I-751 July 2015 Filers

[cartage 1]

BrazilGuy82: what are your dates?

Also, can someone please add me? Thanks!

CARTAGE...............07/17/15......07/21/15......8/28/15......--/--/--... (NYC, VSC)

Edited June 3, 2016 by cartage

[ctracker 6]

Hi, Thanks for sharing and because of you, I got the courage to call USCIS today.

It took me a few calls to get to speak to a live customer service.

I informed him that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service. The customer service then asked me if there was anything that he could do for me? I told him that I was waiting to find out more information about my I-751 status. I gave him my case number and he repeated to me that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service and that I am the applicant. I said yes.

I spoke to officer G and I informed him of my case number and that my notice was dated 06/22/16.

Officer G told me that there has been a backlog and that it will likely take a year to a year and a half for approval and that's why the extension letter was for 1 year. In the past, cases used to be approved in 6 months.

He looked up my case, confirmed my address, and told me that currently they are processing cases from June 1st and earlier. It will likely take USCIS Vermont Service Center another 45 days to get to my notice date.

I said thank you and hung up.

So today I decided to get some courage and call USCIS, since it's been 11 months and I haven't heard anything yet after the biometrics. The first time I called I got this young lady who was very polite but at the same time was very determined not to transfer me to a tier 2 officer. I insisted several times and noticed something weird. She kept repeating the same thing every now and then: "I can transfer you to a tier 2 officer upon demand"; but every time I asked her to transfer me she gave me a different excuse. So it finally hit me and I found out what seems to be a little magical word. I said "I demand to speak to a tier 2 officer," and boy did she transfer me right away. I was baffled. She simply said "Ok, sir as per your demand I am transferring you to a tier 2 officer."

So there we go, I thought, at least I'm gonna speak to someone who know a little more than I do in regards to my case. I was already planning what I was going to say in my head. I was gonna be very polite and ask If I could do anything to help speed up my case. Man I had it all rehearsed inside my head. So suddenly I got a computerized system. "Our agents are experiencing long delays" said the system. I thought to myself, I can wait, no problem. Except that the system said they were gonna have to call me back in 68 minutes. I was disappointed and very skeptical but I said no problems at least I get to do other things while I wait.

So 3 hours passed and no one from USCIS called me. So I decided to call back once more and go through the entire system again and was finally connected to a tier 1 agent. I explained the story and she said she would transfer me to a tier 2 officer except that she was having a computer issue and could not transfer me. She told me to call again. And so I did and spoke to yet another young lady who also said they could not transfer me to tier 2 officers because they were experiencing a great volume of calls and she asked me to try calling again tomorrow morning.

I was ready to give up and go have a beer and relax when my spouse call me on the phone. To my huge surprise it was not my spouse on the phone it was a USCIS tier 2 officer calling me back. OMG I was freaking out so much. You have no idea how happy I was. She confirmed my identity and put me on hold to find out what was going on with my case.

She told me that according to her system they were working on my case as we spoke and since they were working on my case I should wait until the end of the month and if I didn't hear back from them, then I should call them again and they would send an inquire to the VSC office to try to find out what's going on.

I know it's not much but you have no idea how happy I am to have spoken to someone who can actually tell me anything real about my case. Specially since I've been having such a bad time lately. I'm sure my approval it's gonna come anytime now. What do you guys think??

[charmander 692]

Hi, Thanks for sharing and because of you, I got the courage to call USCIS today.

It took me a few calls to get to speak to a live customer service.

I informed him that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service. The customer service then asked me if there was anything that he could do for me? I told him that I was waiting to find out more information about my I-751 status. I gave him my case number and he repeated to me that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service and that I am the applicant. I said yes.

I spoke to officer G and I informed him of my case number and that my notice was dated 06/22/16.

Officer G told me that there has been a backlog and that it will likely take a year to a year and a half for approval and that's why the extension letter was for 1 year. In the past, cases used to be approved in 6 months.

He looked up my case, confirmed my address, and told me that currently they are processing cases from June 1st and earlier. It will likely take USCIS Vermont Service Center another 45 days to get to my notice date.

I said thank you and hung up.

It sounds like you did managed to talk to a Tier 2 but unfortunately he wasn't very helpful. "We are processing cases from June 1st" is the cliche answer. He needed to check the system to see if your case was assigned to an officer, if it was background check related, or something else. Now that you know how to get through to the Tier2 officer, I would call again and this time ask more detailed questions such as if the case is assigned to an officer, if the background check was cleared, if an action was taken or not.

[AdetteAdette 1]

Status went from card order to delivered nothing in between. May 26 for card order and June 2 for delivery. About 7 days total

[RiceCake 1]

OK thanks so much. Usually after the status changes to 'card mailed' it changes again to say when USPS picked it up and to provide the tracking number. At least that was what happened with my AOS but it didn't happen this time. So I called USCIS and spoke with a tier 2 to see if they had a tracking number for me and they did so they gave it to me. All set.

Status went from card order to delivered nothing in between. May 26 for card order and June 2 for delivery. About 7 days total

Edited June 3, 2016 by RiceCake

[RiceCake 1]

10-year green card delivered today. It took one week and two days (including weekends) from the approval date. Sending prayers and speedy approvals to those still waiting.

[cartage 1]

Ricecake: Congratulations!

[RiceCake 1]

Merci beaucoup. Bon courage à vous. Ca va aller!

Ricecake: Congratulations!

