NVS Returned Approved Application to USCIS for Further Review

[nobhill4 2]

Just wanted to share my experience with the board on this because this has led to a lot of anxiety, frustration and much wasted time (almost 8 months after NOA2), but was finally resolved. Perhaps this will help some of you, although I sincerely hope that it did not/will not happen to you. Here is a chronology of the events that took place:

California Service Center

Country: Japan

Jul 10, 2011

NOA1: I-129F petition has been received.

Sep 21, 2011

NOA2: approval notice.

Oct 7, 2011

NOA3: "This is to advise you that we have received the above application or petition back from the Department of State with their request that it be reviewed. We will notify you of any action we take on this case."

Jan 3, 2012

Called USCIS to find out the status of the case. Was told to call back after 120 days have elapsed from the date (10/7/11) that I received the last notice.

Feb 12, 2012

Called USCIS again. No new information given. Was told to wait for another 30 days.

Feb 13, 2012

Contacted local congressman's office for assistance. Office liason called back 2 days later saying that there was "something" missing in my application but didn't have the details. Told me to wait for the RFE letter which should be coming soon.

Mar 2, 2012

Still have not heard from USCIS. Decied to hire an immigration attorney to look into the case.

Mar 31, 2012

NOA4: USCIS has reopened my case after being contacted by my representative.

Apr 3, 2012

NOA5: finally got the RFE letter:

"The petitioner's I-129F petition was returned by the American Embassy on Oct 4, 2011. The USCIS California Service Center approved the petition in error. The Form I-129F was not properly completed. No responses were provided to Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3" (see more on this below)

Apr 4, 2012

Returned completed petition to USCIS.

April 11, 2012

NOA6 received, petition re-approved.

April 25, 2012

Fiancee finally receives package from U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

So, hopefully we are on our way barring any more disasters. What are Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3 that I failed to complete, which caused a delay from last October until April? Part C. is "Other Information", which says "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I had left the section blank because I am/was not in the Armed Forces, and from the rest of the application it is abundantly clear that I am not in the Armed Forces or overseas, but apparently I had to put in the word "NONE" instead of leaving it blank.

I am sure that there could be other situations that resulted in NVS returning an approved application to USCIS for further review, but this was mine, missing the word "NONE". Can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and asking questions about why this happened (it is very unusual for an approved petition to be sent back) but came up empty, and finally decided to drop some money to seek professional help. The lesson here is to DOUBLE, TRIPLE or even QUADRUPLE check every item in your petition and to make sure that you put in "NONE" or "N/A" wherever necessary. I guess if USCIS had caught the mistake before sending an approval notice to me, maybe it would not have taken this long. Still, try to catch everything on your own if you can before it gets too messy like my situation.

Good luck.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just wanted to share my experience with the board on this because this has led to a lot of anxiety, frustration and much wasted time (almost 8 months after NOA2), but was finally resolved. Perhaps this will help some of you, although I sincerely hope that it did not/will not happen to you. Here is a chronology of the events that took place:

California Service Center

Country: Japan

Jul 10, 2011

NOA1: I-129F petition has been received.

Sep 21, 2011

NOA2: approval notice.

Oct 7, 2011

NOA3: "This is to advise you that we have received the above application or petition back from the Department of State with their request that it be reviewed. We will notify you of any action we take on this case."

Jan 3, 2012

Called USCIS to find out the status of the case. Was told to call back after 120 days have elapsed from the date (10/7/11) that I received the last notice.

Feb 12, 2012

Called USCIS again. No new information given. Was told to wait for another 30 days.

Feb 13, 2012

Contacted local congressman's office for assistance. Office liason called back 2 days later saying that there was "something" missing in my application but didn't have the details. Told me to wait for the RFE letter which should be coming soon.

Mar 2, 2012

Still have not heard from USCIS. Decied to hire an immigration attorney to look into the case.

Mar 31, 2012

NOA4: USCIS has reopened my case after being contacted by my representative.

Apr 3, 2012

NOA5: finally got the RFE letter:

"The petitioner's I-129F petition was returned by the American Embassy on Oct 4, 2011. The USCIS California Service Center approved the petition in error. The Form I-129F was not properly completed. No responses were provided to Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3" (see more on this below)

Apr 4, 2012

Returned completed petition to USCIS.

April 11, 2012

NOA6 received, petition re-approved.

April 25, 2012

Fiancee finally receives package from U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

So, hopefully we are on our way barring any more disasters. What are Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3 that I failed to complete, which caused a delay from last October until April? Part C. is "Other Information", which says "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I had left the section blank because I am/was not in the Armed Forces, and from the rest of the application it is abundantly clear that I am not in the Armed Forces or overseas, but apparently I had to put in the word "NONE" instead of leaving it blank.

I am sure that there could be other situations that resulted in NVS returning an approved application to USCIS for further review, but this was mine, missing the word "NONE". Can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and asking questions about why this happened (it is very unusual for an approved petition to be sent back) but came up empty, and finally decided to drop some money to seek professional help. The lesson here is to DOUBLE, TRIPLE or even QUADRUPLE check every item in your petition and to make sure that you put in "NONE" or "N/A" wherever necessary. I guess if USCIS had caught the mistake before sending an approval notice to me, maybe it would not have taken this long. Still, try to catch everything on your own if you can before it gets too messy like my situation.

