LorRie

I understand why USCIS makes it so hard to connect to a real live person, and why customer service phone lines are always a half hour MINIMUM wait to speak to someone - to deter any questions to answer that can be found online. However, I've almost had it to about here with them. I've been more than patient as I understand these immigration things tend to take a while, and I have never been rude to anyone that works at these places or answers the phone calls. I respect the people in these immigration position and understand they are somewhat of an "authority" and have a tough job to do. That said, it does not give them the right to be rude to us.

I need to schedule an infopass appointment as I need an I-55 stamp very soon. There is no way to schedule this online (at least at our closest office) and the only way is to call USCIS hotline.
 
First call:
Called USCIS, explained my situation, and the officer said she'll put me in queue for someone to call me to schedule an infopass appt (or for them to call me and see if I qualify for one).
3 days later, a lady calls me and totally misdirected me to the wrong information without much of a chance to respond. I would have told her I'm actually further along the process than she thinks I am. She hangs up abruptly. As we all know, there is no number to call back to this specific person, each time you talk to someone it's with someone new. To get back to this "queue" you need to call USCIS again - wait up to an hour on the phone - repeat the story of your situation and what you need, and then have them put you in the "queue" for a call back.

Second call:
So I repeat this process of calling the USCIS office again, and this second USCIS officer says the previous person did not input correct information so that's why the lady who called me thought I hadn't done a certain step yet and directed me to find answers on the website. So that first call was a waste of time for EVERYONE involved just because one person made a mistake and didn't do her job right.
She places me in the "queue" for a second call back.

2 days later, a lady calls me and was verifying my personal information to make sure I am the applicant. I gave her my name/address/birthday as one does in these personal calls. Then, she asks for my social security number. KEEP IN MIND I'm a foreigner, not working yet as I hadn't gotten my green card yet, and did not grow up having to use social security number for anything - therefore I don't have this number memorized yet. I only remember the last 4 digits. I have my SSN card right in the envelope in front of me, was in a hurry trying to take it out so I could tell her the number and the lady yells and me and says "why don't you know your social security number?". My explanation would have taken a while and I had the information right in front of me and was about to give it to her but she yells at me once more and says "maam, I don't believe you are the applicant. Goodbye and have a nice day!" 

I was holding my phone, stunned, and not even given a chance to rectify the situation. She'd already hung up! She could have asked me more personal questions: Passport number, A#, whatever, and given me a chance to answer more questions to verify I was the applicant. No, I didn't even get the chance. 

This call was once again, a total waste of everyone's time.
IN TOTAL, I've spoken to 4 different USCIS people by now and don't know how many more I will have to speak with to get my resolution. 
It feels like they are making things hard on purpose so nobody gets their issues easily resolved.
 
Once again, I am left having to call the USCIS hotline - wait up to an hour for a live person - explain my situation - and then wait another 3 days for a callback. This time I will be sure to have my SSN memorized, but it'll probably be something else that they find fault with.
 
If this is how they answer and "resolve" all these phone calls, it is no wonder why the call volumes are high and will always be high - because nothing ever gets resolved and people are having to call back numerous times to get their problem solved. In both of these call backs they hung up abruptly without giving much of a chance to say anything. They are also somewhat impatient and expect you to speak their immigration lingo - yes, you better memorize and know what all the forms are called and what they are talking about. They get impatient and mean if you ask for a second to look up which form they are referring to. They'll say "you should already know if you've done the form". Don't they realize how many of these forms I've had to fill out since day 1 of the process? Not to mention that us normal folks aren't living and breathing in these forms everyday like they are. 
 
I'm not sure if anyone has faced with this type of frustrating service but seems like there is not much we can do because they are the authority and we're just applicants who are at their mercy. 😢
 
 

I'm not active on this forum anymore but always happy to help! 

I don't remember the exact dates and details but I remember the USPS was no help so there's no point trying to place or shift the blame on them. If the USPS tracking information says delivered then that's enough proof for them to say you did receive it. USCIS is quite strict on those little details and technicality so there's really no way around it other than applying for a new card through the USCIS website. I did have to file under lost/stolen and go through that entire process, including paying the $400++ fees and $80++ biometrics fee (USCIS website will list the fee there). I sent in the I-90 form for replacement card around October 2019 and I believe my card arrived around late April 2020. All this was happening around the height and uncertainty of COVID, lockdowns, etc, so I don't know if that had an impact on how quickly or slowly I got my replacement card. I had to make a new appointment for new photo/biometrics in order to get the new card issued. In my situation I ended up not being able to travel out of the country and had to cancel our flights and absorb the monetary loss there. By the time I got my new card the world was on lock down so I couldn't go anywhere or do anything anyway.
 
