i-130 petition returned to uscis for review

[abed 0]

hi everyone,

my wife i-130 petition has been sent back from us consulate of casablanca since december 12,2007 for review

no reason has been given why visa was not issued. my wife did attend 2 interviews and provided enough evidences

it's being now 13 months since uscis received back my case and i havent hear from them yet???

is this normal wait ? 13 months !!! i'm really upset

any clue ????

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

Did you get the letter comfirming it was back for review ? If not call both NVC and DOS and see when it arrived. They are normally supposed to do something in 120 days after they get it back but if you don't bother them they will just let it sit . What did the papers say that she was given during the interview or did the make any marks in her passport

[nunyab 0]

hi everyone,

my wife i-130 petition has been sent back from us consulate of casablanca since december 12,2007 for review

no reason has been given why visa was not issued. my wife did attend 2 interviews and provided enough evidences

it's being now 13 months since uscis received back my case and i havent hear from them yet???

is this normal wait ? 13 months !!! i'm really upset

any clue ????

if you can fill in your timeline will help us out .

[~kiyah~ 14]

I am so sorry to hear that you have been separated for this long.

Unfortunately, returned petitions do not have a legal priority date, so the statement of "they have do something with it within 120 days" is not true. Yes, the guidelines say we shold be given an answer within a reasonable amount of time, but that just isn't happening with the majority of cases. This has been a normal occurance for returned immigrant petitions, I have known some who have waited 18 months or longer before their file is reviewed. There is not a lot you can do at this point other than contact your senator/congressman and have them try and contact the local service center who has the returned petition, asking them to review it as you have waited for over 1 year. This doesn't always work, but it is surely worth a try, and it also lets the USCIS know you are serious and have not forgotten about your file needing to be reviewed.

Can I ask when/if you received a receipt notice from the USCIS? If so, exactly what does it say?

In the meantime you should have been preparing for the NOIR/NOID that you should be receiving for your case. If you have not spent the last year doing this, I suggest you do as you will be given a short amount of time to respond to the NOIR/NOID, and the USCIS is going to be looking for additional "ongoing" evidence of your relationship and marriage that was not provided for the initial interview. If you have a chance, go through the pinned topic at the top of the MENA forum on returned petitions/applications, there is pertinent information listed there you should be aware of.

Send me a PM if you have any questions. There are many of us who can help. Take care.

~kiyah~

[~kiyah~ 14]

I would also like to suggest contacting the USCIS OMBUDSMAN, they cannot approve or readjudicate your case, but they can assist when timelines are out of scope and possibly push it through to review. Maybe it will help get the case reviewed quicker.

Good luck to you, let me know if you have any questions at all.

~kiyah~

Edited January 15, 2009 by Kiya

[abed 0]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions

I did receive a notice of action I-797C form from uscis on DECEMBER 12,2007 stating this

"This is to advise you that we have received the above petition application or petition back from the department

of state, along with their request that it be reviewed. we will notify you of any action we take on this case "

since that time i made so many inquieries online, by phone to uscis and through my congressman, all i got as response is this

" The State Department/Consulate returned your case the I-130 petitions to the California Service Center (CSC) for review. USCIS received these petitions on 12/12/2007. All returned petitions are reviewed in the order in which they are received. Due to the volume of petitions returned to our office, we are unable to advise you on the processing time to complete our review nor may we release the reasons for return until the review is completed. You will be notified by mail when a decision has been made or if further evidence is requested "

I would like to bring to your attention that we have all the evidence of our marriage relationship, including

sworn and certified marriage certificate, weeding and visits photos, emails exchange and money transfer receipts but the consular officer ( a lady ) ignored them all and she decided to send our petition back to uscis

i came back from morocco 3 weeks ago i did spent some time with my wife and my family now i'm back waiting for a decision on my case. 13 months passed and no answer yet

please feel free to email me, or if you have any suggestion or advice and i'll be looking to do so

thank you

[~kiyah~ 14]

Your response from the USCIS is very standard. Returned petitions do not have a legal priority date as I mentioned, so their response indicating no possible time frame for review leaves them a loop-hole, very typical. This does not mean however that 13 months is a "reasonable" amount of time to receive what you are entitled to, I believe that is an unreasonable amount of time, and as I also mentioned before I know of several CR1's that were reviewed around the 18th month after receipt. Also, a CR1 (I-130) for spousal petition does not expire so they eventually do have to review it.

