Hopeless after 3.5 years in AOS

[CaliCanadianGuy 7]

Hey everyone,

Long time reader, first time posting.  I guess I am just looking for advice if anyone has any or maybe I just need to vent to people who will understand my situation.  My case was pretty straightforward or at least that's what I thought.  Met my husband on vacation and carried on a relationship between Canada and the US.  Applied for K-1 which all went normally and then moved and got married in February 2017 and sent for AOS.  My timeline is current if you are interested.  I received an RFE for our marriage certificate even though I had sent an original but it happens. I had my appointment for my finger prints in a timely manner and received my work permit in normal time.  Anyway, that is when things fell into a black hole of bureaucracy.  After that I didn't hear a thing.  My status never changed to ready for interview and San Francisco at the time was taking up to 1.5 years so I wasn't that worried.  I had to apply for a second work permit which took a lot longer than the first and after two years I started submitting inquiries to USCIS which only resulted in the basic we won't give you any information letter back from them.  Applied for the 3rd work permit!  At the 2.5 year mark I started to panic and contacted Kamala Harris's office for help.  They basically sent some crappy letter saying they were doing their due diligence and making sure I wasn't a risk to the country etc.  It was kind of a slap in the face and surprising considering I had a Nexus membership so had definitely had several background checks before.  I was feeling pretty hopeless so I then contacted the Ombudsman who had a minimum 6 month wait at the time.  They finally acted on my case in January 2020 and as soon as they contacted the San Francisco office they scheduled my interview for like 3 weeks later.  I was so happy.  My husband and I attended the interview and had a really nice officer.  Everything seemed to go really well and he was very positive and even had to tell me to stop giving him back up information because I was supplying so much. He then left the room and came back saying he had just received my case and had to review it and then his supervisor would need to approve it.  He gave us a letter saying our case was being held for review and told us that we should hear back in about 60-90 days.  He then said if we didn't hear by 120 days that we could then inquiry about the status.  Well we didn't hear back at all so I inquired to USCIS and got the we can't tell you anything response.  I am just so stressed with this whole thing.  It's been 3.5 years!  I have now sent a request to our congressman hoping that he will be able to help us out.  I did ask the Ombudsman if they would pick up my case again but they said I would have to submit a new case request and that the wait was 2 months right now.  I'm just at a loss at this point as to what is going on and what I can do.  Probably nothing but just wanted to put it out there.

Thanks,

Hopeless Canadian in California

[Viking 142]

This is a worrisome read for sure. 

 

I feel your frustration concern and pain, this should not be that complicated. 

I would keep calling and get your Congress person involved. 

I would readresse the Ombudsman and highlight your earlier contact and the response time you were advised.. 

 

we got married in March 2020 and submitted our application to adjusted Status in April 2020 - i really hope this is not the standard timeline we will experience.. 

 

All the best luck - also here from California

 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

I'm truly sorry about what you're going through. Three and a half years waiting to adjust is way too long. 

On the bright side, once your case is approved, you'll receive the 10 years GC, so you won't need to go through removal of conditions.

 

I guess that you inquired by email? If that was the case, try by phone, asking for a Tier 2 agent. They're able to see your case and tell you if it is still under review. 

 

Now, if there is no response or action even after getting your congressman and the ombudsman involved, you can request the court to force USCIS to make a decision on your case through a writ of mandamus.

[NikLR 13,231]

Are you and your family originally from Canada? Just trying to see if theres another reason (unfairly) that this is taking so long. Im so sorry. 

[Montrealy 73]

What immigration has come to for this to happen-agencies doing whatever they want, senators doing nothing (no surprise there), and the one supposed to help has a 6 month wait. Seriously messed up.

[SalishSea 18,072]

11 hours ago, CaliCanadianGuy said:

