STILL no ruling nearly 2 years after AOS application filed

[junglejao 0]

I have officially run out of patience. I know... welcome to the immigration process! But this is SERIOUSLY ridiculous.

My husband arrived in the US in March of 2008 on a K1 visa. We were married in June, and immediately filed his AOS (6/24/08 to be exact). We were interviewed in January of 2009. Piece of cake. They asked us next to nothing- name, social security number, address. That was it. Then we waited.

Exactly 90 days later, when we hadn't yet received a ruling, we filed an official inquiry with USCIS. We received a letter only a few days later telling us the case simply wasn't ready yet- standard answer of "awaiting additional checks". Over the course of the next few months, we made several InfoPass appointments, just to make sure they didn't forget about us. In October, we wrote a letter to our Congresswoman. Within a few days we received a call from the officer who had originally interviewed us, asking us to come in for a second interview. BRING IT ON!

They certainly TRIED to scare us- staring us down, catching us off guard, trying to find discrepancies in our answers, etc. They told us they had attempted to come to our house twice, but we weren't there. Luckily they had sent my husband out of the room so I took the brunt of this. I was NOT scared and was not going to be made out to be some sort of liar or criminal. I answered everything to their satisfaction, and asked in return that they give me the courtesy of LOOKING at the many photo albums we brought (which weren't even opened at the initial interview) that show the entire history of our relationship.

Halfway through the interview, before they had really even talked to my husband, the supervising officer said we could stop. He stated that he believed in the validity of our relationship, and there was no need to continue questioning. He then asked my husband if he'd ever been married before, to which he answered "no". The officer, again trying to use his scare tactics, just stared my husband down, and let him know that this was being investigated. My husband just laughed and was like, "ok". I guess that was supposed to scare him, but it didn't.

During the interview, the officer kept saying we should have a decision within 60-90 days. At the conclusion of the interview, once he decided that he believed us, he changed that timeframe to 7-10 days. It's now been 4 1/2 months and we are officially OVER IT!

My husband and I are in our late 30's. We are nervous to start having children until we know there is nothing that could potentially keep us apart. Is it unreasonable to expect to have an answer by now so we can start a family? I DON'T THINK SO! I told them that there was nothing they could do to keep us apart, and that I would move to Peru if they decided we can't be together in this country, but the truth is we love our life here, and don't want to live somewhere else. We just want to put down our roots and get on with it already.

I'm so sick of the whole concept of someone else getting to decide the direction of my future. And it's beyond unfair that there are so many people breaking rules right and left to live in this country, and those of us playing by the rules are being penalized. It's #######. I'm in the process of drafting a (polite) letter (despite my current state of mind) to the officers who interviewed us (I'm a sneaky girl and managed to get their fax number at the second interview!), and would be grateful for any advice of what to say. I want it to be concise and thoughtful and so persuaive that they can't possibly justify making us wait any longer.

Thanks in advance for any ideas, and to everyone here for their constant support. It's truly comforting to know we're not alone.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Go ahead - have kids...

Contact your congresswoman again.

[Otto 83]

Contact your congresswoman again.

Ditto - or perhaps one of your Senators.

[junglejao 0]

Thanks. Better to go to Congresswoman/Senator than to send a letter directly to the officers who interviewed us?

[Otto 83]

Thanks. Better to go to Congresswoman/Senator than to send a letter directly to the officers who interviewed us?

No reason you can't do both - or wait for a response from the officer to include in your statement to your Congressman/Senator.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I agree, it is time to contact your elected representative again.

With your letter you could politely summarize your timeline, finishing with the approval information you were given at the second interview, then state that 'since it has now been 4 1/2 months since the interview and we were told we should have a decision in 7 to 10 days, we wonder if there is further information you would like for us to provide? We would be happy to do so, and if you wish to visit our home, we are generally home on such and such days and between such and such hours, although if we are not home it could be that we are out for groceries or dinner or 'running errands' as well. Please do not hesitate to call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX if you have any questions we can answer. If we are out, please leave a message and we will get back to you. We are eager to start our family and are just waiting for the immigration paperwork to be complete to do so' - or words to that effect.

Good luck to you!

(I sympathize with your wait - it took 22 months to approve my AOS and there was no communications from USCIS during that time other than re-doing my biometrics, my AP and my EAD because they had all expired).

Edited March 30, 2010 by Kathryn41

[bassagitator 1]

Don't feel bad! My applicaiton is going into its 4th year!