abba48uk

Our 2nd NOA was issued by the NSC (1st NOA 27 June). My fiancee has yet to receive the notice thru the post however.
I asked the London Embassy if they would accept a fax of the Approval Notice direct from her, quoting the case number already given to me by them. The very prompt reply indicated that only the original notice or the approved file from the NSC would suffice. Consequently my fiancee will Fedex the notice to me as soon as it arrives for onward posting to the Embassy. We had had the faint hope that shaving a week or so off the process might make Christmas together more feasible, and that I could keep my hands on the original.

I intend to send that original to them together with a notarised copy. In this way I HOPE that there will be no problems in having the original returned to me for the AOS process, with the notarised copy remaining on their files. Has anyone had any experience in this area?

dazeychain

Hello there,

I asked the Embassy the same question, and today I got an email back from them saying that they will put your original I-797 notice in with your sealed brown envelope to give to the officers at your Point of Entry. They want nothing to do with copies, as I asked them this too. They will only give you your original back in your brown envelope, and will not use/look at any copies, unfortunately.

Maybe someone has heard of this happening, but this was what the Embassy told me, and although it may be a bit ropey, I'm going to send them mine when I get it (t minus 1 week!).

Hope this helps,

Peace,

D.

abba48uk

I guess this still leaves open the question as to whether the officers at the point of entry will return the original. If not, how do we proceed from there re AOS?

dazeychain

I *think*, and of course I am hoping, that you get what's in your brown envelope back to aid you with your AOS, but of course, I haven't done this yet, so I don't actually know. Maybe someone with experience of this could comment? I have harrassed London enough for one day! Maybe you could email them?

Peace,

D.

Morkai Kurst

Uh uh, I gave my brown envelope over to the customs officer at POE and he
opened it up looked through it all and kept it. Sent me on my way with my
passport and stamped I-94. That was it. Same with the K3 couple in front of
me.

Consider anything you send in or give over at your interview gone for good -
you will get a brief glimpse at POE and thats it - Thats why I kept a copy
of each of our G-325A's so I could use those when we filed for AOS.

I assume they send it away to be filed somewhere at which point you also end
up in the INS's computer banks as an arrived K1.

Morkai

dazeychain wrote:
    > I *think*, and of course I am hoping, that you get what's in your
    > brown envelope back to aid you with your AOS, but of course, I
    > haven't done this yet, so I don't actually know. Maybe someone with
    > experience of this could comment? I have harrassed London enough for
    > one day! Maybe you could email them?
    > Peace,
    > D.

Just Jenney

Hmm.....

So the Embassy says they will only accept the original I-797 to go ahead and arrange your interview. And that after the interview they put the original in the sealed envelope that you take to the POE.

But the POE won't give you anything that's in the sealed envelope you give them -- including your original I-797, which you MUST have for AOS.

Has anyone asked the POE to give the original I-797 back to them, as they'll need it for AOS?? Were you denied?

Furthermore, has anyone brought it to the Embassy's attention (via email, at the interview, etc.) that by putting your original I-797 in the sealed envelope, they are risking the loss a form that you absolutely HAVE to have to continue with your immigration once in the US?

This sounds like a complete contradiction to me.... not that I find that surprising!!

~ Jenney

angeles73

If you lose the copy of the approval notice, you must file a I-824 which is the same form used to cable approvals to the consulate. The form just asks for action to be taken on an approved petition, either advising a consulate or in this case sending a duplicate notice to the recipient.

It is a contradiction but in this case the best thing to do would probably be, make a copy of the I-797 and intend to give them that, advising that you have been advised by INS you must submit the original. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't (apparently). Always have the original I-797 with you for the interview in case they ask for it.

We went through the same situation in my family and the copy was enough for INS here in Miami. The beneficiary went through the process with no problem. The worker just asked to SEE the original and kept the copy in the file.

A lot of times, INS rules and regulations have more to do with the type of day the worker is having and not necessarily how something is written. That's probably why the agency is on its way out.

Ange

abba48uk

Thanks for the posts all......but if i was confused before, I am now ready for entry into a home for the terminally bewildered. Can a duplicate "original" approval be obtained from the INS once in the USA?
Or should I copy this whole correspondence to Kafka and Joseph Heller?

Morkai Kurst

I am obviously missing large chunks of this thread - my news server is doing
this to me a lot lately.

