My bank declined the USCIS fees…

[wolfyzheart 3]

I’m utterly devastated. We filed our I-130 and I-485 concurrently and mailed it last Saturday. Just now I got notice from my bank that the card was declined for suspicious activity . Is there any way to resolve this or are we screwed? 

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Reply YES. If it's sent back, re-send it with a personal check.

[powerpuff 6,677]

Was this with a credit card? This is a common issue with credit cards, they get declined. As far as I know, USCIS does not try to charge more than once so most likely they’ll send the whole thing back and I recommend resending with a personal check or money order.

[wolfyzheart 3]

Thank you. For some reason, I had no idea this was common.
 

 Do you know how long on average it takes to get the packet back? I’m seriously considering compiling everything together again and resending so I don’t have to wait a month or more for the packet to come back. 

[Scott-Ilyn 81]

Money Orders are also another payment method.  I've used them in the past with good results.

[M plus D 57]

6 hours ago, wolfyzheart said:

Thank you. For some reason, I had no idea this was common.
 

 Do you know how long on average it takes to get the packet back? I’m seriously considering compiling everything together again and resending so I don’t have to wait a month or more for the packet to come back. 

How long it takes to get your packet back, can vary wildly. Resending the application before receiving the rejected one has no downsides, since you already know what you need to fix.

 

I'd recommend using a check for payment. They are only withdrawn from your account when they are cashed, and USCIS tries to cash them a second time if they are not able to the first.

 

Credit Cards on the other hand tend to get denied and USCIS does not try to charge it again.

Money Orders are prepaid, so they cannot bounce, but you are out of the money immediately. In most cases, that isn't an issue. However, if your packet is rejected for a different reason and sent back and lost in the mail, which can happen, you will might have a huge hassle trying to get the money from the Money Orders back.

[wolfyzheart 3]

Quote

How long it takes to get your packet back, can vary wildly. Resending the application before receiving the rejected one has no downsides, since you already know what you need to fix.

 

I'd recommend using a check for payment. They are only withdrawn from your account when they are cashed, and USCIS tries to cash them a second time if they are not able to the first.

 

Credit Cards on the other hand tend to get denied and USCIS does not try to charge it again.

Money Orders are prepaid, so they cannot bounce, but you are out of the money immediately. In most cases, that isn't an issue. However, if your packet is rejected for a different reason and sent back and lost in the mail, which can happen, you will might have a huge hassle trying to get the money from the Money Orders back.

 

 

 

I am going to go that route then since I have the copies of everything, I just need to obtain the passport photos and medical form again (but dr is willing to re-sign and reseal for $50). 

 

There shouldn't be any unexpected issues with a personal check from my checkbook, right? I do worry about the mail getting lost and losing the money order...But I am certainly not trying the credit card again, even if I approved the transaction now. Not worth the risk again. 

 

Also: do I need to put a cover letter or anything stating I know the payment was declined and I'm filing again with amended payment?

 

I know normally they ask you resend the amended packet with the slip they included with why it was rejected... 

Edited October 3 by wolfyzheart

[M plus D 57]

12 minutes ago, wolfyzheart said:

There shouldn't be any unexpected issues with a personal check from my checkbook, right?

A personal check is fine. Be sure to follow payment instructions for checks on the USCIS page: Filing Fees | USCIS

 

13 minutes ago, wolfyzheart said:

Also: do I need to put a cover letter or anything stating I know the payment was declined and I'm filing again with amended payment?

There is no need to add a cover letter explaining a previous rejection due to payment, don't worry.

 

14 minutes ago, wolfyzheart said:

I know normally they ask you resend the amended packet with the slip they included with why it was rejected... 

So, a little bit about how rejections work:

They do scan your entire application and give it a case number. Once they find that it is not acceptable, they reject it.

You get sent back the packet , and they will add to it a green slip and explanation about why it was rejected.

 

They prefer that you wait for the rejected packet, because then you can see their exact instructions regarding what needs to be fixed.

Also, you would then add the green slip ontop of the fixed packet when you send it back. Once they accept it, you retain the Case Number.

Does that matter much? Not at all. The Case Number retention does very little, and your NOA1 date will still be the date they received the fixed packet, not when they received the rejected packet.

 

So if you truly know what went wrong, you might as well send a new one ASAP.

[wolfyzheart 3]

Quote

They prefer that you wait for the rejected packet, because then you can see their exact instructions regarding what needs to be fixed.

 

Just curious on this, if we messed anything else up on the application, would they also include that on the form? or do they usually just try payment first?  In other words: could it be worth it to wait if we are worried we made any mistakes on anything? 

 

We checked the packet a million times for errors so I doubt this is the case. I am just wondering. 

 

Thank you so much for all the help. It is greatly appreciated. 

[M plus D 57]

19 minutes ago, wolfyzheart said:

Just curious on this, if we messed anything else up on the application, would they also include that on the form? or do they usually just try payment first?  In other words: could it be worth it to wait if we are worried we made any mistakes on anything? 

If there were any reasons to reject the application, they would not have tried to charge the credit-card. They only charge fees when they deem the application acceptable.

So it is actually the other way around: the payment is processed last.

 

Of course you can still get a Request for Evidence later on, but that's is very different from the case being rejected fully.

 

Edited October 3 by M plus D

[wolfyzheart 3]

Quote

If there were any reasons to reject the application, they would not have tried to charge the credit-card. They only charge fees when they deem the application acceptable.

So it is actually the other way around: the payment is processed last.

 

Great, then we will work on resending this ASAP. I really appreciate your help and insight into the process on USCIS's part-- it is truly invaluable knowledge to have. 

[Scandi 4,166]

After you reply "yes", give it some time. I have had this happen before and in many cases the payment went through after I approved it (by replying "yes" to the text). 

Also when it comes to USCIS, always pay with a check (personal or bank) or money order.

[M plus D 57]

12 hours ago, Scandi said:

After you reply "yes", give it some time. I have had this happen before and in many cases the payment went through after I approved it (by replying "yes" to the text). 

This happened to you with USCIS?

 

I ask because USCIS doesn't retry credit cards when declined, per their own information (source). And if declined, a card would have to be retried when the user removed the fraud flag.

[Scandi 4,166]

11 hours ago, M plus D said:

This happened to you with USCIS?

 

I ask because USCIS doesn't retry credit cards when declined, per their own information (source). And if declined, a card would have to be retried when the user removed the fraud flag.

No with other companies, and to my knowledge there weren't any "retries" in those instances either. The payment must have gone through as soon as I replied "yes" because the confirmation email arrived just half a minute later in almost all the cases. 

[M plus D 57]

50 minutes ago, Scandi said:

No with other companies, and to my knowledge there weren't any "retries" in those instances either. The payment must have gone through as soon as I replied "yes" because the confirmation email arrived just half a minute later in almost all the cases. 

A lot of companies have automated retries for credit-cards, I presume that that is what you experienced, but I do admit that the timing of just a minute after your response is fast.

However, OP's picture for example clearly states that the bank won't let the purchase through unless tried again.

 

Regardless, USCIS, sadly, doesn't retry credit cards (source). And I've not seen personally anybody experience USCIS payment going through after an initially declined credit card payment.

Edited October 5 by M plus D