NOA2 Never Received

[tony1343 0]

Hi,

A while back there was a thread about how a whole bunch of us never received the NOA2. I'm having problems finding it, so maybe someone can direct me to it. Though it might be worth starting a new thread for.

I was one of those people. Never received the NOA2 in the mail. I doubt the post office lost it; I don't believe the USCIS ever actually sent it. Anyway, I kind of forgot about this matter. My fiancee now has her visa and will be coming over to the U.S. in less than 2 months. So I started looking at the AOS instructions, and again realized that I need the NOA2.

I'm in the middle of filling out the I-824 Form right now to get a copy (which by the way expired at the end of August, though there doesn't appear to be a new copy; though they appear to allow you to use expired versions anyway). Unfortunately, this has a $300+ fee.

Was anyone out there successfully able to get a copy for free? When all this happened to me back in March, I called a whole bunch. There system didn't even show my petition as being approved (which makes me think they never mailed it), but the State Department had received it. When I called they said, "we'll look into this and you should receive your NOA2 (or whatever they call it) in two weeks." A few weeks later, instead, I received a copy of the I-824 in the mail. Then they updated my account three months later to say they had mailed the application in March (which to me seems to be an outright lie).

Anyway, I'm guessing I'll have to chalk up the cash. That sucks, though it's a small amount compared to the wedding, engagement ring, plane ticket, AOS fee, etc. I just don't like paying because of the principal of the matter though.

Thanks.

[Fred N Emilia 0]

Call USCIS

[Hell0W0rld 10]

Call USCIS

or infopass...

[tony1343 0]

Okay, thanks. I'll try calling tomorrow when they have customer representatives available (today's Sunday).

I'm hoping they'll send it for free, but I'm thinking government bureaucracy will be too stubborn and force me to pay.

[Carlawarla 1]

Have you changed addresses since filing? I know of one VJ couple that the US citizen moved, and the NOA2 was returned to USCIS as undeliverable. My understanding is the PO is not allowed to forward. Anyway, they did receive it back at USCIS and because they had a copy of their address change form, and could prove that it was sent well ahead of the time that the NOA2 was sent, and so therefore should have been sent to the correct address, it was resent.

I can't remember the VJ screen name and it was upwards towards three years ago that this occurred. Since then, I've never heard of anyone getting a NOA2 for free. USICS always says they sent it, and there is no way to trace it or track it, and couples have had to pay for it. It's expensive too!

[tony1343 0]

Well, I must be the exception then. Today I received a copy of the NOA2 (I-797 Duplicate Approval Notice). But it wasn't easy.

I called at the end of the day and the customer representative told me he would call back the next day because the file had been put away or something. He never called back (I'm guessing his shift was about over and didn't want to deal with me). So too days later I called back. They didn't want to do anything for me but I was relentless. First representative told me that since he couldn't get me to understand, he was transferring me to someone else. This basically resulted in me being hung up on. I called back and explained over and over to the new representative lady what happened. She wouldn't believe. She refused to believe that the system wasn't updated on March 26 (the date it now says the NOA2 was originally sent), even though a representative told me in June that the system didn't show that (and the online system still showed it as pending).

I argued with her for many minutes. She got angry with me. I told her that I wouldn't pay $300+ for something I already paid for that they never sent and that a different representative had admitted wasn't sent back in June. She got exasperated, put me on hold (I'm guessing talked to a superior or something), came back and told me to be expecting something in two weeks. At this point, I was going to ask if she was sending me the NOA2 or just the form to pay $300+ to get a duplicate, as that is what they did the last time. However, I couldn't ask that question, as she immediately hung up after telling me to be expecting "something" in 2 weeks (that was her language). I wasn't hopeful, but today I got the duplicate for FREE.

So, it is possible. Though I do hate government bureaucracy now. Probably over 50% of government employees need to be fired (without unemployment) as they are terrible at their job since they know they won't be fired. Of course, there are some helpful ones out there.