Question regarding attempted expedite with USCIS

[Val and Gary 29]

Hi everyone

Gary and I have gotten a bit of information from Lotto who is always so helpful.....but I am going to throw this question out there and see if anyone may know anything.

I phoned the USCIS last Tuesday and spoke to a very helpful person (so I thought) who put an expedite request thru for us due to medical and financial reasons. He said if I don't hear from them in 5 days to call back. Well...I just called today and spoke to another rep and she pulled all my information on the computer and said that because the last rep I spoke to did not put an expedite on both the !-130 and the I129F nothing could be done...so she took more information put an expedite request on BOTH , gave me a confirmation/referral number and again said if I don't word of anytihng in 5 days to call back. Am I getting anywhere here? I"m just so frustrated along with everyone else here....I'm looking at timelines of people putting their paperwork thru in October and they already have their interview scheduled....I spoke to our lawyer....I explained our problems (the med and financial bit) and our lawyer calmly said their is no way to expedite. Reading everything on here...THIS IS NOT TRUE.....and we paid him A LOT of money(we are pretty much broke now) and so far.....I'm not seeing any effort on his part...sorry if I'm rambling here but I am just so AGHHHH...FRUSTRATED!! DOes anyone have any ideas as to what is going on with the USCIS...we were alsom transferred to Texas along with a bunch of others....thanks so much for any information.

Val and Gary

PEACE!!

[RichiJenny 14]

Some 'so called immigration specialists / attorneys' have no knowledge of expedited procedure.

Call the USCIS, put in a service request again, with a level 2. Do not take no for an snswer from the CSR as sometimes they dont want to put you through to a T2 - as I presume that this makes them look like inept idiots who cannot adequately cope with standard USCIS requests.

make a note of every name and agent number you speak to.

You will be given a expedite referral id number unique to your case.

In a day or two if you havent received any paperwork requesting further info re the expedite, email the service center that is dealing with your case. You will be emailed back and also receive a name and fax number to forward your evidence to. I advise also fed ex'ing it too.

The wait then begins, could be a day or two, could be a month at worst. But keep on top of it, and call every so often, dont bother speaking with CSR's when it comes to your Service request. Its a complete waste of time, and more often than not they will give you conflicting info.

[RichiJenny 14]

Id also ask / demand a refund from your attorney. The info re expedite and the basic procedure is on the uscis website. If your lawyer doesnt know that, then I wouldnt pay them in buttons!

I forgot to mention, along with the supporting evidence, you have to submit a letter explaining why you need the expedite, and the reasons for it.

This can be faxed when you receive the info regarding who to send the supporting documents to, and also you can email it to the USCIS aswell.

...and you can also make an expedite request on more than one specific ground. Our case we were referred on 3 grounds.

[RichiJenny 14]

Email your expedite request and include your referral number and case number to :

tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov

and if you've gone through california - maybe cc it to them, too

csc-ncsc-followup@dhs.gov

and if you have no response within 3 weeks at all

SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov

which is USCIS HQ

[Paloma&Adam 1]

This is all good stuff as it's relevant to me as well.

RichiJenny,

Two of my wifes doctors are writing letters on her behalf for our expedite request, however, her psychiatric doctor is chinese and says that she doesn't have enough grasp of the english language to write a letter. She suggested that my wife write the letter on her own behalf and then she would sign it for her. What do you think of this?? It seems abit dodgy to me....

[pushbrk 12,969]

Hi everyone

Gary and I have gotten a bit of information from Lotto who is always so helpful.....but I am going to throw this question out there and see if anyone may know anything.

I phoned the USCIS last Tuesday and spoke to a very helpful person (so I thought) who put an expedite request thru for us due to medical and financial reasons. He said if I don't hear from them in 5 days to call back. Well...I just called today and spoke to another rep and she pulled all my information on the computer and said that because the last rep I spoke to did not put an expedite on both the !-130 and the I129F nothing could be done...so she took more information put an expedite request on BOTH , gave me a confirmation/referral number and again said if I don't word of anytihng in 5 days to call back. Am I getting anywhere here? I"m just so frustrated along with everyone else here....I'm looking at timelines of people putting their paperwork thru in October and they already have their interview scheduled....I spoke to our lawyer....I explained our problems (the med and financial bit) and our lawyer calmly said their is no way to expedite. Reading everything on here...THIS IS NOT TRUE.....and we paid him A LOT of money(we are pretty much broke now) and so far.....I'm not seeing any effort on his part...sorry if I'm rambling here but I am just so AGHHHH...FRUSTRATED!! DOes anyone have any ideas as to what is going on with the USCIS...we were alsom transferred to Texas along with a bunch of others....thanks so much for any information.

