S Brennan

1 hour ago, Loren Y said:

I find this not true. My friend who works CBP at San Ysidro POE admits people all the time with AP. I just called her and asked, and she said last night she easily admitted over 10 people who were returning on their AP/EAD card. She said she has received no instructions to just randomly turn AP card holders away. She laughed pretty hard at that one. I think you are misinformed about that. Now if USCIS is just denying AP, I can't speak on that, but I'm sure they are not just turning people with AP cards away at the POE.

Hmm, I don’t know! It was my contact’s experience on the east coast. Maybe both can be true? Its not like its super streamlined lol. But yeah maybe (and I hope!) that I am wrong!!

11 minutes ago, Mike E said:

OK. Simply leaving the USA and handing in your EAD to CBP should take care of it. 

What about coming back as a visitor later on though? That is what I am worried about.

Just now, S Brennan said:

Hi again! Maybe I didnt make it clear enough - I have an EAD that expressly says on it AP DENIED - NOT VALID FOR RE ENTRY INTO THE US.

I have also mentionned that I was not able to modify my timeline accordingly to the actual steps we have taken. I am not able to do it, it keeps erasing everything so I just gave up and left it as is, but I have only had a biometrics appointment back in march, and my case, as of august, as I have mentionned before, is “ready to be schedule for an interview”.

5 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I am going to make a couple guesses:

 

OP has a green card and thinks a green card isn't sufficient to re-enter the USA. Or the green card was sent and lost.

 

OP has an EAD/AP combo card and doesn't realize it.

Hi again! Maybe I didnt make it clear enough - I have an EAD that expressly says on it AP DENIED - NOT VALID FOR RE ENTRY INTO THE US.

35 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

The way I see it, you have 2 options:

 

1.  Hold the course.  Once your Green Card is approved, you can travel outside the US.

2.  Leave the US before the approval of the Green Card.  That will automatically abandon your adjustment of status.  No further action needed.  You can start the spousal visa process later if you want.

Good luck.  I hope you find peace.

 

****I can't imagine why your advance parole would be denied.

And yeah, as far as hold the course go, I just don’t know if I can miss out on my family member’s, who raised me, funeral. Not to mention all the rest that has happened, especially it the wait to the interview is as random as 1 to 35 months. My work visa expires in 10 months. I am just disheartened. 

Just now, Lucky Cat said:

Reliable Links?   That is news to me.......

Hearsay through a network of immigration lawyers who are freaking out about it. Cause there IS no reason to deny AP, my lawyer fell on his butt when he got that notice and then talked to lawyer friends who were blindsided just the same. 

9 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

The way I see it, you have 2 options:

 

1.  Hold the course.  Once your Green Card is approved, you can travel outside the US.

2.  Leave the US before the approval of the Green Card.  That will automatically abandon your adjustment of status.  No further action needed.  You can start the spousal visa process later if you want.

Good luck.  I hope you find peace.

 

****I can't imagine why your advance parole would be denied.

Apparently the administration is starting to just deny AP at large and is also not letting people who have travelled out of the country on AP to come back in. 
 

54 minutes ago, Paula&Johnny said:

Hi, are your visa IR1/CR1(that's in your profile)? What kind of temporary permit did you have? Because CR1 is authorized to work since day 1 and you can travel with no problems. 

Hello all! 
 

no, we applied in october 2018 with form i-130, then september 2019 I came to visit and a friend of a friend recommended to talk to an immigration organization that might be able to guide us and I ended up staying and filing for adjustment of status completely out of the blue. 
 

So we have been on that adjustment of status timeline, but I couldnt figure out hownto translate it into the VisaJourney timeline. Anyway, I was supposed to get a EAD with Advanced Parole, but my Advanced Parole was denied as it seems to be the trend... so as of august 2020, my case is “ready to be scheduled for an intervew”, but as it can take between a day and 35 months to get that, I just feel really worn out. 
 

i know immigration is hard on everybody, we just have a lot of family problems thrown in the mix and it’s really unsustainable at this point... 

36 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

36 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Did you file an I-131?  Was it also approved?  If so, you can take a trip to Canada to visit....then return to the US with the Advance Parole document.  I certainly would not abandon the process unless I was absolutely sure I did not want to live in the US.

