Helpless TN Canadian trying to Apply for Green Card

[KeoKeo 0]

I'm happy to find this forum for the Canadian. I'm currently working in the US with the TN status, and have married a US citizen in March 2007. My TN is going to expire in early December 2007. I've filed my form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-485 (application to register permanent residence or adjust status), and I-765 (application for employment authorization) to USCIS in early April. On 8/28/07, I've got a email notfication from USCIS that a decision were sent to me on my I-485 and I-765 applications. I've not received the letter yet (I suspect it's already lost in the mail, as it has been 2 weeks since I received the email notification, and I'm living in San Francisco). I've found out that both of the applications have been denied from calling USCIS' helpline. My I-130 is still showing with a pending status on USCIS's database, and that's all the helpline can tell me. I filled out all the applicaitons myself and I have not hired any lawyers.

I'm all helpless now. I dont' know what happened and I don't know what to do. I don't have access to the reasons of denial and USCIS is refusing to follow-up for me on the denial notice until 30 days after the original sent date of the denial letter. The customer representative at USCIS mentioned that they have sent requst for further information and never receive response from me, but I've never receive any letter from USCIS besides the notice recepit from them back in April. I've followed all the necessary instructions on each of the form I filed, and paid all the fees and I don't understand why my applications are denied. I need help on what actions can I take with this situation? I'm press on time as my TN is expiring soon, and I can't risk to lose my current job.

Does anyone have any idea of what can I do now? Any comments/opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[misa 2]

Sounds like something got lost in the mail which happens a lot!

Make an infopass appointment asap to find out exactly what is going on and what the original RFE was for. Explain that you never received anything in the mail. Hopefully they can get it sorted out for you. The 1-800 number will not be able to tell you much so definitely book an infopass appointment.

http://infopass.uscis.gov/index.php

Good luck!

[KeoKeo 0]

mesa, thanks for your suggestion. I've already had an infopass appointment today, and the woman there said my file is not in the local office, and she can't do anything for me and she wouldn't be able to answer any of my question. She told me to go to legal service for help. Is there anything I can do? I found another web site and ppl there mentioned something about Canadian TN shouldn't file I-485 concurrently with their I-130 application, is this true? Did you apply your I-485 concurrently with your I-130? I'm really puzzled.

[rae_and_scott 1]

This is kind of a shot-in-the-dark guess, so please forgive me if my advise is not right. But I have a friend who was in a similar situation, he was working here in the US on a TN for a number of years and then married a USC. Technically you are not allowed to get a green card from a TN, so maybe that's why they denied you on your AOS but the K3 is still pending. What he had to do while waiting for the green card was reapply for another TN. He also had a lawyer, so my suggestion would be to get one.

[KeoKeo 0]

This is kind of a shot-in-the-dark guess, so please forgive me if my advise is not right. But I have a friend who was in a similar situation, he was working here in the US on a TN for a number of years and then married a USC. Technically you are not allowed to get a green card from a TN, so maybe that's why they denied you on your AOS but the K3 is still pending. What he had to do while waiting for the green card was reapply for another TN. He also had a lawyer, so my suggestion would be to get one.

So do you know if your friend file I-485 and I-765 at all? I was told once I file an immigration petition, I'm not allowed to apply for TN anymore as TN holder cannot have any "immigration intend" to stay in US. Thanks for your info

[Reba 2]

Call your senator's and/or governor's offices. They may be able to find out what is going on.

[warlord 72]

There is nothing wrong with applying for a Green Card through marriage based AOS from TN status. That's not the reason of the denial. Obviously there was information missing in the millions of forms you have to submit or you might have missed a form all together.

Unfortuantly you did the right thing by making sure you had a lot of time left on the TN when you filed your AOS since you can't get another TN after it's in the system. Basically I'm not sure what the hold up is, but seems like they mentioned there is some missing information. That will always call a denial.

You need to find out somehow what that information is from them. They should have sent you a letter explaining what that is, so maybe it did get lost somehow. Try and contact your service center where you filed and see if they can shed some light on the situation...

[rae_and_scott 1]

So do you know if your friend file I-485 and I-765 at all? I was told once I file an immigration petition, I'm not allowed to apply for TN anymore as TN holder cannot have any "immigration intend" to stay in US. Thanks for your info

No, I'm sorry, I don't know, that's why I said maybe a lawyer can help (or at least give you advice without you necessarily having to hire one; depends on the lawyer). Sorry I can't help more!

[misa 2]

I agree with Reba's suggestion since Infopass couldn't help. You could also try the 1-800 number again and ask them to escalate your call to an actual immigration officer. I am not sure if they would have more access to your file than Infopass would but it is worth a shot to find out what exactly is going on, when an RFE was sent out, etc.

The I-130 will continue processing on it's own since it's a completely separate petition used to establish family relationship (in your case between you and your spouse).

