I-751 October 2015 Filers

[Musicata 1]

Hi All,

It's been a very long time since I posted on this board. I am still waiting for an update on my application. I filed my papers on October 22nd 2015 and had my bio metrics at the end of January.

I am worried because

A) my drivers license is about to expire in November and the DMV have said that they won't extend it without the updated Green card

B) We are in the process of buying a house and I know I should update my address soon and I don't want to go it if it will cause a delay.

C) My job requires me to travel domestically and internationally and the lack of updates is causing some anxiety about that.

I called USCIS this morning and was told that they are working on October 5th applications. I inquired about changing my address (I have to write them a letter to formally make that request) and about potentially having my application expedited.

It's just very annoying at this stage. A year is a very long time to wait for an update like this.

[jjbrien 1]

Hi All,

It's been a very long time since I posted on this board. I am still waiting for an update on my application. I filed my papers on October 22nd 2015 and had my bio metrics at the end of January.

I am worried because

A) my drivers license is about to expire in November and the DMV have said that they won't extend it without the updated Green card

B) We are in the process of buying a house and I know I should update my address soon and I don't want to go it if it will cause a delay.

C) My job requires me to travel domestically and internationally and the lack of updates is causing some anxiety about that.

I called USCIS this morning and was told that they are working on October 5th applications. I inquired about changing my address (I have to write them a letter to formally make that request) and about potentially having my application expedited.

It's just very annoying at this stage. A year is a very long time to wait for an update like this.

If its an issue go make an infopass appointment and get a I-551 stamp in your passport. Also you can just change your address online no need to send a letter. That same line gave me misinformation earlier in the week

[meowmie 0]

Thank you everybody with your support and feedback. I spoke to a friend of mine who happens to be an immigration lawyer. She told me that the people in Vermont especially they never bother to look through all the evidence they receive which is probably why they missed to list some of my evidence. She recommended me to re-submit the evidence they missed together with updated paperwork from everything that is applicable for my RFE. She also mentioned that it is normal to get RFE so I shouldn't worry (which made me feel a whole lot better). I wish everybody good luck with their applications!

Meowmie,

I think your documentation is thorough and your case should have been approved. Can't believe it wasn't. The documents noted with a "however" are obviously the issue, but you should call them to check whether the other documents were actually taken into account or for some reason were missing from your file, because they are not listing them and their list should be complete. For instance: car insurance documentation.

A plea to other posters, especially those who had their case approved: Please state if you submitted more documentation than Meowmie did, so that others could evaluate their strategies from now on.

[meowmie 0]

Thank you so much Alphaland,

I feel so much better now after reading your reply. I will definitely take everything you mentioned into consideration when I am gathering my new evidence. I will definitely keep the stronger evidence in the beginning and weaker towards the end.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I am so happy I have you and everybody else's support going through this.

So happy for the visa journey community!

Will keep everybody updated how things are going!

Thank you!

To meowmie,

Sorry that you got an RFE. The best advice I can give you now is set aside any negative emotions and don't panic. These things happen from time to time, even cases with strong evidence will sometime get randomly selected to provide more evidence. That's because it's been almost a year since the initial applicant was sent in, things could have changed (eg marriage fell apart, no longer living together, marriage dissolution or separation has occured, etc). It could be that your case was randomly selected to provide more recent (and strong) evidence, that' all.

The best course of action is to start gathering new evidence. Do not resend anything that you have already sent, but you are welcome to write a separate cover letter listing all the evidence that were sent previously and include a paragraph like: "adding to the evidence previously submitted, we are including the following evidence that cover the period from the time the initial application was sent up to now"

Now, pay attention, this part is important and could help you (and will do no harm to your case). When you compile your evidence (paperwork), place the stronger evidence before the weaker ones. Anything that shows joint financial assets and debts are good primary evidence (joint lease, joint loans, joint bank account with activities, jointly filed tax returns (add in the w-2s from both spouses or get the official irs tax transcripts)). Since your initial application, you should have a 2015 joint tax return ready for submission, so include it. Note that if any of your recent tax returns since your marriage was not filed in the category of "married filed jointly" then it is not considered strong primary evidence and you should write out a statement explaining why your taxes werent filed jointly. Don't forget to Include joint health insurance (get a letter from the insurer to "validate" that the joint health insurance is still active as of today, or, even better see if the insurer can add in the date the insurance policy became active with both of you being covered under the same policy); unlike homeowner or auto insurance polies which generally list out the time periods such policies are valid, health insurance often do not include this information on the insurance cards themselves, so get a letter from the insurer if you can.

Weak (secondary) evidence should be placed toward the back of your paperwork. That would be your photos, affidavits, utility bills, vacation trip itineraries, christmas cards/correspondence, etc. if you are planning to include more of them.

