Calling USCIS for Name Check Status

[ELW 5]

Lately I read a few posts about people who called up USCIS for their name check status (before the AOS interview). The Customer Service Rep reportedly looked up the status and told them. I thought it would be cool to check our case too.

Well after many tries, I finally got through (I called up 800-375-5283 and picked address change because that is easiest to get a rep: 1 English, 2 Bypass intro, 2 Change address, 1 change address, 1 customer service). The rep said she does not have that info, cannot look up such things, and that when the name check was complete, there would be an updated status online (I never heard of that before!). This further reinforces my belief that the Customer Service Reps at USCIS hotline really know just about NOTHING!

Anyone reading who got name check info from the hotline, what’s the story?

[~*Maria*~ 1]

I got namecheck info only when i called about my EAD, the IO i spoke to asked me if i had been for my AOS interview yet, i told her i hadn't been scheduled for an interview yet....she went and checked, a couple mins later, came back and told me ..no Mrs X your right no interview date has been sent out yet but i see your namecheck is back! she then advised me to make an InfoPass appt to find out when i would be given an interview date! because she said that namechecks could hold up interview appts but since mine is already back she didn't understand why none had been scheduled for me yet.

Tried to make an InfoPass appt, but it asks for me to bring my referral notice? i don't have one!

[DC Sparrow 0]

Lately I read a few posts about people who called up USCIS for their name check status (before the AOS interview). The Customer Service Rep reportedly looked up the status and told them. I thought it would be cool to check our case too.

Well after many tries, I finally got through (I called up 800-375-5283 and picked address change because that is easiest to get a rep: 1 English, 2 Bypass intro, 2 Change address, 1 change address, 1 customer service). The rep said she does not have that info, cannot look up such things, and that when the name check was complete, there would be an updated status online (I never heard of that before!). This further reinforces my belief that the Customer Service Reps at USCIS hotline really know just about NOTHING!

Anyone reading who got name check info from the hotline, what’s the story?

(This is DC Sparrow...wife...my husband wrote a few lines to you earlier today.) We can only speak from our experieces, but here is our story. Initially, when we called USCIS, we had the "fingerprint returns" mixed up with the "namecheck/background check" being returned. In reaching out to both FBI and USCIS in calls, we found from FBI:

- they can verify if fingerprints have been returned/completed to USCIS

- they cannot verify if namecheck has been completed and returned to USCIS

We found from USCIS:- if you request to be passed from a regular CSR to a SENIOR Immigration Officer (SIO), the SIO has the computer access level to go into the USCIS system to look up on your case whether the namecheck has been completed or not.

- we were informed a few weeks before our 9/20 AOS interview by USCIS on the phone, that our namecheck was still not complete, as noted in their system, but they said that can change at any time depending on what the AO tells us during the interview on 9/20.

- at our interview yesterday, the IO told us it may take a week or more to receive the namecheck info back from FBI. We didn't apply for the EAD, so we were asking whether she thought it was worth it to file for it or not; she said maybe you can receive the GC in one week, so it's up to you if you want to spend the money for EAD, but she cannot say the GC will be approved in one week or not.

Now we're in a dilema of whether to go ahead and file for the EAD so my husband can accept his job offer pending, or if we should just wait and take our chances waiting for the GC to be approved shortly... God I wish there were more definitive feedback from USCIS; in a family of 4 such as ours, $340 for EAD is a serious cost, and it would help if someone could give us a SPECIFIC answer of whether it will take longer than a month or two to receive GC.

[~*Maria*~ 1]

I spoke to a regular IO 2 weeks ago and i was informed that my namecheck was back and completed. She then asked me if i had been for my interview yet and of course i told her that i had not been scheduled one yet.....she didn't understand why i had not even been sent out an interview date yet.

She then went on to advise me to make an infopass appt to find out when i would get one. Then yesterday i called back, i spoke to a different an IO who also said my namecheck was completed, told me i would be wasting my time making inquiries with an infopass appt about when i'd likely get an interview date.

[LaL 418]

Lately I read a few posts about people who called up USCIS for their name check status (before the AOS interview). The Customer Service Rep reportedly looked up the status and told them. I thought it would be cool to check our case too.

Well after many tries, I finally got through (I called up 800-375-5283 and picked address change because that is easiest to get a rep: 1 English, 2 Bypass intro, 2 Change address, 1 change address, 1 customer service). The rep said she does not have that info, cannot look up such things, and that when the name check was complete, there would be an updated status online (I never heard of that before!). This further reinforces my belief that the Customer Service Reps at USCIS hotline really know just about NOTHING!

Anyone reading who got name check info from the hotline, what's the story?

Is this just to uncover information? Your signature states you received your welcome notice, and card production email. Neither of these things would be received had your namecheck not been completed.

[athena_ny 1]

Lately I read a few posts about people who called up USCIS for their name check status (before the AOS interview). The Customer Service Rep reportedly looked up the status and told them. I thought it would be cool to check our case too.

Well after many tries, I finally got through (I called up 800-375-5283 and picked address change because that is easiest to get a rep: 1 English, 2 Bypass intro, 2 Change address, 1 change address, 1 customer service). The rep said she does not have that info, cannot look up such things, and that when the name check was complete, there would be an updated status online (I never heard of that before!). This further reinforces my belief that the Customer Service Reps at USCIS hotline really know just about NOTHING!

Anyone reading who got name check info from the hotline, what's the story?

Is this just to uncover information? Your signature states you received your welcome notice, and card production email. Neither of these things would be received had your namecheck not been completed.

They created this post before the interview - looks like they were overthinking things

[Empress of Groovy 373]

- at our interview yesterday, the IO told us it may take a week or more to receive the namecheck info back from FBI. We didn't apply for the EAD, so we were asking whether she thought it was worth it to file for it or not; she said maybe you can receive the GC in one week, so it's up to you if you want to spend the money for EAD, but she cannot say the GC will be approved in one week or not.

Now we're in a dilema of whether to go ahead and file for the EAD so my husband can accept his job offer pending, or if we should just wait and take our chances waiting for the GC to be approved shortly... God I wish there were more definitive feedback from USCIS; in a family of 4 such as ours, $340 for EAD is a serious cost, and it would help if someone could give us a SPECIFIC answer of whether it will take longer than a month or two to receive GC.

Geez, that's not very helpful information from the officer. Did she say "a week" in the "it could be a week, it could be a year" sort of way? I haven't read too much about people being given specific times about name check. Its main characteristic seems to be uncertainty. The name check could be completed any time--tomorrow or two years from now--and there's no way to know when this will be. I know that $340 is a chunk of change, but I'd be tempted to apply for the EAD, especially if your husband has a job offer. If, say, it takes six months for the GC to arrive, your husband would have lost all that income (assuming the EAD is issued within three months), which I assume would be more than $340! This question is one of the most vexing for delayed applications, I think.

Good luck!

[John & Annie 0]

They have no way of knowing when the name check will be back. The FBI response usually states that they can not issue time lines for the name check due to the individual nature of the check. It is plausible but not likely that the check is back but not entered into the system.

[ELW 5]

Hi all, thanks DC Sparrow for the really interesting info and details. I understand your hesitation on spending so much on the EAD, maybe wait a week or two and if the name check isn't over by then, go ahead and file.

And yes meow_mix and LaL, I made this post before the interview and was just doing my usual obsessive-compulsive interview planning.

Anyway, it looks like our name check was completed before the interview so we got the card production ordered, whoohoo! :dance: