Delay due to mistake by USPS or USCIS

[stjarna 0]

I haven't posted on the forum before, but have often found valuable information here when my husband (US citizen) and I (German citizen) prepared my application to have my status adjusted from F-1 to Permanent Resident.

Today, I decided to post, mainly because I just need to vent and get my frustration out of my system.

Our application (I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765) was delivered to USCIS on August 10. We received four I-797C's on August 22 (having been informed by e-mail and text message on Aug. 19 that they should arrive by mail soon). They also cashed our checks the same day.

Then we waited for the appointment letter for the biometrics appointment. When we didn't hear from them we called USCIS in mid-September. They told us - slightly condescendingly - that it had "only been a month" since they received our application and the letter could arrive at any point. So we kept waiting.

One of the most important things for me right now is to receive Advance Parole since I received a fellowship for my dissertation to do research abroad (and I need to do the research within a certain time frame). The original plan was to do research abroad starting Nov. 1.

When we didn't hear from USCIS, we decided to get our congress woman involved (early October), who filed a request on our behalf to have my application for Advance Parole expedited. She then informed us on October 11 that USCIS approved my application for Advance Parole on Oct. 4 and mailed out a notice which should arrive within the next several days. We were actually able to confirm that on the USCIS website by looking up the receipt number for my I-131.

I was quite excited, since it meant that I could probably do my research without having to delay the trip very much, and I assumed that with this notice would also finally come some kind of information about the biometrics appointment.

So we waited... NOTHING... We called USCIS to see if we should be concerned that the letter, which was supposedly mailed on Oct. 4 didn't arrive after 2 weeks. They told us we had to wait 30 days before we can make an inquiry.

So, we decided to see if the office of our congress person could check on our case.

Today we learned through the office of our congress woman that apparently they had mailed us an appointment letter (with an appointment in September) in August. We never received this letter! This probably also explains why the Advance Parole letter has been put on hold.

Our contact person at the office of our congress woman got as an appointment at the USCIS office in Milwaukee for Tuesday (I assume the biometrics appointment). So let's hope that this will finally put an end to this nightmare, although we probably will still have to wait for the travel permit a while longer.

I don't know whether USPS lost the original appointment letter or whether something went wrong at USCIS, but I am beyond frustrated. I know there is probably nothing I can do, but to think that I am at risk of losing this fellowship (virtually the only one I could apply to as a non-US citizen in my field of studies), which would jeopardize the completion of my dissertation (my reason for coming to the U.S. in the first place) because USPS looses letters that you don't know were sent to you because USCIS doesn't give you any valuable information on their hotline, is just enraging!

Rant over. Thanks for reading.

[together4evr 360]

I am so sorry for your situation. I hope it is resolved with enough time to allow you to start a little late.

I noticed there was another post that did not get their mail and someone suggested they verify their address with uscis and it was incorrect. They corrected it and no further problems. You may have asked about the address they have on file but if you have not then please do it today.

And good luck.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Another thing to consider is that the USPS letter carriers must know who lives at an address or they take it upon themselves to return the letters. I know their website states that all properly address mail will be delivered, but when my wife's SSC did not show up I mailed a card to her with my work address as the return address. It showed up at work. So I went to the localpost office to ask what was going on and he asked me if her name was on the mailbox. We expect the USPS to deliver all our mail, but they have an internal policy that their carriers can return mail to sender if they do not recongnize the person it is addressed to . This seems to happen when your regular carrier is off and you get a substutite carrie.

Check your address with USCIS and check the local USPS post office to make certain they know to deliver letters to all parties at this address.

Good luck,

Dave

[desmond&molly 5]

Ugh I'm in a hating the postal service too. My EAD was missing for the whole month and as you mention, the hotline is only a person reading you what you can do yourself on the uscis website. Today I tried Infopass and it's the same situation. A guy sitting reading me off the computer what is on uscis webpage. Good thing is now they send EAD priority mail so there's a tracking number but I was only able to get that number because my congressman's aide called up someone she knows at USCIS. Why can't they give the applicant that info on the "helpline"?? Ok my rant is over... for today anyway

In my case I also have a fellowship offer but if I don't have EAD by Nov. 1st I lose the spot

Edited October 21, 2011 by desmond&molly

[stjarna 0]

Thanks for your replies so far.

