I-130/ I-485 Question

[rbhpsj]

My husband and I attempted to file 130/485 et al. in late June after our wedding. Due to being somewhat frazzled in between finishing our honeymoon, filling out the forms and leaving to visit his family in India I accidently sent the packet to the California Service center rather than the San Jose District Office. So when we returned we had a nice big packet from the INS with the originals of most of our forms and a photocopy of the 130. They also returned all the checks except the 130 check. Although we have never recieved the receipt for the 130, they cashed that check. We took the packet to the San Jose office and managed to get a number to talk to an officer there. He told us that they had accepted the petition, and that was why the check was cashed, and that we ought to submit the petition with the image of the cashed check and a letter of explanation. They would then contact the CSC to make sure the petition being processed, and then go ahead with the 485. We went to the office on 7/21 and sent in the forms to San Jose on the next day. They haven't cashed the checks, and they haven't returned the packet to us as incorrect. They are now processing EADs with a reciept of 7/19 , so we are wondering what they could be up to. Apparently there is also a new memo out from Yates saying that when a district office recieves a 485 that has a 130 being processed in the Service Center they must request the 130 from the Service Center, and it must be sent within 15 days by Fedex to the district office to join the other petitions. I suppose that this is what is happening, is it plausible? I called the USCIS and asked them why I have not received a receipt and was told that they will send something in 30 days.

[vhooloo]

Any updates. Let us know. My sister is in the same situation (her I130 was sent to Texas Service Center but she didn't get any recipts except that the check was chased) and is now thinking of doing I485 at local district center.
They have also asked her for the image of the check.

It would help if you let us know if you were able to file your I485.

[LucyMO]

I filed my I-130 at TSC, and then after sometime I-485 at the Atlanta district office with a copy of notice of receipt for I-130. So far no problems.

it took about 3 weeks to get a notice of receipt for I-130.

[rbhpsj]

We did file the 485 with the cashed check image. San Jose actually misplaced the packet so we did not hear anything for about a month, and after we inquired then an officer found the packet and now the checks have been cashed, we have a receipt and my husband has EAD. So, the answer is yes this can be done. An additional twist to the story is that my 130 was approved on August 18 (less than two months after filing) and I now have the I797 notice. My guess is that because 130 can now be concurrently filed at the district office the service centers may be getting less volume and thus are working faster. Probably they thought that if they could approve my 130 so fast they did not need to bother with sending a receipt, but this is utter speculation.