Filed I-130 for my newborn son, have not received a reply yet!! Help!

[raheelc 0]

Hi,

I am a US citizen residing abroad (Islamabad, Pakistan). A little background info first; I have previously filed an I-130 for my wife, and she has received her immigrant visa but has not yet traveled to the US (visa is valid until mid June). She received her immigrant visa when she was 38 weeks pregnant so obviously she couldn't travel. Subsequently, she delivered our son in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Now the current situation- I went to the US embassy but was told I couldn't file for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad because I do not meet the physical presence requirements (I've been living in Pakistan since I was 13). They provided my with a letter stating the same thing, and told me to attach it to my I-130 petition for my son. So, on February 12, 2013 I mailed the I-130 petition for my son via Fedex to the Chicago lockbox. On February 14, 2013 the petition was delivered (checked via Fedex Tracking). Now, here's the issue - I have not yet received any sort of correspondence from the USCIS (no Notice of Action, etc.) and the check that I provided with the petition has not yet been cashed either, and its been more than a month. I tried calling the USCIS and I was on hold for 45 minutes before my call was disconnected. I've also emailed them at this address Lockboxsupport@dhs.gov (two days ago) but have not heard back yet.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what my next step should be? I'd really appreciate it!

[sohails 0]

hi

i was wondering if you got any help? as i have similar case like yours...I am from Karachi

[raheelc 0]

Hi,

I actually never received a reply from the Lockbox email support, and no help whatsoever from USCIS (they said they didn't have any record of my case). So what I ended up doing was resending the petition with a new cover letter stating everything that happened with the first petition and that I was resending it. And this time I sent it via DHL instead of Fedex. A day after the tracking information showed that the petition was delivered I received the e-notification of acceptance, and about 2 weeks after I received the Notice of Action receipt in the mail!

[let-it-be 36]

Does US Embassy in Pakistan offer Direct Consular Filing? Just wondering why you didn't go this route since your are a US citizen that is a resident in Pakistan?

[raheelc 0]

The embassy in pakistan doesn't offer Direct Consular Filing anymore, they stopped about two years ago. That was my initial plan but I had to apply through the Chicago Lockbox instead.