The FY2014 RFE Thread

My PD is end Jul'08. I missed the opportunity to file in 2012 but I was finally able to file AOS this month. We got our receipt notices yesterday. I've some questions listed below:

1. How long does it take to receive biometric requests in the mail?

2. Given recent news that the dates are going to retrogress in Nov, is there a possibility that we could get greened before retrogression?

3. Once I get the EAD, I plan to keep my fulltime job (which is on H1 valid till May '16) but use my EAD to do some consulting work on my freetime. Would this present any issues? pls advise if you've gone through this experience.

4. I'm in engineering and there could be some program management jobs opening up in my organization. If I shift to those jobs before GC is done, would this be in violation of PERM.

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Originally Posted by IsItWorthTheTrouble

My PD is end Jul'08. I missed the opportunity to file in 2012 but I was finally able to file AOS this month. We got our receipt notices yesterday. I've some questions listed below:

1. How long does it take to receive biometric requests in the mail?

2. Given recent news that the dates are going to retrogress in Nov, is there a possibility that we could get greened before retrogression?

3. Once I get the EAD, I plan to keep my fulltime job (which is on H1 valid till May '16) but use my EAD to do some consulting work on my freetime. Would this present any issues? pls advise if you've gone through this experience.

4. I'm in engineering and there could be some program management jobs opening up in my organization. If I shift to those jobs before GC is done, would this be in violation of PERM.

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1. Generally a couple of weeks. Once you get it you can walk in to the office earlier than the appointed date/ time on the biometrics notice.
2. There's a slim possibility it might happen depending on how quickly the IBIS and other background checks happen. Its a 4-month processing time so it would be touch and go.
3. No issues there. You should set up your own company and consult under that name. There are tax considerations but nothing immigration-related
4. This is where it might get tricky. In the event you get an EVL RFE, your employer (with the help of the lawyer) needs to be able to tweak the job description so that its similar to what was in PERM. Job title is less important than the role itself.

For those who are current from Jul onwards, but who had applied I-485 in the Dec-2011 to March 2012 timeframe, those asked for fingerprinting again? Finger printing is valid for 18 months? Are the approvals being given without re-fingerprinting for such cases?

Apparently. I have not heard of folks being asked to do fingerprinting again - and folks that applied in 2012 are being approved.

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Originally Posted by rka_72

For those who are current from Jul onwards, but who had applied I-485 in the Dec-2011 to March 2012 timeframe, those asked for fingerprinting again? Finger printing is valid for 18 months? Are the approvals being given without re-fingerprinting for such cases?

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Are they (USCIS) still issuing RFE or has it stopped?

Sorry if this is wrong forum. please move it to the right forum.

So this is strange. My RFE for Medical was issued on 17-June. My response is with the lawyer - not sent yet. Just now my status changed from "RFE" to "Initial Review". Happened for primary and dependent simultaneously. Whats going on? Why would they touch my file BEFORE receiving my RFE response? Is this the pre-adj process kicking in? Are they getting ready for the next VB? What?

I remember reading something very similar on trackitt but did not pay much attention. Anybody else recalls something similar?

BTW - this is the first time I am in IR. Before RFE, I was in Acceptance stage. So may be my case was not pre-adj before and they are starting that process now?

Update: I looked through previous posts on this thread and seems like couple more folks have seen their cases moved to IR. Mine seems to be furthest PD though - don't know whether this says anything about upcoming VB dates.

imdeng,

Wait until RFE response submission by your lawyer, then act accordingly.

I don't think there is anything for me to do here. Just wait and watch. Was just thinking aloud the reasons why. It would be interesting to see what happens when the RFE Response reaches (hopefully this week).

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Originally Posted by Kanmani

imdeng,

Wait until RFE response submission by your lawyer, then act accordingly.

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Hello Guys,

Today I went for my Infopass appointment to enquire on my case status (PD: June 2008, TSC), the officer said that my case is Pending at TSC and not yet assigned to any officer. I'm baffled now because its been more than a month since they received the RFE response and its still not even assigned to an officer.

The lady did tell me that since its a service center the cases get assigned to officers in bulk and that they have targets to complete certain number of cases/day etc.

I've lost hope that anything will happen for another 2 weeks!!!

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Originally Posted by venkat

Hello Guys,

Today I went for my Infopass appointment to enquire on my case status (PD: June 2008, TSC), the officer said that my case is Pending at TSC and not yet assigned to any officer. I'm baffled now because its been more than a month since they received the RFE response and its still not even assigned to an officer.

The lady did tell me that since its a service center the cases get assigned to officers in bulk and that they have targets to complete certain number of cases/day etc.

I've lost hope that anything will happen for another 2 weeks!!!

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Did you try contacting your congressman/woman venkat? That may help.

Understanding these weird status changes is more difficult than predicting stock markets ! :)

That is my next step Q. I'll exhaust that option too

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Originally Posted by qesehmk

Did you try contacting your congressman/woman venkat? That may help.

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Thanks for the update Venkat. Yes, the way TSC is working lately is mind boggling. I am contacting my senator today and hopefully she will help me get a sane reply on where our GCs stand. Its been more than 50 days since we replied to our RFEs. Rubbing salt to wounds-with August setting in I am sure you will see 2009 folks getting approved!

