AOS Denied on spurious grounds

[christeen 966]

Arriving on K1 you have declared your intent to marry with 90 days. Filing AOS is to adjust status from non-immigrant to immigrant (LPR) in order to shingle your status, your status must have changed... AKA you changed from being UNMARRIED to MARRIED ... Which can only happen after bei g married... The govt will not process adjustment of status for a future event... You filed in error, but since you were married within the 90 days, you just need to file the AOS again now that you have met the legal requirements. Sorry.. Looks like your error.

[Leatherneck 693]

Hi all, I am at a loss to understand my AOS was denied yesterday on the grounds I submitted it prior to my marriage. It was submitted with a covering letter outlining my reason for doing so Copy of the letter....

Sir ,

I humbly submit this application ahead of of my marriage to my intended spouse on the grounds that our mariage is scheduled for 02/14/2014 and that my K1 visa date expires on the 02/25/2014, my concern is due to the shortness of time between those dates, would be insufficient to submit this application, also I have included our marriage licence as verfication of our intention to honour our vows and supply a marriage certificate when it becomes available in due course.

It seems this was acceptable by the National office who held my I 485 package until they received our Official marriage certificate before sending it onto the Santa Ana office where my AOS was denied on the grounds that we were not married at the time of filing. How can this just when the National Office accepted it and processed it further yet can be denied by the service centre? Or was the Service centre Official playing "GOD"!!!!!!! When all that had to be done was update the I 485 form. We were told, it would seem we would have to restart the process again and pay another $1000 for the privilage.

I am considering submitting this to the USCIS Ombudsman's Office for a reconsideration of the decisions,

Any thoughts any one? as it seems the avenue for an appeal are minimal?

.

Unfortunately, you simply misunderstood the AOS process and the K-1 expiration. Sure it sucks to write another check for $1,070, but regroup and start the process again. It would be a waste of effort/time to attempt to rectify this via any other means, e.g., ombudsman or appeal.

[kzielu 1,149]

Wow, that's a forum's first (that I remember) - marriage based AOS without a marriage. I am at lost how USCIS was supposed to adjuticate it based on OPs telling them so...

[bryane1 7]

Thank you what happened to a humane response all my documentation was correct they even admitted that and put the blame on the non-diligence of the NBC so there maybe grounds for a fee waiver as they advise that it should have not been processed beyond that point and they should have sent all documentation and fee back to us.

[AmyWrites 593]

Thank you what happened to a humane response all my documentation was correct they even admitted that and put the blame on the non-diligence of the NBC so there maybe grounds for a fee waiver as they advise that it should have not been processed beyond that point and they should have sent all documentation and fee back to us.

Don't bet on that. Usually when it's your mistake, you don't get your money back.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Thank you what happened to a humane response all my documentation was correct they even admitted that and put the blame on the non-diligence of the NBC so there maybe grounds for a fee waiver as they advise that it should have not been processed beyond that point and they should have sent all documentation and fee back to us.

Sorry, but the blame is not on the NBC. It's on you for filing for something you were not qualified for.

Since the mistake was yours, you do not qualify for a refund or fee waiver. USCIS will only refund the fee if the mistake was theirs.

[Leatherneck 693]

Thank you what happened to a humane response all my documentation was correct they even admitted that and put the blame on the non-diligence of the NBC so there maybe grounds for a fee waiver as they advise that it should have not been processed beyond that point and they should have sent all documentation and fee back to us.

This is not intended to sound mean -- but to educate you as to what happened.

You applied (I-485) to adjust your status to that of a permanent resident from that of a non-immigrant (K-1), before the requirement of being married to your petitioner.

There was nothing to adjust at the time you submitted the I-485, you were still single. The K-1 allowed you entry as a non-immigrant. You did not become eligible to apply for permanent resident (AOS) status until after marriage.

Hope that helps.

