Hi All,
Here is the detailed report that I promised earlier. I first applied for I-130 in April 2007 and I-129F in June 2007. Both of our petitions were transferred to California Service Center. In November-December 2007, we received RFE for both petitions asking us to submit marriage certificate. My wife and I were unable to register our marriage after our traditional religious wedding as I was in India for only one week. In India we are required to give 30 days notice before registering the marriage and I was not able to get that much leave so we couldnt get the registered marriage done. Anyway, I came back to US after the religious wedding and applied for I-130 and I-129F.
In December 2007, I took up a new job with another company and I was on 3 month probationary period, so I could not take any days off to goto India and register our marriage When I received the RFE, I called California Service Center and spoke with an immigration officer and explained the situation. I said it is not possible for me goto India at such a short notice, get the marriage certificate and submit it before the RFE deadline. The officer said just write that in a letter and send your explanation to CSC with the RFE notice. CSC said the officer who has your petition will take a decision based on what you write. So I did just that and after one week, they sent me a denial notice for I-129F with no option to appeal. THen after a few days they sent a denial notice for I-130 with option to appeal. Both the denial notices came in Jan 2008. And remember I could not take any days off from my job to travel all the way to India to get the marriage certificate because of probationary period from my employer. But after the denial I gambled and took a chance with my employer and told them I have to goto India for emergency reason.
So, in Feb 2008 I went to India for one week and got our registered marriage done and obtained the certificate. I came back to US and re-filed the I-130. Soon after receiving the NOA1 for I-130 I sent the I-129F in first week March 2008.
On March 20, 2008 (after receiving NOA1s for both petitions), I filed for expedite request. The reason for expedite was on humanitarian/financial/medical grounds. My grandfather who is staying with me here in the US had suffered a massive brain tumor attack last year and his condition kept getting worse. He went through 2 brain surgeries and spent 4 months in hospital which resulted in more than $150000 dollars worth of medical costs. Since I had taken the financial responsibility for him, I started gettting calls from collection agencies and the hospital to make the payments which I could not affort. The collection agency even threatened me with a lawsuit if I dont start paying the amounts they decided. So based on this I filed expedite request with VSC. They denied the expedite request saying that since your grandfather is not related by blood to your wife we cannot expedite your request.
Then in late May 2008, I sought help from my local congressman to expedite again based on the same reasons that I gave in March 2008. The congressman's office submitted the expedite and AGAIN VSC Congressional Unit denied the request saying it does not meet requirements for expeditious handling. Congressman's office said we have done everything we can to expedite and we cannot help you further.
On June 15, 2008 I had a terrible accident which resulted in fractured nose, left arm and several muscle ruptures in the back muscles. So then I update the Congressman's office of my accident and asked to them to send an expedite request again. Congressman's office sent the expedite request along with a letter from my attending doctor and other medical reports to VSC Congressional Unit. The next day VSC Congressional Unit replied saying we DENY this expedite request as the accident doesnt seem to have caused any life threatening injuries. Therefore we cannot ask for expeditious processing.
Then on July 11,2008, I called VSC through RFE line and asked them if they ever got expedite request from my Congressman's office. The officer said there was no expedite request sent to VSC by your Congressman. I was very surprised and got really mad. Then the officer said, there is a seperate expedite team at VSC which consists of 6 immigration officers. They are the ones who decide if expedite should be approved or not. She also said that expedite team in the Congressional Unit of VSC is entirely different. So then she asked me to submit the expedite request again and fax the requested documents directly to VSC. I did that and got an email confirmation about the expedite request the same day from VSC. Then on July 17, 2008 at around 12:30 pm I called VSC again and asked them for a status on my expedite. The immigration lady said, both your I-129F and I-130 are paired together and have just been assigned to an officer. She said you should get a response within 7-10 days. Then I check the USCIS case status online system at 7:00 pm and viola APPROVAL NOTICE SENT for I-129F!!!!!!
So moral of the story guys, dont ever give up on your case and keep pushing them as reasonably as you can. Oh and one more thing, practice patience, that is one weapon which is most useful when dealing with USCIS. Good luck to all, my prayers are with all of you!
