So that was useless.

So that was useless.

Hi All,

I hope you are all hanging in there - oh how I know we all want to be with our loves!

But at the end of the day, IMBRA really is a serious issue. Unfortunately there have have been far too many occurences in this country that necessitate the need for this law. Hopefully the government will sort this out so that IMBRA really does protect people from abuse. So let’s consider ourselves crusaders while we are creating awareness of the negative IMBRA affects. Hopefully the new forms/procedures/checks/??? the government comes up with will take into account those of us who do not use marriage brokers.

And I am willing to wait a few extra months if this really does save any person from any country harm, pain, and/or death (even though my bloody ovaries are kicking and I’m going through fert........ oops....... sorry........ venting!)

Here’s a reminder to the worst case/best case time frame scenario........

Along with the new forms we talk of, we need to add the pamphlet on domestic violence that needs to be written and translated into x number of languages, delivered to every beneficiary. Now doesn’t THAT add some time!!?

Cheers

...which means that that is precisely what they will do.



There are others on this forum who have a much better understanding of the law than I do, but my understanding is that this would result in illegal and probably unconstitutional disclosure of information to some foreign fiance(e)s which would set IMBRA up for numerous lawsuits in the future.

I imagine a signed release by the USC would cover that though.

Whether or not this is factual, I dont know, but Gary Bala is an AILA lawyer

taken from http://fianceevisalawyer.com/

May 30, 2006

Parts of the IMBRA law, which are not currently being challenged in court such as Section 832, require USCIS and DHS to gather from U.S. petitioners their criminal background information, including information on convictions. The USCIS approved petitions as of March 06, 2006 and later were not complicant with this requirement. Thus, State Department is unable to continue to process. New I-129F Petition forms asking petitioners for this information was obviously called for under IMBRA, but USCIS has thus far not been able to comply. Though technically IMBRA applies to all K-Visas (K-1 & K-3), State Department is currently implementing the recall only on the I-129F Petition for K-1 Visas, for reasons which are not clear.

Meanwhile, USCIS is apparantly taking the position that standard administrative protocol allows a six (6) month grace period after passage of a new law such as IMBRA to issue the implementing regulations and release any new required immigration forms. The six (6) month grace period would expire appoximately June 06, 2006.

It would appear that in these cases USCIS will: either send a Request for Additional Evidence (RFE) to the affected petitioners requesting the newly-required information and documents to bring the petition approvals into IMBRA-compliance, after which they will continue to process the case and forward to State Department; or perhaps in some cases request that State Department and the post ask for the information and documents of petitioner through a letter to the visa beneficiary.

Our office contacted the USCIS, Regulatory Management Division, which advised us that they expect to issue implementing regulations and new form requirements by the six (6) month time frame after the new law's passage, which would be by approximately June 06, 2006. With the guidance to officers and others needed from the implementing regulations, it would thus be reasonable to expect that USCIS processing of the "recalled" I-129F Petitions will continue after that time. Petitioners and beneficiaries would be well advised to continue their efforts to remain patient.

Well, this all sounds pretty good "I think". I'm not sending in my petition in until after June 21st!! so I hope that everything will be resolved by then. I have never seen a better group of detectives as there are on this sight. From what I've been reading they should have new forms out soon and the processing back up to speed within a month, correct?....................just looking for something to make me smile!!! I've been confused by this IMBRA crap for a couple of day's.

Well Aussie, thats an interesting find. So if I read that right they will begin whatever procedure they decide on sometime around June 6. If that is the case then the black hole we are in may soon open up. One can only hope! Thanks lady!!

It looks that way yes. This is the first time there has been anything that I've noted about any information coming out of USCIS regarding IMBRA and I doubt Gary would be posting fairy tales, nothing to gain by that. It would fall into the timeframe too for new I-129F's referred to in the latest OMB emergency review request.

Thanks for the good news... at least something...
I'm in the stage looking for doing DCF... needed to get marriage first, abandon my K1 and file for CR-1... it seems that the marriage process does take some time and the CR-1 will also take another time…

That's great news indeed, and from what that USCIS (I know they are crazy and never give a proper answer) rep told one of our members, that he should sit tight and that very soon he'll be getting something, and even mentioned something this week. June 6th is next week so that would mean we're pretty close. I can live with June 6th.

Let's home that lawyer did his job and really managed to talk to USCIS officials about this matter. I'm now feeling very positive again.

