AOS denied - USCIS claims Korean evidence submitted was not what was asked for in RFE [title edited to specify country]

[Shnosburries 0]

My wife just received a Notice of Decision (denial) in response to her I-485. After speaking with our attorney, and an extremely helpful and friendly USCIS Employee (/s), they are saying that we submitted evidence, but not the right evidence.

 

In an RFE USCIS asked for “the Basic Certificate (Detailed) and the Family Relation Certificate (Detailed); OR Submit the Family Census Register and the Family Relation Certificate (Detailed).” My Wife submitted those documents, titled "기본증명서(상세), and "가족관계증명서(상세)" on the original government documents. The title of the official translation in the notarized documents were "Identification Certificate (detailed)" and "Certificate of Family Relations (detailed type)". They acknowledged receipt.

 

(I'd like to point out that the "Identification Certificate (detailed)" was previously used in a her K-1 Visa Application which was obviously approved)

 

Fast forward to today, she receives a Notice of Decision stating essentially what is in the title. We are now working with our attorney to figure out how to move forward, but I'm a little worried after they asked me whether or not those are the right Korean documents (they are), and advised we retain a Korean attorney so that they can attest that these are in fact the ones asked for in the RFE. I thought that is what I was paying them for...

 

Questions...

• Did USCIS not like the translation of the title?

• Did USCIS make a mistake?

• Does she leave the country and start another process?

• Do we file a motion to reopen, or motion to reconsider?

 

See below for exact wording from letter…

 

"On DATE, you responded to the Request for Evidence. You submitted:

• A letter from LAW FIRM regard to the RFE.

• A Notarial Certificate with translation from the applicant.

• A Identification Certificate (detailed) with translation from the applicant.

• A Certificate of Family Relations (detailed type) with translation from the applicant.

 

After reviewing the evidence, USCIS has concluded that you are not eligible to adjust status because you failed to submit:

 

• The Basic Certificate (Detailed) and the Family Relation Certificate (Detailed) for the applicant, the Family Census Register and the Family Relation Certificate (Detailed) for the applicant, or acceptable secondary evidence of the applicant's birth and an original written statement on government letterhead stating the reason that the applicant's birth record does not exist. Any foreign language documents must be accompanied by a complete English translation. (The Basic Certificate (Detailed) “Gibon Jeungmyongseo (Sang Sae)” and Family Relation Certificate (Detailed) “Gajok Kwankye Jeungmyongseo (Sang Sae)” must both be submitted.)

 

You have not established that you are eligible for adjustment under INA 245. Therefore, USCIS must deny your Form I-485. See 8 CFR, sections 103.2(b)(11) and (12)"

[OldUser 6,668]

As long as you are a US citizen she can stay and refile another AOS packet with right evidence.

[DiVo 0]

I second the above response. Absolutely do not have her leave or you will lose the ability to refile and will be stuck with more limited options. 

 

Have you filed a motion for reconsideration? 

[K1visaHopeful 2,814]

By what you've described, their claim is not incorrect. 

You did not submit the correct document and even IF you miss labeled the translation wrong, that is on whomever translated them. 

A Basic Certificate (Detailed) was requested in RFE but instead a document titled Identification Certificate (Detailed) was sent which they did not ask for. 

1. Regardless of CONTENT, if the title was not translated properly it would not be accepted.

2. What was accepted by the embassy is irrelevant.

 

Their refusal is not wrong.

 

2 hours ago, Shnosburries said:

We are now working with our attorney to figure out how to move forward, but I'm a little worried after they asked me whether or not those are the right Korean documents (they are), and advised we retain a Korean attorney so that they can attest that these are in fact the ones asked for in the RFE.

That's a superb idea and should have been done in the first place. A Korean IMMIGRATION attorney at least to decipher the language barrier for document interpretation.

Not sure why you are worried about your lawyer trying to do the right thing. I mean you did come in here asking non Korean reading ppl the same thing. 

The visa reciprocity documents website for Korea is, not surprisingly, blank so we would not have been able to confirm document types anyways. 

2 hours ago, Shnosburries said:

I thought that is what I was paying them for...

To read Korean?

The document you submitted didn't match the very specific RFE request according to the translation. 

 

2 hours ago, Shnosburries said:

Questions...

• Did USCIS not like the translation of the title? Correct.

• Did USCIS make a mistake? It's doubtful unless you translated the title of the document incorrectly yourself and in that case, that still would not be their mistake. 

• Does she leave the country and start another process? No. She refiles I485 properly with a concurrent I130.

• Do we file a motion to reopen, or motion to reconsider? Neither. They didn't make the mistake. 

 

 

 

[Shnosburries 0]

55 minutes ago, DiVo said:

Have you filed a motion for reconsideration?

We are trying to figure out whether to file a motion to reconsider, or a motion to reopen. It is tough to decide on this though as my attorney nor the USCIS Officer he spoke to understand the denial, they both agree that the evidence provided was adequate. Their discussion unfortunately does not change the fact that a decision was issue.

