I-129f petition, never received RFE and now we got denied

[icebryker 21]

What has happened in another case doesn't mean it will happen in every case.

Why do you think there is an RFE issued in your case?

Ooohhh myyy gooosh! This here makes me so afraid that we maybe never got an RFE and that's why we are still waiting ;-C! OMG!!! It is so sad I'm so sorry to hear that! My fiance he is the USC is also from Alabama and we wait since August 12th 2013! OMG I'm so freaking afraid that this happend to us too!! We never heard anything from them about a RFE we talked already several times to them even to a TIER 2! Q.q wish you good luck and hope y'all can fix the problem really quick!

Trisha is probably concerned because they got their NOA1 August 12, 2013 and it's already February 1, 2014. It has been 173 days and that's almost 6 months of waiting, and not getting any RFEs. InesD got their NOA1 September 2013, didn't get any RFE in the mail, text or email, and now they get a letter saying their petition was denied because they didn't reply to the RFE (which they never received). Its normal to freak out when you learn that situations like this happen. And no one probably knows why they are getting an RFE until they get the RFE.

Trisha, let's just hope and pray your case is not like this.

InesD, I thing Ning's suggestion about the infopass is really good.

[Boggy1974 124]

Hi :-)

My fiance ( american citizen ) and I are pretty confused of what would be the wisest thing to do in our case and I would really appreciate any suggestions.

Our case : My fiance filed the petition I-129f for the K1 Visa in September 2013. We got the acceptance confirmation via email and a few days later the letter with the Form I-797. So far so good. Then we never heard from them until the 22nd of January 2014 when my fiance received a text message that our status has been updated. So we checked our status online and were in shock when we had to read that we were denied and have to wait for the letter with the explanation. My fiance received that letter yesterday ( 31st of january ).

Here is a part of it : On November 09, 2013 USCIS requested that you submit additional evidence. You were given 87 days to respond. During that time......and so on ....and then ...As of this date the petitioner has not responded and additional time may not be granted.

And then it telsl us about our opportunity to file a motion in order to reopen or reconsider etc.....

NOW : since we never received a RFE in ANY form ( no email, no text message and no hard copy ) not only are we speechless but we, of course want to find the fastest and safest solution. I've already tried to do some research but still am not sure what to do. I guess my fiance first has to call the service center and ask for a TIER 2 person ? Is that right ? I am not sure how we can proof that we never received anything so I assume either way we will have to either file a motion or simply refile the whole petition. Question is : what is faster ?

We have been waiting for a very long time to get to this stage of getting engaged to be married and finally start our life TOGETHER in the US ( I am german but live in Greece for many years ). We really thought we got it all right and were trying to be as accurate as possible with all required documents for the I- 129f ( I was in the US again for a visit, so we were filing together ). Which doesn't matter because if something was missing or not right, it is of course only fair enough that they ask for it. But now we still don't even know WHAT wasn't right since we never got anything.

Also it says we were given 87 days to respond but got denied already after 74 days. Not that that matters but still doesn't seem quite right either.

So, fact seems to be that their mistake will cost us not only our nerves but also more money and a lot more time until I can finally move over to the US and stay for good. The time factor is the hardest because it is no fun travelling back and forth and being separated over and over again.

Thank you in advance for any suggestion what would be the wisest ( just only timewise ) for us to do.

Kind regards,

InesD

The info pass route is a good advise. I suggest the USC make that appointment.

Secondly, if you look at the K-1 checklist up the top of the page and compare that to your original submission, 9-times out of 10 you will find what document you were missing. Thus the reason for uscis issuing the RFE.

I also agree that you file a new petition if you are able to ascertain the source of the first RFE; (and that is a big *if*)

[InesD 2]

It seems RFE was sent but never made to your fiance's address. I think, wait and see what is in the denial letter i.e. what exactly is missing in the original petition. Then fix that one and refile again...that is the fastest way, especially with the pace of approval we are witnessing at the moment. I have seen an early January filer got approved towards the end of January. So, that is your best bet. I also faced a similar issue but opted to refile all over again with the new evidence that stisfay the needed requirements.

