Hello
I am in an odd situation regarding my I-485 and I was wondering if people can comment or
provide advise/insight into what I should do next. I apologize for the rather long posting.
My I-140 (EB-2/NIW) was approved in Nov 2004. I and my wife subsequently filed for adjustment
in Jan 2005. Biometrics were done and recvd by USCIS in Feb 2005. Then, we got hit by
retrogression. After scouring this forum (and no thanks to my lawyer), we discovered
that there is such a thing as cross-chargeability (CC), and since my wife is Japanese, we might be
able to squeeze in under the Japanese quota. (I am Indian.) So in Oct 2005, we sent a letter
to USCIS to consider our case under CC. They never responded. In July 2006, we sent another
letter. Again nothing.
Finally, 1 month ago, I called VSC directly (again thanks to this forum). The officer said that immediately
after my biometrics (March 2005) they has sent us a RFE and since we did not respond the case was
put on hold. I told him that we had never received any RFE and the online case update system did
not indicate that anything had been sent either. He said he would have someone reopen our files, and
also look into the CC issue.
A week later I get a letter from USCIS basically saying that they had made a mistake in updating our files,
and that NO RFE had ever been sent to us. The letter added that:
"The issue of Cross-Chargeability does appear to apply in your instance, but cannot be addressed until
your security clearances are completed.
The files are being sent for fingerprint processing once again as the current prints have expired."
Its been 3 weeks since the letter and we haven't heard anything nor has the online system been updated.
I realize that in "USCIS time" this is a mere fraction of a second, but is there anything I should do to follow
up? I don't want our application to get stuck once again.
A related question: I recently filed a FOIPA request with the FBI and got a "No Records Found" response.
I am now thinking of writing to our senator/congressman to look into the matter. But if we get new FP's, will
USCIS resend the Name Check request to FBI? If so, perhaps I should wait until the new FP's are done before asking for help from the congressman.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much!
I am in an odd situation regarding my I-485 and I was wondering if people can comment or
provide advise/insight into what I should do next. I apologize for the rather long posting.
My I-140 (EB-2/NIW) was approved in Nov 2004. I and my wife subsequently filed for adjustment
in Jan 2005. Biometrics were done and recvd by USCIS in Feb 2005. Then, we got hit by
retrogression. After scouring this forum (and no thanks to my lawyer), we discovered
that there is such a thing as cross-chargeability (CC), and since my wife is Japanese, we might be
able to squeeze in under the Japanese quota. (I am Indian.) So in Oct 2005, we sent a letter
to USCIS to consider our case under CC. They never responded. In July 2006, we sent another
letter. Again nothing.
Finally, 1 month ago, I called VSC directly (again thanks to this forum). The officer said that immediately
after my biometrics (March 2005) they has sent us a RFE and since we did not respond the case was
put on hold. I told him that we had never received any RFE and the online case update system did
not indicate that anything had been sent either. He said he would have someone reopen our files, and
also look into the CC issue.
A week later I get a letter from USCIS basically saying that they had made a mistake in updating our files,
and that NO RFE had ever been sent to us. The letter added that:
"The issue of Cross-Chargeability does appear to apply in your instance, but cannot be addressed until
your security clearances are completed.
The files are being sent for fingerprint processing once again as the current prints have expired."
Its been 3 weeks since the letter and we haven't heard anything nor has the online system been updated.
I realize that in "USCIS time" this is a mere fraction of a second, but is there anything I should do to follow
up? I don't want our application to get stuck once again.
A related question: I recently filed a FOIPA request with the FBI and got a "No Records Found" response.
I am now thinking of writing to our senator/congressman to look into the matter. But if we get new FP's, will
USCIS resend the Name Check request to FBI? If so, perhaps I should wait until the new FP's are done before asking for help from the congressman.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much!