Hey everyone,

Long time reader, first time posting.  I guess I am just looking for advice if anyone has any or maybe I just need to vent to people who will understand my situation.  My case was pretty straightforward or at least that's what I thought.  Met my husband on vacation and carried on a relationship between Canada and the US.  Applied for K-1 which all went normally and then moved and got married in February 2017 and sent for AOS.  My timeline is current if you are interested.  I received an RFE for our marriage certificate even though I had sent an original but it happens. I had my appointment for my finger prints in a timely manner and received my work permit in normal time.  Anyway, that is when things fell into a black hole of bureaucracy.  After that I didn't hear a thing.  My status never changed to ready for interview and San Francisco at the time was taking up to 1.5 years so I wasn't that worried.  I had to apply for a second work permit which took a lot longer than the first and after two years I started submitting inquiries to USCIS which only resulted in the basic we won't give you any information letter back from them.  Applied for the 3rd work permit!  At the 2.5 year mark I started to panic and contacted Kamala Harris's office for help.  They basically sent some crappy letter saying they were doing their due diligence and making sure I wasn't a risk to the country etc.  It was kind of a slap in the face and surprising considering I had a Nexus membership so had definitely had several background checks before.  I was feeling pretty hopeless so I then contacted the Ombudsman who had a minimum 6 month wait at the time.  They finally acted on my case in January 2020 and as soon as they contacted the San Francisco office they scheduled my interview for like 3 weeks later.  I was so happy.  My husband and I attended the interview and had a really nice officer.  Everything seemed to go really well and he was very positive and even had to tell me to stop giving him back up information because I was supplying so much. He then left the room and came back saying he had just received my case and had to review it and then his supervisor would need to approve it.  He gave us a letter saying our case was being held for review and told us that we should hear back in about 60-90 days.  He then said if we didn't hear by 120 days that we could then inquiry about the status.  Well we didn't hear back at all so I inquired to USCIS and got the we can't tell you anything response.  I am just so stressed with this whole thing.  It's been 3.5 years!  I have now sent a request to our congressman hoping that he will be able to help us out.  I did ask the Ombudsman if they would pick up my case again but they said I would have to submit a new case request and that the wait was 2 months right now.  I'm just at a loss at this point as to what is going on and what I can do.  Probably nothing but just wanted to put it out there.

Thanks,

Hopeless Canadian in California

Definitely odd that you had your AOS interview in January, with no decision yet.

 

Were you born in Canada, to Canadian-born parents?

[CaliCanadianGuy 7]

20 hours ago, Viking said:

This is a worrisome read for sure. 

 

I feel your frustration concern and pain, this should not be that complicated. 

I would keep calling and get your Congress person involved. 

I would readresse the Ombudsman and highlight your earlier contact and the response time you were advised.. 

 

we got married in March 2020 and submitted our application to adjusted Status in April 2020 - i really hope this is not the standard timeline we will experience.. 

 

All the best luck - also here from California

 

Thank you, I'm pretty sure my case just got lost in a desk somewhere or at least that's what I hope.  Everyone else through San Francisco seems to be moving just fine.

[CaliCanadianGuy 7]

9 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Definitely odd that you had your AOS interview in January, with no decision yet.

 

Were you born in Canada, to Canadian-born parents?

Hi, I know I think it is very odd as well!  Not sure what is going on.

 

Yes, I was born in Canada to Canadian parents.  All very normal and boring and no red flags that I can see.

[CaliCanadianGuy 7]

20 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I'm truly sorry about what you're going through. Three and a half years waiting to adjust is way too long. 

On the bright side, once your case is approved, you'll receive the 10 years GC, so you won't need to go through removal of conditions.

 

I guess that you inquired by email? If that was the case, try by phone, asking for a Tier 2 agent. They're able to see your case and tell you if it is still under review. 

 

Now, if there is no response or action even after getting your congressman and the ombudsman involved, you can request the court to force USCIS to make a decision on your case through a writ of mandamus.

I did call the call center and talk to a tier 2 manager.  They were the ones who submitted the case inquiry and said that was basically all I could do.  Once the office opens I do have the option of making an appointment and going in but given the state of San Francisco right now I don't think that would be an option for a long time.

 

I'm really hoping the congressman can help with this but it was the ombudsman that they responded to last time so I kind of feel like they are the only office with any real power to get things moving.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

1 hour ago, CaliCanadianGuy said:

I did call the call center and talk to a tier 2 manager.  They were the ones who submitted the case inquiry and said that was basically all I could do.  Once the office opens I do have the option of making an appointment and going in but given the state of San Francisco right now I don't think that would be an option for a long time.

 

I'm really hoping the congressman can help with this but it was the ombudsman that they responded to last time so I kind of feel like they are the only office with any real power to get things moving.

According to the USCIS site, all field offices are already open. 

[walter99 40]

Good luck and think positive!

Edited July 8, 2020 by walter99

[Villanelle 4,122]

So your interview was in feb? Just for some context- background checks can take a lot of time. I understand you have Nexus but the background checks for immigration are a totally different thing. Typically a Canadian usually doesnt have much issues with them because data is shared easily but you may have a common name or even worse share a name with someone with an issue, in which case they have to go though every document about that person and check off it wasnt you. 

