I485 Denied for the 3rd time

[henryetta82]

Hi everyone. Our AOS application was denied for the third time in January 2009 supposedly because we didn't include our I485 Supplement A form and fee. Actually our lawyer said we didn't need to. Anyway we applied for a motion to reopen and they received it on Feb 3, 2009. It's now been 4 months and there's still no answer. They keep telling me to wait for one in the mail. My question is has anybody applied for a Motion to reopen recently and how long did it take to get approved? Does anyone have any idea of what's the average processing time on a I290-B?
Also if it gets approved does it mean that they approve the reopening and reconsideration of the case or that when theI290B gets approved the I485 automatically gets approved?

Please help with some answers...I am becoming very desperate here. I haven't seen my family in 7 years because I can't travel before I get approved.
Thank you

 

[baikal3]

Hi everyone. Our AOS application was denied for the third time in January 2009 supposedly because we didn't include our I485 Supplement A form and fee. Actually our lawyer said we didn't need to. Anyway we applied for a motion to reopen and they received it on Feb 3, 2009. It's now been 4 months and there's still no answer. They keep telling me to wait for one in the mail. My question is has anybody applied for a Motion to reopen recently and how long did it take to get approved? Does anyone have any idea of what's the average processing time on a I290-B?
Also if it gets approved does it mean that they approve the reopening and reconsideration of the case or that when theI290B gets approved the I485 automatically gets approved?

Please help with some answers...I am becoming very desperate here. I haven't seen my family in 7 years because I can't travel before I get approved.
Thank you

I don't know anything about MTRs so I can't comment on that. However, i am curious about your I-485 case. Could you exaplain in more detail why your three I-485 cases were denied? (That already sounds very unusual). Also, why did Supplement A come into play? Did you claim 245(i) to be eligible for adjustment of status? Have you had prolonged periods of unauthorized stay in the U.S. or instances of entering the U.S. illegally? And was your I-485 family-based or employment-based?

 

[henryetta82]

I-485 denial

Hi,
yes I had a very complicated process throughout the years with USCIS. I did claim 245(i), because even tough I did enter legally I overstayed my visa..B2. The first two times I-485 (employment based) was denied because I-140 was denied ( the employer didn't want to show tax papers with the first application. The second time we changed employer, but from what I understood USCIS said you can only change sponsor and reapply for I-485 after I-140 is approved. What is more frustrating is that we had a lawyer and it seems like he doesn't know anything about immigration law...he wasted us a lot of time and money). The third time we returned to the first employer who now had a new company...everything went OK and I140 is approved since DEC 2007. Then in DEC 2008 we received a Notice of Intent to Deny on AOS because we did't include Supplement A on I-485 with the required $1,000.00 fee. I went to see my lawyer and he told me this is a one-time fee and since we already paid it with the first application back in 2003 we did't need to pay it again and we sent USCIS just the copies of the receipts on supplement A from 2003. After one year in Jan 2009 we got a denial notice because of course it wasn't a one-time fee. As USCIS explained it is one-time per application. So as you can see this is clearly the lawyer's mistake. We applied MTR in Feb, 2009 and we included the $1,000.00 fee this time. Still waiting. Hope I'll have better luck this time.

 

[baikal3]

Hi,
yes I had a very complicated process throughout the years with USCIS. I did claim 245(i), because even tough I did enter legally I overstayed my visa..B2. The first two times I-485 (employment based) was denied because I-140 was denied ( the employer didn't want to show tax papers with the first application. The second time we changed employer, but from what I understood USCIS said you can only change sponsor and reapply for I-485 after I-140 is approved. What is more frustrating is that we had a lawyer and it seems like he doesn't know anything about immigration law...he wasted us a lot of time and money). The third time we returned to the first employer who now had a new company...everything went OK and I140 is approved since DEC 2007. Then in DEC 2008 we received a Notice of Intent to Deny on AOS because we did't include Supplement A on I-485 with the required $1,000.00 fee. I went to see my lawyer and he told me this is a one-time fee and since we already paid it with the first application back in 2003 we did't need to pay it again and we sent USCIS just the copies of the receipts on supplement A from 2003. After one year in Jan 2009 we got a denial notice because of course it wasn't a one-time fee. As USCIS explained it is one-time per application. So as you can see this is clearly the lawyer's mistake. We applied MTR in Feb, 2009 and we included the $1,000.00 fee this time. Still waiting. Hope I'll have better luck this time.

Hmm-m. It sounds to me like you have a rather incompetent lawer. Why are you still using this lawer, given all the mistakes he made in handling your case?

I think that even now it may be a good idea for you to consult a different immigration lawer and to get a second opinion about your situation.

Are you even sure that you qualify for 245(i)? There are rather specific requirements for that. From what I understand (and I am not an expert on 245(i)), you would have to be have been physically present in the U.S. on Dec 21, 2000 and your labor certification or the first immigrant pertition would have to have been filed before April 30, 2001. Does that apply to you?

Also, have you been out of status all these years while your I-140/I-485 applications were pending? Or do you have some legal status now, such an H-1 visa?

If the period of B2 overstay and subsequent unauthorized stay has been short, less than 180 days, you may be eligible for 245(k), which would make 245(i) unnecessary.

I wonder if in your case it might not have been better to simply file a new I-485 from scratch and include supplement A and $1000 fee there, after your I-485 was denied in Jan 2009. Maybe that is still the case, even now, rather than mucking with MTR.

I really do think that you would be well advised to consult a different immigration lawer about all of this...

 

[henryetta82]

MTR on I-485

Hi,
thanks for reading.

I do qualify for245(i), but I was out of status for more than 180 days before I applied for the first time that's why I can't even apply for AP (bar of inadmisability). And B2 was the only visa I ever had.

I had applications applied, pending and denied for the past several years so I don't even know how would that affect my present case since in the period in between applying I think I was considered out of status. Even now I am not sure if I should still be working since they haven't made a decision on MTR and I don't know if EAD is still valid...I think I should consult with a lawyer on that before I get in trouble.

As for lawyers we did change at second application. She was the one who tried to make a sponsor "substitution" which I never heard of before or since then. That is when we got denied because supposedly we were not yet at a stage in the whole process where you can do that. After that we went back to our first lawyer to apply the 3rd time

As for reapplying for a newI-485 instead of MTR I was just thinking of that yesterday...I think you're right. My PD is April 30 2001 (got it in just in time) so i could've had that approved really fast.

What i'm scared of now is that if they deny it again I will have to reapply and pay the $1,000.00 fee again....times are tough.

Thanks again for taking time to read my post