DV 2020 AOS Only

[aussie expat]

Hi @aussie expat you said "e-request saying that I hadn’t received a letter for evidence".

The e-request has 2 options like that
1: Did not receive notice by mail
2: Did not receive document by mail

Q1: Which one did you use?

I called the USCIS general number and after confirming which FO my case was at the lady said as Lawrence, MA FO is scheduled to open on 27th hence I can't do anything at this point. Any advice?

I chose the “did not receive notice by mail” and then selected “request for evidence”
I don’t know if that why I got the call. It may have been a coincidence. But I’m not complaining.
Sorry, I don’t have advice. Best to ask Mom. You may not hear until they are open but I’m sorry, I’m no expert.

 

[AOSnewbie]

@Sm1smom
Nearly three weeks ago I approached my U.S. representative to address my concern. At the time I thought that scheduling for bio is a must before being scheduled for interview and in my attached letter I talked about consequences of a late biometrics appointment and specifically referred the issue to NBC.
Today I called the lady in charge of USCIS matters in the office of congressman. She told me that we have forwarded your request to NBC around 10 days ago. Then I told her that it's all at the discretion of my USCIS local field office to decide about my case. She said"Alright, we will forward another request to your local field office".
I don't know what she meant by forwarding my request to NBC or the local field office.
And she seemed to me kind of mean. She hung up my call when I was still talking on the phone.
The representative seems to have anti-immigrant agenda and I knew this before reaching out to his office but since I could visit his office in person I stuck with contacting him rather than a senator. I doubt that this lady will follow up on my case.
Can I initiate contacting senator at the same time? Will this hurt my case?

 

[Marconi]

Hello everybody,

@Sm1smom, I have 1 question for you.

I had interview on march 2, during the interview officer told me that she cannot give me a decision because my medical form isn’t complete, and made RFE. When I got home, I find out that doctor simply didn’t mark one of the required checkboxes. So I received corrected one at the doctor office, and sent it immediately. In a week my case status changed to “Correspondence Was Received And USCIS Is Reviewing It”
After 5 month having patience, I made service request and got respond in same day:

“USCIS has reviewed your Service Request. According to USCIS records, your application is still pending consideration. Your case was submitted to a supervisor for review. This is a standard process we use to ensure the quality of our decisions. We will let you know if we make a decision or need anything from you.”
We regret that we are not able to give you a time frame for when we will complete the review of your application.

What would you do in this case, just base on your knowledge and experience over the years?

 

[AOSnewbie]

Hello everybody,

@Sm1smom, I have 1 question for you.

I had interview on march 2, during the interview officer told me that she cannot give me a decision because my medical form isn’t complete, and made RFE. When I got home, I find out that doctor simply didn’t mark one of the required checkboxes. So I received corrected one at the doctor office, and sent it immediately. In a week my case status changed to “Correspondence Was Received And USCIS Is Reviewing It”
After 5 month having patience, I made service request and got respond in same day:

“USCIS has reviewed your Service Request. According to USCIS records, your application is still pending consideration. Your case was submitted to a supervisor for review. This is a standard process we use to ensure the quality of our decisions. We will let you know if we make a decision or need anything from you.”
We regret that we are not able to give you a time frame for when we will complete the review of your application.

What would you do in this case, just base on your knowledge and experience over the years?

I have heard that when the case is under supervisor's review the best thing to do is to contact your congressman. As a matter of fact, it is said that congressmen may only be helpful when your case is under supervisor's review otherwise it is not so helpful to contact them.

 

[Lara1]

Just want to give a quick update. I called today to USCIS at (800) 375-5283 in order to check if they sent our biometrics (since Hackensack, NJ ASC reopened today). Representative (not a tier 2) checked and told me that our biometric letters were sent on July 17 and we'll receive them in a few days. I kindly asked again if these are bio letters or IL and she verified that these are the biometric letters.

Then I explained her that the last time when I got a call from USCIS FO on July 17 they told me that our IL will be mailed directly after the call. I asked if she can see there our IL as well, to which she said that she doesn't have a clearance and asked us to call again tomorrow to speak with tier 2 representative.

Dear @Sm1smom, a quick question: if FO sends an IL, is it true that only tier 2 can see it?

Hey @skip1, have you received any updates today regarding bio?