Good Luck

thank you. the denial letter is the one we received yesterday 31st of january and it doesn't say anything about what is missing. Only that the petitioner had 87 days to respond to the RFE and never did ( and how if there is no RFE ? ) We would love to fix it but the question is what is the best way without wasting so much more time.

[InesD 2]

The info pass route is a good advise. I suggest the USC make that appointment.

Secondly, if you look at the K-1 checklist up the top of the page and compare that to your original submission, 9-times out of 10 you will find what document you were missing. Thus the reason for uscis issuing the RFE.

I also agree that you file a new petition if you are able to ascertain the source of the first RFE; (and that is a big *if*)

thank you :-) according to the K1 checklist which we used when we prepared the petition and reading it very carefully even now again and again we have submitted all required documents. Only thing I can imagine would be the quality of my fiance's birth certificate....it wasn't a very good copy. but then it can be something completly different. I just wish we knew because that would be a lot easier since then we could work on our mistake :-(

[InesD 2]

I agree that the USC should make an Infopass and try to speak to someone in person to double check all of this. The letter may have a typo as you are right they claim to have given you a 87 day deadline and 87 days have not passed yet.

Most RFE deadlines I have seen though are 30 or 60 days - 87 seems like a weird number.

If they did send an RFE and you simply never got it and there was a problem with the petition then the quickest/easiest option will be to file a new petition.

But definitely try for the infopass so that you can at least try to find out what the RFE was for so that you don't make the same mistake again.

thank you :-)

[InesD 2]

Trisha is probably concerned because they got their NOA1 August 12, 2013 and it's already February 1, 2014. It has been 173 days and that's almost 6 months of waiting, and not getting any RFEs. InesD got their NOA1 September 2013, didn't get any RFE in the mail, text or email, and now they get a letter saying their petition was denied because they didn't reply to the RFE (which they never received). Its normal to freak out when you learn that situations like this happen. And no one probably knows why they are getting an RFE until they get the RFE.

Trisha, let's just hope and pray your case is not like this.

InesD, I thing Ning's suggestion about the infopass is really good.

thank you very much and you are so right. it did freak us out at first when we only got the info that our case has been denied and we have to wait for the letter. but then we thought, ok, we wait for the letter and then we know what was eventually missing or wrong and we can fix it. having received that letter now and realizing we never got an RFE is even more frustrating and probably also hard to prove.

I guess we will follow Ning's suggestion. Only that the nearest USCIS office is in Atlanta and that is pretty far away from our home in Alabama :-(

[Trisha89 36]

Trisha is probably concerned because they got their NOA1 August 12, 2013 and it's already February 1, 2014. It has been 173 days and that's almost 6 months of waiting, and not getting any RFEs. InesD got their NOA1 September 2013, didn't get any RFE in the mail, text or email, and now they get a letter saying their petition was denied because they didn't reply to the RFE (which they never received). Its normal to freak out when you learn that situations like this happen. And no one probably knows why they are getting an RFE until they get the RFE.

Trisha, let's just hope and pray your case is not like this.

InesD, I thing Ning's suggestion about the infopass is really good.

Thank you for keeping fingers crossed for us and InesD thank you too!

We haven't got an RFE yet and we wrote two months ago the senator about our case and asked him for help... My fiance was in correspondance with his secretary vis E-Mail! Last week on Monday she wrote us finally somethig more that we are looking forward to:

She said USCIS has recived our case and it is actually getting processed!! And that we should hear something within the next 30 business days... BUT OH WELL! You know USCIS has their time ranches about 30 days and they tell almost everyone about these 30 days to wait before you hear something again,.... That's what they tell the most people and then they don't hear anythin fromthem again in a lot of cases?!?

I'm so disappointed of the uscis you can't imagine! My fiance an me we are both 24, have never been married before both!! Amd both NO KIDS or criminal background I can't understand the world anymore... I can't even really believe the update they told the secretary of the senator until I finally some results! Because the wait is already so long and we talked several times to TIER 2 on their phone and just got to hear that they have passed our noa1 date and we could ask for a service request (which we did!) but no response it is one week since service request...

[InesD 2]

Thank you for keeping fingers crossed for us and InesD thank you too!

