Philadelphia Transfer Cases

[lowell]

Congratulations!

Happy for you!

I changed my address two months ago and sent AR-11 to VSC and Philly. Nothing happened to me. I will definitely change my address and job next month. Let's see what will happen.

 

[Tunu]

SGW,

congratulations on your green card.
I have the same question as SGI. But in addition can you clear us in one point. If you were staying in DE, how come your case got transfered to PA.As much as i know your case gets transfered to your local offices where you reside.

please can you clarify us. And it would be of great help if you provide your lawyer's number and address and reply to the questions submitted by SGI

thanks
tunu

 

[sgw]

sgw,

Congratulations on your finally getting the approval.

As you see from my earlier posting I got transferred after 26 months of waiting yesterday, so still in shock and anger. Here are some of the initial questions I have:

1) I was well versed with filing the EAD and AP applications at VSC by myself. Where do we apply EAD and AP for transferred cases. I have my AP application pending at VSC would that get transferred too?
The answer is yes!!. My AP got transferred to local office (Philadelphia) after 2 months of 485 X'fer. Also, it got approved within 3 weeks after the X'fer. So, you AP will automatically get X'fer.
You will need to apply for your EAD to Philadephia office only. Check their website for mailing address. You cannot do it online. You will have to send all papers my mail. There is no need to send photos. Anyway, they will call you for biometrics(Pl. confirm this) as, I was called again for biometrics eventhough, I attached photos with my application.

2) Where do we find the status of our applications after it moves to Philly?
I don't think there is anyway to find the status of the application once it reach local office. It is just wait and see process. Complete blackbox.

3) Does your lawyer reside in PA/DE area? What I am thinking is maybe your lawyer influenced to get an interview earlier for you. In which case I would like to hire him/her.
As I said in my earlier post I left company who filed my GC. When, I left the company I had my EAD. The lawyer was company's lawyer. Once, I left my company I had no contact with my lawyer except for they mailed my RFE and 485 interview letter. That's it.

4) How long does it take for the file to reach the local office from VSC?
I cannot answer that. As, when my case was X'fered to Philadelphia I got notification from VSC that my case is X'ferred. There was no notification from Philadelphia. Only notification from Phili I got was of my 2nd FP one month after X'fer.

5) Do you have the Philly office director's address/email.
Sorry, I could not help you in this. But somebody in this forum could able to help you out.

6) Did they give a reason why they transferred the case?
INS never give an reasons and they don't have to. Also, we could not ask as why VSC has X'fer the case. Only guess I can make is that, when I got an RFE from VSC for my medical and employment letter, I was not working for the company who has originally submitted my GC. That could trigger the Transfer of my case just to verify that I am still working in same category as mentioned in LC.

Thanks for any input that you may provide.


sgi

Hi Tunu,
Answer to your question "If you were staying in DE, how come your case got transfered to PA"
All DE cases are handled from Philadelphia with the exception of Fingerprinting. Only FP can be done from DE. Even, for your EAD you need to go to Philadelphia for Biometrics.
Also, if you are submitting photos with your EAD, you will still get a letter from Philadelphia for getting your Biometrics done. Secondly, pl. note: they are changing the photo format for EAD and 485 going forward.

 

[sgi]

Thanks sgw, for your responses. So the transfer cases are left at the mercy of the local Philly fellows.

All those waiting for interviews: I am in the process of drafting a letter that we can write to PA Senators maybe a collective force may make them influence the Philly office not to consider TD as RD. What do you all say? Seeing Turkish E wait for over 22 months I am thinking is that my fate too

 

[yellowcard]

To check the status, you have to go to Philadelphia office. Don't expect too much.

Philadelphia office has a webpage in USCIS.gov. It has two addresses for customer feedback: one is the office; another one is in DC. I wrote a letter to the district director last year to complain the services. Didn't get any response. Therefore, I suggest you to write to the DC address.

 

[wbxls]

EAD and AP application fee

I am going to Philly local office to renew my fourth EAD and AP next week. I am wondering if the application fees have increased to 175$ for EAD and 165$ for AP?

 

[monkey2003]

Got Interview Notice Today

Finally got interview notice today after transferred to Philly CIS office for 10-months.

I-485 filed on June, 2002
Transferred to Philly on Nov, 2003
Received Finger Print Notice and Transferred Notice from Philly on May, 2004
Received Interview Notice on Sept, 2004

Interview Required Document: Employment Letter

Have been with the same employer for over 4 years. Never change job.