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Originally Posted by venkat

Hello Guys,

Today I went for my Infopass appointment to enquire on my case status (PD: June 2008, TSC), the officer said that my case is Pending at TSC and not yet assigned to any officer. I'm baffled now because its been more than a month since they received the RFE response and its still not even assigned to an officer.

The lady did tell me that since its a service center the cases get assigned to officers in bulk and that they have targets to complete certain number of cases/day etc.

I've lost hope that anything will happen for another 2 weeks!!!

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Sorry to repeat this question-

Is USCIS still issuing RFE or has it stopped?

imdeng/Gurus,

what does it mean for status to change from RFE review->Intitial Review "after" we submit RFE? My priority is 02/09 TSC and I replied to RFE on July 16th. Thanks for your help.

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Originally Posted by imdeng

So this is strange. My RFE for Medical was issued on 17-June. My response is with the lawyer - not sent yet. Just now my status changed from "RFE" to "Initial Review". Happened for primary and dependent simultaneously. Whats going on? Why would they touch my file BEFORE receiving my RFE response? Is this the pre-adj process kicking in? Are they getting ready for the next VB? What?

I remember reading something very similar on trackitt but did not pay much attention. Anybody else recalls something similar?

BTW - this is the first time I am in IR. Before RFE, I was in Acceptance stage. So may be my case was not pre-adj before and they are starting that process now?

Update: I looked through previous posts on this thread and seems like couple more folks have seen their cases moved to IR. Mine seems to be furthest PD though - don't know whether this says anything about upcoming VB dates.

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Originally Posted by venkat

Hello Guys,

Today I went for my Infopass appointment to enquire on my case status (PD: June 2008, TSC), the officer said that my case is Pending at TSC and not yet assigned to any officer. I'm baffled now because its been more than a month since they received the RFE response and its still not even assigned to an officer.

The lady did tell me that since its a service center the cases get assigned to officers in bulk and that they have targets to complete certain number of cases/day etc.

I've lost hope that anything will happen for another 2 weeks!!!

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Hi Venkat -

What option(s) did you select to schedule the InfoPass appointment?

Did you choose >"Services on a case that has already been filed" (and then),
>"Case Services follow-up appointment - If it has been over 45 days since you contacted NCSC and have not received a response to your inquiry. You must bring the Service Request ID Number related to your inquiry to the appointment."?

I thought of the above but I do not fulfill the above condition of '> 45 days after contacting NCSC' etc - can I still select this?

If you selected a different option, which one / please describe.

Thanks very much!

Nobody knows at this point. My guess is that the file is picked up for *some* processing - so its status changed. They have only a few pre-set status categories to choose from - and IR is the one that fits. This processing can be background check, pre-adj in anticipation of next VB, whatever - who knows.

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Originally Posted by hulimari

imdeng/Gurus,

what does it mean for status to change from RFE review->Intitial Review "after" we submit RFE? My priority is 02/09 TSC and I replied to RFE on July 16th. Thanks for your help.

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Nobody has reported one in this forum for a few days now. Although there still are many folks who have not received RFEs and their dates are within the RFE range.

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Originally Posted by geterdone

Sorry to repeat this question-

Is USCIS still issuing RFE or has it stopped?

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FYI,,
A friend of mine as a PD of 22nd Aug 2009. He got RFE for medicals + EVL Letter + proof of lawful stay in US. His wife got RFE for medicals.

Not sure if this date is already covered in terms of RFE for others or not.

Since there was no one proper option to select i went ahead and chose the EAD inquiry option from the available list. The first thing i told the officer was I'm here for checking the status of my AOS application to make sure she doesn't think i'm here for EAD inquiry. we didn't talk anything about the EAD

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Originally Posted by helpful_leo

H****enkat -

What option(s) did you select to schedule the InfoPass appointment?

Did you choose >"Services on a case that has already been filed" (and then),
>"Case Services follow-up appointment - If it has been over 45 days since you contacted NCSC and have not received a response to your inquiry. You must bring the Service Request ID Number related to your inquiry to the appointment."?

I thought of the above but I do not fulfill the above condition of '> 45 days after contacting NCSC' etc - can I still select this?

If you selected a different option, which one / please describe.

Thanks very much!

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Originally Posted by venkat

Since there was no one proper option to select i went ahead and chose the EAD inquiry option from the available list. The first thing i told the officer was I'm here for checking the status of my AOS application to make sure she doesn't think i'm here for EAD inquiry. we didn't talk anything about the EAD

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Thanks very much for the response!

I am assuming that is ok to do even if you don't have a pending EAD application?

i chose that option because nothing else matches to our situation.

Yeah even i didn't have pending EAD

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Originally Posted by helpful_leo

Thanks very much for the response!

I am assuming that is ok to do even if you don't have a pending EAD application?

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Your date might be current in september (most Likely) but that does not mean you will get GC. If you are talking about EAD then yes, you will get EAD this year. But I doubt your application will be processed before the dates retrogress. I'm in a similar situation.

Update : The new CS accepted our vaccination records and the fees is the same as promised.

I noticed that the officer ID printed in our RFE No 2 is different from that of RFE we got in 2012.

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Originally Posted by hulimari

imdeng/Gurus,

what does it mean for status to change from RFE review->Intitial Review "after" we submit RFE? My priority is 02/09 TSC and I replied to RFE on July 16th. Thanks for your help.

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My PD is 2008. Same thing happened on June 20. Till today nothing. No progress. Dont get your hopes high that someone touched your file or working on it.