Todd and Ann

Hey guys...  USCIS received our I-751 case 07/01/2020...  from a CR-1 visa and was directly assigned to MSC center.  NOA1 notice date was 07/23/2020.  Around 08/15 we received I-797C for Biometrics with notice date of 08/11/2020.  I brought my wife and two step-sons together.  USCIS auto-generated separate MSC cases for each stepson, but, biometrics was only requested for my spouse (so far).  The biometrics date is next Friday 08/28 near Memphis.

Update:  I received NOA1 today 07/27.  I brought my wife and two step-sons.  The two step-sons received their NOA1 today.  I assume my wife will get hers in a day or two if it wasn't lost in the mail.

When we filed the I-129 or I-130 for our fiance or spouse, we filed a petition with supporting documentation and paid a fee.  If we did something stupid, like forgetting to sign the forms or not submitting payment, we didn't receive an RFE, we were outright rejected.  If we were missing a specific document or two, USCIS would not cancel our case and would send us an RFE to correct the file so we did not lose our application fees.  If all else failed, we had the privilege of starting over and to refile the application and pay the fees again.  This is not the case with an I-751.  We are up against a wall - a deadline.  If we fail to pass through the I-751 stage, our spouse goes back to their home country and we start the entire I-130 process over (again).  Not only do we lose the fees we paid, we lose their residency.  While the application and documentation for the I-751 are not as complicated as those we filed with the I-129 or I-130, the consequences of failure in this step are much more costly than losing a fee or losing 3-12 months together if we fail to pass the I-129 or I-130 process.  Do you really want to take a chance on not providing sufficient data to USCIS?  
 
For those who send some applications, they are making too many assumptions.  Many state "I already sent my marriage certificate in, why should I send it in again?".  Well, you are assuming that USCIS kept a copy of all your documents when you filed your I-129/I-130 and that USCIS still has those documents in their computer.  You are assuming that the person reviewing your case has access to those documents.  When USCIS sent our files over to the NVC at Department of State, did they keep a copy?  Do they have enough storage space and do they follow a specific statute of limitations on how long they retain documents?  USCIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Our spouses were interviewed by the U.S. Department of State.  DHS and State each get independent funding.  They each have separate computer systems.  You are relying on a bunch of unknowns when you submit an application with assumptions that they already have documents because you submitted them before and that the person reviewing your case has access to those records.
 
Let's compare the 50-60 pages of "quality over quantity" documents this person submitted verses my 1000 pages (actually I rounded down).  Let's say we both fail to convince USCIS that our cases are valid.  We both will receive a notice from USCIS that they are preparing to deny our applications.  At this stage, since we both (likely) completed our applications without the assistance of an attorney, we will both find it extremely difficult to find an immigration attorney who will accept our case, since said attorney had no part in our initial filing.  If we are lucky enough to convince USCIS at this stage to hold off on a denial to give us more time, we are under an intense microscope at this point by USCIS.  This is specifically why we see recommendations from attorneys to use their services in the entire process, but we being cheap know-it-alls, we did it on our own.  Let's say we cannot convince USCIS to stop their denial of our case... they deny us both.  Now, we have to go before an immigration judge, facing a government paid USCIS attorney whose only job is to defend USCIS's decision in denying cases before the judge he/she probably goes to lunch with every day.  Again, we probably will find it very difficult to find an attorney to represent us at this stage because they did not participate when we filed the initial case.  Now here is the most important part.  A deportation hearing will be like an appellate court.  All the judge will do is to look at the application we submitted, listen to our testimony along with that of the USCIS lawyer, and make a decision.  They will not allow you to submit additional evidence at this time.  From the USCIS attorney point of view, the person who submitted "quality over quantity" has a very solid case.  There is very little wiggle room for the petitioner to defend themselves.  However, since I submitted such an enormous amount of documentation, I can say things such as look in the March 2019 Verizon bill I submitted (because I submitted all documents) and see where I pay for the phones of my step-sons and my wife and note that I spent 2 hours on the phone with her when I was out of town on business.  The USCIS officer who denied my case may not have noticed that (yes from the enormous amount of documents I submitted), but, I can point it out because it is evidence I already submitted, and, as I stated, this is an appeal not a time to submit additional evidence.  I have much more room to defend myself than the person who submitted a very specific set of documents.  They may have submitted just the credit card statement page (out of ten pages) that show the petitioner as an additional cardholder.  But, if that is not enough for USCIS, I can dig into the details of my statements in an appeal whereas the other person cannot because they just submitted skeleton supporting documents.  How does the individual submitting a low number of "quality" documents know for sure that the USCIS officer does not reconcile some credit card payment with the payment for the concert or trip you submitted pictures for?  We have no idea what they look for unless we have a spouse or relative who works for USCIS.  Even if we do, what one USCIS officer looks for does not necessarily equal what the officer reviewing our case is looking for.  Our officer may be very experienced and may be able to scan a Capital One credit card statement because they see them many times a day.  If we have a new agent, they may ask more questions.  
 
