Trasfered to local office now

B

blessu

Registered Users (C)
Gurus,

My case is Transfere to local office (St.Louis) now. :mad:
I am not usre what to expecet. the message says that "your case hase been trasfered to local office and they will infor you as soon as a desscision is made" why they schould trsfer it now ?. waht to expect? any inputs?.

ND 10/31/2002.
FP2 09/14/2004
 
parshu said:
can you provide more details.
Like any job changes??address changes...RFE etc??
Click to expand...


Yes, there was Adress change . I moved to an another house, two months back. do you think that may be the reson?.I am in the same company from day one.
 
I dont think so.

I was checking because I replied to a RFE on my case and was wondering myself.
 
If one's case was transfered to the local office, does it mean an interview? Or it can be approved without an interview? Any input please?
 
A transfer does not mean you will have an interview, but it might. It will specify on the transfer notice if you are going to have an interview or if it just transferred for processing, to reduce the backlog at NSC. Read the online status or transfer notice when you get it in the mail.

Case transfers can happen for any number of reasons, and quite frankly they can even happen just at the discretion of the adjudicating officer, as a random check. read this:

{excerpt from the "I-485 Standard Operating Procedure", page 7-3.24}

Employment based Criteria
The adjudicating officer must determine whether the employment-based
I-485 meets waiver of interview criteria set forth below.

Employment-based:

• The principal applicant is employed by the same petitioner who submitted
the approved underlying employment-based visa petition.

• The principal applicant has been interviewed in the course of an
investigation or field examination, and the adjudicating examiner
determines that further interview of the applicant is unnecessary.

• The principal applicant has been approved as an alien of extraordinary
ability or alien of exceptional ability and is otherwise eligible for
adjustment of status.

• The principal applicant has been approved as an outstanding professor or
researcher, or a multinational executive/manager and has a continuing
offer of employment from the same petitioner who submitted the
underlying approved petition.

• Adjustment applicants who received national interest waivers based on
performing primary medical care to a medically under-served area must
demonstrate that they intend to continue according to the terms and
conditions of the underlying petition.


Deviation From Interview Waiver Criteria

The above interview waiver criteria may be modified by individual officers in
response to developing local circumstances and regional concerns, which
would dictate the need for further restrictions.

On a case by-case basis, an officer may choose to relocate an I-485 for
interview if he/she deems it necessary. Applications require a relocation if
the officer determines:
• a need for validation of identity
• a need for validation of legal status
• questionable admissibility and/or qualifications
• apparent fraud
• a second filing
• an applicant with fingerprint rejected twice
• an applicant with medical condition class A or B
• the A-file cannot be located at the time of adjudication.
 
online message

Ok This is my actual online status message:

"On November 12, 2004, we transferred your I485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status to an office in ST LOUIS, MO for processing. Our office in ST LOUIS, MO will send you a written decision as soon as processing is complete. You should receive a notice informing you that your case has been transferred to a local office. Please call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283 to receive information about local office processing times."

:confused:
So what can we conlcude from this?. any input please?.

Thanks
 
You won't get an interview. That's the good news.

The bad news is that although each local office posts a processing date for I-485, this is not for EB cases, and its not specified clearly either in the bulletin, buts its just for FB cases. I found this out when I visited the local office and showed them that the ND for my case was 18 months past the processing date for my local office. Thier excuse is that EB cases are not the jurisdiction of the local offices, but rather they are in the jursdiction of the service centers, so they don't need to report a processing date. So your case could sit in a black hole with no way for you to ask them to speed it up, since they will always tell you to wait indefinitely.
 
Thanks for the info

Geroge,

I was exactly worried about this . :mad:
even thought it is trasferd to local office , it is still EB case ? how can it change?.
Now is there any way to check the status inthe local office?.
do they follow and pattern or logic ( though this is an oxymoron with INS)?
what can I do other than keeping my fingers crossed? ( contacting seneator will help?)


and I see that you attended the interview in local office . how was it?. what was thier result?.
 
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blessu,
My interview is scheduled soon in a few more days this month, but haven't gone yet. I'll be posting the details on the TSC I-485 forum once it occurs. I expect them to tell me that they haven't completed my name check yet, since they just asked me to go for my FP2 a week ago. Then again, I'm a pessimist. If that happens, I won't get approved at the interview, and I'd have to wait indefinitely again for them to finish my name check.

Your case is still an Employment Based Case. It didn't change because of the transfer, but the local office will not tell you when it will be processed because its not a Family Based case, and employment based cases are not what they typically deal with, so they don't track how old the employment based cases are that they are processing.

The only way to check the status is to visit the local office. It takes about 30-60 days for the actual file to get to the local office from the service center, so add 2 months to the date you see for the transfer, which would be January 12th, and then schedule an infopass to get status from them to make sure it arrived already. They won't tell you much more at that point. Your online status will not change anymore, nor can the 1-800 CSRs at the NCSC tell you anything other than your case was transferred.

Processing seems to occur based on an average of your RD at NSC and the transfer date when your case left NSC to the local office. In essence its pseudo-random. Processing times vary from local office to local office. Some offices are 2 months or less and others (like Atlanta) are around 18 months or more. Its all a big waiting game now, and there isn't much you can do, unfortunately. Congressmen and Senators seem to have little to no effect on the local offices. They can only communicate with the service centers it seems, and once your case is transferred, the service centers wipe their hands clean of your case. The best thing you can do is get a lawyer who has a contact within the local office where your case got transferred, they may be able to plea bargain your case to the front of the line sometimes, other times it could backfire, and the local office puts your file to the bottom of the pile, just for asking.

