I-485 Transfer to BENEFIT CENTER UNIT or NBC - urgent please

[red200]

Hello all,


I have applied for 485 in Nov 2011, My case is EB2-I based and am current this month and next.
I did call L2 on 21st and they indicated that my case has been transferred to BCU (Benefits center unit).I am assuming its national benefit center unit, I haven't got any email alert about the transfer.
on 14th of this month congressman office told us that our applications are pulled and asked us to wait for 30 day's


When asked about the reason for the transfer, L2 officer hasn't given any and told that he will send a message to BCU and i should hear in 15 days by postal mail.
I am really confused now, My case has been pending from past 2 year's and suddenly it is transferred now.
I had a reckless in 2009 in VA, that was dismissed as infraction eventually after the amended charge was "failure to pay attention" , in VA i think reckless is quite common, It was dealt in traffic court.

So my questions are

is transferring to NBC a normal part of the procedure ? or should i expect an interview ?
If it is an interview, when should i expect it , we live near DC.

Do we have a way to find out the reason for the interview?, if indeed is an interview.

Thanks for the help

Red200

[red200]

Guru's, any help on this Is highly appreciated

[Pedro Gonzales]

Hello all,


I have applied for 485 in Nov 2011, My case is EB2-I based and am current this month and next.
I did call L2 on 21st and they indicated that my case has been transferred to BCU (Benefits center unit).I am assuming its national benefit center unit, I haven't got any email alert about the transfer.
on 14th of this month congressman office told us that our applications are pulled and asked us to wait for 30 day's


When asked about the reason for the transfer, L2 officer hasn't given any and told that he will send a message to BCU and i should hear in 15 days by postal mail.
I am really confused now, My case has been pending from past 2 year's and suddenly it is transferred now.
I had a reckless in 2009 in VA, that was dismissed as infraction eventually after the amended charge was "failure to pay attention" , in VA i think reckless is quite common, It was dealt in traffic court.

So my questions are

is transferring to NBC a normal part of the procedure ? or should i expect an interview ?
If it is an interview, when should i expect it , we live near DC.

Do we have a way to find out the reason for the interview?, if indeed is an interview.

Thanks for the help

Red200

I believe the BCU refers to the service center's Background Check Unit. I think it's just the resource within TSC or NSC that is charged with updating the IBIS checks. The 15 days they quoted is the usual time limit for response to any SR.

I don't think you should expect an interview or a delay unless there the IBIS check comes back with something new. The IBIS check is a normal part of the procedure, and the delay I think, is just a normal delay in processing. You should hear back soon.

Any way, you may want to pursue a congressional enquiry, while you wait for the 15 day response to the SR. I bet you'll get the approval email before then.

[red200]

I believe the BCU refers to the service center's Background Check Unit. I think it's just the resource within TSC or NSC that is charged with updating the IBIS checks. The 15 days they quoted is the usual time limit for response to any SR.

I don't think you should expect an interview or a delay unless there the IBIS check comes back with something new. The IBIS check is a normal part of the procedure, and the delay I think, is just a normal delay in processing. You should hear back soon.

Any way, you may want to pursue a congressional enquiry, while you wait for the 15 day response to the SR. I bet you'll get the approval email before then.

Pedro thank you so much for the note
It really sounds different from what I was thinking, in a positive way.


I am mostly sure he also said something about Benefits center Unit, But when I asked him to clarify he specifically said the word "BCU", That is one reason I am confused.

He also said The case is with this unit/center for "resolution". and did mention its the "last stage"

I did research in internet forum's, where I believe, transferring a case to national benefit center is also in its last stage (which may mean interview)

One more thing to note is I haven't received any online notification that there was some transfer of the application
but I understand online notification system is not reliable.

So do you still think, its with background check unit ?
I just want to give them some time before contacting them again may be a week.

Thanks

[Pedro Gonzales]

Pedro thank you so much for the note
It really sounds different from what I was thinking, in a positive way.


