Disastrous Diversity Lottery Visa Thus Far - 2 rejections

[lotteryvisa2014]

I am Australian citizen that has lived/worked in the USA for >5 years on an H1B visa. I won the diversity lottery in May 2013 and received a decent number of <450. My number became active in December 2013. I decided to hire a lawyer to ensure my applicatoin was submitted without errors and that everything would go smoothly. As I am currently living/working in the USA (with legal status) I was advised to pursue adjustment of status in the USA rather than return to Australia to apply.

Despite having the assistance of an apparent expert my application has been rejected twice: the first time because the lawyer failed to tick a particular box and the second time (today) for reasons I do not know - rejection notice says 'See Form M-180' - I can't even find anywhere on the internet what that document is.

I have a number of concerns:

- What is Form M-180?

- I don't know why it took my lawyer so long to submit the application. My number became active in December but after all the back/forth between myself and the lawyer's office (which included them having to correct a number of errors in the initial draft of the application), the submission did not occur until early February.

- The application has now been rejected twice by USCIS

- I am worried this lawyer does not know what she is doing

- I am worried I have wasted MONTHS of valuable time and I live in NY and have heard that it takes MONTHS to obtain an interview.

ANY ADVICE or SUGGESTIONS?

 

[Sm1smom]

Looks like you got yourself an immigration attorney with absolutely no idea of DV based AOS. Which lockbox was your application sent to? My immediate thinking is your attorney filed it at the wrong lockbox hence the 2nd rejection with the M-180 form, but if you're certain it was filed at the Chicago Lockbox, then my assumption would be wrong and you need to call USCIS first thing in the morning to find out why it was rejected.

Meanwhile I think you should stop relying on that attorney. Check out the DV 2014 AOS thread in this forum, starting from the 1st post on the first page. It contains lots of useful information for anyone doing DV based AOS, there's a spreadsheet with step by step instructions on what you need to do.

Good luck!

 

[lotteryvisa2014]

Looks like you got yourself an immigration attorney with absolutely no idea of DV based AOS. Which lockbox was your application sent to? My immediate thinking is your attorney filed it at the wrong lockbox hence the 2nd rejection with the M-180 form, but if you're certain it was filed at the Chicago Lockbox, then my assumption would be wrong and you need to call USCIS first thing in the morning to find out why it was rejected.

Meanwhile I think you should stop relying on that attorney. Check out the DV 2014 AOS thread in this forum, starting from the 1st post on the first page. It contains lots of useful information for anyone doing DV based AOS, there's a spreadsheet with step by step instructions on what you need to do.

Good luck!

I had my suspicions very early on that she wasn't sure what she was doing. But as she was recommended by my employer I thought that may be I was just being over-anxious. But it has been one disaster after the next. The second one was sent to Chicago. What is form M-180? Will I receive that?

I am starting to panic that I have wasted so much time with this useless attorney. I also think she should refund my money as she has been so disastrous. Is there still time/hope for me?

 

[lotteryvisa2014]

Meanwhile I think you should stop relying on that attorney. Check out the DV 2014 AOS thread in this forum, starting from the 1st post on the first page. It contains lots of useful information for anyone doing DV based AOS, there's a spreadsheet with step by step instructions on what you need to do.

Good luck!

After reading these instructions, my suspicions are correct. I had thought that by the time my number becamse current (December 1st), the lawyer should have had everything ready to submit! She only started AFTER my number became current. Then it took 2 months - yes 2 months - for her to organize all of the documents and info I sent her in order to prepare the submission. Which was then rejected twice by USCIS.

 

[lotteryvisa2014]

Looks like you got yourself an immigration attorney with absolutely no idea of DV based AOS.

After reading the google doc instructions, I am pretty sure the attorney sent my DSP-122 along with the AOS application to Chicago. So that's an error right because the DSP-122 should have gone to KCC?

What a mess.

I called USCIS and a recorded message said that my application "had not been filed correctly" and that was the reason for the second rejection.

