Concurrent filing for parents - What else am i missing?

[drenie_elyonie 12]

Hi all, anyone have experience or was recently approved their parents’ immigrant visa using concurrent filing? We files August 2019 but i stupidly forgot to add the affidavit of support. Yesterday we checked the status online and saw that the application was denied. There could be other reasons as we haven’t received the mailed notice of denial yet (online status doesn’t say why it got denied) but i think it is probably because i did not include the affidavit of support. Makes sense they would deny especially with the recent public charge ruling. So my question is, aside from the i-130, i-485, birth certificates and affidavit of support and its supporting documents like tax returns, employment certification etc. are there other documents I need to submit? Do we need to do medical exams/immunization records for them also? If anyone has a checklist they can share that would be greatly appreciated. I successfully did k-1 visa before and now am a US citizen but this is totally different and not much info I can find online. Thank you.

[Boiler 45,052]

I would start by reading the Guides on here.

[geowrian 22,337]

Keep in mind there are new versions of the forms as of the 24th. And the addition of the I-944.

34 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I would start by reading the Guides on here.

Guides aren't updated for the Feb. 24th public charge changes, from what I can see.

[drenie_elyonie 12]

Thank you @Boiler and @geowrian for replying to my thread. Unfortunately I found little info here about concurrent filing and I’m sure now with the new changes it is even more confusing for new filers. Just wanted to give an update on what we did and what recent developments are:

 

March 3rd we sent an I-290B Notice of Appeal or Motion to reopen our case. I included the affidavit of support along with the new i-944 declaration of self sufficiency. At the time we sent this new packet, uscis status online showed the i-130 as received and the i-485 as denied.

 

Today, we received a notice in the mail that as of March 11th, the i-130 was approved. This was really good news! However the same notice also mentioned that the next step is to file the i-485. Now that makes things a bit confusing since we already filed that form previously, but now we are not sure if they want us to file the new version of the form (We filed concurrently before they updated the form).

 

Also worth noting that they haven’t sent us an acceptance notice for the motion yet. What do you guys think? I feel like we should at least wait until they give us an answer about our motion to reopen, before sending another i-485 which might cause more issues. Also want to avoid spending another $1400++ if at all possible.

 

Thanks again and hope you guys are being safe during this trying time!

[Boiler 45,052]

A motion to Reopen requires a valid reason to be approvable, from memory there are 4, which would apply in your case.

[geowrian 22,337]

6 minutes ago, drenie_elyonie said:

March 3rd we sent an I-290B Notice of Appeal or Motion to reopen our case. I included the affidavit of support along with the new i-944 declaration of self sufficiency. At the time we sent this new packet, uscis status online showed the i-130 as received and the i-485 as denied.

On what basis was the appeal/MTR? Typically this only applies when their decision was incorrect.

I have heard of a handful of cases where an MTR was reopened as a result of providing a new document, but admittedly it is very rare. The typical result is the denial remains.

 

6 minutes ago, drenie_elyonie said:

Today, we received a notice in the mail that as of March 11th, the i-130 was approved. This was really good news! However the same notice also mentioned that the next step is to file the i-485. Now that makes things a bit confusing since we already filed that form previously, but now we are not sure if they want us to file the new version of the form (We filed concurrently before they updated the form).

Correct. There was no reason for the I-130 to be denied as that is unrelated to the I-864/I-944/I-485, etc. The I-130 is only the petition to recognize the legal relationship between petitioner and beneficiary. As long as it was completed properly and that evidence was provided, it should be approved.

 

When you refile, you only need to file the I-485 packet...not another I-130. Attach a copy of the I-130's NOA1 or NOA2 with the I-485 packet.

Note that the packet must be complete - I-864, I-944, supporting documents for each, etc. The I-131 and I-765 are optional but highly suggested as there is no extra fee for those here.

 

6 minutes ago, drenie_elyonie said:

Also worth noting that they haven’t sent us an acceptance notice for the motion yet. What do you guys think? I feel like we should at least wait until they give us an answer about our motion to reopen, before sending another i-485 which might cause more issues. Also want to avoid spending another $1400++ if at all possible.

You can wait and see what happens. As noted, it's not impossible they will reopen it, but it is pretty unlikely IMO.

[drenie_elyonie 12]

11 minutes ago, Boiler said:

A motion to Reopen requires a valid reason to be approvable, from memory there are 4, which would apply in your case.

Thanks, really hoping they will reconsider and approve our AOS. Will update you guys on what happens.

[drenie_elyonie 12]

7 minutes ago, geowrian said:

On what basis was the appeal/MTR? Typically this only applies when their decision was incorrect.

I have heard of a handful of cases where an MTR was reopened as a result of providing a new document, but admittedly it is very rare. The typical result is the denial remains.

 

Correct. There was no reason for the I-130 to be denied as that is unrelated to the I-864/I-944/I-485, etc. The I-130 is only the petition to recognize the legal relationship between petitioner and beneficiary. As long as it was completed properly and that evidence was provided, it should be approved.

 

When you refile, you only need to file the I-485 packet...not another I-130. Attach a copy of the I-130's NOA1 or NOA2 with the I-485 packet.

Note that the packet must be complete - I-864, I-944, supporting documents for each, etc. The I-131 and I-765 are optional but highly suggested as there is no extra fee for those here.

 

You can wait and see what happens. As noted, it's not impossible they will reopen it, but it is pretty unlikely IMO.

I am hoping that since the i-130 happened after the denial, that our file is still being processed and that they would adjudicate our case along with the new evidence. It is just hard to refile now and not be wary that we would cause confusion and make the process longer. I am thinking we would give it another week or two... at least before the date they are being asked to leave the US before sending the new package. 

[Vabsmith 47]

On 3/14/2020 at 1:19 PM, drenie_elyonie said:

Thanks, really hoping they will reconsider and approve our AOS. Will update you guys on what happens.

Just curious to know - are there any updates to your case?