Yesterday, I checked the mail and excitedly opened a letter from the USCIS for my husband, and was shocked to see that we had received a form I-797C to appear for an interview - the date to appear: 1/28/15. We received this notice on 1/31/15, and obviously missed the interview. Today, we received a notice of decision: denied.

This happened because the USCIS originally sent the I-797C to our OLD address that had already been officially updated in the system (we received confirmation of this from USCIS, and my husband received his work permit here at our current address, so I know that they must have updated it). The form was initially sent on 12/24/14, and is stamped as returned to the office on 1/15/15. There is a stamp on the form itself with the date 1/23/15, which must have been when they reviewed it to be re-sent to us. The stamp on the exterior envelope (that we eventually received) was dated 1/26/15, ONLY TWO DAYS BEFORE MY HUSBAND'S INTERVIEW WAS SCHEDULED. Then, we received the request to appear for the interview on 1/31, AFTER his interview. So now we've been denied.

We've called to question this and have obviously been told that the case is closed and there's nothing to do but file an I-290B, or start all over again.

This just seems crazy to me, and extremely unfair. We have followed EVERY step correctly, and made sure to update them when we moved, and then this happens.

We made an appointment at our local office for Monday morning, but I'm wondering if I should file the I-290 ASAP (tomorrow), or wait to talk to them in the office about this error? I have some questions about the I-290 as well, but figured I'd start with this. Just want to get this resolved ASAP, the right way.

Please feel free to give any information you can, we really appreciate it and are very stressed and disappointed! Thanks again.

This kind of thing happens sometimes. Do what you need to do to get the case reopened.

Rene

OK, I had a look at your previous posts and find Hubby is doing AOS after K1, so it is I-765 that was denied?

According to this, i290b and what you wrote, a motion to reopen/reconsider is in order using the I-290B form.

It sounds like a SNAFU somewhere, but should not be a big deal to overcome. (Assuming the denial was simply due to the no-show at interview).

Good Luck.

Which CIS office? That is hair trigger denial. It strikes me as appropriate for sua sponte reopening. Have you looked into immediate walk in inquiry?

We filed the I-485. My husband entered on a K1 fiance visa, we got married in June, and filed the I-485 at the end of June, so we're just now being requested for our interview. And yes, that was the only reason we were denied, we did everything correctly and updated our address when we moved. It was definitely a simple error on their part, which I can understand, but it's not fair for us to be penalized for it. Thanks!

We're going to the office in Seattle. I haven't ever heard of "sua sponte", nor did I know anything about "immediate walk in inquiry" or how to do it. If there's an easy way of explaining, or any guidance you have, that would be great. Like I said, I would love to resolve this in the easiest and fastest way possible, without making any mistakes or doing anything to negatively affect our case.

I will look into these things as well, thanks for the suggestions.

It looks like the filing fee for the I-290B is $630 as well, WHY should we have to pay this? Ugh. I just really hope that they're helpful at our appointment, but I somehow doubt it. I haven't been able to find any information about "immediate walk in inquiry", nor do I know how to go about reopening sua sponte.

I'm feeling overwhelmed and "stuck", if I can't figure anything else out, I guess I'll wait until Monday.

I've spoken to an immigration attorney, and they've basically said - "give me $2200.00 and then re-submit your I-485, because the I-290B takes longer and they might deny it anyway." Is this some kind of a sick joke? Is there nothing else I can do? In the meantime, my husband can't even travel home to see his family. So upset right now. I'm desperate and sick about this, please help.

I'm so sorry this has happened. We have had infrequent reports of such things over the years - but I believe all were resolved to everyone's satisfaction. If it was me, I'd make an InfoPass appointment and go talk to someone in person. Take all your correspondence with you, including any notices received, stuff you sent, copies of your husband's visa paperwork, copies of your I-485 paperwork, etc. Take it all.

Ian

That is my plan as a first step. We have an InfoPass appointment for tomorrow morning, and will bring EVERYthing that we have. We plan to keep this most recent paperwork/correspondence proving their error in a separate folder and start from there, and have everything else if they need it. I really hope that it does us some good and makes some progress in the right direction. We have a complete paper trail, PROVING their error. I just want someone to look me in the eye and tell me I have to re-do EVERYthing with that evidence right in front of them. That's the only way I will accept it, and even then I don't think I will.

It helps a lot to know that others have been in this position and have had positive results. They cannot do this to people and just get away with it, it's insane.

Thanks so much for your response.

Good luck.
Let us know how it works out.

And I know it's hard to think about but please take steps to remain calm and factual as that will get the best results.

What is there to explain? The minions of the Dark Forces made a mistake. You want to ask them to fix it. If that doesn't work, then a new adjustment application is usually better than a I-290 despite the additional expense.

BTW, your first post said your InfoPass is for "Monday" and now you say it is for "tomorrow" [which is Wednesday]. I know how I would handle it here in L.A. and it would not be via InfoPass, that is for sure. But that is a judgement call.

I don't know you, but I can imagine that if the tone of your posts is comparable to how you will do it face-to-face, you might have problems. The advice you describe may be correct for the Seattle District; and it may not. I don't know. If I was still in practice and I had represented you, my first calls would be to at least one colleague up in Seattle.

A good attorney I know of in the area is in Olympia: Lisa Seifert.

Wecanconquer,

Sorry this happened, but it's not unheard of for USCIS to make errors.... usually at the expense of the applicant.

I'm just curious, did you take all the steps usually recommended to get your address changed, or did you only fill out an AR-11? Can you tell us what steps you took?

The EAD is processed separately, in a different facility, than the I-485, so doesn't surprise me that he got one but not the other.

For others reading, this is why we recommend not moving while you have a case in progress.

Rene

I've seen situations like OP's from time to time. Personally, I think CIS was "hair trigger" on the denial. From time to time, local offices will adopt a policy of rescheduling and sending out a new notice with a "we really mean it" stamp on it. And then, with a change of management, rescind the policy.

Also, it pays to remember that there is often a lack of "institutional memory."

I'm happy to report that after our infopass appointment, they reopened our case and will be sending us a new interview date! Once we presented the evidence to them, they had us sit down and write our "explanation of what happened" on some blank paper, just to lay everything out for them. Once we did that, they came back and told us that the case was reopened! Just anxiously waiting to receive that new interview date, hope we get it sometime soon. We were SO relieved to get this news, thank you all for your help and kindness!