macus said:
Hi everyone. There seem to be a lot of good news for some people here. I'm so happy for you guys who receive their visas and those who got passport request. For everyone of us still here I'm positive we will all have good news too so we can be with our families and loved ones soon. My friend on the same appeal process said his lawyer said that he got a call for the hearing and they fixed it for December, but my question is why didn't they send a mail or email. At least one to the sponsor and the other to the lawyer? Why call his legal counsel only to inform him over the phone. Please anyone heard about that before? Or it's a new process? Thanks for your response in advance.
Both your friend and his lawyer should have gotten a written Notice to Appear for a Scheduling Conference by mail, indicating which number they will call, on which date, and at approximately what time. If your friend has appointed counsel, they would usually call the lawyer instead of the sponsor. Once they agree on a date for the hearing, they will follow up with another Notice to Appear for the hearing, again to both the lawyer and the sponsor. This would be about a week or so after the Scheduling Conference. Your friend's lawyer should know how long the wait usually is in his city, and who to call for follow-up.
They only send the Notice to Appear by regular mail, and not registered mail. If it is anything like in my area, my postal mail gets misdelivered or delayed quite often. Sometimes the neighbour that gets the misdelivered mail throws it out rather than hand-delivering to the correct address, or popping it back into the mailbox. But chances are remote that both the sponsor and his lawyer would not have received the Notice to Appear.
They should get with the times, and use email. It's faster, less expensive, and more likely to be received.