Has anyone ever filed TWO I-130's?

[MPGGPM 0]

My file has apparently gotten lost, mixed up, etc......

I am a US citizen, and filed it nearly a year ago. To make a long story short, the application was recieved last March 22, 2005, but we were misadvised by a paralegal on some things, and I had to write a letter to USCIS about 7 months ago asking, among other things for my wife's I-485, I-765 to be withdrawn, and for her I-130 to be transferred to her home country's US embassy. (the address that was written on the I-130 and the other files made it appear she was in the US..but she is not)

What seemed to be a minor issue at the time......withdrawing 2 files.....and redirecting the other.......has obviously for a seemingly disorganized agency like USCIS, turned into a very complicated matter.

For 7 months now, I have made countless phone calls to USCIS.....and I also have contacted the aide to my US senator and she has tried to help me find out what happened to my file for the past 7 months with no luck.

A week ago, an immigration officer for USCIS told me that I might want to consider filing another I-130 (this time I would file it myself..and be much more careful with it...as I have learned quite a lot over this past year in regards to immigration policy). He said that it would not cause a problem and that others have filed additional I-130's before, due to mistakes, etc..

In his words, my I-130 has apparently fallen into a "black hole" (that's how he described it).....and I can either keep waiting, or try to file another I-130 again.

At this point, although I am unhappy with the fact that when you call USCIS, you can never identify who has handled your file, much less ever speak directly to anyone involved, and to find out ANYTHING from this agency is worse than pulling teeth, not to mention aggravated at the hundreds of dollars I have spent with nothing to show for it...

I am of the mentality that if "you can't beat em...join em"...and I am strongly considering filing another I-130 and hoping this one goes smoother.

In the meantime, while I begin to prepare another application, I am writing to this forum to hear if anyone has had experience with this kind of thing that they could share.

Thanks

Edited February 10, 2006 by MPGGPM

[cmartyn 0]

I have not filed another I-130 but you should have filed a petition for action on an approved petition and payed a fee in order to move the I-130 from the US to the overseas post. Did you file that and pay the fee?

[MPGGPM 0]

I have not filed another I-130 but you should have filed a petition for action on an approved petition and payed a fee in order to move the I-130 from the US to the overseas post. Did you file that and pay the fee?

The problem is, it has not even "budged" or had any action taken on it in almost a year. It has not been denied...or approved. It has just sat there for nearly a year and every time I check the website it just says the following...

Your I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was received on March 22, 2005. We mailed you a receipt with information about processing. It is taking between 30 and 90 days for us to process this kind of case. We will mail you a decision as soon as processing is complete.

Calles to USCIS have not helped, even after numerous inquiries sent by me, as well as the aid that works in the congressional office.

At this point, if I have to file again...fine. I just do not want that to mess up anything else.

[aussiewench 9]

Have you called NVC? Perhaps used the receipt number from your NOA through the automated phone service to see if your case is somehow there. Might be a long shot but just a thought.....as it sure is well and truly past the processing date for I-130's. USCIS also has nothing to do with petitions once they leave there. Perhaps it is in a black hole never to service, perhaps not. I would exhaust all avenue's first before refiling. Then if you do refile, perhaps an attached sheet explaining that you filed this prior blah blah blah.

Hope you get this sorted out soon........How very frustrating for you.

Lorelle

[Yodrak 7]

MPGGPM,

What was the basis for your request to have the I-130 transferred to the consulate in your wife's home country? Were you living in her home country at the time?

Even so, I-130 is supposed to be submitted to, and processed by, the USCIS facility that has jurisdiction over your place of residence. You can bypass the USCIS if you submit I-130 directly to a US consulate and that consulate agrees to accept the petition for processing, but if you submitted to the USCIS it would surprise me very much if they would honor your request to transfer something that is their normally their responsibility to somewhere else.

But it would not surprise me if such a request caused your petition to go be pulled out of the normal chain of processing to consider the request, and it subsequently got lost.

Yodrak

My file has apparently gotten lost, mixed up, etc......

I am a US citizen, and filed it nearly a year ago. To make a long story short, the application was recieved last March 22, 2005, but we were misadvised by a paralegal on some things, and I had to write a letter to USCIS about 7 months ago asking, among other things for my wife's I-485, I-765 to be withdrawn, and for her I-130 to be transferred to her home country's US embassy. (the address that was written on the I-130 and the other files made it appear she was in the US..but she is not)

....

Thanks

[meauxna 15]

MPGGPM,

What country does your wife live in? Have you investigated whether or not you could file a new I-130 at the Consulate there?

[MPGGPM 0]

Thanks for the replies.

"Aussiewench"...what does it mean when you say Have you called NVC?

I assume you don't mean the 1-800-375-2683 number for USCIS? What is the NVC?

As for the other replies, yes...I have tried her embassy which is in Ankara, Turkey. Unfortunately, they have a policy that will only allow a US citizen to file from there if that person has been living in Turkey for one year.

The basis to have it transferred was that my wife and I filed the papers in such a way that it made it appear she was in the US, and she is not here at the time.

Since we filed an I-485, and I-765, and the I-130 together, it was sent to Chicago, and subsequently appears to have stalled in Lee's Summitt Missouri.