So I was trying to find out exactly when did my petition go back to USCIS from the embassy abroad.Since all petitions go through NVC ( I think ) I thought they should have a date. Mind you they called my fiance on the 11th of May and made it sound like they are sending it out ASAP. I never bothered to ask on what date. SO I emailed NVC, and here was my answer:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your inquiry indicates the petition has been forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) for further processing. The NVC has not yet received this petition back from the US Embassy. The NVC will send further instructions upon receipt of the petition. Please contact the US Embassy to verify the status of this petition.

Regards,
National Visa Center

I am flipping out!!!!I have no idea what the $%*& is going on!!! And tomorrow is a holiday in Israel so I doubt I can get a hold of them, plus they are not very forthcoming with information on this topic, as I've realized already

I Didn't now we were espousing opinions on the justification of IMBRA. I disagree with your claim and will vote to repeal.

http://new.petitiononline.com/imbra05/petition.html

Go for it no-one is stopping you. I actually thought americanwomans post was reasonably balanced. She mentioned the good and the bad without going into a lot of detail on either side to try and give people a bit of a boost in how everyone is feeling. I wouldnt call it espousing opinions on the justification of IMBRA

Americanwoman, I agree. I did a study of mail-order brides last year and read a lot of studies examining the process, and I personally do not think repealing is the way to go. The IMBRA is the most effective piece of legislation to help mail-order brides who come to the United States and are unaware of any felonies, prior (or current marriages), sexual abuse and the like of their husbands and are just not in the position to acquire that information or enforce their rights thereupon. It puts the burdens on the mail broker agencies and to some extent on the US government, to help hold accountable any mail broker agency that puts brides in a dangerous or compromising position, which is important given that those two agencies and forums have the best access to both that information and the brides themselves. It will take a while for it to become effective, but until now there had been no monitoring of mail-order brides whatsoever, and they had just been entering the US without any active measures to inform them of their rights (translating into a general ineffectiveness in monitoring or ameliorating the situation), particularly in the case of VAWA. Many women did not realize that even if they don't get married they can still seek protection under VAWA for abuse. Red tape bureaucracy being what it is however did not have the kinks ironed out before implementation, and I support the act but am just annoyed that I a lawyer bringing in a Belgian businessman got caught up in the process.

Well, to me, it sure reads like an opinion that is trying to justify IMBRA. I'm not sure what you're reading. How is post "balanced"? Do you really consider the only negative aspect of this law is the delay in processing petitions?

I'm not really sure what the other negative effects are going to be. Note that, for example, if a petitioner does have a black mark or two in his past, it does not mean that the petition will be denied, only that the beneficiary must be informed.

A great example might be a middle-aged gentleman who was involved in a bar brawl as a careless youth. If he was charged with assault, that doesn't mean he's a violent, horrible, potential abuser who should never have a chance to bring his fiancee to the States—it means that she will be apprised of the situation and she can decide whether or not her fiance is a reformed man. If she is comfortable with his past, she is free to decide to go forth with the process, fully aware of who her partner is and what her rights are if things turn sour.

Note too that Americans are required to submit to background checks for many, if not most, jobs; for federal student aid; for mortgages; etc. etc. etc. No one here is suggesting that if a certain job required a background check, he or she would refuse to submit to it. IMBRA, at the end of the day, is designed to make sure that foreign partners, primarily women I suspect, know what they're getting themselves into. No one's hand is being forced and no one's privacy is being invaded.

I don't think IMBRA is wrong, just not very well written.
And btw, Aussie's comments have nothing to do with waiting since she wasn't affected.

Okay, interesting development, at least on my part. I have called the USCIS numerous times for information, and am always stonewalled. I called yesterday and talked to a very nice lady...ended up chatting with her for quite awhile. Anyway, this morning I have this message about my case status:

Application Type: I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status:

On May 31, 2006, we responded to your request for more information concerning your case. If you have not received our response within 30 days from this date, please call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.



I also got a letter from my senate asking for more specifics regarding the case and that they will get ahold of the California Service Center "immediately".
I was just surprised to have ANY sort of response from the service center.

Were you given any sure info on the status of processing being halted?

Surprisingly, no. The woman I spoke to got her manager and they both spoke to me and said they had no knowledge of processing being halted. While I know they may just be 'out of the loop', I believe both were telling me the truth.
By the end of the conversation, they were telling me about their kids and had called several places to find out if anyone knew anything else that could help me out.
It's odd, as I know interviews have been cancelled (even one of my lawyer's other clients had his cancelled), but the service center claims processing hasn't stopped.
Leaves me just as confused as I was at the beginning.

