RFE on I-129F and Withdrawal of Previos 4 y.o. Petition

[Lingbaa 1]

My first time posting here although I have greatly benefitted from the wealth of information on these forums and the wisdom of some of the more experiences members. I am an engineer and used to documenting everything in writing and I have done things in the past like settling an estate with no will and 4 different parties involved, however nothing in my life up to this point has prepared me for the current situation I am in, trying to decipher the intricacies of immigration law and wading through the often ambiguous or just plain wrong information provided by USCIS phone representatives.

My question is related to an RFE I received July 20th on my current I-129F filing pertaining to a waiver for violation of the IMBRA act. I had previously filed one I-129F filing back in January 2008 and the petition was approved with no RFEs in Dec. 2008. Due to an amicable ending of the relationship back in early 2009 there were no further filings on this petition, no interview was ever scheduled, etc. The NOA1 stated that it was only good for four months and so i had wrongly assumed that it was in an inactive, canceled or deleted status when I filed again more than three years later. When I completed the current I-129F I believed that I was not in violation of any provisions of the IMBRA act of not more than one previous filing and more than 2 years earlier for previous filing.. I checked the box and put the info related to the previous I-129F filing (beneficiary name, date, embassy ) in the appropriate section of my current I-129F.

When I called USCIS to ask about the RFE (at first I thought that there must have been a mistake) they would not tell me what aspect of MBRA act i had violated, just that it was something related to IMBRA. I then looked up the old case from 2008 online and found that it still show up as "Post Decision Activity" status and last action was approval on Dec 22 2008. I called USCIS again and asked how t cancel this old petition and they advised me to create a Request to Withdraw this old petition and send it in to my facing California Service Center by certified mail. I asked a second phone CS agent at USCIS and got the same answer. I drafted the letter with all of the info they requested that I include and made an appt at the InfoPass office so that I could show the document to someone in person just to confirm a third time. The Info Pass representative confirmed that the document looked correct and that i should mail it to the California Service Center. I did so the next day, but waited over 5 weeks with no response.

Although my receipt from the certified mail shows that it had been received more than 5 weeks earlier, the USCIS states that the California Service Center has never received the Withdrawal letter from me on this old approved petition. I told the USCIS CS rep I would like to investigate what happened to my filing as I had never received anything and was told someone would get back to me in 5 days. After 5 days I called again and now was told that they e-mailed me that info (they hadn't) but the results were that they confirmed that the 4 y.o. petition was approved back in 2008 and that I could still proceed to the next step in obtaining a K1 visa on that petition. Arrrrgggh! I explained that I was trying to Withdraw this old petition and was told someone would look into that and a few days later I did get a letter which stated that they would like to apologize for giving me the incorrect information on my inquiry about the lost withdrawal, however no recommendation on how to proceed in actually withdrawing the old petition.

At this point I started reading over the VJ forums and found that everything I had been told by USCIS to date was incorrect, that the Request to Withdraw must be sent to the embassy in the country of my former fiance. VJ forums are more accurate and complete than any info I have received from USCIS. I sent an e-mail inquiry and a PDF of my request to withdraw the petition to the US Embassy in my former fiance's home country and received an immediate response that the document should be notarized and sent to them, and then they would pull the petition and send it back to NVC. I sent the notarized document and a week later on Sept. 17th when I called the NVC they advised me that they received the paperwork back from the US embassy and had forwarded everything back to USCIS California Service Center the same day. That seemed odd, almost like nothing is processed or reviewed at NVC? They stated that the physical documents are sent back to Cal Service Center and not just a notice to cancel the visa in their system so,"...it takes at least 60 days for it to be received there in California and 120 days for the case status to be updated online in the USCIS system. I called the USCIS 800 number a week later and 4 more times up until last Fri Oct 28th and they tell me that to date, they have never received any paperwork from NVC or updates from them on the withdrawal when I give them the case # for this old petition.

Now my deadline for responding to the RFE on my current petition is looming (Oct. 8th) and so I must submit it this week. i am 15 min from the Post Office for CSC so this time, when I submit the RFE I will hand deliver it to the PO and get a proof of delivery. My question for the VJ community is how I should complete the RFE response document. I was hoping to be able to show the updated status online or confirm with the USCIS that they received the withdrawn petition or some proof that it has been withdrawn, but it appears that this is not possible. I also asked the NVC if they could provide me with some proof of receiving/sending the withdrawn petition back to USCIS but they tell me that they do not do that. I just have a copy of my notarized withdrawal form that i sent to the embassy now to show that the process has been started to have it withdrawn. IS this going to be enough evidence for them to approve the petition? In my response, should I document every step I have taken in calling the USCIS, getting an InfoPass appt and then sending the withdrawal to CSC or should I just forget that part and only tell them about the documents sent to the Embassy and the verbal I received from NVC that it was processed? Should I ask for a waiver in my RFE or just state that I thought that I was in compliance with IMBRA provisions and that once the old petition is officially withdrawn no waiver is necessary. I asked these questions to USCIS and they said they cannot give e this info and that I should consult an immigration atty.

Thanks in advance and sorry I have written so much, but I did not want to leave out any details that may be important.

Pete

[Ontarkie 14,565]

Moved to K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures from Off Topics, as this is a K1 topic.

[Ghana1987 0]

I am in the same boat as you. I also just received an RFE for the same thing.

did you figure it out? what happened to your old petición? did USCIS accept your evidence and withdrawal your old Petition? if so how did you do it?

please help me because I am exactly in your shows. the only diffrence is that I was married and doing the K3 visa. therefore I have the divorcie decrece. but just like your ex my ex also never made it to the interview process.

[TBoneTX 46,304]

Thread from 2012 is now closed to further comment. If the OP returns and has a response, it can be posted in the new thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/583125-general-waiver-for-multiple-filer/

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