Notice of Potential Interview Waiver Case

[Derwood 203]

I am pretty hesitant about posting this here, as I don't want to upset anyone who has been waiting longer than me

But back in early December me and my husband moved house, so I filed the change of address with them and got a letter back saying they acknowledge it, etc. I kinda laughed to myself and put the letter away thinking whatever it's going to be like another 3 months wait anyways

I had actually given up checking my case status because it said the same thing since I applied "your fingerprint fee is received"

One day I was getting really ticked off so I decided to check my case status and lo and behold it said "your welcome notice has been mailed"

I was like, what on earth? Must be some kind of error, I was so used to waiting at this point that i thought it was just an error on there side and they had updated my case instead of someone else's

But no, I did indeed get a welcome notice which said I would receive me GC on March 1st

Thought nothing of it, thinking it was just something you got halfway between being a waiver case or something

Decided to check my case status the next day, and now it shows a USPS tracking number, checked that and it said it was out for delivery

They delivered it to my old house, despite me telling USPS and USCIS that my address had changed a month ago (so if you have/are going to change address, please keep this in mind)

So we drove to our old house, lo and behold there is a USPS priority mail envelope, and inside is a leaflet with some info and stuck to a letter inside also was my GC. I almost just about fainted in shock.

I am of course really happy! But I would have been a lot happier if you guys who had been waiting way longer than me, had gotten yours first. I really wish they would tell us why they seem to work on cases in random orders. The only thing I can think of was my case was laying collecting dust somewhere and when I changed my adfress they had to pull it out to update it and then just went ahead and approved it

Because honestly, our cases should all be easy approvals

Anywho I really hope I didn't upset anyone by posting this. It wasn't my intention to rub it on or brag, on the contrary I am quite upset that they are working on things in a weird order. I really wish those of you who had been waiting a long time could have gotten it yesterday instead of me. But I just wanted to update you guys about this and let you know.

OMG! Congratulations Otter~ This is amazing news! I'm so pleased for you. Natonstan is going to freak!

Please could you update your signature with the new dates. Thanks!

Edited January 9, 2015 by Derwood

[Anna&Adam 0]

quick question if someone knows... i am still in peru and planning on coming back this weekend... my green card was ordered and produced yesterday... i have my AP with me but no GC since it was just approved... should i worry about going back?

I'm worried about the same thing. Not that I've been approved yet, but I have a trip to Australia in 8 weeks, and it would be just my luck to be approved when I'm either outside the US, or to be approved beforehand but still waiting for the GC when I am due to fly out.

Can anyone confirm if the AP card is invalid as soon as the GC is approved?

[mav11235 10]

Hm is that something I have to be logged into my account to see? I haven't used the website much since they updated it. And they locked me out of my account and I can't get back in it x_x; sent them an email and they never unlocked it sadly

Yes you have to be logged in to be able to see case history.

Mine shows this below the actual case status thing.

If despite this they send it to wrong address then I shall feel that a lot of the abuse they get on this forum is probably deserved.

Edited January 9, 2015 by mav11235

[Natonstan 129]

OMG! Congratulations Otter~ This is amazing news! I'm so pleased for you. Natonstan is going to freak!

Please could you update your signature with the new dates. Thanks!

Sorry I haven't been in much today, I'm on the road as we speak ready to hunt down a wild Otter.

J/k that is great news Otter, I have no idea what kinda order they're doing them in but it seems completely random like you said, I figured they'd be doing them in order and it would be end of this month/February at least before I heard anything but maybe your news gives us hope!

Oh and hi shell! Great to see you in our "little" club!

