case closed by error

I think I found it...

Well,

I think I found the content of the famous AILA posting:

Action Regarding BEC 45-Day Letters: The Dept. of Labor had told AILA that it would issue a policy by the end of March with respect to labor certification applications that were closed for failure to reply to a 45-day letter. However, no such policy has appeared yet. DOL is still promising a policy soon, but this is an issue that AILA has been discussing with the Department for many months. Therefore, AILF's Legal Action Center (LAC) is proceeding with preparation of a lawsuit. The LAC had previously called for plaintiffs. If you have clients who might wish to be a plaintiff in this action--either because the 45-day letter was never received or because the letter was replied to but the case was closed anyway--please send an email to beclawsuit@ailf.org.
 
I've had my 2nd 45-day letter

I'm new to this site, so please bear with me as I'm still trying to grok how much information is out here. Still it's nice to know I'm not alone in this *wonderful* process.

I'm H-1B, currently 7th year, My EB3 RIR LC was submitted in CA, PD April 03. My case went to PBEC and I got a 45-day letter March 05, which was replied to immediately.

1 month letter I got a cancellation notice due to lack of reply. My lawyer had proof of delivery so instantly started fighting this. Back then there was apparently no formal appeal process setup for this and a lot of manual work was required by my lawyer (IE calling, writing, complaining etc.)

Long story short it was re-instated sometime in September 05, although PBEC did not bother to notify either my employer or my lawyer until December 05. A 2nd 45-day letter arrived in January 06, which again was replied to immediately. I have heard nothing on the LC since then.

NOTE - I was able to succesfully get my 7th year H-1B extension in December 05.

It is resonable to assume that during the 6+ months that my case was in dispute no further work was being done on it. Given that PBEC is a black hole there seems no way to know if there is any internal mechanism to accelerate the progress of a case like mine to gain back those months of lost time.

So it goes.
 
after years of wait, a case closure letter is the proverbial 'last straw'

I am in the case closure boat too now. Will keep you guys informed. Just received it today.

PD: Mar 29, 2002, NY, RIR
45 day letter received: Nov 2005, received in BEC 11/23/05.
Case closure letter received: 4/18/2006

I've applied for a H1B externsion a couple of weeks before, using the 45-day response as proof (irony!). Did anyone do that before?

Everybody else, please keep us all informed in DETAIL.
 
Thanks for the info, JustWatching. The policy will be interesting reading. I'm curious how one goes about proving that one never received a letter that was never sent.

Yeah that sucks, msubbu - you would think they would have nailed the erroneous closure bug by now.

More detail on my case - I'm in 7th year of H1B starting October 2005, applied for using the original receipt letter from the SWA, since we couldn't get a response from the usual email address. I'll need to file for 8th year starting this October again Don't know how we're going to do that with a closed case, although someone over at immigrationvoice.org forums suggests that the old SWA letter should work again.

___________________

AZ TR/EB3
ETA#: D-05145-xxxxx
PD: 10/1/04
Case status: no idea - no reply to emails
45 DL: never rcd
Case closed: 12/21/05 (for failure to respond to "letter" dated June 13 2005)
 
Stephen2000, based on your PD it looks like you squeaked through the 'more than 365 days' requirement for your LCA filing. I did use my original NY DOL receipt more than once (used it last time too in May 2005), but of course at that time we did not have anything else. Unless the BCIS now has a new requirement for a case number or a 'screenshot', I believe you can still use it. But things may change before Oct., so keep pushing your lawyer/BEC to get some status update on the case closure.
 
Labor approved

My labor was approved after closed by DBEC in early January. Just received approval e-mail from attorney. Hope everybody in this thread would get approval soon. One experience from me is to have your attorney call or e-mail BEC about your case every two or three weeks to keep ball rolling. There is no way you can do by yourself in this process.
 
Update

I received an e-mail from my attorney letting me know that the PBPC has submitted my case for reinstatement. According to the PBPC it will take 6 to 10 weeks to receive a formal notice of reinstatement.

I assume a new 45-day letter will follow. I will update the forum when I know more.
 
Thanks for the update JustWatching. My lawyer submitted the proof yest. that we had indeed responded to the 45-day letter. Do you know whether they would send another 45-day letter in these cases too (where 45-day letter was sent and responded to, but they didn't receive it), since we are sending a copy of the response again.
 
Detail info may help

msubbu said:
IN2006, thanks for the info. Can you give your PD and related details. Thanks.
Click to expand...

PD mid 2002. 45-day letter received last September and responded back right away. Case closed in Jan. Sent proof and received reinstatement letter in Feb. Get approval in 8 weeks. If over 2 months, need to ask attorney to follow up. It seems BEC only accepts e-mail inquiry by attorney.
 
