No Progress in 5 months...

[clmclmclm]

Hi there,

First of all, I just discovered that forum and I haven't been able to find other existing threads which could help, but please feel free to orient me to an existing discussion.

Quick background about my situation:
My name is Clement, I'm french. Located in San Francisco. I came in the US for the first time in June 2013 and after a couple of J-1, two missed H-1 and one missed O-1, my partner and I finally decided to get married, which happens last December. Since then absolutely no progress, below are the reason why:

//JAN 6// Application (I-485 and I-765)
//FEB 6// Form I-797C #1 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer heard the fees could have change but we took our shot going with the previous -cheaper- amount...)
//FEB 7// Application resubmitted, with updated payment amount.
//MAR 3// Form I-797C #2 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer doesn't understand, says it's probably because of the change of administration team, double check online and try again)
//MAR 8// Application resubmitted, same as it was.
//APR 1// Form I-797C #3 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer still doesn't understand and FINALLY call USCIS to figure this out. New USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, one individual check for each application forms...what a joke...)
//APR 3// Application resubmitted, with separated checks.
//MAY 8// Form I-797C #4 ("The application was filed on an outdated form" OMG WT*...)


So now I am trying to figure is my lawyer is completely unqualified (she's a great friend of mind who has been working in immigration for the last 10 years, I thought it was a sure bet) or this is all because of the USCIS administration...
I hope some of you then could answer few of my questions below:

We all agree that she should have called USCIS after the first Form I-797C we received, I made the mistake to trust her judgement. However she has been telling me about that USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, about the separation of the checks. Did anybody heard about this as well?
She also told me, USCIS didn't update their website until MAR 15th 2017 that's why there is no way she could have knows earlier. 2 month and half later, for real? That sounds kind of unbelievable so I would love to hear if anybody else had issue with this recently.

Now there is that "The application was filed on an outdated form" issue.
Did anybody had a similar issue before and ended up being one of the many mistakes from USCIS again?

I am know wondering if I am not wasting my time and my savings with a terrible lawyer. Do you think I should find a new one and ask for my money back since it's been 5 months and she still hasn't been able to send a valid application to USCIS (I paid $2500 for her service...)?

If anybody also had a terrible experience like mine, please don't hesitate to share it with me. Hopefully it could reassure me because I am now really scary about my future. I already have an offer letter for a job but I might be loosing it if it takes me too long to get a work authorization, and money still doesn't grow on tree, especially in the bay area.
It is very frustrating to see all those people who can actually change/improve people's life but end up ruining some...

Thank you so much for your help.
Clem

[Amanda Dawn]

Hi there,

First of all, I just discovered that forum and I haven't been able to find other existing threads which could help, but please feel free to orient me to an existing discussion.

Quick background about my situation:
My name is Clement, I'm french. Located in San Francisco. I came in the US for the first time in June 2013 and after a couple of J-1, two missed H-1 and one missed O-1, my partner and I finally decided to get married, which happens last December. Since then absolutely no progress, below are the reason why:

//JAN 6// Application (I-485 and I-765)
//FEB 6// Form I-797C #1 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer heard the fees could have change but we took our shot going with the previous -cheaper- amount...)
//FEB 7// Application resubmitted, with updated payment amount.
//MAR 3// Form I-797C #2 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer doesn't understand, says it's probably because of the change of administration team, double check online and try again)
//MAR 8// Application resubmitted, same as it was.
//APR 1// Form I-797C #3 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer still doesn't understand and FINALLY call USCIS to figure this out. New USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, one individual check for each application forms...what a joke...)
//APR 3// Application resubmitted, with separated checks.
//MAY 8// Form I-797C #4 ("The application was filed on an outdated form" OMG WT*...)


So now I am trying to figure is my lawyer is completely unqualified (she's a great friend of mind who has been working in immigration for the last 10 years, I thought it was a sure bet) or this is all because of the USCIS administration...
I hope some of you then could answer few of my questions below:

We all agree that she should have called USCIS after the first Form I-797C we received, I made the mistake to trust her judgement. However she has been telling me about that USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, about the separation of the checks. Did anybody heard about this as well?
She also told me, USCIS didn't update their website until MAR 15th 2017 that's why there is no way she could have knows earlier. 2 month and half later, for real? That sounds kind of unbelievable so I would love to hear if anybody else had issue with this recently.

