Rejection Notice! What Happened Here?!?!

[Dias Melhores 0]

Hello, everyone. I am calling out to the VJ "Legends" (Pushbrk, YuAnDan, and the rest of you) for advice on this one. My wife sent her AOS packet on March 3, 2008. It was received and signed for at the Chicago Lockbox on March 6th.

Today, April 7, we received the package back as rejected. What is really strange about this is that they broke our packed up into the three sections (AOS, EAD, AP) and gave us rejections on each one stating that the fees were either missing or written for the wrong amount. Specifically:

I-485 - The check amount is incorrect or has not been provided. The correct fee is $930 + $80

I-765 - The check amount is incorrect or has not been provided. The correct fee is $340, but then explains that there is no fee after July, 31 07 if filed with I-485.

I-131 - The check amount is incorrect or has not been provided. The correct fee is $305, but then explains that there is no fee after July, 31 07 if filed with I-485.

Here are some facts:

-We mailed all three together (AOS, EAD, and AP) and included a cover letter.

-I wrote out one check for $1010 to US Department of Homeland Security.

-The check that I wrote had a "USCIS" rubber stamp on the front of it.

-There are digital processing numbers on the back of the check.

-Identical digital processing numbers run along the right-hand column of each page we submitted.

-There is a different MSC receipt number for each of the Rejection notices.

Below is the cover letter that she mailed. Oddly enough, the cover letter was not included in the return...

Thanks for any advice. I'm going to be calling USCIS bright and early tomorrow morning.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COVER LETTER SENT

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

United States Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

USCIS

P.O. Box 805887

Chicago, IL 60680-4120

March 03, 2008

Nature of the submission: I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, ORIGINAL SUBMISSION

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed please find my Form I-485, Petition to Adjust Status for myself, Carolina, and supporting documents.

Contents include:

1. Payment for I-485 of $1,010.00 in the form of a personal check;

2. Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

3.. Two Passport type Photos

4. G-325A, Biographic Information

5. I-765, Application For Employment Authorization

6. I-131, Application for Travel Document

7. Birth Certificate

8. Official Translation of Birth Certificate

9. Copy of non US citizen passport which includes Biographical Page, Entry Stamps, K-1 Visa and Valid I-94 front and back.

10. Copy of US citizen passport

11. K-1 I-797 Notice Of Action 2 (approval of K1 petition);

12. Copy of Marriage Certificate;

13. Copy of Vaccination Supplement translated by the official Doctor of the US Consulate in Rio de Janeiro

14. Divorce court decision (American Citizen)

15. I-864 Affidavit of Support signed by husband, Matthew, with supporting documents:

- letter from employer.

- recent paystubs;

- copy of the 2007 W-2, 1099's and Federal Tax Return;

- copy of the 2006 W-2, 1099's and Federal Tax Return;

- copy of the 2005 W-2, 1099's and Federal Tax Return;

Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration officer at a later date.

------------------------------------------------------------------

[kim&james 0]

You must have gotten a new idiot. Resend the package stating that the correct fees of $1010 were included in the original petition and that since it is after July 31 07 no fees are required for the EAD and AP when submitting together.

[spidergirl 0]

Change the check instead of personal check use Money Order this time and send it back. And oh.. based on your cover letter, it looks like you don't have separate attachments for you EAD and AP such as 2x2 pictures , passport etc... please review your docs before resending it, be sure that you have separate attachment for each Application because they will processed separately.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Change the check instead of personal check use Money Order this time and send it back. And oh.. based on your cover letter, it looks like you don't have separate attachments for you EAD and AP such as 2x2 pictures , passport etc... please review your docs before resending it, be sure that you have separate attachment for each Application because they will processed separately.

There is no need to send a money order a personal check is ok..... and as stated you need to include evedence of each application, as they are split-up and processed by different sections once they get the the Lockbox....

Kez

[shawna7 4]

This happened to me as well..I resent (after doublechecking everything(they cited wrong payment..I sent 1010.) and everything worked out the second time..It sucks this happened to you

S

[ELW 5]

Agreed with the others, you must have got some new wacko. Sorry about that. Just recheck your packet, keep it in the separate sections for EAD & AP, make more copies of documents and add more photos and cover letters for each section, and resend with another personal check for the same amount and main cover letter for the whole thing. These things almost always work out the second time around so don't worry. It's just an irritating delay and all THEIR fault.

[Dias Melhores 0]

These kinds of things really boil my blood... It might be a waste of the day, but I called USCIS and they said that we should schedule an Info Pass appointment. Since these things drive me crazy, my wife and I scheduled one and are going down the local USCIS office today.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I'll keep you all updated on our progress.

[smicelle 0]

My application was rejected too because of sending wrong fees. I sent them $1,010 but I forgot to send them $355 for I-130. The I sent them the extra check too, now it is fine.

[ScottnCati 0]

Hi Matt..

We're sorry to hear this.....Im sure after the Info-pass apt today all will be fine !!!!

check inbox !!

good luck..

