I Think my lawyer is lying to me. Need Advise

[SimSara 0]

Hello to everyone. Here's a little background about my case.

Filed an I-130 as a LPR in July 2008. I became a citizen in February 18, 2009. Same day I became a citizen I went to my lawyer's office so she may upgrade me to citizen. Four months later I asked my attorney if we should have received a receipt stating USCIS received the upgrade she supposedly sent and she said no, they don't send it. That didn't sound right to me so I called the USCIS Customer Service Center and asked if I had been Upgraded and was told I wasn't. I upgraded over the phone but feel that I lost 4 months. I asked my attorney about it and she said they don't know anything at Customer Service, that she did send it. I asked for the certified mail receipts for the Upgrade and she gave me 3 different Priority Mail receipts all with different dates, one was dated 2/19, the other 2/26, and the last one 3/08.

One of my questions is how many and what places does my attorney have to send the upgrade to and is it normal to send it spread apart in dates like that?

Five months (July) after she supposedly sent the Upgrade I met with her and she recommended I do A K3, K4 Visa (My wife has a son). She said I could only file it in August because in her words "We have to wait for the new I-130 or Priority Back Up, the Kicking Up, we have to wait for it to be pending with USCIS for six months."......

Is this true, or is she just waiting for me to receive the Receipt from USCIS for the upgrade I just made.

Any help in the manner will be highly appreciated.

Thank You.

[TayRivers 4]

Hello to everyone. Here's a little background about my case.

Filed an I-130 as a LPR in July 2008. I became a citizen in February 18, 2009. Same day I became a citizen I went to my lawyer's office so she may upgrade me to citizen. Four months later I asked my attorney if we should have received a receipt stating USCIS received the upgrade she supposedly sent and she said no, they don't send it. That didn't sound right to me so I called the USCIS Customer Service Center and asked if I had been Upgraded and was told I wasn't. I upgraded over the phone but feel that I lost 4 months. I asked my attorney about it and she said they don't know anything at Customer Service, that she did send it. I asked for the certified mail receipts for the Upgrade and she gave me 3 different Priority Mail receipts all with different dates, one was dated 2/19, the other 2/26, and the last one 3/08.

One of my questions is how many and what places does my attorney have to send the upgrade to and is it normal to send it spread apart in dates like that?

Five months (July) after she supposedly sent the Upgrade I met with her and she recommended I do A K3, K4 Visa (My wife has a son). She said I could only file it in August because in her words "We have to wait for the new I-130 or Priority Back Up, the Kicking Up, we have to wait for it to be pending with USCIS for six months."......

Is this true, or is she just waiting for me to receive the Receipt from USCIS for the upgrade I just made.

Any help in the manner will be highly appreciated.

Thank You.

Did the I-130 you filed in 2008 get approved or is it still pending. If it has been approved then once you upgrade to a citizen the I-130 then gets sent to NVC that should not take very long.

If the I-130 is still pending then USCIS will go ahead and adjudicate on it and you will here shortly from USCIS.

I do not know what your lawyer is says about a NEW i-130, you are not filing a new I-130. as for having to wait six months for it to be pending, dont know where your lawyer is getting het information from.

You would be much better off making a infopass appointment at your local office and talk to a real immigration officer. They will be able to tell you what is going on with your I -130 and if your case has been upgraded and when that happened.

AS for going for a K3 you would be better off going for a CR1/IR1 for your wife and her son.

Another good reason to get rid of the lawyer is that you have no control over your own case and unless you have a very complex case there is nothing in the paperwork stages that is complicated. VJ is here to help with questions and we are free.

[canadian_wife 1,820]

I agree, make an infopass apt. and see what can be done about your case.

As for the K-3, did you file an I-130 for both your wife and your step son? If you only filed for your wife, then filing the I-129F at this point would be beneficial to include the son on the K-4 instead of filing a separate I-130 for your wife's son at this point.

Good luck

[pushbrk 12,824]

Hello to everyone. Here's a little background about my case.

Filed an I-130 as a LPR in July 2008. I became a citizen in February 18, 2009. Same day I became a citizen I went to my lawyer's office so she may upgrade me to citizen. Four months later I asked my attorney if we should have received a receipt stating USCIS received the upgrade she supposedly sent and she said no, they don't send it. That didn't sound right to me so I called the USCIS Customer Service Center and asked if I had been Upgraded and was told I wasn't. I upgraded over the phone but feel that I lost 4 months. I asked my attorney about it and she said they don't know anything at Customer Service, that she did send it. I asked for the certified mail receipts for the Upgrade and she gave me 3 different Priority Mail receipts all with different dates, one was dated 2/19, the other 2/26, and the last one 3/08.