Because of the loss we are mitigating (deportation) by submitting a thorough application, submitting more is always better than submitted less.  We are not going to annoy the officers by submitting excessive documents.  If anything, we will give them ample reason to decide our case in our favor.
 
In summary, the risk is much too high to assume anything.  The risk is too high to judge what we consider "quality evidence" as being what USCIS considers quality evidence.  If we are denied, our spouses face a judge where they decide upon the evidence submitted and it is not a time to say "well you didn't see this..."  because that time is past when you reach this point in the process.  Don't make assumptions and don't assume you know what USCIS deems enough evidence to approve your case... unless you want to risk starting the process over entirely with your spouse in their home country.

When we filed the I-129 or I-130 for our fiance or spouse, we filed a petition with supporting documentation and paid a fee.  If we did something stupid, like forgetting to sign the forms or not submitting payment, we didn't receive an RFE, we were outright rejected.  If we were missing a specific document or two, USCIS would not cancel our case and would send us an RFE to correct the file so we did not lose our application fees.  If all else failed, we had the privilege of starting over and to refile the application and pay the fees again.  This is not the case with an I-751.  We are up against a wall - a deadline.  If we fail to pass through the I-751 stage, our spouse goes back to their home country and we start the entire I-130 process over (again).  Not only do we lose the fees we paid, we lose their residency.  While the application and documentation for the I-751 are not as complicated as those we filed with the I-129 or I-130, the consequences of failure in this step are much more costly than losing a fee or losing 3-12 months together if we fail to pass the I-129 or I-130 process.  Do you really want to take a chance on not providing sufficient data to USCIS?  
 
For those who send some applications, they are making too many assumptions.  Many state "I already sent my marriage certificate in, why should I send it in again?".  Well, you are assuming that USCIS kept a copy of all your documents when you filed your I-129/I-130 and that USCIS still has those documents in their computer.  You are assuming that the person reviewing your case has access to those documents.  When USCIS sent our files over to the NVC at Department of State, did they keep a copy?  Do they have enough storage space and do they follow a specific statute of limitations on how long they retain documents?  USCIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Our spouses were interviewed by the U.S. Department of State.  DHS and State each get independent funding.  They each have separate computer systems.  You are relying on a bunch of unknowns when you submit an application with assumptions that they already have documents because you submitted them before and that the person reviewing your case has access to those records.
 