[bryane1 7]

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Thank you what happened to a humane response all my documentation was correct they even admitted that and put the blame on the non-diligence of the NBC so there maybe grounds for a fee waiver as they advise that it should have not been processed beyond that point and they should have sent all documentation and fee back to us.

Usually when taking in documents, they check the basics such as the correct fee being submitted, signatures all in place etc. They don't actually look through your file in any detail until it's your turn to be adjudicated, many months later. That is when they caught the fact you'd filed for AOS before marrying.

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

Well, no. Just because you tell them to do something doesn't mean they're obligated to. You need to follow the rules like everyone else and file for AOS AFTER marriage, not before.

[Cathi 5,746]

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

Wow, people here are trying to help you understand what went wrong and you're speaking to everyone as though they are a bunch of knuckleheads. No one is being harsh, they are giving you facts.

The fact of the matter is, it was YOUR mistake, not theirs.Just because they had the cover letter, doesn't mean they read it. NOA1 simply means they received your petition, it doesn't mean they had actually started to process it, doesn't mean they read a single thing. It merely means they opened the contents, made sure the payment was there and put in line to adjudicate. You cannot adjust status ahead of time. Let's say they went ahead and approved your petition, and you didn't marry? Then what? Nothing about your case is a mistake on their part, NOTHING. They are under no obligation whatsoever to waive the fee for the second petition, hopefully for your sake they do, but don't bet the farm. Good luck.

[AmyWrites 593]

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

Your cover letter is worthless to them. You HAVE to send the docs AFTER the wedding. You are NOT an exception to the rule and you'll be very disappointed if you think you can do things your way regarding immigration. Therefore, they don't have to refund you.

[Leatherneck 693]

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

At the risk of sounding "extremly [sic] harsh," there is no "send it back to us with the fee" department at USCIS, especially not at their expense.

Not sure how you find fault with them for following policy.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

You people are being extremly harsh I admit in hindsight the fault was mine in submitting early but the USCIS should have not start processing it and sent it back to us with the fee, my covering letter states I am sending a head of time....DUH!!!!!! so they are as just to much to blame, end of story

I'm not sure anyone is being harsh. They are simply telling you what mistake you made and why USCIS responded the way they did.

They didn't check your application right away. They made sure the you provided the check and the necessary signatures and sent it off to be adjudicated. When that happened, they then noticed that you'd been attempting to apply for something you in no way qualified for. So they denied you.

Why would they send your money back? On what grounds? You made a mistake, unfortunately a costly one. There's nothing to do except re-file and do it properly. You're going to get nowhere if you attempt to make USCIS refund you. Not gonna happen.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Penny Lane

[christeen 966]

Of course you are free to ask, however this is the govt you are dealing with and they are under no obligation to refund your money for a mistake entirely of your doing. You pay for them to process your paperwork, they gave you receipt that they received the documents then started to process the paperwork as you paid them to do, duri g the course of them processing the documents, they discovered you did not actually qualify for what you applied, they did process your paperwork using man hours etc... It was just you were applying for something g you were not eligible for.

Your next course of action is to refile since you now meet the criteria. There is no shared fault, but you do have the right to persue getting money back... Best of luck.

[bryane1 7]

Here's what the Ombudsman said.

When an application is submitted to USCIS, it follows a certain pathway with different offices serving different functions. The I-485 is receipted in at the Lockbox. The Lockbox primarily checks for signatures, correct fees, and visa availability. The Lockbox is run by contractors who are not trained in immigration law. If the case is accepted for processing, it will be routed to the National Benefits Center (NBC), which prepares the file for interview. The NBC will initiate background checks and do a preliminary review of the file. The responsibility for ultimate adjudication, however, rests with the field office. So, it can be months after submission that an applicant is informed that he or she is not eligible for the benefit sought.

showing the NBC is resposible for preparing the file for interview by doing background checks and a preliminary review...It is at the stage the process should have halted and returned according to the adjudicator who is the one that noticed it was submitted before the marriage.