One of my questions is how many and what places does my attorney have to send the upgrade to and is it normal to send it spread apart in dates like that?

Five months (July) after she supposedly sent the Upgrade I met with her and she recommended I do A K3, K4 Visa (My wife has a son). She said I could only file it in August because in her words "We have to wait for the new I-130 or Priority Back Up, the Kicking Up, we have to wait for it to be pending with USCIS for six months."......

Is this true, or is she just waiting for me to receive the Receipt from USCIS for the upgrade I just made.

Any help in the manner will be highly appreciated.

Thank You.

First, when an LPR files an I-130 petition, the petition gets adjudicated the same as a citizen's does, so your should have been approved long ago. It would then be sent to NVC to wait for a visa number to become available. Only NVC would need to be notified of your citizenship, so they can move forward with their part of the process.

K3 is obsolete but it's a nice way for a stupid or unscrupulous attorney to earn some extra fees. With an approved I-130, any I-129F filed for a spouse would be rejected but there certainly is no requirement to wait. K3 filers have always been wise to file the I-129F as soon as possible. An LPR cannot file an I-129F for a spouse or for a fiance.

I would get the file from the attorney and insist on a full report of what was done when. Look at the NOA2 and you should also have an NOA2. If not, something is really screwed up.

One place to start if you have your WAC or EAC case number is simply to call NVC and see if they have the case file. If they do, they can tell you how long they've had it and whether it has been upgraded. I would expect an I-130 filed over a year ago has been approved months ago.

Edited August 1, 2009 by pushbrk

[SimSara 0]

Hello to everyone. Here's a little background about my case.

Filed an I-130 as a LPR in July 2008. I became a citizen in February 18, 2009. Same day I became a citizen I went to my lawyer's office so she may upgrade me to citizen. Four months later I asked my attorney if we should have received a receipt stating USCIS received the upgrade she supposedly sent and she said no, they don't send it. That didn't sound right to me so I called the USCIS Customer Service Center and asked if I had been Upgraded and was told I wasn't. I upgraded over the phone but feel that I lost 4 months. I asked my attorney about it and she said they don't know anything at Customer Service, that she did send it. I asked for the certified mail receipts for the Upgrade and she gave me 3 different Priority Mail receipts all with different dates, one was dated 2/19, the other 2/26, and the last one 3/08.

One of my questions is how many and what places does my attorney have to send the upgrade to and is it normal to send it spread apart in dates like that?

Five months (July) after she supposedly sent the Upgrade I met with her and she recommended I do A K3, K4 Visa (My wife has a son). She said I could only file it in August because in her words "We have to wait for the new I-130 or Priority Back Up, the Kicking Up, we have to wait for it to be pending with USCIS for six months."......

Is this true, or is she just waiting for me to receive the Receipt from USCIS for the upgrade I just made.

Any help in the manner will be highly appreciated.

Thank You.

First, when an LPR files an I-130 petition, the petition gets adjudicated the same as a citizen's does, so your should have been approved long ago. It would then be sent to NVC to wait for a visa number to become available. Only NVC would need to be notified of your citizenship, so they can move forward with their part of the process.

K3 is obsolete but it's a nice way for a stupid or unscrupulous attorney to earn some extra fees. With an approved I-130, any I-129F filed for a spouse would be rejected but there certainly is no requirement to wait. K3 filers have always been wise to file the I-129F as soon as possible. An LPR cannot file an I-129F for a spouse or for a fiance.

I would get the file from the attorney and insist on a full report of what was done when. Look at the NOA2 and you should also have an NOA2. If not, something is really screwed up.

One place to start if you have your WAC or EAC case number is simply to call NVC and see if they have the case file. If they do, they can tell you how long they've had it and whether it has been upgraded. I would expect an I-130 filed over a year ago has been approved months ago.

Thank you for your replies.

We have not received any notice that it has been approved. The only notice we have received is the Receipt Notice for my wife and for my stepson. I called NVC and they had no information about my case. I also got an InfoPass and they knew nothing.

At this moment I would like to ask if it would be better to file a new I-130 as a Citizen and also file either the K-3, K-4, or the CR1/IR1 (which ever is better) along with the I-130. If it is better, I would like to ask if someone can guide me in the right direction as to how to do this.

Again any help will be highly appreciated.

Thank you.