Daniel P

5 hours ago, Mr & Mr said:

Ive got only one by email and one by mail.

Ok, thanks! I just learnt that I got a letter from immigration that was incorrectly delivered to the neighbor and returned (the address was correct). Since I already got a letter for the change of address I was just trying to figure out what it could be... Hopefully they will resend it in the coming days.

Does anyone know if, after a change of address, they send just one confirmation letter or three (one for I485, I765 and I131)? I think someone mentioned it on this forum a while ago but I can't find it right now. Thanks!

5 hours ago, mcgee201 said:

Thank you! It was an RFE. 

Ok, thanks. For what I read, it seems that EAD/AP processing time doesn't get as affected by and RFE than it can by a RFIE, at least in some cases. I got a RFIE a while ago, so we'll see.

15 hours ago, mcgee201 said:

Maybe this could help ease some minds of those who are  waiting for an EAD and got an  RFE.  

 

We got an RFE  and we took over one full month to  return  the requested evidence (we had to wait for a document). I  know they say this will slow down your EAD by at least a month; our lawyer  said it would slow it  down 2-3 months. However, yesterday,  we received a notification that our card is being processed and shipped to our address.  

 

In conclusion,  I don't  think  an  RFE  impacts EAD processing time. 

 

Good luck to those still waiting!

Congrats! Could you tell us, was it a RFE or a RFIE?

35 minutes ago, Lucy123123 said:

Ok I speak for everyone on this forum to please for the love of god to privately message each other because I'm sick of getting messages about this silliness... I understand its a stressful time and whatnot but we do not need this on a "SUPPORTIVE" group!! 

I agree, I don't need this silliness either and I apologize to the forum for contributing to it. It's not worth it and certainly not helpful to anyone.

1 hour ago, Trinab80 said:

I didn't put words in your mouth. I've read every one of your post with full comprehension and understanding. And again you're entitled to feel and think however you please. And I will say this again, whether personal to my case AS WELL AS to other cases, EVERY CASE is different. To say that others that did not provide the IRS transcript don't always receive RFEs because they managed to be lucky enough to get approved with incomplete tax return (your words not mine) is inaccurate. And that is MY opinion. You don't have to like it nor do you have to agree to it. 

 

And with all that, I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your journey! 😊

False again, never said that. Never said that all cases are the same, either. Below all the sentences in which I used the word luck, or unlucky, for a full comprehension and understanding, since you insist on putting those words in my mouth. I will be responsible for what I actually say, not for what you understand.

I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your journey, too! 😊

"Whatever you decide to send though, best of luck, because it seems that's what you need with these people…" (to Little_Vixen)

"Considering this, yes, I'd say luck is an important factor too, even though it shouldn't be."

"IT IS a matter of luck who's going to process your case, and depending on who does, that might have a huge impact on the outcome you get."

"You took so long to get approved during the K1 process, with no RFE's or NOID's, and still you maintain luck has nothing to do with this whole immigration process?"

"I was saying quite the opposite, that a case with no apparent reason for it to take so long to be processed as you pointed out yours was, had to had real bad luck considering that most others, even with RFE's, took significantly less time."

"If there are people who can get unlucky, even if only on the time their cases take to be processed, there necessarily have to be others with better luck. Which again supports the idea of luck playing an important role in this whole process."

"I NEVER said you had "luck" on your side for not receiving a RFE."

"You have all the right in the world to feel you didn't have good/bad luck then or now, as I'm entitled to believe luck is an important part of the process"

39 minutes ago, Trinab80 said:

I'm not going keep going back and forth about this. As I said earlier, we'll agree to disagree. If you feel I had "luck" on my side for not receiving a RFE, cool. I call it meeting the requirement.

You keep linking my words to your personal case when I'm clearly talking in general. I NEVER said you had "luck" on your side for not receiving a RFE. I'm not interested in talking about just one particular case, but a majority, especially the majority who happened to get this particular RFE. You have all the right in the world to feel you didn't have good/bad luck then or now, as I'm entitled to believe luck is an important part of the process, in general, for a majority, without necessarily including you. If you're not going to keep going back and forth about this, good, I'm glad to hear, but don't do so putting words in my mouth that I never said.