Since we received the I-797s that they received our application, I assume that the address they have on file is correct (since it didn't change), but maybe it is worth double-checking just in case.

Our mailbox has my husband's name and my name in it. It is, however, still my maiden name. I have received letters in my married name (including the I-797s from USCIS), so I didn't think that should be an issue. But just in case, I'll update my name in the mailbox.

And lastly: When we called the 'helpline' in September (about whether we should be concerned that we hadn't received an application letter yet), we actually got patched through from "woman who only reads stuff from computer screen" to someone who had a bit more access (since our receipt numbers weren't in the system yet and computer-screen-reader-lady couldn't look up our case). But the guy we talked to was about as helpful as the other person (he was the one who said "it's only been a month!")

[Anh map 2,098]

Thanks for your replies so far.

Since we received the I-797s that they received our application, I assume that the address they have on file is correct (since it didn't change), but maybe it is worth double-checking just in case.

Our mailbox has my husband's name and my name in it. It is, however, still my maiden name. I have received letters in my married name (including the I-797s from USCIS), so I didn't think that should be an issue. But just in case, I'll update my name in the mailbox.

And lastly: When we called the 'helpline' in September (about whether we should be concerned that we hadn't received an application letter yet), we actually got patched through from "woman who only reads stuff from computer screen" to someone who had a bit more access (since our receipt numbers weren't in the system yet and computer-screen-reader-lady couldn't look up our case). But the guy we talked to was about as helpful as the other person (he was the one who said "it's only been a month!")

You making an Infopass appointment to speak with a USCIS officer directly would seem like a good idea. Probably more fruitful than the Congressperson's office making inquiries.

[stjarna 0]

You making an Infopass appointment to speak with a USCIS officer directly would seem like a good idea. Probably more fruitful than the Congressperson's office making inquiries.

Thanks for the tip. This may be a stupid question, but what exactly is Infopass?

Our contact person with the congress woman has actually been incredibly helpful and quick to get information from USCIS and pass it on to us. She got us an appointment in Milwaukee for this upcoming Tuesday (although it's technically a "walk-in" and we'll probably have to wait, but I don't care). Hopefully this will clear things up and give us some progress with the AP.

[ceadsearc 516]

An Infopass appointment is an appointment you schedule through the USCIS website that will allow you to talk to an actual immigration officer at your local office.

I would verify your name and address with both the postal service as USCIS. My husband's AP didn't arrive for a month, it had been returned as undeliverable/wrong address despite everything else arriving properly. We "verified" with USCIS that it was the proper address and they resent it and it arrived quickly. This happens sometimes. It's also possible the maiden name is causing issues. While your regular mail carrier might know you live there and know your married name, it's possible on that day someone was filling in and was following protocol by not delivering that letter with a mismatched name or something similar.

[stjarna 0]

An Infopass appointment is an appointment you schedule through the USCIS website that will allow you to talk to an actual immigration officer at your local office.

I would verify your name and address with both the postal service as USCIS. My husband's AP didn't arrive for a month, it had been returned as undeliverable/wrong address despite everything else arriving properly. We "verified" with USCIS that it was the proper address and they resent it and it arrived quickly. This happens sometimes. It's also possible the maiden name is causing issues. While your regular mail carrier might know you live there and know your married name, it's possible on that day someone was filling in and was following protocol by not delivering that letter with a mismatched name or something similar.

Thanks for your comment. I really appreciate all your tips.

Since our contact person at the congress woman's office forwarded us the e-mail she received from USCIS which had a copy of the original appointment letter attached, we know that they have our correct address. They also say in the e-mail that the letter wasn't returned to them, which suggests that USPS didn't deliver it to us but also didn't return it to the sender (for whatever reason). We double-checked out mailbox and noticed that we only had our last names written down, which means, since my husband's last name (my new name) was in the mailbox, they should have delivered the letter because there was no mismatch. And even if they didn't deliver it for that reason, they should have returned the letter to USCIS in that case. Just to be on the safe side, we now put our first name initials in their with our last name and in parenthesis my maiden name with the preposition 'née'. That should cover all our bases with regards to USPS I hope.

We also filed a complaint with USPS (since it looks like they lost the letter somewhere on the way). We doubt that much will come of it, but who knows.

I e-mailed my brother in Germany and told him this story. He can't believe that USCIS wouldn't sent important letters like that as registered mail with signature confirmation. I kinda agree with him but assume that USCIS doesn't want to spend that extra money.

