ATTENTION JULY FILERS!

[Bill y Bella 0]

Isn't it odd, with the lack of approvals this month and lately, that so many of our adjudication dates are holding steady? Shouldn't they be getting later and later since there are almost no new approvals?

I think the projected adjudication date is at partially based upon the average waiting time on approved petitions. If there are no approvals the averages don't change so the projected adjudication dates don't change much.

There were some major changes in the past two weeks on days when there were no approvals but that was because VJ was playing around with the algorithm it uses to project the adjudication date.

I am not sure why some of the CSC projections changed today. There was a K3 approval in CSC. Maybe that goes into the calculation for K1's some how.

[English Muffin 59]

does anyone else find it strange that there isnt a september filers thread and we're halfway thru the month?

This thread wasn't started until 12 July so perhaps September's will start any day now?

Gillian

[bakofoil 27]

I hadn't thought about it until now, but the spreadsheet for July filers (which is brilliant, by the way) includes some 30th and 31st July applicants. I have no idea whether these are receipt dates and therefore whether they are old fee or new fee applicants.

I think we agreed to use the dates on the NOA1 hard copies but then again... who knows - it isn't regulated so

In that case I'm not a July filer. Not even a September filer at this stage

As founder of this thread I do hereby declare that you are a July Forum Filer!

You started the process the same month as everyone else and you are one of us. Remember our pledge: For faster, for slower, for RFE or none.... We will not cast you aside because of USCIS screwups!

You are an official July Forum Filer and we are glad to have you!

Thanks Bill y Bella, I've been feeling pretty down today about the lack of action on my application, so i'm grateful for the encouragement.

I am basically going to be set back to September filing status though unless I get pushed into an August box when they realise how long my application has been sitting there. Wishful thinking

[Bill y Bella 0]

I hadn't thought about it until now, but the spreadsheet for July filers (which is brilliant, by the way) includes some 30th and 31st July applicants. I have no idea whether these are receipt dates and therefore whether they are old fee or new fee applicants.

I think we agreed to use the dates on the NOA1 hard copies but then again... who knows - it isn't regulated so

In that case I'm not a July filer. Not even a September filer at this stage

As founder of this thread I do hereby declare that you are a July Forum Filer!

You started the process the same month as everyone else and you are one of us. Remember our pledge: For faster, for slower, for RFE or none.... We will not cast you aside because of USCIS screwups!

You are an official July Forum Filer and we are glad to have you!

Thanks Bill y Bella, I've been feeling pretty down today about the lack of action on my application, so i'm grateful for the encouragement.

I am basically going to be set back to September filing status though unless I get pushed into an August box when they realise how long my application has been sitting there. Wishful thinking

They note the received date on the NOA1 and many, including zoomer believe that is the date that USCIS uses for prioritizing petitions and starting the 6 month clock. If that is the case you will be grouped with other pettions received in the middle of August. August is a real light month so far so you may not have lost as much time as you are thinking.

[bakofoil 27]

I hadn't thought about it until now, but the spreadsheet for July filers (which is brilliant, by the way) includes some 30th and 31st July applicants. I have no idea whether these are receipt dates and therefore whether they are old fee or new fee applicants.

I think we agreed to use the dates on the NOA1 hard copies but then again... who knows - it isn't regulated so

In that case I'm not a July filer. Not even a September filer at this stage

As founder of this thread I do hereby declare that you are a July Forum Filer!

You started the process the same month as everyone else and you are one of us. Remember our pledge: For faster, for slower, for RFE or none.... We will not cast you aside because of USCIS screwups!

You are an official July Forum Filer and we are glad to have you!

Thanks Bill y Bella, I've been feeling pretty down today about the lack of action on my application, so i'm grateful for the encouragement.

I am basically going to be set back to September filing status though unless I get pushed into an August box when they realise how long my application has been sitting there. Wishful thinking

They note the received date on the NOA1 and many, including zoomer believe that is the date that USCIS uses for prioritizing petitions and starting the 6 month clock. If that is the case you will be grouped with other pettions received in the middle of August. August is a real light month so far so you may not have lost as much time as you are thinking.

Ah, I found that information:

USCIS will honor the actual date that an application was received in our mailroom; this date will be indicated on the receipt (in the Received Date box) when Form I-797, Notice of Action, is mailed. Until this situation is resolved, USCIS will provide these weekly updates on progress in issuing receipt notices to our customers. We appreciate your understanding.

As of September 7, 2007, USCIS has completed data entry and issued receipt notices for applications and petitions received on or before the dates indicated:

California Service Center

Form Number Date Received

I-130 8/07/2007

N-400 7/24/2007

All Other Forms 8/28/2007

I'm relieved they are honouring the received date at least, but if they have issued receipt notices for forms received before 28th August then my check should have been cashed by now.

[kaush 0]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

I did finally get to speak to a human on the USCIS line.

