My husband filed petition for his sister for immigrant visa in 2005. In 2009, USCIS mailed a letter I believe it is I-785(request for evidence), which was never received by us. It must have been lost in mail somewhere. But when we contacted the USCIS in 2010 march to check on priority update, we found out about that letter being misplaced in mail. They closed the case. We applied for motion to reopen the case through an attorney but it was denied also. Is there any way we can get this case open again without filling up a fresh I-130 application again?
Unfortunately, probably not. An appeal must be filed within 90 days of an order denying a motion to reopen. If not done, the order is final, according to the governing regulations authorized by the Immigration & Nationality Act. You will have to file a new I-130 petition.
You will probably need to re-file. MTR's are usually liberally granted if you can show the mail never reached you and you had kept both your address and the Petitioner's address current with USCIS.
I would want to know why you did not get the notification in the first place. I know you had an attorney who certainly asked you if you moved between the time you filed and the time that you inquired about the petition in 2010, I hope. I also hope that you tried to do a FOIA request to find out any information USCIS might have that you did not. If you are going to pursue a MTR, then I also recommend that you file another application anyway so you will not lose this whole time chasing a shadow if it turns out that way. To your point, Yes, you can always re-open a case if you have a good justification for it. Good luck!
You may be able to file a second motion to reopen, but the likelihood of success is slim. I would need to review the initial denial, the motion to reopen, and decision on the motion to reopen to properly assess the matter. The main problem is the amount of time that has passed since the decision was issued. You could also opt to try another motion to reopen as well as file a new petition. This way if the motion is denied, you have again started the process for her sooner rather than later.
Short answer, no. Since before 2005, USCIS (website) has offered an on-line status check service that will allow you to check the status of a pending petition or application on line. You can even sign-up to have the system send you an email whenever there is some up-date or development, such as sending and RFE (Request for Evidence). Under the circumstances you described, I'd be very surprised if the USCIS were to exercise favorable discretion here.
Unfortunately I do not believe you can do it without refiling.
According to the USCIS If the underlying application or petition was denied due to abandonment (e.g. failure to respond timely to a request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny), a motion to reopen may be filed if it can be shown that: the requested evidence was not material, the required initial evidence was submitted with the application or petition, the request for appearance or additional evidence was complied with during the allotted period, or the request for evidence or appearance was not sent to the address of record. Since you already filed a motion with the assistance of an attorney it is unlikely that you would have additional facts to submit that were not addressed by your prior attorney and so in your situation it may be better to simply re-file. You may want to file a Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) to see if you can find any useful information in the file. You should at least consult with an Immigration Attorney prior to taking any action on your case.
Probably not unless you can prove the lose of mail is caused by USCIS.
No, you must file a new I-130. It is too late for any other relief.
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