180 day wait for I-485 approval

[zulma 0]

Hello all. I am new to this site. I hope someone can help me. My husband entered ewi in 2001. He was caught by the FBI and became an informant for them. Long story short. FBI paroled my husband into US through Canada and had deportation order cancelled. He now has a i-94. We married in 2006. I submitted the I-130 not knowing that I should of submitted the I-485 also. We sent to interview in June 2007 for I-130. It was approved. I then realized my error and submitted the I-485 and when we went to our interview were told that because his deportation was only adminstratively closed, that we should hire a lawyer to have this adjudicated. (?) Not sure of correct terminoloy. Lawyer took care of this although he was upset that we did not hire a lawyer from the beginning. We had to get another EAD since the IO cancelled everything including his SS and his drivers license. We had to pay again for the application of the I-485 using the new and much higher fees. We received another appointment on February 6, 2009 for the AOS interview. The IO said that the medical was incomplete and that he could not accept the translations of my hubby;s previous divorces because it was narrowed down to 1 page. He said he wanted a word for word translation and to get an updated medical. He gave us a new appointment for March 6, 2009. We went without a lawyer because our lawyer wanted more money due to the fact that his 3000.00 fee only included 3 visits to immigration. The day of our appointment, we handed the IO the new medical and a word for word translation as he requested. I was so excited thinking our journey was finally over. NO! He said that he could not approve his case because he needed more time to review his file and that he needed to have it reviewed by his supervisor. He stated that we should have an answer within 180 days. I have prepared the form to send to cis ombudsman. I am so angry. It has been almost 2 years waiting. Is it possible that we will have an answer before the 180 days? He did say that we did not need another appointment. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[zulma 0]

Was my question that hard that not one person has answered although viewed by many?

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

My husband entered ewi in 2001. He was caught by the FBI and became an informant for them.

What is "ewi"? I'm pretty sure it's some kind of illegal entry, right? Since when does the FBI hunt down illegal aliens? He became an informant for what? What kind of information did he have to give them? This whole thing isounds far fetched, maybe that's the reason nobody is replying.

Is it possible that we will have an answer before the 180 days?

Yes, I think they say 180 days just to cover their butt in case there is a delay.

[Cino 5]

EWI means ENTRY WITHOUT INSPECTION like illegal border crossing.

[Cino 5]

Since his case has not been closed by USCIS, his deportation removed by FBI but FBI is not

the boss to USCIS. Both FBI & USCIS are working under the authority of Homeland Security.

So, USCIS will ask to Homeland Security what to do about this case. That is why it takes time.

On the other hand, IO can not decide by himself/herself because this situation is kind of out their league.

If I were you, I would write a letter to US Senator of you state and /or your local Congressman.

GOOD LUCK !.....

[zulma 0]

Wow! Thanks for the reply. I am sorry for abbreviating. I guess you know what EWI means now. His deportation hearing is now closed by the judge. It was done on October 15, 2008 with the help of a lawyer. After this was closed, we re-applied for the I-485 with a lawyer but his fees only covered 3 visits to immigration. The third visit was when the officer said that the translations were not acceptable and that the medical was incomplete. He gave us a new appointment right there for March 6, 2009 and this is when he said that we would hear something within 180 days. As per the person asking about the FBI, (chino) I can not go into details but he was traced down for video taping scenery so that he could send a video back to Colombia so that his father, who lived here illegally for over 20 years and finally went back for good, could see how much NY had changed. Since this was after 911, someone called 911 and said that a dark skinned middle eastern looking man was video taping. They thought it might have to do something with terrosim. The FBI showed up at his house after tracing the license plates and after asking questions, they asked him and the 3 other people in the car if they were legal. Since he was not, they asked how he arrived into the US and he said that he paid someone to bring him through the ocean. I am just curious if this is really going to take 180 days. We had plans to travel to Puerto Rico and then to Colombia this month but because of this, our plans to go to Colombia are on hold. However, we are going to Puerto Rico next Friday, the 20th of March. Again, thanks for any help. Just keep in mind that our I-130 was approved back in 2008. The officer said that he did believe in our marriage.

[zulma 0]

I sent an e-mail to my local congressman. Lets see if it helps, if not, at least I tried. My hubby is depressed and in a disgusted mood. He says for me to put myself in his shoes; never meeting his 7 yr old son (she called him to let him know she was pregnant after he left Colombia) and on top of that, who is deaf.