[ceadsearc 516]

When it happened it us, the address was correct as well. Nonetheless, "correcting" it with USCIS got it sent out again quickly. In our case, USPS took a month before they returned it to USCIS though it was not delivered in that time, so USCIS might get it returned yet. Or they might have lost it, I've had that happen as well.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

I think USPS have such delay problems and it became plague by now. I had to use this mail service since I did buy or shopping online and they use USPS as carrier. I was angry because the delivered time not same when actual time arrived to adress. I made thread about this before. I already told my fiance to forget about USPS and use Fedex. Even it's way expensive at least that does have guarantee.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/334569-cant-trust-usps/page__p__4956758__fromsearch__1#entry4956758

[stjarna 0]

When it happened it us, the address was correct as well. Nonetheless, "correcting" it with USCIS got it sent out again quickly. In our case, USPS took a month before they returned it to USCIS though it was not delivered in that time, so USCIS might get it returned yet. Or they might have lost it, I've had that happen as well.

It is very frustrating that USPS is so unreliable.

I have another question for you, since you have your timeline in your signature and mention text/e-mail notifications. We did file a G-1145 which we put at the front of our application package (as the instructions for putting your application together in the Guides section on VJ.com suggests). We did receive 4 texts/e-mails when USCIS received our application package and when they mailed out the first NOAs. However, for the appointment letter or the AP, we didn't get anything by e-mail or text.

Do you know if we should have attached a G-1145 to every section of our application (I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765) to receive texts/emails for further updates or whether their service just isn't reliable (which I think I read somewhere on the forum)?

[patience01 0]

Something similar happened to us. My husband didn't get his biometrics appointment and after 30 days we made a Service Request, during which they tried to say it was something with the mail and did we register etc. A couple weeks later I made an Infopass appt and they sent us across the street to have biometrics done the same day. Within a week after that EAD was approved. Later after all this I received the biometrics appointment letter in the mail. It had been returned to sender (USCIS) because someone had blatantly typed the street name completely wrong and attached it to the appointment letter where everything was correct. When it was returned I guess someone figured out how to put the correct address on the envelope, but we had already gotten things sorted out and had the EAD.

As far as electronic notifications we only received them for the intial reciept of the docs.

[ceadsearc 516]

It is very frustrating that USPS is so unreliable.

I have another question for you, since you have your timeline in your signature and mention text/e-mail notifications. We did file a G-1145 which we put at the front of our application package (as the instructions for putting your application together in the Guides section on VJ.com suggests). We did receive 4 texts/e-mails when USCIS received our application package and when they mailed out the first NOAs. However, for the appointment letter or the AP, we didn't get anything by e-mail or text.

Do you know if we should have attached a G-1145 to every section of our application (I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765) to receive texts/emails for further updates or whether their service just isn't reliable (which I think I read somewhere on the forum)?

Honestly, I'm not sure, but you can set it up online at the USCIS website. Just enter your case numbers individually and check the box for text and/or email alerts. I didn't even know about the G-1145 when we filed ours, so that's how we did it. If they're already set up, it should tell you. Sometimes the website isn't up to date, though (our I-485 didn't show up online for 2 months) so that could also be the issue.

[stjarna 0]

Then we waited for the appointment letter for the biometrics appointment. When we didn't hear from them we called USCIS in mid-September. They told us - slightly condescendingly - that it had "only been a month" since they received our application and the letter could arrive at any point. So we kept waiting.

I decided to check our phone-bill today and saw that we called USCIS on Sept. 19, TWO DAYS before the scheduled appointment (that we missed since we never got the appointment letter). Since our case didn't show up in their online system yet, the person at the hotline (who only read from the computer screen and couldn't tell us anything more than what's on the website anyways) actually patched us through to someone who I guess had more access. He was apparently able to see our case in his system (since he knew when USCIS had received our application).

I cannot believe that even though we specifically asked about the appointment letter (and whether we should be worried that it hadn't arrived yet) he either was so incompetent that he didn't tell us that there was an appointment scheduled for Sept. 21 or that their system is so insufficient that he could not see this information.

In either case, I am so incredibly outraged by all this and how incredibly insufficient and inadequate USPS and USCIS apparently are.

I just hope that when we go down to Milwaukee on Tuesday they don't try to tell us that missing the appointment was somehow OUR fault