I am mostly sure he also said something about Benefits center Unit, But when I asked him to clarify he specifically said the word "BCU", That is one reason I am confused.

He also said The case is with this unit/center for "resolution". and did mention its the "last stage"

I did research in internet forum's, where I believe, transferring a case to national benefit center is also in its last stage (which may mean interview)

One more thing to note is I haven't received any online notification that there was some transfer of the application
but I understand online notification system is not reliable.

So do you still think, its with background check unit ?
I just want to give them some time before contacting them again may be a week.

Thanks

In addition to the online notification, you should also receive a physical I797C Notice of Action for the transfer. If you haven't, check with your lawyer to see if he's received something. If you don't receive something in 10 to 15 days, it's unlikely that there is an actual transfer.

Do you have an SR number? If so, call them to ask them where the application was. Tell them that the previous agent mentioned BCU and you wanted to know what it is. Although, if you're contacting them before the 15 days they'll probably just ask you to wait until then without actually answering your question. Your Congressman's staff may be able to get you more information, so that's certainly an avenue to try out.

[red200]

In addition to the online notification, you should also receive a physical I797C Notice of Action for the transfer. If you haven't, check with your lawyer to see if he's received something. If you don't receive something in 10 to 15 days, it's unlikely that there is an actual transfer.

Do you have an SR number? If so, call them to ask them where the application was. Tell them that the previous agent mentioned BCU and you wanted to know what it is. Although, if you're contacting them before the 15 days they'll probably just ask you to wait until then without actually answering your question. Your Congressman's staff may be able to get you more information, so that's certainly an avenue to try out.

Pedro,

I have received information that cases are in TSC and and they were pending background checks but now The background check has been resolved and the case is back with the officer.
does this mean the case is back with adjudicative officer ? or any other officer ?
and what would be the time frame for approval once it is assigned to a officer.

Appreciate any info

Thanks

[Pedro Gonzales]

I think your application is good to go and just waiting for the adjudicating officer to pick it up, run a final check and assign a visa number. All the best. Can you give us the dates that a) your application was sent for the background check (or the date you were told that), the date it cleared the background check (or the date you were told about it)? It should give us one datapoint on how long background checks take. Also keep us informed on when you receive your approval email. That'll be another interesting datapoint.

[red200]

I think your application is good to go and just waiting for the adjudicating officer to pick it up, run a final check and assign a visa number. All the best. Can you give us the dates that a) your application was sent for the background check (or the date you were told that), the date it cleared the background check (or the date you were told about it)? It should give us one datapoint on how long background checks take. Also keep us informed on when you receive your approval email. That'll be another interesting datapoint.

Pedro/Guru's

My application was approved on sep 15th, I just want to put my time line so that others can have an idea for additional review time line
I wanted to post it before, but was travelling . Anyways thanks for the insight you have given in the previous posting's, that really helped.

I was current on Aug 1st, below is the timeline

Aug 8th - was told by L2 that they need additional time, I didn't understand what it meant then
Aug 14th - was told by CM that application was pulled and wait till start of Sep
Aug 20 or 21st - was told by L2 that the application was with BCU, raised an SR
Aug 28th - CM confirmed that background check is done and its with an officer.
Sep 9th - got the reply from SR, that they had to perform additional review and its with Adjudicating officer as of 30th , Its seems the additional review about 2 weeks or less.
and on Sep 15th I got the approval, So It was with adjudicating officer for atleast 2 to 3 weeks.

I didn't open an SR after i had the info that it was with adjudicating officer and just waited till the approval.


My wife got the approval few day's back almost after 3 weeks after my approval, But it directly went to POST DECISION (saying application is approved), we still didnt get the CPO for her even after 2 day's
CM proactively confirmed that it is approved on the same day for her, we did not contact the CM.

One question i had was , all the approval's have CPO email first, but in her case, it was "POST DECISION"
is this normal, how many days do we need to wait for CPO after getting "POST DECISION" email first ?



Thanks Red