But that doesn't explain why they are backdating so much. They "claim" petitions were filed improperly after the "deadline" but going by everything I have encountered no one at the USCIS even knew about this change until the beginning of MAY!.

What they should have done was inform the USCIS of the change, made the cange to the I-129f forms LAST YEAR, and then set a cutoff date for the changed forms for those that are accepted after a ceartain date. Those that are already in process should be ok.

I am an angered beyond belief with this ordeal. I am going to be contacting who ever insignifigant congress person and representative about this, AND I am going to be ralying up and auditioning some lawfirms who might be willing to take this to a class action against the DHS and the Federal Government. I know of a few that are pretty good.

They have awoken a sleeping giant in me with this one. My fury has no bounds. NO ONE MESSES WITH MY LIFE OR MY FUTURE AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!

As a newbie to this site and forum, I thought I would just add my two cents for whatever it's worth.

I learned on Friday that I was also one of the unfortunate 1100 petitions that was approved erroneously. Since that time, I have spent several hours reading this thread and trying to find as much information as possible about what's going on.

While aggravating and disappointing, IMBRA is here and is now part of our reality. Arguing about whether it's right or wrong, good or bad is really irrelevant. It's here and we have to deal with it. Even if it does get thrown out, it won't happen till long after our fiances have their visas and have joined us in America. At the end of the day, I think we all should just take solace in the fact that all this mess is just delaying the inevitable. I don't think for a minute that a 30, 60 or 90 day delay is going to change how we feel about our loved ones. I am very confident that everything will be resolved soon and in several years it will just be another story that we will share with people about the process we went through to be together with our loved ones.

From what I've seen, unless your a criminal or don't have honest intentions, the new law isn't going to cause anyone to get denied. It's only temporarily slowing down the process and testing our patience.

For whatever it's worth, for those that met through an IMB or dating website or whatever they're calling it these days, I spoke with an immigration attorney who told me that his contacts at the consulates said that those people who met before the new law went into effect won't have any problems. The law only really applies from the date it went into effect and is not retroactive. I believe that everyone that is in the midst of the K-1 process right now met their fiance long before this law went into effect.

Just my opinion and not meant to offend anyone.

Good Luck to everyone and just try to stay positive.

I agree with what you've said. But I also don't beleive that it would have a negative effect even on people who used MB after 03/06. That is, except for this slowdown. All they are asked on interview is whether broker did provide all required information. But even if he didn't, I don't see why that should affect the interview or petition in a negative way, since obviously neither petitioner, nor beneficiary are responsible for MB's actions. As far as I understand, this information is gathered as a part of evidence on brokers, but not their clients.

Has anyone who had their petitions recalled had any news yet? There were different messages, some saying they were going back to the service centres and some (almost) saying that the petitions were practically void.

There's definatly not excuse for that, it's not the petitioners fault some idiots approved petitions before they should have why should they be punished for it

I agree with the fact that we need to just deal with it!! IMBRA is here for us to deal with. We should becareful not to get confused again or to run in circles. If you read this thread you will see us running in circles. The fact is, there's is a draft, USCIS is working on things, and there's nothing we can do about it. I do however think that we have been making a positive effect on our situation by causing a stir at USCIS. I think all of our inquires, phone calls, e-mails, and congress help has pushed the USCIS to move faster. So, keep up the good work!!! One way or another, the process will move forward.

And in my own personal opinion, however small it is, we will have answers soon!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to everyone!!!!!!

OH you are right where most of us were a few weeks ago when we first heard about this. I feel 100% the same you do. The worst part is the they haven't even notified us yet. The law went into effect 3 months ago and they haven't sent anything to petitioners who filed after that date and whose petitions are not being processed.

So make your phone calls and do what you can. I will join any class action against DHS! Then try to focus on that this is coming to an end shortly and the new forms should be out within the next few weeks. It's almost over.

I had my petition recalled and have no news about it yet. Only that it´s been sent from NVC to USCIS.
That´s all.
No update on their website, no contact at all.