Still waiting

I am still waiting to hear back from Dallas. Got a letter from Dallas in september 05 and my lawyer sent back confirmations of reply. We got a letter back in november saying that the case has been reinstated and case status check in january shows it in RIR. Not sure if it has been shelved as a special handling case. It is so frustrating.
One of my friends had the same thing around december but he got the approval.

PD - June 03
45 day letter- Feb 05
Closed letter- september 05
Reinstated letter - november 05
case status in january 06- RIR
 
H1 extension

Many of you will be happy to read, I recently filed for and got extension for my 8th.year H1 while I am still waiting for my case to be re-opened.Recent update is that my case is in the reopening queue and supposed to be done "soon" .

They applied for the extension using the original labor filing receipt .
 
New York RIR EB2 Waiting for Approval.....EB2 March 2002?

NY - EB2
PD - March 18, 2002
45 day letter replied- 07.07.05
Case Number: P-0512X-XXXXX

Anyone in similar situation?... I see approvals for July/August 2002. I believe EB2 March 2002 and others in 2001 in New York has been left hanging!!!
 
HEy Guys

I need advice

I got a case closure notice in Feb 05 .My lawyer replied immidiately with all the proofs thast prove we mailed the response to the 45 day letter in time.

We still have heard from the PBEC ,nothing at all,not even a letter stating that they will reopen the case soon.

Is there anything esle i can do

Please advice

thank you
 
IN2006, thanks for the useful info. Skorpio, I've got the same (good) news as you. I got my H1B approval while waiting for my case to re-open. However, I would like to know if anyone has gone to India for stamping while their case was still closed (with a valid approval of course). Any issues I can expect?
 
NYT, my date is very close to yours. NY, RIR, Mar 29, 2002. I got the 45-day letter in Nov 2005, and I got the case CLOSURE letter in mid-April 2006.
 
Got one today!

My employer received a letter today stating that my case has been closed. Had got the 45 day letter on 3rd Jan 2006 and my attroney said he promptly replied to the letter. The name was so badly spelt in the letter that I doubt anybody has such a name in this world....so my attorney said he will also send a correction letter along with the response.

Center: PBEC
PD:3/6/2003
45day letter: 01/03/2006
Replied: 01/10/2006


Read the thread and am wondering if the bug is the cause of this letter.

Please correct me if I am wrong in my assumption regarding the following steps:

1) Attorney writes a response letter to the case closure notice and request reinstatement of the case. Proof is submitted along with the letter.
2) The attorney will receive an email stating that the case was closed in error and will be reinstatement. Case moves to reinstatement queue.
3) If we don't get the letter/email in 8 weeks keep bugging the attorney to send email every week to ins regarding the status of the case.
3) Whenever the case gets reinstated we get a new 45 day letter.( Not sure what the attorney is to reply to this one.)

My questions:
How we determine if the case is really been opened ?
How do we determine if the case is open and is being worked on ?
What is the timeframe for resolution of such cases and when will it happen?

Is there anything that I can do personally inorder to expedite the case?

Now I am in my 6th year and was readying my seven year extension papers.Aug 2006 my visa expires.

Please post your comments.

Thanks.
Ash.
 
Awinkumar, you pretty much seem to know what to do and what to expect. If you're lucky like IN2006, then you wont get second 45 day letter (read his post above). The best thing you can do is be very polite and nice to your lawyer (don't start shouting about how they might be the cause of the screwup, for ex.). Ask them to keep forwarding you all the material they send to the BEC (request for reinstatement with all the proof). Also tell them that you will be touchbase with them once in 1-2 weeks for the status, as you're very concerned about the situation (and do it).
 
Thanks subbu

Yes. The prime thing is to keep patience and talk politely. Seems like I am losing my patience for this mess by somebody else. I see people here sufferring like me for a much longer time.

Thanks for the advice. I will speak with the attorney tommorrow and ask him the plan of action. Will keep you all posted. Hopefully all will work out eventually.

Thanks.
Ash.

Hope is the only road we have.
 
Can anybody please help ?

Hi All Friends ,

I don't know if I am the only one in this situation or there are many of this kind. I applied in RIR from California. My Priority Date was 05/03/2003 . I haven't got any 45 Days Case notice yet. And the worst of all is , I am seeing you guys putting Case number Like P-xxxxx-xxxxx or D-xxxxx-xxxxx ...I have not even received that new D or P ETA number also ? I just have original 6 digit numeric case number received from california EDD when they received my case ..is it very common or something very strange and dangerous..Please advice as I am right now waiting for my 7 th year extension of H1B... ANd I don't even know if my case is at Dallas or Philli ? I just have first and original letter from EDD saying they have received a letter showing my priority date and original Case paper ?

Do you think its all screwed because Neither Dallas or Philli is sending me any screen capture with this case number and I have emailed them several times in last 3 months...

DO you have any suggestion for me ?????

Thanks in advance
 
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