Please help, did not receive notice of appointment, app denied, what now?

billdz

Registered Users (C)
My wife has a pending I-485 app, and yesterday we received a letter that it was denied because we were scheduled to appear for an appointment and failed to appear or provide a satisfactory reason for failure to appear. Well, this was the first we had heard about any appointment. We received no letter, phone call, or email (even though I have signed up for email notice) about the appointment.

The letter says that our only recourse is to file a motion to reopen and pay a $110 fee. I tried calling but could only get a recording.

Is there anything we can do besides file the motion? Was it proper for them to deny the app in this manner? Shouldn't they have at least tried to contact us to find out why we did not appear? And what kind of delay is this going to cause, even assuming they eventually reopen the case?
 
Also, I have registered for email notification but did not get an email. Should I have received notice of the appointment via email?
 
billdz said:
Is there anything we can do besides file the motion? Was it proper for them to deny the app in this manner? Shouldn't they have at least tried to contact us to find out why we did not appear? And what kind of delay is this going to cause, even assuming they eventually reopen the case?

You have to file for motion to reopen on the ground that you did not receive interview notification. That's the only recourse for you at this moment. Trying to call them is not going to help you. As it is related to interview, there could be significant delay as they have to schedule a new interview again.

Was there any address change after she filed her I-485.
 
Is a motion to reopen usually handled promptly and reasonably? I read on another forum that it takes years to process a motion to reopen, that in the end the motion is usually denied anyway for insufficient proof that the letter was not received, and that you are better off just starting over. Is this typical or are such stories aberrations?
 
billdz said:
Is a motion to reopen usually handled promptly and reasonably? I read on another forum that it takes years to process a motion to reopen, that in the end the motion is usually denied anyway for insufficient proof that the letter was not received, and that you are better off just starting over. Is this typical or are such stories aberrations?

Actually this one is a easy motion to reopen case.
It's not your job to prove that you did not receive interview notice (how can you do that if you did not receive the letter at all?). USCIS sends notice in regular first class mail. It's not uncommon for these mails to be lost. My credit card statements got lost so many times.

While appealing for MTR, you should provide your documents of home address (home-ownership/mortgage paperworks/rental agreement and a copy of your utility bill) to prove that I-485 mailing address is your address and there is no way you failed to receive interview notice unless it is lost in mail.

In addition, in letter mention that you registered to online case status notification but never recived any change notification. Take a print out of current status.
 
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