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DELAYS IN RECEIPT NOTIFICATIONS AND INTAK-RELATED PROBLEMS

This notice comes directly from AILA, American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Currently, the following forms are dealing with many delays in issuing notices of receipt for Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Foreign Workers; and Form I-765, Application for Employment, Authorization (EAD) filed with the USCIS safe facility. If you filed a simultaneous or stand-alone Form I-485 for adjustment of status (AOS) in September, October, or November 2020, you may be experiencing severe delays in receiving a receipt notice.

Although there are some applicants who have received their receipts, you will still likely have to wait a minimum of two to three months for receipts. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will continue to monitor this situation.

There are many factors behind this delay, including, but not limited to:

  • Increase in the number of applications submitted in September due to the expected rate hikes;
  • Unexpected increase in applications due to the movement of the visa bulletin in Fall 2020; and
  • COVID-19-Related Employee Reduction in USCIS Safe.

AM I IN STATE?

It depends on the type of status you held at the time of filing and the type of case under which you filed your AOS. Most of the receipts that were issued after months of delay still reflect the original filing date and show that the application was filed in a timely manner.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY APPLICATION IS REJECTED?

AILA has received widespread reports of denials from the USCIS safe. In some cases, rejections were submitted up to three months or more after the original submission date. USCIS has cited many reasons for denials, such as not checking a box, including all pages of a form, signing a form, or including a valid filing fee. In many cases, the application, in fact, included the requested information that USCIS wrongly claimed was missing. Depending on the reason for the rejection, you may be able to resubmit the request. Contact your attorney to discuss whether you should resubmit your case and other options that may be available to you.

WHAT ABOUT MY WORK AUTHORIZATION AND EARLY PAROLE?

Those who have applied for an AOS along with an employment authorization document or EAD (Form I-765) and an advance parole document (Form I-131) have experienced significant delays not only in receiving evidence, but also in the time it has taken for your requests to be processed. Whereas previously average processing times ranged from ninety days to six months, these cases can now experience delays of up to eight to nine months.

For EAD anticipated parole delays, it may not be helpful to follow up with USCIS after 90 days. If eight to nine weeks have passed, you may want to contact your attorney.

If six months have passed, it may be helpful to contact USCIS through Emma, ​​USCIS's online virtual assistance; by phone; or by submitting an electronic application. If those actions don't produce results and the delays are egregious, you may want to contact your local congressional representative or senator.

THINGS YOU CAN DO:

  • Request online submission to receive confirmation that your form has been received;
  • Check the status of your application online at uscis.gov or create a USCIS online account;
  • Complete Form G-1145, Electronic Notification of Application / Petition Acceptance, to receive a text message or email when your form is accepted
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