I-797c what is a priority date?

[jeffkino 0]

Ok just got the I-797 says rejected because ,,, "application final action dates" and "dates for filing applications"

uscis website says priority date is on your I-797 but the only dates on there are "notice date" and "received date" so is one of these the 'priority date"?

Maybe its just me but visa bulletin thing is kind of confusing,, Married so I guess my category would be "F2A" ? Then has two charts A and B,, "A" says 22 Jan 2015 and "B" says 22 Nov 2015

So filed at end of September 2016 , notice was sent mid Oct 2016 ,, they sent back her medical stuff ,, the I-485 and various documents etc.. So what ? I cant send back in till the dates on uscis bulletin is past , say oct 2016?

My neighbor , well ex-neighbor now,, was from Canada ,, said it took her like 3 months from the time they filed till they went to interview,, My wife , from Japan ,, has people she knows from Japan ,, took them recently like 4 months till interview /AOS, we are kind of confused ,, feel like maybe I should hire a lawyer,, rather save the money if I don't have to..

One of the problems is ,, the wife was a student ,, is doing an internship thing for a year,, which that year long thing ends in Jan 2017 , then her VISA runs out .. so she has to leave the country? If so,, isn't all this paperwork we did irrelevant because from what I understand ,, I-485 is adjustment of status and is for someone that is living in the country already, if she has to go back to Japan , she will no longer be living in our apartment ?

There are a lot of experienced/ informed people on here,, so if someone could explain things to me,, best to explain it like I'm a 5 year old , because I feel like one trying to interpret all this government red tape.. Thanks,, jeff

[kzielu 1,149]

If you got notice Oct 2016 then that is your PD, and yes - in F2A you can't adjust the status until that date in Visa Bulletin is current. Assuming you are a resident and not a US citizen, she has to have legal status to be able to adjust when PD is current. If her visa expires, then she has to leave.

[jeffkino 0]

Thank you for responding,,, The priority date was not on the 797c rejection notices but on another paper they sent separately..

Update as far as the situation,,, Called USCIS yesterday,, I was at work and the wife was at her job.. The rejection notices were the 485 and 765 which technically are her paperwork , the non-citizen,, So point of advise ,, a USCIS worker can not talk about the beneficiary's paperwork , even to the sponsor without their verbal consent,,

The first we spoke in generalities ,, when I mentioned my wife currently lives in the USA and I am an American citizen she became interested ,, put me on hold and researched our case.. She hinted it was abnormal for our situation to have to use a priority date and the visa bulletins website and refile at a much later date. But could not go into details.. We , the wife being present to give consent, called back this morning ,, spoke to another woman, Explained the paperwork we received,, the situation,, me US citizen and we live together in the USA.. She was also surprised we received a notice directing us to use the visa bulletins. She then said she would have to direct us to an "officer" then an automated voice came on stating they would have to use a call back system. Was shocked when the voice said the wait was 248 minutes,, so we took off of work and waited.. A man called us back from the USCIS,, explained things, he asked if I checked a certain box on her 485 form, which I did after checking,, then had no explanation as to why we received a rejection notice and instructions to use the visa bulletins,, Then said I would have to email the DHS at a lockbox address and explain things. The first two women I spoke with,, very friendly,, the guy, not mean, but not friendly or enthusiastic. He just said,,, explain the situation to "them" and "they" will get back to you.. Not happy about just writing a detailed letter , an important letter , and just sending off into the electronic world without actually talking to someone.. They sent me a confirmation email after it was sent and said I "should" get a response within 15 working days.. Tried to be as detailed as possible, and courteous also, so up in the air.. We made an appointment with an immigration lawyer and have an appointment in an hour an a half. Important, so just going to spend the money to get some feedback/advise from a professional.. If we get a lockbox reply that doesn't change our current situation, then going to hire the lawyer hopefully to do his magic, if lawyer has any tricks up their sleeves to begin with.

But anyway,, if anyone gets a notice to use the visa bulletins and,,, you are a US citizen and you and your spouse currently live in the USA I would make an inquiry because it seems form the responses of 3 people at the USCIS that it is not normal to have to go this route.. So in my situation I just wrote the DHS , homeland security, people so hopefully the folks over there have the same opinion as the USCIS people and Change our status or whatever it may be called so we can just adjust status and move on with life..

My neighbor married someone from Vietnam in Vietnam,, and had to wait 2 years for an embassy date,, but my wife is from a first world country and been in the USA for three years , school,, and is working , OPT, and we been dating for 2 and half years and living together for 1 and half and married for 6 months now, all within the USA.. Everyone we talked to , and at least a half dozen people we know, all with similar situations,, it took 3-4 months from time of sending the papers in to the time of going to the USCIS for the interview to adjust status and green card,, with a couple of them getting 10 year green cards immediately.. Seems sort of unfair , especially given I'm a combat veteran , we met in the US, we are only 1 year apart in age,, older couple. Since we are older and biologically unable to have kids together I didn't care if she changed her last name, thus we have different last names,, I'm hoping this may be the cause of the "error" .. We shall see..

[jeffkino 0]

Member :Kzielu,,, I just saw on your "location" it says ,,, lockbox,, the email I just sent was to the DHS lockbox email,, just curious if the two are related

[TBoneTX 45,328]

*** Thread is moved from the AOS/Family-Based main forum to the "AOS from WS&T Visas" Case Progress subforum. ***