So all in all I was supposed to get my Green Card on December 2018, it was mis-delivered. After going through what seems like a lot of work, useless infopass appointments, phone calls, I finally got the replacement Green Card in April 2020. Moral of the story is do what you can to ensure the Green Card arrives to your doorstep - don't move home/address if you can, just stay put until you get this very important piece of document or you'll end up creating a lot of extra work, wasted money, and huge inconvenience for yourself. This is NOT one of those things where they'll say sorry and just issue another card in 6-10 days. I learned a lot from this situation and realize that if you lose any important documents like this it will take a long time to get a new one - so STAY ON TOP OF THESE THINGS best you can. 

Good luck with your situation but also try to see the bright side... you are in the position where you finally got your Green Card. It took all of us in this forum a lot of time, money, sweat, and tears to reach this stage, so give your and your significant other a huge pat in the back for all that you've gone through. 

I'm not active on this forum anymore but always happy to help! 

I don't remember the exact dates and details but I remember the USPS was no help so there's no point trying to place or shift the blame on them. If the USPS tracking information says delivered then that's enough proof for them to say you did receive it. USCIS is quite strict on those little details and technicality so there's really no way around it other than applying for a new card through the USCIS website. I did have to file under lost/stolen and go through that entire process, including paying the $400++ fees and $80++ biometrics fee (USCIS website will list the fee there). I sent in the I-90 form for replacement card around October 2019 and I believe my card arrived around late April 2020. All this was happening around the height and uncertainty of COVID, lockdowns, etc, so I don't know if that had an impact on how quickly or slowly I got my replacement card. I had to make a new appointment for new photo/biometrics in order to get the new card issued. In my situation I ended up not being able to travel out of the country and had to cancel our flights and absorb the monetary loss there. By the time I got my new card the world was on lock down so I couldn't go anywhere or do anything anyway.
 
So all in all I was supposed to get my Green Card on December 2018, it was mis-delivered. After going through what seems like a lot of work, useless infopass appointments, phone calls, I finally got the replacement Green Card in April 2020. Moral of the story is do what you can to ensure the Green Card arrives to your doorstep - don't move home/address if you can, just stay put until you get this very important piece of document or you'll end up creating a lot of extra work, wasted money, and huge inconvenience for yourself. This is NOT one of those things where they'll say sorry and just issue another card in 6-10 days. I learned a lot from this situation and realize that if you lose any important documents like this it will take a long time to get a new one - so STAY ON TOP OF THESE THINGS best you can. 

Good luck with your situation but also try to see the bright side... you are in the position where you finally got your Green Card. It took all of us in this forum a lot of time, money, sweat, and tears to reach this stage, so give your and your significant other a huge pat in the back for all that you've gone through. 

Have you tried tracking your card with a Postal office Supervisor or the Postmaster General? In most cases, cards that get delivered to wrong addresses normally get returned to USCIS.
It's probably sitting in your neighbor's mailbox......

I would go through the office of one of your congressional representatives and try to get one of their immigration liaisons to help. 
 
It's beyond bullshit that their screw-up now becomes your problem through absolutely no fault of your own. 

Worst case scenario, and it would be a nightmare kinda. You obviously have status, all the card does is gives you something to show around. Travel where you need to go and play dumb and get to the US embassy in the country you visit to get a travel foil to come back. Probably cost about 500.00 to do, and they will probably berate you pretty good, but I would think they would have to give you a foil to get back into the US as you are a permanent resident. Research this a little more, as I have only seen US citizens get travel foils, but I am pretty sure you can get one as an LPR. I have attached a link below. A little extreme, but an option. Guess it depends on how important your trip is to you.
 
http://myattorneyusa.com/applying-for-boarding-foil-abroad-as-lpr-with-the-form-i-131a-application-for-travel-document

Get with the senator for your district in Washington, D.C. They have people that can help. Ours helped us greatly with i90 issues.

One reason we refer to the 800 number as the mis-information line.  

You were lucky you got somewhat empathetic people on the other end apologizing. The people i've spoken to lately haven't shown much kindness! 
Wow, that is A LOT of phone calls!  
I will keep trying and patience is virtue. 

This. Government is the worst when it comes to actually trying to talk to them.

