chancecody

Exactly - interns handle these and it depends on their diligence. I would also like to add that my Senator was up for a re-election and it was a hard fought re-election so they may have been working very hard to get my husband's vote (which they did lol). I gave examples of my experience from each of my representative's offices. The Sen Rosen office gave me a run around and wasted my time for weeks (she was not up for re-election in 2022). Then I contacted both my other Senator and the House Representative for my area. The interns at Sen Cortez-Masto were just really good at their jobs when I contacted them multiple times for different cases.

Hello, It depends on how good is your member of congress in advocating on your behalf. They have access to "USCIS liaison". I have their email address still but I will not give it out as it was forwarded to me by my caseworker. I live in NV so I was lucky to have Sen Cortez-Masto (D) as she helped us multiple times first on EAD back in 2021 then green card approval in Dec 2022 due to outside processing times. The other Senator Rosen (D) did a poor job when I first contacted them; and our Congressman Amodei (R) ignored our request. You just have to find your correct member of congress that will advocate on your behalf. Please follow up with the person you contacted. If there is no resolution, try the other senator or congressman for DC. I am not sure how many member of congress you have for DC but in NV, we have 3 (the ones that I mentioned above). Good luck.

Good advice but not everyone wants to apply for citizenship for various personal reasons (or may not qualify etc). OP- I wonder if getting the help of a member of congress (senator or congressman/woman) can help nudge your case. I know USCIS has a special liaison that deals directly with congressional support. Although they cannot influence the decision, they can inquire on your behalf. We had good experience using the congressional support route but not for I-751 as I recently got my green card.

First of all, the FOIA letter would never say "yes, we approved you because you submitted unsolicited evidence!" as that is not the purpose of FOIA 🤣. Yes, it is on the "Case Flags" generated by the system. One of the transactions under "Adjudication" says "No I-864 appears to qualify". The transactions shows when I uploaded the file. The unsolicited evidence is part of my A-file under FOIA. Per USCIS in your portal "You may upload additional evidence that you believe may assist USCIS in adjudicating your application, even if the evidence was not specifically requested. USCIS will consider the timeliness and relevance of unrequested evidence when making a decision about your case." In my case, it was considered. I wonder if those people you are referencing have tangible evidence about what you stated. For me, this is a PSA out of the goodness of my heart just to share to people based on one real-live case. You can choose to ignore it. The main message is it does not hurt to upload it if you think it will improve your chances. I thought the same way but my thinking was, worst-case scenario they ignore it and I bring to interview. I never had an interview as they used it.

Hello VJ Community, I am just posting this for anyone who may be wondering whether USCIS reads or considers unsolicited evidence you upload to your USCIS online account when no RFE is requested. Based on our case, I would say yes after receiving my A-file via FOIA. My AOS was approved last month after waiting for over 1.5 years. Along the way, we accumulated more evidence to make our case stronger. My husband uploaded a new I-864 when I finally got a US job with evidence as the first one submitted at initial filing was very weak. We also uploaded new evidence of bona fide marriage that we accumulated since filing. Being a "curious George", I elected to see what USCIS has about me so I requested my A-file via FOIA online. I received the ~1000 pages that USCIS has about me 10 days after FOIA request. The file showed that they used the unsolicited evidence to approve our case and waive our interview. We meant to give them an updated I-864 in our interview but I am glad we uploaded online instead. Our case was approved without interview. I always wondered whether USCIS uses unsolicited evidence that you upload and based on my FOIA A-file, they did. All unsolicited evidence that I thought made my case stronger were used. I just wanted to share.

My experience was over a year ago. The best advice I got here was to expedite using your senator. I expedited my EAD by myself first using a job offer and I got the runaround from USCIS for 2 months. After I contacted my senator, it was approved within days using the same job offer letter. Steps that I took: 1. Went to the website of my senator (Cortez-Masto) and filled out a privacy release form. I attached my job offer with the privacy release form. I did not sound desperate on my letter. All I did was to give the job offer. That's all what USCIS was asking for anyway. I know several members here are recommending to sound desperate but it is up to you. 2. An intern from the Senator's office contacted me within days telling me that they had contacted USCIS on my behalf. They have access to USCIS liaison officers which ordinary people do not have access to. 3. I got the good news from the Senator's office Please note that you have to select the best member of congress. I contacted my Republican Congressman Amodei and I never got a response :D. I also contacted the other Democrat Rosen but the intern was so bad she did not do her job properly. I was glad I had Cortez-Masto who also helped us with the greencard approval months after helping me get the EAD as we were outside processing times. Just sharing my experience as this is what someone did to me last year and it helped me. Good luck!

