Incorrect NOA2 Was Sent to Me - Confused

[triterp80 1]

My wife is a Chinese citizen and I'm a US citizen. I submitted an I130, with all associated paperwork and related forms in a request for an IR1 Visa, as suggested on this site (thanks a ton - you guys are truly a blessing), and received my NOA1 (I797C) with priority date 11/25/14. I expected that the the NOA2 would come back within about 5 months so you can imagine my surprise and delight when it came back merely two weeks later with a notice date of 12/12/14. It was so surprising that I truly didn't believe it. I was ecstatic until I began reading the text within the body of the notice. Specifically the first few lines which state:

"The above petition has been approved. The petition indicates that the person for whom you are petitioning is in the United States and will apply for adjustment of status. The evidence indicates that he or she is not eligible to file an adjustment of status application. This determination is based on the information submitted with the petition and any relating files. If the person for whom you are petitioning believes that he or she is eligible for adjustment of status, then he or she should contact the local USCIS office for more information.

Because the person for whom you are petitioning is not eligible to adjust, we have sent the approved petition to the Department of State National Visa Center (NVC),..."

This confused me because she is not in the United States and nothing in my application even hinted at such a fact. The application was completed correctly and I double checked that all addresses for the beneficiary were indeed Chinese addresses. I called the USCIS and talked to an "upper level" representative who agreed that the content of the letter is likely incorrect but assured me that since it's been passed off to the NVC it will likely be processed as normal once they review the paperwork and there is nothing to be concerned about. She also completed an "inquiry" to the USCIS about whether the letter's contents contained a typographical error (why did she need to submit an inquiry to the organization she represents?).

About 2 weeks later I received an email response from the USCIS - Vermont Service Center:

"Type of service requested:

-- Typographical Error

The status of this service request is:

Our records show that your Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) was sent to the State Department's National Visa Center for consular processing.

Any further inquiries should be made to them directly at:

Department of State National Visa Center (NVC)
31 Rochester Avenue
Portsmouth, NH 03801-2909

Phone: 603-334-0700

So now I'm just confused. It sounds like they've made a mistake and are simply passing the buck to the NVC to ask whether the NVC knows what to do with it. Perhaps the NVC will look at all the paperwork all over again and correctly understand that I'm looking for an IR1?

My question is has anyone else encountered this before - an error? Does anyone know if perhaps my application was processed so quickly because of the error? USCIS said to wait 30 days before contacting the NVC, so I plan to wait. Do you agree that's the right thing to do or should I contact the NVC immediately.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[apple21 953]

They approved your i130, that's your NOA2 and it says they sent your case to NVC. There's really nothing to worry about.

[j&ana 363]

That first E-mail you got is strange. I have never heard of that before. It seems like it was just a an error, since you got the second e-mail saying your petition was sent to nvc for processing which is normal. you could try to call the NVC, but they probably do not have your case yet or have a case number assign

Also you should receive the hard copy soon of the NOA2

Edited January 3, 2015 by j&ana

[triterp80 1]

Thanks j&ana. Ok, I will wait the 30 days and then inquire to the NVC and respond back with an update. I was looking for some sort of confirmation that this was out of the ordinary given the quick approval and the incorrect verbiage. Thanks!

Edited January 3, 2015 by triterp80

[apple21 953]

It can take up to 8 weeks for NVC to issue a case number.

[j&ana 363]

Thanks j&ana. Ok, I will wait the 30 days and then inquire to the NVC and respond back with an update. I was looking for some sort of confirmation that this was out of the ordinary given the quick approval and the incorrect verbiage. Thanks!

Have you got the hard copy of the NOA2 in the mail? The letter is the official notice. It should say case is approved and sent to nvc for processing

Edited January 3, 2015 by j&ana

[triterp80 1]

j&ana - yes, in fact the text that I provided in my first post above is from that actual NOA2 letter that was mailed to me. To be sure - the NOA2 is the one that says I797 with Notice Type; Approval Notice, right?

apple21, Thanks for the clarification. The NOA2 letter says to allow a minimum of 30 days -- so I'll try at first in 30 days but it's good to know that it could take that long.

[j&ana 363]

it is possible that your petitiot got approved faster because of that since it was sent to the nvc it seems like it will be ok

[Darnell 8,478]

regardless, seems that casefile movement occured, and the casefile is moving to the NVC.

[Nota.Bene.: New Words Alert]

if you want clarity, engage with a constituent liason staffer at one of the 3 congressmen's offices (2 senators, 1 representative] that serves as the Immigration Liason Staffer (ILS) , signing a privacy release form (faxed is best) then slam a longish email into the ILS human stating your issues, query and problems. Usually within 30 days, an ILS human will get an answer back from a Congressional Liason Staffer inside of USCIS - they usually 'talk' via email.

But it seems you have 'clear' notice from USCIS that the casefile movement is occuring, and it's going to NVC. Whilst yer waiting for that changeover into NVC, study a bit about NVC Electronic Processing (EP) for Guangzhou - it'll shave time later. Not during NVC Intake, but after casefile complete timetick.

[Darnell 8,478]

---===---===

My question is has anyone else encountered this before - an error? Does anyone know if perhaps my application was processed so quickly because of the error? USCIS said to wait 30 days before contacting the NVC, so I plan to wait. Do you agree that's the right thing to do or should I contact the NVC immediately.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

My NOA-2 [not RFE2] had the same wording that yours did,

and since there was such a mess with the I-130 processing at the time, I had my ILS human actually talk with a human at the office where it was adjudicated, and had confirmation that the casefile was pegged to go to NVC, prior to it leaving the building.

You can see my timeline in my profile - there's a section in there about it - I was totally freaked out, thinking - what else could go wrong today? Was a lot of 'wrong stuff' prior - I was happy to get confirmation it was going to NVC after reading that wording in my NOA2.

[NikLR 13,227]

That first E-mail you got is strange. I have never heard of that before. It seems like it was just a an error, since you got the second e-mail saying your petition was sent to nvc for processing which is normal. you could try to call the NVC, but they probably do not have your case yet or have a case number assign

Also you should receive the hard copy soon of the NOA2

It's really common for them to make that mistake on the NOA2.

As long as the OP knows their case is headed to the NVC, they should get a case number within 90 days of the NOA2. If they haven't, it may indeed have gone where it shouldn't and needs to be put back in the right direction.

[triterp80 1]

I just want to take the time to thank everyone for their responses. It's truly a source of comfort to hear the feedback and insight (of course with the disclaimer that it isn't official advice). I am going to call the NVC to inquire and of course wait patiently for the next 90 days for a response (now 60 days or so).

P.S. Can't I made that rookie mistake of saying RFE and not NOA2.

[triterp80 1]

Is there any chance a mod can change this topic title to say NOA2 instead of RFE2 in order to allow others the ability to search it easily?

[Ryan H 3,812]

Is there any chance a mod can change this topic title to say NOA2 instead of RFE2 in order to allow others the ability to search it easily?

~~~Topic title edited.~~~

Edited January 6, 2015 by Ryan H

[triterp80 1]

Just wanted to close out this thread by letting everyone know that I received my case number and invoice id number from the NVC a couple days ago so clearly the NVC did in fact receive my information with no problems. I've now paid the AOS fee and completed the DS260.