Need help!!

[Caladan 19]

Yeah, it's pretty unlikely that they'd deny someone for being fraudulent without going through any of the interviews that you'd get for being a high fraud case. A lawyer's a good idea, but no need to tell the person that they're being suspected of fraud when chances are they just missed the interview date.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Good evening and again thanks to everyone that has replied to my questions. Regarding my husbands last job he was being sponsored and his job was based on the projects that he was on and his project was done and the company didn't extent it to him again. So he wasn't fired but his H1B visa is still valid until October 1, 2007. They give you something like 3 months after your employment ends to stay in the US.

No that is a myth, there is no grace period for H-1B. As soon as the employment ends, the H-1B ends. He's out of status, trust me (I had an H-1B for 6 years).

Also regarding receiving mail from USCIS, yes we have received our first notice letters saying they received our file and then we received his letter for his BIO appointment and we went to that in April. However the only thing I can think of is that we moved last month.

Alarms bells just started ringing I'm afraid.

We moved on July 15th but I did change our address with Immigration before we moved and I also changed it at the post office. Plus we have received a letter from USCIS regarding a service request we had regarding our EAD being outside of the usuall processing time and that notice came to our new address. So I don't think this is the problem.

My guess is that it is the problem. USCIS are notoriously bad at correctly executing changes of address. Plus mail from USCIS generally isn't forwarded.

However I did read on USCIS's website and was told by a customer service agent that the California Service Center is having delays in sending out certain notice letters, So I am wondering if we were in that bunch and it never got to us.

I don't believe this is relevant, as your case most likely wasn't at the CSC. It wasn't right?

I don't know all I can do now if go to the appointment tomorrow and hope they can tell us why it was denied and if not then I'm at a loss for the reason. Also I have to think that the agent told us over the phone that it was denied for a reason...being that he broke the rules by telling us that over the phone.

USCIS hotline is full of #######.

Good luck with the Infopass. You'll learn a lot there I'm guessing.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Only reason you can think of don't really count!

Eh? The reason I thought of I can almost guarantee is the most likely one. In fact I cannot think of another reason for a flat out denial without RFE or interview other than missing the interview.

[pushbrk 12,883]

Good evening and again thanks to everyone that has replied to my questions. Regarding my husbands last job he was being sponsored and his job was based on the projects that he was on and his project was done and the company didn't extent it to him again. So he wasn't fired but his H1B visa is still valid until October 1, 2007. They give you something like 3 months after your employment ends to stay in the US. Also regarding receiving mail from USCIS, yes we have received our first notice letters saying they received our file and then we received his letter for his BIO appointment and we went to that in April. However the only thing I can think of is that we moved last month. We moved on July 15th but I did change our address with Immigration before we moved and I also changed it at the post office. Plus we have received a letter from USCIS regarding a service request we had regarding our EAD being outside of the usuall processing time and that notice came to our new address. So I don't think this is the problem.

However I did read on USCIS's website and was told by a customer service agent that the California Service Center is having delays in sending out certain notice letters, So I am wondering if we were in that bunch and it never got to us. I don't know all I can do now if go to the appointment tomorrow and hope they can tell us why it was denied and if not then I'm at a loss for the reason. Also I have to think that the agent told us over the phone that it was denied for a reason...being that he broke the rules by telling us that over the phone.......(Guess I could hope that it was a mistake on his part and they weren't denied...LOOL.....being that I haven't seen it in writting yet!!! Thats a long shot though.

Well thanks again everyone and wish us luck. I will keep everyone posted as what happens in the morning, maybe my experience can help someone else down the road.

Melissa

An attorney standing by is a good idea but I do have a question or two.

You keep mentioning his visa validity until October. The key issue is his I-94 expiration, not his visa expiration.

It is also possible an interview date was set and you missed the notification and interview. USCIS should be able to tell you if that happened. If so, denial would follow.

[Dr_LHA 3]

You keep mentioning his visa validity until October. The key issue is his I-94 expiration, not his visa expiration.

With H-1B, visa validity and I-94 validity are the same. However if the person loses their job, then both the H-1B and the I-94 are no longer valid, the person is out of status and is required to immidiately leave the USA. However as the person filed AOS through marriage to a US citizen, their out of status is not going to be the issue here, so I-94s and H-1Bs are red herrings here.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Could his biometrics turned anything up???

[pushbrk 12,883]

You keep mentioning his visa validity until October. The key issue is his I-94 expiration, not his visa expiration.

With H-1B, visa validity and I-94 validity are the same. However if the person loses their job, then both the H-1B and the I-94 are no longer valid, the person is out of status and is required to immidiately leave the USA. However as the person filed AOS through marriage to a US citizen, their out of status is not going to be the issue here, so I-94s and H-1Bs are red herrings here.

That seems pretty clear. Based on the timeline, I'm thinking they missed the scheduled interview. That can be easily verified by phone. They may not tell you why the AOS was denied but they'll tell you whether an interview was schduled. The answer will be quite telling, even if it exposes missing the interview as another red herring.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

They will not tell you on the 0800 if an interview was scheduled or not.... they do not have access to that information... the only way to go forward in this case is to go to the infopass appointment and find out for sure....

