Political Organizing to Protest USCIS Delays

[coyote 3]

Hi, Everyone:

This website is a useful tool for obtaining information but it seems to me that we're still operating as individuals rather than a group. With some targeted political activism, it seems to me we'd have a better chance of getting results.

I was spurred to try to stir up some action by an April 3 call to the USCIS - apparently the wait has now increased from six months to eight months for action on an I-129 application at the California Service Center. This despite the reported increases in personnel.

I'm also concerned about the apparent violation of statute when it comes to allowing fiances to work. An official with the Ameican Immigration Lawyers Association told me categorically that the K-1 visa allows the fiance to work the minute he or she sets foot on American soil. Yet the USCIS is requiring yet another fee and application, which delays the fiance's ability to work for another 3-4 months, while he or she waits for the agency to issue the permit. There are additional cost factors related to poor planning for this process, but you get the picture.

I'm sure those of you who are applying for other kinds of visas have similar issues.

The point is that, if my last phone call is any indication, things seem to be getting worse rather than better, despite the resignation of Emilio Gonzalez, the Bush appointee who has been responsible for many of the bad decisions that are affecting us.

I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest some kind of concerted political action. Can folks get me up to date on what's been done so far? Here are the ideas that spring to mind for me:

1. Letter writing campaign.

2. Demonstrations in several cities, with media outreach.

3. Website designed specifically to inform public about these issues.

Have these already gotten underway? If not, are people willing to volunteer a few hours to work on this? Does anyone have political organizing experience? Can we coordinate with immigrant rights groups?

Let me know!

Susan Zakin

Edited April 4, 2008 by coyote

[LaurenR 0]

Hi, Everyone:

This website is a useful tool for obtaining information but it seems to me that we're still operating as individuals rather than a group. With some targeted political activism, it seems to me we'd have a better chance of getting results.

I was spurred to try to stir up some action by an April 3 call to the USCIS - apparently the wait has now increased from six months to eight months for action on an I-129 application at the California Service Center. This despite the reported increases in personnel.

I'm also concerned about the apparent violation of statute when it comes to allowing fiances to work. An official with the Ameican Immigration Lawyers Association told me categorically that the K-1 visa allows the fiance to work the minute he or she sets foot on American soil. Yet the USCIS is requiring yet another fee and application, which delays the fiance's ability to work for another 3-4 months, while he or she waits for the agency to issue the permit. There are additional cost factors related to poor planning for this process, but you get the picture.

I'm sure those of you who are applying for other kinds of visas have similar issues.

The point is that, if my last phone call is any indication, things seem to be getting worse rather than better, despite the resignation of Emilio Gonzalez, the Bush appointee who has been responsible for many of the bad decisions that are affecting us.

I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest some kind of concerted political action. Can folks get me up to date on what's been done so far? Here are the ideas that spring to mind for me:

1. Letter writing campaign.

2. Demonstrations in several cities, with media outreach.

3. Website designed specifically to inform public about these issues.

Have these already gotten underway? If not, are people willing to volunteer a few hours to work on this? Does anyone have political organizing experience? Can we coordinate with immigrant rights groups?

Let me know!

Susan Zakin

I'm not sure if someone has already brought this to attention but I think it is a WONDERFUL idea! I'd be willing to volunteer support for this cause!

[danielle46901 0]

Hi, Everyone:

This website is a useful tool for obtaining information but it seems to me that we're still operating as individuals rather than a group. With some targeted political activism, it seems to me we'd have a better chance of getting results.

I was spurred to try to stir up some action by an April 3 call to the USCIS - apparently the wait has now increased from six months to eight months for action on an I-129 application at the California Service Center. This despite the reported increases in personnel.

I'm also concerned about the apparent violation of statute when it comes to allowing fiances to work. An official with the Ameican Immigration Lawyers Association told me categorically that the K-1 visa allows the fiance to work the minute he or she sets foot on American soil. Yet the USCIS is requiring yet another fee and application, which delays the fiance's ability to work for another 3-4 months, while he or she waits for the agency to issue the permit. There are additional cost factors related to poor planning for this process, but you get the picture.

I'm sure those of you who are applying for other kinds of visas have similar issues.

The point is that, if my last phone call is any indication, things seem to be getting worse rather than better, despite the resignation of Emilio Gonzalez, the Bush appointee who has been responsible for many of the bad decisions that are affecting us.

