I-130 Not forwarded to NVC - Please Help!

[paulo74 0]

Hi there,

I am Irish, living in Ireland and my wife is a US citizen living in WA. We filed an I-130 in January 2009 which was approved by USCIS (California Center) in March 2009. We specified in Q22 of the I-130 that I live in Dublin, Ireland and had expected that the approved petition would have been passed to the NVC.

The issue is that the I-797 we received does not state that the petition is being passed to the NVC. In the first paragraph, it states that if I (the beneficiary) am in the US, we should file form I-485 for adjustment of status.

Paragraph 2 states that if I am abroad, (which I am) we should file form I-824 to request the USCIS to pass the approved petition to the NVC.

We realise that we need to file form I-824 based on the info provided in the I-797 but this form has a filing fee of $340 and has a processing period I believe of up to 6 months.

What I'd like to know is, has somebody in USCIS made a mistake processing our I-130 form by not forwarding it to the NVC or is this normal?

Also, if a mistake has been made, what can we do? When I call USCIS on 800-375-5283, I can't seem to identify an option I can chose where I can get to speak to an agent.

We'd really appreciate any insight into this because the thought of having to wait 6 months for the I-824 to get processed when it should have only taken a few weeks for the I-130 to be passed to the NVC is rather upsetting to us both.

Thank you,

Paul

[sdw 10]

How many notices have you received from USCIS? First one is just saying they received your petitions and file number. Second one is stating approval unless you get an RFE.

[paulo74 0]

Hi,

We have both the I-797C and the I-797 which is an Approval Notice for the I-130.

The issue is as I was saying that we thought the the normal procedure is that the approved petition would have been passed to the NVC, seeing as I, (the beneficiery) am living in Dublin, Ireland and we did state that when filling out the form.

The I-797 tells us that we should file the I-824 to ask USCIS to forward the approved petition to the NVC but I'm wondering if this is the normal procedure as it involveds us having to pay a further $340 as well as endure the processing time for the I-824 which seems currently to be six months.

Any help greatly appreciated. What am really wondering is, have USCIS made a mistake processing the I-130 by not sending it on to the NVC.

Thanks

Paul

[trailmix 77]

No it is not normal. Something is wrong with your petition. Why does it ask you to file the I-824? Why does it state - that 'if' the beneficiary is in the US, you should file form I-485 for adjustment of status?

I don't know that anyone here will be able to answer that - unless they have had the same thing happen to them - i'm sure it has happened before. Are you sure you sent in all the correct paperwork - just the I-130 and supporting documents.

I have no good suggestion about how to get hold of someone at USCIS. The only other suggestion I have is that perhaps your wife could contact her Senator. They do investigate this kind of thing and you may be able to get an answer that way.

Normally, the I-797 says:

The above petition has been approved. We have sent the original visa petition to the Department of State National Visa Center (NVC). NVC proceses all approved immigrant visa petitions that need consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consulate to complete visa processing. NVC will then forward the approved petition to that consulate.

The NVC will contact the person for whom you are petitioning (beneficiary) concerning further immigrant visa processing steps. etc etc

Edited May 23, 2009 by trailmix

[No-Where-Man 147]

No it is not normal. Something is wrong with your petition. Why does it ask you to file the I-824? Why does it state - that 'if' the beneficiary is in the US, you should file form I-485 for adjustment of status?

I don't know that anyone here will be able to answer that - unless they have had the same thing happen to them - i'm sure it has happened before. Are you sure you sent in all the correct paperwork - just the I-130 and supporting documents.

I have no good suggestion about how to get hold of someone at USCIS. The only other suggestion I have is that perhaps your wife could contact her Senator. They do investigate this kind of thing and you may be able to get an answer that way.

Normally, the I-797 says:

The above petition has been approved. We have sent the original visa petition to the Department of State National Visa Center (NVC). NVC proceses all approved immigrant visa petitions that need consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consulate to complete visa processing. NVC will then forward the approved petition to that consulate.

The NVC will contact the person for whom you are petitioning (beneficiary) concerning further immigrant visa processing steps. etc etc

true

this is so weird .

first time i ever heard of this ...

the best advise is to call and when u r with an operator ...tell her the problem and this is so weird and u believe its totally wrong and thts a good reason to ask her to move you to a supervisor...

they will help u better no doubt

try this please

Good Luck

[hayader 0]

see my post I do have the same thing

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=196706

[trailmix 77]

see my post I do have the same thing

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=196706

Well it's not quite the same, unless your NOA2 said the same thing that his did.

What would be helpful, you mention in your post that you were able to get through to USCIS and speak to someone about it - perhaps you could tell teh original poster what number you called and how you managed to get through to someone?

You know Paulo - your wife should really get an infopass and go and talk to someone at USCIS as well, if you don't get a helpful response over the phone.

Edited May 23, 2009 by trailmix

[paulo74 0]

Thank you all for your help so far. Does anyone who how long it takes to get an appointment via the InfoPass system. It's just that if it would take months, I don't know if we'd just be better off filing the I-824

Thanks

Paul

[trailmix 77]

Thank you all for your help so far. Does anyone who how long it takes to get an appointment via the InfoPass system. It's just that if it would take months, I don't know if we'd just be better off filing the I-824

Thanks

Paul

Have your wife's zip code ready, then check here https://infopass.uscis.gov/info_en.php

You don't have to fill out much information to see what appointments are available.

[paulo74 0]

Hi Trailmix,

That's just so helpful. Thank you very much. It has really helped us to see that the route we are being sent down isn't the norm because when it's your only time going through this process, you don't know what's normal and what isn't.

We will look into setting up an appointment through InfoPass

Once again, thanks to everyone for their help.

Paul

[imaisha 1]

If you'd like to try speaking to someone at USCIS before making an Infopass appointment try this:

Dial (800)375-5283

Press 1, 2, 1 then enter your receipt number

When it retrieves your case and begins to give you the status, press 1,3,4

You'll be transferred to someone at your service center, or if it's after hours it will go to the national customer service center

I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Tuesday morning because of the holiday, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck!

[paulo74 0]

Thanks Imaisha,

I will try calling them on Tuesday

Paul