[KASH2011 382]

10-year green card delivered today. It took one week and two days (including weekends) from the approval date. Sending prayers and speedy approvals to those still waiting.

Congrats!

[cartage 1]

@RiceCake: Merci

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been trying to book an appointment on the USCIS InfoPass website for the New York Field Office. Unfortunately, this was without success. My lawyer said I should just walk-in and request an emergency appointment considering the challenges with their system. It was not successful: emergency appointments for the NY Field Office are only for emergency travels (death in the family).

Has anyone in NY city had a similar issue? How do you get the I-551 stamp (I need this for my employer, otherwise I'll lose my job)?

Many thanks

Edited June 6, 2016 by cartage

[RiceCake 1]

Wow, so sorry to hear that.

What's your NOA1 date? Trying to understand when the one year will expire.

When you went for the emergency stamp, did they know you had potential loss of employment and they still turned you away?

Potential loss of employment is serious.

1. Have you called USCIS customer service to speak to a tier 2 officer and find out the status of your case? I would start there and make sure they explain the status i.e. is someone currently working on it or are you stuck in background check pending or is it slated to be worked on this week etc. i.e. push to get info beyond "you are within current processing time and it is taking 10 months to one year" I think Brazilguy said you have to say "i demand to speak to a tier 2 officer".

2. I would also recommend contacting today your house of representative and your senator as others have had success with that.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?Name=Capito&nState=WV

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

3. And then also emailing today USCIS headquarters (SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov) and VSC headquarters (vsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov) as well as CIS ombudsman (cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov)

https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/contact-us

@RiceCake: Merci

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been trying to book an appointment on the USCIS InfoPass website for the New York Field Office. Unfortunately, this was without success. My lawyer said I should just walk-in and request an emergency appointment considering the challenges with their system. It was not successful: emergency appointments for the NY Field Office are only for emergency travels (death in the family).

Has anyone in NY city had a similar issue? How do you get the I-551 stamp (I need this for my employer, otherwise I'll lose my job)?

Many thanks

[cartage 1]

Thank you so much for all the advices.

I will follow your advice and contact all the different offices you mentioned. My NOA1 date is 7/21/2015. Yes, they did. They said they were the busiest office in the country, and would only consider “emergency” what is an “emergency travel related to the death of a family member”. If I don't get the stamp, can I still work legally while the case is pending?

A paralegal called on my behalf last week. The tier-2 agent mentioned that the case has not been assigned to an agent yet, so the same paralegal believes the background check has likely been cleared.

Edited June 6, 2016 by cartage

[RiceCake 1]

Then your employer definitely can't bother you. You have at least until July 21 of this year to work. It isn't clear if the one year extension is according to your green card expiration date or if it is according to your NOA1 date. I think someone said customer service said it is according to your NOA1 date. Either way, you are OK until at least July 21, 2016 and make sure your employer understands this. The DOJ has an Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices if it comes down to that. If you call their offices one of their laywers can help and can sometimes offer to speak to HR for you. A last resort of course, hopefully you can resolve on your own with your employer so there is no bad blood or issues.

Thank you so much for all the advices.

I will follow your advice and contact all the different offices you mentioned. My NOA1 date is 7/21/2015. Yes, they did. They said they were the busiest office in the country, and would only consider “emergency” what is an “emergency travel related to the death of a family member”. If I don't get the stamp, can I still work legally while the case is pending?

A paralegal called on my behalf last week. The tier-2 agent mentioned that the case has not been assigned to an agent yet, so the same paralegal believes the background check has likely been cleared.

[cartage 1]

It's always a bit more complicated than this unfortunately. I am a tech consultant, and my contract was for one year (ends July 1st). To renew the contract, I need to prove I can continue to legally work for at least 6 months.

[R & M 14]

So I finally called USCIS. My experience was exactly the same as Ctracker's.

Cases are taking more than one year, currently processing June 1st cases or earlier, etc. Tier 2 was not helpful at all. In fact, kept saying I would have to wait to be called to my second interview because according to her all marriage-based applications must go through interview (ok...).

I did manage to get a confirmation that my case has not been "touched" yet, but based on what she said before not sure how much I can rely on this information.

Good luck to all of us who are still waiting...

It sounds like you did managed to talk to a Tier 2 but unfortunately he wasn't very helpful. "We are processing cases from June 1st" is the cliche answer. He needed to check the system to see if your case was assigned to an officer, if it was background check related, or something else. Now that you know how to get through to the Tier2 officer, I would call again and this time ask more detailed questions such as if the case is assigned to an officer, if the background check was cleared, if an action was taken or not.

ctracker, on 03 Jun 2016 - 08:26 AM, said:

Hi, Thanks for sharing and because of you, I got the courage to call USCIS today.

It took me a few calls to get to speak to a live customer service.

I informed him that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service. The customer service then asked me if there was anything that he could do for me? I told him that I was waiting to find out more information about my I-751 status. I gave him my case number and he repeated to me that I wished to be transferred to the next level of customer service and that I am the applicant. I said yes.

I spoke to officer G and I informed him of my case number and that my notice was dated 06/22/16.

Officer G told me that there has been a backlog and that it will likely take a year to a year and a half for approval and that's why the extension letter was for 1 year. In the past, cases used to be approved in 6 months.

He looked up my case, confirmed my address, and told me that currently they are processing cases from June 1st and earlier. It will likely take USCIS Vermont Service Center another 45 days to get to my notice date.

I said thank you and hung up.

Edited June 7, 2016 by R & M