S/C

[TracyTN 237]

never mind, I can't read.

Edited April 8, 2008 by TracyTN

[Dias Melhores 0]

These kinds of things really boil my blood... It might be a waste of the day, but I called USCIS and they said that we should schedule an Info Pass appointment. Since these things drive me crazy, my wife and I scheduled one and are going down the local USCIS office today.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I'll keep you all updated on our progress.

Well it looks like we got more bad advice from USCIS customer service. My wife and I made an Info Pass appointment as recommended, drove to Los Angeles from Ventura County (about 120 mile round trip), waited three hours for our appointment and more less got the run-around. Not to mention taking a personal day off from work and spending money on food and parking (adds up to a small fortune)! The officers at that location did not seem to understand why the rejection notice was wrong. They actually did not know that you could file the AOS, EAD, and AP and only pay $1080. At one point the officer actually said, "the laws change daily". What kind of comment is this? Eventually, we reached his supervisor and he understood what happened. After we showed them that we did everything correctly, he told us that they could not help us at this location and that everything needs to go to the Chicago lockbox. Unbelievable! After leaving, I called back to USCIS customer service and was transferred to an officer in the New York location. She seemed sympathetic to our situation, listening to the issues and agreed that something seemed wrong on their end. I gave her the receipt number for one of the rejection notices and she said that she will find out what happened and call me back before 4/10 with some more information.

It's obvious that we will need to resubmit our packet and hope that another rookie doesn't touch our process.. Maybe the officer in NY will be able to help us make up for the lost time, but it might just be wishful thinking. If nothing happens with this, then we will bite the bullet and resubmit the entire packet...

Thanks again for all of your comments.

[Dias Melhores 0]

These kinds of things really boil my blood... It might be a waste of the day, but I called USCIS and they said that we should schedule an Info Pass appointment. Since these things drive me crazy, my wife and I scheduled one and are going down the local USCIS office today.

Thanks for all of your feedback. I'll keep you all updated on our progress.

Well it looks like we got more bad advice from USCIS customer service. My wife and I made an Info Pass appointment as recommended, drove to Los Angeles from Ventura County (about 120 mile round trip), waited three hours for our appointment and more less got the run-around. Not to mention taking a personal day off from work and spending money on food and parking (adds up to a small fortune)! The officers at that location did not seem to understand why the rejection notice was wrong. They actually did not know that you could file the AOS, EAD, and AP and only pay $1080. At one point the officer actually said, "the laws change daily". What kind of comment is this? Eventually, we reached his supervisor and he understood what happened. After we showed them that we did everything correctly, he told us that they could not help us at this location and that everything needs to go to the Chicago lockbox. Unbelievable! After leaving, I called back to USCIS customer service and was transferred to an officer in the New York location. She seemed sympathetic to our situation, listening to the issues and agreed that something seemed wrong on their end. I gave her the receipt number for one of the rejection notices and she said that she will find out what happened and call me back before 4/10 with some more information.

It's obvious that we will need to resubmit our packet and hope that another rookie doesn't touch our process.. Maybe the officer in NY will be able to help us make up for the lost time, but it might just be wishful thinking. If nothing happens with this, then we will bite the bullet and resubmit the entire packet...

Thanks again for all of your comments.

CORRECTION: I stated $1080 in the above post. I meant $1010. The check was written for $1010.

[nane1104 146]

I wouldn't wait for anything from USCIS's side. Just resubmit your package asap, so you get into the system!

Good luck!!!

[Ngoc-Anh 1]

I guess somebody does not know his job at USCIS!!!

[Dias Melhores 0]

I wouldn't wait for anything from USCIS's side. Just resubmit your package asap, so you get into the system!

Good luck!!!

UPDATE---

Well here's the scoop. The kind officer from the NY office did call me back this morning. She said that she contacted the officer who rejected our case and this is why:

We put the wrong date of birth of my wife. Instead of the correct birth year, we mistakenly put 2008. Okay, my wife's birthDAY is later in the year, which would mean that she was not born yet. Theoretically, since she is not in the age limit of 14-79 for the $80 fingerprint fee (remember she is 0 years old from not being born), the filing fee would only be $930. Our check was written for $1010, therefore everything was rejected...

The NY officer did comment that common sense could have been used in this situation based on the fact that my wife's provided 2008 birthday would mean that she was not born yet.

She advised us to make the correction and resubmit our paperwork.

I am THANKFUL for the NY officer since she actually found out what was wrong. If we would have just re-sent the packet (as advised by the Los Angeles officers at our all-day Info Pass excursion), it would have been rejected again.

However, the person who rejected our case based on the filing fee without giving the root cause of the rejection should have looked at a copy of her passport to see that we are not filing for someone from the future!!! If not, then why in the world did the officer not tell us the real reason for the rejection??? Maybe that officer is from the future too...

Edited April 9, 2008 by Dias Melhores