It usually takes me 21 calls on average to get ahold of social security for my daughter. I usually use my cell phone and have one line on hold calling the number while actively calling the number. Half the time what happens is, it just says "All lines are busy, please try your call again later!". 

The guys on the phone have even apoligized and said they know people hate calling them because the waits so long and/or the phones don't answer.

I think I am wrong. We wait for people to correct me. 😬

did you speak with a tier 2 officer. they have access to more information than tier 1 support which does not understand much and has never been helpful. tier 2 officers have been organized , respectful and partially helpful to me when i have called.

Some people get lucky, but you called what is affectionately known as the Mis Information Line.

I don't have any advice other than keep trying and hang in there. I'm so sorry you're going through this. Hopefully the third try will be the charm. 

I know this is an old post, but replying because we just went through this with my husband. We were married a few years ago and he applied to have the conditions removed from his green card. We received a letter stating he was okay to be in the country for the next year and then a letter stating he was approved and we'd receive the card within 60 days.
Long story short the card did not arrive, but showed as 'Delivered' by USPS, USCIS told us we'd have to re-pay the fee because of that, even though it was never actually delivered.
Through tons of research (and no lawyers) we were able to both: travel internationally/re-enter the U.S. without the green card, and get a new green card without paying the $450 fee again. Here are those steps...
Know when your green card was supposed to arrive, get tracking from USCIS, you can call their number to request this once it has shipped. If the tracking shows it should have been delivered and it has not - file a lost mail claim with USPS. You can do this online: https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm Keep a copy of this claim#. USPS should contact you back with an update on the claim - chances are they won't, continue to check back in on status of the claim, they will conduct an internal investigation and you should have an answer in 2-4 weeks. Pester them until they have finalized the investigation on the claim. Each time you speak with someone over the phone, make sure they make notes in the system about your discussion. You'll need those later. At this point we also got a cryptic call from our local USPS office which was useless. They also said they stopped by and our name wasn't posted on our mailbox, which is a lie, it has always been there. When you do get a response on the final status of the claim, you can move onto the next step. Chances are USPS will say 'it was delivered, the post person said they delivered it' which makes you feel like steps 2 and 3 were a total waste of time, but they're necessary. Next you need to call the Postal Inspection Service (877-876-2455) and file another claim with them, for mail theft. You'll get another claim#, keep a copy of that. At this point there may be further investigation needed, if so follow up with them until you get an answer (that answer will likely be, 'we couldn't find it, case closed'). Make sure they note all the detail about the investigation in the claim, including the final findings that it wasn't found. When your secondary claim is also closed, call the USPS Consumer Affairs office, you can find the contact info for your local office here: https://ribbs.usps.gov/locators/find-cam.cfm (You may be on hold for about an hour.) Tell them both of your claim numbers and that you need a copy of your claim mailed to you. They may tell you they can't, or that you have to call another department or your local post office, they can, and will, talk to a supervisor if you have to. Now re-file your paperwork with USCIS, including all the necessary forms and a copy of the claim from USPS (also keep a copy for your own records). However check the box stating the the green card was lost or never delivered. Include a cover letter explaining the situation, and highlight key points, including the USPS confirming it wasn't delivered. They should waive the fee, if they do not, you can contact your local senator's office, but in my experience it takes about 2-3 months for a response. The only thing this step helped us with is through them we got written confirmation from USCIS that if we could submit paperwork from USPS confirming it wasn't delivered (the 2 claims), then they would waive the fee. This is why ensuring notes are made in your claim is so important throughout the process. At any point, if you need to travel abroad, if you have a letter stating you have legal status through whatever date (assuming it's at least 3-6 months int he future), this along with ID suffices to get back into the country. But call USCIS in advance of travel to confirm for your specific case. I also recommend bringing all key paperwork when traveling to be safe upon re-entry.
Also, you can re-file paperwork at any point in time with USCIS (knowing it will get denied until you have completed the steps above), but as long as your case shows 'open' you can then go to your local USCIS office and they will stamp your passport for free. In general they may do this for only 30-60 days in the future, but my husband was able to get his stamped for 5 months in the future due to pending travel.
Good luck!!

As above poster stated, you need an I-551 stamp. You may have to call and get a tier 2 person at USCIS in order to get an infopass appointment scheduled because a lot of offices are not letting you schedule appointments online anymore.

Set up an infopass at your local office (you need to call to do this at some locations), and ask for an I-551 stamp. If you have the receipt for your I-90, you should be good.

