Initial Interview for AOS Needs to be Rescheduled

[Hamers17 0]

Hey everyone,

 

My husband is in the process of adjustment of status through form I-485 following arrival in the US with a K-1 visa and our marriage. We got a request for initial evidence in April 2017 due to lack of information about the co-sponsor, which has been resolved. Because of an abrupt change in our living situation, we had to move from Washington to Florida rather suddenly. We were set to move on June 28th, with my last day of work being June 27th. We booked hotels in advance after deciding to drive across country with all our things because it was cheaper than flying out and having our possessions delivered. On June 24th, we got a notice in the mail that my husband's initial AOS interview had been scheduled for July 26th, 2017. Since he applied in March 2017 and we received an RFE, we were not expecting to receive an interview date so soon. We could not stay where we were for a month without income (plus losing the money we spent on non-refundable hotel rooms for the move), so we called the NCSC for USCIS as soon as we could to update our address and request a reschedule. They said they would see what they could do about rescheduling and gave us a confirmation number for the request. They told us to make an InfoPass appointment, too.

 

The information we've gotten since then has been confusing. In the case history listed online, it says that the reschedule request was assigned to an officer on July 5th. Then, on July 6th, they mailed a response to our request. The response states that the type of service requested was "interview reschedule." However, the status of the service request says that they updated our address. It also says that the application will be routed to the nearest USCIS office in Florida for further processing. The most recent case status update is still listed as the interview scheduled in WA on July 26th. 

At the InfoPass appointment, the officer told us to submit AR-11 to change the address "on everything" in their systems. We've already changed it online and over the phone, but to cover all the bases we will also submit AR-11. The officer also told us to send a letter requesting a reschedule to the field office for which the interview was originally scheduled. He told us that my husband may be marked as a no-show if they don't process the letter in time and warned us that is the most likely scenario, but it can be reversed after they see that we sent a letter. 

 

With all this jumbled information, I'm not sure what to do. If my husband composes a letter to reschedule, is there a certain format he should use? I haven't found much of a lead for that online.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Going through 5,671]

If you absolutely cannot make the interview (and give it some serious thought if there's anyway you CAN), then just write something short and sweet like:

 

 

(Date)

 

USCIS

(Office Address)

 

To Whom It May Concern,

 

We regret that (name-US Citizen) and spouse (name-A#) are not able to attend our Adjustment of Status interview on (date).  

This is due to ________________.

We would like to request that our interview be rescheduled at your earliest convenience.

 

Sincerely,

 

(applicant full name and signature)

(spouse full name and signature)

 

(Full mailing address)

 

 

Make sure you date and photocopy the letter before mailing.  Also send a photocopy of the original interview letter they sent to so they can refer back to it.  When you go to the post office, send it certified with delivery confirmation.

 

 

I stress, though, only cancel the interview if you have no other choice.  Keep in mind that when USCIS reschedules you, it could be months away again.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Going through

[Hamers17 0]

Thank you! We wrote a letter already, but your suggestion for the formatting is probably far more substantial. We also intend to include a copy of his appointment notice and a copy of the response we received for the service request (despite the fact that it made little sense).

 

We are on a very limited budget right now since I was the only one supporting us prior to the move (airfare alone would eliminate more than half of our funds), so we really have no way to make it to the interview. Delays are not necessarily an issue since my husband received his EAD recently, but I'm super worried there will be a complication that results in the denial of his application. I've been reading some rescheduling horror stories..

[sweetadams 138]

9 hours ago, Hamers17 said:

Thank you! We wrote a letter already, but your suggestion for the formatting is probably far more substantial. We also intend to include a copy of his appointment notice and a copy of the response we received for the service request (despite the fact that it made little sense).

 

We are on a very limited budget right now since I was the only one supporting us prior to the move (airfare alone would eliminate more than half of our funds), so we really have no way to make it to the interview. Delays are not necessarily an issue since my husband received his EAD recently, but I'm super worried there will be a complication that results in the denial of his application. I've been reading some rescheduling horror stories..

