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saras76

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Huifang,

It appears that both our cases were transferred to local offices by mistake. My case sat in Miami for 4 months before I raised hell with my lawyers and got them to start an inquiry through AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association). AILA has a liasion within the TSC that responds and acts on inquires that are sent his/her way by AILA. My lawyer sent a couple of inquiries through AILA and in November she got an email from someone in AILA that my case is being recalled to Texas. I did not get any official notification of this recall (infact the online status still says that the cases were transferred to Miami on the 16th of July) but on the 9th of Dec 04 the LUD on my approved AP changed for a couple of days and then finally on the 3rd of Jan I received FP notices from TSC. This leads me to believe that my case is back at TSC and they are now processing it. The delay caused by the transfer has added more time to this stupid process. I have also gotten authorization from my company to start a congressional inquiry into my case if nothing happens after FP. The bottom line is that I still have no idea where my case is. Everything is an assumption.

I suggest you do the following -

1. Ask your lawyer to start an AILA inquiry. They should know how to do that.

2. Try to convince your company to start a congressional inquiry and if they are unwilling to do so then you write a personal letter to the Congressman in your area. You can refer to my case as an example of how these people are making so many errors. In the letter emphasize that you feel that the case is in the wrong district, that 140s are not supposed to be transferred to local offices and that no one is giving you any updates on the location and status of your case.

3. If all else fails then make an INFOPASS appointment and go to the local Buffalo office.

I am pretty sure your case should not be where it is. Even if it was sent to the local office in Buffalo for a reason, TSC or the local office should let you know why or atleast get in touch with you after a few months of transfer. The inquires should answer those questions. I hope your case gets back to TSC.

Good luck and feel free to send me a personal message if you need more information.

saras
 
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Hello Saras76,

Well here are the details. I went to Buffalo office with the infopass appointment on Friday February 4, 2005. Guess what, they told me that they are going to transfer this case to Houston and that my case was transferred by mistake. I was furious. If I would not have gone there, they would have kept my case for a few more months and then transferred it to Houston. Here is what I think is happening.

Cases are being transferred to speed processing and reduece backlogs in service centers. Some of the offices like Buffalo and Miami are not aware of this prctice and frankly do not care to find out either. If they try to find out why, then they would have to work the case. It is good business for them not to bother. After all, they are not the ones who has to pay the price of not knowing.

Anyways, I requested repeatedly while I was there to not transfer my case and find out from service center and other offices like Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. They did not bother. Same response, your case belongs to Houston office. I tried explaining again that my job is in Dallas. I live in Dallas. Why in the world Houston (the slowest office in USA)? No response. We will transfer it to Houston with the remark that you want to be interviewed in Dallas. Whice is another bad idea. Houston will sit on my case untill it is time to process and then they will see the remark and send it to Dallas. :mad:

Well, I thanked the lady and got out of the office. Next three hours I spent on my cell phone calling my attorney, company's legal office and many others trying to find a resolution to my issue. I have also written a letter to local senetor explaining all this. Lets see what happens next.

My attorney confirmed this morning that they have not transferred the case to Houston yet and that he is making every effort trying to convince Buffalo office to keep the case and process it. I don't know what else to do. I will keep you posted. Thank you for all of your help..
 
What about your 140?

Huifang,

Sorry to hear about the mess you have had to deal with. I am afraid I will face the same thing with the Miami office.

One question that I had for you was about the location of your 140. Was that in Buffalo as well? I know that 140s cannot be approved at the local level so are they going to send your 140 to TSC and your 485 to Houston?

My first FP is on the 15th but I am not sure where my file is or what will happen after the FP. The FP came from TSC but my recently filed EADs were transferred to the Miami office. I am going to visit the Miami office in Mid March. I will most likely hear the same things you did.

Keep me posted and good luck.

saras76
 
Yes. My 140 is also travelling alongwith 485s for me and my wife. Actually, I have seen examples of cases where 140s were approved alongwith 485s by local offices. It is stupid stuff like immigration officers not knowing what is happening in the world around them. Every immigration officer works like an immigration god. Every god makes independent deceisions / judgments. It is upto your luck to be thrown in the laps of a god who is aware of policies or a god that is operating in a vaccume. In any case, you are the one who will lose because of their lack of knowledge.

