Mixed Signals

[Six-Twelve 0]

On July 9th I decided to call USCIS CSC because we were over 70 days in the K-1 process. I talked with agent James who after verifying my identity asked what he could help me with. I told him that i wanted to check the status of our case because we should be getting close to receiving our NOA2 by now. He asked for my case number and then asked what was an NOA2. That should have given me a clue, he then quoted the forms official number "I-797" I that I've noticed that several applicants from various service centers including Vermont were receiving theirs fairly quickly, and most recently we've seen some approved in less than 30 days. To make a long story short, he offered to open the Vermont site to take a look at their processing times. within seconds later he said no i don see that they're moving any faster than the others.

A few things went though my mind, and he moved on to the next question....is there anything else i can help you with? Thinking this was the perfect opportunity to get some inside Intel on my case and if we're almost finished, I said yes, can you tell me if there are any problems with our case, and can we expect to be through this without any issues? James then said let's see, your case look good I don't see any problems, but it could take a few months, up to 5 months before it's approved. I GUESS TODAY WAS OUR DAY: at 09:47 this morning, I received both a text message and an e-mail from USCIS informing me of a RFE! #######!! The text was misleading at first it read " your case WA************is now updated. Check "My Case Status" at www.uscis.gov." so when I checked my portfolio in the account that we've setup, it indicated that I received an RFE. I'm thinking this has to be a mistake, Agent James told me that everything look good, immigrations wouldn't lie to me...would they? hmmm, but then I realized that, that was immigrations talk for shut up asking questions, and wait until you hear from us. Ok, so I read the text message and for lack of a better word, those messages don't provide any usable information.

So then I called my attorney to give them heads up, and they wanted to know what the message said, but because I since I didn't have my USCIS decoder ring, I couldn't tell them. My attorney said that they will send e-mail too, which should say more. Now I'm both anxious and scared that something is seriously wrong, but i also know that it could be something as simple as a incorrect date, misspelled name etc. Anyway I go to my e-mail, and sure enough there it is! e-mail from USCIS and now I'll see what flaming hoops they want me to jump through, but to my disappointment, it's the same identical message that was text to me earlier...now what? I have it! being the smart guy that I am, I'll simply call them and see what's up, after all Agent James and I had a good report on July 9th, and he seem like a sincere person, so after several minutes of chasing the USCIS phone carrot, I hit 0 and then 2 or 4 or whatever number got me to a live person.

After giving him my case number and telling him why I wanted to speak to a live person there, he quoted the same identical message that I read in both text & e-mail, and my response to that was OOkkk, so what is the reason for the RFE? the answer was, as he studdared to get his words out, I,I, ca, can't see what's on file for you (another red flag...is he lying?), you'll have to wait until you receive information in the mail that was sent out on July 20th. So now with any luck at all, I'll receive the letter tomorrow, and it will be something minute....hopefully. So I'll be updating my timeline with the infamous "RFE" badge of honor

Edited July 22, 2010 by Six-Twelve

[Darnell 8,478]

Ta Da !!!

Ready for it ? Ready ? Are ya Sure ?!?!?!??!

You won't know what the RFE is for, exactly, until you receive a POSTAL LETTER to yer mailing address.

Sorry, I wish was some other 'method of notification' for you. There isn't.

[Dodi 69]

OK, first off, the USCIS doesn't use the terms NOA1 and NOA2. That's simply an acronym that people going through the process have applied to the Notices of Action. It's not a sign of anything with James the Immigration Rep. They simply don't use those terms. It is an I-797 Notice of Action. We use NOA1 for receipt notice because that's the first Notice of Action you'll get, and NOA2 for the approval because that's generally the 2nd Notice of Action you'll get.

2nd, the Immigration Reps can't tell you what's in an RFE letter. They can't see your file in front of them. All they see is a transcript of what's been updated into their system. It will say an RFE was sent, but it won't tell what it's about. If you want to know what's in the RFE you'll have to wait until you get the letter. That's the standard procedure. It doesn't mean the people you're speaking to don't know what they're doing, it simply means they can't give you the information you're looking for because they don't have access to it.

