My Pregnant wife's petition considered abandoned

[gail&scott 0]

My wife and I have been married for three years. We went through the Fiance visa process and did everything by the book, she has never been out of status. On Friday we received a letter from USCIS (referencing 8 CFR 103.2(b)) that they sent a notice requesting evidence in support of petition to remove conditions on Residence (Form I-751) and we did not respond. We did not receive any letters from them in the last 9 months except one that extended her conditional residence status for one year, through 02/03/2012.

They are now stating that her petition is considered abandoned and she can no longer reside or work in the United States. She is three months pregnant and has a job that we need for insurance and income to prepare for a baby in our lives. This letter came completely out of nowhere and is devastating if there is nothing we can do. We are scheduled to see her family in England in December and it has been a trip that means a lot to us and I am worried if we are going to be able to go. It suggest we file a motion to reopen on Form I-290B within 33 days, but can she continue her job and to live here legally while this process is occurring. Any help would be greatly appreciated, we are very nervous and upset and do not know what to do with a baby on the way.

Thanks,

Scott

[milimelo 4,413]

I'm moving this topic to Removal of conditions forum.

OP, get the copies of all correspondence with USCIS re: ROC and go see your congressperson's immigration aide. They have direct contact with USCIS and can sort this out for you. Also, if you haven't change your address, make sure to bring copies of other bills that made it to your regular address as proof that it's USCIS error (someone perhaps didn't mail out RFE or notice) and not yours.

Good luck.

Oh, and by the way, I'd reconsider leaving country until you have this sorted out.

[Inky 1,110]

You cannot use the extension paper if she leaves the USA. It is now void. She cannot work and is not living legally in the USA as she abandoned her status. Even if it was by no fault of her own.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

My wife and I have been married for three years. We went through the Fiance visa process and did everything by the book, she has never been out of status. On Friday we received a letter from USCIS (referencing 8 CFR 103.2(b)) that they sent a notice requesting evidence in support of petition to remove conditions on Residence (Form I-751) and we did not respond. We did not receive any letters from them in the last 9 months except one that extended her conditional residence status for one year, through 02/03/2012.

They are now stating that her petition is considered abandoned and she can no longer reside or work in the United States. She is three months pregnant and has a job that we need for insurance and income to prepare for a baby in our lives. This letter came completely out of nowhere and is devastating if there is nothing we can do. We are scheduled to see her family in England in December and it has been a trip that means a lot to us and I am worried if we are going to be able to go. It suggest we file a motion to reopen on Form I-290B within 33 days, but can she continue her job and to live here legally while this process is occurring. Any help would be greatly appreciated, we are very nervous and upset and do not know what to do with a baby on the way.

So you never did biometrics or anything?

I agree with the above poster. Including she should NOT leave the country. If she is out of the country when denied she will not be permitted back in. I suggest she not leave until/unless she has her GC.

Did you not call/follow up on this? 9 months is FAR too long. You should have heard after 3 months.

[gail&scott 0]

She did do Biometrics. She actually went in to our local USCIS office a month ago to see why she had not heard anything from them. The woman told her that her Green Card did not expire for 6 months so just wait it out and she would get something in the mail. We did not receive anything except this notice of Denial. Does anyone know if contacting a Congressman can be helpful?

So you never did biometrics or anything?

I agree with the above poster. Including she should NOT leave the country. If she is out of the country when denied she will not be permitted back in. I suggest she not leave until/unless she has her GC.

Did you not call/follow up on this? 9 months is FAR too long. You should have heard after 3 months.

[milimelo 4,413]

She did do Biometrics. She actually went in to our local USCIS office a month ago to see why she had not heard anything from them. The woman told her that her Green Card did not expire for 6 months so just wait it out and she would get something in the mail. We did not receive anything except this notice of Denial. Does anyone know if contacting a Congressman can be helpful?

Yes, contacting the congressman will be helpful but you still have to stay on top of it and request updates via email or over the phone from the immigration aide.

Ours was very helpful when my first green card never showed up and USCIS told me to file I-90 saying I destroyed or lost the card AND pay more $$$ - which they never even produced! Fought them with immigration aide/congressman and got my green card close to a year since I activated my CR-1. So yes, they can do things for you.

Edited November 15, 2011 by milimelo

[Dan & Juan 12]

Hi Scott

I'm guessing since you got the denial letter they have the correct address.

Can you give a few details about what you sent initially and what the RFE was asking for?

I have found from personall experience with USCIS that documentation is everything. If you can supply everything they asked in the RFE and full documentation then i see them processing it normally. You got this letter but is it the last word and true facts? I fought them tooth and nail to get our original green card remade since it was their fault 100% it was misdirected. The letters they sent seemed final and ominous like it was our fault and we were obviously making up the story about losing the green card. Well I had impeccable documentation going back to the very beginning and they reversed their decision without even a how do you do. I know not same situation but just shows the form letters are not the only truth in the equation. I hope it is resolved quickly and you don't need any added stress and your wife needs to be 100% healthy pregnancy and stress is bad news!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Definitely request your congressman to get involved. They need to get USCIS to accept that you never received the RFE and should not have to file to re-open the case, that they should re-issue the RFE and give you the opportunity to respond. USCIS should show in their files that your wife did visit them and have a tracking of all of the 'contact' you have made with them to keep on top of the situation. Do you have anything on the online status update? If that does not show that you have been issued an RFE, then again it is proof that you had no way of knowing one had been issued.

You should also respond to the letter of denial stating that you never received the RFE and that the online Status does not show any updates to indicate that an RFE was sent. Reiterate that your wife visited them a month ago for an Infopass and was not told anything about an RFE, and was only told to continue waiting. Since they have your correct address and you never received notice for the RFE the error may be at their end - it may never have been sent. Advise them that you are also contacting your congressman to investigate on your behalf and ask them to check their records to see if the RFE was ever issued since there appears to be no record of it anywhere. At the very least, the Infopass appointment should have revealed that they were waiting for a response to the RFE and your wife then could have asked 'What RFE?'. That didn't happen so it may not have appeared on the file that an RFE was even sent.

I can appreciate that your wife is looking forward to the December visit, but unless you get this sorted out before then she definitely should not leave the country. I would suggest she continue to work for the time being. As with the AOS approval, once the ten year card is approved, any 'out of status' employment is forgiven. See your congressman right away - and if you don't find a satisifactory response from him/her, approach one of your senators. This should be relatively straight forward for them to get sorted out but you do need to act quickly and assertively. Once USCIS agrees to re-consider the situation, then the out of status situation is on hold until there is a decision.

At the very worst, file the motion to re-open and ask for a copy of the RFE so you can provide the information that was requested. You can start gathering all sorts of other evidence now while you wait and virtually inundate them with evidence when the time comes.

Good luck.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Kathryn41