I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest some kind of concerted political action. Can folks get me up to date on what's been done so far? Here are the ideas that spring to mind for me:

1. Letter writing campaign.

2. Demonstrations in several cities, with media outreach.

3. Website designed specifically to inform public about these issues.

Have these already gotten underway? If not, are people willing to volunteer a few hours to work on this? Does anyone have political organizing experience? Can we coordinate with immigrant rights groups?

Let me know!

Susan Zakin

The worst part about it is you see people who are having there I129-F's approved in 20-30 days in Vermont. It is so frustrating. If Vermont has that much time to already be on late February then they need to get California to give them some of theirs. I try so hard not to watch, but it's hard not to want to know what's going on all the time. I completely agree with you.

[Heracles 417]

Immigration is not a right though and many forget that. When someone has a spouse from a high risk nation further checks will probably be required. I also think that only after someone is married and, files the 495, should they be able to work.

The worst part about it is you see people who are having there I129-F's approved in 20-30 days in Vermont. It is so frustrating. If Vermont has that much time to already be on late February then they need to get California to give them some of theirs. I try so hard not to watch, but it's hard not to want to know what's going on all the time. I completely agree with you.

but they do also have a lot of other visas to process there. The finance visa is only one visa and should certainly not be given any priority when compared to many of the other visas.

Edited April 4, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[coyote 3]

You're entitled to your opinions, of course. But women, who still earn a lot less money than men in this country, may feel differently about these issues, particularly the right of their fiances to work -- which is a right, according to the law. And as Americans, I hope we all still believe in the rule of law.

I hope to hear from people who want to be part of the effort to make our bureaucracy function effectively on behalf of the people it represents. Immigration policy should not be made de facto by poor administration.

I don't want to get into a debate with right-wingers on this. The head of the agency, Emilio Gonzalez, did not resign because he was doing a good job. We can all unite on the idea that the law should be upheld and our bureaucracy should function in a timely and efficient manner.

Thanks.

Immigration is not a right though and many forget that. When someone has a spouse from a high risk nation further checks will probably be required. I also think that only after someone is married and, files the 495, should they be able to work.

The worst part about it is you see people who are having there I129-F's approved in 20-30 days in Vermont. It is so frustrating. If Vermont has that much time to already be on late February then they need to get California to give them some of theirs. I try so hard not to watch, but it's hard not to want to know what's going on all the time. I completely agree with you.

but they do also have a lot of other visas to process there. The finance visa is only one visa and should certainly not be given any priority when compared to many of the other visas.

[rebeccajo 14]

I'd like to know more about the information you have from an 'official' with the AILA regarding the ability of K1's to work the moment they set foot on American soil.

Who is this 'official'? What legal cites or references did they give to you?

Edited April 4, 2008 by rebeccajo

[kerewin21 2]

One of my biggest concerns about USCIS is the lack of transparency in the process. Immigration for our loved ones is a privilege that we may apply for. That doesn't give the USCIS the right to keep us entirely in the dark about the process. For those applications processed within the regular time frame, I don't see as much of an issue, but what about the thousands of applications sitting on someone's desk waiting for years for name checks to be complete? When we ask for information, all we are told is that we have to wait for more processing. There is no accountability. There are similar situations with many foreign consulates that just seem to sit on the applications for months on end and will not give out any information about why there is a delay. I think given that the USCIS and the consulates are funded by our tax dollars and the fees we pay that we have the right to more transparency and to have inquiries on our cases responded to.

[coyote 3]

One of my biggest concerns about USCIS is the lack of transparency in the process. Immigration for our loved ones is a privilege that we may apply for. That doesn't give the USCIS the right to keep us entirely in the dark about the process. For those applications processed within the regular time frame, I don't see as much of an issue, but what about the thousands of applications sitting on someone's desk waiting for years for name checks to be complete? When we ask for information, all we are told is that we have to wait for more processing. There is no accountability. There are similar situations with many foreign consulates that just seem to sit on the applications for months on end and will not give out any information about why there is a delay. I think given that the USCIS and the consulates are funded by our tax dollars and the fees we pay that we have the right to more transparency and to have inquiries on our cases responded to.

I agree. That's an issue. But I think timeliness is even more pressing.

Here is the federal regulation (rather than law; I misspoke! a la Hillary) cited by my source on the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I don't want to post his name because he'll be deluged by phone calls and he'll hate me! He's fairly high up in the organization. I'm a journalist and although I made it clear I was talking to him for personal reasons, he was available to me because I called through the press office. I suppose it's a matter of interpretation, whether the USCIS then has the right to make the person go through yet another application process and three-month wait. But according to the Code, a K-1 should give the person the right to work. I will do a bit more research on this when I get a chance but perhaps someone with access to a law school professor who specializes in this area could also check. Regular imm lawyers in the field seem to accept that we need to apply for the work permit but the law seems questionable.