I first told her that I had received the notice asking me to resubmit my application, told her about the postmark issue and what USCIS had on their website. Like I had expected she said she did not take care of these issues and could not help me with that. I then asked her who would be able to help me with that. She said there wasn't really anything I could do about it or appeal the rejection, or send the petition back without the new fee. Basically, they would just send it back. So I asked her what I COULD do to get me out of this. Her answer "Do what the notice says" If it asks you to resubmit with the new fee then do it.

I also asked her about my two year deadline mark. At first she said it would be fine but then I think she understood exactly what was going on and she told me that I would have to meet that requirement. "If a rejection notice is sent to you, even if it is just for the fee it is considered as never having been filed." So basically like everyone here said - start over. She said that if by applying now we do not meet the requirement for question 18 B then we should apply after we meet the requirement. But she also added that she had no way of knowing or telling me if they would make an exception for a case like this.

I said, " well what can I do to contest the postmark date memo on the USCIS website or if the issue of an RFE arises after I resubmit?"

She said "get advice from an attorney, community assistance, state bar association or get an infopass appointment."

No help. She did not seem to know or be of any help any more than all of you here. USCIS National Customer Service reps do not handle these cases and will not tell anyone any more than someone else who has memorized the book of USCIS rules. Its almost as if they have prerecorded speeches about the policies.

The first appointment I could get with an attorney is next Friday. Have send out several emails as well. I am going to try and see if I can get in touch with one sooner. Regardless of what the attorney says or can do, I have started preparing for a trip to India. If thats what its going to take now then thats what its gonna take. I did get in touch with a couple of other people who received the same rejection notice for wrong fee. They seem to have gotten nowhere yet either. Will keep you all posted.

[kaush 0]

does anyone else find it strange that there isnt a september filers thread and we're halfway thru the month?

From the looks of things, I might be one of the September filers or later

[kaush 0]

Going to throw my hat in the ring....I work as part-time event and services organiser for a law firm...now it's a scottish law firm that doesn't deal in immigration but I let one of the partners read the postmark argument. They say the wording goes along billy's description. "otherwise filed" means delivered by means other than postal service. So if they are being returned witha postmark before 30th, someone in their mailroom either has a serious grudge against immigration or they didn't get the memo!

Always good to find a way to get a free legal opinion.

I just checked the July Filer's spread sheet for the first time in a long time. Looks great but it seems the participation rate is low. There are 210 K1 petitions that were mailed in July and we only have about 57 petitions on the spread sheet. In order to make this spreadsheet as valuable as possible we need to try to maximize the participation rate. One of the reasons that the CSC & VSC threads by bszoom are so popular is that people know they can go there and instantly see how their progress compares with everyone else.

I have a couple of suggestions for the group to consider.

1. Freeze the frames so that the heading line is always showing. I know each user can do it themselves but I'm not sure if everyone will realize this. It gets a little confusing when the heading line srolls off the screen. I think if the editor freezes the heading rows that will be the default view for all users, but I'm not positive about that.

2. Add a column for date sent. It would be interesting to see how long some people had to wait for their NOA1's. By the way, VSC is currently projecting adjudication dates based on date sent I think.

3. Delete some of the columns that are not being used yet to make the width of the spreadsheet as narrow as possible. This will allow users to see the data at one glance which is always nice. We can add the other columns back in when they are needed.

4. "Allow" access to anyone who mailed / shipped their petition during July. That was the original intent when the thread (not the spreadsheet) was started because at that time getting the package in the mail was the step we were all focussing on. If we wind up with some people on the spread sheet who received NOA1's in August I do not see the harm. It will be helpful for those that filed toward the end of the month to see what is happening to others who did the same.

5. Make the spread sheet open access. I know there is a risk of someone messing things up, but it should be fairly easy for the moderators to repair things if necessary. I think the advantage of more entries and greater participation outweigh the risk. It may also be possible to keep the design elements locked but allow users to enter data. My guess is that a lot of users who hesitate to send you a PM would go ahead and enter their data in the spreadsheet if they could. You could make a copy of the spreadsheet before you made it open access so you could restore the old one if the experiment was a total disaster.

6. Consider splitting the K1 page into VSC K1 & CSC K1 pages. This will eliminate the need for users to add rows etc. They could just add their data on the bottom row and then you could sort the spreadsheet periodically if it will not do it automatically. You could also go ahead and copy your formulas in the entire column so that they are there ready to go if someone enters data on the line. In excel one can make the formula invisible until there is data for the formula to use. I'm not sure if that works with edit grid or not.

7. Make a periodic announcement with a link in the forum about updates, current number of petitions etc to prompt people to go take a look at the spreadsheet. I noticed that since we put the spreadsheet on another site there have been very few comments about it. The links in our signatures are not as effective at driving traffic as an actual post.