Now there is that "The application was filed on an outdated form" issue.
Did anybody had a similar issue before and ended up being one of the many mistakes from USCIS again?

I am know wondering if I am not wasting my time and my savings with a terrible lawyer. Do you think I should find a new one and ask for my money back since it's been 5 months and she still hasn't been able to send a valid application to USCIS (I paid $2500 for her service...)?

If anybody also had a terrible experience like mine, please don't hesitate to share it with me. Hopefully it could reassure me because I am now really scary about my future. I already have an offer letter for a job but I might be loosing it if it takes me too long to get a work authorization, and money still doesn't grow on tree, especially in the bay area.
It is very frustrating to see all those people who can actually change/improve people's life but end up ruining some...

Thank you so much for your help.
Clem

Wow that's crazy ... I filed in December also and my lawyer was upto date with all the fee changes way in advance ...your lawyer definitely sounds like they have no clue . We paid $1300 for my lawyer and we had no rfes, and have my green card already

[shroy124]

Hi there,

First of all, I just discovered that forum and I haven't been able to find other existing threads which could help, but please feel free to orient me to an existing discussion.

Quick background about my situation:
My name is Clement, I'm french. Located in San Francisco. I came in the US for the first time in June 2013 and after a couple of J-1, two missed H-1 and one missed O-1, my partner and I finally decided to get married, which happens last December. Since then absolutely no progress, below are the reason why:

//JAN 6// Application (I-485 and I-765)
//FEB 6// Form I-797C #1 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer heard the fees could have change but we took our shot going with the previous -cheaper- amount...)
//FEB 7// Application resubmitted, with updated payment amount.
//MAR 3// Form I-797C #2 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer doesn't understand, says it's probably because of the change of administration team, double check online and try again)
//MAR 8// Application resubmitted, same as it was.
//APR 1// Form I-797C #3 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer still doesn't understand and FINALLY call USCIS to figure this out. New USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, one individual check for each application forms...what a joke...)
//APR 3// Application resubmitted, with separated checks.
//MAY 8// Form I-797C #4 ("The application was filed on an outdated form" OMG WT*...)


So now I am trying to figure is my lawyer is completely unqualified (she's a great friend of mind who has been working in immigration for the last 10 years, I thought it was a sure bet) or this is all because of the USCIS administration...
I hope some of you then could answer few of my questions below:

We all agree that she should have called USCIS after the first Form I-797C we received, I made the mistake to trust her judgement. However she has been telling me about that USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, about the separation of the checks. Did anybody heard about this as well?
She also told me, USCIS didn't update their website until MAR 15th 2017 that's why there is no way she could have knows earlier. 2 month and half later, for real? That sounds kind of unbelievable so I would love to hear if anybody else had issue with this recently.

Now there is that "The application was filed on an outdated form" issue.
Did anybody had a similar issue before and ended up being one of the many mistakes from USCIS again?

I am know wondering if I am not wasting my time and my savings with a terrible lawyer. Do you think I should find a new one and ask for my money back since it's been 5 months and she still hasn't been able to send a valid application to USCIS (I paid $2500 for her service...)?

If anybody also had a terrible experience like mine, please don't hesitate to share it with me. Hopefully it could reassure me because I am now really scary about my future. I already have an offer letter for a job but I might be loosing it if it takes me too long to get a work authorization, and money still doesn't grow on tree, especially in the bay area.
It is very frustrating to see all those people who can actually change/improve people's life but end up ruining some...

Thank you so much for your help.
Clem

I am so sorry for you. She has wasted your 5 months. And you paid $2500 to her? You need to ask for a refund and consult another attorny. Seems like your payment problem is solved all she did was filed out dated forms along with the correct fees. Anyways, keep all the I 797 notice of action copies with you do not trash them. Also, download new forms from USCIS website and fill them and then submit them. Make sure she is not doing anything wrong this time.

