that was for nothing

[Pete 0]

Reminder on how to get to a real (are they?) human the fastest and with least amount of those condescending voice prompts : dial the USCIS (dis)service number 800-375-5283 and don't hit ANY buttons. Just let it roll through the spanish yakking and you will get an operator after a few minutes.

I fired off a strongly worded letter to the USCIS Ombudsman today taking them to task for the process being put into reverse. He is the link: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/edit...torial_0731.xml

If you are not part of the solution (sending letters/making calls) you are part of the problem. If you do not hold the people in charge accountable, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!!!

Reach out and touch your Senator and Congressman today. (and the ombudsman for whatever THAT is worth). This forum is invisable to the people that can make changes.

Edited May 24, 2006 by Pete

[Sinergy 3]

I spent over 170 plus days waiting for my NOA2, and i know how frustrating the wait can be TRUST ME. Especially with a baby. I have not seen my fiance in a year and a half, that can get even more frustrating. BUT, there is a new law in place for ANYONE who filed a petition AFTER March 6th. Therefore background checks will take LONGER. Where VSC used to take a week or 2 to approve at times, may take alot longer due to IMBRA. They give a timeline, yes granted it will sometimes go over that time line, but they will never tell you anything different, it is always 30 days, or 60 days. The ONLY thing you can do is wait. You can call your congressman/senator, but with the extra background checks going on, who knows if they can even do anything positive. I pray for all of you still going through the service centers, especially after March 6th, but take it from me, patience is your only key for now. I am ABOUT 2-3 weeks away from my fiance having his interview, and when i sit and think back over the last 6 months, i cant believe the medication i had to be put on, the numerous times i went to the dr for depression, and nervousnous, and so on. I know its hard, we all want to be with out loved ones, but this is going to be the biggest waiting game in your life, and soon it will be over. It will not last forever!

Hugs,

Tara

[rlt 0]

I spent over 170 plus days waiting for my NOA2, and i know how frustrating the wait can be TRUST ME. Especially with a baby. I have not seen my fiance in a year and a half, that can get even more frustrating. BUT, there is a new law in place for ANYONE who filed a petition AFTER March 6th. Therefore background checks will take LONGER. Where VSC used to take a week or 2 to approve at times, may take alot longer due to IMBRA. They give a timeline, yes granted it will sometimes go over that time line, but they will never tell you anything different, it is always 30 days, or 60 days. The ONLY thing you can do is wait. You can call your congressman/senator, but with the extra background checks going on, who knows if they can even do anything positive. I pray for all of you still going through the service centers, especially after March 6th, but take it from me, patience is your only key for now. I am ABOUT 2-3 weeks away from my fiance having his interview, and when i sit and think back over the last 6 months, i cant believe the medication i had to be put on, the numerous times i went to the dr for depression, and nervousnous, and so on. I know its hard, we all want to be with out loved ones, but this is going to be the biggest waiting game in your life, and soon it will be over. It will not last forever!

Hugs,

Tara

True.

The only thing is that they are not doing background checks.

They will request criminal records from all petitiners.

And at the present moment, they don´t know how.

So the waiting hasn´t already started yet.

We are waiting for them to decide what to do, and then we are gonna wait for our case to be processed.

Strange, huh?

[Sinergy 3]

I spent over 170 plus days waiting for my NOA2, and i know how frustrating the wait can be TRUST ME. Especially with a baby. I have not seen my fiance in a year and a half, that can get even more frustrating. BUT, there is a new law in place for ANYONE who filed a petition AFTER March 6th. Therefore background checks will take LONGER. Where VSC used to take a week or 2 to approve at times, may take alot longer due to IMBRA. They give a timeline, yes granted it will sometimes go over that time line, but they will never tell you anything different, it is always 30 days, or 60 days. The ONLY thing you can do is wait. You can call your congressman/senator, but with the extra background checks going on, who knows if they can even do anything positive. I pray for all of you still going through the service centers, especially after March 6th, but take it from me, patience is your only key for now. I am ABOUT 2-3 weeks away from my fiance having his interview, and when i sit and think back over the last 6 months, i cant believe the medication i had to be put on, the numerous times i went to the dr for depression, and nervousnous, and so on. I know its hard, we all want to be with out loved ones, but this is going to be the biggest waiting game in your life, and soon it will be over. It will not last forever!

Hugs,

Tara

True.

The only thing is that they are not doing background checks.

They will request criminal records from all petitiners.

And at the present moment, they don´t know how.

So the waiting hasn´t already started yet.