Did NVC confirm that for you? My embassy abroad claims to have mailed our petition back on the 11 of May via "diplomatic Mail" whatever that is. As of last Thursday NVC replied to my email and said that they did not receive my petition as of yet. ITS BEEN 3 WEEKS
How long did yours take? I'm trying to keep calm, but I think someone here is lying!!!!

I have a meeting today in New York with a lawfirm at 11am. Just so you all know, this class action will not be to get rid of IMBRA, it's needed. It is to make known, and make them accountable for the loss this is causing us, as well as the undue grief and stress for the negligence of how they implemented this "law".

It's not IMBRA, it's how they came to ratify it that is the problem.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT. I think in the end most of us understand the law and why they felt it had to be enacted, even if it doesn't affect us. It's the fact that they have not even had the courtesy to contact petitioners to let them know what is happening or provide any direction on what will happen next. That's why we are all going crazy - with no information comes complete uncertainty and their incompetence has affected our lives. I liken to to if you went to the DMV to renew your driver's license and they told you that there is a new written driving test but they haven't created it yet and they don't know when they will. So in the meantime, even though you maybe committed to a cross country drive and you are leaving on Friday, you cannot drive and they cannot tell you when you will be able to. (Of course in that situation, at least you would have the option to drive without a license - we have no options).

So please post anything you find out in your attorney meeting. Maybe they know more than the Senator's offices who don't seem to be able to provide anything concrete either.

Yes. My Consulate told me they mailed it by FedEx on My18th to the NVC. I called both NVC and USCIS.
NVC said they wouldn´t keep any record of it. USCIS knew nothing about recalled petitions.

Then I emailed NVC and CSC, even though my case is from Vermont.
They both said NVC had returned my petition to USCIS, but nothing else.

So that means they have it. I just wish they would update my information on their website.
It kills me to read "approved on April 17th"

But something is telling me that this is the week, guys.

Which begs the question of why one planned a cross-country drive without a driver's license.

Yeah, we're in the same boat. I was eventually transferred to an immigration officer who advised me to call every week to see if it had arrived, as they couldn't tell me anything until they had the file. She was very nice, but not particularly helpful, as I was doing that anyway.

Count me in on the class action. If this doesn't get resolved in time to get my fiance her interview by the beginning of August, we will have to reschedule our Labor Day weekend beach wedding party and she won't be able to start university in the fall. And I will definitely want to sue someone if that happens!

Actually, they do say it takes a while and that you shouldn´t make plans until you have your visa, not sure how you´d sue for that bit.

Read carefully - my example was if you went to RENEW a driver's license BEFORE a cross country trip.

It was just an example for the current situation we are all in due to DHS' incompetence.

Couldn´t resist.
Just called USCIS again and told my petition was sent back...........

She said "Oh, it must have happened because of this new law regarding IMBRA, and unfortunately there´s nothing I can tell you at this point. We haven´t been given any information".

I also said I knew about the draft form and asked if I was to submitt an application, if I should do it or wait for the new one and she said the same thing: "We weren´t given any information about that yet, sorry".

I know, I know. Nothing new, but we never know when the real facts are gonna show up.

The question remains the same.

HUH? Let's say your birthday is at the end of July and this is when your license will expire. Your plan is leave at the beginning of July to drive across the country and you are not sure when you might return home - could be end of July, could be end of August. Since you are a responsible US citizen, you go to DMV in early June to renew your driver's license early - before the date it expires - just in case you are not at home and are not available to go to the DMV in your city. But when you arrive at the DMV, they tell you there is a new test but they don't have the forms available and they don't know when they will be available.

It was JUST AN EXAMPLE of how ridiculous the situation is. It was to highlight the absurdity that is DHS. After all, they knew the law was going to affect I-129Fs, they just didn't do anything about it. Get it?

No attitude necessary!

Your example illustrates precisely why USCIS and DoS urge K-1 applicants not to make concrete wedding plans until the visa process is complete. Not to mention that your example is really a case of apples and oranges. But there's no need to get into all the intricacies as to why.