Good luck.

Thank you. Glad you got back on track

[C-ma'am 684]

Glad you were able to sort things out! I'm sorry you had through all that!

Everything should move much faster now!

[Pitaya 2,577]

Welcome to the forum.

It is great news that you were finally able to get your visa process back on track after your protracted delay.

I would hope that folks beginning their visa journey would take heed or your words of wisdom that you learned the hard way.

This posting reinforces the often stated recommendation of thoroughly reading all of the printed instructions, Form I-129F instructions. Another excellent forum reference tool available to forum members is the example form(s), Form I-129F example..

Thank you for sharing with the forum your visa journey. :thumbs:

Wishing you and your SO good fortune on your immigration journey.

[nobhill4 2]

Thank you. Definitely learned it the hard way. My careless error of not following instructions or simply putting down "NONE" or "NOT IN MILITARY SERVICE" ended up costing me 8 months of time that I could have been spending with my fiancee and moving my life forward. Please DO NOT repeat my mistakes!

Welcome to the forum.

It is great news that you were finally able to get your visa process back on track after your protracted delay.

I would hope that folks beginning their visa journey would take heed or your words of wisdom that you learned the hard way.

This posting reinforces the often stated recommendation of thoroughly reading all of the printed instructions, Form I-129F instructions. Another excellent forum reference tool available to forum members is the example form(s), Form I-129F example..

Thank you for sharing with the forum your visa journey. :thumbs:

Wishing you and your SO good fortune on your immigration journey.

[lucy884 3]

I think I left it blank. I'm now mortified. Nothing I can do now it's been sent Hopefully we'll get an RFE instead of having to go through your pain. Oh god why

[Shoko 0]

Just wanted to share my experience with the board on this because this has led to a lot of anxiety, frustration and much wasted time (almost 8 months after NOA2), but was finally resolved. Perhaps this will help some of you, although I sincerely hope that it did not/will not happen to you. Here is a chronology of the events that took place:

California Service Center

Country: Japan

Jul 10, 2011

NOA1: I-129F petition has been received.

Sep 21, 2011

NOA2: approval notice.

Oct 7, 2011

NOA3: "This is to advise you that we have received the above application or petition back from the Department of State with their request that it be reviewed. We will notify you of any action we take on this case."

Jan 3, 2012

Called USCIS to find out the status of the case. Was told to call back after 120 days have elapsed from the date (10/7/11) that I received the last notice.

Feb 12, 2012

Called USCIS again. No new information given. Was told to wait for another 30 days.

Feb 13, 2012

Contacted local congressman's office for assistance. Office liason called back 2 days later saying that there was "something" missing in my application but didn't have the details. Told me to wait for the RFE letter which should be coming soon.

Mar 2, 2012

Still have not heard from USCIS. Decied to hire an immigration attorney to look into the case.

Mar 31, 2012

NOA4: USCIS has reopened my case after being contacted by my representative.

Apr 3, 2012

NOA5: finally got the RFE letter:

"The petitioner's I-129F petition was returned by the American Embassy on Oct 4, 2011. The USCIS California Service Center approved the petition in error. The Form I-129F was not properly completed. No responses were provided to Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3" (see more on this below)

Apr 4, 2012

Returned completed petition to USCIS.

April 11, 2012

NOA6 received, petition re-approved.

April 25, 2012

Fiancee finally receives package from U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

So, hopefully we are on our way barring any more disasters. What are Page 3, Part C, Questions 1, 2, and 3 that I failed to complete, which caused a delay from last October until April? Part C. is "Other Information", which says "If you are serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States, please answer the following:". I had left the section blank because I am/was not in the Armed Forces, and from the rest of the application it is abundantly clear that I am not in the Armed Forces or overseas, but apparently I had to put in the word "NONE" instead of leaving it blank.

I am sure that there could be other situations that resulted in NVS returning an approved application to USCIS for further review, but this was mine, missing the word "NONE". Can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and asking questions about why this happened (it is very unusual for an approved petition to be sent back) but came up empty, and finally decided to drop some money to seek professional help. The lesson here is to DOUBLE, TRIPLE or even QUADRUPLE check every item in your petition and to make sure that you put in "NONE" or "N/A" wherever necessary. I guess if USCIS had caught the mistake before sending an approval notice to me, maybe it would not have taken this long. Still, try to catch everything on your own if you can before it gets too messy like my situation.

Good luck.

OMG!! My case is simmiler to yours. I got NOA2 aproved on April 4th. And got my case number from American Embassy on 23rd. But on 24th, My I-129F is send back to request to USCIS office...

I called USCIS and they said wait minimum 120days once your I-129F is sent back. I also called NVC and they said my I-129F is sent back to USCIS on May 9th. So from that day, I need to wait 120days... Too long...

So your case helped me a lot. Im in stress now but feel little bit better!!

I was checking other people's case but I couldn't find like my case...

Hope everything will be ok.