Full Version: VSC I-129F APPROVED - PART 2
VisaJourney.com > Marriage Based Immigration (K1, K2, K3, etc) to the USA > K-3 Spouse Visa General Discussion
QUOTE(waitingforwifey @ Jul 18 2008, 09:32 AM) 
Hi All,
Here is the detailed report that I promised earlier. I first applied for I-130 in April 2007 and I-129F in June 2007. Both of our petitions were transferred to California Service Center. In November-December 2007, we received RFE for both petitions asking us to submit marriage certificate. My wife and I were unable to register our marriage after our traditional religious wedding as I was in India for only one week. In India we are required to give 30 days notice before registering the marriage and I was not able to get that much leave so we couldnt get the registered marriage done. Anyway, I came back to US after the religious wedding and applied for I-130 and I-129F.
In December 2007, I took up a new job with another company and I was on 3 month probationary period, so I could not take any days off to goto India and register our marriage When I received the RFE, I called California Service Center and spoke with an immigration officer and explained the situation. I said it is not possible for me goto India at such a short notice, get the marriage certificate and submit it before the RFE deadline. The officer said just write that in a letter and send your explanation to CSC with the RFE notice. CSC said the officer who has your petition will take a decision based on what you write. So I did just that and after one week, they sent me a denial notice for I-129F with no option to appeal. THen after a few days they sent a denial notice for I-130 with option to appeal. Both the denial notices came in Jan 2008. And remember I could not take any days off from my job to travel all the way to India to get the marriage certificate because of probationary period from my employer. But after the denial I gambled and took a chance with my employer and told them I have to goto India for emergency reason.
So, in Feb 2008 I went to India for one week and got our registered marriage done and obtained the certificate. I came back to US and re-filed the I-130. Soon after receiving the NOA1 for I-130 I sent the I-129F in first week March 2008.
On March 20, 2008 (after receiving NOA1s for both petitions), I filed for expedite request. The reason for expedite was on humanitarian/financial/medical grounds. My grandfather who is staying with me here in the US had suffered a massive brain tumor attack last year and his condition kept getting worse. He went through 2 brain surgeries and spent 4 months in hospital which resulted in more than $150000 dollars worth of medical costs. Since I had taken the financial responsibility for him, I started gettting calls from collection agencies and the hospital to make the payments which I could not affort. The collection agency even threatened me with a lawsuit if I dont start paying the amounts they decided. So based on this I filed expedite request with VSC. They denied the expedite request saying that since your grandfather is not related by blood to your wife we cannot expedite your request.
Then in late May 2008, I sought help from my local congressman to expedite again based on the same reasons that I gave in March 2008. The congressman's office submitted the expedite and AGAIN VSC Congressional Unit denied the request saying it does not meet requirements for expeditious handling. Congressman's office said we have done everything we can to expedite and we cannot help you further.
On June 15, 2008 I had a terrible accident which resulted in fractured nose, left arm and several muscle ruptures in the back muscles. So then I update the Congressman's office of my accident and asked to them to send an expedite request again. Congressman's office sent the expedite request along with a letter from my attending doctor and other medical reports to VSC Congressional Unit. The next day VSC Congressional Unit replied saying we DENY this expedite request as the accident doesnt seem to have caused any life threatening injuries. Therefore we cannot ask for expeditious processing.
Then on July 11,2008, I called VSC through RFE line and asked them if they ever got expedite request from my Congressman's office. The officer said there was no expedite request sent to VSC by your Congressman. I was very surprised and got really mad. Then the officer said, there is a seperate expedite team at VSC which consists of 6 immigration officers. They are the ones who decide if expedite should be approved or not. She also said that expedite team in the Congressional Unit of VSC is entirely different. So then she asked me to submit the expedite request again and fax the requested documents directly to VSC. I did that and got an email confirmation about the expedite request the same day from VSC. Then on July 17, 2008 at around 12:30 pm I called VSC again and asked them for a status on my expedite. The immigration lady said, both your I-129F and I-130 are paired together and have just been assigned to an officer. She said you should get a response within 7-10 days. Then I check the USCIS case status online system at 7:00 pm and viola APPROVAL NOTICE SENT for I-129F!!!!!!
So moral of the story guys, dont ever give up on your case and keep pushing them as reasonably as you can. Oh and one more thing, practice patience, that is one weapon which is most useful when dealing with USCIS. Good luck to all, my prayers are with all of you!
Here is the detailed report that I promised earlier. I first applied for I-130 in April 2007 and I-129F in June 2007. Both of our petitions were transferred to California Service Center. In November-December 2007, we received RFE for both petitions asking us to submit marriage certificate. My wife and I were unable to register our marriage after our traditional religious wedding as I was in India for only one week. In India we are required to give 30 days notice before registering the marriage and I was not able to get that much leave so we couldnt get the registered marriage done. Anyway, I came back to US after the religious wedding and applied for I-130 and I-129F.
