Need advice related to RFE

[Atlanta_Brother]

Hi all,

I need some quick advices from people who went thru RFE requests from USCIS while filing adjustment of status.

USCIS sent RFE dated Feb 7th. My attorney received it on Feb 19. According to my attorney he has mailed the requested documents (complete 1040 and 1099) back to USCIS Lee Summit, MO address last Wednesday, Feb 20th. He mailed it using first class mail instead of certified mail or delivery confirmation.
I called USCIS yesterday (Feb 27) to confirm if they received my paperwork so that I will be assured that they have received what they were looking for and will now continue working on my wife's GC case. The immigration officer told me that he doesn't see any paperwork received from us in the system and was telling me that I should have used certified mail instead of regular first class mail instead. According to him 90% of the time first class mail gets lost. I personally don't buy that, but this is what he told me.

Now my question to you folks out there is, should I relax & may be give it another week. This way USCIS will get sometime to receive my RFE to put it in the system or you think I should go ahead and mail them the same stuff right away using priority or certified (delivery confirmation) mail ASAP. By duplicating the paperwork, I don't want to confuse USCIS also.

Let me know what I should be doing at this stage.

Thanks again,

My timeline:

Sent complete package
(approved I-130, I-485, I-864, G325 & medical report): Jan 16th, 2008
Received by USCIS: Jan 19th
FP Notice sent: Jan 29th
RFE sent by USCIS: Feb 7th
RFE received: Feb 19th
RFE sent back to USCIS: Feb 20th
FP done: Feb 22nd
Wait: Begins

 

[Canuck_in_Cali]

I'm no expert, but if it were me, I'd resend the information certified mail, with a letter stating this is the 2nd time you've responded. This could avoid any confusion they'll have when they find your 1st correspondence.

 

[LucyMO]

The immigration officer told me that he doesn't see any paperwork received from us in the system and was telling me that I should have used certified mail instead of regular first class mail instead. According to him 90% of the time first class mail gets lost. I personally don't buy that, but this is what he told me.[/B]

I am not sure you talked to the immigration officer. You probably talked to a clerk.... 50% of the time they don't know what they are talking about...

 

[Atlanta_Brother]

Immigration Officer

I am not sure you talked to the immigration officer. You probably talked to a clerk.... 50% of the time they don't know what they are talking about...

Actually I did talk to the immigration officer because I never trust these clerks, never had a good experience with these clerks in the past. I never talk to them. I always make sure that my call is escalated to the officer.

 

[austriacus]

Usually, there's a notice that comes with the RFE that you need to enclose when you reply to the RFE. If you send documents without the notice they may have no idea what to do with it or no patience to figure it out. I'm assuming your attorney enclosed the RFE notice, but I hope you have a copy of the RFE notice that you can include if you send the documents a second time; I agree, also enclose a note explaining that you're re-sending it a second time. Anyway, unless you're in a hurry, you may give it maybe another week for your RFE response to show up in the system.

What does your attorney say? Why can't he fix the mistake himself that he sent documents without a record of them being sent or delivered?

 

[Atlanta_Brother]

Regarding my attorney

Usually, there's a notice that comes with the RFE that you need to enclose when you reply to the RFE. If you send documents without the notice they may have no idea what to do with it or no patience to figure it out. I'm assuming your attorney enclosed the RFE notice, but I hope you have a copy of the RFE notice that you can include if you send the documents a second time; I agree, also enclose a note explaining that you're re-sending it a second time. Anyway, unless you're in a hurry, you may give it maybe another week for your RFE response to show up in the system.

What does your attorney say? Why can't he fix the mistake himself that he sent documents without a record of them being sent or delivered?

Austriacus,

First of all thanks to you and all the people out here who took time to reply to my RFE posting.
Regarding my attorney, I had requested him last week to use either certified mail or some sort of delivery confirmation thru USPS so we have a record (proof of mailing). I was in Boston & my attorney is in Atlanta so when I called him, he said that there is no need to spend extra $6 bucks on certified mail. Your documents will make it to MO office & there is no need to worry. He has been doing this for the last 30 yrs & there is nothing wrong with going with regular first class mail. I even told him that I will pick up the extra mailing cost but still couldn't convince him. When I called him yesterday, he said that we need to give USCIS sometime and we will start worrying about it if we don't hear from them in the next 90 days & on top that he tells me that this could delay my case by few weeks or few months, who knows. Such a good feeling to have an attorney like this by your side isn't it.
Well, the bottom line is, I will go ahead and mail my tax documents (complete set of 1040 from 2006) and my 1099 earning statement (2006) today using certified or some kind of delivery confirmation mail. Yes Austriacus, I have a copy of that notice from USCIS that requests the documents. Yes I will include that as well with my documents.
Once again, I hope by sending these documents again, I don't create any confusion with USCIS or any further delays.
I will be going to the post office this afternoon sometime after lunch, so if you or any other guys have anything to add, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Again, thanks to all of you.

 

[NativeTexan]

I think you are definitely doing the right thing by sending another copy of the RFE response by certified mail. I wouldn't wait to hear from USCIS "within the next 90 days". We also got an RFE for tax documents and the instructions in the letter only gave us 87 days to respond, so waiting another 90 days would certainly be a bad idea.

Our response was send by certified mail and we got an LUD 8 days after it was mailed letting us know that the material was received and our case was resumed.

Good Luck!

 

[Atlanta_Brother]

Excellent

I think you are definitely doing the right thing by sending another copy of the RFE response by certified mail. I wouldn't wait to hear from USCIS "within the next 90 days". We also got an RFE for tax documents and the instructions in the letter only gave us 87 days to respond, so waiting another 90 days would certainly be a bad idea.

Our response was send by certified mail and we got an LUD 8 days after it was mailed letting us know that the material was received and our case was resumed.

Good Luck!

NativeTexan,

Gives me a good feeling after reading your response. I ain't wasting another day. I will run to the post office this afternoon & throw that paperwork in the certified mail as you suggested.
The only thing is, I have that copy of that RFE requested by USCIS that talks about what documents they are looking for along with my wife's receipt number and their mailing address at Lee Summit, MO. That paper ofcourse is not original, it's a photocopy that my attorney gave it to me last week plus the attorney circled & underlined some statements and wrote notes with his handwriting. Nothing major, but ofcourse it is not clean as the original. Anyways, I will still send it, who cares. The information that USCIS is looking for is still sitting there & it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[cherr1980]

Lawyer costs: 5,000 dollars
Certified mail: less than 5 dollars
Know that you sent it and USCIS received it: priceless.

I am sorry but first, you don't need a lawyer to be the messenger of your own paperwork. The same thing said about doctors that had 30 years of experience and were confusing a normal cramp/pain with an ovarian tumor.

Is not for exaggerate but a lawyer not only give you a service (which you are paying for) but should listen to your concerns regardless of how much experience he has. How difficult for him was going to be to resend the package? Actually your lawyer should give you a copy of the things he does, so you have your own paperwork history. It won't cause any confusion to USCIS if you resend the same information with the specific note about what they're requesting. There are people how has to resend their information several times.

About what the "officer" told you...it's really a personal "assumption" since he is not the one who receives all the packages in Lee Summit, the same people who deliver your "normal" mail is the same people who deliver your certified mail. Anyway with USCIS ALWAYS use certified mail or any kind of tracking/confirmation feature for your own records, still they can say they did not received it.

Hope you get feedback from them soon!

Good luck!