Urgent! i485 Denied, Option to file i290b

[honebami]

Hello, first time posting here...but I was hoping to get some insight, as my current situation is driving me nuts!

My husband and I were married on 01/21/2017. i797, i130, and i-765 all approved. We went to two interviews. Last interview they stated all they needed from was his South Korean birth certificate that we had on file translated (medical birth certificate, seeing as they already had the family registrar, from South Korean embassy). Sent in the RFE in 07/2018 with the translation.

Received denial notice on 08/08/2018, stating we sent in the mother's birth certificate instead, which was a mistake...Went to USCIS in person, where they gave us a form "Petition to Reopen Due to Possible USCIS Error". Not the i290b. Filed that in person with previous documents, stating they made a mistake in thinking the birth certificate was the mother's and not my husband's...Received another denial, unfortunately, they said they needed a birth certificate from a government agency (which they have!).

Infopass appt on 08/27/2018. Told immigration officer that they already had the translated family relationships and registrar on hand with the original i485 filed. Officer stated that they needed more proof/better example of a birth certificate, and if one wasn't available, to have the South Korean embassy write a letter in regards as to why more cannot be provided. Options were to either file a formal i290b or to abandon the app and start over the 485 process...

We have a little LESS than 2 weeks to file i290. Previous lawyer handling the case suggested that we give i290b a shot. I'm conflicted whether we file the i290b, since reading about it--seems like there's more denials than approvals...Does anybody here have any success with the i290b? Or even refiling the i485?
Thank you!

[b3b3g1]

Hello, first time posting here...but I was hoping to get some insight, as my current situation is driving me nuts!

My husband and I were married on 01/21/2017. i797, i130, and i-765 all approved. We went to two interviews. Last interview they stated all they needed from was his South Korean birth certificate that we had on file translated (medical birth certificate, seeing as they already had the family registrar, from South Korean embassy). Sent in the RFE in 07/2018 with the translation.

Received denial notice on 08/08/2018, stating we sent in the mother's birth certificate instead, which was a mistake...Went to USCIS in person, where they gave us a form "Petition to Reopen Due to Possible USCIS Error". Not the i290b. Filed that in person with previous documents, stating they made a mistake in thinking the birth certificate was the mother's and not my husband's...Received another denial, unfortunately, they said they needed a birth certificate from a government agency (which they have!).

Infopass appt on 08/27/2018. Told immigration officer that they already had the translated family relationships and registrar on hand with the original i485 filed. Officer stated that they needed more proof/better example of a birth certificate, and if one wasn't available, to have the South Korean embassy write a letter in regards as to why more cannot be provided. Options were to either file a formal i290b or to abandon the app and start over the 485 process...

We have a little LESS than 2 weeks to file i290. Previous lawyer handling the case suggested that we give i290b a shot. I'm conflicted whether we file the i290b, since reading about it--seems like there's more denials than approvals...Does anybody here have any success with the i290b? Or even refiling the i485?
Thank you!

My question is either you file 485 all over or go with i290b will you be able to provide the birth certificate? It seems like the reason of denial is very clear. USCIS doesn't have the right document so I would work on providing the right document ASAP because at the end this is a very crucial doc for your application and you need to find a way to provide it either path you choose to go, it is not something that they can just skip over with a new application. Maybe, you can ask other South Korean nationals what they provided and try to get the same way they did.

[honebami]

My question is either you file 485 all over or go with i290b will you be able to provide the birth certificate? It seems like the reason of denial is very clear. USCIS doesn't have the right document so I would work on providing the right document ASAP because at the end this is a very crucial doc for your application and you need to find a way to provide it either path you choose to go, it is not something that they can just skip over with a new application. Maybe, you can ask other South Korean nationals what they provided and try to get the same way they did.

Thank you for your response. I know that other South Korean citizens, when filing the i485, they provide a document which is the "family registry" and "basic certificate", since what we consider a birth certificate here does not exist there. All families use the family registry... Supposedly, these types of "household registration/family registration" documents were acceptable as birth certificates previously. I'm not sure why USCIS is giving us a hard time about it. His parents live in US and are going to the embassy today with him to see if they can get anything else to prove birth, but looks like it's not likely...

[b3b3g1]

Thank you for your response. I know that other South Korean citizens, when filing the i485, they provide a document which is the "family registry" and "basic certificate", since what we consider a birth certificate here does not exist there. All families use the family registry... Supposedly, these types of "household registration/family registration" documents were acceptable as birth certificates previously. I'm not sure why USCIS is giving us a hard time about it. His parents live in US and are going to the embassy today with him to see if they can get anything else to prove birth, but looks like it's not likely...

In my home country, we don't have anything called 'birth certificate'. I got a family registry doc from the embassy. The doc was both in native language and also in English. I sent the copy of this doc to USCIS and didn't have any issue. Hope your issue will be resolved soon.

Good luck!

[honebami]

In my home country, we don't have anything called 'birth certificate'. I got a family registry doc from the embassy. The doc was both in native language and also in English. I sent the copy of this doc to USCIS and didn't have any issue. Hope your issue will be resolved soon.

Good luck!

We also had the same family registry doc from embassy! Embassy told us today that everybody uses this document as birth certificate for immigration purposes...Don't know why we are being singled out like this. Hopefully meeting with lawyer tomorrow can bear some good news.
Thank you for your well wishes