Kez

[mabdelbaqi 0]

Good afternoon everyone, again I want to thank everyone for there replies. So we had our infopass appointment this morning in Sacramento which is a two hour drive and it was a two hour drive for nothing!! Our case isn't even at the Sacramento office it is still at the National Beneifits Center in MO. So they couldn't tell us ANYTHING!!!!!! We are completely lost at this time we have to wait another month for our file to get to Sacramento, I guess they requested our file there. All I have to say is how can you live in one state but have your file half way across the country? Who knows what the reason is now. I don't think it is a interview missed because wouldn't our case have to be in Sacramento in order for them to have our interview there? I don't know anymore! So now we are back to square one, we know it was denied but have no denial notices almost 20 days after it was mailed and we have no idea what his current status is...(Immigration in Sacramento could not tell us what it was until they receive his case files). So if anyone out there has any ideas or words of advice please help. Next step is were going to have to go talk to a lawyer. The most bothering thing right now is not knowing why the case was denied! Again thanks for all your help.

Melissa

[Dr_LHA 3]

I don't think it is a interview missed because wouldn't our case have to be in Sacramento in order for them to have our interview there?

Yeah they would. How odd. There is another option that could cause a case to be denied without going to your local office: They could have sent you an RFE that you did not respond to.

I don't know anymore! So now we are back to square one, we know it was denied but have no denial notices almost 20 days after it was mailed and we have no idea what his current status is...(Immigration in Sacramento could not tell us what it was until they receive his case files). So if anyone out there has any ideas or words of advice please help. Next step is were going to have to go talk to a lawyer. The most bothering thing right now is not knowing why the case was denied! Again thanks for all your help.

Difficult to know what you can do if you haven't received any notices, you weren't helped at Infopas and the USCIS hotline is not helping.

You really should be seeking a legal consultation at this point I'm afraid. Something odd has happened with your case.

[00engr 0]

One thing that USCIS seems to do very well is to screw up mailing addresses. When we applied for AOS for my wife and her daughter, we received a biometrics appointment notice for my wife only. Both of them went to the appointment, but since my step-daughter did not have an appointment notice, they had to search the database for her info. They were actually very helpful and found the problem to be that her mailing address had been entered wrong. Living in a small rural town, there is no local mail delivery, and we are forced to pay for a PO box. The post office used to put mail in the boxes that were addressed to the physical address, but nowadays, any mail not properly addressed gets returned. So, I guessed what had happened, which was later confirmed, was they entered the physical address as my step-daughters mailing address. OK, no problem. She was scheduled for the biometrics at the same time as my wife, so she did keep the appointment, and a couple of days later, I changed her mailing address with USCIS. After that, we didn't receive anything at all for about 2 months. When I checked on-line, I found that RFE's sent for both of them had been returned as undeliverable. Now, my wife's address also somehow changed, and my step-daughter's address either had not been updated or somehow reverted back to the physical address. I went through the address change process again, for both of them this time, and finally received the RFE's in the mail. The reality is you cannot trust anything involving USCIS and need to check on things constantly. This is especially true if you make any sort of change, if there is any problem whatsoever, or if something doesn't feel quite right. My advice, and a good rule of thumb for anyone, is to check status as least once a month.

Melissa . . . sorry to hear that your appointment was a waste of time. I can imagine how frustrating it is, and the waiting has to be nerve-wracking. My best guess would be a mailing address problem which kept you from receiving an RFE.

Good evening and again thanks to everyone that has replied to my questions. Regarding my husbands last job he was being sponsored and his job was based on the projects that he was on and his project was done and the company didn't extent it to him again. So he wasn't fired but his H1B visa is still valid until October 1, 2007. They give you something like 3 months after your employment ends to stay in the US. Also regarding receiving mail from USCIS, yes we have received our first notice letters saying they received our file and then we received his letter for his BIO appointment and we went to that in April. However the only thing I can think of is that we moved last month. We moved on July 15th but I did change our address with Immigration before we moved and I also changed it at the post office. Plus we have received a letter from USCIS regarding a service request we had regarding our EAD being outside of the usuall processing time and that notice came to our new address. So I don't think this is the problem.

However I did read on USCIS's website and was told by a customer service agent that the California Service Center is having delays in sending out certain notice letters, So I am wondering if we were in that bunch and it never got to us. I don't know all I can do now if go to the appointment tomorrow and hope they can tell us why it was denied and if not then I'm at a loss for the reason. Also I have to think that the agent told us over the phone that it was denied for a reason...being that he broke the rules by telling us that over the phone.......(Guess I could hope that it was a mistake on his part and they weren't denied...LOOL.....being that I haven't seen it in writting yet!!! Thats a long shot though.

Well thanks again everyone and wish us luck. I will keep everyone posted as what happens in the morning, maybe my experience can help someone else down the road.

Melissa

[Dakine 26]

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

i would like to ask what can a lawyer do that you cannot? Is it just that a lawyer might know a secret to find out something that we may not?

[Caladan 19]

i would like to ask what can a lawyer do that you cannot? Is it just that a lawyer might know a secret to find out something that we may not?

Experience on more than one case, primarily. A good lawyer will know how to present a case (like an appeal), will understand what options can be pursued, and that sort of thing. When your case is straightforward, all you need do is fill in the paperwork, but when it's complicated, a lawyer who knows the system can be invaluable. They don't have any special access, but they might know how best to proceed.

[Dr_LHA 3]

i would like to ask what can a lawyer do that you cannot? Is it just that a lawyer might know a secret to find out something that we may not?

Well if you have to file a motion to reopen, which the OP most likely will, then a lawyer is going to be a big help. Also a lawyer will be able to ask questions that we cannot. Most people in this thread are thrashing around in the dark trying to figure out what has gone wrong, and drawing on our limited experiences. A lawyer will most likely have experiences of a lot of "gone bad" cases, like this one.

That said, I still think that now a missed interview has been ruled out, that the next most likely reason for the denial of this application is due to an unanswered RFE, most likely because the RFE was lost in the mail due to the change of address.

Edited August 21, 2007 by Dr_LHA