If you get FP code 3 notice, don't wait, run to your ASC!!

NIW485waiter

Registered Users (C)
485 AP! after FP today. If you get FP code 3 notice, don't wait, run to your ASC!!

For all who received his/Her Code 3 FP notice, here is my story:

On Sept 26, recved FP notice for main applicant(not my wife), appointment date Oct 19,2005! I am CHINA/INDIA petitioner(EB2-NIW).
Based on my reading from this forum, I believe there was a small chance my 485 would be approved soon.
Today(9/28) 1:00pM I walked in Sacramento,CA ASC for FP, first was kick out by the
Guard. Guard had name list on his hand and checked the name. when Guard went to Restroom or whereever, I went directly to receptionist(2:30PM). She never check the appointment date, only name/ID etc. I got a number and got FP done in less than 30 minutes.
AFter that, I sent email to CSC XII and got the reply my status was stuck on name check(BS!) like before.

Made an appointment through Infopass on Sept 30 and hope see immigration officer on the last day and make my last shot!(well, Thanks God! I need cancel it!)

Just wake up to check if my LUD status changed due to FP done, and found yes, LUD changed today on 9/28/05. When i click in the status hoping see the unchanged status description/or something like FP received. I found both me and my wife's 485 were approved!

Check email and found approved emails!

Thanks God!


I140 EB2-NIW 11/1/03 RD
I485 1/4/2004 RD
I140 RFE 12/1/05
I140 AD 3/5/2005
I485 RFE 3/5/205
I485 RFE recvd 3/27/2005
Code 3 FP 9/28/2005
I485 AD 9/28/2005


No other LUD unless address changed. Good luck to all who received the FP notice and you MUST try your FP in next two days! It could save your 5 years!

Thank this forum! Without its information I would wait for scheduled FP! Well, maybe i already got approved. you will never know your case just ready to be approved before they get your FP. not loss if you just walked in earlier.
 
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congratulations! you made it.
I did fp code 3 in august and still waiting for the name check to be cleared. the name check was started in aug. it seems i will have to wait a long time. :mad:
 
forxp

I don't know your case but around Sept 26, 2005(CSC), lots of friends here reported they received FP3 notices. Just want them to give a shot.

you have two days officially. In my case, my 485 might be approved before FP notices and it took them serveral days to send me approval notice. Just a perfect timing but it also could be FP done trig approval notice sending. In first week of Oct, i believed we should see some approval also.
 
I think that your I-485 was approved days ago. I got my code 3 appointment and went to ASC, but got kicked out.
 
hope_Nov said:
I think that your I-485 was approved days ago. I got my code 3 appointment and went to ASC, but got kicked out.

I guess it is a remote chance, but he thinks that doing code 3 helped
clear 485. Probably that is what they are waiting for. You should try
the same thing if possible ... Trying out different ASC would be worth
a try as well. My feeling is if your application is in pipeline, they may
consider it beyond Oct 1st.
 
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Hi OV,

But he did first FP in April this year and it will not expire until sometime next year. My first FP is still valid too. If USCIS wants to approve him, USCIS can do that without code 3 biometrics, Just like what they did to you. This is what I understood. Unfortunately, there is only one ASC in this area. I might try again tomorrow since I don't have appointment notice with me today.
 
I am confused. I remember when I took the FP, they also took a picture of me, and the signature. My FP was done in Apr 2005. So none of you guys have the pictures and the signatures taken when you did the first FP?
 
hope_NOV

Sorry my typo, my first FP was done on 2004 not 2005.

My first FP only collect Fingerprint without pic. This time they collected signature/right index finger/ten fingers/photo.


You never know how USCIS works. I noticed several cases on these forum which people get approved soon after they finished their code 3 FP.

