Time to complain to CIS Ombudsman?

[hheaven67 2]

hey Jen.. how are you doing? I see you are almost all done with your journey now.. congrats on not giving up.. yeah, we are a bit over 500 days now.. and the lawsuit's time is almost up (in my signature) and at about 14 days left (out of 60). they have 60 days to respond back (with another 30 days extension), but over 95% (I checked too, made an account with PACERS - the whole court system.. they have all the cases from everyone who filed) succeed and end in "voluntary dismissal" by the plantiff (mainly because USCIS doesn't want to admit they were wrong in the 1st place).. Also, they use an excuse like : "We already finished your case and you have no reason to continue, so the lawsuit is moot".. something to that effect.. so they make up plenty of excuses not to look bad..

We are well, thank you gogo...hope you & the Mrs. are as good as can be expected, considering! Your story breaks MANY hearts on VJ...I always look you up to see how things are coming along for you two! Many prayers, always! I am soooo sorry you are going thru such extreme hell! I commend you & your wife for not letting them get the best of you & your relationship...love always prevails!

Yes, the waiting game yet again for the EAD...just wanna be working so badly! But I tell ya, the house hasn't ever been so clean & the neighbors are ready to give me an award for the yardwork! lol...just trying to keep busy & occupied...Jim LOVES all the cooking & baking too!

Wishing you & Mrs. Gogo all the very best...once again, many prayers are going out to you & your beloved!!

hugz....

jen

[mrc1330 0]

Got some replies:

RE: Vermont Service Center & Spousal Visa ApplicantsFriday, September 12, 2008 10:16 AM

From: "PublicAffairs, CISOmbudsman" <CISOmbudsman.Publicaffairs@dhs.gov>Add sender to Contacts To: mrc1330@yahoo.com

Thank you for your comments. Our office will look into this issue. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

CIS Ombudsman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: MRC1330 [mailto:mrc1330@yahoo.com]

Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 9:17 AM

To: PublicAffairs, CISOmbudsman

Subject: RE: Vermont Service Center & Spousal Visa Applicants

The research and data provided in the 2008 Annual report HAS NOTHING TO DO with my complaint. Please! Instead of copy-pasting this canned response, DO YOUR JOB. This is not about K3's being administratively closed, or separated or joined, or filing fee...

This is about VSC not doing ANYTHING.

On Fri, 9/12/08, PublicAffairs, CISOmbudsman <CISOmbudsman.Publicaffairs@dhs.gov> wrote:

From: PublicAffairs, CISOmbudsman <CISOmbudsman.Publicaffairs@dhs.gov>

Subject: RE: Vermont Service Center & Spousal Visa Applicants

To: mrc1330@yahoo.com

Date: Friday, September 12, 2008, 9:00 AM

Dear Mr. Mendoza,

We have received several similar emails regaridn the IR1/CRI and K3 processing concerns at the VSC. Thank you for your email advising our office about this important issue. If you have a specific case problem that you would like our office to research, please visit our website for information on how to submit a case problem using DHS Form 7001. www.dhs.gov/ cisombudsman /. For privacy reasons, we require written consent before we can research your case.

We will look into the VSC issue as it appears to be a systematic problem. The CIS Ombudsman assists individuals and employers who experience specific problems during the USCIS benefits seeking process, largely to identify problems and to formulate recommendations to improve the USCIS service. I believe that first hand information from individuals like you is the best source for identifying systemic problems in the immigration benefits process. My office will consider the information you provided as we develop recommendations to improve USCIS’ practices and procedures.

My office has researched the K3 visa process and discussed it in our 2008 Annual Report to Congress. We also held a teleconference on this topic and have posted our Q&A on our website. To learn more information about the CIS Ombudsman Office, please visit www.dhs.gov/ombudsman.

Please note that CIS Ombudsman is independent from USCIS and cannot adjudicate immigration applications or serve as a substitute for the legal options offered by USCIS to correct a problem. It is outside the authority of the CIS Ombudsman to grant or reverse a denial of an immigration benefit.

Thank you again for your time and input.

CIS Ombudsman Office

So now we know they actually read replies and follow up with the email at least to the point of not just copy-pasting responses...

lets blow that email.. load it with complaints and phone calls too!

[brc22 0]

Very nice to see a meaningful response. I will also follow your foot steps and e-mail a similar response. Hope to see a similar personalized reply.

My response today to their canned reply:

The research and description that is provided in 2008 annual report does not address the issue that I have mentioned below. Please READ the e-mail and understand the issue before trying to offer a solution or response that is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Please please have VSC work on K-3 applications as they not approved a SINGLE petition since 3 weeks and have gone BACKWARDS in their processing time. Our experience with VSC has been simply ridiculous as the center's operations has made a mockery of the greatness that this country argues to stand on.

Edited September 12, 2008 by brc22

[Monica&Isha 0]

Very nice to see a meaningful response. I will also follow your foot steps and e-mail a similar response. Hope to see a similar personalized reply.

