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Hey all, 

One of my potential beneficiaries has a passport that is expired on the bio page, but was extended on the visa pages with a stamp from the Ukrainian embassy. The father of this beneficiary says that the embassy cannot do a full renewal, and were only doing these temporary renewals. 

Does anyone gave experience with this? Would this be acceptable for the CBP? The other issue is that the extension on the visa page contains written text that is all in Ukrainian. I'm guessing they would need a notarized translation of that page to get through immigration, if this extension is acceptable. Would they need anything else? Like an apostile? 

2 hours ago, CM&KV said:

Here is my situation, hopefully someone can help with this mess.

 

Hubs and I submitted petitions for 3 people, its his friends (husband and wife, wife has a child from a prior marriage. ) Husband is Ukrainian, so is the wife. Wife's Ukrainian passport has expired and has it in her old married name, since then she has gotten Russian citizenship. We tried to apply U4U using her Russian passport, even thought her bio info, at least from our side, stats she was born in Ukraine. 
All 3 petitions were approved on My hubs and my side.
The husband travel docs were approved, the wife was not approved, and the child is still pending. 

 

I'm thinking that the government doesn't believe they are married, and hence the denial. Pretty sure she would be approved if she had a current Ukrainian passport. They don't think they can get her an updated passport mainly because they went into Russia, so they want me to see if we can use her Russian passport and get her a new Ukrainian one if/when she enters the USA. 

My hubs and I didn't help him with their side. 

I did some research (tried to find websites, YouTube, and even this forum and thread pages 1-21 and 47-51), but some random website said to upload their marriage certificate after we submit the i-134a as some unsolicited documents. 

 

I'm assuming we need to resubmit all 3 petitions again, and make sure I just upload: the marriage certificate, the divorce certificate, and the birth certificate with possible a letter explaining their situation.  (They will bring a letter from the ex husband giving permission for the child to leave Russia before they leave) 

My hubs and I are planning having him share PC screens when he fills his side out to make sure we aren't some how missing something. 

Anyone have any thought?!

They didn't specify any reason in the denial notice?

Ths Russian passport in and of itself shouldn't be an issue, but yes, the unsolicited evidence always helps (granted that you don't submit a mountain of it).

51 minutes ago, Strunch said:

Our I-134A was approved last year and travel authorization issued however due to factors beyond their control our beneficiaries were unable to travel to us. Although we filed for the one time 90 day extension and were approved, this also expired. Currently our beneficiaries are able to travel to us so we filed a new I-134A, however this case was administratively closed with the following explanation:

 

"USCIS has determined that you previously filed a Form I-134A for this same beneficiary and have already received a confirmation. Therefore, USCIS is administratively closing this filing as a duplicate."

 

We filed this new I-134A after travel authorization for our original case expired because instructions stated we should file again. I contacted USCIS for a reason why this case was closed but only received the same response that it was a duplicate. We are confused on our next step. Should we file yet another I-134A? It shouldn't have been marked as duplicate as our financial information is different than last year. Perhaps we could request an additional extension to travel? Thanks for and tips or guidance. 

They've been using any reason at all to close cases.

I recently filed an extension request twice for a beneficiary, once 28 days before expiration and again 10 days after expiration, and both times, the reply was that I was making the request outside the 30 day before/after period.

It was bad during the pandemic/Trump reign, but never did they completely go against policy; it just took forever to get anything processed.

Hey all, does anyone have estimates for how long the extension takes to process? I submitted the request on Feb 18 with the expiration being on March 18th. I logged in on March 18th to find that they rejected the request because it was more than 30 days before expiration (not correct). I refiled another request, but my beneficiary is traveling March 29th. I'm now a bit worried she won't get the extension in time.

Does anyone know what opportunities there are for adjustment of status for paroled individuals? Could they apply for asylum? Could they apply for a work visa? What exactly is the process there (since they probably wouldn’t be working through an embassy)?

