passport and evidence photos returned! HelP?

[benandnordhey 2]

So, I have a strange situation and I don't know what to do about it: A couple weeks after turning in my application, I received a package from USCIS containing 2 ziplock bags, one containing passport photos of me and my fiancee and one containing my evidence photos. They were accompanied by a letter that said "We are returning items you sent in support of your application/petition, as it is in a format we cannot place in your file folder for review by an officer during the adjudication process." The letter gave no explanation of hat I did wrong or how to fix the problem.It just gave me the National service number for questions. I spent countless hours everyday explaining and reexplaining the situation to one clueless telephone rep after another. No one had any answers or new what to tell me to do next. What was most confusing at the time was that I had not even received my form I-797C yet and had no receipt number at all.

a few weeks later, I finally received my form I-797C, Stating that my application had been received and forwarded to the California Service Center for processing. Still no mention of the returned photos. I called back in, this time with my receipt number and explained the situation another 200 times, and spend a total of about 10 hours on the phone over a 5 day period. No one knew what to do, or could tell me how to fix the problem. Finally, a supervisor said she would write an internal memo about my situation and for me to sit tight for 15 days for a response. Today. 20 days later, I received a letter from the Department of Homeland security stating "According to the history on your case we do not show anything being received or sent back to you. Make sure you sent the evidence to the correct address and include your receipt number along with the reason why you are submitting the documents."

So, nobody can explain why the photos were sent back or how to reformat them. They also state that they never received or sent them back. I am at a loss as to what to do to fix this. I don't understand why they would accept the application without passport photos. I'm afraid they will deny my application because of this. If they would just tell me where to send the photos, I could take care of this. What should I do? I don't know if I should try to do the photos again and send them in...but then do I send them to Texas (where the original application was sent) or do I send them to the Califiornia service center where they forwarded my application to. Or should I just wait for a request for evidence ...or am I in danger of getting rejected because they sent back my photos and kept no record, making it look like I never sent them in the first place. I'm really worried about this. My fiancee and I are on a tight budget, and we can't afford long delays. I will continue calling them, but so far the Customer Service Number has proven useless. Can anyone please give me some educated advice on this matter? I've already lost an entire month to this problem...

Edited January 8, 2013 by benandnordhey

[Lilly2302 302]

What happened? I received a letter with that exact text and I don't have a Case Number yet. What did u do?

 

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

Very odd, I know plenty of people who sent loose photos and they were accepted.

What is generally recommended though is to print out 4-6 photos on normal paper, with a short caption and date each, that is easier to put in a file.