FYI you have to file I-130 as well along with I 485 and I 765. Without filing I-130, you will get and RFE. And there is a different fee for I-130 and you need to make a seperate check for I-130 form. All the best and keep us posted

BTW did you pay for seperate I-485 and I-765? I-765 fee is included in the fees of I-485 if you are filing them together. The total fees of filing I-485 is $1225 and it covers your I-765 and I-131 as well. The filing fee of I-130 is $535. Make sure you include two checks of $1225 and $535 along with your application this time.

[babysneggie]

Your lawyer is way too irresponsible. Even the old fee amount (accepted before December 23,2016) required two separate checks. This is NOT a new rule. And many self-filers, including me are aware of this.

As for the forms, they came up with new ones for I-485 in January and I-130 in February but I remember that it's stated clearly on the website "we will accept the old form until April xx, 2017". They've recently changed that to "no previous edition accepted." So she should have known and brought it up to you to file before then.

How your lawyer does not keep up with the changes especially working in the field is beyond me. Please ask for a refund for this waste of time.

[faith888]

Im sorry to heard that, Clem. My piece of advice is, go and talk to your lawyer, talk and explain about how important this process to you ( I bet she knows!)
Ask her whats going on with your application, because your hoping for nothing. You wasted so much time already.

I hope you sort this out very soon. Good luck to you and stay positive!

[clmclmclm]

Thanks everybody

Thank you so much everybody for your feedback, definitely helping to manage the frustration even if it won't **** *ally solve all my issues.

I'm reviewing my whole case with my lawyer today, and getting those additional information from you guys might help making sure we won't have any more bad surprises.
I think we'll keep working with her only if we feel she finally cares enough (when you know we picked a friend of a friend especially because of this...), if not maybe we'll decide to self-fill too. It seems like people are really helping each other here, it definitely confort me about taking care of all of this myself. I wish I heard about that forum earlier.

Anyway, we'll do our best to stay positive and focus on a solution. I will definitely keep you posted and probably come back for more help! Thanks again you guys!!!

[clmclmclm]

Hi there,

I have been talking to my lawyer today and she told me that it was a mistake from USCIS again...
She explained to me that all the forms she sent are supposed to be valid until late 2018, as indicated on the right top corner of those forms, which seems to be true indeed...
She also told me that she has been contacting expert on immigration listservs, and it appears that we are not the only one with valid forms being rejected.

Because it is still faster and cheaper to keep working with her, we are resubmitting everything with the latest online forms and she will try to contact a USCIS supervisor in order to make sure our application goes through this time.
But to be honest I don't know what to believe anymore so please feel free to share your opinions as well.

We personally don't care that much if it will take some time to get my green card allowing us to freely travel back to France for a bit, but San Francisco is a very scary city financially speaking, so I can't count on my wife and our savings for taking care of everything indefinitely...

[BarsAlish]

Hi there,

First of all, I just discovered that forum and I haven't been able to find other existing threads which could help, but please feel free to orient me to an existing discussion.

Quick background about my situation:
My name is Clement, I'm french. Located in San Francisco. I came in the US for the first time in June 2013 and after a couple of J-1, two missed H-1 and one missed O-1, my partner and I finally decided to get married, which happens last December. Since then absolutely no progress, below are the reason why:

//JAN 6// Application (I-485 and I-765)
//FEB 6// Form I-797C #1 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer heard the fees could have change but we took our shot going with the previous -cheaper- amount...)
//FEB 7// Application resubmitted, with updated payment amount.
//MAR 3// Form I-797C #2 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer doesn't understand, says it's probably because of the change of administration team, double check online and try again)
//MAR 8// Application resubmitted, same as it was.
//APR 1// Form I-797C #3 ("The payment amount is incorrect." My lawyer still doesn't understand and FINALLY call USCIS to figure this out. New USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, one individual check for each application forms...what a joke...)
//APR 3// Application resubmitted, with separated checks.
//MAY 8// Form I-797C #4 ("The application was filed on an outdated form" OMG WT*...)