But one follow up, very niche, question I had was: my wife and I are both Ukrainian citizens (I'm dual US/Ukraine). We technically have the option of doing a domestic adoption, but not sure what kind of headache would be involved with applying for immigration of a newly adopted child for a green card holder vs immigration of an international adoptee after approval from all requisite agencies.

I guess most of the information is here... Ukraine Intercountry Adoption Information (state.gov)

Rules were recently changed that foreign adoptions are now allowed in Ukraine once more. My wife and I were considering it, but frankly have no idea where to even start looking. Would we have to reach out directly to orphanages? Should we reach out to an adoption service that will reach out for us? Is there a Ukrainian government website that lists eligible children?

I would also appreciate an overview of the process if anyone can link me. My search-fu on VJ has proven futile.

4 hours ago, MagentaSock said:

I made a mistake in my original post. I'm not stuck at the travel authorization, I'm actually stuck at the part where the beneficiary receives an email from USCIS to set up an account. So I submitted I-134 for my dad and it's been approved, but there has been no email from USCIS inviting him to create an account (I have waited for a month). Would it be worth it to resubmit form I-134 again with me as the sponsor, or resubmit it using another person as the sponsor (example, my partner)?

I had this problem and resolved it by re-filing my I-134 (specifying in the application that I had filed a I-134 in the past). The second time the email was received by the beneficiary.

So my beneficiary still hasn't gotten her email and I have half a mind to resubmit the I-134 again. Is there a downside to doing that?

On 5/31/2022 at 9:45 PM, Kjcdc090385 said:

How did you talk to an actual person. 

My usual trick is: Tell the robot you need status on your green card application. It'll ask you some questions, along the lines of "did you do these steps you were supposed to do". You have to answer correctly. I forget what all of them were, but just think logically: answer that you don't have an online account, you didn't receive a receipt notice, it's been more than 90 days, etc. Any question it asks you, just the outcome that would logically mean that you need to talk to an actual person.

After you get someone on the line, you get into hard mode. A lot of times this person will tell you that "this is the way it is" in terms of not having a response to your application yet. Sometimes it is indeed the situation that you have to wait, but sometimes these Level 1 call center folks don't know any better and you should try to prod them to see if you can get them to escalate the case to Level 2 where they are more clued into where the delays are and if they're legitimate or if your case is getting lost in the shuffle.

On 5/31/2022 at 5:55 PM, jjp85 said:

Submitted my initial application on May 17th. Still no response. Is it taking anyone else this long?

Got approval (5/2) on the initial application (filed on 4/26), but my beneficiary has yet to hear anything.

7 hours ago, Supernatural said:

Will it be ok to fly from Poland to London to US with just the travel authorization? I’m not sure if it’s a big deal to transition through London

Since you won't be entering the country during the layover (make sure you're using the same airport for arrival and departure) it's not even a question really.

You might want to double check the COVID restrictions for transiting passengers in the UK, but without looking myself I can't imagine someone from Ukraine will have any requirements.

21 hours ago, Mrs D. said:

My beneficiaries used gmail and got theirs the same day. 
 

Sorry you are experiencing this - there’s nothing more frustrating.

 

Did they check their spam folder?

Yep. 😕

18 minutes ago, JIK said:

My beneficiaries used gmail. It all worked. Tho USCIS can be very slow to send emails. But it was only a few days for us, not 20... 

Thank you. 😐 Not sure what's going on then. That's what I was thinking, too, that we got our CONFIRM notice around the same time or before some folks that already got their emails. And I wouldn't think one beneficiary would be different from another in UfU since I don't think they do any kind of background check prior to sending out the email.

Hey all,

Can anyone confirm that they used Gmail for the email address of either themselves or their beneficiary and got notifications?

It's been 20 days since the declaration of financial support was approved, and I never got the notification about it and my beneficiary never got the email explaining how to create the account. Both of us use Gmail.

I'd be surprised if this is the case since it's such a popular service, but I just want to confirm it's not a glitch before I do any more sitting around.