There are two scenarios:

I485 approval notice>go to local office for passport stamping/FP>Green card issued
Or
I485 pre-approved without notice(I guess)>code 3 FP>I485 approval notice with Green card order directly(without passport stamp)

Why I rushed into ASC? I believed I was in second scenario. If I didn’t finish my FP before Oct 1, next step might never happen. My wife didn’t receive any FP notice but her case approved also, she might need go to local office for passport stamp. Another reason I believed this:
My case was pending name check, my wife was passed.
My FP notice came from WSC(Washington Service Center) not CSC.
I cannot get my information by phone NSC number. My wife’s case can be reached by NSC phone.

CSC reviewed our case and finished initial check-> sent my case to WSC/FBI for background check->WSC ready to approve me-> WSC sent FP notice to me->FP received by their system->WSC trigger approval notice, order GC for me directly->CSC trigger my wife’s approval and let her go to local office for Passport stamp/FP.
 
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Hope -- Like NIW485waiter said, you never know how USCIS works :)

I also thought about what you mentioned about FP expiry duration. It would
be interesting to find out if all those who received Biometric notice recently
will have their first FP expire soon.
 
Hi NIW485waiter,

I called CSC and found out that 'WSC' is indeed CSC, not Washtington Service Center. My FP notice came from WSC too.

I also called my lawyer. She told me that she got a lot of ASC appointment letters on Monday (USCIS sends another set of letter to lawyers). She didn't think it is related to any sign of approval.

Also I emailed to Mr. Jame Williams and got a reply in less than two hours (I had to put 'urgent help on 485' as the title) saying that my name check is still pending and my case won't be adjudicated before Oct 1, 2005.

I sincerely hope that your scenario works for me too, but I don't know if I should believe Mr. Williams. Also my first FP is still valid. I left my FP notice at home and it takes 40 mins to get back to home and another 45 mins to ASC. I don't think that I have that much time off work to do this. I am going to try one more time tomorrow.
 
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NIW485Waiter,
I guess your name check was cleared and you got your FP notice and the case got approved. Congrats.

But not all the people who get FP notice got their name check cleared....
They will have to wait for years...

So if your name check is not cleared there is no point in running to the ASC to do an early FP....

I_need_gc_now
 
hope_NOV

Good luck to you tomorrow!

Everything I said was my guess no any solid evidence. FP notice never meant I485 approval but it might be. From this forum, you could find lots of people got FP notice on Monday.

In my case, I emailed Williams after my FP get done(sept 28 same day I received approval email), got same reply in 1 hrs:my name check was pending. They just sent you formatted letter. They might never read it.

If there is no retrogression, I will never care about waiting for another months or so. But 5 years or more is too much.
 
NIW485waiter,

Congratulations to your approval. I guess Mr. William didn't even bother to search our info in the system. In your case, your first FP has already expired and they need your second one in order to approve your case, but my first one is still valid. I will definitely try tomorrow again and begged the security guard to let me in. I guess I was not persistent enough on Tuesday. It doesn't hurt to try.
 
hope

First Guard didn't let me in and let me reschedule onsite after I found lots of excuses. Then I asked if I could reschedule to same day. He hesitated and said you could come back around 3:00PM(there were lots of persons waiting when I first came in). When I back around 2:30PM, there were only five people before me and Guard wasn't there.

Also I heard if case is ready, people might already got his/her visa number so they might get approval notice in the first serveral weeks on October.

from here:
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=189384&page=13&pp=15

Noticed the bold font in the following text. I treated as if you already prequalified, the number already reserved for you(before the Oct 1, visa number is current for all).

E. THE OPERATION OF THE IMMIGRANT NUMERICAL CONTROL SYSTEM

The Department of State is responsible for administering the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) relating to the numerical limitations on immigrant visa issuances. The following information provides a brief explanation of the operation of the immigrant number allotment and control system.

DEFINITION OF SOME TERMS

Allotment

The allocation of an immigrant number to a consular office or to INS. This number may be used for visa issuance or adjustment of status, or may be returned unused to the Visa Office (VO) for reincorporating into the pool of numbers available for later allocation during the fiscal year.