 

[Sm1smom]

@Sm1smom
Nearly three weeks ago I approached my U.S. representative to address my concern. At the time I thought that scheduling for bio is a must before being scheduled for interview and in my attached letter I talked about consequences of a late biometrics appointment and specifically referred the issue to NBC.
Today I called the lady in charge of USCIS matters in the office of congressman. She told me that we have forwarded your request to NBC around 10 days ago. Then I told her that it's all at the discretion of my USCIS local field office to decide about my case. She said"Alright, we will forward another request to your local field office".
I don't know what she meant by forwarding my request to NBC or the local field office.
And she seemed to me kind of mean. She hung up my call when I was still talking on the phone.
The representative seems to have anti-immigrant agenda and I knew this before reaching out to his office but since I could visit his office in person I stuck with contacting him rather than a senator. I doubt that this lady will follow up on my case.
Can I initiate contacting senator at the same time? Will this hurt my case?

Well the first time you reached out to them, your narrative indicates you needed follow up assistance with regards to your bio appointment and they forwarded the inquiry to the NBC which is the correct process - the NBC is responsible for scheduling bio appointments, I don’t see anything wrong with what the congressional office did.

You followed up today and going by your explanation, they agreed to forward an inquiry to your FO - again I don’t see anything mean or an anti-immigrant agenda about this. Except for the part regarding hanging up while you were still speaking - which I agree is rude, but maybe she did what she did because she felt had already answered your questions and needed to move on to something else more pressing. When most people initiate a congressional inquiry, all you had to do was just ask for assistance with case follow up with USCIS without going into some lengthy conversation unless they ask for additional information. These people are quite busy.

I will recommend just being patient for a while for now.

 

[Sm1smom]

Hello everybody,

@Sm1smom, I have 1 question for you.

I had interview on march 2, during the interview officer told me that she cannot give me a decision because my medical form isn’t complete, and made RFE. When I got home, I find out that doctor simply didn’t mark one of the required checkboxes. So I received corrected one at the doctor office, and sent it immediately. In a week my case status changed to “Correspondence Was Received And USCIS Is Reviewing It”
After 5 month having patience, I made service request and got respond in same day:

“USCIS has reviewed your Service Request. According to USCIS records, your application is still pending consideration. Your case was submitted to a supervisor for review. This is a standard process we use to ensure the quality of our decisions. We will let you know if we make a decision or need anything from you.”
We regret that we are not able to give you a time frame for when we will complete the review of your application.

What would you do in this case, just base on your knowledge and experience over the years?

Contact your House of rep person and request their assistance with initiating a congressional case follow/up inquiry with your FO on your behalf.

 

[Sm1smom]

I have heard that when the case is under supervisor's review the best thing to do is to contact your congressman. As a matter of fact, it is said that congressmen may only be helpful when your case is under supervisor's review otherwise it is not so helpful to contact them.

If you’ve heard a congressional inquiry is not so helpful unless when a case is undergoing supervisory review, then why are you utilizing it yourself in the first place considering you haven’t even received your bio notice, talk less of IL, or having done the interview itself?

 

[Sm1smom]

Just want to give a quick update. I called today to USCIS at (800) 375-5283 in order to check if they sent our biometrics (since Hackensack, NJ ASC reopened today). Representative (not a tier 2) checked and told me that our biometric letters were sent on July 17 and we'll receive them in a few days. I kindly asked again if these are bio letters or IL and she verified that these are the biometric letters.

Then I explained her that the last time when I got a call from USCIS FO on July 17 they told me that our IL will be mailed directly after the call. I asked if she can see there our IL as well, to which she said that she doesn't have a clearance and asked us to call again tomorrow to speak with tier 2 representative.

Dear @Sm1smom, a quick question: if FO sends an IL, is it true that only tier 2 can see it?

Hey @skip1, have you received any updates today regarding bio?

I don’t know.

 

[ophelia]

Hi @ophelia,

Did you have your interview today? If yes, could you share your experience, pls? Thank you in advance!

I had my interview on Friday, July 17 without a biometric completed. The interview itself was very cordial. I verbally confirmed all the entries I made on my I-485. The other questions I was asked regarded my current non-immigrant status and whether past entries into the US were all legal. I provided my sealed medical exam as well as sealed police report from my home country. Everything went well.

I had not received my biometric appointment before the interview. The interviewing officer said that it is very unusual for the interview to be conducted before the biometric, but it's COVID times, and that's probably why. The officer got in contact with the supervisor of the ASC, and they said that they are working at 30% capacity, so everything is delayed. In 2 weeks, 70% of USCIS workers will be furloughed, so it is likely that they may encounter more delays. The ASC supervisor said I should wait for my biometric appointment in the mail. I asked whether my fingerprints that were taken for my non-immigrant visa in November 2019 could be reused, and they said no.

The interview officer made a note in my file to check for my biometrics in August. They said as soon as they get it, they can complete my file. They provided me with a receipt that "my case is being held for review" but explained to me that it's only because I do not have a biometric completed.

