Help from Visa Center vs. USCIS

[michelle7 0]

Hello-

I am a US citizen and my husband is from Mexico. He entered without inspection almost 20 years ago. Recently, our I-130 was approved, but our I-485 (based on my father-in-law's labor certification) was denied and we have decided not to appeal.

I was told by an attorney that the next step is to fill out an I-824(Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition) in order to get our file sent from Memphis to the consulate in Juarez, Mexico. However, when I contacted the USCIS hotline to ask some questions about filling out the form, the rep. stated that our file automatically gets sent to the National Visa Center for further processing and that they will use their discretion to decide whether or not his Visa can be approved here in the US. This is completely different information than I received from any attorney I have spoken with.

Basically, we are not sure what action to take at this time. We have about 5 days left before our time is up to appeal. Since we are not appealing, he will be unlawfully present I'm assuming. We want to get through this process as quickly as possible. Please help! Thank you.