Urgent advice requested: I-751 RFE never received, now beyond deadline

[Mark_Mor 0]

Hi all,

I would greatly appreciate any guidance that can be provided based on a difficult situation we are having regarding our I-751 and an RFE. The problems appear to be due to poor communication, problems with USPS, and/or bureaucractic/administrative errors within USCIS. Bottom line: we never received a supposed RFE, just got the first copy today, and in that copy it says deadline for response was over a month ago. Now trying to figure out what to do. More details below. Any guidance would be most helpful!

Brief background:

My wife (she is applicant) I submitted our I-751 in July of 2011. It was received on 29 July, 2011. On August, 23rd, 2011, she had her biometrics appointment. Since that date, we had heard nothing, nor had any mail updates, nor seen any status changes on the USCIS site (to date the case status still reads "initial review"). Last month (June), we became increasingly anxious because her current extension expires at the end of July - two short weeks away. We started calling the USCIS Call Center frequently to understand what was going on. Finally, we found out that we had apparently been sent an RFE. We had never received it. We requested the RFE be resent, and after several more phone calls and generic update letters that acknowledged our inquiry but did not provide the information in the RFE, we finally received another copy of the RFE today (14 July, 2012).

Issue:

The RFE notice date is March 08, 2012, and date that the response is required is June 03, 2012. That is over a month ago and this is the first time we have seen this document. The language in the letter is direct: "you will not be granted an extension of time to submit the requested evidence" and "if you do not respond within the allowable time period, USCIS will deny your petition. A denial of your petition may result in the termination of your conditional resident status and your possible removal from the United States".

Questions:

1) Has anyone been in a similar situation and resolved it? If so, please can you detail how this was done? For example, did you hire an immigration lawyer? If so what did they do? (And if they are in the New York City area - whom?). Did you obtain a letter from an elected official asking for an extension? Something else?

2) As the above sounds drastic, surely there are situations in which extensions are granted - what is the process for doing so?

2) We had already arranged for an infopass interview (its this coming Monday the 16th)to request an extension to our current extension of her green card for another few months (NOTE: the interview is not specific to an extension of this RFE). Does this current challenge with our RFE have any bearing on that broader extension request through the infopass interview?

Thanks so much for any guidance that can be provided - it would be a huge help.

Mark

[Beach Bum 4]

One of the mods should move this topic, maybe people with more information and experience can answer your questions, Im Sorry

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

**** Moving from AOS to ROC forum *****

[Mark_Mor 0]

**** Moving from AOS to ROC forum *****

Dear Perguin_ie: Thanks so much for moving this into the ROC forum, my apologies for the misplacement, this is my first post on the site. If any one has any guidance or advice, it would be most appreciated. Thank you!

[Anh map 2,098]

Can you bring what's requested in the RFE to the infopass? That seems to be your best shot to handle it yourselves. If not, an attorney may be a good next step. Someone that knows the ins and outs.

I used to hear an immigration attorney on the radio in the NYC area when I would be driving through. Seemed to be experienced. Here is the link to their site >> http://www.4immigration.com/

[Mark_Mor 0]

Can you bring what's requested in the RFE to the infopass? That seems to be your best shot to handle it yourselves. If not, an attorney may be a good next step. Someone that knows the ins and outs.

I used to hear an immigration attorney on the radio in the NYC area when I would be driving through. Seemed to be experienced. Here is the link to their site >> http://www.4immigration.com/

Hi, thanks so much for the prompt response and guidance. Some information we can try and present at the infopass appointment, but as we just received the RFE yesterday night and the Infopass appointment is Monday afternoon we wont be able to compile a complete file (e.g. we are trying to get affadavits from more friends, documentation from bank and employment showing designation of beneficiaries).

My concern is that at the infopass appointment (which again, was originally just for a general extension to our existing 1-year extension), they will now deny our request for general extension due to being over deadline on the RFE. Is that likely? Do staff at infopass appointments have full and complete access to updated records? And do they have the breadth of authority to resolve this RFE issue on the spot? Sorry for all the questions, obviously we are flying blind and just trying to collect as much information as possible.

We will definitely follow up on the lawyer recommendation - thank you for the link.

Any further guidance or direct experience anyone else may have with this type of situation, and can share, would be a tremendous help.

Thanks so much,

Mark

[Sandra G. 5,075]

Read about USCIS administrative errors

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2012/April/Correcting_Administrative_Error.pdf