Guys, I got reply from FBI to my first lady letter saying Name check was finalised May 2007, and sent to USCIS Head Qtrs in Washington DC. The confusing thing is 1.5 months after this "finalise" date, the AUSA filed a motion to dismiss on June 16,2007 where defendants claim name check results have not yet been obtained by CIS. So I am confused what is going on ? anybody had this experience ?
First you should not panick. That definitely doesn't help. You are in a much better situation than many of the forum members, who are still waiting for the FBI name check result. Your interview was less than a month ago, USCIS has legally 120 days to adjudicate your case after the interview. You don't face deportation, you can freely work and travel so there is no imminent danger. Of course, it is nerve wrecking this waiting game, and it is taking a toll on many of us, but I still belive that you will be able to sort this out without filing a lawsuit. This case is a very good candidate, in my opinion, where a polite letter thretening them that you will file a lawsuit if no decision is made on your application after the legal period passed, most likely will have an effect. USCIS knows that they most likely will lose such a lawsuit, they can't even blame FBI for not completing your name check.
It is difficult to answer your question about filing a lawsuit by yourself vs. hiring an attorney. This really depends how much time are you willing to dedicate for the preparations to educate yourself in these legal issues. There are many forum members who did this process by themselves, and won their cases, so it is certainly possible. You "just" need enough time and patience to sit down in front of your computer monitor and start reading the postings on this forum. Practically all the info necessary to fight successfully your case was already posted and there are several very knowledgable active forum members, willing to answer questions you may have. Again, because your name check was already completed, your case is much simpler than most of the other stuck cases, where we had to argue that examinaton=interview, and the 120 days from 1447(b) was triggered by the interview and should not be counted only after the name check is completed.
If they really lost your A file, it is certainly their mistake not yours, you can't be penalized for this. I have really serious doubts that any AUSA would have the guts to tell to a federal judge that "your Honor, USCIS lost the Plaintiff's A file and because of this decided to not adjudicate her case forever". If the judge would not make a stoke at the spot, s/he certainly would become really angry and decide the case in your favor.
Bottom line: start reading and prepare yourself for a fight, but keep pressure on the USCIS by going once a week or once every two weeks to an Infopass and ask about your case. When the 120 days passed and still didn't receive your oath letter, you should write a nice letter to your interviewing officer or to Mrs. Carol Jenifer (the Detroit DO director), explaining your situation, your desire to solve this case peacefully but also your firm determination that as a last resort you will file a complaint in the federal district court based on the 8 U.S.C. 1447(b) if you don't receive your oath letter in 30 days from the date of the letter of intent to sue.
If you don't feel comfortable at all with the idea to go Pro Se, we can recomend you some immigration attorneys who will represent you. Lowtechguy (one of the forum members) is using the services of one of them, he is in your district.
Worried, I sent you a PM. Since my case is ongoing I cannot say how good my attorney is, but I put in some names/contact info in my PM.
for some reason i didnt get ur private message can u please send it again or u can send it to me at my email adress
ghinwa81@comcast.net
i would love to have someone to talk to during these waiting times
thank u again
Worried, i was going to send you attorney names but I saw you are just 1 month into this and it is very early to be thinking law suite. The situation you are in is very common. Most of the time this gets resolved by congressman/senator. You should start by just walking in to your congressman's office and asking for help. If that does not get results, call Senator levin's office, and explain the problem. They are helpful and if it is not name check they may do something. You can start off by writing to the adjudcations officer also.
If you still feel you need to speak to attorneys let me know and I can send you a list but I feel its too early and your case will be resolved without law suite.
The DV-lottery case would be an excellent example. Appreciate if you can dig the other one up. As Plaintiff's we cannot double guess what USCIS and DOS are going to do. As long as the case was filed when the priority date was current we should be okay. I'm glad I filed it on June 29th even though I am amending it for the second time now. In just 1 month DoS moved PD from May 2001 to June 2003 for EB3-IND when there are scores of 2001 filers waiting for adjudication. It's irresponsible on the part of USCIS and DOS to move the priority dates so far when there are cases pending. I hope AILF wins their lawsuit.
Hi folks,
I'm working on my opposition to Cross-MJ filed by AUSA.
My case is WOM based on AOS, I'd appreciate if any of you know any good opposition to MJ or Cross-MJ.
I looked at a lot of cases on PACER, but have not found even one such sample.
Thanks ....
Here is the second one for you, Agc4me.
It's an interesting story about a family lawsuit (DV-2003 AOS). Initially AOS was denied (!) for the primary applicant. The motion for reconsideration was also denied, but USCIS reopened the case "voluntarily" after the lawsuit was filed. USCIS did "find" (as court noted) a GC to the primary applicant, but declined to issue GCs for the rest of the family because FY 2003 has ended. The court ordered to issue two more for the remaining family members. It is important to note that the court ruling was a year after FY 2003 has ended.
bsus,
What do they say in MSJ? What are the main points? I have a lot of material from my appeal. I did not see a sample OPP for MSJ. You can check this opposition to MTD, it's a professional job.
http://dv.semper-ante.com/Cases/03-CV-4929/15.pdf
Aboushaban had a opp to MSJ and Cross MSJ. Loaded here
Thanks lazycis, went it to my repository. BTW what Id mean in all these documents ? I see them at the end of paragraphs....