Forget it - it was just an example. It was never about making plans in advance or anything of that nature. It was about how absurd it would be if the DMV told you they cannot give you a form and you could not renew your license. . . that's it.

Hi Kitkat, guess we are both on this message board too

I will also join in any class action law suit, let me know what I need to do and what you need from me.

And my idea got beat down last week to have a factually thread about IMBRA. I look through the 100s of posts to see someone asking questions about not having a drivers license. What does that have to do with IMBRA?

Shouldn´t we go back to "let´s collect information about IMBRA" subject?

Let´s forget about the rest and try and gather more information about our petitions and what´s gonna happen to us.

I know the draft is there and we should be hearing something soon, but somehow I´m having one of the worst days ever.

At this point there´s nothing further to gather, but rather wait for the new form and possible RFE folks.

Exactly. That´s why I keep comming here.
At some point someone will hear something and let us know.

happy monday everyone i hope this week brings us good news. as for now we wait...

Hi folks,

I just got back from the meeting. I will be brief and wont give out too many details. But they will investigate this issue and get back to me on Wednesday. They, along with the entire staff I spoke with also thought that this was rediculous with how they are going about it. They even, through their professional means logicaly deduced the negative outcomes of those immediatly effected. I guess to tally the potential case and income, but they had some interesting think tank ideas of the effects of this slam.

As a disclaimer, I have a no BS relationship with them. They gave me their honest opinions on this, not just to get me excited to start a lawsuit, like most shady lawfirms might do, but so we know we are not alone in thinking this whole implementation of the IMBRA law is preposterous. Even from outsiders looking in.

I had to even actually provide a copy of the law for them to even come to know of it's existance. This law has been implemented so underhandedly, that not even the DHS knew about it until the memorandum was released on May 6th. Seriously!

I wont divulge at this time the strategies of the approach. Nor will I ever, I think. I will leave that up to them if they want to take the case after careful investigation.

Again, this will not be to revoke IMBRA, but to call attention to the squished people (us) it's leaving in it's path as this bahemoth of a ninja law lands.

Sorry, but that's total bull s hit.

I hope I am understanding you to mean that this whole situation is and not that I am trying to give incorrect information?

The situation is sad, badly organized, and poorly executed. Maybe not total bull s hit, but definitely burdensome, to say the least, for the people involved.

What is total bull s hit is the proposition that DHS had zero idea—none at all!—about the existence of the law prior to May 6. Shoot, the peons here at VJ knew about it long before then, so it must have been common knowledge, n'est-ce pas?

Oh ok I gotcha, Yes you are right in that. There was buzz going around about the law being passed. But no one at the DHS knew the intricacies of it until it was too late. That is why the USCIS never heard about it until WAY after the March 6th deadline (May 6th two months later). If you figure a month or so processing (bureaucracy) time for the DHS to finally inform the USCIS, they probably "officially" knew about it back at the end of March beginning of April when someone from the compliance department called attention to the deadline of this new law.

Thus why the USCIS hasn't had even a draft of the new I-129F form until very recently.

That is the current findings from what they could gather while I was there.

Well, that makes a bit more sense. Poor planning and even worse execution I can believe; total ignorance I can't.

Please correct me if I´m wrong.
Even though it was their mistake, even if they didn´t pay attention to the new law, they still need to meet a deadline, right?

As it was posted in this thread a few days ago, an article of an immigration lawyer called Gary something said their deadline to release a new whatever would be close to June 6th.

Is that still up for you guys too?

Definitely, one of the first things they told me was that a law of this magnitude is almost NEVER implemented so quickly like this after it's passed without generally at least a 6 month to 1 year grace period from it's effect, to avoid this exact type of thing. 2 months is no where near long enough due to the fact that it takes so long for the right hand to talk to the left with all of the standardized procedure, formal division of responsibility, hierarchy, and impersonal relationships that come from the way the system works.

I have come to find out through this entire journey I have been on even before submiting the I-129F, that a good 2 - 3 months average wait time throughout the visa process is not because of volume, but because of the inefficient bureaucracy that is involved. I liken the DMV example for it's intended purpose of the silly situation we are in to implement a law in such a short period of time, and not even inform those who would be doing the checking that there is checking now to be done to even get the forms ready.

