Bruce&Ying

We bring candy for the kids, cigarettes for the men, and American ginseng for the old folks. For women, once we brought French perfume.

Ying and I are going back to visit her family and to introduce them to our new son (born here in the US last June). I was looking on a China consular site and saw this: 5. A child of Chinese descent and born outside of China who applies for a Chinese visa for the first time is required to submit his or her Birth Certificate and current Passport. One of his or her parents' Chinese passport with Alien Card (Green Card), or current non-Chinese passport are also required. Notarized copies are accepted. Do we need to do that? I'm hoping someone else has been through this already and knows... Thanks in advance, Bruce & Ying

We had the same experience with the online Case Status service. In our case, they had allegedly sent us a request for more evidence (which we never got). Six months went by. We checked the online status regularly, and it told us they were processing our case, and if they needed something, they would contact us. At the end of the six months, they denied the case because we hadn't responded to the RFE we didn't get. If the online service had showed the true status (that they were waiting for us to respond to an RFE) we could have avoided many months of trouble, and the need to file a whole new case. For what it's worth, I wrote a letter to the USCIS Ombudsman's Office saying that if they are going to represent to applicants that their status can be checked online, then the agency ought to make a real effort to make sure that the online service actually shows the true status of the case. So, the problem should be corrected soon....

Ying and I also got our appointment cancelled. I called USCIS and one rep told me that the appointment was 'probably still good' but transferred to another rep, who siad that it may have been due to overbooking at the local office, or perhaps because they were going to issue the green card w/o an interview. She said that it was usually a local office decision and that she could not tell us the reason for the cancellation. Following the advice of a few other CFL members, we went to the appointment anyways, and no one seemed to know it had been cancelled. We had our interview and got approved. I figured that, even if they wouldn't interview us, we could talk with someone about what was happening with our case whle we were there...

Ying's Permanent Resident card arrived in the mail yesterday! So we can live for the next two years without any more USCIS invvolvement in our lives..... Thanks to all of you for your kind words, and good luck to all of you who are still waiting.

Finally! A few weeks ago we got the long-awaited appointment letter for our AOS interview. We were shocked to then receive, a few days later, a notice saying the appointment had been cancelled. I had read on this forum a story of someone whose apopointment was cancelled, and they went anyways and got approved. So we decided to do the same. The cancellation was never mentioned and we passed the interview, and Ying now has a stamp in her passport that serves as her green card until the actual card arrives in the mail. It was a long process - May of 2005 until October 2006, but it's finally over! Thanks to all for your help and advice.

Latest Update: Got a fax today from my senator's office saying that the USCIS considered our Motion and the case has been reopened!

Frank is right. It's likely that what the USCIS issued was a denial letter, in which case you have 33 days from the date of decision to file a Motion for Reconsideration. We filed one after they denied our case for not responding to an RFE that we never got, so if you want to perusue ours as a template, let me know... Good Luck!

In our case, I don't think there is any problem with the post office (we have a PO Box); it's a very small town and they know Ying, who gets plenty of mail and has received everything else the USCIS sent us. We haven't moved or changed our address since she came here. We'll see what happens next week....

This is what has happened since my last post: After getting the denial, we immediately filed the Motion to Reconsider which asked them to reopen the case because we never recieved a RFE and had NOT abandoned the case. In addition, we noted that we had called them numerous times and checked the website case status service continuously and were told that the case was being processed; we were never informed they needed further info. On the advice of our congressman, we sent the Motion by certified mail and it was signed for by a USCIS employee well within the time limit for filing such Motions. We also sent a copy at the same time to the congressman's office. Three months went by and no word, not even acknowledgement of reciept. Calls to the USCIS told us to be patient, that these motions take time, and that we would be contacted. We finally had our senator's office contact them and they replied that they HAD sent a RFE asking for the medical update, but that they didn't have any Motion to Reconsider from us. We provided the certified mail reciept and a copy of the Motion. After another long wait, they informed us that the Motion was denied because it hadn't been filed in time, using the date they recieved the COPY, months after the original was sent, as the date of reciept. After further intervention from the senator, they finally acknowledged (sort of) that they had lost the original, but apparently aren't willing to accept the certified mail receipt, the copy, (and a letter from the congressman affirming that I had mailed their office a copy of the Motion on the same day as I sent it to the USCIS) as proof that it had been filed in time. Instead they suggested we submit a 'sua sponte' request setting out the facts of the case and asking that the USCIS reopen the case on their motion. So we did; but there is no telling how long it will take, and before long Ying's driver's license and EAD are set to expire, and so her job as a teller at a local bank are in jeopardy. Since her official status is 'AOS denied' we don't know if we can renew them. We will go to the Boston office next week to talk to an immigration officer about what we can do...

Hello again Jany, Glad to hear you are well. Although we often complain abut the US government, I am happy that they realized that it was right to let you and Cindy stay in the US after what happened to you. Ying and I wish you and your daughter a long and happy life here!

