CANT ATTEND I-485 INTERVIEW (HELP)

[ryna 132]

Exaggerate much? So much drama on visa journey.

OP, reschedule the appointment. It's well within your rights. People have emergencies, get sick or even die before their interviews.

Call and reschedule ASAP and get confirmation that it'll be rescheduled.

And fire that idiot attorney.

I call them as I see them.

I was poked and prodded less by the Dept of Defense for a low-level clearance I had back in the 80s than I was for my wife's immigration process.

Also, USCIS ruined many travel plans over the 6 years that they had veto power over our lives -- trips that we had to wait for USCIS to get off it's rear and do something to the point that we were never able to go. Kind of the opposite of the original poster's situation - they went and don't want to come back early. We didn't plan ours until USCIS was done and by then it was too late to go or impossible due to job constraints.

Speaking of jobs, and despite my wife's simple, straightforward AOS - no previous marriages for either of us, no kids, nothing sketchy in her background - USCIS decided her AOS would take 8 months to process, during which time I, as a contractor making good money with the freedom to work only when I wanted, was forced by USCIS income requirements to accept a horrible job 6 months into her AOS for the simple sake that USCIS could deny her AOS if I couldn't show current paystubs at the time of the interview. Of course, I went through that nightmare for nothing because I was let go when I asked for the morning off to go to the mandatory AOS interview because it fell during my first 60 days on the job.

It was no loss considering I never wanted that job in the first place but imagine the stress of scrambling for a job that you didn't really want or financially need right away but with AOS hanging over your head, not knowing when USCIS would finally process the AOS, only to find a horrible job then lose it with only days to go before the interview because of the interview itself.

Believe me, there was nothing better than giving USCIS the figurative double bird when I walked out of that building for the last time in July after her naturalization.

I stand by the probation officer analogy with the only difference being the penalty for violation of probation being the deportation of the immigrant spouse instead of jail for the USC.

And my advice to the OP still stands...

Request the rescheduling but be ready to travel back just in case, keeping in mind that the late arriving approval (or denial) letter isn't rare. No news means travel back to the U.S. Another person going through naturalization in our local USCIS office received the admission letter to her naturalization ceremony a day AFTER 'her' ceremony took place and she had to be rescheduled.

[Lemonslice 4,922]

Exaggerate much? So much drama on visa journey.

OP, reschedule the appointment. It's well within your rights. People have emergencies, get sick or even die before their interviews.

Call and reschedule ASAP and get confirmation that it'll be rescheduled.

And fire that idiot attorney.

Do you have a source that's it's a right?

From what I've seen in recent years, you have a right to ask... It doesn't mean they'll agree and unfortunately you might get an answer after your scheduled interview... that you've been denied your AOS.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

The fact that the lawyer said the word "continuance" makes me feel that he/she does not specialize in immigration. Be careful of this advice. I've seen several threads here of VJers having alot of trouble rescheduling and even being denied. It is not as simple as the lawyer is leading you to believe.

Good Luck!

Edited November 18, 2016 by LionessDeon

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Do you have a source that's it's a right?

From what I've seen in recent years, you have a right to ask... It doesn't mean they'll agree and unfortunately you might get an answer after your scheduled interview... that you've been denied your AOS.

Yeah, I think we have the right to ask but they have the right to deny. It says on the appointment letters, something along the lines of calling them to reschedule if they are Ill, or have a family emergency. There have been plenty of posters here that have requested reschedules that were denied.

Also, this isn't an emergency situation. They left the country for vacation while knowing their I-485 was still pending an interview date, and are currently out of the country and choosing not to fly back early. It's an inconvenience at most, but not an emergency.

The BEST way for the reschedule would be to make an infopass, but the OP is already out of the country. They -CAN- call USCIS helpline, but there have been people on VJ that have contacted them, gotten a confirmation number and STILL ended up getting a denial for no show even after they were told they would be rescheduled.

[garethsmyth88 0]

Yeah, I think we have the right to ask but they have the right to deny. It says on the appointment letters, something along the lines of calling them to reschedule if they are Ill, or have a family emergency. There have been plenty of posters here that have requested reschedules that were denied.