 

[wbxls]

Philly office made me mad

Our I-485 cases were transfered to Philly office in June, 2003. Since then i never received anything from them.
I went to Philly local INS office to renew my fourth EAD this
morning. Guess what i learned? My I-485 case is not in
their office, but my husband's case is there. They told me that they
sent my case to some other office ( i don't remember
which office) by mistake. They promised me that they have
sent a request and my case will be back within 10
days. This made me very mad. They are certainly very confused.

 

[yellowcard]

Finally got interview notice today after transferred to Philly CIS office for 10-months.

I-485 filed on June, 2002
Transferred to Philly on Nov, 2003
Received Finger Print Notice and Transferred Notice from Philly on May, 2004
Received Interview Notice on Sept, 2004

Interview Required Document: Employment Letter

Have been with the same employer for over 4 years. Never change job.

Money2003, when will be your interview date? Did you contact senator or ombudsman to push for the interview? Thanks

 

[monkey2003]

Interview Date

They scheduled my interview in 3 weeks, in mid-October.

I contacted one congressman office in early Sept and asked them to do an inquiry on my case. Never contacted any other people.

Money2003, when will be your interview date? Did you contact senator or ombudsman to push for the interview? Thanks

 

[lowell]

Philadelphia district office changed processing time to June 2003

First, congratulations to Monkey2003 for interview notice!

Second, I hope people with transfer notice two months before June 12, 2003 should receive interview notice soon, or at least eligible for an inquiry through congressman.

 

[immi_2003]

hi Monkey2003,

My case was transferred to local CIS office on 9/21/04. I also have been with the same employer who filed my GC application. Can you think of any reason why VSC transferred your case to Phili?
Also, did you have to redo the medical? My medical was done in 2002, so wondering if I have to do it again ;-(.

 

[monkey2003]

Transfer Reason

I know they will transfer my case a while ago. I did figure print on Aug-2002. It was not readable. I did it again on Sep-2002. It was not readable either. Based on CIS regulation, anyone can only re-do figureprint once if the first time is not readble. Otherwise it is going to transfer to Local CIS office.

So I had been waiting for the transfer. After my case transferred to Philly. Philly CIS office asked me to do another figure print in May-04 since my previous finger print expired. The last time my figure print was readable. Therefore I don't have figure print issue any more. The only thing they ask me to bring for the interview is employment letter.

If you read old posting on what documents Philly asked people to bring for interview, everyone got notice for employment letter except for one person for marriage check.

Philly only asked me to do figure print again. All people's fingerprints older than 14 months need to do that. I have not heard anyone to redo medical. I did not redo it.

hi Monkey2003,

My case was transferred to local CIS office on 9/21/04. I also have been with the same employer who filed my GC application. Can you think of any reason why VSC transferred your case to Phili?
Also, did you have to redo the medical? My medical was done in 2002, so wondering if I have to do it again ;-(.

 

[nabuco]

Philly office

I just went back from Philly office. They told me that only those with appointment can come inside. Otherwise I have to make appointment online.
They mensioned something like infopass...

When I back to home, I checked the brochure they gave me, nothing was there. Still don't know how to make appointment online...

Anyone know about anything about "INFOPASS"?

 

[windseeker]

Hi, Sachin

I sent two letters for changing address to Philly and required them to transfer my case to Chicago. So far I got nothing and I didn;t know if the case has been transfered. I have been calling them almost everyday but only can leave a message beause nobody has ever answered the phone. I don't know how you can talk to Detroit office representative on phone? Now I am really confused and worried. How I can get the status of my case? Sachin or anyone else?

thanks.

hi Windseeker

I had to go through some of the same pressure and tensions you are going through right now.... as far as my case is concerned... I accepted this new job in Philly suburbs in Oct 2003 and I called as well as wrote to the Detroit Office to transfer the File. Since my EAD was expiring in Feb 2004,so I use to call them everyday to make sure that they have transferred the file... Another very important reason for my calls was that in mid October ,I took my 765 application and the Receipt from the INS Detroit office to the Philly office to apply for my EAD...well to my sheer shock, they said that they cannot accept the application till the file is physically present with them...I immediately started bugging the Detroit office( they normally say it takes about 2-3 weeks to transfer a file but I have read some horror stories)..Finally after constant perseverance my file finally reached Philly in mid Nov... They won’t send you any information. so I use to personally go there every week to find out...(its hard to stand in the queue at 5:30 am in winters)....I had submitted my 765 and the receipt from the Detroit office along with the money order on November 15th...guess what...didn't get any acknowledgement from them...Finally after 90 days went for the interim EAD...which you are suppose to get the very same day but these guys gave me an appointment for Feb 24th to collect my EAD...After that I haven’t heard from them ...God knows how they work...got to pay them a visit pretty soon to check on the status of my 485 . ...and btw my care is family based…. married to USC...