Did you ever go for a biometrics appointment? Also what fee did you pay for the I-485? Did you pay $325 or $395 at the time?

Edited September 12, 2007 by misa

[KeoKeo 0]

I agree with Reba's suggestion since Infopass couldn't help. You could also try the 1-800 number again and ask them to escalate your call to an actual immigration officer. I am not sure if they would have more access to your file than Infopass would but it is worth a shot to find out what exactly is going on, when an RFE was sent out, etc.

The I-130 will continue processing on it's own since it's a completely separate petition used to establish family relationship (in your case between you and your spouse).

Did you ever go for a biometrics appointment? Also what fee did you pay for the I-485? Did you pay $325 or $395 at the time?

Thanks for the suggestion Misa. I'll try call the 1-800 # again today. Do you know if I will still get an interviw notice for the immigration petition I filed when my I-485 is denied? Do I have to get I-485 filed and approved in order to get the green card? Or will I-130 be enough?

I did go for biometric appointment, on 5/5/07. But ever since then, I've not received anything from USCIS until the denial notification through email. And I paid the full $395 when I first filed the I-485 along with I-765 and I-130.

My biggest worry is that the denial decsion will impact me getting the green card, or lengthen the process, as I do have a deadline of TN expiration on 12/3/07.

[KeoKeo 0]

I just read from another immigration forum that Canadian TN must submit and apply for I-131 (advance parol) along with their I-485 application in order to have the I-485 and I-765 approved? Is this true? i didn't apply for the I-131. Is this why my I-485 is abandoned and denied??

[misa 2]

The I-130 is only to establish family relationship. There is no interview for the I-130 in the U.S. The I-485 is for permanent residency so yes, it needs to be approved in order for you to get a green card (permanent residency). If your case was truly denied then it will delay things. You'll need to file a motion to reopen or refile (depending on what the denial was for). The I-130 will continue processing on its own.

The I-131 is for advance parole and has no bearing on what is going on with your I-485. The person on that other forum is either mistaken or confused.

Did you call and try to speak to an immigration officer yet? Did you try contacting the senator or congressperson? Your goal here is to find out exactly what is going on with your case. Whether or not it was truly denied, if they issued an RFE and it was never received, etc.

I'm not really sure what else to suggest at this point but good luck!

[KeoKeo 0]

Thanks misa. I called the 1-800 number today and still couldn't get my call escalated, but the operator was finally willing to put in a service request for me and USCIS is going to respond to my request in writing in the next 30-45 days. I've asked for the reason for denial and my current status and also the possible impact on my immigration petition. But the lady in the call center said if a case is denied, they will not disclose what was the content in the original RFE, but only stating it's denied due to lack of response to a evidence request sent earlier. I hope this is not true or else their response is not going to do me much good.

I was also told that I can file G-639 (Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Request) to have them send me a copy of my complete file, but it'll take 6-8 months. I've contacted one of the lawyer INFOPASS has suggested and hopefully can touch base with him sometimes today and see if he has other suggestions. Like you said, I couldn't think of what else I can do now, except waiting for luck But thanks for all the info you've provided though

[Saddle Bronc 124]

This is kind of a shot-in-the-dark guess, so please forgive me if my advise is not right. But I have a friend who was in a similar situation, he was working here in the US on a TN for a number of years and then married a USC. Technically you are not allowed to get a green card from a TN, so maybe that's why they denied you on your AOS but the K3 is still pending.

Inaccurate; you are not supposed to have immigrant-intent to obtain the initial TN-1--but that does not mean a TN-1 holder cannot "develop" immigrant-intent afterwards.

It is feasible to get a GC from TN-1 (without going throug H1-b, or any other "transitional"). BTW, I've actually done it (through work--PM me if you want the complete story with rantings).

What he had to do while waiting for the green card was reapply for another TN. He also had a lawyer, so my suggestion would be to get one.

Good recommendation.

I will recommend an excellent attorney, who used to be a INS inspector.

Jim Eiss, www.usvisahelp.com.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I just read from another immigration forum that Canadian TN must submit and apply for I-131 (advance parol) along with their I-485 application in order to have the I-485 and I-765 approved? Is this true? i didn't apply for the I-131. Is this why my I-485 is abandoned and denied??

I haven't heard this before.

However, it IS true that you need AP to be able to leave-and-reenter US (separate from I-485, unless you actually take a trip outside--then it can haunt you). I-765 is another bronc entirely.

Also possible (though dangerous) to do CR-1 at Montreal from TN-1 (by indicating on I-130 for consular process). Dangerous due to:

• You leave US and attempt to reenter prior to hearing @ Montreal, then your marriage to USC is "red-flag"
• Also potential trouble if your TN-1 expires prior to your hearing @ Montreal in that case