Either way, eventually you will get approved, the problem is that nobody will even give you a hint as to when, except the people on this board who also were transferred to the same local office.
 
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Thanks George,

From what you say, it looks I canot except anything positive for the next
6 months atleast :mad: .
I know a case of my fried that was trasfered to tis local office but that was nearly 2 years ago.at that time they called hime for an itreview within 2 months and he got stamping the next week. but agin there is rulles and logic for INS.
Anyway can you please post your Interview experiance in this thread also?
 
Curious George,
Great Reply.


Blessu,
Relax, even though, I am nobody to tell you that. I was transferred and I went into a panic attack for weeks. However, I came to find out that transfers take place for a number of reasons, many just at random as National Centers are, as everybody knows, tremendously backed up.

As for priority, many when asked, including the National Customer Service Center, stated that Employment Based cases when transferred to the District Local Offices take priority over Family Based and they try to attend to accounting for the original RD at the National Center where the cases were originally filed.

I was transferred to Omaha, NE on 7/24/04 (RD at the NSC on 9/24/04). I received a notice of transfer in late July with a very generic message; similar to yours. No mention of an interview. Though, I received a notice for an interview a month later for 9/23/04. I was asked to bring in very basic documentation. The interview was very generic as well and I was stamped. I am suspecting I was transferred at random and/or due to the backlogs at the NSC. I was never able to find out. I was stamped that same day.

So, the transfer in my cased turned out to be good news. Between the transfer and interview it took two months. One thing to take into consideration is that most transfer cases are approved on interviews unless there are name checks pending. Do you know about yours? I used the Senator's office to have them inquire at the District Local Office before the interview. They came back informing me that I was security check free. That gave me peace of mind before the interview.

One other positive thing about being approved during an interview is that the plastic card is promptly issued and mailed. I received mine 3 weeks post approval.

Good Luck to you. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer them for you.
 
Thanks

Thanks George,cemol.

cemol , your words gave me back some strength.thanks again for your detail mail.but can you please clarify some points again?.

when did you online status said that your case is transfered to the local office?.
when did you get this info in mail?.
how long it took between the status saying trasfered to local office and your file reaching the local INS office.(I am little nervous about this as we are all used to such lethargic attitude of INS , I want my files to be trasfered to local office qiuckly and saftly--that is without being "lost").
I completed my second FP on 9/2004.I sent email enquiry about my name check to FBI 10 days back but still no response. so how can check about this?.
Thanks again for your time in this.
 
No problem, Blessu. Do feel free to ask any questions and I'd love to hear about the progress of your case.

Here you go:
RD: 9/24/02 (NSC)
1FP: 12/02/02
1AP: 6/2/03
1EAD: 6/2/03
2FP: 5/18/04
2AP: 7/3/04
2ED: 7/8/04
TD: 7/24/04 (Online Status changed that day. That's how I found out)
I received an actual mail notification a week later.
Interview Notice: 8/28/04
Intervie Date: 9/23/04

Once I realized my case had been transferred, I started driving to the Local Office every week to find out whether or not my file had been phyisically transferred:

In Omaha we have the actual Local District Office where they do all interviews and deal with law enforcement >> I went there once and they wouldn't let me in without. And an information office where you can do walk ins and perform inquires on your case. That's where I went every week until I received confirmation that my files were at the Local District Office.

As for the FBI inquiry, give it a couple more weeks. I made 3 attempts in a 3 month period, and I finally received a response. How are you contacting them? Via Fax? Let me know.

Best of Luck,

Cemol.
 
Blessu,

Don't loose heart. In a way transfer could be a blessing if you live in a smaller city. You now know for certain that they have completed the Preliminary processing of your case. St. Louis should not be much different that Kansas City(where my case was transfered). My total time from trasfer date to approval date was about 3.5 months. Which is really not bad since I know a few people with RDs earlier than mine and are still stuck in the Service Centres and have no idea about the progress of their case.

In essence it doesn't need an interview to deny a case. A simple letter can suffice. This could be a random transfer or a simple document they may need. My case was much more complex and weaker than most of the people here and I was still approved. I have never made a single phone call to INS or never visited the local office for any enquiry. These things take their own course of time but you'll be approved in the end.

All I can say is relax and remember that EB cases take precedence over Family based cases at local offices.
 
I got letter from INS

Thanks folks for the kind words.
I really appriciate for all the details you gave me.
I reccived Letter from INS yesterday stating " your case is transfered to the local office for speed processing" ( how ironic!).
so may be as you guya said my case will be processed within 3 months.
My only complaint is they schould have done this 3-4 months back.
My filing info is;
I485 RD Oct 21 2002 ND Oct 31 2002.
FP2 9/2004.
I am seeing approvals now for the people who filled at this time frame.so I have to waite some more time. anyway as they say"All is good that ends good".
cemol, I sent an email to FBI. I saw in these forum that they dont reply to FAX or letters now.
do you guys think that I can walk in the local office and enquire if my file has arrived?.

Thanks again
 
Not sure if St.Louis still allows walk-ins, but you can definitely visit the local office to find out if they have recieved it or not. You might have to schedule an Infopass appointment before you go, instead of a simple walk-in. Personally I started visiting the local office once a month. It was like therapy for me. They never really told me anything useful, except when my case actually arrived at the local office, but at least I felt that I was somehow helping. (which I probably wasn't, but it made me feel better either way to tell them my frustrations)
 
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