HELP needed - AOS denial

[lisa71 0]

Hi all. I have a huge problem and need some help. I just received notice that our AOS has been denied as we failed to attend our interview last month. The thing is, we never received the appointment letter. I have been checking our case online daily and there has been no change in the status.

The letter says we have to leave the country immediatley and I can't see that there is an avenue to appeal. The letter came from San Fransico, but we were never advised our case had been transferred.

What should we do?

[Collie 122]

oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear this. Other people have had this situation arise before and have got senators and attorneys involved, which may help?

good luck!

Kat

[Carola 0]

Lisa I'm so sorry to hear what is happening to you, my advice is call the USCIS number (even that they sometimes are not as competents) and tell them what is going on and get your congress person involved ASAP. Don't worry I know you don't have to leave the Country.

[iceyspots 0]

I'm so sorry to hear about the problem! Did you move from your home or anything? You should call and see what address they had on file and ask them WHEN they sent the notification letter!

[lisa71 0]

We haven't changed address. We've lived here from the day we arrived. I received my Biometrics appointment at this address and then nothing ever since. I guess we were transferred to the CSC as the letter is from the San Francisco office. But, we were never notified of the transfer, nor did we reeceive the first or the second they state they sent. I personally check the mail, so I know that they never arrived. I could understand if one notice went missing, but all three? This is too wierd.

I am beside myself with worry as we are having a big wedding recption in 3 weeks and people are flying in from all over the place. The way the letter reads I won't be here for the renewal of vows and reception.

How can this happen?

I have read about it happening to other people. I'd love to hear from them and find out what they did.

[marie clo 0]

Hi,

The same thing happened to me about 2 months ago ,it was a nightmare but Thank God it's over.

After the Biometrics for my I- 485 , I knew the next step was the interview . A month after the fingerprints, I received an email saying '' Our last written notice on this case was returned as undeliverable ..........'' I started panicking , I was sure it was my interview letter and I was right. so , from Janury 2006 to March , I kept calling the National customer line to update my address even if we never moved ,we live at the same place,anyway , when I was calling them ,they were telling me that they're sending the letter back and at the same time they were giving me confirmation numbers to prove that I called them. On April 22 , i went to the post office and found a letter of denial of my application saying that I did not show up at the interview and therefore I have to leave the country before they started the removal procedures.What a nightmare . A week later ,I went for the infopass appointment and the officer told us to file a motion to reopen I-290B ,you can download it online and pay 385 dollars to reopen the case because it was already close. I contacted the senator 's office ,they were very helpful and before that , I sent inquiries mails to MSC lee's summit and I sent an email to CSC to ask them where was my file. With all the evidence I had to prove I never receive the first interview letter ,they reopened my case and I had my interview on June 2.

In short :

I download the I -290B from USCIS website just in case

we went to the infopass appointment and guess what they asked me to file it and to pay 385 dollars.

when filing I explained I never received the mail and I had copies of the certified mails I was sending to try to find my Application.

Remember you only have 30 days to file this motion ,if the denial date is june 3 , you've till July 3 to file ,after that I don't know what will happen.

When I came home from the infopass appointment . my husband wrote a letter explaining what happened to us to the District Director of our local USCIS office since he's the one who signed the denial. We contacted the Senator office again with all the information , and we sent a copy of our motion to reopen to Chicago lockbox with a copy of the receipt for the I -290B and I prayed a lot. Guess what, 2 weeks later I received an interview notice. I'm miss Panic , so I think maybe you don't need to send all the letters I was sending . But do file a motion to reopen very very very soon.

[hearsay 1]

This is so disturbing to hear about. It makes me so angry that USCIS treats people like this. We them lots of money to handle our cases. They tell us to use certified mail, etc, and yet they use a first class stamp to send us important information, ie NOA's. Then, if for some reason the USPS loses the mail, then we are asked to leave the country. Makes you want to fly out to Lee's Summit and demand to speak to the person who sent the NOA which never arrived. I think everyone who goes through this process from K visas to Naturalization experiences something that went wrong, or unexpected. However, most things big or small are usually fixable, but with extra time and stress. I have learned to not let anything about this huge process of becoming a citizen to worry or stress me. Just wish some of these people who came across our cases cared more about their jobs, or at least the people they are trying to serve. I beleive most people working at USCIS love their jobs, but some just treat each paper that comes across their desk as another piece of paper, when actually it's a person's life they are handling. And that person's life usually involves other's lives. Okay, Im done for now.

[nyc 0]

Good luck with all that!

Just to let you know your online status doesn't change when they give you the interview notice.

It only changes after biometrics and after you get approved.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll sort this out.

A

[lisa71 0]

Thank you everyone for your words of support and advice.

marie clo, I am going to download the forms you suggested and read through them now. Your advice has been really helpful. At least it points me in the right direction!

I spent hours on the phone today to a very nice immigration officer. She was very helpful and gave me some good advice. Very similar to marie clo's advice. We have an infopass appointment in 6 days. I hope that this appointment will give us some direction, if not immediate relief and hope.

I can't beign to tell you how many feelings this denial has welled up inside me.

Thanks to everyone again for the support. If anyone else has any info... BRING IT ON!

nyc, I had my biometrics done ages ago. My online status hasn't changed once. No mention of Biometrics, transfer to CSC... nothing.

[sukie175 0]

I just wanted to add that I am sure this will be sorted out, there have been a few denials in this forum for silly things like this and I don't think a single person has had to leave the country yet. They all got it straightened out eventually, the money is out of order totally though.

Good Luck, let us know what happens

Edited June 8, 2006 by sukie175

[americangirl 0]

Good luck! I'm sure everything will get straightened out, and a big *hug* to you in the meantime!

[dmartmar 1]

I am beside myself with worry, as we are having a big wedding reception in 3 weeks and people flying in from all over the place. The way the letter is worded, says I won't be here for the renewal of vows and reception.

Well, how did you first get married?

Planning a wedding AFTER your AOS interview would look suspicious to me too.

[zyggy 9]

Hi all. I have a huge problem and need some help. I just received notice that our AOS has been denied as we failed to attend our interview last month. The thing is, we never received the appointment letter. I have been checking our case online daily and there has been no change in the status.

The letter says we have to leave the country immediatley and I can't see that there is an avenue to appeal. The letter came from San Fransico, but we were never advised our case had been transferred.

What should we do?

Make an Infopass appointment immediately and make a motion to reopen the case at the DO (the one that has jurisdiction over your place of residence). Explain to them that you never received the appointment letter and still wish to continue with the case...

Just to let you know, there is no online update when the appointment letter is issued... That appointments are issued on a different computer system that doesn't update.

Edited June 8, 2006 by zyggy

[pax 0]

I am beside myself with worry, as we are having a big wedding reception in 3 weeks and people flying in from all over the place. The way the letter is worded, says I won't be here for the renewal of vows and reception.

Well, how did you first get married?

Planning a wedding AFTER your AOS interview would look suspicious to me too.

Oh, cut it out, dmartmar.

There's nothing wrong with having a wedding reception after the AOS interview. No one knows when that interview is going to happen when they make those plans, and by planning a reception well after the non-USC has arrived in the country, they're actually doing precisely what the DoS recommends—DON'T make any solid plans until, at the very least, the visa is in hand.

God, I swear you just look for things to pick on.

[ChanelKitten 0]

I wish you all the best of luck in getting things sorted out!!!