Note: for all evidence with joint names, take a yellow highlighter and highlight both names (spouses) on those paperwork. Do that for every piece of paperwork that include both names. This helps the case officers when reviewing your documents ; in effect it draws their eyes/attention to those strong documents with both spouses name on them.

Also, find or buy some file tab stickers or post it note pad. For each type of evidence, place a tab sticker on the right side of the 1st page of eqch evidence type, hand write the name/title of that evidence type. Keep going down yoir evidence packet until you have covered all evidence types you are submitting. Besure to layer the stickers so they are easily for the case officer to access (like a filing tab system). This makes it easier for the officers to thumb through your evidence (and not inadvertently miss an important piece of strong evidence espeicallt if it was a single-page evidence)

Please do not print anything double-sided. Uscis case officers (regardless of which office location) hate double-side printed evidence. Print everything single -sided (one printed side per page). Also, do not hole-punch (top or side) your evidence paperwork. Use a simple file clip to bind all the paperwork together, and do not use prong-hole style paper fastener....another thing they hate (cut accidents happen quite often)

Submit your response to RFE as quickly as possible, do not delay it if all you are waiting for are weak evidence (like your utility bills that are just now being added -- kind of pointless at this point unless you have no other stronger primary evidence to include). Once Vermont service center receives your response, they have up to 60 days to adjudicate your case. If they pass the 60-day mark, your case would be considered "outside of processing time" and you could then follow up and request it to be escalated.

The result of your response to the RFE is either going to be a straight approval or it's going to be an interview at the local office. You have nothing to fear as long as you have a bona fide marriage. It will not be a straight denial, so dont worry (honestly though, with your evidence this is unlikely to happen to you), no one case officer can straight out deny your case -- it takes 2. Before a case can be denied, the case officer making such a decision would need his/her supervisor to review and agree with that decision and come to the same conclusion that there is something very fishy about the case even after RFE and interview. Again, I doubt that will be your case so this really is just for informational purpose.

Relax. Gather your evidence, stack them in the order of strongest primary evidence on top and weak ones at the bottom, highlight the pertinent portions (joint names), create a file-tab system for easy review, type up and sign a cover letter listing all the name/title of the evidence you are submitting (and the period they cover) as well as the ones previously submitted (and the periods they covered). Don't worry about missing the secondary "fluff" evidence unless you feel your primary evidence are lacking and the "fluff" actually make your case stronger when combined with primary evidence. All "fluff" evidence should be place at bottom of your evidence stack.

Make a complete copy of the entire package before you send it to the service center. This may come in handy in the event that you are selected for an interview; it's easier when you have a complete copy of the evidence the interviewer is looking at when they open up your case file during the interview, and also as a reference point of what evidence have been submitted up to this point.

[Mollie09 1,543]

My lawyer told me sometimes they send RFEs as a delay tactic and haven't looked through your filing - just buying themselves time. Makes sense to me in this situation!

[jerni 24]

Wow, you would think usps could make it simper to forward mails. Just as a side note, a few years back USCIS used to print "do not forward , return to sender if undeliverable" on all outgoing envelops containing permanet resident cards. I don't know if that is still the case, but if it is then that would explain why USPS didn't forward the envelope containing your new card the 1st time around. In the event this upcoming 2nd forward is still unsuccessful or gets returned to the old address again, you could ask your old neighbor to put it in a new envelope with your new address (the postage and tracking fee can be pre-paid by you online). Good luck, and hopefully that 2nd forward worked.

Thanks. USPS forwarded my approval letter (it arrived with a yellow forward address label), and the envelope just has the USCIS logo on it, nothing that says do not forward or return service request. I do wish my neighbor had just put it in a new envelope, but I was just thankful she went and got it for me lol. I'll keep everyone updated, hopefully it will arrive soon...

[Mollie09 1,543]

My green card was delivered to my old address as well. The envelopes for those are not supposed to be forwarded, but USPS sometimes does it anyways.

[JustBreathe 22]

To meowmie,

Sorry that you got an RFE. The best advice I can give you now is set aside any negative emotions and don't panic. These things happen from time to time, even cases with strong evidence will sometime get randomly selected to provide more evidence. That's because it's been almost a year since the initial applicant was sent in, things could have changed (eg marriage fell apart, no longer living together, marriage dissolution or separation has occured, etc). It could be that your case was randomly selected to provide more recent (and strong) evidence, that' all.