Also, this isn't an emergency situation. They left the country for vacation while knowing their I-485 was still pending an interview date, and are currently out of the country and choosing not to fly back early. It's an inconvenience at most, but not an emergency.

The BEST way for the reschedule would be to make an infopass, but the OP is already out of the country. They -CAN- call USCIS helpline, but there have been people on VJ that have contacted them, gotten a confirmation number and STILL ended up getting a denial for no show even after they were told they would be rescheduled.

We also forgot to add in the statement we made that my grandmother is very sick in hospital and that was in of the reasons we are staying here for an extended period of time, we have made this clear to the lawyer

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

So a quick round trip from Ireland to Boston, and back, to make it to the interview costs $1,000. You're hiring an attorney to file something called a "continuance" that no one here has ever heard of. So the net cost of avoiding the interview on Dec 15th is $1,000 less atty fees.

You don't have to share all of the details of your story with Visajourney, but something's missing here. Doesn't sound right.

EDIT: And I realize the requirement of an interview is rather disappointing to you, but it is a step forward in your immigration process. No way would my wife and I have voluntarily delayed any step. We cheered any step forward, no matter how minor. I would do a touchdown dance in my office when connecting to a live person at NVC after 2 hours of waiting on hold, and 1 hour of re-dialing to get on hold. But that's just me.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Russ&Caro

[hateadminforms 19]

WOW airlines are a cheap get back and arrive option ..... no luggage and go .... USD$200 ... worth remembering if anyone is travelling to /fro Boston.

The threads on the Internet are quite scary on this topic - e.g. http://forums.immigration.com/threads/reschedule-i-485-interview-due-to-overseas-travel.321772/

https://www.uscis.gov/unassigned/faq/what-if-i-need-reschedule-interview - This will be tricky as you went for a long Christmas break to Ireland ...at best an explanation ...not good for USCIS though.

https://www.uscitizenship.info/articles/rescheduling-us-citizenship-and-green-card-interviews/index.html - as others have mentioned ...risk of major delay or worse starting process again and having to re-submit all and pay again ( cost of a flight).

Personally, I would check for standby out of Ireland with Aerlingus from Shannon or Dublin and re-enter the USA for the interview ...... forget the lawyer and in 10 years you will have lost USD$100 per annum but gained so much

Edited November 18, 2016 by hateadminforms

[ed-j 1]

I'm sharing our story just to give you some idea of the process you are considering. Hopefully it will help in your thought process.

My husband and I had to reschedule his I485 interview because it was scheduled when I was scheduled for a business trip. We requested the reschedule by phone the day after we received the letter. The lady seemed helpful, and a week later we received a denial of reschedule letter, which said they'd be happy to reconsider if we mailed in proof of the reasons we'd provided on the phone. The day after that we mailed off my itinerary and a letter from my boss about the already expended business costs etc. Two weeks later (and 2 weeks before I was supposed to leave) we received a letter saying our interview had been cancelled and any information about a new date would be sent later. So, that was about a 3 week process just to get the interview cancelled. And we always said "reschedule" so we were at first scared by "cancelled". Apparently USCIS doesn't actually have "reschedule" in its vocabulary. Just "schedule", "cancel" and "schedule".

For the next 2-3 months, we called USCIS about once a month to make sure we were still in the system and kept getting surprised responses that we hadn't been re-scheduled yet. Eventually, we brought in our state representatives office, who finally told us that by asking to reschedule, we had been put at the back of the line. Shortly after that we did receive the new interview date... original date had been March and our actual interview was August.

So, expect the process to be slow, and with no information in the interim. Also, get on the reschedule request like yesterday or they may not get the cancellation processed before your interview date. And know that you're stepping to the end of the line, the new interview likely won't be anytime soon once you return.

Our story did end fine. He got the green card also in August, we were approved right away once we had that little chat with the officer. It just tried our patience waiting.

[jakartausa 28]

THIS IS ROCK SOLID ADVICE! Plan for and operate under the assumption of the worst case scenario is best. I agree here. I would come home early, DO NOT depend on the Gov to operate at the speed you would like or expect.

I call them as I see them.