It this was me, I would not have waited until January to start stressing about this. It happened to you twice already so the third time, I recommend that you approach it differently. The normal practice is once you have the tracking number, to follow it religiously and if you do not get it when it says "delivered", you go to the local USPS post office right away with the tracking number. The USPS lady told me that if it was undeliverable, sometimes they hold it in your local office for a few days. Sign up for USPS informed delivery to get updates every step of the way and take action. You have a greater chance of recovering the package if you take action within days of it missing. My mail goes missing all the time as well but I was very proactive and usually took action before I receive the document that takes forever to be replaced (not to mention costly as well): 1. EAD- when USCIS gave me the tracking number in Dec 2021, I actually waited out outside the apartment mailbox room for 3 hours to wait for the mailman. When I saw the mailman, I asked him for it and I gave him a hug LOL. I told him my important mail usually goes missing so I waited for him outside in the cold. 2. Green Card- I was also stressing again when I got the tracking number last month as I do not trust USPS. I wish USCIS uses Fed/Ex instead. Anyway, I knew what time the mailman usually delivers mail to our new apartment and I again, waited in the lobby for several hours so that I do not miss the mailman. When he arrived, I asked him for it and he gave it to me without looking at my ID. As you can see, you can prevent your card from getting lost with proactive approach. I'd like to mention again that I do not trust USPS with my life and investing a few hours waiting for the mailman to arrive paid dividends. Good luck!

Sorry that you are still waiting after 13 months. Your time is coming. I waited 17 months to get my greencard approved and I am from Canada as well (although I adjusted from B2 not K1 so not exactly similar to yours). I was fortunate to work remotely for a Canadian company while waiting for my EAD here in the US. I was already married to a USC so this was not an issue. I clearly put a comment in the Additional Info in my I-485 about working remotely without EAD and it was not an issue. My greencard is approved. Quick Tip- Have you tried expediting your EAD via your congressman or senator? All you need is a job offer and you can expedite using "severe financial loss". That's how I got my EAD after 5 months. Good luck! Wishing you approval soon.

Just to add to all the helpful comments already, based on my experience, no explanation is needed as long as you attach a copy of I-130 to your I-485 packet if you applied online for I-130. Another proof is when I re-applied for I-765 and I-131 before they expired (because my I-485 was taking so long) I just attached the receipt notice for I-485 to I-765 and I-131 without paying any fee or explanation and USCIS got it. They accepted the filing and approved the cases (ie they gave me another AP etc).

Your wife's Advance Parole expires in Sept 2023, correct? FYI I had the same question in which my AP was expiring in Oct 2022 and the CBP Agent stamped my passport to Aug 2023 when I traveled back in August. I asked the CBP Agent what it meant and she said you can "enter and exit" until Aug 2023 even though your AP says it is expiring in Oct 2022. However, I chose not to believe her. I chose to follow what is in the USCIS AP which specifically stated expiring Oct 2022 as I did not want to risk it. I re-applied for AP 3 months before expiry and got it 4 months later. It is free to re-apply. Just attach your I-485 receipt.

Thanks for the complete details! I agree with your logic above if I were a Field Officer. I wish USCIS would be more direct and specify if they want one statement per quarter instead of monthly etc. Our AOS packet was hundreds of pages because we sent monthly statements and our wait was 17 months without RFE nor interview. I wonder if the long wait is because of the overwhelming mountain of evidence we gave 🤨. I will never know.

Curious why would filing I-130 online cause delays or confusion. USCIS specifically allows online I-130 online filing and once you get the Receipt, you attach that receipt to the front of your paper I-485/I-765/I-131 filing. This is considered concurrent filing. We filed I-130 online then got receipt within 2 days so in essence you get your foot in the door right away for I-130. Then we attached the I-130 Receipt to the AOS packet and it was accepted. We did not get any RFE....just went from "waiting" to approval so I am not sure where is the "confusion" would be around filing I-130 online.

I-693? Yes. I recommend to send a full package. This way, you avoid any RFE and possibly waive your interview. We submitted complete applications. We did not get any RFE nor interview. It went from waiting to approval.

@Wuozopo Great advice! 75 pages is minimalistic and contrary to some advice I received around here. Can you please let me know: 1.Did you just give USCIS 1 statement per quarter for your joint bank or credit card statements? 1 monthly statement for one bank alone for me is 8 pages. 2. Can you also list the evidence you provided? Any pictures? 3. Did you provide 2 year evidence from the date you became an LPR or 2 year evidence from the date you got married? My greencard was approved almost 2 years after marriage due to long USCIS processing so I have a choice of providing 4 year evidence since we got married or just 2 year evidence since I got my green card. Thanks!

Thanks VJ Community! You are very helpful. It is the answer I was looking for. Happy Holidays.