Best way to fight for filing fee refund from USCIS (due to USCIS mistake)?

[exp 17]

Hello all,

 

Following situation: We applied for I-130 last Dec (I am currently living and working in Canada). In May we received a seemingly positive response: I-797 says I-130 petition is approved. YAY! According to everything I had read before, the next step for me would be filing DS-260 at the embassy in Canada. However, my excitement did not last long. The I-979 read:

 

Quote

 

The above petition [I-130] has been approved. The petition indicated that the beneficiary is in the United States and wishes to apply for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident. He or she should submit a copy of this notice, along with a Form-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. [...]

If the beneficiary decides to apply for an immigrant visa outside the US based on this petition, you should file Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, to request that we send the petition to the U.S. Department of State National Visa Center (NVC)

The NVC processes all approved immigrant visa petitions that require consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consulate to complete visa processing. The NVX will then forward the approved petition to that consulate. The NVC will then contact the beneficiary concerning further immigrant visa processing steps.

 

 

This means, the I-130 proceeds with Adjustment of Status as opposed to Consular Processing. However, this is BS. Our application clearly and unmistakenly stated (on Part 4 #61a-b) that we apply at the US consulate in Montreal. Above all, I am not even in the US so Adjustment of Status can't work. USCIS clearly made a mistake. A painful one...

 

We created a service ticket and called a bunch of times but the outcome was we need to file I-824 to transfer our case to the NVC despite we would not need to and this was not our fault!

 

As most of you probably know, time is a critical aspect for these visa things and waiting for ages can be devastating. After talking with many people, we decided to bite the bullet, and file I-824 although not required and USCIS mistake so that we minimize at least any delays. Indeed, I-824 was approved within "only" 3 months (online estimates range from 5+ months), so we lost 3 months and 400 USD filing fee just because of USCIS's mistake.

 

We documented this case in detail and after the greencard is approved we would like to fight for a 400$ refund for the I-824 filing fee because it was a clear USCIS mistake.

 

Does anyone have experience with a situation like this?

What is the best approach to get a refund?

What is the best address to a refund request?

 

Thank you!!

 

 

 

 

 

PS: I know this is complicated and may not bring success (USCIS will try to claim there is no refund of any filing fees). It's still unfair and I want to try it.

 

 

 

[Unlockable 7,314]

Gonna be an extremely uphill battle. At the bottom of page 7 of the I-824 Form Instructions....

 

Quote

NOTE: The filing fee is not refundable, regardless of any action USCIS takes on this application. DO NOT MAIL CASH. You must submit all fees in the exact amounts.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-824instr.pdf

 

Refunds for filing fees are very rare. In fact, if you are successful, you would be the first I have heard of on this site. Filing something that was not required may not be grounds for a refund but you can give it a try.

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

1 hour ago, exp said:

Hello all,

 

Following situation: We applied for I-130 last Dec (I am currently living and working in Canada). In May we received a seemingly positive response: I-797 says I-130 petition is approved. YAY! According to everything I had read before, the next step for me would be filing DS-260 at the embassy in Canada. However, my excitement did not last long. The I-979 read:

 

 

This means, the I-130 proceeds with Adjustment of Status as opposed to Consular Processing. However, this is BS. Our application clearly and unmistakenly stated (on Part 4 #61a-b) that we apply at the US consulate in Montreal. Above all, I am not even in the US so Adjustment of Status can't work. USCIS clearly made a mistake. A painful one...

 

We created a service ticket and called a bunch of times but the outcome was we need to file I-824 to transfer our case to the NVC despite we would not need to and this was not our fault!

 

As most of you probably know, time is a critical aspect for these visa things and waiting for ages can be devastating. After talking with many people, we decided to bite the bullet, and file I-824 although not required and USCIS mistake so that we minimize at least any delays. Indeed, I-824 was approved within "only" 3 months (online estimates range from 5+ months), so we lost 3 months and 400 USD filing fee just because of USCIS's mistake.

 

We documented this case in detail and after the greencard is approved we would like to fight for a 400$ refund for the I-824 filing fee because it was a clear USCIS mistake.