I think the suggestion given by Going Through is the most logical. It will be months after you reschedule before you can get a date. Mind you, you are also transferring your case across state line to different field office. Cases might be lost in transit. If I would have advice you, if you and your spouse can drive down a date before the interview, just you and your spouse, get a cheap hotel or just sleep in your car, well in a safe place of course, then go for the interview back in WA, it will eliminate alot of stress in the future and the stress of doing it now won't be as much as you will endure in the waiting, not knowing what else might happened. If a no show is issued, a denial notice will be sent and you might have to reapply to reopen your case. Though you might be covered with USCIS since you applied timely for a reschedule and not have to pay any fee. The bottom line is "rescheduling Interview with USCIS is painful" .

Imagine my case, they made an administrative error in not sending me an interview notice, yet they haven't been able to reschedule me for an interview since March, 2017. My PD is July, 2016, Over 1 year ago.

 

good luck with any decision you make. Oh make sure you keep a copy of every reschedule request you make. You might need it later.

[Hamers17 0]

1 hour ago, sweetadams said:

I think the suggestion given by Going Through is the most logical. It will be months after you reschedule before you can get a date. Mind you, you are also transferring your case across state line to different field office. Cases might be lost in transit. If I would have advice you, if you and your spouse can drive down a date before the interview, just you and your spouse, get a cheap hotel or just sleep in your car, well in a safe place of course, then go for the interview back in WA, it will eliminate alot of stress in the future and the stress of doing it now won't be as much as you will endure in the waiting, not knowing what else might happened. If a no show is issued, a denial notice will be sent and you might have to reapply to reopen your case. Though you might be covered with USCIS since you applied timely for a reschedule and not have to pay any fee. The bottom line is "rescheduling Interview with USCIS is painful" .

Imagine my case, they made an administrative error in not sending me an interview notice, yet they haven't been able to reschedule me for an interview since March, 2017. My PD is July, 2016, Over 1 year ago.

 

good luck with any decision you make. Oh make sure you keep a copy of every reschedule request you make. You might need it later.

Thank you! As I've mentioned, the date of the reschedule is not necessarily an issue because my husband has a valid EAD now. We have been low on money since he arrived because I was supporting us alone on my part-time, minimum wage income (low job availability in our previous city) in addition to paying off debt (now paid off, yay!), so the stress of that is gone. We had a small amount in savings, but we had to use nearly all of it just to apply for I-485. We were forced to move directly after he received his EAD. Currently, we are living off of the money my husband is receiving in tax returns from his home country and the generosity of my mother in our time of need until we find work in our new location. Right now, we have about $1000 to live off of until we find employment. Round-trip airfare from FL to WA is about $800 for two people at the lowest, and our drive over here took four days (averaging about 12 hours of driving each day) and cost us $500-600 in hotels, food, and gas. And that was including a free stay at a friend's place for one night of the trip. Unfortunately, a reschedule appears to be our best option due to our financial situation. 

 

I know already that we have moved from an area with relatively few cases at the local field office to a place with a high volume of cases just based on how many attempts it took to schedule an InfoPass appointment here. I expect the case to take a long time to process. I just want to avoid having it marked as a denial due to failure to appear, needing to attempt to reopen it, possibly having to start over, etc. So we are documenting (multiple copies of) any and all communications with the USCIS regarding the interview, reschedule requests, and address updates. My father (the co-sponsor) has contacted an attorney for us who is experienced in immigration and works within the jurisdiction of the originally scheduled interview. I'm not sure if the attorney can do anything to help us at this point, but I sure hope so. We are sending out the letter and accompanying supplemental documents via overnight mail today in hopes that it will arrive and get processed before the interview. I also found a phone number for the field office where the original interview is scheduled; it's meant to be called to see if they are open in the event of bad weather, but I'm hoping that it can also be used to contact the office in other ways. Waiting on a new phone set to arrive today before I call the number since my current phone doesn't have a working call speaker.

 

This is all so frustrating since I've read about situations where people were able to easily reschedule over the phone for their initial I-485 interview due to things like vacations. Maybe the customer service representative we got when we called about a reschedule wasn't as experienced or something. On the other hand, I've read about many other instances where people were denied despite multiple attempts to reschedule for (in my opinion) very valid reasons.

