What needs to be in a letter for expedite request?

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Due to some emergent family matters, my wife and I are looking at filing an expedite request. My wife really hates telephones so we are planning to send a letter to the service centre. I am wondering what all should be in the letter? For example, is it better to explain the situation and wait for them to get back to you in order to request evidence or is it better to explain the situation and send evidence in the same package?

Tell me about an expedite via letter, please? I hear about people calling all the time, but we are not telephone people. We barely talk on the phone to each other and waiting on hold for hours is not something my wife's work schedule allows for, especially since her work is in a busy season right now.

[JIJourney 96]

We jus called the Embassy and they expedited it right on the spot

We just called the Embassy and they expedited it right away.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

We're still at USCIS stage, I don't believe that the embassy can do anything for us at this point, we need an expedite through USCIS, first. It may be different for K-1, but as I understand the expedite for CR-1, we have to go through USCIS and if they approve and expedite, we can apply for expedite at NVC and Embassy stages separately?

[NikLR 13,220]

Yes you have to expedite each stage separately. The USCIS has information on their website on how to request an expedite.

http://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Yeah, I've read that. About five times. And it seems like doing it in letter form is pretty much an afterthought for them, they expect people to call, waste hours of life on the phone to get to talk to a human. We want to know how to do it via letter, what should be in the letter, specifically.

I've read here about people who have actually done it via phone and how that works. I am looking specifically for anyone who has done it via letter to tell me about what exactly I need to put in the letter. Do we need to get the notes from medical professionals to put in the letter? Because it may take up to two weeks to get those letters due to our specific circumstances, but if we can send off a letter now and they'll get us to fax them evidence, that would be much faster than simply waiting until we can get those documents.

[imse82 45]

Yeah, I've read that. About five times. And it seems like doing it in letter form is pretty much an afterthought for them, they expect people to call, waste hours of life on the phone to get to talk to a human. We want to know how to do it via letter, what should be in the letter, specifically.

I've read here about people who have actually done it via phone and how that works. I am looking specifically for anyone who has done it via letter to tell me about what exactly I need to put in the letter. Do we need to get the notes from medical professionals to put in the letter? Because it may take up to two weeks to get those letters due to our specific circumstances, but if we can send off a letter now and they'll get us to fax them evidence, that would be much faster than simply waiting until we can get those documents.

Simply send the expedite letter to the servicr center. Include a copy of your NOA1 and explain why you need your case expedited. Be specific and explain everything in details. Include all the supporting documents you have. No need to wait to gather the docs you need just send the request now and if they need supporting docs they will ask for it and by then you will hopefully have it ready just in case they needed it. Make sure to mail the letter to the address on your NOA1. Edited July 27, 2014 by imse82

[kehills 217]

You do realize that by not calling, the letter is just going to go through the normal channels, right, and you're looking at a few weeks delay (if not more)? If this is a genuine emergency for expediting the case, one of you should suck up your dislike of phones and call. (And they will call you back, FWIW - after you've been on hold for 15-odd minutes, if there's a heavy call volume, they will offer to take your number, save your spot in the queue, and then they'll call you back at approximately the time quoted.)

(Trust me, I get not liking the phone. I rarely use it myself. But priorities!)

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to USCIS Service Centers forum; topic is about contacting USCIS to request an expedite which makes it applicable to multiple processes.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

You do realize that by not calling, the letter is just going to go through the normal channels, right, and you're looking at a few weeks delay (if not more)? If this is a genuine emergency for expediting the case, one of you should suck up your dislike of phones and call. (And they will call you back, FWIW - after you've been on hold for 15-odd minutes, if there's a heavy call volume, they will offer to take your number, save your spot in the queue, and then they'll call you back at approximately the time quoted.)

(Trust me, I get not liking the phone. I rarely use it myself. But priorities!)

I am aware that it will take longer by mail than by phone. My wife's work does not allow her to just randomly take a call when the call comes, a lot of her work is time sensitive. She cannot take hours off right now to deal with this. It is also going to take at least a couple weeks to collect all the evidence that we need to back this up because of the nature of the issue.

[kehills 217]

So you're going to wait a couple of weeks to gather the information needed (because that's how long it takes, which fine, no arguments there), and then wait another couple of weeks for the mail to get to the right people, for another few weeks before a decision? At that point, you're basically going to be at the point where your petition is expected to be approved, aren't you?

The very nature of the way you're pursuing this doesn't make it appear to be something that requires expediting, and that's something you need to consider if you genuinely do need to expedite the case; if it's a genuine emergency, people aren't going to be content waiting weeks on end just to make the request. (Remember, appearances are just as important here.)

And why can't you take the time to call in to request the expedite and then fax them the information? Especially since, if I understand where you are in the process, you're going to need to expedite at least twice.

[sweetswinks 400]

Writing a letter to expedite will take you 60 - 90 days. It's faster for you to call USCIS and submit a service request for expedite. You could have a result within 5 days.