 

Does anyone have experience with a situation like this?

What is the best approach to get a refund?

What is the best address to a refund request?

 

Thank you!!

 

 

 

 

 

PS: I know this is complicated and may not bring success (USCIS will try to claim there is no refund of any filing fees). It's still unfair and I want to try it.

 

 

 

if 400$ is worth the mental and psychological stress. you should fight it. Most folks will say it aint worth it . Fee is typically not refunded unless it waived.

Edited December 2, 2020 by James120383

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, Unlockable said:

Filing something that was not required may not be grounds for a refund

Per 8 CFR Part 103, I-824 (and applicable fee) was required despite the fact that USCIS made a clear error in misclassifying the case as petition for Adjustment of Status.

[exp 17]

Ok, it seems the consensus of everyone is it's unlikely to work out and not worth the hassle.

 

(You are right, it would probably cause me mental and psychological stress. I already hate USCIS so much that avoidance is probably better for my mental health)

 

 

[The Petitioner 1]

 

On 12/3/2020 at 1:37 AM, exp said:

Ok, it seems the consensus of everyone is it's unlikely to work out and not worth the hassle.

 

(You are right, it would probably cause me mental and psychological stress. I already hate USCIS so much that avoidance is probably better for my mental health)

 

 

Sound like we have the exact situation. We received NOA2 in May 2020. So you went ahead and filed the I-824? 

After calling them many times they sent a notice saying they would send it in for review. That was on 9/11/20. I haven't heard anything since. Can't seem to get a human when I call either.

[exp 17]

3 hours ago, uharston said:

Sound like we have the exact situation. We received NOA2 in May 2020. So you went ahead and filed the I-824? 

After calling them many times they sent a notice saying they would send it in for review. That was on 9/11/20. I haven't heard anything since. Can't seem to get a human when I call either.

 

Oh wow, sorry to hear. So the NOA for the approved I-130 you received in May?? (same us: we received ours on 05/04/2020).

Then we called them many times and eventually they put in a ticket. They also told us they would send it in for review. That cost us over one month, just to hear again we had to file I-824. Seems they just blatantly ignored what we've put into the service ticket.

We've called again a few times, I don't remember the details but it drained us mentally a lot.

 

Question: You received NOA in May, why did you put in the ticket only 9/11, four months later? Or did it take you so long to even get to this point?

 

After talking with many people (also a friend of a friend who is a laywer) we concluded to take the latter of our two options: (1) Fight immideately and potentially delay the process with unknown outcome. (2) Or bite the bullet, pay the 465 fee, submit this stupid I-824 in the hope that it does at least not delay our process. Then hope we can fight back the fee later. Which is the reason for my question here.

 

Hearing your situation it seems we did the right thing (sorry to say that) because the I-824 was approved mid September, just about three months later (estimates online ranged from between 5 and 17 months!). Everything that followed with the DHS was fairly quick. Now we're stuck on the interview process though. I really feel USCIS is the worst of all.

 

The question is: Do you value time or a few hundred $ more? At your current stage I would probably still wait to hear back regarding the ticket but then, if you value speed more, bite the bullet.

Please keep me posted what came out on the review in your case!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Petitioner 1]

So after filing multiple service tickets, getting the sentors office involved, and a lot of stress we decided to file the I-824. I prepared the form and was getting ready to send it off when I decided to call the USCIS one more time.

The person I talked to was not well-informed on what there forms do because he said the I-824 is merely to request a copy of an approval. Not satisfied with their response I asked to talk to a tier 2 officer. I got the info for that callback and we hung up. Callback would be in one week.

A couple hours later, I receive an email from the USCIS saying that I called on Dec. 9th and that today (Dec. 21) they have sent my case to the NVC. I can't believe this so I check on the my.uscis.gov account. It says they re opened the case on Dec. 21. The email says they sent it to NVC on Dec. 21. So basically it took them less than one day or even an hour I am guessing to fix this mistake. 

[The Petitioner 1]

Something else to mention... 

The officer I talk to said something to the effect that once you have three service tickets in the system then someone will really look into it. I realize that it is all one big game for them.