USCIS customer service error (merged)

[POA 178]

Hi! I am a USC and filed a I-130 for my Filipina wife and got denied on Monday due to abandonment. On March 4, they sent I-72 for us to send a g-325a both for the petitioner and beneficiary. We filled it out the way it was asked to be filled out on the I-130 instruction and was received by USCIS on March 14, 2013. On the letter they said that we failed to send the requested G-325a as directed on the form I-72 and it is not appealable but we can file a motion to reopen it. My question is, if the motion to reopen was accepted, how many percentage can we get an approval? Which is better, to file a motion to reopen or just refile a new I-130 petition? and why?

Hope you could help me.

[dwheels76 5,469]

Hi! I am a USC and filed a I-130 for my Filipina wife and got denied on Monday due to abandonment. On March 4, they sent I-72 for us to send a g-325a both for the petitioner and beneficiary. We filled it out the way it was asked to be filled out on the I-130 instruction and was received by USCIS on March 14, 2013. On the letter they said that we failed to send the requested G-325a as directed on the form I-72 and it is not appealable but we can file a motion to reopen it. My question is, if the motion to reopen was accepted, how many percentage can we get an approval? Which is better, to file a motion to reopen or just refile a new I-130 petition? and why?

Hope you could help me.

Did you everything with G325A? Your passport pics for each and the form fully filled out and within the time frame?

Appealing takes time. Seems easy and faster to just refile and make sure you do it all correct this time.

And it seems they are saying you didn't do what was instrcted not that you didn't send it So I don't know what you can appeal. Really relook at your G325A.

What was it you did different the second time so maybe we can see what the issue was. And were they both signed?

Edited May 24, 2013 by dwheels76

[Hypnos 6,578]

If USCIS RFE'd you for something, you then replied to the RFE (and can prove the RFE response was received by USCIS through delivery tracking) but USCIS denied your case and said you did not respond to the RFE, you should file a motion to re-open.

Note: you will need clear and convincing proof that your RFE response was received by USCIS for this to work, so a tracking number, together with the date it was delivered, etc.

If you did not mail the RFE response with a carrier that has tracking capability, or if your response to the RFE was insufficient, then you will be unlikely to succeed in such a motion and should re-file.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Hypnos

[POA 178]

Did you everything with G325A? Your passport pics for each and the form fully filled out and within the time frame?

Appealing takes time. Seems easy and faster to just refile and make sure you do it all correct this time.

And it seems they are saying you didn't do what was instrcted not that you didn't send it So I don't know what you can appeal. Really relook at your G325A.

What was it you did different the second time so maybe we can see what the issue was. And were they both signed?

Yeah they were both signed and made sure that the previous spousal info was filled out on both G-325a. The only info missing on the G-325a from the initial submission was the spousal info that was corrected when they requested for it after 3 months. Could it be possible USCIS made a mistake? We got the tracking number when we sent it on March.

[POA 178]

If USCIS RFE'd you for something, you then replied to the RFE (and can prove the RFE response was received by USCIS through delivery tracking) but USCIS denied your case and said you did not respond to the RFE, you should file a motion to re-open.

Note: you will need clear and convincing proof that your RFE response was received by USCIS for this to work, so a tracking number, together with the date it was delivered, etc.

If you did not mail the RFE response with a carrier that has tracking capability, or if your response to the RFE was insufficient, then you will be unlikely to succeed in such a motion and should re-file.

Thank you for the reply. Yeah we have the tracking number and called USCIS several times and talked to the Level 2 and was confirmed that they received it. The denial letter said we can re-open, do you think we can request for the fee to be waived since they made a mistake?

[Hypnos 6,578]

I remember someone here went through a similar issue, and they wound up having to pay the fee to re-open their case despite it being a clear USCIS error.

Perhaps if you talked to one of your congressional representatives there might be a way to do it without paying the fee.