We are waiting for them to decide what to do, and then we are gonna wait for our case to be processed.

Strange, huh?

Very crappy indeed. I do feel for you all. I stand corrected on the background checks then, i was misinformed on that then. However, the wait will be painful, and i will pray for all of you.

[amwo 0]

ok, i say call and email everyone you can! pete is right as long as we don't say anything, we get nothing.

come on people! while your sitting in front of your computer sending each other hugs, time is wasting. we all need to rally to get the response we all deserve.

so contact your congress people. how about your newspapers? local tv? oprah?

every bit helps.

and save your pats on the back. i don't need support, i need action!

[tigretigre 0]

What do people here mean when they keep saying that the USCIS will "request criminal records from all petitioners"?

Your average person with no criminal history doesn't possess any documentation of that fact, especially as criminal law is primarily a state administered area and getting that information would require a multi-database search. Federal agencies have more access to that kind of information than the petitioners themselves do, especially since criminal law is a state administered matter. Same goes for orders of protection--law enforcement and other agencies can search a federal registry to find out if someone has an order of protection against them, but people who DON'T have one don't have any documentation of that.

If what they want is a signed declaration of our criminal histories, or attestations that we have none, I'm just not sure what the administrative purpose of that would be...which of course doesn't mean that isn't what they want!

The Tigresa

[rlt 0]

What do people here mean when they keep saying that the USCIS will "request criminal records from all petitioners"?

Your average person with no criminal history doesn't possess any documentation of that fact, especially as criminal law is primarily a state administered area and getting that information would require a multi-database search. Federal agencies have more access to that kind of information than the petitioners themselves do, especially since criminal law is a state administered matter. Same goes for orders of protection--law enforcement and other agencies can search a federal registry to find out if someone has an order of protection against them, but people who DON'T have one don't have any documentation of that.

If what they want is a signed declaration of our criminal histories, or attestations that we have none, I'm just not sure what the administrative purpose of that would be...which of course doesn't mean that isn't what they want!

The Tigresa

As the official statement says:

"1. Summary: The International Marriage Broker Regulation

(IMBRA) was signed by the President January 5th of this

year. A 60-day deadline, March 5, 2006, was established

for DHS to begin asking K-1 fiancé(e) petitioners for

their criminal background information.(...)"

4. The Department presently has no information about the

extent of delay for these cases. In the meantime DHS will

send additional questionnaires to the petitioners

inquiring about their possible criminal backgrounds. When

the petition is compliant with the IMBRA, it will be

returned to post from USCIS through NVC for processing.

The full statement for those who missed can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegram...grams_2927.html

I think it might be a matter of "something else they need to put inside the envelope so the case would be completed".

But if it was that easy, why would they still be waiting to send the damn things??

[GaryC 7]

This is just my opinion. I think what will end up happening is we will fill in a form stating our criminal history, Notorize it and send it in. If it were any more than that then they would be doing it and not us.

[ccmkoho 0]

ok, i say call and email everyone you can! pete is right as long as we don't say anything, we get nothing.

come on people! while your sitting in front of your computer sending each other hugs, time is wasting. we all need to rally to get the response we all deserve.

so contact your congress people. how about your newspapers? local tv? oprah?

every bit helps.

and save your pats on the back. i don't need support, i need action!

You're kidding right? Local newspaper, tv, etc. Do you really think this is a big news item to the average person?

There's much bureaucratic red tape and inadequacy out there and I think it would be fair to say that K1 visas being delayed due to incompetence is not at the top of the list.

It's just going to be a waiting process. But I feel the frustration too.

[rlt 0]

ok, i say call and email everyone you can! pete is right as long as we don't say anything, we get nothing.

come on people! while your sitting in front of your computer sending each other hugs, time is wasting. we all need to rally to get the response we all deserve.

so contact your congress people. how about your newspapers? local tv? oprah?

every bit helps.

and save your pats on the back. i don't need support, i need action!

You're kidding right? Local newspaper, tv, etc. Do you really think this is a big news item to the average person?

There's much bureaucratic red tape and inadequacy out there and I think it would be fair to say that K1 visas being delayed due to incompetence is not at the top of the list.

It's just going to be a waiting process. But I feel the frustration too.

And you also have the right to sit and wait.

As we can choose to stand up and do something about it.

If someone will care or not, we´ll only find out by trying to get their attention.

[amwo 0]

Maybe the news item is:

"If the government can't handle 1100 cases how will they handle 12 million?"

And thank you, rlt, for recognizing that we, too, have rights as American citizens.

And ccmkoho, have fun sitting!