Foreign State Chargeability

Ordinarily an immigrant is chargeable for visa purposes to the numerical limitation for the foreign state or dependent area in which the immigrant's place of birth is located. Exceptions are provided for a child (unmarried and under 21 years of age) or spouse accompanying or following to join a principal to prevent the separation of family members, as well as for an applicant born in the U.S. or in a foreign state of which neither parent was a native or resident. Alternate chargeability is desirable when the visa cut-off date for the foreign state of a parent or spouse is more advantageous than that of the applicant's foreign state.

Priority Date

The priority date of a preference visa applicant is the filing date of the petition that accorded preference status.

Documentarily Qualified

The applicant has informed the consular processing office that they have obtained (after being requested to do so) all of the documents which are required to meet the formal visa application requirements.

HOW THE SYSTEM OPERATES

At the beginning of each month, the Visa Office receives a report from each immigrant visa processing post listing totals of documentarily qualified immigrant visa applicants in categories subject to numerical limitation.

Cases are grouped by foreign state chargeability/preference/priority date. No names are reported. During the first week of each month, this documentarily qualified demand is tabulated.

VO subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations which are specified by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) into twelve monthly allotments. The totals of documentarily qualified applicants reported to VO, and the expected INS demand for numbers, are compared each month with the numbers available for the next regular allotment. This allows for the determination of the monthly cut-off dates, and the allotment of numbers for reported applicants who have priority dates within the newly established cut-off dates.

If there are sufficient numbers in a particular category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered "current."

Whenever the total of documentarily qualified applicants in a category exceeds the supply of numbers available for allotment for the particular month, the category is considered to be "oversubscribed" and a visa availability cut-off date is established. The cut-off date is the priority date of the first documentarily qualified applicant who could not be accommodated for a visa number. Only persons with a priority date earlier than a cut-off date are entitled to allotment of a visa number. The cut-off dates are ordinarily the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd of a month, since VO groups demand for numbers under these dates. (Priority dates of the first through seventh of a month are grouped under the 1st, the eighth through the fourteenth under the 8th, etc.)

VO attempts to establish the cut-off dates for the following month on or about the 8th of each month. The dates, along with visa allotments for use during that month, are immediately transmitted to consular posts, and also published in the Visa Bulletin.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE SYSTEM AND CLARIFICATION OF SOME FREQUENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD POINTS

Applicants entitled to immigrant status become documentarily qualified at their own initiative and convenience. By no means has every applicant with a priority date earlier than a prevailing cut-off date been processed for final visa action. On the contrary, visa allotments are made only on the basis of the total applicants reported documentarily qualified each month, and the expected INS number use. Demand for visa numbers can fluctuate from one month to another, with the inevitable impact on cut-off dates.

If an applicant is reported documentarily qualified but allocation of a visa number is not possible because of a visa availability cut-off date, the demand is recorded at VO and an allocation is made as soon as the applicable cut-off date advances beyond the applicant's priority date. Visa numbers are always allotted for all documentarily qualified applicants with a priority date before the relevant cut-off date, as long as the case had been reported to VO in time to be included in the monthly calculation of visa availability. There is no exception to this principle.

Allocations outside the regular monthly cycle are possible only in emergency or exceptional cases, and only at the request of the office processing the case. Note that should retrogression of a cut-off date be announced, VO can honor extraordinary requests for additional numbers only if the applicant's priority date is earlier than the retrogressed cut-off date.

Not all numbers allocated are actually used for visa issuance; some are returned to VO and are reincorporated into the pool of numbers available for later allocation during the fiscal year. The rate of return of unused numbers may fluctuate from month to month, just as demand may fluctuate. Lower returns mean fewer numbers available for subsequent reallocation. Fluctuations can cause cut-off date movement to slow, stop, or even retrogress. Retrogression is particularly possible near the end of the fiscal year as visa issuance approaches the annual limitations.

The annual per-country limitation is a cap which visa issuances to any single country may not exceed. Applicants compete for visas primarily on a worldwide basis. The country limitation serves to avoid monopolization of virtually all the annual limitation by applicants from only a few countries. This limitation is not a quota to which any particular country is entitled, however. Clearly all countries could not receive up to their numerical limit since the worldwide annual limitation would not permit visa issuances anywhere close to such a total.