 

You have to figure out if the background checks came back or not. Typically they wont interview you until they do but because you involved the ombudsman and congressman theres a chance they scheduled and interviewed you before the checks came back. If thats the case you can not be approved until they come back. Once they are back the supervisor at the local office just needs to approve it since you were already interviewed, or they can ask you to come in for a second interview if its been a long time since the first one and they want to make sure nothings changed (thats why they dont usually interview until the checks are done!)

 

If the checks did come back- then you are just waiting on the supervisor and since its been so long theres a chance your file is misplaced or just sitting waiting to be worked on. Ideally you would want an infopass to be able to go to the local office and inquire there. Because infopass is not an option right now you will want to send a letter directly to your local office saying the same things you would if you were there in person. That your interview was X date and needed supervisor approval and you want to know whats up with it. 

 

You can also submit case inquiries but thats going to generate at USCIS 'main office' type location and they will receive it and do nothing more then check the internal system that shows its still pending at local office level. They are not going to dig in more then that. Same thing for T2. They dont really reach out to local office. If you are going to use the congressman again you want them to contact their liaison and request the liaison checks the internal status of things AND also reaches out to the local office to find out whats up. They can also find out for you if the hold up is because they are waiting on background checks still which if thats the case theres nothing that can be done. Personally I would send the letter to the local office and use the congressman again to try to gather as much info about whats going on as possible. Once you know the exact reason for the delay its easier to fix it. 

[CaliCanadianGuy 7]

22 hours ago, Villanelle said:

You can also submit case inquiries but thats going to generate at USCIS 'main office' type location and they will receive it and do nothing more then check the internal system that shows its still pending at local office level. They are not going to dig in more then that. Same thing for T2. They dont really reach out to local office. If you are going to use the congressman again you want them to contact their liaison and request the liaison checks the internal status of things AND also reaches out to the local office to find out whats up. They can also find out for you if the hold up is because they are waiting on background checks still which if thats the case theres nothing that can be done. Personally I would send the letter to the local office and use the congressman again to try to gather as much info about whats going on as possible. Once you know the exact reason for the delay its easier to fix it. 

Thank you for the detailed response.  At this point I don't know if the background check was done or not but I thought that was usually done at the national benefits center before being sent to the local office?  Also, after 3.5 years if it isn't done then there is a serious issue somewhere and someone needs to investigate I would think.

 

I have emailed my congressman this time because the Senator didn't do anything really.  I will make sure if I get a canned response that they contact the liaison for a real answer this time if possible.  I also submitted another inquiry to the Ombudsman since that was the only thing that got my case moving last time.  With a two month wait for the Ombudsman I figure if I don't have an answer by then I will need them again.  I totally didn't think about writing the local office directly but I will definitely do that as well.  I just assumed that wouldn't really work and that no one would give me a real response, lol.

 

Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it!

On 7/7/2020 at 11:09 PM, walter99 said:

Good luck and think positive!

Thank you!  I am really trying especially with everything that is going on.  After 3.5 years though it is really starting to wear on me, ha ha.  

[walter99 40]

Yes  it is difficult. Think at this : the Universe has about 14 billion years behind,what is 3.5 years ? Nothing. :)) kidding. 

Wish you good luck!

[Villanelle 4,122]

The local office might not respond to you but if you send the letter with tracking then you know they got it. If your case is just stuck somewhere- like if the supervisor needed to sign off on the approval (very common for many internal reasons having nothing to do with you specifically) and then the supervisor or original case worker got reassigned (quit/promoted/etc) then theres a chance your case got misplaced. It could be sitting somewhere waiting for someone to pick it up who never will. So if you send a letter to the local office its pretty much the same thing as an infopass. You are inquiring with someone at that location about where the actual file is and whats the hold up with it. When they get your letter they have to place it in your file- so they will find your file. This solves the problem if it was lost. They may not respond but who cares if they do- the point is to get the file pulled out from wherever it is sitting not to get a reply. Speculating- if you dont get a reply its probably because its not worth the time- they will just process the approval and ignore the letter. If you do get a reply then whatever it says is the most accurate information you can get. If you do use the congressperson make sure to be specific that you need help contacting the local office about your case since you interviewed there and it was to go to a supervisor there and you have not gotten an approval or denial yet and its been X amount of days.