AGC4ME,I have a factual error in my complaint. I said I have obtained 4 EADs and in the process of applying 5th one. It should have been 3 EADs and in the process for 4th one. Anyone wants to guess how serious this factual error might be in the eyes of the court ? This doesn't change other material facts of the case though. But given that the AUSAs are now fighting I485 WoMs they might ask the court to dismiss the complaint based on factual errors.
The stamping is valid for 1 year. However since USCIS computer still shows her status as "NOT APPROVED". This is why I am getting worried. Any kind of verification "Employment" or while travelling, USCIS record is going to show her status as "UNAPPROVED". Even in the last USCIS INFOPASS appointment, it took us a while to convince the officer that its USCIS mistake not ours. All I want to do is set the record straight.
Can WOM be filed only for Unreasonable delays?
Thanks
Annamalai
Annamalai and Paz,I totally agree with Ninyte's answer. Your wife has a stamp in her passport, this was put there by an USCIS officer. But I also agree with your immigration attorney; leaving the country is dangerous considering this unfortunate circumstance. When coming back, at the port of entry they definitely check the computer database and if there shows "Unapproved" it can create potentially a big mess.
However, I think that a lawsuit is premature and I hope that you will be able to sort this out amicably. It will take couple of trips to the USCIS DO and you may need to insist to see some supervisor, but again, Ninyte's suggestion to try to locate the officer who stamped your wife's passport and took her EAD etc. papers seems a reasonable way to go.
Bsus,Shvili,
Unfortunately my case is still not resolved.
I filed MSJ, then AUSA filed Opposition and Cross-MJ.
Now I need to file Reply to the "Opposition and Cross-MJ", do you have any good sample papers and I can reference?
When I check PACER, it seems that a lot of folks (who filed WOM around the same time as I did) got dismissed. This is encouraging, hopefully mine can be resolved in next one or two months.
Thanks
I agree with Lazycis, if there's overwhelming evidence in your favor and no nc issue, file MSJ. Just comment: default judgement is never given against federal agency defendants, as I understand.The default judgment is rarely granted and only applies when defendant did not respond at all to the complaint.
You can file a motion for summary judgment right away. Why wait? This is the case where you can ask court to make you a citizen in the court room using 1447b.
I agree with you, it's in discretion of AG, but I'm attaching an Abbasfar Opposition to MTD (from our local court, case resolved), where attorney for plaintiff doesn't even attempt to deny that background check is required while discussing statutory req-s for FP check. (see pp.17 and 28) Even knowing Lazycis relying on absence of statutory required bc check for AOS cases, I don't believe that any judge would agree to waive bc check in AOS application delayed due to nc pending. So (again) I wouldn't use it because if anything, it may simply irritate a judge (plus earlier posted reasons). Yes, AG in his discretion may waive bc check in AOS case but it doesn't mean you can expect a judge to waive it in delayed AOS case.It's not a statute but FBI name check is probably covered by "in his discretion and under such regulations as he may prescribe" part of 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a). Hence using AG's discretion USCIS can decide that name check for certain individual may not be necessary. So USCIS is doing nothing illegal by approving petitions without name check.
Infopass may not be conclusive even it it shows nc not cleared, I remember several false-negative infopass checks.You can do a lot of things.
1. Take infopass and make sure that your nc is cleared in USCIS systems. Show the IO the letter from FBI saying your nc is cleared.
Worried2007, I really hope your senator will resolve it if he said so. But just a comment for similar case with limited funds: you may not necessarily get help from legal aid offices but I know (and personally had a huge help once) from Catholic Social Ministries- they have immigration lawyers specifically helping clients with injustice in immigration cases, especially in dire circumstances,and they ask you to pay on a sliding scale. A client doesn't have to be a catholic or be of a Latino origin to be helped. Just check the local ph. nimber, they are almost in every state and big city.paz,
u r a great person, thnx for taking the time to write me back i wish ur my best freind because i realy need somone like u right now.
and honestly i dont feel comfortable filing Pro Se as i work and go to school but also paying huge attorney fees is not an option for me and i dont know if there is any Pro bono attorneys in my area that can help me.
any of ur input and advice is greatly appreciated , u r the best .
i went to senator levins office today and he said the guy there he will get me a resolution in 30 days i signed a privacy release im praying senator levins office can do someting about it , like u said he said thats this happened before and he did resolve it so im hoping he can this time 2
Hopeful,
when was the last time you were fingerprinted ? FPs expire in 15 months
The default judgment is rarely granted and only applies when defendant did not respond at all to the complaint.
You can file a motion for summary judgment right away. Why wait? This is the case where you can ask court to make you a citizen in the court room using 1447b.