18 minutes ago, Trinab80 said:

And you can fail to see my logic, that's totally fine. You point that you've been making is based on YOUR research, you find that more are receiving RFEs because adjudicators are starting to prefer the IRS transcript over going through the "stacks of papers" when reviewing someone's financial requirements on the basis of sponsorship. Taking MY case out of it, your opinion, while appreciated, isn't accurate. And "luck" sir, has NOTHING to do with any part of this whole immigration process. While I agree with you on the difference between a experienced v. an inexperienced adjudicator being able to process a petition quicker or more/less efficient, still has nothing to do with luck. 

 

In an production/operations environment such as USCIS, cases are assigned to case reviewers, however, production is monitored daily. So when a case reviewer or adjudicator isn't meeting the required case closure rate, their case load gets scuffled around in order for the department to meet their SLA or production goal. Cases are not just sitting assigned to the same adjudicator months and months while others adjudicators are just breezing through. Additionally, experience adjudicators work the more complex, detailed case and inexperienced adjudicators would work straightforward easy cases. But this is going for detail than necessary.

 

No, sir, luck had nothing to do with my k1 process not has anything to do with my AOS process. If that be the case, luck will allow my husband to get scheduled his GC interview at the Philly field office quicker than the anticipated year or more that it's gonna take simply because an adjudicator reviewed our AOS and approved it for interview scheduling in 30 days. Luck would have also given my husband his EAD/AP combo by now too.

 

Either way, your case is your case and my husband's case is ours. You feel that I have or had luck on my side, so be it. We'll have to agree to disagree.

I didn't take your case out of it, the whole point of doing a research is to see what the norm is, when getting this RFE, on the documentary proof people submitted. When I find that the vast majority who got that particular RFE sent the full return, and on the comments the vast majority of people having had their cases accepted advice them to use the IRS transcript over the full return, yes, I'm gonna conclude that using the IRS transcript is probably better. Your case got accepted with the tax return, good, and I'm sure there are many others, but that doesn't change the fact that most people getting this RFE sent the full return, hence it might me wiser to just send the transcript to avoid potential problems. While your particular case is part of the total, there's still gonna be a norm, independently of if it falls under it or not.

I was saying quite the opposite, that a case with no apparent reason for it to take so long to be processed as you pointed out yours was, had to had real bad luck considering that most others, even with RFE's, took significantly less time. Hard to explain that in a utopic, well-oiled, efficient office that doesn't allow a case to get stuck on a adjudicator's desk. If there are people who can get unlucky, even if only on the time their cases take to be processed, there necessarily have to be others with better luck. Which again supports the idea of luck playing an important role in this whole process.

6 hours ago, Trinab80 said:

And you are entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to mine.

 

Page 8 of 17 on the I-864 states to provide the most current filed FEDERAL Tax Return or IRS transcript. It states to NOT provide the State Tax Return which I did not. It also states that those that are self-employed must provide the Schedules C-F forms to of your federal tax return. Considering I'm not self employed, this is the portion of the Return I mentioned that I didn't have to submit. Therefore, I submitted what was the mandatory requirement for me which was my COMPLETE FEDERAL TAX RETURN with my W-2 for that tax year. I also submitted an updated employer verification letter which the only change necessary was the date, and additional paystubs to include with the paystubs I provided during the embassy. That was it and that is all based on the instructions. https://www.uscis.gov/i-864

 

While the only difference in the I-134 and the I-864 is the poverty level requirement changes. And yes, I've done plenty of research of my own as to say you have done the same amount for yourself, one thing I can agree on is that adjudicators are in fact human beings. But no, luck has nothing to do with it. While everyone's income is different from others, there is no significant difference between me sending in my tax documents instead of the IRS transcript. They are both one in the same. I'm a tax preparer and have doing this for years. The IRS transcript is everything that you filed and your employer filed hence why with the IRS transcript you don't have to include your W2.