My guess is that to certain extent the spreadsheet has been forgotten about. I know that I very seldom look at it anymore. I thought there was tremendous interest in the spreadsheet when it was shown within the thread. It was great to have the data and the opportunity to interact all in one place. The only problem was that people kept adding data to old versions and that was a real pain. I think that having it on editgrid and having open access might be the best solution. If you like, I would be glad to help with the cleanup and maintenance.

Thanks for listening!

Maybe I am a little web-based spreadsheet-challenged. But how does one add to such a sheet? Do we send information to a moderator? Not that mine would count any more in the July filers but for future reference.

[*julez* 124]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

I did finally get to speak to a human on the USCIS line.

I first told her that I had received the notice asking me to resubmit my application, told her about the postmark issue and what USCIS had on their website. Like I had expected she said she did not take care of these issues and could not help me with that. I then asked her who would be able to help me with that. She said there wasn't really anything I could do about it or appeal the rejection, or send the petition back without the new fee. Basically, they would just send it back. So I asked her what I COULD do to get me out of this. Her answer "Do what the notice says" If it asks you to resubmit with the new fee then do it.

I also asked her about my two year deadline mark. At first she said it would be fine but then I think she understood exactly what was going on and she told me that I would have to meet that requirement. "If a rejection notice is sent to you, even if it is just for the fee it is considered as never having been filed." So basically like everyone here said - start over. She said that if by applying now we do not meet the requirement for question 18 B then we should apply after we meet the requirement. But she also added that she had no way of knowing or telling me if they would make an exception for a case like this.

I said, " well what can I do to contest the postmark date memo on the USCIS website or if the issue of an RFE arises after I resubmit?"

She said "get advice from an attorney, community assistance, state bar association or get an infopass appointment."

No help. She did not seem to know or be of any help any more than all of you here. USCIS National Customer Service reps do not handle these cases and will not tell anyone any more than someone else who has memorized the book of USCIS rules. Its almost as if they have prerecorded speeches about the policies.

The first appointment I could get with an attorney is next Friday. Have send out several emails as well. I am going to try and see if I can get in touch with one sooner. Regardless of what the attorney says or can do, I have started preparing for a trip to India. If thats what its going to take now then thats what its gonna take. I did get in touch with a couple of other people who received the same rejection notice for wrong fee. They seem to have gotten nowhere yet either. Will keep you all posted.

Try this:

From the American Immigration Lawyers Association:

AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07082862 (posted Aug. 28, 2007)

If you receive a rejected petition or application on the basis of improper fees, please do the following:

1. Verify RECEIPT and POSTMARK date.

2. If it appears to be an improvident rejection, resubmit the original application/petition to the Service Center with a brightly colored cover sheet along with proof of timely delivery/postmark stating:

ATTN: CRU SUPERVISOR - CASE IMPROPERLY REJECTED FOR FEES

Enclose a cover letter detailing what fees were enclosed and what date the case was postmarked and/or received.

[kaush 0]

Okay so I filed end of July and ran into a problem!!

I sent my package on July 27th and it reached TSC on July 30th (I had a return receipt). After more than a month of waiting, I received a notice w/my complete package returned in the mail that said it reached USCIS on or after July 30th and the fee that I sent in ($170) was outdated and I should send the correct fee IE $455 and resubmit my package.

Did this happen to anyone else???

Courtney - your application reached VSC on july 30th -no problems w/ fee??

The other thing that I am worried about now is that my fiance and I met LAST on 28th august 2005. So if resubmit my application now, will they raise a problem about not having met in the past two years since it is now september??? Will I have to travel to see him and file the petition again?

I am just totally freaked out! Any experiences?? Anything???

I did finally get to speak to a human on the USCIS line.

I first told her that I had received the notice asking me to resubmit my application, told her about the postmark issue and what USCIS had on their website. Like I had expected she said she did not take care of these issues and could not help me with that. I then asked her who would be able to help me with that. She said there wasn't really anything I could do about it or appeal the rejection, or send the petition back without the new fee. Basically, they would just send it back. So I asked her what I COULD do to get me out of this. Her answer "Do what the notice says" If it asks you to resubmit with the new fee then do it.

I also asked her about my two year deadline mark. At first she said it would be fine but then I think she understood exactly what was going on and she told me that I would have to meet that requirement. "If a rejection notice is sent to you, even if it is just for the fee it is considered as never having been filed." So basically like everyone here said - start over. She said that if by applying now we do not meet the requirement for question 18 B then we should apply after we meet the requirement. But she also added that she had no way of knowing or telling me if they would make an exception for a case like this.

I said, " well what can I do to contest the postmark date memo on the USCIS website or if the issue of an RFE arises after I resubmit?"

She said "get advice from an attorney, community assistance, state bar association or get an infopass appointment."

