485 Decision by an Appellate Body?

I got a text update from uSCIS for me (primary - pd 09/2009) and my wife's (dependant) case today..but i don't understand what it means. it says :"On June 30, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we certified our approval of this case and sent it to the appropriate appellate body for review. They will notify you directly when they make a final decision."
Does anyone know what this means?
I will wait for actual notice in mail and also talk to the lawyer once i receive a hard copy of the notice.
Thank you.

Same for me. Any idea? Any reply is appreciated.

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Originally Posted by jackbrown_890

I got a text update from uSCIS for me (primary - pd 09/2009) and my wife's (dependant) case today..but i don't understand what it means. it says :"On June 30, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we certified our approval of this case and sent it to the appropriate appellate body for review. They will notify you directly when they make a final decision."
Does anyone know what this means?
I will wait for actual notice in mail and also talk to the lawyer once i receive a hard copy of the notice.
Thank you.

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I was looking at below memo about appellate body. Is there anything we needed to worry. Including full text of email too.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/f...cisions%20.pdf


Full text:

Your Case Status: Initial Review


On June 30, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we certified our approval of this case and sent it to the appropriate appellate body for review. They will notify you directly when they make a final decision. If you move while this case is pending, follow the instructions provided in the notice and use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.


During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators.

If you have filed an I-485, I-589, I-751, N-400, I-90, I-821, I-131 or I-765, you can expect to receive an appointment notice to appear at an Application Support Center to have your fingerprints and/or photographs taken. The timing of your appointment is determined by the number of applicants ahead of you that also need a biometric appointment. We try to schedule biometric appointments as quickly as possible and in most cases you will receive your appointment notice within 30 days of submitting your application. We will send your appointment notice approximately 14 days ahead of your scheduled appointment. It is important that you keep this appointment. If absolutely necessary, you can request that your appointment be rescheduled however, please be aware that rescheduling may delay the processing of your application. Please follow the instructions on your appointment notice if you need to reschedule. Occasionally, you may receive an appointment notice to appear at an Application Support Center to have your fingerprints taken when you have filed a form other than those listed above. In these situations, you may receive your appointment notice more than 30 days after submitting your application or petition.



If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results

listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current

processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

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Originally Posted by jackbrown_890

I got a text update from uSCIS for me (primary - pd 09/2009) and my wife's (dependant) case today..but i don't understand what it means. it says :"On June 30, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we certified our approval of this case and sent it to the appropriate appellate body for review. They will notify you directly when they make a final decision."
Does anyone know what this means?
I will wait for actual notice in mail and also talk to the lawyer once i receive a hard copy of the notice.
Thank you.

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I don't know exactly what it means but I found something similar. However, this was about I-130 petition and not I-485 petition. I hope this is helpful. However, I think you should contact your lawyer ASAP and find out what this exactly means as there is some conflicting information I am finding on internet.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/ha...13-808023.html

Is it because the visa numbers unavailable yet?

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Originally Posted by Jonty Rhodes

I don't know exactly what it means but I found something similar. However, this was about I-130 petition and not I-485 petition. I hope this is helpful. However, I think you should contact your lawyer ASAP and find out what this exactly means as there is some conflicting information I am finding on internet.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/ha...13-808023.html

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By looking at AC_1980's comments from below it may mean it's approved. But any comments really appreciated.

http://www.qesehmk.org/forums/printt...&pp=40&page=67

One more similar:
http://www.trackitt.com/member/CaseUSA

I guess I just logged in at the right moment here! In my case with that "appellate body" online status, we received our cards in mail a few days after. I hope that helps ease any worry a little bit that you may have. good luck!

Great! Thank you very much for sharing the info. We really appreciate it.

Awesome timing:)

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Originally Posted by AC_1980

I guess I just logged in at the right moment here! In my case with that "appellate body" online status, we received our cards in mail a few days after. I hope that helps ease any worry a little bit that you may have. good luck!

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Originally Posted by AC_1980

I guess I just logged in at the right moment here! In my case with that "appellate body" online status, we received our cards in mail a few days after. I hope that helps ease any worry a little bit that you may have. good luck!