I was denied Advanced Parole

Hey all!

Does anyone have experience withdrawing their application/sending a letter to USCIS to explain your situation changed? We applied in October 2018, and only now in August 2020 did I get a temporary working permit. I haven't been allowed to leave the USA in over a year, and family members passed, and the pandemic & cuts to immigration here just make it feel hopeless. Obviously, my spouse is American (I am Canadian), and we have lots of family & friends on both sides of the border, so I am terrified of being banned from re entry, but also just can't wait around forever and not say goodbyes to loved ones at home.

It's been a really difficult year, I don't know what to do. Sorry if I am posting in the wrong section, I don't know who to talk to, my husband's family is very insensitive to the stress we've been under.

Thanks

On 9/6/2019 at 4:16 PM, DGF said:

We had a lot of reasons for deciding not to. On my husband's side, he had just moved to WA a few weeks prior and was starting a new job, getting settled, and had a sublet with a roommate for the summer so it would have been really inconvenient for me to move in with him at that point. On my end, I had just moved to BC and was still waiting to finish up my degree (my school went on strike a couple of months before I was supposed to graduate) and I wasn't sure if I would be required to travel back to Ontario in order to take any exams once the strike was resolved. Most importantly, we already had our wedding planned (in BC) and it was 3 months away and 30 people were flying in, so to cancel all of that would have been super unfair on everyone. I felt really guilty deciding not to stay (because who wants to be apart) and there were definitely times when we were still waiting for the I130 to be approved that I almost regretted not doing so (our case was delayed ~3 months due to a system error) but in the end I know that our decision was the right one for us and I wouldn't change it if I had to do it all over again.

Oh yes, wow, that makes a lot of sense!

We called USCIS today and they said our petition was finally sent over to NVC  - do you happen to know if you can still file for I-485 even though the petition is already headed for consular processing? Does it make no difference?

33 minutes ago, DGF said:

Oh perfect! From the sounds of it you qualify, but definitely do your research first because it's a big decision to make. We were in a similar situation (found out on a visit that it existed and we qualified) and ultimately chose not to go forward with it but I remember how sudden everything was and how quickly we had to decide and it really threw me for a loop. Whatever you decide will be the right decision for your and your husband  

As for the I-824, do you have your NOA2 handy? If it says that they will be sending it to the NVC then I would absolutely NOT file the I-824 (processing times for it at Texas are currently 8-13 months so avoid it at all costs). The people I've seen on here who have made mistakes in their I-130's had something along the lines of "sent to your local office" instead of NVC, so if your NOA2 says they're sending it to the NVC this should be solvable without having to file the I-824. If you haven't already, and if you decide not to go forward with AOS, I'd get your husband's senator/congressman/the ombudsman involved, if not all three at once, because this is exactly the type of situation that they are there for.

May I ask you why you decided not to go through with it? If you don't mind sharing of course (either here or on in private messages) really try to see all options !!

And yes, our approval said our petition was already sent to NVC, which it why it's so confusing to hear that they don't know where it is/don't know where to send it. But bureaucracy does its thing I suppose!!

8 hours ago, DGF said:

You can't plan to file I-485 unless you are already in the US. I'm sure you've come across this in your research but if you cross the border with the intent to adjust then that is visa fraud. If USCIS is telling you to file I-824 there's a (small) chance that there's an error in the way your I-130 was filled out that is indicating that you are in the US and will be adjusting status rather than going through consular processing (or for some reason they're interpreting it that way) because that is one of the reasons for filing it and I have seen it happen to people around here. I'd double check and then continue calling until they sort their mess out. We're crossing our fingers that you get this resolved soon!   

Hello!!

Yes, I am currently in the US for a visit, I actually have a bus ticket back to Montreal for wednesday, we didn't even know i-485 existed before I got here. We kept calling USCIS to no avail (we keep getting a different story everytime we call) and finally an old distant high school friend of my husband came for dinner and helped us look over the paperwork and suggested i-485. It's all news to us, we are actually looking into getting a lawyer to ask all the questions we have, it's so sudden.

I'm also just lost about the i-824, are you saying in your experience around the forum we should file it? Or just wait it out?

