I am writing because my husband has been waiting for an I-485 (permanent resident) interview. An interview was scheduled for him in early December, but due to the death of his father, he had to return to Kenya during this time. Once he received the notice of the interview date and realized that he would not be here, he called USCIS to reschedule the interview. The person he spoke with was sympathetic and there did not seem to be any problem with rescheduling.
We later received a letter in January saying the following "Since the date we received your request, we have forwarded this request to have your case rescheduled. A notice will be forthcoming." It also states the date in November when he called the office.
So, we figured we would just wait until we received notice of a new interview date. We called the USCIS automated system and it said (and still says today):
"The interview that was scheduled for your case has been cancelled. We will notify you by mail if we reshedule your interview, when we make a decision about your case or if the office needs additional info."
Online the case status says that the interview was descheduled by the USCIS.
Yesterday, we received a letter saying that my husband failed to appear before an officer on the date requested and failed to request a resheduling of the interview prior to that date. It says that the application is considered abandoned and is hereby denied. No appeal lies from this decision. You may however seek a reopening or reconsideration if filed within 30 days. It is the intention of this Service to revoke any employment authorization..... you are hereby afforded 15 days with which to submit evidence indicating why such employment authorization should not be revoked....
Now, this is not true. He called a month before his scheduled interview, explained the situation, and even received a letter saying that his request to reschedule would be forwarded. Today, he called the USCIS customer support, but the person that he spoke with was no help at all. They said that he just had to follow the instructions in the last letter.
Does this mean that was have to pay $385 and file a motion to reopen the case? Will he be unable to work? We just do not know what to do now. We have scheduled a meeting with an immigration officer for this coming Monday to try and explain the situation, but given our past experience with the USCIS officers, we are really worried. Often, they do not seem to listen to any explanations.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
We later received a letter in January saying the following "Since the date we received your request, we have forwarded this request to have your case rescheduled. A notice will be forthcoming." It also states the date in November when he called the office.
So, we figured we would just wait until we received notice of a new interview date. We called the USCIS automated system and it said (and still says today):
"The interview that was scheduled for your case has been cancelled. We will notify you by mail if we reshedule your interview, when we make a decision about your case or if the office needs additional info."
Online the case status says that the interview was descheduled by the USCIS.
Yesterday, we received a letter saying that my husband failed to appear before an officer on the date requested and failed to request a resheduling of the interview prior to that date. It says that the application is considered abandoned and is hereby denied. No appeal lies from this decision. You may however seek a reopening or reconsideration if filed within 30 days. It is the intention of this Service to revoke any employment authorization..... you are hereby afforded 15 days with which to submit evidence indicating why such employment authorization should not be revoked....
Now, this is not true. He called a month before his scheduled interview, explained the situation, and even received a letter saying that his request to reschedule would be forwarded. Today, he called the USCIS customer support, but the person that he spoke with was no help at all. They said that he just had to follow the instructions in the last letter.
Does this mean that was have to pay $385 and file a motion to reopen the case? Will he be unable to work? We just do not know what to do now. We have scheduled a meeting with an immigration officer for this coming Monday to try and explain the situation, but given our past experience with the USCIS officers, we are really worried. Often, they do not seem to listen to any explanations.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.