In December 2007, I took up a new job with another company and I was on 3 month probationary period, so I could not take any days off to goto India and register our marriage When I received the RFE, I called California Service Center and spoke with an immigration officer and explained the situation. I said it is not possible for me goto India at such a short notice, get the marriage certificate and submit it before the RFE deadline. The officer said just write that in a letter and send your explanation to CSC with the RFE notice. CSC said the officer who has your petition will take a decision based on what you write. So I did just that and after one week, they sent me a denial notice for I-129F with no option to appeal. THen after a few days they sent a denial notice for I-130 with option to appeal. Both the denial notices came in Jan 2008. And remember I could not take any days off from my job to travel all the way to India to get the marriage certificate because of probationary period from my employer. But after the denial I gambled and took a chance with my employer and told them I have to goto India for emergency reason.
So, in Feb 2008 I went to India for one week and got our registered marriage done and obtained the certificate. I came back to US and re-filed the I-130. Soon after receiving the NOA1 for I-130 I sent the I-129F in first week March 2008.
On March 20, 2008 (after receiving NOA1s for both petitions), I filed for expedite request. The reason for expedite was on humanitarian/financial/medical grounds. My grandfather who is staying with me here in the US had suffered a massive brain tumor attack last year and his condition kept getting worse. He went through 2 brain surgeries and spent 4 months in hospital which resulted in more than $150000 dollars worth of medical costs. Since I had taken the financial responsibility for him, I started gettting calls from collection agencies and the hospital to make the payments which I could not affort. The collection agency even threatened me with a lawsuit if I dont start paying the amounts they decided. So based on this I filed expedite request with VSC. They denied the expedite request saying that since your grandfather is not related by blood to your wife we cannot expedite your request.
Then in late May 2008, I sought help from my local congressman to expedite again based on the same reasons that I gave in March 2008. The congressman's office submitted the expedite and AGAIN VSC Congressional Unit denied the request saying it does not meet requirements for expeditious handling. Congressman's office said we have done everything we can to expedite and we cannot help you further.
On June 15, 2008 I had a terrible accident which resulted in fractured nose, left arm and several muscle ruptures in the back muscles. So then I update the Congressman's office of my accident and asked to them to send an expedite request again. Congressman's office sent the expedite request along with a letter from my attending doctor and other medical reports to VSC Congressional Unit. The next day VSC Congressional Unit replied saying we DENY this expedite request as the accident doesnt seem to have caused any life threatening injuries. Therefore we cannot ask for expeditious processing.
Then on July 11,2008, I called VSC through RFE line and asked them if they ever got expedite request from my Congressman's office. The officer said there was no expedite request sent to VSC by your Congressman. I was very surprised and got really mad. Then the officer said, there is a seperate expedite team at VSC which consists of 6 immigration officers. They are the ones who decide if expedite should be approved or not. She also said that expedite team in the Congressional Unit of VSC is entirely different. So then she asked me to submit the expedite request again and fax the requested documents directly to VSC. I did that and got an email confirmation about the expedite request the same day from VSC. Then on July 17, 2008 at around 12:30 pm I called VSC again and asked them for a status on my expedite. The immigration lady said, both your I-129F and I-130 are paired together and have just been assigned to an officer. She said you should get a response within 7-10 days. Then I check the USCIS case status online system at 7:00 pm and viola APPROVAL NOTICE SENT for I-129F!!!!!!
So moral of the story guys, dont ever give up on your case and keep pushing them as reasonably as you can. Oh and one more thing, practice patience, that is one weapon which is most useful when dealing with USCIS. Good luck to all, my prayers are with all of you!
Man... after all that, I would say you definitely earned that visa. Good luck moving forward.
QUOTE(waitingforwifey @ Jul 18 2008, 09:32 AM)
Hi All,
Here is the detailed report that I promised earlier. I first applied for I-130 in April 2007 and I-129F in June 2007. Both of our petitions were transferred to California Service Center. In November-December 2007, we received RFE for both petitions asking us to submit marriage certificate. My wife and I were unable to register our marriage after our traditional religious wedding as I was in India for only one week. In India we are required to give 30 days notice before registering the marriage and I was not able to get that much leave so we couldnt get the registered marriage done. Anyway, I came back to US after the religious wedding and applied for I-130 and I-129F.