[POA 178]

Hi everyone! I appreciate your help. We received the RFE on March 4, it was from the MN address but the i-797C was from MO, so we called the USCIS customer service to ask what address to send it to. We were told to send it where we originaly sent the I-130 which is in Chicago. So March 14, 2013, chicago got the form (G-325a) which was the only request on the I-72. We've been calling USCIS since March and was told to call after 30 days for the confirmation if they received it and finally on the first week of May, was able to talk to the Level 2 and she confirmed that they received our RFE. Comes May 20, 2013 we got an email that our petition was denied and upon received of the hard copy for the denial, the reason was due to abandonment. On the I-797C it does not say which service center it was forwarded and on the I-72 it does not say where to send it that is why called and was provided incorrect info that lead us to the denial.

What is the best thing to do in this situation and what options do we have?

[POA 178]

I remember someone here went through a similar issue, and they wound up having to pay the fee to re-open their case despite it being a clear USCIS error.

Perhaps if you talked to one of your congressional representatives there might be a way to do it without paying the fee.

Thank you. I hope not. What if it is the USCIS customer service made the mistake in giving incorrect info?

[Inky 1,111]

Does the denial letter say if you can appeal the denial or not?

If you could you would have to provide proof of mailing the RFE and USCIS telling you to mail it to chicago and such but it likely wouldn't be successful and costs a lot.

You would generally have to re-apply at this point, new petition, new evidence, new payment, etc start from square 1.

[POA 178]

Does the denial letter say if you can appeal the denial or not?

If you could you would have to provide proof of mailing the RFE and USCIS telling you to mail it to chicago and such but it likely wouldn't be successful and costs a lot.

You would generally have to re-apply at this point, new petition, new evidence, new payment, etc start from square 1.

Yes. They said we can re-open it or re-apply. We do not have any documentation to prove that they told us to send it to Chicago unless they document all the calls they receive.

That is what we are trying to avoid. The payment since it is not our fault but we have tracking # that it was sent to Chicago.

Thanks for the reply.

[Hypnos 6,578]

You have three threads on the same topic, this one, http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/432852-uscis-customer-service-error and http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/433097-which-is-better-to-re-apply-i-130-or-file-a-motion-to-re-open-the-case/ so it's been a little difficult to put it all together, but it does make more sense now. You received an RFE but mailed it to the Chicago Lockbox instead of where it was meant to go. The USCIS misinformation line is notoriously unreliable, so I think it's unlikely you would be able to circumvent the fee by claiming that they told you to send it to the wrong address (granted, they did, but they were wrong in doing so).

Could you post the I-72 RFE here? Obviously remove any personal information first.

I think re-filing will probably be your best bet, and stands the highest chance of success.

[Ryan H 3,834]

***One duplicate thread with no replies removed and report sent to Moderation Team to merge the other duplicates. Please do not create multiple threads on the same issue.***

[POA 178]

You have three threads on the same topic, this one, http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/432852-uscis-customer-service-error and http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/433097-which-is-better-to-re-apply-i-130-or-file-a-motion-to-re-open-the-case/ so it's been a little difficult to put it all together, but it does make more sense now. You received an RFE but mailed it to the Chicago Lockbox instead of where it was meant to go. The USCIS misinformation line is notoriously unreliable, so I think it's unlikely you would be able to circumvent the fee by claiming that they told you to send it to the wrong address (granted, they did, but they were wrong in doing so).

Could you post the I-72 RFE here? Obviously remove any personal information first.

I think re-filing will probably be your best bet, and stands the highest chance of success.

I'm sorry I am new to this.

Here is the rfe.

[POA 178]

Hi Guys!

This is an update on our case. We filed a complaint to the Ombudsman regarding the incorrect info that the USCIS reps provided us that lead to the denial.

They (Ombudsman) relayed it to USCIS and we were asked for the details of the calls we made, time, date, number used. Our case was recalled Last June 21, 2013. July 8, 2013, I received 3 emails, first email, said our case was reopened, an hour later, 2 emails came, 2nd email said our case has been approved, mailed the instruction and last email said our case was reopened and was mailed about the notification. We haven't received the mails so I am not sure if it is really approved. But we are happy that they were able to fix it. We filed a new petition and was received on July 1, so we will be requesting for a refund.

Hope this will help others.

[Hypnos 6,578]

Good to hear, congratulations.