I'm sorry you're going through this, and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of the process.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Dodi

[Six-Twelve 0]

OK, first off, the USCIS doesn't use the terms NOA1 and NOA2. That's simply an acronym that people going through the process have applied to the Notices of Action. It's not a sign of anything with James the Immigration Rep. They simply don't use those terms. It is an I-797 Notice of Action. We use NOA1 for receipt notice because that's the first Notice of Action you'll get, and NOA2 for the approval because that's generally the 2nd Notice of Action you'll get.

2nd, the Immigration Reps can't tell you what's in an RFE letter. They can't see your file in front of them. All they see is a transcript of what's been updated into their system. It will say an RFE was sent, but it won't tell what it's about. If you want to know what's in the RFE you'll have to wait until you get the letter. That's the standard procedure. It doesn't mean the people you're speaking to don't know what they're doing, it simply means they can't give you the information you're looking for because they don't have access to it.

I'm sorry you're going through this, and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of the process.

Thanks, I'm well aware of this but it's just my way of venting without having my post blocked out . It's just that they ask you what can they do to help you, and if they can answer any questions that you may have, but it seems that there is not much they can tell you. But on that note, is there anyone who has experienced the horrid "RFE" and have a little insight on what the procedure is once whatever corrects are made, where do they place you in line (if there is a line), and how much time is generally added to the entire process. If anyone has that info,it will be greatly appreciated. My finance' is on line with me now from Rio, and needles to say, she'd not very happy . So I hope someone will interject with some positive information.

Thanks all!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks, I'm well aware of this but it's just my way of venting without having my post blocked out . It's just that they ask you what can they do to help you, and if they can answer any questions that you may have, but it seems that there is not much they can tell you. But on that note, is there anyone who has experienced the horrid "RFE" and have a little insight on what the procedure is once whatever corrects are made, where do they place you in line (if there is a line), and how much time is generally added to the entire process. If anyone has that info,it will be greatly appreciated. My finance' is on line with me now from Rio, and needles to say, she'd not very happy . So I hope someone will interject with some positive information.

Thanks all!

In all likelihood, the adjudicator who sent the RFE still has your petition file, and it's just waiting for you to respond. When your response is received, they usually return to adjudicating your petition pretty quickly. You don't generally get shoved back in line again. Respond quickly and it shouldn't add more than a few weeks to your wait.

[Tater&Bugger 3]

I don't think James said anything wrong, I think he was saying legitimately your case looks fine but maybe there was a signature or mistyped info somewhere. Doesn't mean something is 'WRONG' just that something needs fixing before it can be approved.

[Carolina+James 1]

I've been through a RFE, and all went nice and good once we sent the document that was missing.

This is what happens:

1. RFE e-mail, with no info, just saying that you'll receive a letter.

2. You receive the letter, it says what is missing for them to resume the case.

3. You send them what they want, with a copy of the RFE letter and a page identifying your case (check the guides for details on that)

4. They receive what they asked, and you receive and e-mail saying that they received it, and will continue to process your case.

This is what happened to me:

10/08/09 --- RFE on e-mail.

10/15/09 --- RFE hardcopy.

10/16/09 --- RFE answer sent.

10/18/09 --- USPS sent our package back, wrong postage, errr!

10/19/09 --- RFE full of postage travelling to USCIS.

10/30/09 --- USCIS receives RFE response and "Touch".

11/01/09 --- "Touch".

11/02/09 --- "Touch", maybe a poke.

11/03/09 --- "Touch"

11/12/09 --- NOA2 on e-mail.

So:

- Your letters traveling time will depend on where you live! Vermont to Oklahoma and vice versa took that long, to you might take more or less, I know it is difficult, but try to be patient. I was crawling up the walls, was horrible

- To my despair... wrong postage, and the letter went all the way up to Vermont and back to Oklahoma, just so I had to send it back again. ("There and back again"!) I laugh now that it is over, but I was sooooo upset.