Applicability of Section 202(e): When visa demand by documentarily qualified applicants from a particular country exceeds the amount of numbers available under the annual numerical limitation that country is considered to be oversubscribed. This oversubscription may require the establishment of a cut-off date, which is earlier than that which applies to a particular visa category on a worldwide basis. The prorating of numbers for an oversubscribed country follows the same percentages specified for the division of the worldwide annual limitation among the preferences. (Note that visa availability cut-off dates for oversubscribed areas cannot be later than worldwide cut-off dates, if any, for the respective preferences.)
 
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NIW485Waiter,

Congratulations! My story is very similar to yours:

CHINA/INDIA petitioner, got code 3 FP notice on Monday, completed FP yesterday at Oakland ASC. Saw your post 5 minitues ago then then found LUD changed today (9/29)

But the LUD content is still the same:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Receipt Number: WAC???????????

Application Type: I485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

Current Status:

Your I485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status was received on May ??, 2005. We mailed you a receipt with information about processing. It is taking between 270 and 300 days for us to process this kind of case. We will mail you a decision as soon as processing is complete.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Not sure what is waiting for me.

I140 EB2 8/1/04 RD
I140 AD 3/1/2005
I485 5/10/2004 RD
Code 3 FP 9/28/2005
I485 LUD 9/29/2005
 
NIW485waiter,

Can you tell me that who send you the approval email if not from Mr. Milliams? also, what LUD means?

Thanks for the help!


NIW485waiter said:
Good luck to you tomorrow!

Everything I said was my guess no any solid evidence. FP notice never meant I485 approval but it might be. From this forum, you could find lots of people got FP notice on Monday.

In my case, I emailed Williams after my FP get done(sept 28 same day I received approval email), got same reply in 1 hrs:my name check was pending. They just sent you formatted letter. They might never read it.

If there is no retrogression, I will never care about waiting for another months or so. But 5 years or more is too much.
 
bqa

My approval email was sent by automatic system.

I meant Mr. Williams might not read the email I sent(which I request my status) himself.

LUD=Last updated date.
 
I have an INFPASS Appt tomorrow: HELP

Hi all,

My history:
Labor filed: March 2001
Labor Approved: Sept 2002
I-140 approved: May 2003
485 RD:Jan 30, 2004
First FP and EAD: Around April 2004
SecondEAD: March 2005
FBI Name check pending
Inquiry through Congressman
Biometrics Notice received: Sept 26th, done, Sept 28th (wife's biometric not done as out of town)
Sept 30th: Wife will get her biometrics done. I have an INFOPASS Appt
LUDs: Changed on 9/28 and 9/29 - but I think that is due to Mr. Williams looking up my case
Contacted Mr. Williams: He says Name check is pending
USCIS: online status: No change (except LUDs)

I just took an INFOPASS appointment for tomorrow. Don;'t know what I am expecting - I will talk to an immigration officer.

Any suggestions/ideas on what I should talk? How can I advance my case?
What documents to carry?
Please help with suggestions and advice. Thanks.
 
desiusa

your case might be approved in these days.

I planed infopass interview also since I got approval notice then i cancelled it.
I prepared to ask what's my really status is(not online version), They might just tell you your case already approved in their system. is there any way they could approve it onsite if everything are done? Let them know the retrogression and your suffer(they might not be aware of that since it's not their job(Depart. of State)

My name check result from Mr. Willams were pending even I received approval notice serveral hrs later.

Bring everything you think it might prove yourself, such as I140 AP notice, I 485 receipt etc. Passport/Id/appointment notice are the must.

Good luck!
 
NIW485waiter,

Thank you very much for your help.

How did you set up the automatic system?


NIW485waiter said:
My approval email was sent by automatic system.

I meant Mr. Williams might not read the email I sent(which I request my status) himself.

LUD=Last updated date.
 
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