[volkditty 23]

I am pretty hesitant about posting this here, as I don't want to upset anyone who has been waiting longer than me

But back in early December me and my husband moved house, so I filed the change of address with them and got a letter back saying they acknowledge it, etc. I kinda laughed to myself and put the letter away thinking whatever it's going to be like another 3 months wait anyways

I had actually given up checking my case status because it said the same thing since I applied "your fingerprint fee is received"

One day I was getting really ticked off so I decided to check my case status and lo and behold it said "your welcome notice has been mailed"

I was like, what on earth? Must be some kind of error, I was so used to waiting at this point that i thought it was just an error on there side and they had updated my case instead of someone else's

But no, I did indeed get a welcome notice which said I would receive me GC on March 1st

Thought nothing of it, thinking it was just something you got halfway between being a waiver case or something

Decided to check my case status the next day, and now it shows a USPS tracking number, checked that and it said it was out for delivery

They delivered it to my old house, despite me telling USPS and USCIS that my address had changed a month ago (so if you have/are going to change address, please keep this in mind)

So we drove to our old house, lo and behold there is a USPS priority mail envelope, and inside is a leaflet with some info and stuck to a letter inside also was my GC. I almost just about fainted in shock.

I am of course really happy! But I would have been a lot happier if you guys who had been waiting way longer than me, had gotten yours first. I really wish they would tell us why they seem to work on cases in random orders. The only thing I can think of was my case was laying collecting dust somewhere and when I changed my adfress they had to pull it out to update it and then just went ahead and approved it

Because honestly, our cases should all be easy approvals

Anywho I really hope I didn't upset anyone by posting this. It wasn't my intention to rub it on or brag, on the contrary I am quite upset that they are working on things in a weird order. I really wish those of you who had been waiting a long time could have gotten it yesterday instead of me. But I just wanted to update you guys about this and let you know.

Congrats! Almost makes me want to submit a Change of Address update on our case (even though we haven't moved) just to get them to look at our file again...

[Natonstan 129]

Congrats! Almost makes me want to submit a Change of Address update on our case (even though we haven't moved) just to get them to look at our file again...

I changed my address at the start of December, didn't change a thing, they didn't even look at my case!

[Anonymous885 44]

I had changed my address on September 2014 and that was it.

I changed my address recently on 01/06/2015, and the case is assigned to the officer for response.

I will let you guys know if that will change the situation.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Anonymous885

[Pat80 12]

I'm worried about the same thing. Not that I've been approved yet, but I have a trip to Australia in 8 weeks, and it would be just my luck to be approved when I'm either outside the US, or to be approved beforehand but still waiting for the GC when I am due to fly out.

Can anyone confirm if the AP card is invalid as soon as the GC is approved?

quick question if someone knows... i am still in peru and planning on coming back this weekend... my green card was ordered and produced yesterday... i have my AP with me but no GC since it was just approved... should i worry about going back?

I'm going back Thailand in next 2 weeks.....worried about this too.

But from my research jojha, you'll be fine if you get approved while you were outside the US. You can use AP to enter the US with no problems!

The problems is if we get approval before flying date, we have to wait for physical GC or i-551 stamp. and another one is if we get denial while we are not in the US. We will not be allowed to go back US anymore which is the risk.

Does anyone ever know interview waiver case get GC denial? please share...thanks!

[Derwood 203]

What actually happens at the NBC for NPIW cases is a mystery. My understanding was that the NBC have a department that process NPIW cases. However, recent congressmen enquiries have suggested that the NBC is just a holding facility for NPIW cases and that all such cases are drip-fed to offices with spare capacity for processing. This drip-feed takes no account of local area responsibility e.g. a Portland Oregon case could be sent to Tampa Florida for processing if the Tampa office have less work at that time.

I think I've found a definite answer to this in a USCIS AILA Q&A document from October 2013:

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/PED-AILA-NBC-QA-103113.pdf

5. What progress has the NBC made to arrange for the posting of the processing times for each interview-waiver eligible Form I-485, including those forwarded to a field office, on the USCIS Processing Time Information webpage

Response: Currently the NBC does not have sufficient personnel to adjudicate the interview waiver I-485s to completion. The NBC does the pre-processing for the interview waiver I-485s and then transfers the applications to the Field Offices for adjudication. Field Offices request IW 485s based on their processing capacity. The processing goal for all I-485s is 4 months.

