Advance Parole Emergency - Please Advise

[cellardoor10 0]

Dear VJers,

My wife and I have a huge problem:

She came to the U.S. on a K-1 visa, we got married Feb. 15 and the USCIS received our permanent residence & advance parole applications on Feb. 20. She has been unexpectedly informed that she needs to return to her university on May 15th for a graduate dissertation review, or else her Master's degree will be revoked, two years of study will be discredited, and two year's worth of tuition will be wasted.

We went to the Newark, NJ infopass this Friday, May 3rd, to try to get an emergency advance parole, but the woman at the counter said only serious illness or death in the family would qualify, and wouldn't budge. We immediately called USCIS, spoke with someone at the supervisor level, opened an expedite request and faxed over evidence, all same day that Friday. But my faith in the expedite system is slim since we have almost no time now, and the expedite process needs 5 days to respond(and this is no guarantee they will approve). We're extremely afraid we're going to be forced to have her leave the U.S. without the advance parole in hand, dooming us to being separated, once again, for months at a time.

Would anyone be able to help me figure out what our options and consequences are at this point?

If she leaves the country, what actions can I take, if any, to prevent the abandonment of her I-485 permanent resident application?

Can I mail the advance parole to her in China once we get it?

Any alternate actions I can take?

Thank you in advance for help in this terrible situation.

[Peter_Pan 661]

If your NOA is Feb. 20 you should have gotten your card by now.

I would mail it to her to China. When did you have the biometrics?

[Pitaya 2,577]

Dear VJers,

My wife and I have a huge problem:

She came to the U.S. on a K-1 visa, we got married Feb. 15 and the USCIS received our permanent residence & advance parole applications on Feb. 20. She has been unexpectedly informed that she needs to return to her university on May 15th for a graduate dissertation review, or else her Master's degree will be revoked, two years of study will be discredited, and two year's worth of tuition will be wasted.

We went to the Newark, NJ infopass this Friday, May 3rd, to try to get an emergency advance parole, but the woman at the counter said only serious illness or death in the family would qualify, and wouldn't budge. We immediately called USCIS, spoke with someone at the supervisor level, opened an expedite request and faxed over evidence, all same day that Friday. But my faith in the expedite system is slim since we have almost no time now, and the expedite process needs 5 days to respond(and this is no guarantee they will approve). We're extremely afraid we're going to be forced to have her leave the U.S. without the advance parole in hand, dooming us to being separated, once again, for months at a time.

Would anyone be able to help me figure out what our options and consequences are at this point?

If she leaves the country, what actions can I take, if any, to prevent the abandonment of her I-485 permanent resident application?

Can I mail the advance parole to her in China once we get it?

Any alternate actions I can take?

Thank you in advance for help in this terrible situation.

So sorry to hear of your tale of impending woe, certainly not a very enviable situation.

Since you don't have a timeline set-up, what date did you receive your AOS/EAD/AP NOA1 receipts?

You have pretty much listed all of your options:

• Wait for the AP document, either expedited or not.
• Leave the US without the AP document, then hope and pray that it arrives, and then you can express mail it to your wife in China. I think that I have heard of that being attempted, not sure of the success rate.
• She will be denied re-entry if she does not have the AP document when she tries to come back. and as you mention, USCIS will assume that she abandoned her pending immigration activities.
• Perhaps you could try another InfoPass appointment?
• Contact your elected Federal officials to intercede on your behalf?
• Would the university be willing to postpone the meeting until such time as the immigration issues can be settled?

I wish you good luck in trying to get this impending mess taken care of.

Report back with (hopefully) good news and progress.

It helps everyone that uses the forum. It also enables responders to accurately formulate responses based upon your timeline.

[cellardoor10 0]

Biometrics were done on Mach 19th. When I check the case status, it still says "Initial Review."

Could a letter from a congressman or senator force them to pull up the application and act on it?

[Pitaya 2,577]

Biometrics were done on Mach 19th. When I check the case status, it still says "Initial Review."

Could a letter from a congressman or senator force them to pull up the application and act on it?

It might get things going. Of course, time is of the essence, and am not sure how swift the cong./senator can get move it along. Just a thought.

Contacting the USCIS ombudsman, for assistance, may be another option:

http://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance#1

Edited May 5, 2013 by A&B

[cellardoor10 0]

Thank you both for the feedback thus far. I am going to contact at least one senator and one congressman, but do I tell them to give me a letter so that I can personally take it to the infopass? Or do I tell them to mail it to USCIS, and if so, what address is the one for handling I-131 travel documents?

[Pitaya 2,577]

Thank you both for the feedback thus far. I am going to contact at least one senator and one congressman, but do I tell them to give me a letter so that I can personally take it to the infopass? Or do I tell them to mail it to USCIS, and if so, what address is the one for handling I-131 travel documents?

They will likely have their own means of communications with USCIS. Be sure to provide them with all of your pertinent information, i.e., receipt numbers, contact information, etc.

[Pitaya 2,577]

I mentioned the ombudsman because they work for the same agency and may have faster access to your paperwork.

[cellardoor10 0]

The ombudsman: wow, I've read hundreds of posts here on VJ and never heard of that. That's a good ace to play in case I don't hear back from senators and congressman.

Regarding federal officials, should I contact both state senators and a congressman all at the same time, since who knows how slow they will respond (or not respond at all?) Could there be any harm should the USCIS receive TWO federal inquires?

[Pitaya 2,577]

If I were you, I would be more concerned with getting some action now, rather than worrying about legislators requests to an executive branch of government. That could take some time.

The ombudsman office has an on-line form that you could fill-out and send in today, to get the ball rolling.

YMMV.

Good luck.

[cellardoor10 0]

Doing the ombudsman route asap. I still think getting a senator or congressman letter is worth a shot though. Who knows. :-)

If anyone has any other advice or tactics. Please let me know!

[Grant PDX 183]

Do everything. Since this is so critical, don't wait for one step before you start the next. Shotgun approach, IMHO.

Good luck!

[Pitaya 2,577]

Do everything. Since this is so critical, don't wait for one step before you start the next. Shotgun approach, IMHO.

Good luck!

Agree.

[Boiler 45,761]

Would the university be willing to postpone the meeting until such time as the immigration issues can be settled?

My vote.

[kzielu 1,149]

I think some posters above (leave and have the AP sent over) are missing one quite important point - USCIS uses airline departure data to check whether AOS have been abandoned. Sending AP if issued after departure is going to be pointless.