Petition for sister denied

S

samaruf

Registered Users (C)
My wife petitioned for her sister about 2 months ago by providing the following to USCIS:
1: Completely filled I-130
2: Official government(Bangladesh) provided birth certificate of her sister in English(not a translation)
3: Wife's birth certificate
4: $355 fee

Yesterday we received a letter from USCIS telling us the petition has been denied due to:
1: Wife's birth certificate can't be found
2: Sister's birth certificate is a translation

I know for sure my wife included her BC and it is the immigration folks who misplaced it. Still, why did they just deny the petition and not send an RFE asking for the wife's BC to be sent. Also, are you folks sending both an English copy as well as a native language copy of the birth certificates when petitioning for a relative? I called a few friends and relatives and they all mention that they sent the govt. provided English copy and nothing else.

My question is what is the procedure to reopen this case and not have to apply all over again, losing money and time in the process? The immigration letter tells us to appeal to the Board of Immigration and pay $110 before the end of 30 days in case we don't agree with their decision.

Any response is appreciated.
 
If the government itself issued the English birth certificate, a version in another language is not needed.

But if a nongovernmental translation is provided, the government-issued issued certificate in the other language must also be supplied.

Looks like it was USCIS error to reject the application, if it is true that your wife's BC and a government-issued English BC for your sister were supplied. Since the application was submitted only 2 months ago, it's faster and cheaper to just reapply even though USCIS was in the wrong. If they misplaced the certificates, it will be impossible for you to prove that they were included with the application.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jackolantern said:
If the government itself issued the English birth certificate, a version in another language is not needed.

But if a nongovernmental translation is provided, the government-issued issued certificate in the other language must also be supplied.
Click to expand...

That's the troublesome thing. The govt. itself gave an English copy, we didn't have to translate it. What irks me even more is that they denied the petition without first sending an RFE for the wife's missing birth certificate. I checked and rechecked to make sure all the documents went into the envelope before mailing, so it just drives me nuts thinking some USCIS agent misplaced/lost it and now blaming us.
 
Unfortunately that's how USCIS operates sometimes. They shouldn't have rejected it, but some incompetent buffoon in their office was handling the application so they messed it up in more ways than one.
 
Their incompetency is going to cost us some pretty chunk of change. I googled and found out I could file a I-290B Motion-to-Reopen form by paying $585! So taking your suggestion, we are left with just reapplying again as it will be cheaper.
 
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