6. Please explain how interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485 are assigned to USCIS field offices. Which cases are being sent to the field offices? Is notification of a file transfer to the field office sent to the applicant?

Response: Interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485 are pre-processed at the NBC for the field. Field offices request these cases based on their capacity to adjudicate them. Notification of the file transfer is not sent to the applicant.

7. Many of the inquiries that the AILA NBC Committee receives involve cases that are pending beyond the posted processing times. Often, the response from the NBC is that the case has been transferred to the field office for interview, contrary to the information provided by the USCIS online case status system. If attorneys or applicants were to call the NCSC number for a status update or confirmation of the location of the file, will those officers be able to inform the attorney or applicant of the file transfer? In other words, do NCSC officers have access to the same information as the NBC?

Response: At this time Tier 1 NCSC officers do not have access to the same information as the NBC, and they would not be able to tell if the file was transferred. Tier 2 NCSC officers do have access to the same systems and will be able to inform the applicant or attorney of a file transfer.

11. What is the NBC’s processing time goal and actual processing time for interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485?

Response: Currently the NBC does not have sufficient personnel to adjudicate the interview waiver I-485s. The NBC does the pre-processing for the interview waiver I-485s, and they are subsequently sent to the Field Offices for adjudication. The processing goal for all I-485s is 4 months.

There are other (older) references to interview waivers in previous AILA Q&A sessions. It looks like the NBC used to process them through to completion but not anymore. Now I'm wondering if field offices request their own jurisdiction cases or whether they just get the first ones in the queue.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2012/April%202012/NBC-FloridaBar042412.pdf

(See Question 2)

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2012/November%202012/NBC-AILA-11-30-12.pdf

(Search on the word 'waiver').

There is no mention of waiver cases in the most recent Q&A session but hopefully it will get raised in 2015!

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/PED_FINAL_AILA_Agenda_VerDiv_November_2014.pdf

Edited January 9, 2015 by Derwood

[Davesings 30]

Anywho I really hope I didn't upset anyone by posting this. It wasn't my intention to rub it on or brag, on the contrary I am quite upset that they are working on things in a weird order. I really wish those of you who had been waiting a long time could have gotten it yesterday instead of me. But I just wanted to update you guys about this and let you know.

Congrats Otter! That's awesome!

I think I've found a definite answer to this in a USCIS AILA Q&A document from October 2013:

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/PED-AILA-NBC-QA-103113.pdf

5. What progress has the NBC made to arrange for the posting of the processing times for each interview-waiver eligible Form I-485, including those forwarded to a field office, on the USCIS Processing Time Information webpage

Response: Currently the NBC does not have sufficient personnel to adjudicate the interview waiver I-485s to completion. The NBC does the pre-processing for the interview waiver I-485s and then transfers the applications to the Field Offices for adjudication. Field Offices request IW 485s based on their processing capacity. The processing goal for all I-485s is 4 months.

6. Please explain how interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485 are assigned to USCIS field offices. Which cases are being sent to the field offices? Is notification of a file transfer to the field office sent to the applicant?

Response: Interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485 are pre-processed at the NBC for the field. Field offices request these cases based on their capacity to adjudicate them. Notification of the file transfer is not sent to the applicant.

7. Many of the inquiries that the AILA NBC Committee receives involve cases that are pending beyond the posted processing times. Often, the response from the NBC is that the case has been transferred to the field office for interview, contrary to the information provided by the USCIS online case status system. If attorneys or applicants were to call the NCSC number for a status update or confirmation of the location of the file, will those officers be able to inform the attorney or applicant of the file transfer? In other words, do NCSC officers have access to the same information as the NBC?

Response: At this time Tier 1 NCSC officers do not have access to the same information as the NBC, and they would not be able to tell if the file was transferred. Tier 2 NCSC officers do have access to the same systems and will be able to inform the applicant or attorney of a file transfer.