No help. She did not seem to know or be of any help any more than all of you here. USCIS National Customer Service reps do not handle these cases and will not tell anyone any more than someone else who has memorized the book of USCIS rules. Its almost as if they have prerecorded speeches about the policies.

The first appointment I could get with an attorney is next Friday. Have send out several emails as well. I am going to try and see if I can get in touch with one sooner. Regardless of what the attorney says or can do, I have started preparing for a trip to India. If thats what its going to take now then thats what its gonna take. I did get in touch with a couple of other people who received the same rejection notice for wrong fee. They seem to have gotten nowhere yet either. Will keep you all posted.

Try this:

From the American Immigration Lawyers Association:

AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07082862 (posted Aug. 28, 2007)

If you receive a rejected petition or application on the basis of improper fees, please do the following:

1. Verify RECEIPT and POSTMARK date.

2. If it appears to be an improvident rejection, resubmit the original application/petition to the Service Center with a brightly colored cover sheet along with proof of timely delivery/postmark stating:

ATTN: CRU SUPERVISOR - CASE IMPROPERLY REJECTED FOR FEES

Enclose a cover letter detailing what fees were enclosed and what date the case was postmarked and/or received.

Many thanks! Has anyone done this and received a reply yet?

[chris4gretchen 1]

does anyone else find it strange that there isnt a september filers thread and we're halfway thru the month?

This thread wasn't started until 12 July so perhaps September's will start any day now?

Gillian

I would think youd see one for september filers. this thread started on july 12th, but there are about 6 july filer threads. I went back 17 pages of threads. there are 5 or 6 for every month but september. very quiet from september filers.

Chris

[chris4gretchen 1]

Try this:

From the American Immigration Lawyers Association:

AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07082862 (posted Aug. 28, 2007)

If you receive a rejected petition or application on the basis of improper fees, please do the following:

1. Verify RECEIPT and POSTMARK date.

2. If it appears to be an improvident rejection, resubmit the original application/petition to the Service Center with a brightly colored cover sheet along with proof of timely delivery/postmark stating:

ATTN: CRU SUPERVISOR - CASE IMPROPERLY REJECTED FOR FEES

Enclose a cover letter detailing what fees were enclosed and what date the case was postmarked and/or received.

its from another thread on here. i think a few people have tried it but i dont know if it has brought about any progress for anyone yet.

the only trouble is if they return it again you have lost more time. if they accept it, they might expedite it some to get you back in line. still tough choice. If youre considering anther trip to india, it might be worth it to resubmit it as that says. still plan your trip and go. if its returned, you will then be back from your trip and have all your ducks in a row to submit and have hte new fees and the meeting in 2 years done again. If its accepted and not returned, then you got a bonus visit with your honey and are back on track with yoru petition. you only lost the expense of the trip and time away from work etc.

Chris

Edited September 14, 2007 by chris4gretchen

[kaush 0]

Try this:

From the American Immigration Lawyers Association:

AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07082862 (posted Aug. 28, 2007)

If you receive a rejected petition or application on the basis of improper fees, please do the following:

1. Verify RECEIPT and POSTMARK date.

2. If it appears to be an improvident rejection, resubmit the original application/petition to the Service Center with a brightly colored cover sheet along with proof of timely delivery/postmark stating:

ATTN: CRU SUPERVISOR - CASE IMPROPERLY REJECTED FOR FEES

Enclose a cover letter detailing what fees were enclosed and what date the case was postmarked and/or received.

its from another thread on here. i think a few people have tried it but i dont know if it has brought about any progress for anyone yet.

the only trouble is if they return it again you have lost more time. if they accept it, they might expedite it some to get you back in line. still tough choice. If youre considering anther trip to india, it might be worth it to resubmit it as that says. still plan your trip and go. if its returned, you will then be back from your trip and have all your ducks in a row to submit and have hte new fees and the meeting in 2 years done again. If its accepted and not returned, then you got a bonus visit with your honey and are back on track with yoru petition. you only lost the expense of the trip and time away from work etc.

Chris

Thats exactly what I was thinking of doing. Bonus visit with my honey sounds soooooo good - should help my overstressed little brain.

[1507love 0]

Anyone out there read the Sept 17th issue of Newsweek?...Page 16?

There is an article about USCIS...The focus of the article is mostly about Miami....but here are some key words from the article:

"pervasive and serious problems"

"lengthy and costly waiting periods for benefits"

"huge backlogs".....

all things we are WAY too familiar with....

[janaus 0]

All july filers should rally in front of the USCIS and demand our visas be processed now. Isn't that what I heard H1 visa filers did?

This waiting for the unknown is getting to me too, but I'm trying to keep myself occupied.

We should all hang in there and keep our spirits high. Hopefully, it won't be too long!

I want to check out this newsweek issue. But I doubt that is going to make USCIS work any faster. It will cut into their donut eating time.