 

For someone like myself whose taxes are straightforward, a "stack of papers" isn't something I have to submit because the Federal 1040EZ tax return is only 2 pages. My income is way over poverty level requirement so yes, the adjudicator most likely didn't have to dig any deeper into my financial stability because along with my tax documents, my other financial documents I provided proves that my salary is significantly sufficient. So again, luck has and had nothing to do with it. And again, my financial stability is different than yours and others but also USCIS isn't just taking the paperwork we provide without verifying them against something else to ensure that they are correct. The IRS transcript however allows them to go through it faster because it comes from the IRS which makes it a verified document. 

 

So feel free to state your opinion as much as you desire. But luck has nothing to do with any part of this whole immigration process. Because if luck was a factor, then I would be the last person to have it considering how long it took our K1 process with no RFEs or NOIDs.

I never said anything about the State Tax Return. You keep giving details about your own particular case, which is good for anyone who could be interested, but it's not the point here. You started contradicting my statement, saying they don't necessarily prefer the IRS Tax Transcript, and now you say "The IRS transcript however allows them to go through it faster because it comes from the IRS which makes it a verified document". Even if that was the only reason, it would be a reason good enough for them to prefer the transcript over the tax return.

"Luck has nothing to do with any part of this whole immigration process"? Two adjudicators, the one who works the fastest in the office and the inexperienced just hired one who doesn't even now where his right hand is, prone to mess up more often and with a tendency to send more RFE's than he probably should. The first one processing cases at least at a doble rate than the second one. IT IS a matter of luck who's going to process your case, and depending on who does, that might have a huge impact on the outcome you get. You took so long to get approved during the K1 process, with no RFE's or NOID's, and still you maintain luck has nothing to do with this whole immigration process? You'll have to forgive me, but I fail to follow your logic.

10 hours ago, Trinab80 said:

I didn't submit an incomplete tax return. First of all, I do my own taxes so I'm fully knowledgeable on what is or is not considered a complete tax return. Secondly, the I-864 clearly states in the instructions that you are to provide the FEDERAL Filed Tax Return of the current year along with your W2s and/or 1099 that was used to file or you can provide your IRS transcript. I provided the same documents at my husband's interview at the embassy as I attended the interview with him AND provided the SAME EXACT documents with my I-864 that was attached to my AOS filing. Received no RFEs....for either process to be honest.

 

So to say I provided an incomplete tax return and was able to slide through is completely false and 100% inaccurate. While I do make way over poverty lines, I doubt that particular adjudicator just overlooked my tax returns. The point of supplying the tax information isn't just about confirming the income is over threshold because they can see that with the paystubs, W2s, and employer verification letter. They also want to see if the USC is filing taxes every year and accurately reporting their taxable income.

I didn't mean an incomplete tax return as in a faulty one, just not all the pages usually submitted to the IRS. I didn't mean that you slipped through the cracks as if you were a criminal, either. I also submitted the SAME EXACT documents with my I-864 that I did at the interview, which was accepted then but not now. If that's not adjudicator-dependent I don't know what is then. Besides, it won't be me now who uncovers USCIS randomness when processing cases and giving away RFE's. It's enough to do a little of research to find that people with similar cases sending the exact same documentation get different outcomes. Adjudicators aren't machines, just human beings with different experience and different ways to do their jobs, so provided that you really don't mess up anything, even then your paperwork could be acceptable for one adjudicator but not for another. Been seen before, nothing new under the sun. Considering this, yes, I'd say luck is an important factor too, even though it shouldn't be.

When it comes to the IRS Tax Return Transcript, it makes sense to think that they prefer the summarized version, uniform format, with all the info they need of your taxes against the pile of paper people usually send, not knowledgeable enough to know the exact documents containing the info USCIS actually wants to see. Again, this shouldn't be reason enough for a RFE, as long as all the documents they need are in that pile of paper but, again, human beings with different experience, different ways to do their jobs and even different preferences. For me at least, it's not that difficult to picture this new employee that after ten straightforward cases with tax transcripts and another eight with tax returns with more or less consistent documentation, encounters a ninth with a stack of 60 pages, different order and format, and a boss demanding a minimum number of cases processed per day. Will the stressed out and not that experienced new employee spend 30 minutes looking through that pile of paper or just send a RFE and go for the next case?