I would definitely contact the Ombudsman as I indicated in an earlier post, hopefully they can assist in getting your file reviewed. I wouldn't let them think for 1 second I was going to back down. Good luck to you, and take care.

~kiyah~

DOS guidelines on Returning Petitions:

GUIDELINES AND CHANGES FOR RETURNING DHS / BCIS APPROVED IV AND NIV PETITIONS

GUIDANCE ON PETITION REVOCATIONS

9 FAM (Visas) - Section 40.0 of the Foriegn Affairs Manual specific to revocation:

9 FAM 40.0

"Posts should not return petitions to USCIS based on mere suspicion or as a substitute for making a decision at post. If the evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, or ineligibility for status is strong enough to lead to a likely revocation, returning the petition would be warranted. However, if post believes the evidence is not likely to lead to a revocation and returning the petition would be a wasted exercise, the petition should not be returned. Returning cases that are only suspect or that appear too complex to figure out is not appropriate and only increases USCIS' administrative burden and prevents the applicants and petitioners in these cases from obtaining the timely decision on their petitions to which they are entitled."

[Remthawe10 0]

im at the same boat since 21 months . my interview was at 10 april 2007 , the CO decided to return my file back for more reviewing while that all what i got just some answers for my inquiries last one was at 6 dec 2008 tells that my file is not yet ready for any decision as long as they still check my background and if i don't hear anything within 6 months i have to call !!! .

[abed 0]

ohhh my god!!!!! are you serious hadi10? is your case 21 months on hold????

so what are you waiting for??

Did you contact you congressman?

any results???

[~kiyah~ 14]

im at the same boat since 21 months . my interview was at 10 april 2007 , the CO decided to return my file back for more reviewing while that all what i got just some answers for my inquiries last one was at 6 dec 2008 tells that my file is not yet ready for any decision as long as they still check my background and if i don't hear anything within 6 months i have to call !!! .

21 months is now the longest I have heard of, that is nearly 2 years. Regardless of the response you received basically giving them another 6 months to sit on your case I would definitely involve the Ombudsman. Also, the statement to call them is absolutely ridiculous...if you have ever called you would know that the reps answering that phone don't have access to the information you actually need and cannot help you, and your call does not go directly to the local service center who would be reviewing your file. Just another loop to throw you in as far as I am concerned. Definitely the Ombudsman is the way to go in your case.

~kiyah~

[brnidokiegurl 0]

YOU have to stay after this i know of some waiting 2-3 years on this review, it is a bad situation and kiyah is the best for the answers but u have to keep pushing then or nothing will happen, this application doenst expire but in the end you may end up stopping it and refiling just to get something going, do you think you know of any of the reasons for return, something you can fix etc some reason they did not accept your proofs, was it a quick marriage etc

[abed 0]

you right kiya, 2 years is the longest time a review can take

i had an inquiery made through my congressman on may 2008, i would like to share with you

here is their response

" This consulate return is within the normal processing time. It was received back at the CSC on 12/12/07 from the consulate/NVC for further review. The current processing time for consulate returns is approximately 24 months from the date received back at the CSC; however, the processing time could change depending on the CSC workload. These consulate returns cannot be expedited nor may we release the reasons returned from the consulate until the review is completed"

[abed 0]

i hope with the new administration that will take place on 21 first this month do better to resolve these pending cases

however, people with pending case should do better by contacting

* STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND CONGRESSMAN

* OFFICE OF OMBUSDMAN

* CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENTS AND IMMIGRANT ORGANIZATIONS

* DIRECTOR OF DHS

* MEDIA

* PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

and we should all remember that every citizen has the right to bring his spouse or husband to this country , this is a

right protected by laws. it's up to us to find the right ways to defend our rights, therefore i will urge anyone who has

been through this hardship to stick around, even if your spouse or husbsand made it to this country, we need to listen

to your stories , change is coming, yes we can make a change

[~kiyah~ 14]

This is the first time I have seen a response like that citing 24 months for cases to be reviewed but I guess I am not shocked.

Sad, really sad that it is not a priority when it literally places lives on hold and separates familes for years at a time which our senate house has vowed to protect and serve and cites support for the unity of those very families. I pray it will be soon, insh'Allah.

It will be interesting to see if the new administration will attempt to change our broken system, there are so many cracks in the legal process.