The best course of action is to start gathering new evidence. Do not resend anything that you have already sent, but you are welcome to write a separate cover letter listing all the evidence that were sent previously and include a paragraph like: "adding to the evidence previously submitted, we are including the following evidence that cover the period from the time the initial application was sent up to now"

Now, pay attention, this part is important and could help you (and will do no harm to your case). When you compile your evidence (paperwork), place the stronger evidence before the weaker ones. Anything that shows joint financial assets and debts are good primary evidence (joint lease, joint loans, joint bank account with activities, jointly filed tax returns (add in the w-2s from both spouses or get the official irs tax transcripts)). Since your initial application, you should have a 2015 joint tax return ready for submission, so include it. Note that if any of your recent tax returns since your marriage was not filed in the category of "married filed jointly" then it is not considered strong primary evidence and you should write out a statement explaining why your taxes werent filed jointly. Don't forget to Include joint health insurance (get a letter from the insurer to "validate" that the joint health insurance is still active as of today, or, even better see if the insurer can add in the date the insurance policy became active with both of you being covered under the same policy); unlike homeowner or auto insurance polies which generally list out the time periods such policies are valid, health insurance often do not include this information on the insurance cards themselves, so get a letter from the insurer if you can.

Weak (secondary) evidence should be placed toward the back of your paperwork. That would be your photos, affidavits, utility bills, vacation trip itineraries, christmas cards/correspondence, etc. if you are planning to include more of them.

Note: for all evidence with joint names, take a yellow highlighter and highlight both names (spouses) on those paperwork. Do that for every piece of paperwork that include both names. This helps the case officers when reviewing your documents ; in effect it draws their eyes/attention to those strong documents with both spouses name on them.

Also, find or buy some file tab stickers or post it note pad. For each type of evidence, place a tab sticker on the right side of the 1st page of eqch evidence type, hand write the name/title of that evidence type. Keep going down yoir evidence packet until you have covered all evidence types you are submitting. Besure to layer the stickers so they are easily for the case officer to access (like a filing tab system). This makes it easier for the officers to thumb through your evidence (and not inadvertently miss an important piece of strong evidence espeicallt if it was a single-page evidence)

Please do not print anything double-sided. Uscis case officers (regardless of which office location) hate double-side printed evidence. Print everything single -sided (one printed side per page). Also, do not hole-punch (top or side) your evidence paperwork. Use a simple file clip to bind all the paperwork together, and do not use prong-hole style paper fastener....another thing they hate (cut accidents happen quite often)

Submit your response to RFE as quickly as possible, do not delay it if all you are waiting for are weak evidence (like your utility bills that are just now being added -- kind of pointless at this point unless you have no other stronger primary evidence to include). Once Vermont service center receives your response, they have up to 60 days to adjudicate your case. If they pass the 60-day mark, your case would be considered "outside of processing time" and you could then follow up and request it to be escalated.

The result of your response to the RFE is either going to be a straight approval or it's going to be an interview at the local office. You have nothing to fear as long as you have a bona fide marriage. It will not be a straight denial, so dont worry (honestly though, with your evidence this is unlikely to happen to you), no one case officer can straight out deny your case -- it takes 2. Before a case can be denied, the case officer making such a decision would need his/her supervisor to review and agree with that decision and come to the same conclusion that there is something very fishy about the case even after RFE and interview. Again, I doubt that will be your case so this really is just for informational purpose.

Relax. Gather your evidence, stack them in the order of strongest primary evidence on top and weak ones at the bottom, highlight the pertinent portions (joint names), create a file-tab system for easy review, type up and sign a cover letter listing all the name/title of the evidence you are submitting (and the period they cover) as well as the ones previously submitted (and the periods they covered). Don't worry about missing the secondary "fluff" evidence unless you feel your primary evidence are lacking and the "fluff" actually make your case stronger when combined with primary evidence. All "fluff" evidence should be place at bottom of your evidence stack.

Make a complete copy of the entire package before you send it to the service center. This may come in handy in the event that you are selected for an interview; it's easier when you have a complete copy of the evidence the interviewer is looking at when they open up your case file during the interview, and also as a reference point of what evidence have been submitted up to this point.

Are you a lawyer or did you work for USCIS? How come you are so confident in this..... Not trying to be rude. Just wondered how someone who is going through the process like the rest of us can be so assured on these things?

[yndy 2]

Yndy:

Your address change resulted in a change of service center in the middle of your application process. If you have officially received a notice or otherwise got confirmation from uscis that your case has been transferred to Vermont, then technically you are a "Vermont filer" as Vermont now has jurisdiction over your case.

This is not meant to alarm you (just information) , sometimes when an applicant's home address change resulted in a change of service center jurisdication while their application is pending, an RFE may be issued. One of the rationales behind this is to counter those who "service center shop" , hopping from the original service center to another because they hear one service center now has a lower RFE rate than the other or something to that affect. I don't have any up to date statistics but a couple years ago uscis concluded the rate of marriage fraud applications they receive were around 32-35% of the totally applications, so naturally uscis are more cautious. That is not you I am sure, so please don't panic, if you do get an RFE just respond right away.