I was poked and prodded less by the Dept of Defense for a low-level clearance I had back in the 80s than I was for my wife's immigration process.

Also, USCIS ruined many travel plans over the 6 years that they had veto power over our lives -- trips that we had to wait for USCIS to get off it's rear and do something to the point that we were never able to go. Kind of the opposite of the original poster's situation - they went and don't want to come back early. We didn't plan ours until USCIS was done and by then it was too late to go or impossible due to job constraints.

Speaking of jobs, and despite my wife's simple, straightforward AOS - no previous marriages for either of us, no kids, nothing sketchy in her background - USCIS decided her AOS would take 8 months to process, during which time I, as a contractor making good money with the freedom to work only when I wanted, was forced by USCIS income requirements to accept a horrible job 6 months into her AOS for the simple sake that USCIS could deny her AOS if I couldn't show current paystubs at the time of the interview. Of course, I went through that nightmare for nothing because I was let go when I asked for the morning off to go to the mandatory AOS interview because it fell during my first 60 days on the job.

It was no loss considering I never wanted that job in the first place but imagine the stress of scrambling for a job that you didn't really want or financially need right away but with AOS hanging over your head, not knowing when USCIS would finally process the AOS, only to find a horrible job then lose it with only days to go before the interview because of the interview itself.

Believe me, there was nothing better than giving USCIS the figurative double bird when I walked out of that building for the last time in July after her naturalization.

I stand by the probation officer analogy with the only difference being the penalty for violation of probation being the deportation of the immigrant spouse instead of jail for the USC.

And my advice to the OP still stands...

Request the rescheduling but be ready to travel back just in case, keeping in mind that the late arriving approval (or denial) letter isn't rare. No news means travel back to the U.S. Another person going through naturalization in our local USCIS office received the admission letter to her naturalization ceremony a day AFTER 'her' ceremony took place and she had to be rescheduled.

[abhi_meli 150]

This lawyer of your's would be more than Happy if something goes wrong.He will easily put the blame on the USCIS and will expect you to pay more fees.No vacation is more important than both of you living together.Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[garethsmyth88 0]

WOW airlines are a cheap get back and arrive option ..... no luggage and go .... USD$200 ... worth remembering if anyone is travelling to /fro Boston.

The threads on the Internet are quite scary on this topic - e.g. http://forums.immigration.com/threads/reschedule-i-485-interview-due-to-overseas-travel.321772/

https://www.uscis.gov/unassigned/faq/what-if-i-need-reschedule-interview - This will be tricky as you went for a long Christmas break to Ireland ...at best an explanation ...not good for USCIS though.

https://www.uscitizenship.info/articles/rescheduling-us-citizenship-and-green-card-interviews/index.html - as others have mentioned ...risk of major delay or worse starting process again and having to re-submit all and pay again ( cost of a flight).

Personally, I would check for standby out of Ireland with Aerlingus from Shannon or Dublin and re-enter the USA for the interview ...... forget the lawyer and in 10 years you will have lost USD$100 per annum but gained so much

Hi where did you see these flights? We would only be going back for 2 days and wouldn't need to bring any bags, anyone know where to find lower priced flights?

[wheresmykoala 52]

Hi where did you see these flights? We would only be going back for 2 days and wouldn't need to bring any bags, anyone know where to find lower priced flights?

I would suggest Sky Scanner -they search through tons of available flights and pick the 'cheapest' options.

Flights are not booked through the website, so if you find a flight that suits you both, be weary of third party websites since their cancelation policies, etc. can suck. I've used Sky Scanner itself with no issues and think it gives decent suggestions for flights/airlines to check out.

Good luck!

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/590947-rescheduled-i-485-interview-but-just-got-denial-letter/

Exaggerate much? So much drama on visa journey.

OP, reschedule the appointment. It's well within your rights. People have emergencies, get sick or even die before their interviews.

Call and reschedule ASAP and get confirmation that it'll be rescheduled.

And fire that idiot attorney.

You should tell this poster this??

Now that her GC was denied when she RESCHEDUELED DUE TO ILLNESS.....

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/616605-rescheduled-interview-got-denial-notice/

Edited November 19, 2016 by Anitafeliz