I am ceartain that the USCIS, if they had known in a reasonable ammount of time, would have told us to put a hold on our applications, and to "go here for an updated application form" when one was ready. Now they are in the weed's and I'd say in a similar boat to ours trying to swallow this beast.



I think that was either speculation as to what "should" have happened, what hopefully will happen, or it's the deadline for the USCIS to have a new I-129F form ready. There is so much talk and noise going on right now it's hard to know the truth of it and what is fact, and what is just speculation, or hopefull plans to clean up this mess legaly by say; an extention to June 6th. I will leave that up to the professionals, should they decide to persue this, to decide after careful investigation.

Agree.
But still, if they managed to put a new draft of the form is because they are in a hurry too.
And I don´t think that´s because they feel sorry for us who have been waiting for so long.
I think it´s because they have to.

So even with such short notice it sounds like they will be adjusting to the new law very soon.

Ok this makes no sense. I just checked my status at USCIS and it says last updated April 29, 2006. Umm this morning it said June 3, 2006. What the #$($*&($ are they doing over there?


Now like 3 minutes later it says 6/3/2006. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

zethris you are sooo on target (and my new hero). If everyone on this forum chose to take action we could put some real pressure on those that can FIX the problems with USCIS management.

You hit the nail on the head- USCIS has proven to be as competent as FEMA was during the New Orleans hurricane! As we all know, USCIS and Dept of State insulate themselves from responsibility and the consequences of their poor management, and we suffer. There is no accountability! That is why the system is broken.

There is no excuse for a fiancee visa to take 9-12 months from application to issue. None.

The government always f's up whatever they touch, and as we continue to give up our freedoms (wiretapping, background checks, IMBRA) the worse it will get.

Class action law suit- bring it on! I want in!

Readers of this thread - If you have not contacted your Congressperson or Senator, you must do so today. Tell them this abuse of applicants and lack of accountability by USCIS is not acceptable.

Sheep to the back of the visa line.

What, exactly, are y'all planning to sue for? Just out of curiosity.

yes, no suing please. It will just make the process longer...

I am not at liberty to divulge that information due to possible pending litigation. But it wont be meant to delay things, or get rid of the new law. I wouldn't be persuing this if that was a possible outcome.

Ah, I see.

Well, in that case, I'm not exactly sure what you're going to sue for; that is, what kind of damages you're going to claim and how you'd collect them. But I don't think you can sue the government simply because you're angry/annoyed/frustrated. Well, you probably can, but I don't know how much chance of success you'll have.

In a civil suit, as far as I know in my non-lawyerly ways, a plaintiff has to prove that the actions on the part of a defendant were either willful or sufficiently negligent, and that the damages caused are specific and quantifiable.

Because the front line people at USCIS didn't know about it, you project that "no one" at USCIS or even DHS knew about it?

I contacted my Congressman's Office last week and faxed them my situation with regards to my visa application being pulled from the foreign consulate mid-May. I just contacted them today to see if they had any additional information. They informed me that they had contacted VSC and were notified that they are in conferences all week. Anybody else get a similar type of response?

Hang on.
Who is responsible for writing the new I129F form that is now out as a draft?
Is that USCIS?

I know OMB is the one to approve it, but who designed the new form to meet the new IMBRA request?




Conferences? Conferences regarding ... ??

I don't know what kind of conferences. They just said conferences, which I thought was odd that the whole office (or at least people who could answer questions) would not be available.

God bless these conferences.

USCIS website has un update on the What´s New link with their newsletter for June 2006.
Nothing about k1 Visas. Nothing at all.

Here´s the link: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/uscistoday.htm

Well, at least we know their webmaster is working today.
Let´s hope new processing dates will come as well.

Bah. Still no touches since May 1, which I assume is the date they assembled the list of applications to be recalled.

That news page is just to empower USCIS if you take close notice of it.

Yes, it was a bit too self-congratulatory for my taste.