Notices from USCIS getting returned to sender then forwarded back to applicant

[jxn 86]

Posting on behalf of a friend. She just received her biometrics reuse notice for her paper N-400 application, but the letter is dated a month ago. Her NoA1was also received about one month after it was dated. Because the online tracking is stuck at the "Case has been received" status, I'm worried that she could miss her naturalization interview or an RFE, or even if she gets it in time ultimately have so little time to effectively plan and schedule. Even though the NoA1 lists her address with apartment number in the body of the letter, the recipient section omits it. Could that be why it gets returned to sender? In my personal experience, whenever I get a letter without an apartment number, the mail carrier matches the recipient name to a list of resident names and correctly delivers it anyway. Basically I'm wondering how common this is or if there is anything she can do to get letters directly without them being RTSed back to USCIS and then correctly forwarded back to her. I searched the forums but a lot of posts are about the initial application package being returned to the applicant and not about USCIS' notices. Thanks! 

[Mike E 11,739]

She should register online with USCIS with her case number so that she gets SMS messages each time there is activity on her account.  
 

She should sign up for USPS  informed delivery too.  

[jxn 86]

50 minutes ago, Mike E said:

She should register online with USCIS with her case number so that she gets SMS messages each time there is activity on her account.  
 

She should sign up for USPS  informed delivery too.  

Would Informed Delivery work for mail that isn't going to end up making it in the first place?

 

The online tracking number is still stuck on the original status, and even then it didn't trigger both the email and text (it did one of the two but I don't remember which).

[Mike E 11,739]

3 hours ago, jxn said:

Would Informed Delivery work for mail that isn't going to end up making it in the first place?

Yes, because I'd say it is the last mile where most mail gets lost. I don't have data I can find but my reasoning is this:

mail is sent by dropping off at the post office, into a USPS mail box, or a pickup. I don’t know if USCIS does bulk drop off or bulk pickup, but either way I suspect it is bulk and so losing the mail from the service center to the local post office is not likely. 

 

mail then makes its way to the destination post office. It won't be point to point and instead will be through hubs: spoke to hubs hub to hub, hub to spoke (the destination post office).  Once at the destination post office it gets scanned. And if Informed Delivery is enabled on that address, the recipient gets an email.

 

Mis delivered mail would be unlikely to get lost. It would be delayed and rerouted. The dropped envelopment on the warehouse floor scenario is possible, yet improbable considering the volume of mail.

 

From there it gets distributed to each carrier (on the order of dozens) each delivering to 100s to 1000s of individual mail boxes. 

 

Carriers get the wrong mail items given to them all the time, and it might take days or weeks to get it routed. And I imagine some just toss it the trash.

 

Carrier mis deliver to wrong address frequently. Not a month goes by when I don't get someone else's mail. That means my mail is going elsewhere.

 

When I get a misdelivered mail, if it is neighbor I pound on their door to deliver it. If it is more than a block away, I just drop the item into the out going mail box.

 

Some people just keep the mail (green cards have high value on the underground market), toss it, or mark it as return to sender. If the latter, USCIS will going to record as undeliverable.

 

So if Informed Delivery says you are getting something, you will get it if you are proactive. The misdelivered mail can be recovered if you report the issue to your post office.