So now I am trying to figure is my lawyer is completely unqualified (she's a great friend of mind who has been working in immigration for the last 10 years, I thought it was a sure bet) or this is all because of the USCIS administration...
I hope some of you then could answer few of my questions below:

We all agree that she should have called USCIS after the first Form I-797C we received, I made the mistake to trust her judgement. However she has been telling me about that USCIS rule from JAN 1st 2017, about the separation of the checks. Did anybody heard about this as well?
She also told me, USCIS didn't update their website until MAR 15th 2017 that's why there is no way she could have knows earlier. 2 month and half later, for real? That sounds kind of unbelievable so I would love to hear if anybody else had issue with this recently.

Now there is that "The application was filed on an outdated form" issue.
Did anybody had a similar issue before and ended up being one of the many mistakes from USCIS again?

I am know wondering if I am not wasting my time and my savings with a terrible lawyer. Do you think I should find a new one and ask for my money back since it's been 5 months and she still hasn't been able to send a valid application to USCIS (I paid $2500 for her service...)?

If anybody also had a terrible experience like mine, please don't hesitate to share it with me. Hopefully it could reassure me because I am now really scary about my future. I already have an offer letter for a job but I might be loosing it if it takes me too long to get a work authorization, and money still doesn't grow on tree, especially in the bay area.
It is very frustrating to see all those people who can actually change/improve people's life but end up ruining some...

Thank you so much for your help.
Clem

Woooow....your lawyer is soooo stupid,no other words....$2500 and 6 months that your lawyer wasted....unbelievable...you could've file yourself and save money and patience.Good luck,another 7-8 months to get to your interview from your new PD date,make sure this time all the documents will be filed properly and you not going to get any RFE,they also can delay your case

[S_R_E]

Hi there,

I have been talking to my lawyer today and she told me that it was a mistake from USCIS again...
She explained to me that all the forms she sent are supposed to be valid until late 2018, as indicated on the right top corner of those forms, which seems to be true indeed...
She also told me that she has been contacting expert on immigration listservs, and it appears that we are not the only one with valid forms being rejected.

Because it is still faster and cheaper to keep working with her, we are resubmitting everything with the latest online forms and she will try to contact a USCIS supervisor in order to make sure our application goes through this time.
But to be honest I don't know what to believe anymore so please feel free to share your opinions as well.

We personally don't care that much if it will take some time to get my green card allowing us to freely travel back to France for a bit, but San Francisco is a very scary city financially speaking, so I can't count on my wife and our savings for taking care of everything indefinitely...

We self filed in January and have had no RFE's. I have a priority date of 1/17/2017 and my EAD is arriving tomorrow and our interview for I-485 is scheduled for 6/7/2017 (so just under a month from now). Our case is in Los Angeles.

We used the USCIS website for all our information and checked and double checked before we mailed the package to make sure everything was right. We filed just after the fees changed and caught that because we double checked everything before mailing.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

https://www.uscis.gov/i-485

https://www.uscis.gov/i-765

Each form has a web page. They all include downloadable (PDF) instructions and forms. Plus checklists etc.. and always have the most current information.

There are also sections on each page for edition etc... that gives you all the info you need.

For each form I wanted to look up I just did a google search (i-485‚ i-130 etc...) and just clicked on the page for uscis.gov

ALL the information you need is there including instructions.

Sadly your lawyer really is not doing their job. This information is available free of charge in the public domain.

The only thing we paid for in this process was an online immigration lawyer with initial questions about the filing process and they gave us a list of all the forms we needed to file (if I recall it cost less than $50).

If nothing else you can look at the forms yourself and the instructions to answer your questions

[clmclmclm]

Nightmare never ends...

Hi everybody,

I'm back, a month later, with another rejection notice...yes I'm not kidding...I'm starting to blame myself so much for keeping trusting my lawyer...and I still want to trust her because it seems scary to go through that process, especially the interview(s), without great advices...

Anyway this time the issue is: "The application has not been fully completed. One or more of the following field(s) were not completed: Application Type"
My lawyer is calling USCIS tomorrow, but if it is indeed just a "check the ducking box" issue I'm gonna have to find a better legal solution...