I just gave an opinion, based on my own research and also on the advice given in a specialized book on the matter. That being said, I will be the first one to say  to anyone with this or any other RFE to do their own research and then decide the best approach for their own cases before following any particular opinion.

7 hours ago, Trinab80 said:

I didn't submit my IRS transcript, I submitted my a copy of my filed 2017 Federal Tax Return with W2s and I didn't receive a RFE. My status changed "case ready to be scheduled for an interview" within 30 days of our received date. And I didn't give them the whole filed return...just the first 2 pages of my 1040 Federal Tax return which is what the instructions as asked for. They don't want or need to see the other pages. So you're statement about them preferring the IRS transcript is not necessarily true.

I've seen too many cases here of people getting RFE's because of an incomplete (or even a complete) tax return to have reasons to believe they're not that fond of the full return. Also, on a legal book I got at the beginning of the process about fiancé and marriage visas, they literally advised IRS Tax Transcripts are preferred by USCIS. No one said they only accept these nor that they won't accept the full return. If you got your case accepted only submitting an incomplete tax return, you might have gotten an adjudicator who doesn't necessarily care about what form he gets as long as the gross income is on it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's the norm.

17 hours ago, Little_Vixen said:

This is ridiculous. I didn't send in the whole pile, just the W2 and the form 1099 things (which were satisfactory for the embassy).

There was no mention of not meeting the poverty line (which my husband is way above too)

I was (and still am) as frustrated as you are. I also sent the exact same documents that I sent to the embassy (which they also accepted without any problem). In my case I won't risk it and will just send the IRS Tax Return Transcript. I won't give them the excuse to deny my case just because (according to them) I didn't send all they need once again. I sent the whole tax return and obviously that wasn't satisfactory for them.

Whatever you decide to send though, best of luck, because it seems that's what you need with these people...

2 hours ago, augustfiler18 said:

Of course I'd be happy if I got it in 4 months. It just used to be minimum 3 months from the date you filed I think, but obviously it's just taking a little longer. I just want to be able to get back to work! 

 

Would the EAD come before the interview is scheduled? I'm seeing mixed things online. 

Yeah it's annoying to be in this situation, it just shouldn't take this long.

I think the interview is usually scheduled before the EAD comes, but I guess there are also cases in which they take longer to schedule it. I'm not completely sure though

21 minutes ago, augustfiler18 said:

Now, I guess it is the waiting game. So far, so good it seems? Best case scenario, when do we think we could receive our EADs? I hope it is not as long as everyone is saying- minimum 4 months? 

 

Thanks all!! 

 

The EAD is currently taking 4-6 months. I'd be happy if I got it in 4 months...

4 hours ago, Little_Vixen said:

#######. Just received an RFE.

They're asking for my husbands full tax return of the last tax year. I submitted the same documents I submitted at the embassy and now it's not good enough? Not sure what all to send in, the tax package is a thumb thick file. I had send in the W2's and the 1099 forms.

I got the same RFE... and we are not the only ones. After some research, there seems to be something in common… the damn full tax return (or according to them, an incomplete one). They clearly prefer the IRS transcript, if they get too stressed looking at that pile of paper, don't find or understand something, they just send the RFE. Did you also get that generic RFE stating that your spouse's income doesn't meet the 125%, even though it does?

Hi guys! Glad to see you around once again 🙂. Finally I'm a late August filer, can't wait for all this fun wait again 😒. Anyway, waiting at the moment to go and have the biometrics done. Here's my recent timeline, in case it's of any help to anyone.

