Discussion with Congressman's Office regarding USCIS K-1, Processing timelines

[tafeagans 0]

Hello everyone,

Recently, I had a conversation with my Congressman's office regarding the length of time many people are having to wait for their K-1 Visa's for their Fiancess. Interestingly, I was told congress had received a number of complaints about the delays. My congressman in particular has called the USCIS and was told in person and in writing that the majority of cases were being adjudicated from receipt in the mail to completion within six months. I informed them that this must not be true and that they should really ask for a more accurate report and/or evidence to support this. My congressman's office was also told the bulk load resulting for the recent price changes is now nearly stablized and they are heading back to getting the requests completed within their normal time of about 4 months. I explained that this could not be true again and requested they inquire further. My congressman's office agreed to call on my behalf the USCIS Monday to assertain what is happening with my expedite request and reverify the work load. Perhaps our congress does not really know the length it is taking. I was told if for some reson your Fiancees name hits some reference with the FBI it could take years for them to resolve this. Not good news. Just what I was told. Wonder what your congressman would tell you?

[Ms. Hellwig 0]

Interesting! Thanks for the info. I will be calling my senator's office.

[mnieto 2]

Thanks for the info!

My fiance called his Congressman's office the other day, too, but didn't get very far. They called VSC on our behalf and got a super-standart answer,basically the same we'd get when we'd call.

Interestingly, calling the Congressman's office actually has helped some people(they've posted here on VJ).

I wonder what this is all about, why can some Congressman help, and others can't?

[payxibka 10,044]

I hate to be a naysayer, but I do believe that CSC and VSC are in fact still under 180 days average to adjudicate petitions.... Are they not?

[tafeagans 0]

When inquiring with your congressman/congresswoman ( I want to politically correct here) make sure you ask for who handles Passport Immigration or VISA issues. In my case there was a longtime person who handles this and then escalates it to the congressman. Be sure they do not just put you into a vacum.

[tafeagans 0]

Exactly my point from date of receipt in mail to adjudication. It is not how long it takes the mail room to receive something. They appearently have commited and are telling congress the whole process is less than 6 months for many of you I do not see that to be true.

Edited January 18, 2008 by tafeagans

[payxibka 10,044]

Exactly my point from date of receipt in mail to adjudication. It is not how long it takes the mail room to receive something. They appearently have commited and are telling congress the whole process is less than 6 months for many of you I do not see that to be true.

I still am unsure how you are calculating the "whole" process... It appears from VJ stats at least that they are still under... what am I not understanding ?

[Jesse and Hema 2]

I hate to be a naysayer, but I do believe that CSC and VSC are in fact still under 180 days average to adjudicate petitions.... Are they not?

My thought exactly. I inadvertently filed right around "filing rush" time and was adjudicated in under 4½ months. I don't think they meant that there'd be a visa in hand in 6 months, just that CSC/VSC will have it approved/rejected by then

[tafeagans 0]

Yes, I understand what you guys are saying. I am saying from the time they receive the petition in the mail to the time it is completed by USCIS. I am simply telling those people who are outside of that time, to get up and make some calls and/or inquire with their congressman/woman if it makse sense.

[mox 298]

Yes, I understand what you guys are saying. I am saying from the time they receive the petition in the mail to the time it is completed by USCIS. I am simply telling those people who are outside of that time, to get up and make some calls and/or inquire with their congressman/woman if it makse sense.

I agree with you. USCIS are meeting their 6 month goal in the vast majority of cases. But there are cases that are falling well outside of this window. A May filer was just approved yesterday at CSC for example. That's an 8 month processing time. Completely unsatisfactory.

The problem as I see it is that USCIS have a lot of built-in stalling points that keep any real pressure from working. For example, we're required to give USCIS 3 months (and someone was told by customer service that it's now 15 weeks?!?!) before they would even investigate it. After 3 months they require an additional 30 days to complete their investigation. It's conceivable (and has in fact happened) that it could take 4+ months to learn USCIS has lost your packet, and there is no policy in place requiring them to honor your original submission date.