- We always used standard USPS, because when we used the speedy one, it actually took longer since there was nobody there to sign it and pick it up. Maybe they changed that, or maybe we just got unlucky... just mentioning so you understand the times on my timeline better.

IN THE END, even though I did have an RFE, on my interview, I was the first of the 15 or so cases to go see the consul, he didn't ask for even one piece of hard evidence, just simple questions, and BANG, approved. I just say all this because I don't want you to feel bad just because of an RFE. It might be just something really simple like it was to me, and all will be good soon

[Going Green 5]

I GUESS TODAY WAS OUR DAY: at 09:47 this morning, I received both a text message and an e-mail from USCIS informing me of a RFE! #######!! The text was misleading at first it read " your case WA************is now updated. Check "My Case Status" at www.uscis.gov." so when I checked my portfolio in the account that we've setup, it indicated that I received an RFE.

So then I called my attorney to give them heads up, and they wanted to know what the message said, but because I since I didn't have my USCIS decoder ring, I couldn't tell them.

We are TWINS we got one too on the same day!! Now waiting for the 'hard'copy so I cross the 'T', check the box, or whatever they want!!!

Wishing you all the luck hope we get thru this FAST!

[Six-Twelve 0]

We are TWINS we got one too on the same day!! Now waiting for the 'hard'copy so I cross the 'T', check the box, or whatever they want!!!

Wishing you all the luck hope we get thru this FAST!

Thanks for all the positive feed back from everyone, especially from my "Twin" Luckily, the USCIS CSC in within driving distance from me here in California, so I expect to receive the hard copy within the next day if not sooner. My fiancé' and I went over copies of our documents last night, and we've already found errors in the spelling of her parents names and incorrect addresses (thanks law firm ), so we're hoping that those are the issues...we'll see!

Edited July 22, 2010 by Six-Twelve

[Going Green 5]

Thanks for all the positive feed back from everyone, especially from my "Twin" Luckily, the USCIS CSC in within driving distance from me here in California, so I expect to receive the hard copy within the next day if not sooner. My fiancé' and I went over copies of our documents last night, and we've already found errors in the spelling of her parents names and incorrect addresses (thanks law firm ), so we're hoping that those are the issues...we'll see!

LOL Nick and I did the same thing there one box I didn't mark maybe that is it! I have gathered more evidence of us meeting so that I can just send back WHATEVER they want! Jealous you live so close, here in Wisconsin I am sure I have a wait awhile to recieve the 'hard' copy!!! Ughhhh I just want it NOWWWW!!!

Wishing you Luck hope you get it today!! Keep me posted!! fingers crossed

[GC2010 7]

On July 9th I decided to call USCIS CSC because we were over 70 days in the K-1 process. I talked with agent James who after verifying my identity asked what he could help me with. I told him that i wanted to check the status of our case because we should be getting close to receiving our NOA2 by now. He asked for my case number and then asked what was an NOA2. That should have given me a clue, he then quoted the forms official number "I-797" I that I've noticed that several applicants from various service centers including Vermont were receiving theirs fairly quickly, and most recently we've seen some approved in less than 30 days. To make a long story short, he offered to open the Vermont site to take a look at their processing times. within seconds later he said no i don see that they're moving any faster than the others.

A few things went though my mind, and he moved on to the next question....is there anything else i can help you with? Thinking this was the perfect opportunity to get some inside Intel on my case and if we're almost finished, I said yes, can you tell me if there are any problems with our case, and can we expect to be through this without any issues? James then said let's see, your case look good I don't see any problems, but it could take a few months, up to 5 months before it's approved. I GUESS TODAY WAS OUR DAY: at 09:47 this morning, I received both a text message and an e-mail from USCIS informing me of a RFE! #######!! The text was misleading at first it read " your case WA************is now updated. Check "My Case Status" at www.uscis.gov." so when I checked my portfolio in the account that we've setup, it indicated that I received an RFE. I'm thinking this has to be a mistake, Agent James told me that everything look good, immigrations wouldn't lie to me...would they? hmmm, but then I realized that, that was immigrations talk for shut up asking questions, and wait until you hear from us. Ok, so I read the text message and for lack of a better word, those messages don't provide any usable information.