A shame, but I am of the opinion that Yodrak is right, and that they just put my file aside somewhere after I sent that letter to withdraw the other 2 files and have the I-130 transferred. They have either lost it , or just decided it wasn't worth the effort to pull out the necessary documents etc from the original packet of files I sent (I-485, etc...), figuring it was just too much of a hassle to separate the application, proof of US citizenship etc......and just didn't bother.

One reason I believe they took no action is that in August, when I sent the withdrawal notice for the other 2 files and the request to have my I-130 transferred etc, I ALSO sent in a copy of my US passport, which they had mailed a request for a week or so earlier. So, at the same time that I mailed the copy of my US passport (to show proof of US citizenship), on the TOP of that, I wrote 2 letters...one was typed and notarized, the other handwritten. I KNOW they received that letter etc ..because in regards to the I-485 that I had asked to be withdrawn, the website says the following....

On August 18, 2005, we received your response to our request for evidence or information. It is taking between 120 and 180 days for us to process this kind of case. However because preliminary processing was complete, the remaining processing time will be less than the maximum stated in this message. You will receive a written decision on this case.

That PROVES they saw and received my letter (they couldn't have missed it because it placed it on the TOP). That website info verifies they received the other documents I sent...and so must have also seen the letter.

It aslo shows 1) They never withdrew the I-485 (EVEN the congressional aide one month later after speaking to them, faxed ANOTHER copy of that letter to them).

2) They didn't follow up on anything I asked them to do, even though they got what I sent them.

It's very frustrating because I can never speak to anyone in charge of my files. I have no idea who is handling my file, who saw what I sent them, or why they did not take action. And each time I call USCIS, I always get a different person, and so have to explain EVERYTHING to each individual EVERY time. I have no idea why they do not "save" information.

Only a very ponderous governmnent agency can get away with such sloppinesss, and then take no accountability for it. If this was a private organization, I am SURE it would not have taken 7 months to get something done. It, to me...is unexcusable. What I asked for was not that complex. It was just a simple matter of pulling the I-130 application.....my G-325A's out.....my proof of citizenship........2 photos.......and that's about it. Then they could have just mailed that file and documents to Ankara.

But because this organization is difficult to get accountability for.....and are probably so overwhelmed (as most government agencies are)......they apparently couldn't handle that one simple thing correctly.

Now, I feel I have no choice but to re-file...........and my only concern at this point is that it does NOT create a problem, since I filed the other I-130, which still appears to be active...as well as the I-485 etc..

I just don't want to create more of a mess. So far, on the phone, in speaking to USCIS, 3 immigration officres have told me it would be okay...and one woman(who was a customer service rep ....not and immigration officer) told me it "would" create a problem.

So, even though 3 people have told me it would be okay, that one woman....(I tend to be believe the others as they were farther down the chain of command, and must be more knowledgeable..I hope)...made me nervous.

One final note. Yes , this is very tough to deal with and quite frustrating as it appears, however.....some of this WAS planned. The fact that my wife is in Turkey, and I am here, was planned, hard as it has been on us both.

That was due to her having what is called a J-1 visa (which also was part of the reason for the mix-up with the paperwork, since at the time we both knew nothing about the ins and outs of that particular visa and just put our trust and faith in the paralegal that she knew exaclty what she was doing and how to do it.......we obviously were wrong to do so. I wish now, I had just filed the I-130 myself.)

We looked at EVERYTHING regarding her situation (which was too complex to explain everything here), and decided that the best resolution was for her to serve her 2 years in Turkey and NOT file for a waiver.

But, due to some confusion, misinformation etc....the paralegal who helped us, (basically, since she works in Miami, I guess she felt it would go just like the other immigration cases there, and the my wife could file the same way) just filed the papers. She had no knowledge of J-1 visas....and so just filed the I-485, I-765, I-130......and assumed my wife would stay here.

Well....my wife left last year, and has been there a year now.

My concern at this point is that even though she has some time still to serve, if it has been a YEAR now with no action taken on the I-130, I am starting to get a sense of urgency.

Being separated from my wife for 2 years is hard enough, but I had hoped that at LEAST I could have this paperwork done and ready so by the time her 2 years are up, she could come back soon after.

Now , we are both nervous, because to add to our anxiety and strain of being apart so long, USCIS has apparently messed things up.

If this has taken a YEAR now, who's to say it won't take another year?

If my wife did not already have to wait a while regardless..to come back to the US........I would obviously be going "ballistic" at this point....and would even have considered hiring a lawyer etc.....to get this done.

If anything, this has been a wake -up" call for me, because since my wife has a year left to serve, I have not followed up as much on this as I should and just let the congressional aide handle things.

But now, I am getting nervous...and seeing the amount of time this has taken, I am feeling a sense of urgency now.

When my wife's time is up...I just want us to be together...and to have all this behind us.

Thank you for the replies

Edited February 11, 2006 by MPGGPM

[aussiewench 9]

Thanks for the replies.

"Aussiewench"...what does it mean when you say Have you called NVC?

I assume you don't mean the 1-800-375-2683 number for USCIS? What is the NVC?

When one submits the I-130 I-485, and I-765 it goes to Chicago Lockbox as you are not applying for a visa. You are adjusting status but still must have an approved I-130. I was suggesting calling NVC just in case the I-130 was forwarded onto the correct SC and then onto NVC (national visa center) when you wrote them, which is the normal process for an I-130 petition being filed for a spouse overseas. The NVC number you can call is (603) 334-0700 It is an automated number but you can also talk to an operator. Its a long shot but still worth exhausting just in case.