• I-485 / I-765 / I-131 filed: August 28th
• I-485 / I-765 / I-131 received: August 30th
• I-485 / I-765 / I-131 e-mails: September 5th
• I-485 / I-765 / I-131 hard copies: September 10th
• Biometrics hardcopy: September 14th
• Biometrics appointment: September 26th

3 minutes ago, Naes said:

Fingers crossed. It looks like they are still putting some cases from last week of august into the system so far mixed with ones dated up to September 6 (Yes yes I know I am going crazy again with number but I won't.. just checking to see how far they're going and if I'm screwed...) 

It's probably fine then. We'll have more apportunities to go crazy in the next months, save it for then 😅

1 minute ago, Naes said:

I have no clue. But it was a cashiers check so it works with the same logic, it is prepaid....

 

I am literally just waiting my rejected package at this moment. although I went through it 100s of times already and have no clue why it could have happen..

Give it some more days, it's probably still waiting in the same box with all the cases received along the long weekend

28 minutes ago, Naes said:

Ok now I'm sure there is a problem with my package... check hasn't been cashed even though the package arrived on August 31... 

Could it be that it's taking longer because you used a check and it just takes longer to be cashed? In my case I used a money order, that is already pre-paid, that may be why

I just got the hard copies, so 13 days since I sent the package, 11 days since they received it. The three of them has August 30th as the received date, so I guess I'm an August filer after all…

1 hour ago, Rebecca & Kelvin said:

Hi, I came to US at the end of August, and got married in LA on Sep. 5th. After we submitted our completed marriage certificate to county office, we were told it would take around 4-6 weeks for them to mail marriage certificate to me.

 

So my question is

1.  Do I have to wait to submit my aos package after I receive the certified marriage certificate? Or is it ok to use my marriage licence (customer copy) to file?

2. If I want to get California driver licence, driver handbook says "The I-94 expiration date must be no more than 2 months from the DL/ID card application date". Since our K1 only have 90 days on I-94. After this 90 days period, will my driver licence (assume if I have enough time to pass knowledge test, not sure if i need to pass the actual driving test) become invalid, and I need to use EAD to renew? Currently EAD takes 4-6 months, so does it mean there will be a gap, maybe 2-3 months that I can not use my driving licence?

 

Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

 

33 minutes ago, Naes said:

We went to Ventura probably that’s why it’s different. I asked them specifically when I was getting the license about when I can get the documents and they told me if I register myself I can get it that day. So we just registered and got everything the same day.

 

i know @Daniel P also waited ended up getting it in person, and @kemm360 that I tagged is also in the same situation with you. 

@Rebecca & Kelvin I wouldn't use the customer copy to file your AOS package, if you do so you'll get a RFE for sure. You need the certified copy. For what I understand you hand-carried the completed marriage certificate (the one completed by the person who married you) to the county office and they told you to wait? That's weird since they should be able to do it that very moment, it literally takes 1 minute. That's what we were told at the county's office, our problem was that the judge wouldn't allow us to hand-carry it there, but once there, if you go there's no reason for them to not do it right there, especially if you explain your situation and say you need it, for immigration purposes, as soon as possible. Maybe they are extremely busy at that office or they just don't wanna bother go out of the "normal" procedure? 🤷‍♂️

2 minutes ago, Naes said:

Thank you for the info!! I am getting anxious.. it looks like 4-5 months is the norm.. hope it just doesn't get bad.

That's what I hope! Don't worry, you'll most likely get the emails next Monday 🤞

Just to let you know guys, I sent the paperwork on August 28 arriving August 30. On September 5 I got the emails. My case status on USCIS website were:

• I-485: Fingerprint Fee Was Received (September 4)
• I-765: Case Was Received (August 30)
• I-131: Case Was Received (August 30)

I don't really care how long the I-485 takes to be processed, it's the EAD what makes me a little anxious. At least they put it in the system right away...

8 minutes ago, Rebecca & Kelvin said:

So glad to see @Naes & @Daniel P here ~~~ I came to LA on 8/30, feel like i have heaps of things to do😅

Welcome to America! 😄 Glad to see you too!

1 hour ago, Naes said:

mine got there on 31st! I’d really like a number to obsessively check for a while 😁

True! Life feels kind of empty without it, doesn't it? 😄