Looks like you are at the stage where you've just gotten the NOA2. The case will be forwarded to the NVC (according to the timeline of my case, about 2+ weeks), and they will forward it to the US consulate in Taipei (another 2-3 weeks). Soon after the Taipei consulate receives your case from NVC, they will email you with some things to do, and from there you will start making your appointment for the medical exam, gathering all the required paperwork (house registration, police report, etc..). You will also be able to schedule the interview at the US consulate online soon after. During the time I was at this stage, there was only one interview date available, usually a month or so away. They may have more open slots now, they may not, so hopefully you are lucky and you get much more options for a faster interview date. The sooner the interview, the sooner you get to reunite with your fiance (assuming you pass).  

Your question is quite broad so it makes it hard for people to answer but feel free to ask more specific questions and I / others will try to help. You should also be able to find some information by searching the forums here - they are very helpful and it was what I relied on during my process. 

Good luck on your journey.

Same as us - we just got our letter this week. It has been a year for us as well. 
I hope the medical/vaccination report we got from our home country is still valid. 
Good luck to you guys and to everyone still waiting - hang in there! 

Same as us - we just got our letter this week. It has been a year for us as well. 
I hope the medical/vaccination report we got from our home country is still valid. 
Good luck to you guys and to everyone still waiting - hang in there! 

Same as us - we just got our letter this week. It has been a year for us as well. 
I hope the medical/vaccination report we got from our home country is still valid. 
Good luck to you guys and to everyone still waiting - hang in there! 

That's way out of processing time for both EAD and AP. Any RFEs on the I-485? If not recently, have you filed an e-request about the EAD and/or AP? https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do?sroPageType=onpt Or have you contacted your congressperson or senator? When I contacted Senator Kamala Harris's office about my EAD, I quickly received a forwarded response from USCIS; overall, a positive experience interacting with that office: https://www.harris.senate.gov/services/help-with-a-federal-agency

I'm sorry you've not recieved AP approval yet. I hope the best! Well, if not this Christmas, next Christmas for sure we should all have approvals lol.

I finally got an update that "As of August 28, 2018, we are ready to schedule your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status".
Is there anyone here from the December 2017 AOS out there still waiting to see this updated on their case status? I feel like I'm the only one left in this forum waiting on this. Also, for all of you who is already on this step... how long did it take for you to actually hear from them regarding the interview date? I haven't gotten any official letter in the mail, just an email saying there was an update on my case and that they are ready to schedule the interview.  Any responses would be so greatly appreciated! 
 

I personally went through this so I want to share my experience.
I too, looked through the forums here and it seems like many were saying it isn't a big deal (no wet signature needed), and that their embassy did not care. Well, in my case, the officer looked through all my documents and the first thing she asked was about the wet signature and where the original copies were. She could tell right away my forms were just a print out. I went through the entire interview, and they did tell me that day that they granted my K1, but I got a blue slip and had to send them a wet signature copy (mail or in person OK).

It added about 3-4 weeks extra to the process:
3-4 days for the papers to arrive from my US fiance via express mail
2-3 days for those forms to arrive at the US consulate 
2-3 days for them to even open my package and match with my case # 
throw in 2-4 days for the weekends
couple more days until they looked at my file, approve, and "create" the visa stamp on my passport,  
another 3-4 days for them to mail it out and for me to receive K1 visa/passport in the mail 

It added even more days for me because I didn't want to book my plane ticket until I had my K1 visa / passport on hand.. and of course once I got it I wasn't going to book a flight and fly out right away - I picked something two weeks out. So, remember that every little delay creates a chain of events/delays. It is not a problem if you are not in a rush to see your significant other, especially if you are the ones that got to visit one another during this long process. I didn't get to see mine for over a year so I was super antsy 

OVERALL, I would say that it is quite likely the fiance will have to spend about the $100 (USD) to express the paperwork to you (look into FedEx, UPS, DHL's prices - compare prices because I know one is cheaper than the other by $5 - $8). If you can't bring the wet signature forms in time for the interview, have your fiance send them out ASAP, and just bring the print outs and hope they let you make it up later via snail mail. It is best if you can get them in time and bring it with you so it makes you look more organized, put together, and prepared. It is additional money you'll very possibly have to spend anyways so just do it. A lot of us has had to spend a lot of money here and there (eg: getting papers notarized, costs to obtain police reports and other official documents, train rides or flights to the embassy, etc..) for this entire process but remember to look at the big picture! They never said this process was going to be cheap 

Good luck on your journey and just try your best to gather everything you think the embassy wants to see so you can reunite with your significant other ASAP