Let's compare the 50-60 pages of "quality over quantity" documents this person submitted verses my 1000 pages (actually I rounded down).  Let's say we both fail to convince USCIS that our cases are valid.  We both will receive a notice from USCIS that they are preparing to deny our applications.  At this stage, since we both (likely) completed our applications without the assistance of an attorney, we will both find it extremely difficult to find an immigration attorney who will accept our case, since said attorney had no part in our initial filing.  If we are lucky enough to convince USCIS at this stage to hold off on a denial to give us more time, we are under an intense microscope at this point by USCIS.  This is specifically why we see recommendations from attorneys to use their services in the entire process, but we being cheap know-it-alls, we did it on our own.  Let's say we cannot convince USCIS to stop their denial of our case... they deny us both.  Now, we have to go before an immigration judge, facing a government paid USCIS attorney whose only job is to defend USCIS's decision in denying cases before the judge he/she probably goes to lunch with every day.  Again, we probably will find it very difficult to find an attorney to represent us at this stage because they did not participate when we filed the initial case.  Now here is the most important part.  A deportation hearing will be like an appellate court.  All the judge will do is to look at the application we submitted, listen to our testimony along with that of the USCIS lawyer, and make a decision.  They will not allow you to submit additional evidence at this time.  From the USCIS attorney point of view, the person who submitted "quality over quantity" has a very solid case.  There is very little wiggle room for the petitioner to defend themselves.  However, since I submitted such an enormous amount of documentation, I can say things such as look in the March 2019 Verizon bill I submitted (because I submitted all documents) and see where I pay for the phones of my step-sons and my wife and note that I spent 2 hours on the phone with her when I was out of town on business.  The USCIS officer who denied my case may not have noticed that (yes from the enormous amount of documents I submitted), but, I can point it out because it is evidence I already submitted, and, as I stated, this is an appeal not a time to submit additional evidence.  I have much more room to defend myself than the person who submitted a very specific set of documents.  They may have submitted just the credit card statement page (out of ten pages) that show the petitioner as an additional cardholder.  But, if that is not enough for USCIS, I can dig into the details of my statements in an appeal whereas the other person cannot because they just submitted skeleton supporting documents.  How does the individual submitting a low number of "quality" documents know for sure that the USCIS officer does not reconcile some credit card payment with the payment for the concert or trip you submitted pictures for?  We have no idea what they look for unless we have a spouse or relative who works for USCIS.  Even if we do, what one USCIS officer looks for does not necessarily equal what the officer reviewing our case is looking for.  Our officer may be very experienced and may be able to scan a Capital One credit card statement because they see them many times a day.  If we have a new agent, they may ask more questions.  
 
Because of the loss we are mitigating (deportation) by submitting a thorough application, submitting more is always better than submitted less.  We are not going to annoy the officers by submitting excessive documents.  If anything, we will give them ample reason to decide our case in our favor.
 
In summary, the risk is much too high to assume anything.  The risk is too high to judge what we consider "quality evidence" as being what USCIS considers quality evidence.  If we are denied, our spouses face a judge where they decide upon the evidence submitted and it is not a time to say "well you didn't see this..."  because that time is past when you reach this point in the process.  Don't make assumptions and don't assume you know what USCIS deems enough evidence to approve your case... unless you want to risk starting the process over entirely with your spouse in their home country.

When we filed the I-129 or I-130 for our fiance or spouse, we filed a petition with supporting documentation and paid a fee.  If we did something stupid, like forgetting to sign the forms or not submitting payment, we didn't receive an RFE, we were outright rejected.  If we were missing a specific document or two, USCIS would not cancel our case and would send us an RFE to correct the file so we did not lose our application fees.  If all else failed, we had the privilege of starting over and to refile the application and pay the fees again.  This is not the case with an I-751.  We are up against a wall - a deadline.  If we fail to pass through the I-751 stage, our spouse goes back to their home country and we start the entire I-130 process over (again).  Not only do we lose the fees we paid, we lose their residency.  While the application and documentation for the I-751 are not as complicated as those we filed with the I-129 or I-130, the consequences of failure in this step are much more costly than losing a fee or losing 3-12 months together if we fail to pass the I-129 or I-130 process.  Do you really want to take a chance on not providing sufficient data to USCIS?  
 