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Was this for ur 485?
Mine is 485 status update. My PD is not current for July. And I don't expect to be current in August.

no, EAD. I strongly believe the outcome will be similar in your case.

by the way, question for you and eb2visa, are you at NSC or TSC? I am EB2I July 2009 at TSC and have not received anything yet.

From TSC....

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Originally Posted by AC_1980

no, EAD. I strongly believe the outcome will be similar in your case.

by the way, question for you and eb2visa, are you at NSC or TSC? I am EB2I July 2009 at TSC and have not received anything yet.

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TSC - PD 09/2009. That is why i was saying, i don't expect to be current based on the projections from many people.
I can't find much information online on 485 cases with this kind of status update. Most of the cases with this kind of updates i find online are 130. My wife (dependent only) received EVL RFE during last year mass RFEs (which was strange too). And my lawyer had responded that EVL for a dependent is not possible.
BTW, thanks for your reply.

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Originally Posted by AC_1980

no, EAD. I strongly believe the outcome will be similar in your case.

by the way, question for you and eb2visa, are you at NSC or TSC? I am EB2I July 2009 at TSC and have not received anything yet.

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I found few more people on Trackitt with the same case status update in last couple of days. One possibility is that this is just RFE EVL/MED but by mistake the officer (probably the same one) changed our status to this.
I actually found one person who received similar Status update on May 29 ended up getting RFE (EVL/MED) in few days after the status change.
On the other hand i found bunch of discussions on this topic on Visajourney but related to I 130 cases and most of them received approval in a week. I doubt this is the case for me (because of PD not being current yet)

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

Q, Spec, Viz, other Gurus can you shed some light on this. Is the date going to move to 10/2009? Why the status changes and approve message?

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Yah need to wait for a week to find it. Generally when they issue an RFE, at least they change the status to RFE instead of Initial Review right? But again who knows.... :(

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Originally Posted by jackbrown_890

I found few more people on Trackitt with the same case status update in last couple of days. One possibility is that this is just RFE EVL/MED but by mistake the officer (probably the same one) changed our status to this.
I actually found one person who received similar Status update on May 29 ended up getting RFE (EVL/MED) in few days after the status change.
On the other hand i found bunch of discussions on this topic on Visajourney but related to I 130 cases and most of them received approval in a week. I doubt this is the case for me (because of PD not being current yet)

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Is any one else got this email or status change?

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

Yah need to wait for a week to find it. Generally when they issue an RFE, at least they change the status to RFE instead of Initial Review right? But again who knows.... :(

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Some interesting notes from 2004....

http://forumarchive.immigration.com/...ody-for-review

Here are the details about "Appelate Body" clause. There is good news and a bad news. The bad news is, this message means the case is NOT approved yet. But the good news is the initial review of the adjudicator is favorable and he/she has approved the case. But he/she is not sure about the decision and hence it has been referred to a higher official. This Process is called "CERTIFICATION". This happens under two circumstances

1. Head quarters has instructed the adjudicators to certify certain predefined cases, patterns of cases or patterns of facts.

2 The case is very complex or the facts/arguments for the case are so "novel" (lifted directly from the regulation/SOP), that it requires a review.

I believe the notice which they have sent us is Form I-290C. This should explain the details of why our case was certified instead of approval. We have 30 days of time to file a brief in favor of the case or it can be waived if we think it is not necessary to file a brief. 30 days period can also be waived by the reviewer if a favorable decision is made and the case is approved before the brief is filed.

Also FYI. A case could be certified either for an approval or denial. Since I see the word "Approval" in all our messages, I am hoping it is being reviewed for approval. That is why I said there is a good news also. Hope I am right. God help us.....

The law governing CERTIFICATION process is covered under Title 8 section 1103.4 (Also called just 103.4). You will find it thru google if you give this search "PART 1103�APPEALS, RECORDS, AND FEES".

I also found a PDF Document with Standard Operating Procedure it is called "AFMChapter10-Overview.pdf". Search for this document in google you will find it. Look under 10.8 and 10.18 sections of this PDF.

If you have already recieved the form, can you please post or PM the details? I would appreciate a lot.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you all. Hope we all will get our approval very soon.