Hope that helped...drop in a few line if you need more clarifications...

The moral of the story is " it will take time but you will get your work done" and yes you have to apply to Philly office for your EAd coz you can only apply at a center where ur file is physically present...make sure that your file is transferred and pay the Philly office a visit ASAP....

All the best...

sachin

 

[gujdho]

Infopass

I just went back from Philly office. They told me that only those with appointment can come inside. Otherwise I have to make appointment online.
They mensioned something like infopass...

When I back to home, I checked the brochure they gave me, nothing was there. Still don't know how to make appointment online...

Anyone know about anything about "INFOPASS"?

Here is the link to Infopass. It is very convenient feature.
Good Luck.

https://infopass.uscis.gov/infopass.php

 

[yellowcard]

. Visit Chicago office
. Visit Philadelphia office
. Call Chicago office
. Contact your congressman
. Contact ombudsman

Congressman may not be helpful. Ombudsman won't reply within 6 weeks.

Last year, when my case was just transferred, I called Philadelphia office for several times. Somebody did answered the phone, but he was totally useless. He told me that I must visit the office by person to get the status. Don't waste your time to call them.

Hi, Sachin

I sent two letters for changing address to Philly and required them to transfer my case to Chicago. So far I got nothing and I didn;t know if the case has been transfered. I have been calling them almost everyday but only can leave a message beause nobody has ever answered the phone. I don't know how you can talk to Detroit office representative on phone? Now I am really confused and worried. How I can get the status of my case? Sachin or anyone else?

thanks.

 

[wonderfulboy]

Feedback level of 485 cases transferred to local office

Finally guys i got confirmation about the transferred 485 applications processing timings. What ever the timings are provided by district offices are only relevant for family based applications that are directly filed in local office. For transferred applications officially there is no date as such. The only way to know the status of the case is to talk to Immigration officer by fixing an appointment through Infopass. I really have no idea how much really congressman or senator can help.

I contacted the senator John Warner's office today morning, the lady who handles the immigration related issues said that we can only inquire with the district office only if we didn't receive any response after 6 months the case is transferred.

My case is transferred to washington dc office on 23rd september, 2004. It can take up to 6 months in the normal course of time for the interview to be scheduled. In some cases it might be in 1 -4 months time also.

All the people whose cases are transferred have to keep their spirit up and wait for the decision/interview letter thats all i can tell guys after researching from last 4-5 days extensively.

 

[sach_bh]

OK......Detroit Office provides you with Case status info on the phone....but Philly office sucks at this...I don’t know what telephone number you are trying ..but trust me, the only way to get something from them is to physically go there...

If I was in your shoes, I would constantly be in touch with the Chicago office...just call them up{if they provide status on phone}...or if you are in the Chicago area, then go to their office regularly....Also..if you are in Philly area...man ...you have to go to callow hill Rd....there is no other way out...Also write a letter to the senator... I did that ..and they did reply back...make sure the letter has lots of weight...eg the future of your family depends on this EAD etc......Call Chicago daily. I think (312) 385-1820 is their Telephone for EAD cases.....

Another Thing You can try and Mind you TRY is that take your A11 and the change of address letter to Chicago office...go there personally[if they take applications in person]...take all the necessary documents needed for EAD….and apply....they might accept your application...if they say that the \file is not with them..then give them a copy of A11 and the other change of addres notice....Hey there is no harm in trying...once they accept the application...I think Half the battle is won....

Hope this helps you bud...all the best

sachin

Hi, Sachin

I sent two letters for changing address to Philly and required them to transfer my case to Chicago. So far I got nothing and I didn;t know if the case has been transfered. I have been calling them almost everyday but only can leave a message beause nobody has ever answered the phone. I don't know how you can talk to Detroit office representative on phone? Now I am really confused and worried. How I can get the status of my case? Sachin or anyone else?

thanks.

 

[Tunu]

Hi SGW, MOnkey 2003,and others,

Can you please let me know lists of documents we have to prepare before the interview. Do we have to redo our medicals again.

SGW as you have already appeared for the interview can you please let me know what questions you were asked. Monkey 20003 have you finished your interview. Please post your experience if you have finished.

I greatly appreciate all your help.

thanks,
TUNU