Just now, lady3jane said:

haha, I mean you. Sorry, i finally realized you are the beneficiary. lol this is some mind bending bad trip, makes you lose few IQ points along the way. 

no worries

1 minute ago, lady3jane said:

Agreed. I forgot, yes, Canada is part of the visa waiver program. But s/he might have problems on the border. yes, it is even more convoluted and 750 dollars more. And, s/he can't work until s/he gets the green card. I would not risk working under the counter either, because if they find out it is a permanent ban and deportation.

 

   Well, good luck. Please keep us updated, maybe tell us what they told you in the mail exactly? 

 

Please call NVC periodically so that your I-130 does not expire.

Thanks, i will also update as the saga continues.

 

 

Oh yes, I would NEVER work under the counter. I am way too anxious, I actually argued with my husband because I didn't want to bring a meat sandwich across the border and I threw it out instead, haha! I was a flight attendant for 6 years, I don't play with borders.

I'll type the body of the letter here :

"The status of this service request is :

At the time of the approval of the i-130 petition for alien relative, using prima facie evidence provided on the petition, we make an eligibility determination, which determines where to send the petition ; the USCIS Nation Records Center (NRC) or National Visa Center (NVC). This is USCIS policy, and is not an adjudicative decision for future adjustment of status. This policy ensures that the applicant will avoid future expenses, required to have the petition sent to the NVC, if needed.

We hope this information is helpful to you."

2 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

You can adjust status that after your spouse enters with a tourist visa. But get this, since your petition I-130  is active, they will probably consider your spouse's request for a tourist visa as an intent to stay. Unless s/he has a solid job and ties at home, there is a good chance that they might reject it. I would further investigate this to save money and time.

 

That's precisely why we delayed our application so I could seek entering with a tourist visa to defend my thesis. 

 

I understand that they might be inclined to be more lenient to Canada than Turkey. But not without provisions. 

Yes, the only advantage I have in this situation is that Canadians don't need visas for the United States, I am actually already in New York on a visit.

Obviously, we would only consider the 485 if a lawyer reviewed our case and deemed us likely to get it. It is no small amount of money !!

4 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

That form is for a lost approval letter NOA2 that you receive from USCIS. They went beyond formal processing times to forward your case to NVC. You did NOT lose your NOA2.  Absolutely wrong information. I am pretty sure about that.  So no, you should totally ignore those tier-1s , they are contractors. Not even trying to request for a tier-2 worked in our case. We have a right to ask for a supervisor. I srongly recommend doing that and keep pushing the senator's office.

 

Also, I have to revise, that link I have referred you to. Those email inquiry addresses are now defunct. see: https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/july_3_revised-cases_with_uscis_and_dhs-june_2019-pg-dg-final.pdf

They say in multiple resources that  involving senator's office is still one of the best bets.

HAH, classic. Well, we really weren't considering filing it anyways, and we are planning to keep calling to ask questions because everytime we call we get a different answer (first time was "it's on its way wait" then "we lost it" then "we never sent it we will forward it shortly" then "actually no decision was made")

So who knows. A friend told us to look into I-485. It's pricey, but if we qualify for it, it might be a good way to just let happen the bureaucracy as it may.

2 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

Oh, yeah. It is Kafka's Trial. No doubt. Where did that I-824  form thing come from? If you were approved andtheyb  told they sent the case, what is that they are deciding now?  I am baffled tbh. What is that other agency? Department of State?

Any news from senator's office? We are planning to file a request with Schumer's office. Since the customer service only made things more worse.

Lmao seriously who knows at this point. I am both exasperated and amused - I mean, we have to pay 485$ to have USCIS send our petition to NVC when they do it for free all day every day ? Intreresting. Also, that other form takes 3-6 months to process. L O L !

We filed with Schumer's office and our representative for Putnam County, so far, nothing, we're writing an email to them today to essentially ask them if they can tell USCIS to forward our petition to NVC for us.

There is also a townhall today in NY about the new immigration rules and how it affects working class green card applicants, so we're going to that. The more information the better ! We do wonder if our paperwork is locked down because of it.

On 8/23/2019 at 8:18 AM, lady3jane said:

You have to login or register an account, then click on the USCIS receipt number, then you will see more information. Like the service request you put with a tier-1, so on and so forth. Are you sure you are logged in? I don't mean the lookup case number function , which does not require credentials other than receipt number.

