Insux

My wife's AOS application was denied by the Chicago Service Center but
we never received an explanation why. A letter is supposedly in the
mail but we haven't received it-we found out about the denial b/c our
EAD was denied. I think the reason is abandonment since we have moved
3 times in 3 years since our application and INS probably never
updated. We are happily married for over 3 years and have a 1 year old
son--isn't that reason enough to grant my wife residency and
permission to work?
Is our best action
1) to refile the AOS esp. if we want an EAD ASAP
2) file a motion to reopen
3) hire an immigratyion lawyer for $1,00 (which we can barely afford)

I have already contacted my Congressman and Senator but I don't know
how much they can or will do. Thanks in advance.

Matthew Udall

Did you notify that particular office each time you moved (this is in addition to the immigrant spouse's duty to file a timely AR-11 and the sponsor's duty to file a timely I-865)?

I take it you did not have an attorney helping you with your AOS? One nice thing an attorney brings to the case is that important correspondence, such as fingerprinting appointment notices and interview appointment notices, are sent to both the attorney and client.

Whenever I get such a notice I call my client to make sure they too received the appointment letter, and if they didn't (which happens quite a bit) than I supply my letter to them.

As to what to do now, look into motions to reopen. If that does not work, I suppose you could always file again, but I'd try to make the MTR happen if it were me (Or if you were my client… and no, I could not be your attorney as I don’t troll for business on the group, and I absolutely refuse to touch a case if a Congressman or Senator has contacted the USCIS).

Good luck.

Matthew Udall
Attorney

arvindkop

Mr. Udall,
Just curious, why do you absolutely refuse to touch a case if a Congressman or Senator has contacted the USCIS. Is it because getting congressman or senator involved will have an irreversible negative impact to any case?

sphyrapicus

So Matt,

I'm wondering how you determine if someone has come from this group or not? Hypothetically, if John Smith was to contact you and wanted to retain your services, how would you ever know his real identity on here? And, given that he would know your policy, he would obviously not reveal that he knows you from this web site. He would just tell you that he stumbled across your website while browsing one day.

Obviously, most folks on here don't reveal their real names and it is unlikely that they would approach you under the alias of Mr. Pink, Hebapotamus, dutchman, Hypertweeky, Flyergirl, or lpdiver, for example.

Matthew Udall

Hi, I don't go out of my way to try to pick up clients from the group (and I told this particular poster no as I did not want my motives for participation brought into question). Plus, it would be a rare situation indeed where I could be persuaded to jump into the middle of a case that has already been filed, and since most people who read my postings here already filed their cases, I don't end up representing many people who are news group participants.

I will however take on a new client, who has not yet filed his or her case but who says they have read my postings on the group. I don't discriminate against people just because they are news group members :-).

I think over the years I've been participating on the group, I've helped maybe around 6 to 8 couples where one or both of the parties (in the relationship) said they found me due to my postings on the group.

I actually have liked most of those clients as they already knew a thing or two about the process (although I do have to set them straight if they pick some of the inaccurate information that gets propagated on the group).

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I'm not going to put words in Matt's mouth -- but I happen to share that policy also. CIS people are easily confused -- that they NEED to know WHO to deal with.

A long time ago when I was thinner had a very turn of the century haircut [take it all off], I had the dubious privilege of working for the US government and wearing green clothes, black boots, a steel helmet and carrying an M-16. I learned the concept of "chain of command" -- and you confuse and mess up that chain at your peril.

Believe it or not, it applies in dealing with the DHS as well as the Army.

Matthew Udall

When I was first getting started as a new attorney and new AILA member, I went to my first National AILA conference to learn from the experts over a 3 day period. One of the speakers (can’t recall his name right off, but he has a very distinctive English accent, wears a bow tie, and has been an AILA expert speaker at just about every conference I’ve attended) mentioned during his speech that if he gets a call from a prospective client who has already filed a case (and who is trying to decide whether or not to hire him to come into the case), and if that prospective client mentions he or she has already had a rep contact the USCIS; than he would not dare touch that case with a ten foot poll (and judging by the reaction of the hundreds of attorneys listening to the speech, I'd say most understood what he was talking about).

He went on to explain why he takes that position, and I had to agree that his reasoning sounded good to me and since that time I’ve taken that position as my own.

You see the DIY'er is only going to be dealing with the USCIS for one case (generally) during their lives, unlike an immigration attorney who must maintain his or her reputation for being professional and honest during the course of his or her career.

How many times do we see people in this very group saying they had their rep call even before the case became overdue! And I’m sure some people (no news group members I’m sure :-) might even be feeding their rep a slightly exaggerated story (or perhaps instead simply an inaccurate accounting of the facts and problem since they don’t know any better) of the facts or situation to make their plight sound more compelling to the rep. In other words, some DIY’ers bring in their reps when it is absolutely not warranted to do so.

An attorney on the other hand knows the law and the realities of USCIS processing. If there is a problem, the attorney will try to fix it first in a professional and courteous manner. A vast majority of the time, these efforts to fix the problem are successful (at least that is what I’ve experienced).

