AOS interview cancelled - NYC office did not receive file?

[honeychka910 1]

I am the petitioner, my husband the applicant. We were married on May 10, 2011, and after all of the usual paperwork, received our notice of action for the AOS/I-485 interview on December 5th, 2011. The interview was scheduled for January 10, 2012. On December 29th, 2011, we received a cancellation notice of the interview, stating "This is to advise you that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have canceled the previously scheduled interview on Thursday, 01/10/2012 at 10:30am for the above applicant. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. You will be notified of any future action taken on this case including any rescheduled interview information, under seperate notice."

We went to the interview anyways - I took an *unpaid* day off from work because I'm still in my probation period at my new job, and my husband skipped school. We get to the New York office (in Federal Plaza), and wait about 20 minutes after we gave them our interview notice, only to have the supervisor of the center call us up and tell us that they can't perform the interview today because they still haven't received our file. Needless to say, I'm seething over this. We had a lot riding on the interview - my husband is still paying international/out-of-state tuition costs at his public university because they need the physical green card before he can be considered a domestic student and receive financial aid. I can't keep taking off from work whenever the USCIS feels it necessary for me to do so - jobs aren't easy to find, especially in my field. Worst of all, the online status on USCIS hasn't even been updated - they still have our interview for it's January 10th appointment, meaning they haven't gotten close to "receiving our file" (what does that even MEAN - how long can it possibly take for one to update and mail a file from the National Benefits Center in Missouri, we submitted that last of our document SIX months ago).

Bottom line - what can be done? I sent a complaint to our local district Congressman, who said he was sorry for what happened, but he can't technically take action unless we dont' receive any notice for the next 45-60 days. Can a lawyer expedite this process? I also made an appointment for January 25th, during my off hours, to visit the office and discuss the delay and financial hardship it has caused us (doubtful that it will do anything, but whatever). Anyone else been in this situation who can offer some advice for action?

Edited January 15, 2012 by honeychka910

[raymaga 25]

My daughter received the same letter cancelling her original appointment for her naturalization interview. She received a notice with the new date for her appointment a couple weeks later. So, I wouldn't panic yet, your new appointment letter could arrive shortly.

Good luck.

[Ryan H 3,798]

Can a lawyer expedite this process?

No

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Lawyer won't do any expedition. You should call the service number and talk to a supervisor, it would be helpful to see where your file is now. InfoPass at local office shouldn't give you any answer why they haven't received the paper. MSC still has your file with them.

[honeychka910 1]

Lawyer won't do any expedition. You should call the service number and talk to a supervisor, it would be helpful to see where your file is now. InfoPass at local office shouldn't give you any answer why they haven't received the paper. MSC still has your file with them.

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, every time I've called customer service, they've been completely clueless. They obviously read information directly from the website or some scripted response - I called when our interview was initially cancelled, and asked to speak to a supervisor and was told, blatantly, 'No', and the representative told me to make an InfoPass appointment. She couldn't even tell us why it was cancelled (because "unforeseen circumstances" was not a legitimate excuse for me), and we had to wait until the actual interview to be told by a live person. The entire department is unhelpful. I've reached countless dead ends. Your suggestion was my first, of course - you figure calling the national service number would at least help us understand the process further. It's unfair that their mistake has turned into our misfortune, and I was hoping something could be done externally, since clearly no one on the internal level cares. But I guess not.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Yes it is really stressful sometime but we have to face it optimistically. Let's wait a couple week to see if you two can have another interview. God bless you.

[lovenow 2]

Try calling the costumer service again and again until you find a representative that would listen to you, I can't deny that crying a little helps with that too.

It took me three tries but on that third one they did put me through to a supervisor who had a little more information. He wasn't that helpful but much more than the other ones and I could tell he could see my actual case in front of him.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

honeychka910: You are in NYC, aren't you? When did you apply the paperwork? Because I just checked and found that I-485 priority day in NYC is March 24, 2011 (as of Sept 30, 2011). Your filling date is after May 2011, you have to wait at least another 2 months to get an interview. You can check the processing time on USCIS.gov website. Your initial interview letter is a human mistake necessarily. Don't be panic, you should get an interview letter in Feb or March.

**** From USCIS website ****

Field Office Processing Dates for New York City NY as of: September 30, 2011

Form Form Name Processing Timeframe:

I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status March 24, 2011

N-400 Application for Naturalization April 29, 2011

N-600 Application for Certification of Citizenship 5 Months

If the office is processing a particular type of application in less time than our processing goal, you will see the processing times expressed in months (for example, if the office is processing naturalization applications in less than our 5 month goal, the processing time will state "Five Months"). However, if that office is taking longer than our processing goal to handle the form type in question, you will see the filing date (e.g., "April 10, 2003") of the last case we processed on the date the website chart was last updated. The charts are updated on or about the 15th day of each month.

[ceadsearc 516]

Not necessarily. That depends on when after May 10th they filed. The dates you provided (March 24) were accurate as of September 30th - 3 and a half months ago. That means, if they are still processing at that rate, that they are now processing applications from early July.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Not necessarily. Not all priority date moves along when time goes by (for example 3.5 months vs 3.5 months)

[ceadsearc 516]

I realize that. That's why I said if they are processing things at the same rate. But given that those numbers are from 3.5 months ago, there is a good chance they have at least move somewhat (and if not, there is no way to know so guessing how long it will be for an interview is not very accurate either way). Priority dates with in-country AOS seem to move along more regularly than other priority dates, though.

[hiroin 0]

Hi! My first interview was cancelled as well. I was supposed to have my interview last January 3. We talked to a USCIS agent too but she couldn't tell us either why our interview was cancelled. She just told us that the IO probably isn't available on the interview date. And exactly on the date of my 'supposed' to be interview, I checked my case status and they set the interview on the 7th of Feb. Got the interview notice on the same day as well. I guess you should just wait till they reschedule it.

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, every time I've called customer service, they've been completely clueless. They obviously read information directly from the website or some scripted response - I called when our interview was initially cancelled, and asked to speak to a supervisor and was told, blatantly, 'No', and the representative told me to make an InfoPass appointment. She couldn't even tell us why it was cancelled (because "unforeseen circumstances" was not a legitimate excuse for me), and we had to wait until the actual interview to be told by a live person. The entire department is unhelpful. I've reached countless dead ends. Your suggestion was my first, of course - you figure calling the national service number would at least help us understand the process further. It's unfair that their mistake has turned into our misfortune, and I was hoping something could be done externally, since clearly no one on the internal level cares. But I guess not.