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

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

That is really stupid. USCIS workers, apparently, aren't privy to CBP rules. So, they know that these forms can happen, but they don't know how it came to be, and they suggest an illegal way.

I would make another infopass, get a supervisor, and complain. If they know the RFE never got sent, they should fix that, not send you on a possibly horrible path. What if you made all your wedding plans, and then were denied entry? If you tell them your plan, you will be denied entry. So you have to lie... bad advice.

Have you contacted the USCIS ombudsman? I would do that. And a congressperson.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Harpa Timsah

[Darnell 8,478]

Here is the promised update ! My fiance finally went to his appointment with the USCIS in Atlanta this morning. He came back very very happy and satisfied :-) Until today we never received the RFE, the officer in Atlanta looked it up on her computer and said, yes, the RFE is in Texas and so many things can have gone wrong. And it would even for her be a hassle to get it. So she started telling my fiance about the I 290 form to reopen the case etc.....He told her that we already lost so much time now and can't effort to lose more. So she asked him when we wanted to get married. And he said : yesterday ;-) ok, she says , then here is your other option : Your fiance enters the US on her Visa Waiver along with her daughter, you get married and file immediately the I 130 ( Family based adjustment ) . People do that all the time.

Those were her words, she gave him a copy of all the forms you need to fill out on a Family based adjustment and that was it.

Now: I know that is possible but so far I thought you can only do that when you spontaneously decide to get married. We want to get married and I want to stay there and not having to leave again. I am a bit confused about this but we got this suggestion direct from a USCIS officer.

Now I am thinking : why did we go through the K1 process in the first place ?

Any thoughts or experience anyone ?

Thank you !

other option - unsure if anyone has suggested it yet:

call into USCIS, get an ISO.

Once the petitioner has the ISO on the phone,

ask: "Do you have any returned mail pieces on me?"

If the answer is yes, give over the correct address to the ISO, and ask that the returned mail pieces be resent.

Also tell the ISO that the RFE never arrived at your address via postal mail, and there was NOT any email notification about it and there was NOT any change in the online USCIS web porta about it either,

then ask the ISO to 'ping' the office that has the casefile, telling them the RFE never arrived, and ask for another attempt to answer the RFE.

Then call back in 4 days, get an ISO again, and ask what the result was of that ping.

Failing that, is best to get an Immigration Liason Staffer (this is a human that works at a Congressman's Office, usually in constituent out-reach) involved - is quite possible they can fix 'this' and get you a new time window to answer the RFE.

IMO, the infopass appointment was a waste of time and you needed a supervisor to go over the RFE stuff, instead of what actually happened.

[InesD 2]

That is really stupid. USCIS workers, apparently, aren't privy to CBP rules. So, they know that these forms can happen, but they don't know how it came to be, and they suggest an illegal way.

I would make another infopass, get a supervisor, and complain. If they know the RFE never got sent, they should fix that, not send you on a possibly horrible path. What if you made all your wedding plans, and then were denied entry? If you tell them your plan, you will be denied entry. So you have to lie... bad advice.

Have you contacted the USCIS ombudsman? I would do that. And a congressperson.

Of course I would not lie to the CBP. I actually would go again to see my fiance as I did in the past several times and probably refile for I-129f again together. This is about to become a nightmare. You want to be legal, do it all the right way and get illegal "advice " of an USCIS officer. Who to believe if not the officers ? The immigration lawyers who are asking high fees, scare you with all the consequences only so you might consider consulting them ? At the moment I am really desparate and extremly upset. All we want is to live together legally. And we can't even get THAT right because of USCIS mistakes. Right this moment my fiance is trying to call USCIS again, trying to find out how we can get this RFE. How to refile with probably the same mistake ( if there ever was any ) and maybe AGAIN not receiving another letter with RFE ? Thank you anyway for the advice to contact ombudsman and also make another Infopass. We probably will have to do all that :-(

[InesD 2]

other option - unsure if anyone has suggested it yet:

call into USCIS, get an ISO.

Once the petitioner has the ISO on the phone,

ask: "Do you have any returned mail pieces on me?"

If the answer is yes, give over the correct address to the ISO, and ask that the returned mail pieces be resent.

Also tell the ISO that the RFE never arrived at your address via postal mail, and there was NOT any email notification about it and there was NOT any change in the online USCIS web porta about it either,

then ask the ISO to 'ping' the office that has the casefile, telling them the RFE never arrived, and ask for another attempt to answer the RFE.

Then call back in 4 days, get an ISO again, and ask what the result was of that ping.

Failing that, is best to get an Immigration Liason Staffer (this is a human that works at a Congressman's Office, usually in constituent out-reach) involved - is quite possible they can fix 'this' and get you a new time window to answer the RFE.

IMO, the infopass appointment was a waste of time and you needed a supervisor to go over the RFE stuff, instead of what actually happened.

thank you Darnell. What is an ISO ?

[Darnell 8,478]

a Tier 2 Human. When the first human answers the phone, that's a CSR, a Tier 1 person,

and mostly, they are useless.