 

[Sm1smom]

I had my suspicions very early on that she wasn't sure what she was doing. But as she was recommended by my employer I thought that may be I was just being over-anxious. But it has been one disaster after the next. The second one was sent to Chicago. What is form M-180? Will I receive that?

I am starting to panic that I have wasted so much time with this useless attorney. I also think she should refund my money as she has been so disastrous. Is there still time/hope for me?

Form M-180 I believe is some form of rejection notice which is supposed to explain why your application has been rejected or is being returned to you. But some efficious USCIS rep simply reference it without actually including the form itself in the package being returned to the applicant, as in your case, making you wonder what on earth they're refering to.

Don't panic though. It's not too late to start afresh, just don't use that attorney again. And if you can, yes make her refund your money. She may be competent with employment or family based AOS, she definitely has no clue regarding DV based AOS from what you've written here.

 

[Sm1smom]

After reading the google doc instructions, I am pretty sure the attorney sent my DSP-122 along with the AOS application to Chicago. So that's an error right because the DSP-122 should have gone to KCC?

What a mess.

I called USCIS and a recorded message said that my application "had not been filed correctly" and that was the reason for the second rejection.

Ha! ha! Clue No 1 - the DSP form. You're right, it should have gone to KCC, not filed with the AOS application to USCIS. So send that form and your passport photo to KCC right away.
2. Was the $330 DV administrative fee sent to DOS, Missouri and was the receipt included with the AOS package that got sent to the Chicago Lockbox?
3. Collect your documents from the lawyer and take control of the process yourself. Your case, based on the information you've provided here, is a straight forward one. You don't need the services of an immigration attorney.

You can spend a bit more time on the AOS thread and post subsequent questions there. We try to keep all AOS-related questions on one thread to make it easier for tracking and for others to refer to in the future.

 

[c1984]

Ha! ha! Clue No 1 - the DSP form. You're right, it should have gone to KCC, not filed with the AOS application to USCIS. So send that form and your passport photo to KCC right away.
2. Was the $330 DV administrative fee sent to DOS, Missouri and was the receipt included with the AOS package that got sent to the Chicago Lockbox?
3. Collect your documents from the lawyer and take control of the process yourself. Your case, based on the information you've provided here, is a straight forward one. You don't need the services of an immigration attorney.

You can spend a bit more time on the AOS thread and post subsequent questions there. We try to keep all AOS-related questions on one thread to make it easier for tracking and for others to refer to in the future.

+1

lotteryvisa2014,

You are not too late, but you need to hurry.

Get a hold of the package and make sure you understand what was sent to where.

As for the interview schedule in NYC field office, some FO's take your priority date (when you were current) in consideration when setting up interviews. You may get your interview earlier than you are dreading. You need to do the best on your part and then you can hope for the best on their part.

 

[Hexa]

I talked to a very experienced immigration lawyer in Chicago because my case has a little complication. While she was extremely knowledgeable in her areas of Immigration, she had no clue about DV, to the point of insisting that I file a mandamus to speed up processing. As we all know DV has automatic priority because it's one of the few AOS / visa applications with a hard deadline, so the CIS published case processing time doesn't apply to us.

Your lawyer obviously didn't spend the time to learn the procedures, so you need to pull your case from her and do it yourself (like all of us here), or hire another immigration lawyer who knows what he's doing.

 

[Britsimon]

To the OP - for GOODNESS sake - don't waste your time and money on the lawyer. Take some personal interest and responsibility and sort it out yourself. Thousands of others have done exactly that, and you lawyer has only succeeded in slowing things down and making things more complicated. The AOS thread here has more than enough information and plenty of experienced expertise to guide you through the process, but this is one time where paying someone to do this for you is a bad idea (unless your case has an unusual complication).

 

[vladek15425]

To the OP - for GOODNESS sake - don't waste your time and money on the lawyer. Take some personal interest and responsibility and sort it out yourself. Thousands of others have done exactly that, and you lawyer has only succeeded in slowing things down and making things more complicated. The AOS thread here has more than enough information and plenty of experienced expertise to guide you through the process, but this is one time where paying someone to do this for you is a bad idea (unless your case has an unusual complication).

Yeah mom will fix up her case within one two three hehe