Oh yeah, and I keep bringing up the fact that our online account shows nothing and the reps on the phone keep telling me the online status of the case is of no importance and that it updates randomely and that it doesn't matter that it is blank.

...Then they sign off the phone call with their spiel about using online service before calling. Lol, I feel like we're experience a Kafka novel in real time.

1 hour ago, lady3jane said:

Hi, 

 

Any updates?

 

We called USCIS multiple times, trying to reach a Tier-2. Aftera few more contradicting accounts and another service request that we didn't ask for, and a whole another  day of waiting for a tier-2 call that never materialized, my husband calls one more only to be told that we have to wait for a decision until September 12 for the first service request the tier-1 rep put on August 8th. A big zero after weeks of struggling on the phone. I highly doubt anything will happen September 12th.

 

Everyone suggests  involving the senator's office. However, we  have no idea how quick that would be, either. Another route seems to be contacting the processing centers for inquiry and put a service request to the Ombudsman's office. but that requires exhausting a two step email inquiry first: https://www.dhs.gov/cis-ombudsman-update-getting-most-out-your-call-uscis-national-customer-service-center

 

I hope there is progress on your end.

 

 

Monday we got the answer to our service request in the mail, essentially, they still haven't made a decision whether to send it to NVC or the record center which I forget the accronym for right now, even though when we were approve May 24th, they said our petition was already sent to NVC.

The agent on the phone told us we needed to file a 1-824 which is essentially a request from you to the USCIS to tell them to forward your  case to NVC, and the filing fee for that one is 485$ which we don't have.

We're gonna call again today to see if there is any other option for us, honestly, it's looking pretty bleak at this time, especially since NVC since to take months to schedule interviews at the Montreal embassy, I don't think I can take another year of paperwork, on top of that, I feel like our paperwork is gonna expire soon? We filed October 13th 2018.

3 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

You have to login or register an account, then click on the USCIS receipt number, then you will see more information. Like the service request you put with a tier-1, so on and so forth. Are you sure you are logged in? I don't mean the lookup case number function , which does not require credentials other than receipt number.

Hmm, maybe I'm just not savvy, but I do have an account that I sign into to go to USCIS website, it takes me to a page that says "Your Cases" and I click my receipt number, it unrolls, and the only thing showed is that it was received October 18th 2018

5 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

Hello,

 

We know how frustrating all this is and how taxing it can be on a couple who are already separated. 

One more thing, we track updates via the USCIS account. I'd suggest doing that as well if you haven't already. For a week our case wasn't assigned to any officer, then on August 16th, we got the update it was assigned to an officer, then on August 22nd, it assigned to an officer, ** again. I don't know what to make any of this. But if it isn't sorted out by the end of grace period, I think we can be transferred to a Tier-2 without much further hussle. 

 

Good luck! Let's keep each other updated.

 

 

On my USCIS account, it only says our case was received october 18th 2018, nothing else.

I have a question - do the submitted documents in the I-130 expire after a year since submission or a year after approval?

5 hours ago, lady3jane said:

Hi,

 We got approved on May17th and we have the same situation. NVC cannot help if they never received your case, they can only process the service request you put with them and contact USCIS to reissue/resend your case. We also received a generic response from NVCresearch address. When we called USCIS on August 8th, the Tier-1 rep put a service request for us and told us to wait for 30 days. So if the case is still lost /not received by NVC,  we will call USCIS one more time and request to talk to a Tier-2 rep. Because at that point we  will be way beyond  normal processing times and they  will have passed every deadline they gave us so far.

 

When did you put a service request with USCIS? Did you? After a service request, another 30-day grace period starts ticking. if you don't hear from them at the end of that period, you should call again. 

 

I am at a loss to understand any of this. 97 days after approval, our case is still in limbo and they added months to our  overall processing time. 

Yes, we filled service request at both places, we also filed a service request with our senator to try to figure out what to do. The USCIS keeps telling us to call NVC and the NVC tells us to stop calling. Seems like neither of them have our paperwork. 30 days after our first service request with USCIS would take us to September 13th, so I guess we have to wait some more. We filed early october last year. Unbelievable.

called NVC on monday, they made us read out loud the email they sent us that said "no further action is required from you at this time" and that it will "take the time it's gonna take", that it could be weeks/months.