When the petitioner gets the first human on the phone, ask to be transferred to an ISO. Tis not an easy thing, but an ISO has higher access in the system, the same level of access that anyone at a local USCIS office has.

CSRs are a waste of space, IMO, as they can only see what you can see online.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I know you must be very upset. I would be too.

I would really follow up on this "never sent RFE." The person at your infopass clearly said it was never sent. Get someone to rattle cages to amend that.

[InesD 2]

a Tier 2 Human. When the first human answers the phone, that's a CSR, a Tier 1 person,

and mostly, they are useless.

When the petitioner gets the first human on the phone, ask to be transferred to an ISO. Tis not an easy thing, but an ISO has higher access in the system, the same level of access that anyone at a local USCIS office has.

CSRs are a waste of space, IMO, as they can only see what you can see oline

thank you. my fiance already spoke to a tier 2 officer weeks before he went to the infopass appointment. the tier 2 officer back then acknowledged we never received the RFE and said we would get a letter by the 18th of february about our service request. that letter arrived on the 24th of february and only said that we had a service request about a RFE we have never received. The tier 2 officer also said to my fiance that when he gets to his infopass in Atlanta they might already be able to tell him what the RFE was about. Because the initial infopass appointment was on february the 13th but had to be rescheduled due to the snow storms. And as I said : the officer in Atlanta said she had no access to that RFE. And then told my fiance that we have the other option which would be much easier, said it would be legal and people do it all the time. Why would a USCIS officer misguide someone that much ? I just don't get it .....:-((((

Edited February 27, 2014 by InesD

[Darnell 8,478]

thanks for the history,

but

--i not mention a service request, on purpose and

--i wrote specifically about returned mail pieces.

have another read, please - it's a shift on what you two have attempted, so far.

service requests IMO are stupid. Read my profile for my 'stuff' on service requests.

A Ping, otoh, is useful.

[InesD 2]

thanks for the history,

but

--i not mention a service request, on purpose and

--i wrote specifically about returned mail pieces.

have another read, please - it's a shift on what you two have attempted, so far.

service requests IMO are stupid. Read my profile for my 'stuff' on service requests.

A Ping, otoh, is useful.

Everything failed. Fiance just called USCIS again , spoke to another tier 2 person, asked about returned mail, answer no , asked to ping the office with the casefile, answer : not possible...

suggestion from the tier 2 : we can file a G 639 in order to MAYBE receive the actual RFE. G 639 processing time can take up to 6 months.

in other words : we can only blindly refile for I 129f except we want to wait possible 6 months to see what the RFE was all about and if .....

I am literally in tears at the moment... but thank you all for your help

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

OMBUDSMAN!

SAY that the Infopass CONFIRMED that the RFE was never sent! Make that your argument, USCIS error, and you are being punished.

Congressperson! Don't give up!

Edit: Ombudsman here: https://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance

Edited February 27, 2014 by Harpa Timsah

[InesD 2]

OMBUDSMAN!

SAY that the Infopass CONFIRMED that the RFE was never sent! Make that your argument, USCIS error, and you are being punished.

Congressperson! Don't give up!

Edit: Ombudsman here: https://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance

the last tier 2 person just now said something different : that an RFE has been sent. where did it go ? who knows...but they make sure they are covered. Everyone you talk to says something else. And how to proof what each and everyone said ? especially the infopass person.

my fiance will write the ombudsman anyway but our case has been closed now because the time is up. this is all a farce

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I know they all say different things, but I would hammer the fact that one person confirmed it was not sent.

But, if it's too exhausting, you could start over, redo the packet. I-129Fs are going very fast right now.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Harpa Timsah

[InesD 2]

I know they all say different things, but I would hammer the fact that one person confirmed it was not sent.

But, if it's too exhausting, you could start over, redo the packet. I-129Fs are going very fast right now.

We are about to . but what do you mean when you say very fast ? the last information I had was that it takes about 9 months.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

At CSC they are working on Jan petitions. I am not sure with rerouting what every place is doing. You can look at progress threads to find out.

You are given a limit of 68 days on a RFE, so if your denial was at the end of Jan, that means you would have gotten approval in late Nov if your packet was complete. Still pretty fast.

Remember, you just need an approved petition to be at where you would have been now. Then there is waiting time for an appointment. But 9 months? Not right now.

[DutchmansLady 216]

OMBUDSMAN!

SAY that the Infopass CONFIRMED that the RFE was never sent! Make that your argument, USCIS error, and you are being punished.

Congressperson! Don't give up!

Edit: Ombudsman here: https://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance

Dont give up...you just need to take some deep breaths and refocus .When we get stressed about the Visa stuff we call for a Visa free evening .Just forget it for a few hours and focus on each other .It is so easy to get consumed but you will feel better if you give yourself a little break...no thinking or talking about it for one evening .Hang in there and regroup with a call to the Ombudsman.So sorry you are going through this.