Ok, it seems they were being nice but still clueless as opposed to rude and clueless. The Department of State is the one so far that has admitted the process halt and recalled petitions and that it will take a month to fix things.

I think I needed the nice and clueless compared to the other. :-)
So, is the department of State the level at which processing has been halted or the CSC? What i mean is...could I still go on and be approved at the CSC but then just halted in line at the Department of State?

Argh. I need a nap or something. How about someone just slap me around with a hammer? It'd make more sense and be less painful than all of this, eh?

Too bad I'm not much of a drinker...this would be a perfect time for it. :-)

No, the DOS just handles the laws and regulations, USCIS needs to wait for procedures from Washington.

Your process won't go to the DOS at all.

Here's something only mildly interesting.
I checked my status online on the USCIS website. It is now saying

Your I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E) was received on March 13, 2006. We will mail you a decision as soon as processing is complete. You can use our processing dates to estimate when this case will be done. Follow the the link below for current processing dates.

Before it said between 80 and 110 days to process (this is NVC).

When I first got the NOA1, it said between 60 and 90 days to process. When they changed it to 80-110 days, it gave my case a "last updated" date of 3/24/06. Now that they have changed it to "use our processing dates to estimate when this case will be done", my last updated didn't change.


This really isn't a big deal at all... funny though, when you watch all of this like a hawk, waiting for new information, the smallest change gets you all worked up!!

I wonder if they have changed this so people can't complain when the 110 days are up... hmm...
Anyone else seeing this change too?

The only petitions that would be being held without any further process will be the ones that were recalled. There is other processes besides the IMBRA requirements so therefore they would be correct in saying that processing hasnt stopped on all other petitions dated 6 March and later. They just wont be approving any of those petitions until they meet the requirements of the IMBRA. Petitions filed prior are also being processed and approved.

So in your own *smile* non lawyer opinion do you think it is a good idea for those of us who were sending our k-1 paperwork out next week to wait another week or two??

This is so confusing. I truly appreciate all you searchers out there!

She's just saying what the laywer said about IMBRA.

If you want to go ahead and send your petition to get it "in line" it's fine, if you don't want to get RFEd or whatever is it that they're gonna do to us then you wait, but there will be tons of petitions ahead of you once you do send yours.

EDIT: My status changed as well, they're no longer giving an estimate, before it was 30-45 days.

Thank you.
Just gathering opinions. Weighing out the options and seeing what other people would do.
I know we are all just reaching for information. Good luck with your k-1.

rachelw,

I sure do hope that USCIS has finally done away with the useless time estimates. The advice to use the processing dates to estimate case completion is a step in the right direction, unfortunately it omits the crirical element of how to use the processing dates. Too many people read the words 'we have begun processing' and their mind jumps ahead to 'we have completed processing'.

Yodrak

I have the same on mine as yours.

I think that if everyone checks they will have the same.

Yodrak, indeed, people do think that only their cases have that date so their petition should be the exact one they're claiming to be working on.
If I understand processing dates correctly it means that the oldest date they're processing is the one they put down, which could mean some faster official could be working on a different pile and have already reached further dates.

Something interesting just happened. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh (PLEASE NO ENDLESS DISCUSSION OF THE VIRTUES OF RUSH HERE! save that for the off topic forum) There was someone that got on and talked about the delays caused by IMBRA. He ( the caller) sounded very angry about the whole thing because our government is bending over backwards to allow the illegals to stay only to hold up the ones that are doing it legaly. Rush said he should fly her to Mexico and walk her across. He also said that this illustrates how the government could deal with the illegal issue if it wanted to. Just thought it was interesting that we just got national coverage for our problem.

The recall involves petitions that were approved post 5 March and sent onward to the DoS. So, has the NBC approved and forwarded any I-129f petitions with Receipt Date after 5 March? Perhaps there are not any K3 petitions for the USCIS to recall from DoS?

Yodrak

Gary, that shows how much it's costing petitioners this IMBRA delay.

