How long after RFE at interview for process to play out?

[Sascafig 12]

UPDATE

We received the RFE letter two weeks after the interview. The letter did not give any specifics as to what information was lacking in our case. All it included was an appointment page showing when and where to appear, and three sheets or so of "If your Petition is (fill in the blank) Based", giving generic instructions for all kinds of immigrant visa application types. And, as luck would have it, the interview was scheduled for the day after we were to leave for Mexico to visit both our fathers for Father's Day Weekend. We had bought plane tickets months ago, so of course Murphy's Law applied full force for our trip. We didn't know what to do. We called in to USCIS and asked for information about moving the interview sooner so we wouldn't have to flush all the money we paid for the trip down the toilet. We were told to send in a letter to the Houston Field Office with the request to see if maybe it would be honored, which we did. Then we waited, and waited with no response. Finally, the day before we were to leave for the trip I told my husband to go to the field office and try to find out what was going on. He only spoke to the person at the front desk who told him that they didn't have access to tell us if the request had even been received much less acted upon, and that if we missed the interview our case may be considered abandoned and we would have to start all over again. He called me after he left, frustrated to be no closer to an answer and pretty much defeated about being able to go to see his dad that weekend. I Googled "USCIS Customer Complaint" and got this page:

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume1-PartA-Chapter6.html

which says basically that, if you felt that your case had been handled poorly you have a right to ask to speak directly to a supervisor at a USCIS office, and that this supervisor would be required to address your complaint and attempt to satisfy it at that time, if possible. So I tell my husband to pick me up from work and I go spend my lunch hour at the USCIS Houston Office.

Here's how that went...

We went into the office, passed through security, and went directly to the reception desk. I gave the gentleman there the new appointment letter, and asked if we could please speak to a supervisor. He looked at the date on the letter, and asked me "What is this?" I responded that it is for an appointment we were to have later that week, and we need to speak to a supervisor about the case. He handed back the letter and directed us to take a seat in the waiting area near a specific window and then he flitted around the office talking to a few other workers apparently to find out where the supervisor was. We waited less than ten minutes before a lady came to the window and motioned at us asking if we were the couple who requested to speak to a supervisor. We went up to the window and took a seat while she asked us how she could help. I explained first about the first interview not being approved, and the next interview being scheduled for the day after we were to leave town. I told her we were desperate to find some way to avoid losing all the money we spent on the trip but not put his application in jeopardy. She asked when we were leaving, and how long we would be gone, and if there was a special reason for the trip. She then asked what had happened at the first interview. I told her about the bank statements not being accepted, the weird request for a history of expired car insurance IDs (I then pulled out a stack of bank statements I had printed off quickly that morning). I asked her why all the other evidences I had submitted been ignored. I gave her copies of the cover sheets I had submitted with both the I-751 and the N-400 applications which detailed all the proofs that I had sent in. She asked if we had the letter from the original interview. When we told her the lady had kept it she got a "that's strange" look on her face and asked us "She didn't give it back to you?". My husband said he had asked if he needed to keep it at the time of the original interview and the officer had told him no, she had to keep it. At that point the supervisor asked me if I was pressed for time since I had mentioned I had come in on my lunch break, and when I said I had all the time she needed, she excused herself and went to the back to pull our file. She came back with a monster file folder and started flipping through about a thousand pages. She stopped at the itinerary I had sent in with the request to move up the appointment (so they DID get it!), and asked us again what days we were coming and going from the trip. She asked my husband what kind of work he did, and asked about our bank accounts and our direct deposits, asked my husband if he knew how much I got in child support from my ex husband, asked if we normally take trips together or on our own. She flipped through more pages and asked my husband if he was ready to take the citizenship test right then. She let me know that it would be okay if I went back to work since she didn't know how long it would be until they were all finished. She was very professional and attentive, very thorough, pleasant to talk to, everything that the first interviewer was NOT. She approved my husband's ROC in that first few round of questions, and she finished his interview within thirty minutes of taking him back for the test. He passed, and was approved and given his oath date for the following week, two days after our return from vacation.

I can't describe the relief of having this all finished finally, and of having the experience of one person being the difference and trying to help us after so many months of jumping through hoops and dealing with red tape. It's frustrating to know that he could have been approved at the first interview since all the information she based her decision on was what I had sent in with the petitions, but nothing can be done about that. I'm just happy that tomorrow my husband and two of the boys will be US citizens!

