Can you get denied right at the interview? Or is it always via a letter?

[BigJoe5]

8 CFR § 103.2 Applications, petitions, and other documents.

(b) Evidence and processing

(5) Request for an original document. USCIS may, at any time, request submission of an original document for review. The request will set a deadline for submission of the original document. Failure to submit the requested original document by the deadline may result in denial or revocation of the underlying application or benefit. An original document submitted in response to such a request, when no longer required by USCIS, will be returned to the petitioner or applicant upon completion of the adjudication. If USCIS does not return an original document within a reasonable time after completion of the adjudication, the petitioner or applicant may request return of the original document by submitting a properly completed and signed Form G–884 to the adjudicating USCIS office.


Refuse to comply at your own risk.

 

[Jackolantern]

If you use something like Express Mail to send your passport, it is not going to get lost.

The problem is not with it getting lost on the way to USCIS; it's with getting back the passport. Original documents submitted to USCIS are difficult or impossible to get back.

If you are unwilling to do that, you could mail the other documents she wants together with a photocopy of your passport and attach a letter explaining why you can't mail the passport itself but are willing to bring it in person.

I agree, and I would add that I'd send notarized copies of the passport pages. The notarization may convince them not to bother with the original.

 

[bcc8234]

The problem is not with it getting lost on the way to USCIS; it's with getting back the passport. Original documents submitted to USCIS are difficult or impossible to get back.

This.

If my application gets denied, I don't want to spend several months sending them petitions to retrieve my passport back.

Address all the evidence (registered letter) to the district director and explain (in cover letter) that you previously had all the evidence at the interview, but that the IO didn't request it. Follow up with an Infopass before the deadline and ask to speak with a supervisor regarding your case.

That's what I'm thinking. But is it really possible to ask for a supervisor if I schedule an Infopass? Also, how would I be able to reach the district director?

I only have three weeks before the deadline. That doesn't leave me much time for pursuing various options. And if I contact "everyone" I can at the same time, it might backfire.

Also, last time I checked, the only way to schedule an Infopass is to "lie" during the registration process. I don't remember the specifics, but I think there is a requirement to wait a certain number of days since their last response before their system lets you set a date for an appointment.
To schedule one right away, I would have to skip entering my receipt number and pretend like I'm scheduling it for an unrelated issue. Won't that piss them off?

You could also write again to the local Congress member office and explain to them that the IO has made an unreasonable demand for mailing the original of the passport, explain that you consider it an unreasonable hardship and why, that you are willing to bring the passport in person and ask for help.

I'm going to do that.

In addition to the passport, she also wants 6 years worth of bank and credit card statements to show "continued and uninterrupted financial activity." That's fine, I'll get copies. But we are talking close to a thousand pages. How am I supposed to mail that?

During the interview, I had several hundred pages of statements and documents with me (a large bag with binders filled with sheets of paper). Now, she wants even more (even though she didn't even look at what I had before). I would need to use a large box to mail them.

For some reason, I seriously doubt she will even bother looking at all that documentation. Her letter really looks like a knee-jerk reaction to my letter to the Congressperson.

I need to find a way to reach someone (like a supervisor) so I can explain the situation. But anywhere I look as far as contacting USCIS, I hit a dead end.

Perhaps getting a lawyer's help at this point may not be a bad idea - at least a lawyer may write a letter on your behalf explaining why the demand to mail the passport represents unreasonable hardship for you.

I want to get a lawyer, but I need to find one who knows direct phone numbers of people at my DO or at least has experience contacting higher ups locally. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.
Right now, it's not a matter of some legal technicality. I need a way to get either my IO or her supervisor on the phone or some way to set up a meeting.

 

[Bobsmyth]

If my application gets denied, I don't want to spend several months sending them petitions to retrieve my passport back.

If it gets denied your passport would be sent back within a reasonable amount of time, although there is the slight risk of it getting lost in the mail.

But is it really possible to ask for a supervisor if I schedule an Infopass? Also, how would I be able to reach the district director?

Yes, of course you can ask for supervisor at Infopass. In fact you can bring all the requested evidence (boxes full) to the Infopass instead of mailing it. When scheduling Infopass, you'll have to select option that you're following up on a case: it's not deceitful to do so and you won't tick them off.

 

[bcc8234]

Bobsmyth, thanks man. That gives me a plan of action.

 

[bcc8234]

Hmm, here is what I'm seeing on the Infopass site:

"Case Services follow-up appointment - If it has been over 45 days since you contacted NCSC and have not received a response to your inquiry. You must bring the Service Request ID Number related to your inquiry to the appointment. "

It hasn't been 45 days yet. So I'm not sure if that's what I'm supposed to pick. All other options would be misleading.

Any ideas?

 

[baikal3]

Hmm, here is what I'm seeing on the Infopass site:

"Case Services follow-up appointment - If it has been over 45 days since you contacted NCSC and have not received a response to your inquiry. You must bring the Service Request ID Number related to your inquiry to the appointment. "

It hasn't been 45 days yet. So I'm not sure if that's what I'm supposed to pick. All other options would be misleading.

Any ideas?

Hmm, they are really not making it easy to schedule an INFOPASS, are they?

I think, given your unusual circumstances, it would still be OK to choose the "Case Services follow-up appointment", even if it has not been 45 days yet. Alternatively, you could choose the option "Case Processing Appointment - If you received a notice to go to your local office for further case processing" and use your RFE letter in leu of the appointment letter. I think in both cases the system should allow you to actually schedule an appointment, and I doubt that you'd be turned away at the door when you actually come there.

 

[bcc8234]

I signed up. We'll see what happens.

 

[dzhao1]

hang in there man. i also had a lot of trips in one year period while working for a US company oversea... fingers crossed..