2021 Update: This method still works