I never asked for anything back but then I never gave over my original I-797
either. Maybe they make an exception in that case since it is vital to have
the original for AOS as you say. It's quite possible that the customs
officer will see it when he looks through the contents and say 'hey, you
need this' and hand it back.

I doubt very much they will hand over your original petition and any other
forms and/or evidence included with them though which is what the post I
replied to was hoping I think.

Morkai

    > Hmm.....
    > So the Embassy says they will only accept the original I-797 to go
    > ahead and arrange your interview. And that after the interview they
    > put the original in the sealed envelope that you take to the POE.
    > But the POE won't give you anything that's in the sealed envelope you
    > give them -- including your original I-797, which you MUST have for
    > AOS.
    > Has anyone asked the POE to give the original I-797 back to them, as
    > they'll need it for AOS?? Were you denied?
    > Furthermore, has anyone brought it to the Embassy's attention
    > (via email, at the interview, etc.) that by putting your original
    > I-797 in the sealed envelope, they are risking the loss a form
    > that you absolutely HAVE to have to continue with your
    > immigration once in the US?
    > This sounds like a complete contradiction to me.... not that I find
    > that surprising!!
    > ~ Jenney

abba48uk

Morkai,

FYI,
I was only concerned about the Notice of Approval itself. By getting it from my fiancee and posting it on to the London Embassy, I am hoping to save the sometimes lengthy time it takes for the file (which will include another NOA) to be sent from NSC to London. It seems that the London Embassy will, if a provisional file has been set up (which we have in fact established) set an interview date on receipt of the NOA alone. However, as everyone knows, we also need that original for AOS. Its all very difficult.......................

angeles73

What they mean by a duplicate of the original is that it is sent from INS. In other words, there is a difference (TO THEM, remember this is INS) between a duplicate and a copy. A duplicate means INS prints out another Approval on their special little paper. A copy means you put it on a copier and hit start. Follow me?

I've managed to give myself a headache. How nice....

Ange


QUOTE]Originally posted by abba48uk
Thanks for the posts all......but if i was confused before, I am now ready for entry into a home for the terminally bewildered. Can a duplicate "original" approval be obtained from the INS once in the USA?
Or should I copy this whole correspondence to Kafka and Joseph Heller? [/QUOTE]

abba48uk

please pass the aspirin when you have finished with them..........

Morkai Kurst

abba48uk wrote:
    > Morkai,
    > FYI,
    > I was only concerned about the Notice of Approval itself. By getting
    > it from my fiancee and posting it on to the London Embassy, I am
    > hoping to save the sometimes lengthy time it takes for the file
    > (which will include another NOA) to be sent from NSC to London. It
    > seems that the London Embassy will, if a provisional file has been
    > set up (which we have in fact established) set an interview date on
    > receipt of the NOA alone. However, as everyone knows, we also need
    > that original for AOS. Its all very difficult......................

Gotya - I never got your original post - Just dazeychains.

With NSC I don't blame you, I was going through TSC who only took 2 weeks to
send the noa to London.

Personally if I were you I would ask the explicit question via email to the
London embassy about wether the Customs officer at POE will give you the
I-797 back from the brown envelope after he looks through it all since you
require the original for AOS. Hopefully they will email back a reply stating
that yes this will be the case. I would then print that out and take it with
you. If the customs officer tries to argue pull it out saying 'but London
said you'd give it back to me, look' or some such.

I make _NO_ GUARANTEES_ this will work, it is just an idea - but in the end
it boils down to which will take longer - getting a replacement copy from
NSC if they don't give it back or waiting for NSC to send it to London...
your choice, your risk unfortunately.

Since the NOA is supposed to be in your possession anyhow and not part of
the envelope I can't see them giving you any hassle over it at the POE, but
one can never take into account the vagaries of human nature.

Good luck

Morkai

abba48uk

Thanks for the post Morkai.

Yes, I will try and get the damn thing from back from SOMEONE............ANYONE........lol.

Otherwise I guess I will have to ask for a replacement via Form INS 824 from Nebraska. Of course, I COULD wait for the London Embassy to receive the pkt from NSC and not risk losing control of our copy of the approval. Aint gonna tho............lol.....after 5 motnhs we will take the risk of delay over the re-issue.

dazeychain

aaaarghhh! What to do, what to do? This is so annoying. I don't know if I want to send my Approval Notice to London now, especially as I need it later. I don't really want to be left at the mercy of the POE person.

V. confused,

Peace.

D.