In December 2007, I took up a new job with another company and I was on 3 month probationary period, so I could not take any days off to goto India and register our marriage When I received the RFE, I called California Service Center and spoke with an immigration officer and explained the situation. I said it is not possible for me goto India at such a short notice, get the marriage certificate and submit it before the RFE deadline. The officer said just write that in a letter and send your explanation to CSC with the RFE notice. CSC said the officer who has your petition will take a decision based on what you write. So I did just that and after one week, they sent me a denial notice for I-129F with no option to appeal. THen after a few days they sent a denial notice for I-130 with option to appeal. Both the denial notices came in Jan 2008. And remember I could not take any days off from my job to travel all the way to India to get the marriage certificate because of probationary period from my employer. But after the denial I gambled and took a chance with my employer and told them I have to goto India for emergency reason.
So, in Feb 2008 I went to India for one week and got our registered marriage done and obtained the certificate. I came back to US and re-filed the I-130. Soon after receiving the NOA1 for I-130 I sent the I-129F in first week March 2008.
On March 20, 2008 (after receiving NOA1s for both petitions), I filed for expedite request. The reason for expedite was on humanitarian/financial/medical grounds. My grandfather who is staying with me here in the US had suffered a massive brain tumor attack last year and his condition kept getting worse. He went through 2 brain surgeries and spent 4 months in hospital which resulted in more than $150000 dollars worth of medical costs. Since I had taken the financial responsibility for him, I started gettting calls from collection agencies and the hospital to make the payments which I could not affort. The collection agency even threatened me with a lawsuit if I dont start paying the amounts they decided. So based on this I filed expedite request with VSC. They denied the expedite request saying that since your grandfather is not related by blood to your wife we cannot expedite your request.
Then in late May 2008, I sought help from my local congressman to expedite again based on the same reasons that I gave in March 2008. The congressman's office submitted the expedite and AGAIN VSC Congressional Unit denied the request saying it does not meet requirements for expeditious handling. Congressman's office said we have done everything we can to expedite and we cannot help you further.
On June 15, 2008 I had a terrible accident which resulted in fractured nose, left arm and several muscle ruptures in the back muscles. So then I update the Congressman's office of my accident and asked to them to send an expedite request again. Congressman's office sent the expedite request along with a letter from my attending doctor and other medical reports to VSC Congressional Unit. The next day VSC Congressional Unit replied saying we DENY this expedite request as the accident doesnt seem to have caused any life threatening injuries. Therefore we cannot ask for expeditious processing.
Then on July 11,2008, I called VSC through RFE line and asked them if they ever got expedite request from my Congressman's office. The officer said there was no expedite request sent to VSC by your Congressman. I was very surprised and got really mad. Then the officer said, there is a seperate expedite team at VSC which consists of 6 immigration officers. They are the ones who decide if expedite should be approved or not. She also said that expedite team in the Congressional Unit of VSC is entirely different. So then she asked me to submit the expedite request again and fax the requested documents directly to VSC. I did that and got an email confirmation about the expedite request the same day from VSC. Then on July 17, 2008 at around 12:30 pm I called VSC again and asked them for a status on my expedite. The immigration lady said, both your I-129F and I-130 are paired together and have just been assigned to an officer. She said you should get a response within 7-10 days. Then I check the USCIS case status online system at 7:00 pm and viola APPROVAL NOTICE SENT for I-129F!!!!!!
So moral of the story guys, dont ever give up on your case and keep pushing them as reasonably as you can. Oh and one more thing, practice patience, that is one weapon which is most useful when dealing with USCIS. Good luck to all, my prayers are with all of you!
Here is the detailed report that I promised earlier. I first applied for I-130 in April 2007 and I-129F in June 2007. Both of our petitions were transferred to California Service Center. In November-December 2007, we received RFE for both petitions asking us to submit marriage certificate. My wife and I were unable to register our marriage after our traditional religious wedding as I was in India for only one week. In India we are required to give 30 days notice before registering the marriage and I was not able to get that much leave so we couldnt get the registered marriage done. Anyway, I came back to US after the religious wedding and applied for I-130 and I-129F.
In December 2007, I took up a new job with another company and I was on 3 month probationary period, so I could not take any days off to goto India and register our marriage When I received the RFE, I called California Service Center and spoke with an immigration officer and explained the situation. I said it is not possible for me goto India at such a short notice, get the marriage certificate and submit it before the RFE deadline. The officer said just write that in a letter and send your explanation to CSC with the RFE notice. CSC said the officer who has your petition will take a decision based on what you write. So I did just that and after one week, they sent me a denial notice for I-129F with no option to appeal. THen after a few days they sent a denial notice for I-130 with option to appeal. Both the denial notices came in Jan 2008. And remember I could not take any days off from my job to travel all the way to India to get the marriage certificate because of probationary period from my employer. But after the denial I gambled and took a chance with my employer and told them I have to goto India for emergency reason.