We haven't got an RFE yet and we wrote two months ago the senator about our case and asked him for help... My fiance was in correspondance with his secretary vis E-Mail! Last week on Monday she wrote us finally somethig more that we are looking forward to:

She said USCIS has recived our case and it is actually getting processed!! And that we should hear something within the next 30 business days... BUT OH WELL! You know USCIS has their time ranches about 30 days and they tell almost everyone about these 30 days to wait before you hear something again,.... That's what they tell the most people and then they don't hear anythin fromthem again in a lot of cases?!?

I'm so disappointed of the uscis you can't imagine! My fiance an me we are both 24, have never been married before both!! Amd both NO KIDS or criminal background I can't understand the world anymore... I can't even really believe the update they told the secretary of the senator until I finally some results! Because the wait is already so long and we talked several times to TIER 2 on their phone and just got to hear that they have passed our noa1 date and we could ask for a service request (which we did!) but no response it is one week since service request...

I understand how you feel. We also thought we got it all right. Followed the K1 checklist very carefully and submitted EVERYTHING required. We are both divorced from previous marriages and also submitted all divorce papers ( including the official translation for mine which was in greek ), photographs from my last 3 visits in the US, Skype calling list of the last 2 years, buyers contract for house in Alabama with both our names on, letters of intent from both of us etc...... still: something wasn't right or missing. which is ok, can happen, we are all only humans. but if you desparately want to fix it and you simply can't because you don't know WHAT to fix....that is like a bad dream really :-( makes you feel very helpless and treated unfair while so many others make their way into the country with no problems at all. Trying to be as correct and legal as possible and then getting in so much trouble is more than just frustrating......

again, I am sure in your case it is just delayed , maybe someone was sleeping. crossing both fingers for you !

[Ning 619]

sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh when I asked to please read my text again. and thank you again for your reply, I really appreciate.

Nor do I. I want you to succeed. The only way to do that now is to understand how to proceed.

Beware of mixing other people case problems with your own. Everyone means well but what they do may have nothing to do with what you need to do now. The USC in your case needs direct info from an officer at USCIS.

In your case nothing will help now expect to quickly find out what the RFE is about. Once that is done the USC can attempt to respond in the correct manner. Only then will there be a chance to get the case back on track.

The USC can make the Info Pass appointment today for the next available date they have. Even doing that may buy the time needed to extend the case.

[Ning 619]

Thank you for keeping fingers crossed for us and InesD thank you too!

We haven't got an RFE yet and we wrote two months ago the senator about our case and asked him for help... My fiance was in correspondance with his secretary vis E-Mail! Last week on Monday she wrote us finally somethig more that we are looking forward to:

She said USCIS has recived our case and it is actually getting processed!! And that we should hear something within the next 30 business days... BUT OH WELL! You know USCIS has their time ranches about 30 days and they tell almost everyone about these 30 days to wait before you hear something again,.... That's what they tell the most people and then they don't hear anythin fromthem again in a lot of cases?!?

I'm so disappointed of the uscis you can't imagine! My fiance an me we are both 24, have never been married before both!! Amd both NO KIDS or criminal background I can't understand the world anymore... I can't even really believe the update they told the secretary of the senator until I finally some results! Because the wait is already so long and we talked several times to TIER 2 on their phone and just got to hear that they have passed our noa1 date and we could ask for a service request (which we did!) but no response it is one week since service request...

I think you are getting yourself very confused here and are possibly confusing others. You need to ask the mods to move your posts to a new thread where you can explain the situation that you think you are in. Do not assume you have the same situation as the O P.

What makes you think you have an RFE coming?

[InesD 2]

Nor do I. I want you to succeed. The only way to do that now is to understand how to proceed.

Beware of mixing other people case problems with your own. Everyone means well but what they do may have nothing to do with what you need to do now. The USC in your case needs direct info from an officer at USCIS.

In your case nothing will help now expect to quickly find out what the RFE is about. Once that is done the USC can attempt to respond in the correct manner. Only then will there be a chance to get the case back on track.