[JimmyHou 611]

UPDATE

We received the RFE letter two weeks after the interview. The letter did not give any specifics as to what information was lacking in our case. All it included was an appointment page showing when and where to appear, and three sheets or so of "If your Petition is (fill in the blank) Based", giving generic instructions for all kinds of immigrant visa application types. And, as luck would have it, the interview was scheduled for the day after we were to leave for Mexico to visit both our fathers for Father's Day Weekend. We had bought plane tickets months ago, so of course Murphy's Law applied full force for our trip. We didn't know what to do. We called in to USCIS and asked for information about moving the interview sooner so we wouldn't have to flush all the money we paid for the trip down the toilet. We were told to send in a letter to the Houston Field Office with the request to see if maybe it would be honored, which we did. Then we waited, and waited with no response. Finally, the day before we were to leave for the trip I told my husband to go to the field office and try to find out what was going on. He only spoke to the person at the front desk who told him that they didn't have access to tell us if the request had even been received much less acted upon, and that if we missed the interview our case may be considered abandoned and we would have to start all over again. He called me after he left, frustrated to be no closer to an answer and pretty much defeated about being able to go to see his dad that weekend. I Googled "USCIS Customer Complaint" and got this page:

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume1-PartA-Chapter6.html

which says basically that, if you felt that your case had been handled poorly you have a right to ask to speak directly to a supervisor at a USCIS office, and that this supervisor would be required to address your complaint and attempt to satisfy it at that time, if possible. So I tell my husband to pick me up from work and I go spend my lunch hour at the USCIS Houston Office.

Here's how that went...

We went into the office, passed through security, and went directly to the reception desk. I gave the gentleman there the new appointment letter, and asked if we could please speak to a supervisor. He looked at the date on the letter, and asked me "What is this?" I responded that it is for an appointment we were to have later that week, and we need to speak to a supervisor about the case. He handed back the letter and directed us to take a seat in the waiting area near a specific window and then he flitted around the office talking to a few other workers apparently to find out where the supervisor was. We waited less than ten minutes before a lady came to the window and motioned at us asking if we were the couple who requested to speak to a supervisor. We went up to the window and took a seat while she asked us how she could help. I explained first about the first interview not being approved, and the next interview being scheduled for the day after we were to leave town. I told her we were desperate to find some way to avoid losing all the money we spent on the trip but not put his application in jeopardy. She asked when we were leaving, and how long we would be gone, and if there was a special reason for the trip. She then asked what had happened at the first interview. I told her about the bank statements not being accepted, the weird request for a history of expired car insurance IDs (I then pulled out a stack of bank statements I had printed off quickly that morning). I asked her why all the other evidences I had submitted been ignored. I gave her copies of the cover sheets I had submitted with both the I-751 and the N-400 applications which detailed all the proofs that I had sent in. She asked if we had the letter from the original interview. When we told her the lady had kept it she got a "that's strange" look on her face and asked us "She didn't give it back to you?". My husband said he had asked if he needed to keep it at the time of the original interview and the officer had told him no, she had to keep it. At that point the supervisor asked me if I was pressed for time since I had mentioned I had come in on my lunch break, and when I said I had all the time she needed, she excused herself and went to the back to pull our file. She came back with a monster file folder and started flipping through about a thousand pages. She stopped at the itinerary I had sent in with the request to move up the appointment (so they DID get it!), and asked us again what days we were coming and going from the trip. She asked my husband what kind of work he did, and asked about our bank accounts and our direct deposits, asked my husband if he knew how much I got in child support from my ex husband, asked if we normally take trips together or on our own. She flipped through more pages and asked my husband if he was ready to take the citizenship test right then. She let me know that it would be okay if I went back to work since she didn't know how long it would be until they were all finished. She was very professional and attentive, very thorough, pleasant to talk to, everything that the first interviewer was NOT. She approved my husband's ROC in that first few round of questions, and she finished his interview within thirty minutes of taking him back for the test. He passed, and was approved and given his oath date for the following week, two days after our return from vacation.

I can't describe the relief of having this all finished finally, and of having the experience of one person being the difference and trying to help us after so many months of jumping through hoops and dealing with red tape. It's frustrating to know that he could have been approved at the first interview since all the information she based her decision on was what I had sent in with the petitions, but nothing can be done about that. I'm just happy that tomorrow my husband and two of the boys will be US citizens!

Thanks for the great write-up and great job on your persistence in this matter!

I'll be at the same ceremony as your husband tomorrow. I hope he enjoys his big day!