In the meantime, I have a question for the most helpful here.
My lawyer told me something like "...some employers consider Receipt Notices sufficient for employment purposes.", meaning if an employer is ok to hire me, I can start working once I get my Receipt Notice(s).
Do you guys agree with that? Is this the same than with the driving license basically? You can start driving with the temporary form you get the same day, while you're waiting for your actual driving license...?

I might come back very soon to ask for more help if we finally decide to self fill our application.
By the way, is there any dedicated thread about the process for a foreigner (french) applying for Green Card and EAD through his spouse (US Citizen, from Puerto Rico)?

Thank you,
Clem

[Tokz1985]

Your lawyer is way too irresponsible. Even the old fee amount (accepted before December 23,2016) required two separate checks. This is NOT a new rule. And many self-filers, including me are aware of this.

As for the forms, they came up with new ones for I-485 in January and I-130 in February but I remember that it's stated clearly on the website "we will accept the old form until April xx, 2017". They've recently changed that to "no previous edition accepted." So she should have known and brought it up to you to file before then.

How your lawyer does not keep up with the changes especially working in the field is beyond me. Please ask for a refund for this waste of time.

I recently submitted combined amount for the forms in one check. They accepted my application so far. Biometrics scheduled on the 13th of this month.

Clem I filled out all the forms by myself. Everything you need to know will be in the instruction form. Best to get a new lawyer, your existing lawyer is clearly lost. Best of luck!

[Emil Batista]

Hi everybody,

I'm back, a month later, with another rejection notice...yes I'm not kidding...I'm starting to blame myself so much for keeping trusting my lawyer...and I still want to trust her because it seems scary to go through that process, especially the interview(s), without great advices...

Anyway this time the issue is: "The application has not been fully completed. One or more of the following field(s) were not completed: Application Type"
My lawyer is calling USCIS tomorrow, but if it is indeed just a "check the ducking box" issue I'm gonna have to find a better legal solution...

In the meantime, I have a question for the most helpful here.
My lawyer told me something like "...some employers consider Receipt Notices sufficient for employment purposes.", meaning if an employer is ok to hire me, I can start working once I get my Receipt Notice(s).
Do you guys agree with that? Is this the same than with the driving license basically? You can start driving with the temporary form you get the same day, while you're waiting for your actual driving license...?

I might come back very soon to ask for more help if we finally decide to self fill our application.
By the way, is there any dedicated thread about the process for a foreigner (french) applying for Green Card and EAD through his spouse (US Citizen, from Puerto Rico)?

Thank you,
Clem

I really hope all the uscis fees are included on those 2500$ the 1000 plus 490 or something, i heard it changed so its prob a little more, but anyways even with that included shes not cheap, mine charged me 750 and when i finally paid him he said 700 is fine and everything went smooth, ask ue lawyer for a refund shes completly incompetent, when u buy anything the provider should know what hes selling you, and dont worry about the interview you can get help here and all the lawyers you contact will always give you advises on the matter not only the current one, theyre basically obligated to do it.

[Grigonic]

You should blame yourself

Sorry for being so direct but #S_R_E explained to you that all the information you need is online.
Come on now we are in 21st century. All the information is online, the forms, the instructions and the amount you gotta pay. Where to send and how much to pay.
I think you should get a new lawyer cause obviously you can't do it on your own.
I know she is a friend but sometimes it's better to do it with strangers, cause friends think it's oke to drag their feet behind and be fine with it since it's a friend.
Just get the initiative in your hands and do it.
Otherwise I don't see the point of you keep asking the same things and people giving you advice and you do nothing about it.
Good luck to you and I hope you can get this started.

[Monalyza2]

I don't want to keep beating a dead horse since all have been said and advised but I do hope you do something to end your cycle of rejections: either get a new lawyer or fill out the forms yourself.

My husband is a foreigner and I am a USC. We filled out the forms ourselves using the advices on these forums and the instructions on the USCIS websites as guides (these forums gave me a great template for the cover letter) for our application. It took 2 wks for us to complete the forms and gather all the evidences and support docs. Our application was accepted without issue as soon as we file on 5/1. Good luck to you.