11. What is the NBC’s processing time goal and actual processing time for interview-waiver eligible Forms I-485?

Response: Currently the NBC does not have sufficient personnel to adjudicate the interview waiver I-485s. The NBC does the pre-processing for the interview waiver I-485s, and they are subsequently sent to the Field Offices for adjudication. The processing goal for all I-485s is 4 months.

There are other (older) references to interview waivers in previous AILA Q&A sessions. It looks like the NBC used to process them through to completion but not anymore. Now I'm wondering if field offices request their own jurisdiction cases or whether they just get the first ones in the queue.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2012/April%202012/NBC-FloridaBar042412.pdf

(See Question 2)

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2012/November%202012/NBC-AILA-11-30-12.pdf

(Search on the word 'waiver').

There is no mention of waiver cases in the most recent Q&A session but hopefully it will get raised in 2015!

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/PED_FINAL_AILA_Agenda_VerDiv_November_2014.pdf

Thanks for this info Derwood!

[shadygr8 0]

Hi guys i have been reading the posts , but since i dint have any updates i didnt post anything. I got the NPIW letter on 10th july and one day i called the ucis office in october and the person let me put in a service request the exact date was 10/09/2014. 2 months passed i dint get any email from them so i forgot about it completely but last night i got this email from them

The status of this service request is:

Our records show that your I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status is currently pending adjudication. The Newark Field office received your case on 12/08/2014 and has been classified as a possible interview waiver case. We regret that we are unable to provide you with a completion date at this time. We apologize for the delay.

We hope this information is helpful and appreciate your continued patience.

so there has been some movement on my file i dont know if i should be happy or worried since file was sent to newark, NJ and i live in houston

[otter~ 17]

Thanks everyone! And Derwood I will update my signature dates as soon as I get on my computer! I usually use VJ on my mobile

And yeah, please do be very careful guys. I did update my address with them at the beginning of December and yet they STILL sent it to my old address. I even had USPS forwarding set up as well. They forwarded all my other mail, but not the card

Thankfully I still had the mail key to the other place, otherwise I wouldn't have got it.

When you guys do get a message about them sending the card out, make sure to tell your local post office of your last address to keep an eye out for it. It will be in a priority mail envelope. Make sure if they see it to hold on to it for you as there is a good chance it will go to the old address!!

The funniest thing is, on the welcome notice, it has the address, and then like further down it has "please contact us if that info is not correct"

So I call them and this guy tells me he can't even see my address on file?? He was telling me to go make an infopass :/

[Anonymous885 44]

I requested to update the new address last few days and they just updated the address without touching my case.

[D + B 5]

So i just filed our first service request...We'll see how that goes - most probably like everyone else's lately.

In the meantime, I'm working on my new letter writing campaign. My mission, to write all of my representatives (House & Senate - both parties) and let them all have it: tell them what's going on, ie the Waiver Letters and us not knowing where or when our cases will be determined, the lack of updates on the part of USCIS, the lack of knowledge/information being given by Tier 1, the threat of more money spent on new Medicals because of inactivity on the government's part, etc.

Oh and Otter, Congrats! It's especially lucky you got mad enough to check your status given it was mailed to your old address!

[Derwood 203]

Congrats Otter! That's awesome!

Thanks for this info Derwood!

so there has been some movement on my file i dont know if i should be happy or worried since file was sent to newark, NJ and i live in houston

No problem Davesings you are welcome. It's interesting information. However, now that we have the process confirmed and we know that NPIW cases can be sent to any field office for processing I have a list of new questions in my head:

• If the NBC drip-feed the cases to the field offices in the order that they receive them, how did Otter~'s case get processed earlier than others? (Congrats again Otter~! Awesome!)
• Does this mean that the cases received before Otter~'s have actually been sent to field offices already and are languishing there instead of the NBC? Was Otter~ just lucky in that hers got sent to a very quiet local office?
• Should the people that have been waiting six months be asking to speak to Tier 2 officers to find out if their case has been transferred?
• Please can my case be sent to Honolulu and can I then please be called for interview. ;-)