The attorney knows the client’s facts and case. A rep does not and quite often is only given the sometimes “self serving� statements (that are often spun by the DIY’er to make the situation appear more sympathetic than reality calls for) when contacting the service center or district office.

I would never call in a rep myself unless it was the type of emergency I could not resolve myself (and I can’t imagine what that would be). First, I know my clients case and I can do a better job of dealing with the problem and the service center than some junior intern working for the rep. I could try to teach the rep/intern the law and my clients facts and hope against hope that the intern remembered it and got it right, or I could do this myself and “know� it was done right.

By taking a case where a rep has already contacted the USCIS, there is a risk that the attorney would come to be known at a particular USCIS office as the cry baby attorney who brought in the big guns when it was not necessary, and jumped over the heads of the supervisors (to get them in trouble) instead of simply picking up the phone and getting the problem fixed.

I have my next client’s case to think about, and I have my reputation to protect which will protect my ability to be an effective advocate on my next client’s behalf.

Also, the USCIS and Consulates make it crystal clear that we are to pick one line of communication with them and stick with it. That means if the rep has already called, than I’m not going to duplicate the inquiry and waste their time answering two inquiries. I’ve been told point blank by top ranking USCIS officials at the Service Centers that this “just pisses them off� (and yes, they used the P word when describing this, so I guess they really mean it).

A rep can’t bring the same level of care and expertise to a case that an attorney can, and if they already had the rep call, then they have made their choice and are stuck with this second rate line of communication. Face it; a rep is not your private attorney and is not going to have the same motivation to go to bat for you no matter how many times people try to turn them into a personal advocate.

On the Consular side of the equation, I’ve been told by top ranking DOS officers that it is “usually� a bad idea to have a rep contact the Consulate when the case goes south. This usually happens in the tourist visa denial context. The tourist visa is denied, than a U.S. citizen calls the Congressman saying "those SOB’s at the Consulate just denied a tourist visa to my wife!!!!!!� (Usually followed with some nonsense about being a taxpayer… and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness :-).

When the Consul denies a case, they usually write up a brief accounting of the reason, but when a rep contacts them that usually gets them to write up a two or three page report justifying the denial listing every reason they can think of. According to the staffers I’ve heard discuss this topic, the Consular officers often take the position of, “Hey, I actually interviewed this person and you (the rep) have not and don’t even know this person, all you know is the self serving statements given to you by an irate U.S. citizen, it’s “my� job to determine whether or not this person is eligible to receive a visa – not yours, and please don’t bother me and let me do my job – thank you very much�.

Now there are times when bringing in a rep for the consulate or USCIS might be warranted and a wise move, but if its just to put pressure on to get them to rule your way or get them to move faster, that generally won’t do anything positive and may end up actually making things worse.

Well, its getting late. Time to call it a day and walk home.

Andy Platt

"Matthew Udall" <member3997@british_expats.com> wrote:

    > Did you notify that particular office each time you moved (this is in
    > addition to the immigrant spouse's duty to file a timely AR-11 and the
    > sponsor's duty to file a timely I-865)?

Just to mention that until recently many offices said not to file the AR-11
while the petition was pending with them - they just wanted a change of
address letter (I did both, not that that did any good) and the I-865
doesn't need to be filed while AOS is pending.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here, it's just your warped imagination
    > I take it you did not have an attorney helping you with your AOS? One
    > nice thing an attorney brings to the case is that important
    > correspondence, such as fingerprinting appointment notices and interview
    > appointment notices, are sent to both the attorney and client.
    > Whenever I get such a notice I call my client to make sure they too
    > received the appointment letter, and if they didn't (which happens quite
    > a bit) than I supply my letter to them.
    > As to what to do now, look into motions to reopen. If that does not
    > work, I suppose you could always file again, but I'd try to make the MTR
    > happen if it were me (Or if you were my client. and no, I could not be
    > your attorney as I don't troll for business on the group, and I
    > absolutely refuse to touch a case if a Congressman or Senator has
    > contacted the USCIS).
    > Good luck.
    > Matthew Udall
    > Attorney
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Andy Platt

Hopefully when you sent them change of address notices you sent it return
receipt requested so that you have documentation from your side. That should
be good enough to re-open but I really would try to come up with the money
to get legal consultation if the representatives can't help. (Once they
can't help you can keep quiet about that when talking to lawyers!).

Good luck!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here, it's just your warped imagination
"INSUX" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My wife's AOS application was denied by the Chicago Service Center but
    > we never received an explanation why. A letter is supposedly in the
    > mail but we haven't received it-we found out about the denial b/c our
    > EAD was denied. I think the reason is abandonment since we have moved
    > 3 times in 3 years since our application and INS probably never
    > updated. We are happily married for over 3 years and have a 1 year old
    > son--isn't that reason enough to grant my wife residency and
    > permission to work?
    > Is our best action
    > 1) to refile the AOS esp. if we want an EAD ASAP
    > 2) file a motion to reopen
    > 3) hire an immigratyion lawyer for $1,00 (which we can barely afford)
    > I have already contacted my Congressman and Senator but I don't know
    > how much they can or will do. Thanks in advance.