The USC can make the Info Pass appointment today for the next available date they have. Even doing that may buy the time needed to extend the case.

ok, I will tell my fiance to do so as soon as he comes home tonight from work. I already looked at the Infopass requirements and all but it seems the closest office for appointment is in Atlanta which would be almost 3 hours drive for him :-(

Could you give me an idea of how much time we have to look at to get the case back on track? How long was the delay in your case ? We were counting up to 8 months from late september on ( NOA1 ) till I have the K1 Visa in my hands. I know it will take much longer now but how many more months do you think ? thank you again so much.

[Andie 147]

Nor do I. I want you to succeed. The only way to do that now is to understand how to proceed.

Beware of mixing other people case problems with your own. Everyone means well but what they do may have nothing to do with what you need to do now. The USC in your case needs direct info from an officer at USCIS.

In your case nothing will help now expect to quickly find out what the RFE is about. Once that is done the USC can attempt to respond in the correct manner. Only then will there be a chance to get the case back on track.

The USC can make the Info Pass appointment today for the next available date they have. Even doing that may buy the time needed to extend the case.

[Ning 619]

ok, I will tell my fiance to do so as soon as he comes home tonight from work. I already looked at the Infopass requirements and all but it seems the closest office for appointment is in Atlanta which would be almost 3 hours drive for him :-(

Could you give me an idea of how much time we have to look at to get the case back on track? How long was the delay in your case ? We were counting up to 8 months from late september on ( NOA1 ) till I have the K1 Visa in my hands. I know it will take much longer now but how many more months do you think ? thank you again so much.

Do not give up or lose hope. Once understood this may not be a bad as you think right now. I know from experience how long it seems and how frustrating this is.

How long totally depends on the actions of the USC. If he is allowed to submit the RFE info it can take about 60 days to process that info. The USC could attempt to call USCIS asking for a supervisor. If he speaks to one they might have the RFE sent again but probably wont take any other action.

The USC should try to find out why the RFE wasn't delivered. Could be US post office made a mistake. He should make sure USPS has his info correct. The RFE may have been returned to USCIS for example.

If it turns out that USCIS made a mistake they will correct it and expedite the case.

My case took a long 408 days but that will have nothing to do with yours.

[Trisha89 36]

I think you are getting yourself very confused here and are possibly confusing others. You need to ask the mods to move your posts to a new thread where you can explain the situation that you think you are in. Do not assume you have the same situation as the O P.

What makes you think you have a RFE coming?

I'm sorry for confusing you! I didn't mean to! Sorry for texting. I always asked and never got a response amd i didn't know it is against the rule to write that I'm afraid that we are getting in the same situation,..... IDK if we get a RFE or NOT! I don't even have a denial yet! We have nothing and by the way we filled with an immigration lawyer..... What doesn't gurantee that we don't get an RFE but it gave us a little help because I was getting refused entry in the US on june 30th, 2013! My at that time boyfrined and me had no intention of getting married, the problem was I stayed to short in Germany and wanted to come back in the US after 2 weeks..... I stayed 84 days there then 2 weeks in germany at my parents house and wanted to spend another two months with him then..... But like I said it was at no time the intention to immigrate or to work illegal in the US I just wanted to spend time with him and we didn't looked enough for information how long you have to stay outside the country before you can come back! We always saied in the beginning that we want to do everything on a LEGAL way with the visa and that we apply for a 129f and not getting just married there!!!

SORRY FOR POSTING, but I wanted to explain myself!

Edited February 1, 2014 by Trisha89

[moushoud 10]

It seems RFE was sent but never made to your fiance's address. I think, wait and see what is in the denial letter i.e. what exactly is missing in the original petition. Then fix that one and refile again...that is the fastest way, especially with the pace of approval we are witnessing at the moment. I have seen an early January filer got approved towards the end of January. So, that is your best bet. I also faced a similar issue but opted to refile all over again with the new evidence that stisfay the needed requirements.

Good Luck

I would involve a Congress member in your district. I only find out that an RFE was issued to me through my Congresswoman. I was told that one was sent to me on Dec.13-2013 but I never ever got anything. So could have been a lie or a true story but the fact of the matter is you need to get somebody to help you. So please consider using congressional help. If it wasn't for the congresswoman I would have never knew at RFE and o could have been denied as well. Please try to keep pressure on them and I'm wishing you the best of luck. Edited February 1, 2014 by moushoud