I recommend keeping pressure on them via AILA or congress. I tried contacting the local senator, but that did not prove to be very good. Senator's office asked me if I have a lawer working for me. I told them yes. They said, they did not help people who have lawers working for them since lawers have same access as the senator's office would. I don't know what else to tell you except palying their stupid waiting game. I hope that you will get your interview soon and it is all over after that for you. Good Luck again.
 
Message for Saras76

Saras,

My wife and I went for fingerprinting on Friday. Took us over three hours, but at least it's done now.

Now have to sit back and hope the approvals come in a timely manner. Good luck with your fingerprints.

Koenig

P.S. How long did it take you to get your second EAD. Mine is up in June. Should I apply online now?
 
My FP is today

Koenig,

My appointment is at 1 PM today. Lets see how it goes. I am not sure how the process will move from this point. I am still not sure if my case is back at TSC. The EADs that I filed in Jan with the TSC have been transferred to Miami. Not sure whats going on here.

If you are using your EAD to work then I strongly encourage you to apply 90 days before it expires. In case there is a delay in EAD processing, you can get an interim EAD from the local office after 90 days of filing.

Will keep you posted on the progress or lack there of.

saras
 
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saras76,

How could you file the aila inquiry?

I have some inquiry about my I485 application in Texas

Thanks
GAMA2003
 
The lawyer filed it

GAMA2003,

My lawyer filed it. I don't think individuals can do this but I am not sure. Please talk to your lawyer. It is not a very complicated process and your lawyer should be able to do something. Results vary though.

Good luck.

saras
 
Message for Koenig

Koenig,

The FP went well. Luckily it did not take to long. I also received some very good news yesterday from my lawyers. The AILA liaison was able to talk to an officer in the TSC and the officer confirmed that both my 140 and 485 are with him in TSC. He did confirm that the EADs were sent to Miami by mistake and that he would approve them if the lawyer faxed copies of the EAD applications to him.

I do feel a little relieved but don't want to get to excited. Hopefully both of us will get approved soon.

saras
 
Great

Saras,

A little good news at last for you. Fingers and toes crossed for both of us for the next few months.

regards

Koenig :)
 
2nd EADs approved

Koenig,

My lawyers defenitely seem to have gotten in touch with the right officer. Yesterday I got emails about the approval of mine and my wifes EADs. Hope the 140 is next.

saras
 
Congratulations Saras76,

Finally things are working for you. I hope similare things start happening for me as well.
 
Thanks Huifang

Huifang,

Thanks for the wishes. I am sure your case will be taken back by TSC as well. The people in the local offices have no idea of whats happening. Have you tried to get your lawyer to place an inquiry through AILA. It seemed to have worked in my case. The AILA reps have access to officers within TSC and that is defenitely a great advantage.

Anyway, let me know if you need any information from me.

saras
 
Saras76,

That is the only thing we have not tried yet. My lawer was trying to get a hold of immigration officers in Buffalo himself to talk to them. They have not responded to him yet. I will definitly ask him to do that. Thank you again for all of your help.
 
Give them reasons to send the case to TSC

Huifang,

When my lawyer was making the inquiries through the AILA rep, my biggest fear was that the Miami office would send the case to Atlanta where the wait time is almost a year or more. I specifically told my lawyers to not request the case to be transferred to any local office. I told them to avoid the whole topic and just place an inquiry stating that the 140 should not be in Miami and should be returned to TSC along with the 485. Make sure your lawyer also does not mention anything about the Houston office when placing the inquiry. Your approach should be that the case is supposed to be in TSC and should be returned there. My reasoning is that if you mention anything about the Houston office they will be inclined to just send it there. You would rather get it back to TSC.

There is always a chance of them sending the cases to some local office after the TSC gets them back but the chances of TSC approving them without a transfer are greater. I still have a fear that they might send my 485 to Atlanta after approving my 140. Hope that does not happen. Having gone through this torturous process, I have become very pessimistic.

Good luck.

saras
 
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