[sweetadams 138]

13 minutes ago, Hamers17 said:

Thank you! As I've mentioned, the date of the reschedule is not necessarily an issue because my husband has a valid EAD now. We have been low on money since he arrived because I was supporting us alone on my part-time, minimum wage income (low job availability in our previous city) in addition to paying off debt (now paid off, yay!), so the stress of that is gone. We had a small amount in savings, but we had to use nearly all of it just to apply for I-485. We were forced to move directly after he received his EAD. Currently, we are living off of the money my husband is receiving in tax returns from his home country and the generosity of my mother in our time of need until we find work in our new location. Right now, we have about $1000 to live off of until we find employment. Round-trip airfare from FL to WA is about $800 for two people at the lowest, and our drive over here took four days (averaging about 12 hours of driving each day) and cost us $500-600 in hotels, food, and gas. And that was including a free stay at a friend's place for one night of the trip. Unfortunately, a reschedule appears to be our best option due to our financial situation. 

 

I know already that we have moved from an area with relatively few cases at the local field office to a place with a high volume of cases just based on how many attempts it took to schedule an InfoPass appointment here. I expect the case to take a long time to process. I just want to avoid having it marked as a denial due to failure to appear, needing to attempt to reopen it, possibly having to start over, etc. So we are documenting (multiple copies of) any and all communications with the USCIS regarding the interview, reschedule requests, and address updates. My father (the co-sponsor) has contacted an attorney for us who is experienced in immigration and works within the jurisdiction of the originally scheduled interview. I'm not sure if the attorney can do anything to help us at this point, but I sure hope so. We are sending out the letter and accompanying supplemental documents via overnight mail today in hopes that it will arrive and get processed before the interview. I also found a phone number for the field office where the original interview is scheduled; it's meant to be called to see if they are open in the event of bad weather, but I'm hoping that it can also be used to contact the office in other ways. Waiting on a new phone set to arrive today before I call the number since my current phone doesn't have a working call speaker.

 

This is all so frustrating since I've read about situations where people were able to easily reschedule over the phone for their initial I-485 interview due to things like vacations. Maybe the customer service representative we got when we called about a reschedule wasn't as experienced or something. On the other hand, I've read about many other instances where people were denied despite multiple attempts to reschedule for (in my opinion) very valid reasons.

I sympathize with your situation. I would suggest you speak with a Tier 2 officer, sometimes not all of them have valid information with cases (including Tier 2 officers) I have to practically be begging the last person I spoke to about my case to pls dig deeper. She placed me on several holds (which I didn't mind) before being able to discover there was an administrative error, she noted no interview notice was mailed to me as they should have a copy in their system. Despite this, every other calls still believed I missed the interview. Anyway, I believe your case is valid enough for rescheduling and the lawyer can't really do anything since it is not like you have case or issue. Send the documents and include signature upon delivery on overnight (USPS does that now). 

Everything will work out find, tough times don't last, only tough people do.  Stay strong for your family.

[milimelo 4,582]

Why not contact your new state congressman/senator's immigration liaison to sort this out for you? 

Find who the person is, complete privacy release form and bring it to their local office. 

 

They have direct line of communication with USCIS (phone, email). 

[Hamers17 0]

35 minutes ago, milimelo said:

Why not contact your new state congressman/senator's immigration liaison to sort this out for you? 

Find who the person is, complete privacy release form and bring it to their local office. 

 

They have direct line of communication with USCIS (phone, email). 

I had no idea this was an option. I will definitely look into it. Thank you!

[sweetadams 138]

4 minutes ago, Hamers17 said:

I had no idea this was an option. I will definitely look into it. Thank you!

I guess it is worth trying too.

40 minutes ago, milimelo said:

Why not contact your new state congressman/senator's immigration liaison to sort this out for you? 

Find who the person is, complete privacy release form and bring it to their local office. 

 

They have direct line of communication with USCIS (phone, email). 

I thought this step is basically for case pending and with no immediate solution in sight.

[Alia85 0]

Hi! Did your interview rescheduled and after how long? 

 

Thank you you in advance for your reply.