For those who send some applications, they are making too many assumptions.  Many state "I already sent my marriage certificate in, why should I send it in again?".  Well, you are assuming that USCIS kept a copy of all your documents when you filed your I-129/I-130 and that USCIS still has those documents in their computer.  You are assuming that the person reviewing your case has access to those documents.  When USCIS sent our files over to the NVC at Department of State, did they keep a copy?  Do they have enough storage space and do they follow a specific statute of limitations on how long they retain documents?  USCIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Our spouses were interviewed by the U.S. Department of State.  DHS and State each get independent funding.  They each have separate computer systems.  You are relying on a bunch of unknowns when you submit an application with assumptions that they already have documents because you submitted them before and that the person reviewing your case has access to those records.
 
Let's compare the 50-60 pages of "quality over quantity" documents this person submitted verses my 1000 pages (actually I rounded down).  Let's say we both fail to convince USCIS that our cases are valid.  We both will receive a notice from USCIS that they are preparing to deny our applications.  At this stage, since we both (likely) completed our applications without the assistance of an attorney, we will both find it extremely difficult to find an immigration attorney who will accept our case, since said attorney had no part in our initial filing.  If we are lucky enough to convince USCIS at this stage to hold off on a denial to give us more time, we are under an intense microscope at this point by USCIS.  This is specifically why we see recommendations from attorneys to use their services in the entire process, but we being cheap know-it-alls, we did it on our own.  Let's say we cannot convince USCIS to stop their denial of our case... they deny us both.  Now, we have to go before an immigration judge, facing a government paid USCIS attorney whose only job is to defend USCIS's decision in denying cases before the judge he/she probably goes to lunch with every day.  Again, we probably will find it very difficult to find an attorney to represent us at this stage because they did not participate when we filed the initial case.  Now here is the most important part.  A deportation hearing will be like an appellate court.  All the judge will do is to look at the application we submitted, listen to our testimony along with that of the USCIS lawyer, and make a decision.  They will not allow you to submit additional evidence at this time.  From the USCIS attorney point of view, the person who submitted "quality over quantity" has a very solid case.  There is very little wiggle room for the petitioner to defend themselves.  However, since I submitted such an enormous amount of documentation, I can say things such as look in the March 2019 Verizon bill I submitted (because I submitted all documents) and see where I pay for the phones of my step-sons and my wife and note that I spent 2 hours on the phone with her when I was out of town on business.  The USCIS officer who denied my case may not have noticed that (yes from the enormous amount of documents I submitted), but, I can point it out because it is evidence I already submitted, and, as I stated, this is an appeal not a time to submit additional evidence.  I have much more room to defend myself than the person who submitted a very specific set of documents.  They may have submitted just the credit card statement page (out of ten pages) that show the petitioner as an additional cardholder.  But, if that is not enough for USCIS, I can dig into the details of my statements in an appeal whereas the other person cannot because they just submitted skeleton supporting documents.  How does the individual submitting a low number of "quality" documents know for sure that the USCIS officer does not reconcile some credit card payment with the payment for the concert or trip you submitted pictures for?  We have no idea what they look for unless we have a spouse or relative who works for USCIS.  Even if we do, what one USCIS officer looks for does not necessarily equal what the officer reviewing our case is looking for.  Our officer may be very experienced and may be able to scan a Capital One credit card statement because they see them many times a day.  If we have a new agent, they may ask more questions.  
 
Because of the loss we are mitigating (deportation) by submitting a thorough application, submitting more is always better than submitted less.  We are not going to annoy the officers by submitting excessive documents.  If anything, we will give them ample reason to decide our case in our favor.
 
In summary, the risk is much too high to assume anything.  The risk is too high to judge what we consider "quality evidence" as being what USCIS considers quality evidence.  If we are denied, our spouses face a judge where they decide upon the evidence submitted and it is not a time to say "well you didn't see this..."  because that time is past when you reach this point in the process.  Don't make assumptions and don't assume you know what USCIS deems enough evidence to approve your case... unless you want to risk starting the process over entirely with your spouse in their home country.