They encouraged me to call USCIS if I don't received my appointment in August because it must be processed by September.

 

[James512]

I had my interview on Friday, July 17 without a biometric completed. The interview itself was very cordial. I verbally confirmed all the entries I made on my I-485. The other questions I was asked regarded my current non-immigrant status and whether past entries into the US were all legal. I provided my sealed medical exam as well as sealed police report from my home country. Everything went well.

I had not received my biometric appointment before the interview. The interviewing officer said that it is very unusual for the interview to be conducted before the biometric, but it's COVID times, and that's probably why. The officer got in contact with the supervisor of the ASC, and they said that they are working at 30% capacity, so everything is delayed. In 2 weeks, 70% of USCIS workers will be furloughed, so it is likely that they may encounter more delays. The ASC supervisor said I should wait for my biometric appointment in the mail. I asked whether my fingerprints that were taken for my non-immigrant visa in November 2019 could be reused, and they said no.

The interview officer made a note in my file to check for my biometrics in August. They said as soon as they get it, they can complete my file. They provided me with a receipt that "my case is being held for review" but explained to me that it's only because I do not have a biometric completed.

They encouraged me to call USCIS if I don't received my appointment in August because it must be processed by September.

Thanks for the update! I hope you will get your bio metric schedule soon.. Good luck!

 

[skip1]

Just want to give a quick update. I called today to USCIS at (800) 375-5283 in order to check if they sent our biometrics (since Hackensack, NJ ASC reopened today). Representative (not a tier 2) checked and told me that our biometric letters were sent on July 17 and we'll receive them in a few days. I kindly asked again if these are bio letters or IL and she verified that these are the biometric letters.

Then I explained her that the last time when I got a call from USCIS FO on July 17 they told me that our IL will be mailed directly after the call. I asked if she can see there our IL as well, to which she said that she doesn't have a clearance and asked us to call again tomorrow to speak with tier 2 representative.

Dear @Sm1smom, a quick question: if FO sends an IL, is it true that only tier 2 can see it?

Hey @skip1, have you received any updates today regarding bio?

Wow, this is really surprising. When they called you for interview, what have they said for biometrics? To me they just said that they are aware of the issue and that it's up to the officer how will the bio thing be handled.
I have not updates on biometrics yet, I'll call USCIS now to try and ask for my bio and keep you posted.

BTW, have you received the IL in the mail yet?

 

[Sero1033]

I had my interview on Friday, July 17 without a biometric completed. The interview itself was very cordial. I verbally confirmed all the entries I made on my I-485. The other questions I was asked regarded my current non-immigrant status and whether past entries into the US were all legal. I provided my sealed medical exam as well as sealed police report from my home country. Everything went well.

I had not received my biometric appointment before the interview. The interviewing officer said that it is very unusual for the interview to be conducted before the biometric, but it's COVID times, and that's probably why. The officer got in contact with the supervisor of the ASC, and they said that they are working at 30% capacity, so everything is delayed. In 2 weeks, 70% of USCIS workers will be furloughed, so it is likely that they may encounter more delays. The ASC supervisor said I should wait for my biometric appointment in the mail. I asked whether my fingerprints that were taken for my non-immigrant visa in November 2019 could be reused, and they said no.

The interview officer made a note in my file to check for my biometrics in August. They said as soon as they get it, they can complete my file. They provided me with a receipt that "my case is being held for review" but explained to me that it's only because I do not have a biometric completed.

They encouraged me to call USCIS if I don't received my appointment in August because it must be processed by September.

Thank you, @ophelia , for all the insights. It is very helpful. Congratulations on passing the interview and I wish you to get your bio appointment ASAP. Good luck!

 

[reachingthesummit]

I had my interview on Friday, July 17 without a biometric completed. The interview itself was very cordial. I verbally confirmed all the entries I made on my I-485. The other questions I was asked regarded my current non-immigrant status and whether past entries into the US were all legal. I provided my sealed medical exam as well as sealed police report from my home country. Everything went well.

I had not received my biometric appointment before the interview. The interviewing officer said that it is very unusual for the interview to be conducted before the biometric, but it's COVID times, and that's probably why. The officer got in contact with the supervisor of the ASC, and they said that they are working at 30% capacity, so everything is delayed. In 2 weeks, 70% of USCIS workers will be furloughed, so it is likely that they may encounter more delays. The ASC supervisor said I should wait for my biometric appointment in the mail. I asked whether my fingerprints that were taken for my non-immigrant visa in November 2019 could be reused, and they said no.