 

The way my attorney explained it, if it is there error and we did in fact provide what was required, we file for a motion to reconsider. If we need to get the documents re translated so that the title states the exact (misinterpreted) RFE, then it is a motion to reopen as we would technically be submitting new evidence.

 

USCIS will not answer that question, so it is up to him to take his best educated guess.

 

I am still reeling that there was even an RFE for this... These documents are like her birth certificate, and it seems outrageous that he would submit her package without it. Even more outrageous that he would submit something that they didn't ask for when he did received an RFE.

 

I am paying him to make very expensive mistakes.

Edited April 13 by Shnosburries

[TBoneTX 45,292]

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[Shnosburries 0]

I see you took down my original response.

[TBoneTX 45,292]

4 minutes ago, Shnosburries said:

I see you took down my original response.

 

4 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

A post in this thread has been removed for violation of these provisions of the site's Terms of Service:

Reasoning is above.  You may re-create that response without the TOS violations and repost it.

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

That's a superb idea and should have been done in the first place. A Korean IMMIGRATION attorney at least to decipher the language barrier for document interpretation.

^^ This is probably the most effective way around the hurdle.

[Shnosburries 0]

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

That's a superb idea and should have been done in the first place. A Korean IMMIGRATION attorney at least to decipher the language barrier for document interpretation.

Not sure why you are worried about your lawyer trying to do the right thing. I mean you did come in here asking non Korean reading ppl the same thing. 

The visa reciprocity documents website for Korea is, not surprisingly, blank so we would not have been able to confirm document types anyways. 

Why would I pay an attorney to do a job that I already retained one for? If it was the right thing to do then why wouldn't be have done it when he originally received the RFE, before responding to it.

There are plenty of Koreans on Visa-journey.

There are two documents listed on Korea Travel.gov page under birth death and burial certificates. Why wouldn't it be a surprise if it were blank though?

 

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

To read Korean?

The document you submitted didn't match the very specific RFE request according to the translation. 

I didn't submit the response the the RFE my attorney did. Yes, I expect him to know what does and does not work in response to an RFE.

 

1 hour ago, K1visaHopeful said:

What was accepted by the embassy is irrelevant.

The document was approved by USCIS during the K-1 visa process, the approved package is then forwarded to the NVC, then the embassy.

 

I still think that they made a mistake. The legitimacy of the original document and the content of the translation are adequate to prove her eligibility.

[TBoneTX 45,292]

5 minutes ago, Shnosburries said:

I still think that they made a mistake. The legitimacy of the original document and the content of the translation are adequate to prove her eligibility.

Even if they did, two choices remain:

  1.  By arguing, try to convince them that they're wrong (and risk batting your head against a wall); or

  2.  Show them, by means of the cited suggestion, that the documents are sufficient.

7 minutes ago, Shnosburries said:

There are plenty of Koreans on Visa-journey.

They would chiefly be in the "Asia: East and Pacific" regional forum.  However, the volume of specifically knowledgeable replies would probably be minimal.  We'll move your thread to that forum; if you get few or no constructive replies, hit "report thread" and request that this thread be moved back to the "AOS from K Visas" Process forum.

[Shnosburries 0]

17 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

^^ This is probably the most effective way around the hurdle.

I have already retained an immigration attorney and paid thousands of dollars to submit my wife's application and assist in the process, to include RFE responses, interviews, etc...

 

If he doesn't know what he's doing and can submit inaccurate documents with no repercussions why did I sign retainer?

 

Are you saying that I should fire him and retain an immigration attorney in South Korea to deal with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services?

[TBoneTX 45,292]

The word "Korean" was added to the thread title in hopes of attracting country-specific responses in the regional forum.

[TBoneTX 45,292]

1 minute ago, Shnosburries said:

Are you saying that I should fire him and retain an immigration attorney in South Korea

I may be wrong, but I interpreted the suggestion to mean that you or your current attorney should look for an immigration attorney in the U.S. who is either Korean himself (optimal) or is intimately familiar with Korean documents, and have that attorney write an explanatory letter to explain and confirm that the submitted documents are sufficient to satisfy USCIS's RFE.  In this way, you needn't fire your current attorney and start all over; it's simply an additional step -- probably cheaper and certainly faster than filing a motion to reconsider, if you can simply reply again to the current RFE.

[TBoneTX 45,292]

All:  FYI, it looks like the OP ran into the maximum number of permissible first-day posts for a new member (necessary, given spammers, but frustrating for legitimate members, certainly).

[Family 3,988]

The simple solution is to get a new translation,try a fast online service , with the asked for headings. 
File I-290 B , you will win. 
 

You would have faced the same RFE issue even without an attorney, so grin and bear it but rest assured you will prevail.  There is no need to get a Korean attorney to authenticate the documents.