Oh yeah, I definatly agree. Their dates really don't seem to mean much. It seems that it's all about accountability, not wanting to give an estimate that something will be done by a certain time, then when it isn't, having to deal with a boatload of complains from people wondering why their petitions haven't been approved. I just interpreted that the change in how they advise people to estimate the wait for an approval was done for that reason. Maybe the 110 day figure is not so accurate anymore. I'll believe their estimates, and online status crap when I have the NOA2 in my hand!!

I am a member of Rush 24/7 and have the "special" email address that gets to him. I think I may send him a detailed email and see if he can give us some more discussion time. He does have an audience of 20 million people. He sounded sympathetic.

That seems cool.

Laura,

The processing date is the Receipt Date of the most recent case being processed, not the oldest. In the event of discrepancies there are a number of possible explanations:

- since the processing dates are updated only periodically, it is possible that more recent cases have entered processing since the last update

- it's also possible for some cases to be taken off the shelf early for use in training

- it's possible that an incorrect processing date is published

Yodrak

The newest? Hmmmmm, well, then it goes to show how randomly that date is put, maybe they actually do an average.

We see cases way ahead of processing date being adjucating and stuff that should have been adjucated yeons ago still in processing. Go figure.

WTF!!!!! I just got this email!!!!

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The following is the latest information on your case status

Receipt Number: LIN*********

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status:

On June 1, 2006, we transferred your I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E) to an
office in CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER for processing. That office has
jurisdiction over the case. They will send you a written decision as soon
as processing is complete. You should receive a notice informing you
that your case has been transferred to a local office.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case
status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or
advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please
contact the National Customer Service Center.

National Customer Service Center (800) 375-5283.

*The projected processing time frame can be found on the receipt notice
that you received from the USCIS.
*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.


Sincerely,


The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

I am now going to Califonia????????

I just got the exact same thing!

Laura,

I gave you some possible explanations for the 1st situation.

The 2nd situation is easy to figure - there's an open issue that needs to be resolved. Two common ones would be that there's an RFE involved and that there's an IBIS hit that needs to be resolved. (All bets on processing time go 'out the window' when there's an IBIS hit - it takes however long it takes.)

Yodrak

I heard they were consolidating some of the visa's but they just sent mine to the SLOWEST service center of them all!!!!OMG!!!

They also just changed the message on the website and are saying the same thing!!

Ha, I just got 5, yes, 5 identical emails from USCIS saying the same thing your did! (Obviously mine was originated at NVC also).
So, I wonder where our petitions fall in line with those that are already at CSC.

The kicker? (I think this is funny, in light of the processing time discussion)

*The projected processing time frame can be found on the receipt notice
that you received from the USCIS.

Yeah, ok, they said 90 days on mine... you only have 6 days left CSC!! Such BS.

Mine hasn't changed at all and I haven't gotten any emails but then again I am way behind both of you.

Well folks we have become experts at:

1) grasping at straws
2) dissecting form letters
3) recognizing the disorganization of bureaucracy
4) hearing that patience is the wisest path

Well life isn't a Dan Brown book I'm afraid. There are no hidden meanings or happy endings if we just turn the pages.

We are organized at gathering information. We obviously are good at talking about it. But how much longer do we just talk and send out individual letters and make individual phone calls?

I'm planning to move back to the US (from Russia) with my Russian fiance in August and get married in September and her restarting school and I will be looking for a job. But now everything in the previous sentence is in jeopardy. Anybody in a similar situation? Thought so!

Well you can bet if I was in the states I would be making those phone calls all day too and getting just as far and hearing the million different stories.

Can we at least set a deadline for when we stop waiting and start acting? I'm talking about committees from each SC with coordinated group efforts to contact the press, contact the congresspeople responsible for the districts where the SC's are located, etc...or do we continue to hide behind our nicknames and accept the scraps and assorted BS being fed to us and devour it like famished animals?

I think it's about time to show we have some teeth.

Are we beggining to see what will happen for real? Your cases are changing offices? Hmmmmmmmm.


EDIT: Tigretigre, the ombudsman just replied to my e-mail with the exact same response he gave you.

Wow, that sucks. Sorry guys, to hear that.

Question: Did I get it right that they really havent recalled any K3 petitions yet? And do they actually just put the recalled K-petitions on hold? Or all K petitions with a receipt date after March 6th(including K3)?

My husband called Vermont SC and they said as well, that they are still processing cases as usual. So what?!

Regards Isabel

I am just wondering if my case goes to the bottom of the pile, top of the pile or mixed in with the rest that have my same NOA1 date. This sucks SO BAD!!!!!