So then I called my attorney to give them heads up, and they wanted to know what the message said, but because I since I didn't have my USCIS decoder ring, I couldn't tell them. My attorney said that they will send e-mail too, which should say more. Now I'm both anxious and scared that something is seriously wrong, but i also know that it could be something as simple as a incorrect date, misspelled name etc. Anyway I go to my e-mail, and sure enough there it is! e-mail from USCIS and now I'll see what flaming hoops they want me to jump through, but to my disappointment, it's the same identical message that was text to me earlier...now what? I have it! being the smart guy that I am, I'll simply call them and see what's up, after all Agent James and I had a good report on July 9th, and he seem like a sincere person, so after several minutes of chasing the USCIS phone carrot, I hit 0 and then 2 or 4 or whatever number got me to a live person.

After giving him my case number and telling him why I wanted to speak to a live person there, he quoted the same identical message that I read in both text & e-mail, and my response to that was OOkkk, so what is the reason for the RFE? the answer was, as he studdared to get his words out, I,I, ca, can't see what's on file for you (another red flag...is he lying?), you'll have to wait until you receive information in the mail that was sent out on July 20th. So now with any luck at all, I'll receive the letter tomorrow, and it will be something minute....hopefully. So I'll be updating my timeline with the infamous "RFE" badge of honor

don't call the 1800 unless u need to do a SR because it seem like that the only thing they train them to do good there.. an plus they dont tell you nothing u don't know aready because all them do is to read what they see on the uscis website..

[GC2010 7]

Thanks for all the positive feed back from everyone, especially from my "Twin" Luckily, the USCIS CSC in within driving distance from me here in California, so I expect to receive the hard copy within the next day if not sooner. My fiancé' and I went over copies of our documents last night, and we've already found errors in the spelling of her parents names and incorrect addresses (thanks law firm ), so we're hoping that those are the issues...we'll see!

mispelling in her parent name wont be the reason for RFE bc how well uscis know the correct name to know that its mispelling.. its proble be some lil stuff like u miss a duc or sumthing

[Six-Twelve 0]

mispelling in her parent name wont be the reason for RFE bc how well uscis know the correct name to know that its mispelling.. its proble be some lil stuff like u miss a duc or sumthing

Thanks guys for the info, my fiancé thinks the RFE will set us back about 3 months, but based on what I've read and a little bit of information from all of you, it seems that they will sort of pick up where they left off, minus a few weeks as a result to the RFE pending that the corrections were satisfactory....am I somewhere in the ball park with this? We're hoping that the hard-copy will arrive tomorrow (Friday) so we can get the ball rolling.

Thanks again.

[Six-Twelve 0]

Thanks guys for the info, my fiancé thinks the RFE will set us back about 3 months, but based on what I've read and a little bit of information from all of you, it seems that they will sort of pick up where they left off, minus a few weeks as a result to the RFE pending that the corrections were satisfactory....am I somewhere in the ball park with this? We're hoping that the hard-copy will arrive tomorrow (Friday) so we can get the ball rolling.

Thanks again.

...by the way, regarding misspellings on documents, we found that her parents names were not written out completely on some documents, but was on the birth certificate, which lead us to suspect that this could be related

[Six-Twelve 0]

Just received my RFE hard copy at 12:30 today. They're asking for a supplement to the old version of a form that was used, to explain the first K-1 that I file for over 2 years ago. I'm thinking that apparently my attorney used an out dated form or "waiver" last April when my current fiancé and I started this process. Anyway, I thought we had ample time to get this done, but USCIS is giving us only until August 19th to get it back to them. When my attorney mentioned that they can file for an extension if necessary, I flipped the I-797E over, and on the back it states that "if there is a certain date, and we do not reply by that date, they will make a decision based on the evidence that they have. No extensions will be granted." So we have to get things in on time! or it could lead to a denial down the line.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Six-Twelve