5 hours ago, Islapaz said:

They can create the USCIS account but to have their case attached they will need an Online Access Code that comes with the notice. They input their code on the created account and it pulls their case.

 

Here is what is written in the notices they can get to step 2 of this instructions without the code. Good luck!!

 

 

Welcome to USCIS!
Thank you for your recent submission. We have created a USCIS Online Account for you. With this account you can:
• check the status of your case.
• sign up to receive email notifications and text messages.
• manage your account preferences and contact information.
Log on and confirm your account within 90 days.
To access your account, please follow the steps below:
1. Visit us online at https://my.uscis.gov/account
2. Select "Create a new account" on the right side of the screen, and follow the on-screen instructions for creating a new account in order to
login to the system.
3. Select "Add a paper-filed case."
4. Enter your "USCIS case receipt number" and select "Add case."
5. Enter your "Online Access Code" (found on the upper right side of this notice) and your "Date of birth" in the fields provided.
6. Select "Confirm case."
NOTE: Your Online Access Code will expire 90 days from the receipt date listed at the top of this letter. We will continue processing your
application regardless of whether you access your USCIS Online Account. We strongly encourage you to confirm your USCIS Online Account
as soon as possible and then use it in the future as your preferred method for interacting with USCIS. If you do not access your account before
your code expires and you wish to access your account, you will need to request that we reset your access code. If you have questions about
how to confirm your USCIS Online Account or to request that we reset your access code, please visit the USCIS Contact Center at uscis.gov/
contactcenter.

 

Ah nuts, guess we'll have to wait then. Thank you!

One other question. Could anyone here send me what they send the beneficiaries in the email (with personal info redacted, ofc)? I'm just wondering, if the instructions are generic enough, maybe my beneficiary can just start creating their USCIS account without having to wait for an email since the I-134 is confirmed.

Just thinking ahead, I'm guessing I-765s will have the usual wait time, right? No special treatment?

I-134 submitted - 4/26/2022

I-134 approved - 5/2/2022

Email received by beneficiary - Still waiting.  😕

I called them and they couldn't tell me anything. Guess I'll keep trying. Feels like a glitch if other people are getting their email in a few days. Come to think of it, I never got an email notice from them either. Maybe it's a Gmail thing?

Anyone know if resubmitting the I-134 for the same person is allowed?

47 minutes ago, lililili said:

I had a little trouble getting through to a person. I told the automated system I had a problem with my I134 I needed to fix and it pushed me through after a bit of back and forth.

 

make sure to put the USCIS call back number in your phone as a contact so it goes through when tier 2 calls you back. the first time they claimed they called me, I didn't receive anything.

 

I'm still waiting on our travel authorization document to be fixed -__-

Played around with a bit. "Never got my receipt notice" followed by answering the questions got me through.

I verified the email address I listed on the application, but she wasn't able to tell me anything about what might be wrong or why it's taking so long. Something about "no timeline for this process". I might try again tomorrow. Seems like if it was a system glitch, no amount of waiting would make the email arrive sooner.

7 minutes ago, lililili said:

that is quite a long time. you should probably call and bug them. almost everyone has had at least 1 issue somewhere down the line on here so it's best to call and pester them to make things go more smoothly.

What's the fastest way to get a person these days? I haven't called in in a while.

I haven't talked to my beneficiary in a few days, but last time she had told me she checks her email everyday, and so far hasn't written me saying she got an email from USCIS. Our notice of CONFIRM date was 5/2. That seems like a long time compared to other folks here. I'm worried I misspelled her email or something.

Like everyone here, worried about the EAD process.

I had my I-134 confirmed on May 2nd, but the beneficiary still hasn't gotten an email. Wondering if it went to spam or something.

2 hours ago, jammer742 said:

Hi July filers, just checked my uscis account, and it now says "Concurrent Filing" for EAD and AP. I figured they were anyway as filed together, but to me this means one of two things:

1. They are finally working on our applications 

OR

2. They just updated the website

 

Anybody else see the same? 

This was the way it's been for me since I set up our USCIS accounts last summer.