My response today to their canned reply:

The research and description that is provided in 2008 annual report does not address the issue that I have mentioned below. Please READ the e-mail and understand the issue before trying to offer a solution or response that is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Please please have VSC work on K-3 applications as they not approved a SINGLE petition since 3 weeks and have gone BACKWARDS in their processing time. Our experience with VSC has been simply ridiculous as the center's operations has made a mockery of the greatness that this country argues to stand on.

My husband will send our email tonight. We wanted to plan exactly what we are going to say since we cannot affirm VSC has not approved NO one at all. We only have the data from VJ. But on the letter we wrote, we mentioned the problem of VSC having a BIG majority still waiting and also the injustice due to CSC much faster approvals. Probably we'll get a similar response, but at least they will know that lots of us are not satisfied and willing to do something about it.

Oh well, I still have high hopes for September! Maybe next week...

[mrc1330 0]

Dont worry, it really doesnt matter that we dont have the stats for the petitions NOT on VJ... It's USCIS's fault that they dont publish a detailed report of how many recieved by month, approvals per month.... NOTHING. And by the way.. that whole USCIS not being transparent with the very people that fund their paychecks has been brought up to the Ombudsman MILLIONS OF TIMES. They arent transparent because they are f'in LIARS.

Very nice to see a meaningful response. I will also follow your foot steps and e-mail a similar response. Hope to see a similar personalized reply.

My response today to their canned reply:

The research and description that is provided in 2008 annual report does not address the issue that I have mentioned below. Please READ the e-mail and understand the issue before trying to offer a solution or response that is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Please please have VSC work on K-3 applications as they not approved a SINGLE petition since 3 weeks and have gone BACKWARDS in their processing time. Our experience with VSC has been simply ridiculous as the center's operations has made a mockery of the greatness that this country argues to stand on.

My husband will send our email tonight. We wanted to plan exactly what we are going to say since we cannot affirm VSC has not approved NO one at all. We only have the data from VJ. But on the letter we wrote, we mentioned the problem of VSC having a BIG majority still waiting and also the injustice due to CSC much faster approvals. Probably we'll get a similar response, but at least they will know that lots of us are not satisfied and willing to do something about it.

Oh well, I still have high hopes for September! Maybe next week...

[CJ Vasani 0]

Strange...I never received any response from any of the e-mail addresses. Either mine was completely ignored or somebody actually paid serious attention...I hate living in this unknown.....the agony

[brc22 0]

Strange...I never received any response from any of the e-mail addresses. Either mine was completely ignored or somebody actually paid serious attention...I hate living in this unknown.....the agony

Just received a response:

Thank you for your comments. We are looking into the processing delays at the VSC for the K-3 applications. We regret that you are experiences difficulties and understand your frustration.

As noted in the earlier email, if you have a specific case problem that you would like our office to research, please visit our website for information on how to submit a case problem using DHS Form 7001. www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman/. For privacy reasons, we require written consent before we can research your case.

Thanks again for your note.

[CJ Vasani 0]

I finally received a response on Monday....somewhat canned, but had a different language on the top. check it out. I also replied to this response to which I haven't received anything.

Thank you for your recent correspondence to the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman). I appreciate your comments regarding I-130 and K-3 processing. We have received several inquiries such as yours and are very concerned. We are currently discussing these issues with USCIS and continuing to review their policies and procedures concerning these petitions.

If you wish us to look into your particular USCIS immigration filing, we kindly request that you complete and submit a Form DHS-7001, CIS Ombudsman Case Problem Submission to us. A copy of the DHS-7001 can be found at

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cisomb_dhsform7001.pdf.

At this time, case problems may not be submitted through facsimile or email due to confidentiality and Privacy Act issues, so we request that you please mail the completed and signed form, with relevant supporting documentation, to the following address:

Via Regular Mail:

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Department of Homeland Security

Attention: Case Problems

Mail Stop 1225

Washington, D.C. 20528-1225

Via Courier Service:

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Department of Homeland Security

Attention: Case Problems

245 Murray Lane

Mail Stop 1225

Washington, D.C. 20528-1225

Do allow 14 business days for our receipt of your form as our mail goes through a biological agent screening. Once we receive it, we will send you postal mail of receipt confirming same, and we will initiate review of your case problem

I look forward to the day when I can report that the work of this office has been accomplished because our vision of a world-class immigration benefits system has been achieved. Your contribution takes us a step closer to reaching this goal.

Office of the Ombudsman

[cris11 0]

Yeah, I got the same response from the Ombudsmanen yesterday too!

[brc22 0]

I got a response 2 days back that I checked now. It had customized txt on top and then the canned msg:

Sir, we do well understand the situation you describe. We do understand as well that you are concerned and frustrated as the system appears to not be working.

<canned msg>

[hope1 0]

I got a response 2 days back that I checked now. It had customized txt on top and then the canned msg:

Sir, we do well understand the situation you describe. We do understand as well that you are concerned and frustrated as the system appears to not be working.

<canned msg>

I believe it is working since the massage in the top is different from one another. I think CIS will give the issue more attention if more people send the customized email.