The interview officer made a note in my file to check for my biometrics in August. They said as soon as they get it, they can complete my file. They provided me with a receipt that "my case is being held for review" but explained to me that it's only because I do not have a biometric completed.

They encouraged me to call USCIS if I don't received my appointment in August because it must be processed by September.

Congratulations on passing the interview! Hopefully your biometrics appointment will be scheduled and completed soon!
You said in your post that you provided a sealed medical exam and a sealed police report from your home country. Did you include the sealed medical exam in your initial package as well? Why did you have to provide a sealed police report from your home country? I don't recall this being mentioned by anyone before. Could you clarify please?

 

[Lara1]

Wow, this is really surprising. When they called you for interview, what have they said for biometrics? To me they just said that they are aware of the issue and that it's up to the officer how will the bio thing be handled.
I have not updates on biometrics yet, I'll call USCIS now to try and ask for my bio and keep you posted.

BTW, have you received the IL in the mail yet?

When I got a call on July 17 and asked about bio, the lady told me exactly same as you’re stating it. That it depends on officer and can also be done in the FO.

I haven’t yet received the IL, checking my mailbox every day . I will let you know in case of any updates.

 

[skip1]

When I got a call on July 17 and asked about bio, the lady told me exactly same as you’re stating it. That it depends on officer and can also be done in the FO.

I haven’t yet received the IL, checking my mailbox every day . I will let you know in case of any updates.

Thank you, will do the same.
I tried calling USCIS but they won't connect me to representative, I assume it's because it's close to 5 PM. It just cuts off.
I'll try tomorrow as well. Honestly it would be awesome if they have sent both bio and interview letters on July 17

 

[ophelia]

Congratulations on passing the interview! Hopefully your biometrics appointment will be scheduled and completed soon!
You said in your post that you provided a sealed medical exam and a sealed police report from your home country. Did you include the sealed medical exam in your initial package as well? Why did you have to provide a sealed police report from your home country? I don't recall this being mentioned by anyone before. Could you clarify please?

1) I did not include my medical exam in my initial package.
2) I requested a police report from my home country for the DS-260 when I initially submitted to KCC. The police report was sealed, so I scanned the sealed envelope. The interview officer opened the sealed police report, which stated I had no criminal record. Since I did not have a copy, the IO offered one.

 

[reachingthesummit]

1) I did not include my medical exam in my initial package.
2) I requested a police report from my home country for the DS-260 when I initially submitted to KCC. The police report was sealed, so I scanned the sealed envelope. The interview officer opened the sealed police report, which stated I had no criminal record. Since I did not have a copy, the IO offered one.

Thank you for clarifying this! This is good to know.

 

[Sm1smom]

1) I did not include my medical exam in my initial package.
2) I requested a police report from my home country for the DS-260 when I initially submitted to KCC. The police report was sealed, so I scanned the sealed envelope. The interview officer opened the sealed police report, which stated I had no criminal record. Since I did not have a copy, the IO offered one.

To clarify for others and to avoid unintended confusion:
1. PCC is not required to be submitted for AOS
2. Document upload to KCC is not required for AOS

Overall, thanks for your updates and all the best for what’s remaining.

 

[ShazzA]

An update on my case.
I’ve been panicking because nothing seemed to be happening. Apart from calling USCIS and being told that my case was at the Brooklyn FO.
On July 14 I put an e-request saying that I hadn’t received a letter for evidence. ‍
On the 16th I had a phone call from a supervisor in Manhattan (Federal Place). He told me to come in Monday 20th. He was really lovely and helpful. Giving me directions and everything. I thought it was a prank! I said “don’t I need a letter?” And he said I could wait for a letter but it would be weeks.
He later called back to say I would receive a bio letter for Long Island City and he said to ignore it. On that call I asked about my friend (also on this forum) who hadn’t received a letter. And he said to bring him!!!
So we both went in this morning. There were hardly any people in the office, no more than 5 or 6 waiting at a time.
The supervisor was lovely. I asked him when he thinks I’ll get a letter for an interview and he just said “they’ll be in contact”. He said he was processing quite a few DV cases. And also said that I would get the green card sooner than my EAD.
It was pretty funny. He took me into the office, I walked past all the filing cabinets and supervisors. Into a back room and had the photo and fingerprints. I couldn’t get the answers I wanted but at least my photo looked good
I just hope the interview letter isn’t far behind

This is true! I was that friend that was asked about and I too did my Biometrics today! Apparently, I wasn't in the system yet and the supervisor added me into it while I got my Biometrics done (I provided him with my notification letter and IL). I got my fingerprints and picture taken. I also received my IL scheduled for 18th of August, I'm so glad I managed to get the Biometrics done today so that I'm just one more step away!