They have a similar stalling tactic at the end of 6 months if you still haven't been approved. They can stretch that one out 3+ months too, so by the time you're finally approved 9 months later they haven't had to be held accountable at all. They ignore congress, and according to (USCIS Director) Dr. Gonzalez's testimony before congress yesterday, he does not believe they have a resource management problem. In fact, congress has asked him what they can do to help the processing situation and he has refused all help. It's maddening. As someone else pointed out in another thread, it will literally take an act of congress for change to happen. The USCIS director seems to think everything is working as advertised.

[panamania79 2]

Hello everyone,

Recently, I had a conversation with my Congressman's office regarding the length of time many people are having to wait for their K-1 Visa's for their Fiancess. Interestingly, I was told congress had received a number of complaints about the delays. My congressman in particular has called the USCIS and was told in person and in writing that the majority of cases were being adjudicated from receipt in the mail to completion within six months. I informed them that this must not be true and that they should really ask for a more accurate report and/or evidence to support this. My congressman's office was also told the bulk load resulting for the recent price changes is now nearly stablized and they are heading back to getting the requests completed within their normal time of about 4 months. I explained that this could not be true again and requested they inquire further. My congressman's office agreed to call on my behalf the USCIS Monday to assertain what is happening with my expedite request and reverify the work load. Perhaps our congress does not really know the length it is taking. I was told if for some reson your Fiancees name hits some reference with the FBI it could take years for them to resolve this. Not good news. Just what I was told. Wonder what your congressman would tell you?

My congressman's office basically told me the same thing that yours told you.The one thing I was told that made me laugh was to not call the USCIS customer service representatives anymore because they really do not have any current information about the cases.

[panamania79 2]

I hate to be a naysayer, but I do believe that CSC and VSC are in fact still under 180 days average to adjudicate petitions.... Are they not?

You are correct.

[panamania79 2]

Yes, I understand what you guys are saying. I am saying from the time they receive the petition in the mail to the time it is completed by USCIS. I am simply telling those people who are outside of that time, to get up and make some calls and/or inquire with their congressman/woman if it makse sense.

I agree with you. USCIS are meeting their 6 month goal in the vast majority of cases. But there are cases that are falling well outside of this window. A May filer was just approved yesterday at CSC for example. That's an 8 month processing time. Completely unsatisfactory.

The problem as I see it is that USCIS have a lot of built-in stalling points that keep any real pressure from working. For example, we're required to give USCIS 3 months (and someone was told by customer service that it's now 15 weeks?!?!) before they would even investigate it. After 3 months they require an additional 30 days to complete their investigation. It's conceivable (and has in fact happened) that it could take 4+ months to learn USCIS has lost your packet, and there is no policy in place requiring them to honor your original submission date.

They have a similar stalling tactic at the end of 6 months if you still haven't been approved. They can stretch that one out 3+ months too, so by the time you're finally approved 9 months later they haven't had to be held accountable at all. They ignore congress, and according to (USCIS Director) Dr. Gonzalez's testimony before congress yesterday, he does not believe they have a resource management problem. In fact, congress has asked him what they can do to help the processing situation and he has refused all help. It's maddening. As someone else pointed out in another thread, it will literally take an act of congress for change to happen. The USCIS director seems to think everything is working as advertised.

I am a May filer and I still haven't gotten approved.I think I shot myself in the foot by doing that second service inquiry.That basically gives the USCIS to sit on their backsides for another couple of months.

[panamania79 2]

Exactly my point from date of receipt in mail to adjudication. It is not how long it takes the mail room to receive something. They appearently have commited and are telling congress the whole process is less than 6 months for many of you I do not see that to be true.

You'll get a kick out of this one.When my case was nearing the six month mark,I called customer service and they told me that my petition had been sitting on someone's desk for 5 months.Well I was not a happy camper that day.

[Jesse and Hema 2]

I am a May filer and I still haven't gotten approved.I think I shot myself in the foot by doing that second service inquiry.That basically gives the USCIS to sit on their backsides for another couple of months.

Yup... They are averaging less than 6 months, but I'd guess the real processing times form a typical "bell-shaped curve".

Unfortunately, that leaves plenty of people still waiting after 7 or 8 months for only the first step of the process! I hope things move along for all of you very soon.