My notes: In Houston they recognize the uscis reg you have employment authorization incident to status, passport little white I94 card arrival departure record card and that will have been stamped by a customs inspector with the visa classification K-1. that and the passport are sufficient to show that he’s eligible to work.

Old guys at JFK are doing a favor. (by stamping with EAD stamp)

That’s what the regulation says in the Code of Federal Regulation 274a.12(a)(6) alien admitted under fiancé under K1.

[rebeccajo 14]

One of my biggest concerns about USCIS is the lack of transparency in the process. Immigration for our loved ones is a privilege that we may apply for. That doesn't give the USCIS the right to keep us entirely in the dark about the process. For those applications processed within the regular time frame, I don't see as much of an issue, but what about the thousands of applications sitting on someone's desk waiting for years for name checks to be complete? When we ask for information, all we are told is that we have to wait for more processing. There is no accountability. There are similar situations with many foreign consulates that just seem to sit on the applications for months on end and will not give out any information about why there is a delay. I think given that the USCIS and the consulates are funded by our tax dollars and the fees we pay that we have the right to more transparency and to have inquiries on our cases responded to.

I agree. That's an issue. But I think timeliness is even more pressing.

Here is the federal regulation (rather than law; I misspoke! a la Hillary) cited by my source on the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I don't want to post his name because he'll be deluged by phone calls and he'll hate me! He's fairly high up in the organization. I'm a journalist and although I made it clear I was talking to him for personal reasons, he was available to me because I called through the press office. I suppose it's a matter of interpretation, whether the USCIS then has the right to make the person go through yet another application process and three-month wait. But according to the Code, a K-1 should give the person the right to work. I will do a bit more research on this when I get a chance but perhaps someone with access to a law school professor who specializes in this area could also check. Regular imm lawyers in the field seem to accept that we need to apply for the work permit but the law seems questionable.

My notes: In Houston they recognize the uscis reg you have employment authorization incident to status, passport little white I94 card arrival departure record card and that will have been stamped by a customs inspector with the visa classification K-1. that and the passport are sufficient to show that he’s eligible to work.

Old guys at JFK are doing a favor. (by stamping with EAD stamp)

That’s what the regulation says in the Code of Federal Regulation 274a.12(a)(6) alien admitted under fiancé under K1.

Coyote -

Here's that particular section of the code:

"(6) An alien admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant fiancé or fiancée pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(K)(i) of the Act, or an alien admitted as a child of such alien, for the period of admission in that status, as evidenced by an employment authorization document issued by the Service."

As you state, 'regular' (whatever that means) immigration lawyers take the stance about needing an additional document from this section of the code.

I would also like to add that personally I believe transparency to be a larger issue than timeliness. I do understand your position because you are presently at the stage of the journey where you are separated from your loved one. My husband however spent 17 months by my side in the US held up in namecheck with nada a clue as to what could possibly be the holdup. When a senior US Senator and a former US Attorney inquire upon your behalf and are told information cannot be dispensed due to 'national security' matters, you start to become a little buggy as to what's wrong with your good name.

Edited April 4, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Zee Bee 61]

The issue I have with USCIS is the transparency like RJ and kerewin21 said. Quite frankly, I don't care how long it takes them to porcess the petitions. I just wish that they would let us know what is going on.

If they say AP is going to take 6 months then it should. The part where people get frustrated is that they hear the "2-3 weeks" and 5 months down the road they call and are told to call back in another 2 weeks.

If they really stuck to the processing guidelines that they post on the website and actually tried to HELP (instead of the "give us 30 days to look into it. If we have not gotten back to you send us a letter or whatever and wait another 120 days for a response).

[K1inCincy 0]

Well I am behind you all. Granted, immigration is not a right, but it is what this country was based upon. And besides I know for myself that Calgary has a lot of people coming in on all types of visas, but they manage to get their workload done in a timely manner. So why can't we? Because a lot of these people working at the CSC know that they work for the federal gov. so they don't have to work to hard. I believe with my whole heart that if an effort was given by CSC they could move a lot faster, but they will never do that.

[Jack and Barbara 0]

I think immigrants coming to this country should be able to work after they receive a SSN. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions such as any kind of secret or TS clearence-realted job, but waiting another 3+ months to be able to work seems like an unnecessary cost to the petitioner and another burden to the USCIS.

Some people are issued a temporary work authorization at the POE. Why should some be able to work but not others?