A quick update: a call to the USCIS this morning yielded some important info; the woman cautiously admitted it may have been a mistake on their part, as there didn't seem to be anything in the file indicating that they had asked for any further evidence. But she said I still had to file a Motion to Reconsider, whcih I did, along with a request for a waiver of the filing fee and a motion to extend the deadline until March 14 (30 days from the date of the postmark, instead of 30 days from the date of the letter, which had sat in the USCIS office for 20 days before it was mailed). I also spoke with the local office of my congressman, and sent them a complete copy of my filings, and they promised to help me get things straightened out. So we're hopeful that things will be OK...

Thanks all. I will file a Motion to Reopen immediately. Ying has been here for a year, and there's been no problem with the mail or receipt of the other correspondence from the USCIS. In addition, the case status on the USCIS website has been the same for months (Ying checks it regularly). It says ________________________________________________ Current Status: On August 1, 2005, the results of your fingerprint review for your I485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status were received, and processing has resumed on your case. We will mail you a notice if further action is needed, or when a decision is made. _______________________________________________ I'm interesting in finding out if I can file another I-485 in the event that I can't get them to admit they never sent the RFE notice. If not, and they say she has to leave, we could rent out the house and move back to China, and I can teach while we wait for a new petition to be processed. I'm just worried that it will be hard to prove they never sent the notice. And although it's rare, things do occasionally get lost in the mail. I certainly can't prove that we never got it. We'll see.....

Ying just received a letter yesterday from the USCIS saying our I-485 petition was denied. The letter, dated Jan 25, was postmarked Feb 14th and stated that they had sent us a letter several months ago asking for more evidence and we had failed to respond in time. It also says "There is no appeal to this decision", but that we can file a motion to reconsider within 33 days of the date of the notice (6 days from now) if we send in $385. We never recieved any letter requesting more evidence, and have no idea what they need. She went to her biometrics appointment months ago and there was no problem with that. Ying has been checking the mailbox every day for many months expecting her interview appointment. If we HAD received a letter asking for something, we would have responded immediately. Has anybody had to deal with this? Does it means she may have to leave the US? Ying is very upset; any advice would be appreciated.

OK...I talked with USCIS and they said 'No problem, just bring both reciepts with you and they will do them at the same time.

It's great to see CFL back! We sent in Ying's AOS paperwork a while ago and got the reciept telling her to make an appointment for biometrics, which we did. We sent the EAD application in a few weeks after the AOS, and just got the receipt for that. It also tells her to make an appointment for biometrics. Does she need 2 appointments? Should we just disregard the 2nd request? If anyone knows it could save me an hour on hold waiting to talk to someone at USCIS. Thanks...

We finally got a humanoid on the phone yesterday, and she said not to worry, they do that.....

When Ying got her 'A' number, it consisted of an A followed by 8 digits. We recently received the USCIS receipt for our AOS paperwork, and her 'A' number now consisted of the A, then 9 digits (a zero had been added at the beginning, directly following the 'A'). Since her original number was very high, beginning with 998, my guess is they had to switch to using 9 digits instead of 8, and so are making all the old 8 digits numbers 9 digits by adding a zero at the beginning, the same way my bank added zeros to older, shorter bank account numbers when they started using longer numbers. Anybody know? We tried to call and ask, but couldn't reach a human...

Jenny, Your Chinese income would likely all be excluded anyways, (using form 2555) so it would merely be added in the income total, then subtracted a few lines below, with no net change in your income or refund. You could file an amended return with a 2555 included.

Thanks, guys. We were a little worried that she didn't have one! But she does! And it's a nice one, too!

Well, perhaps that's why they call it an 'A' number... Anyways Ying hasn't got any such number, either on her visa or her I-94.... The only thing hand written on her I-94 is 'K1.' There is a red Immigration stamp that shows the entry date and a black stamp that shows the date 90 days after her entry. Nothing else. There is a number that meets that description on her I-797, the form which notified her that the initial I-129F Petition had been approved. But it wasn't on her I-94 or visa. I guess I'll try to call Immigration and see what we need to do next. If anyone has seen this problem before, I would greatly appreciate any info they might have. Thanks, Bruce & Ying

There is a 9 digit number followed by a 2 digit number in the upper left of the I-94, under where it says 'Departure Number' is that it, or is is it something that would have been stamped or written in later? Is it needed later?

Ying read on 001 aout other girls having an "A" number, which they say that they got in the process of clearing Immigration with their K1 visa. She is worried because she is afraid that she doesnt have one... Anybody know what they are referring to? Also they didn't take her photo or fingerprints at the POE (although they did that in GZ). Other girls said they were printed and photographed upon arrival. I thought that perhaps they would, but I asked an Immigration officer and they said it was not necessary. Anyone know? Thanks, Bruce & Ying

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!! B) We have been a little worried wondering what was happening with you.... That's great news. We hope we can meet up with you again sometime! B)

Also, they asked if we had had arguments when we lived together...she said of course, and he asked for an example. She told about how angry she gets when I don't ask for the discount, (ie bargain for the last jiao)...when we are shopping.