If you haven't already done so, call the 1800 customer service line and explain why you need to be transferred to a tier 2 officer. Tier 1 will not refuse you (though they may not be thrilled), so don't worry. Tier 2 are busy , any calls not filtered out by tier 1 lands in tier 2's laps. You will likely be asked to enter/confirm a call back number and be given an estimated call back time. Needless to say, you want to call first thing in the morning as soon as they open so you don't end up in the back of a long queue.

When you have Tier 2 on the line, they may give you general response like "your case is still pending and you just have to wait"... Do not simply hang up and accept this answer. Press the tier 2 officer to tell you more -- at the very least they have in front of their computer monitor, information about when your case file was last "touched" by the case officer. Ask tier 2 whether an RFE has been sent (because RFE generally don't show up on online case status system, and since you have moved it might be the case an RFE or some other corresponse was sent to your old address that you weren't aware of) tell them you just wanted to make sure you didn't miss anything by accident and that Vermont isn't waiting on you to provide some documents that you didn't know about. Also, ask the tier 2 officer to confirm the address they have on their screen is actually your new address (sometimes that information you have sent in previously is not updated in or didn't get forwarded to their system)

Your timeline shows your application filing date was 10/29/2015. You are close. Vermont is currently processing October cases.

Thanks for the explanation, I will def give them a call. As of my change of address, I only moved within the state which is CA, so I dont think that they moved my case to Vermont.

[kiss987 2]

Thanks for the explanation, I will def give them a call. As of my change of address, I only moved within the state which is CA, so I dont think that they moved my case to Vermont.

I am September 2015 filler. I am waiting on RFE response and my 60 days are almost up. Have not heard anything yet. Talk to tier 2 officer last week. I was told file was open in the begging in September and somebody is looking it up in VSC. The tier 2 said computer shows "file in use". What all these suppose to mean? How long someone needs to look the file? Does it mean that it is close to any action?

[lucybelle 453]

C) My job requires me to travel domestically and internationally and the lack of updates is causing some anxiety about that.

My husband (non USC) travels domestically and internationally frequently for his job as well. He has traveled outside the country at least 7 times since his GC expired with no issues. The biggest hassle was just one time he was taken to "secondary processing" where they looked through his stuff again and sent him on his way. Added another 10 minutes or so to immigration in total.

[Musicata 1]

My husband (non USC) travels domestically and internationally frequently for his job as well. He has traveled outside the country at least 7 times since his GC expired with no issues. The biggest hassle was just one time he was taken to "secondary processing" where they looked through his stuff again and sent him on his way. Added another 10 minutes or so to immigration in total.

Thank you!

I have been able to travel in an out over the past year with my marriage certificate and letter or extension on my person. I've only been sent to secondary processing once.

I will have to wait and see what happens next. Sounds like getting the stamp in my passport is the next option if I haven't heard anything by October.

[Alphaland 0]

Yndy,

My apologies for the mistake. i don't know why I thought you've moved to another state. Since your move did not result in a change of jurisdication, you definitely should have heard something from the CSC by now. The statement in my earlier post to you regarding current processing times of "October" is for Vermont only. California is now already working on cases filed in March 2016.

Your case has definitely moved beyond the normal processing time. It is now up to you to follow up and push CSC for an update. The following is informational just in case: If and when you contact Tier 2, and if it turns out they really did mail something to your old address which you missed because of the move earlier, gently ask them if they wouldn't mind emailing or faxing a copy of what was sent to you (they have this on file and can access it quite easily) so that you could have immediate access to read the correspondence while you wait for a new original correspondence to be sent to your new address.

Did you report your address change using the uscis online portal, and if so did you print/save a screen shot of the official confirmation number (or wrote it down) upon hitting the "submit button"? It would come in handy as proof that you did and the fault is not yours so if it turns out to be an RFE and the response time has already lapsed you would have every right to request for an extension, especially if USCIS claims they never got the address change reporting and their system still reflects your old address (scary but it happens more often than you think).

Best of luck to you.

[jerni 24]

Yay card arrived today, envelope was a mess.

[chicha 9]

Yay card arrived today, envelope was a mess.

Congrats! All is well when the card arrives well. Would you by any chance be able to tell on the messy USCIS envelop there's something like "do not forward, return to sender"? I just changed address Sept 1st and wonder if it's gonna be forwarded if USCIS sends it to old address. I don't have a tracking # on case update yet. Thank you!