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

This comes up many times but nobody seems to know how best to act on it. Someone needs to contact a group that is well organized and see how best to begin. There are thousands of citizens petitioning in the US but who is willing to lead them? We need a really great name first!

Edited April 4, 2008 by Gaby&Talbert

[coyote 3]

One of my biggest concerns about USCIS is the lack of transparency in the process. Immigration for our loved ones is a privilege that we may apply for. That doesn't give the USCIS the right to keep us entirely in the dark about the process. For those applications processed within the regular time frame, I don't see as much of an issue, but what about the thousands of applications sitting on someone's desk waiting for years for name checks to be complete? When we ask for information, all we are told is that we have to wait for more processing. There is no accountability. There are similar situations with many foreign consulates that just seem to sit on the applications for months on end and will not give out any information about why there is a delay. I think given that the USCIS and the consulates are funded by our tax dollars and the fees we pay that we have the right to more transparency and to have inquiries on our cases responded to.

I agree. That's an issue. But I think timeliness is even more pressing.

Here is the federal regulation (rather than law; I misspoke! a la Hillary) cited by my source on the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I don't want to post his name because he'll be deluged by phone calls and he'll hate me! He's fairly high up in the organization. I'm a journalist and although I made it clear I was talking to him for personal reasons, he was available to me because I called through the press office. I suppose it's a matter of interpretation, whether the USCIS then has the right to make the person go through yet another application process and three-month wait. But according to the Code, a K-1 should give the person the right to work. I will do a bit more research on this when I get a chance but perhaps someone with access to a law school professor who specializes in this area could also check. Regular imm lawyers in the field seem to accept that we need to apply for the work permit but the law seems questionable.

My notes: In Houston they recognize the uscis reg you have employment authorization incident to status, passport little white I94 card arrival departure record card and that will have been stamped by a customs inspector with the visa classification K-1. that and the passport are sufficient to show that he’s eligible to work.

Old guys at JFK are doing a favor. (by stamping with EAD stamp)

That’s what the regulation says in the Code of Federal Regulation 274a.12(a)(6) alien admitted under fiancé under K1.

Coyote -

Here's that particular section of the code:

"(6) An alien admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant fiancé or fiancée pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(K)(i) of the Act, or an alien admitted as a child of such alien, for the period of admission in that status, as evidenced by an employment authorization document issued by the Service."

As you state, 'regular' (whatever that means) immigration lawyers take the stance about needing an additional document from this section of the code.

I would also like to add that personally I believe transparency to be a larger issue than timeliness. I do understand your position because you are presently at the stage of the journey where you are separated from your loved one. My husband however spent 17 months by my side in the US held up in namecheck with nada a clue as to what could possibly be the holdup. When a senior US Senator and a former US Attorney inquire upon your behalf and are told information cannot be dispensed due to 'national security' matters, you start to become a little buggy as to what's wrong with your good name.

Thanks for the complete wording. Perhaps this is what the guy meant: The reality of it is that the lawyers I've spoken to here recommend getting married ASAP and filing for the work authorization at the same time as one files for the green card etc. The processing for all of these takes about the same amt of time, which is estimated at 4 or 5 months. At most, you will get an extra month of work under the K-1 and pay an extra fee, if this application isn't folded into the larger package. So effectively, there is no real ability to work under the K-1 visa.

The regulation doesn't specify what the employment authorization document is -- which is why I guess the EAD stamp seems to be working for some people. If it is...

That's my reading of it. As for "regular" lawyers, I meant the less high-powered immigration attorney I talked to here in Tucson instead of this rather high-powered guy who practiced in DC and now is a lobbyist for this organization: presumably more political and more in the loop.

I also just got off the phone with someone else in DC who had a lot of interesting things to say. More later.

I do want to say that it's inevitable that people will disagree about what's more egregious in the USCIS but we shouldn't get bogged down with that. Virtually all of the complaints I've read on this site seem well-founded. There seems to be no aspect of its mission that this agency hasn't mishandled, and I mean systematically. It's impressive, in a sick sort of way!

[coyote 3]

I also wanted to mention that I got a reply from the site's administrator. Apparently, Visajourney.com started as a few individuals who did take political action in the form of well-organized protests outside a USCIS office and raising media awareness. And they tell me they are willing to help coordinate this kind of thing again. So please let me know if you guys are willing to do a little work on this. I want to get some advice from these DC people about what would be most effective -- nobody has time, I'm sure, to do a lot of work on this, but it seems like a good time politically to gain some leverage.