This is my status message.
On September 30, 2004, we mailed you a notice that we certified our approval of this case and sent it to the appellate body for review. The notice explains in detail the basis for this proposed action. If 14 days have passed and you have not received this notice, you may wish to verify or update your address. To update your address, please call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.

By looking at this looks like the adjudicator approved the case, but he sent it for appellate either further review is required or visa numbers are unavailable at this time. The worst could be a RFE

Looks like it is a generic message used for different case types.

Ex: for H1
http://todayquiz.com/nonimmigrant-vi...ant-45322.html

Another one in same boat


http://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussi...page/last_page

Any update guys?

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

Another one in same boat


http://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussi...page/last_page

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

Any update guys?

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Nope nothing on my side. There was nothing in my mailbox.
Case status is still the same online.

here is a trackitt member who reported similar online status on May 29th, 2014. He never updated the thread he started about this. But check his updated 485 case (profile) on Trackitt. He reported his RFE date is May 29th, 2014.

http://www.trackitt.com/member/satsv

Any way to contact him? Can we ask him if he received an RFE after the message? Did he received anything else?

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Originally Posted by jackbrown_890

here is a trackitt member who reported similar online status on May 29th, 2014. He never updated the thread he started about this. But check his updated 485 case (profile) on Trackitt. He reported his RFE date is May 29th, 2014.

http://www.trackitt.com/member/satsv

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

Any way to contact him? Can we ask him if he received an RFE after the message? Did he received anything else?

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I think he posted a message on trackitt on 30th May about the online status change (his online status said "On May 29th we approved....blah blah...). and updated his profile later in June so he must have received actual document in June. Plus he posted on another thread that he did his Medical on June 23rd in Houston (with the details of the clinic he went to). I will PM him and see if he replies back.

Why don't USCIS post the RFE document itself in the website. They should be careful with the status updates, it confuses people and lot of tension...

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Originally Posted by jackbrown_890

I think he posted a message on trackitt on 30th May about the online status change (his online status said "On May 29th we approved....blah blah...). and updated his profile later in June so he must have received actual document in June. Plus he posted on another thread that he did his Medical on June 23rd in Houston (with the details of the clinic he went to). I will PM him and see if he replies back.

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From Muthy's website : http://www.murthy.com/2012/05/23/pri...-do-they-work/

They can review a pending case at any time even if the Case is not current. But except RFE, NOID or Denied no other statuses are listed... hmm... this is really messed up...

The USCIS reviews I-485 applications even if the priority date is not current. If there are problems with the case, a request for evidence (RFE), notice of intent to deny (NOID), or a denial could be issued. If the case is proper and complete, the USCIS will place it on hold and, unless something changes for the worse in the case, it should be approved once a visa number becomes available.

Yes. And the reason is simple - Dates being current is a Dept of State thing useful for DoS to control visa allocation in a fair manner i.e. FIFO within a country category.

USCIS doesn't care much about dates being current or not other than limiting the intake of new 485 only for those that have dates current. But once a case is in - USCIS does process it if it has bandwidth. That's why we see all these preadjudications.

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

From Muthy's website : http://www.murthy.com/2012/05/23/pri...-do-they-work/

They can review a pending case at any time even if the Case is not current. But except RFE, NOID or Denied no other statuses are listed... hmm... this is really messed up...

The USCIS reviews I-485 applications even if the priority date is not current. If there are problems with the case, a request for evidence (RFE), notice of intent to deny (NOID), or a denial could be issued. If the case is proper and complete, the USCIS will place it on hold and, unless something changes for the worse in the case, it should be approved once a visa number becomes available.

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Can't believe it is RFE.. I hope I don't have to do medicals again next year.

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Originally Posted by eb2visa

From Muthy's website : http://www.murthy.com/2012/05/23/pri...-do-they-work/

They can review a pending case at any time even if the Case is not current. But except RFE, NOID or Denied no other statuses are listed... hmm... this is really messed up...

The USCIS reviews I-485 applications even if the priority date is not current. If there are problems with the case, a request for evidence (RFE), notice of intent to deny (NOID), or a denial could be issued. If the case is proper and complete, the USCIS will place it on hold and, unless something changes for the worse in the case, it should be approved once a visa number becomes available.

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Not sure until we see...

Got the physical copy. It's RFE....