Where to Get a Copy of the I-129F Approval Letter?

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

My SO arrives in a couple of weeks.. and I am starting to pull together the paperwork for the AOS and I CANNOT find the letter I got approving the I129F application from the California Service Center. (It's been so dang long I forgot where I filed it...)

Anyone know how to contact them to get a copy of it? Do they actually take phone calls??? Or is there an email address??

Thanks!

K with ADD (who needs a better filing system)

[spookyturtle 9,466]

You can file an I-824 to get a duplicate approval notice, the fee is $340 and who knows how long you will have to wait.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

[Ana&D 0]

Yep, those are hard to "restore". Once u get a replacement, guard it with your life, since it will be needed further on.

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Yep, those are hard to "restore". Once u get a replacement, guard it with your life, since it will be needed further on.

UPDATE on THIS ISSUE:

It turns out that I didn't misplace it, they never sent it to me! When I checked the website it showed I was approved on January 28 and the document would be mailed shortly... I was in Egypt at that time with my SO. When I got home I guess I didn't worry about getting a letter in the mail because I already knew it had been approved and he got the Packet #3 shortly after I got home.

I phoned the California Service Center and was told they would send me a copy. (no form needed).... The next morning I got an automated email (from the website) saying that my approval letter had been returned as "undeliverable" by the USPS on February 28th. It also said that I had 180 days to request a remailing or my case would be DESTROYED and I would need to refile.

Needless to say I nearly had a heart attack. I could hardly wait for 8:00 am to call. The man I spoke to told me the lady I had spoken to the day (or two) before had found my file and found the letter inside it stamped undeliverable. Of course they never bothered to email me, or phone, or anything... and they never updated the website either! With the 180 days LONG GONE I was so upset I was nauseated and shaking... (SO has his visa and ticket and is coming on this Monday!)

The man I spoke to told me not to worry and said there would be no problem. I asked him how I could get the document and he told me that #1) It might not actually be needed for the AOS process (it's their dang document so they obviously know the status of the case!) #2) It might not come to me before the 90 days of the K-1 Visa has expired! He couldn't promise when it would be mailed... He did tell me to go ahead if I hadn't rec'd it and file the AOS without it...

Happy to report that I rec'd it today. It is marked a "DUPLICATE" copy and says it is valid from 1/28/08 to 5/27/08, whatever in the HECK that means!!! (not a word on the form that explains the "valid" dates!)

I'm so irritated that in this day and age of email, voice mail, cell phones, etc. that they didn't even TRY to contact me or update the web info when the letter came back undeliverable. That is ridiculous! It is also ridiculous that they would need their OWN FORM to process the AOS.

However Im just thankful to have the document before my SO arrives, and that it didn't cost me any more $$. A small step in a hideous process...

Moral of the story: Don't trust the info on the website, the didn't update it to show the returned document within their own 180 day time limit! Don't expect them to try to find you if the OTHER Federal agency USPS loses the letter, and they do NOT send it certified..

K

[pushbrk 13,166]

The validity dates are actually of no importance.

Do you have any idea why the letter was returned? Was it mailed to the correct address to begin with?

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

The validity dates are actually of no importance.

Do you have any idea why the letter was returned? Was it mailed to the correct address to begin with?

I have no idea because I never saw the letter. For all I know they could have sent it to another STATE! However I have not moved in 20 years... and the this letter came through just fine... Only thing different is that I was in Egypt until Feb. 9th and they say it came back the 28th. I did have my mail on hold until the 9th. But they say it came back the 28th so this was more than enough time for them to have delivered it to me...