So, in Feb 2008 I went to India for one week and got our registered marriage done and obtained the certificate. I came back to US and re-filed the I-130. Soon after receiving the NOA1 for I-130 I sent the I-129F in first week March 2008.
On March 20, 2008 (after receiving NOA1s for both petitions), I filed for expedite request. The reason for expedite was on humanitarian/financial/medical grounds. My grandfather who is staying with me here in the US had suffered a massive brain tumor attack last year and his condition kept getting worse. He went through 2 brain surgeries and spent 4 months in hospital which resulted in more than $150000 dollars worth of medical costs. Since I had taken the financial responsibility for him, I started gettting calls from collection agencies and the hospital to make the payments which I could not affort. The collection agency even threatened me with a lawsuit if I dont start paying the amounts they decided. So based on this I filed expedite request with VSC. They denied the expedite request saying that since your grandfather is not related by blood to your wife we cannot expedite your request.
Then in late May 2008, I sought help from my local congressman to expedite again based on the same reasons that I gave in March 2008. The congressman's office submitted the expedite and AGAIN VSC Congressional Unit denied the request saying it does not meet requirements for expeditious handling. Congressman's office said we have done everything we can to expedite and we cannot help you further.
On June 15, 2008 I had a terrible accident which resulted in fractured nose, left arm and several muscle ruptures in the back muscles. So then I update the Congressman's office of my accident and asked to them to send an expedite request again. Congressman's office sent the expedite request along with a letter from my attending doctor and other medical reports to VSC Congressional Unit. The next day VSC Congressional Unit replied saying we DENY this expedite request as the accident doesnt seem to have caused any life threatening injuries. Therefore we cannot ask for expeditious processing.
Then on July 11,2008, I called VSC through RFE line and asked them if they ever got expedite request from my Congressman's office. The officer said there was no expedite request sent to VSC by your Congressman. I was very surprised and got really mad. Then the officer said, there is a seperate expedite team at VSC which consists of 6 immigration officers. They are the ones who decide if expedite should be approved or not. She also said that expedite team in the Congressional Unit of VSC is entirely different. So then she asked me to submit the expedite request again and fax the requested documents directly to VSC. I did that and got an email confirmation about the expedite request the same day from VSC. Then on July 17, 2008 at around 12:30 pm I called VSC again and asked them for a status on my expedite. The immigration lady said, both your I-129F and I-130 are paired together and have just been assigned to an officer. She said you should get a response within 7-10 days. Then I check the USCIS case status online system at 7:00 pm and viola APPROVAL NOTICE SENT for I-129F!!!!!!
So moral of the story guys, dont ever give up on your case and keep pushing them as reasonably as you can. Oh and one more thing, practice patience, that is one weapon which is most useful when dealing with USCIS. Good luck to all, my prayers are with all of you!
you could write a book.. man you went through a lot.. i'm glad you finally got approved.. i pray things go more smoothly from now on
Hello Dear,
We both have made it to this point and I am sure we will be able to cross every hurdle. It was our faith in ourselves, each other and ofcourse the most important God which has made it possible. The last one year and seven month was very hard, but now the time has come when I will see you soon and we will be together forever. Take care of yours.
We both will keep everyone in our prayers for their visa journey
May God Bless All
We both have made it to this point and I am sure we will be able to cross every hurdle. It was our faith in ourselves, each other and ofcourse the most important God which has made it possible. The last one year and seven month was very hard, but now the time has come when I will see you soon and we will be together forever. Take care of yours.
We both will keep everyone in our prayers for their visa journey
May God Bless All
QUOTE(pan @ Jul 19 2008, 09:47 AM)
Hello Dear,
We both have made it to this point and I am sure we will be able to cross every hurdle. It was our faith in ourselves, each other and ofcourse the most important God which has made it possible. The last one year and seven month was very hard, but now the time has come when I will see you soon and we will be together forever. Take care of yours.
We both will keep everyone in our prayers for their visa journey
May God Bless All
We both have made it to this point and I am sure we will be able to cross every hurdle. It was our faith in ourselves, each other and ofcourse the most important God which has made it possible. The last one year and seven month was very hard, but now the time has come when I will see you soon and we will be together forever. Take care of yours.
We both will keep everyone in our prayers for their visa journey
May God Bless All
Yes honey. The wait has made our bond even stronger. Cant wait till you get here. Love you lots!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.