Don't know where to turn

[maverickmc 0]

Help! Wondering if anyone has advice/experience after having an RFE.  Our NOA1 was received Jan 20 2017. Then nothing until a letter dated July 26 2017 that we needed to re-submit our marriage certificate and passport style photos. We did this promptly in august. I then checked and the USCIS website says they received our petition I - 130 at "our local office" on Sept 15 2017. Now nothing and it has been 110 days. I am feeling desperate because our son was born in October- I never thought he would be born before we had at least some good news in this process. Also, I was just laid off from  my job ( I am a US citizen) while on maternity leave.  We had hired lawyers to help us in this process and they are no help.  I don't  know what I can do but it seems like this has been an extreme amount of time for us to wait...it's been a year since we applied and we don't even have the NOA2!!  I am thinking to write to my congressman, I don't know if that would help.  Any advice is much appreciated!! 

[JFH 12,191]

When the case is transferred to a local office it usually means they want to bring you in for an interview face-to-face. 

 

I'm sorry to hear it's taking so long. Some local offices are busier than others. Which is your local office? 

 

[maverickmc 0]

Thanks JFH,

it looks like New York City would be the local office. Would they do an interview before we got a NOA2? 

Do you know if the NYC office is usually this behind and would it be worth it for me to call them? 

 

 

 

[bakphx1 789]

It wouldn't hurt to call.  Unfortunately, they work at such slow speeds, the amount of time isn't startling to anyone who follows this forum. You can at least find out if anything is hanging it up. 

[pushbrk 13,043]

On 1/4/2018 at 3:32 PM, maverickmc said:

Thanks JFH,

it looks like New York City would be the local office. Would they do an interview before we got a NOA2? 

Do you know if the NYC office is usually this behind and would it be worth it for me to call them? 

 

 

 

This interview would be for the petitioner as part of the process of making a decision on petition approval, not a visa interview making a visa decision.  Not always, but usually, there is something irregular in either the petitioner's immigration history or something else with the case.  Generally, the petitioners in these situations have more than a clue what the issue might be.  One reason it might be taking so long is they are investigating, in person, locally first.  That means they will know the answers to their questions before they ask them, so be "accurate".

 

 

[JFH 12,191]

Here's an example of a case that was transferred to a local office for interview. I saw this on another site last week. 

 

-petitioner was a naturalized USC 

-petitioner had achieved citizenship under the 3-year rule, having obtained residency by way of marriage to a USC 

- immediately after citizenship was obtained they divorced and petitioner re-married someone from her home country 

- the interview letter wanted her to bring to interview previous marriage and divorce records, naturalization certificate and evidence of the length of the current relationship.

 

In the above case, it was obviously suspected that the petitioner had married a USC purely for immigration benefit and once achieved the marriage was terminated in order to bring in another immigrant. The time line would be heavily scrutinized. 

 

This may or may not mirror your circumstances. 

[pushbrk 13,043]

41 minutes ago, JFH said:

Here's an example of a case that was transferred to a local office for interview. I saw this on another site last week. 

 

-petitioner was a naturalized USC 

-petitioner had achieved citizenship under the 3-year rule, having obtained residency by way of marriage to a USC 

- immediately after citizenship was obtained they divorced and petitioner re-married someone from her home country 

- the interview letter wanted her to bring to interview previous marriage and divorce records, naturalization certificate and evidence of the length of the current relationship.

 

In the above case, it was obviously suspected that the petitioner had married a USC purely for immigration benefit and once achieved the marriage was terminated in order to bring in another immigrant. The time line would be heavily scrutinized. 

 

This may or may not mirror your circumstances. 

Also a very commonly seen fraud scenario.  In such a case, the US citizenship can be revoked and the fraudulent petitioner deported.  If they determine the case is legitimate and the relationship bona fide, they will approve the petition and things usually go well.

 

[maverickmc 0]

Hmmm... the petitioner is me though, and I am a US citizen, born and raised. I do have dual citizenship with Ireland, but I don't think that should make any difference, I've never lived there. When we got the RFE it asked us to resend our marriage certificate. The town hall left off something I guess, but they fixed it and we sent it back. They also asked for passport photos for both of us- why would they ask for that?

 

i know this is a lengthy process but something doesn't seem right here, we have gotten no where in a year. 

[payxibka 10,047]

1 minute ago, maverickmc said:

Hmmm... the petitioner is me though, and I am a US citizen, born and raised. I do have dual citizenship with Ireland, but I don't think that should make any difference, I've never lived there. When we got the RFE it asked us to resend our marriage certificate. The town hall left off something I guess, but they fixed it and we sent it back. They also asked for passport photos for both of us- why would they ask for that?

 

i know this is a lengthy process but something doesn't seem right here, we have gotten no where in a year. 

Passport style photos are required for all petitions and visa applications.  

[maverickmc 0]

Should the passport style photos have been sent with our original application? We (stupidly) hired a lawyer to help us with this process and I paid him thousands of dollars to send in our application. Then I find out there was something missing on our marriage certificate that he should have checked for, and he should have asked us for passport photos too? 

[payxibka 10,047]

1 minute ago, maverickmc said:

Should the passport style photos have been sent with our original application? We (stupidly) hired a lawyer to help us with this process and I paid him thousands of dollars to send in our application. Then I find out there was something missing on our marriage certificate that he should have checked for, and he should have asked us for passport photos too? 

YUP of both of you

[pushbrk 13,043]

2 hours ago, payxibka said:

YUP of both of you

When THEY filed, yes.  However only a passport photo of the petitioner is required when filing an I-130 for spouse now.

 

What was left off the marriage certificate may well be the issue.  The devil is often in the details.  Adding something to an additional marriage certificate tends to indicate the possibility of corruption and potential false documents.  Where were you married and what was the error on the certificate?

[maverickmc 0]

When our town hall (upstate NY) sent us our marriage certificate, they left off the signature /stamp of the registrar. So immigration said it wasn't registered anywhere.  It was an easy fix, we went back to town hall and they added it and we sent to same stupid lawyer to send in for us....now all I know is our case is at the local office, and the lawyer is not able to tell me anything. I've learned more from this forum than him! 

 

Any advice...?

[pushbrk 13,043]

6 hours ago, maverickmc said:

When our town hall (upstate NY) sent us our marriage certificate, they left off the signature /stamp of the registrar. So immigration said it wasn't registered anywhere.  It was an easy fix, we went back to town hall and they added it and we sent to same stupid lawyer to send in for us....now all I know is our case is at the local office, and the lawyer is not able to tell me anything. I've learned more from this forum than him! 

 

Any advice...?

I can see why USCIS suspected fraud.  It's unfortunate that your local officials' incompetence has caused this inconvenience for you.

[maverickmc 0]

Ahhh thank you...this is starting to make sense.  Okay, if that is where we are at then what is happening next? Immigration is investigating me?  I will call the local branch and see if I can find anything out, and I've requested through the USCIS website that this issue be looked into....anything else I can do?