Val and Gary

PEACE!!

Can you be more specific about the grounds for expedite. Your attorney may be correct in saying there's no expedite for you because there are not sufficient or the right kind of grounds for it. Just saying medical and financial reasons doesn't really say anything.

Generally, if the US Citizen has a serious medical problem that requires the care of the foreign beneficiary, an expedite will be granted. Seldom will financial concerns play into the decision, nor will medical issues involving the foreigner.

Your expedite request is not an indication the adjudication will actually be expedited. It's just a request.

This is all good stuff as it's relevant to me as well.

RichiJenny,

Two of my wifes doctors are writing letters on her behalf for our expedite request, however, her psychiatric doctor is chinese and says that she doesn't have enough grasp of the english language to write a letter. She suggested that my wife write the letter on her own behalf and then she would sign it for her. What do you think of this?? It seems abit dodgy to me....

Who has the psychiatric problem, the USC or the foreign spouse?

[RichiJenny 14]

It should be fine. My wifes dr was really busy, he said she should write it, she was too sick, so i wrote it and sent it to the dr to clarify all of the facts were correct.

He then had his receptionist type it up on office headed paper. This happened twice - however the second time, I think the receptionist was different as it wasnt quite type copied! The grammar wasnt quite the best but still, it made the point, regardless.

I was a little worried with us sending that in, as I thought they may find it a little odd with the grammar being the way it was. However, looking back at our notes now, the notes and grammar on most of the dr notes leaves a lot to be desired....but then I have a degree in English literature, so I was concerned! BUT you have to remember, its an expedite request, not an English exam like I was thinking lol.

Also, in the paperwork you will receive ( kind of like an rfe only it goes through faster) they ask for a description of the medical reason(s) in laymans terms. We found a bit of both helped. The correct medical terms followed by the layman description. You can also add that should the USCIS require any further info, they can contact the dr's office direct.

As, another question on the RFI - if you will - the request for info - asks whether the diagnosis is acute or chronic.

I thought that was a trick question, but according to the professionals acute and chronic can be cross diagnosed and perfectly fine.

Can you be more specific about the grounds for expedite. Your attorney may be correct in saying there's no expedite for you because there are not sufficient or the right kind of grounds for it. Just saying medical and financial reasons doesn't really say anything.

Generally, if the US Citizen has a serious medical problem that requires the care of the foreign beneficiary, an expedite will be granted. Seldom will financial concerns play into the decision, nor will medical issues involving the foreigner.

Your expedite request is not an indication the adjudication will actually be expedited. It's just a request.

Who has the psychiatric problem, the USC or the foreign spouse?

USC I would say? Its the dr that is Chinese. am I right in my reading?

[Val and Gary 29]

Some 'so called immigration specialists / attorneys' have no knowledge of expedited procedure.

Call the USCIS, put in a service request again, with a level 2. Do not take no for an snswer from the CSR as sometimes they dont want to put you through to a T2 - as I presume that this makes them look like inept idiots who cannot adequately cope with standard USCIS requests.

make a note of every name and agent number you speak to.

You will be given a expedite referral id number unique to your case.

In a day or two if you havent received any paperwork requesting further info re the expedite, email the service center that is dealing with your case. You will be emailed back and also receive a name and fax number to forward your evidence to. I advise also fed ex'ing it too.

The wait then begins, could be a day or two, could be a month at worst. But keep on top of it, and call every so often, dont bother speaking with CSR's when it comes to your Service request. Its a complete waste of time, and more often than not they will give you conflicting info.

THank yoou so much for this information.....I have a question now....the person I spoke to gave me a referral number , does that mean that I've spoken to a Tier 2 person....can a CSR give me a referral number?

[RichiJenny 14]

Can you be more specific about the grounds for expedite. Your attorney may be correct in saying there's no expedite for you because there are not sufficient or the right kind of grounds for it. Just saying medical and financial reasons doesn't really say anything.

Generally, if the US Citizen has a serious medical problem that requires the care of the foreign beneficiary, an expedite will be granted. Seldom will financial concerns play into the decision, nor will medical issues involving the foreigner.

Your expedite request is not an indication the adjudication will actually be expedited. It's just a request.

Who has the psychiatric problem, the USC or the foreign spouse?

Ive discovered several professional folk saying you cannot expedite. id say its up to the petitioner to apply and the uscis to approve or decline. The attorney sounds clueless to me.

Financial is also used and is taken into the equation regarding it meets the uscis criteria.

A 'good' CSR can give you the number yes. Also a Tier 2 can.

Good luck, and hope all goes well for you guys.

[Val and Gary 29]

Ive discovered several professional folk saying you cannot expedite. id say its up to the petitioner to apply and the uscis to approve or decline. The attorney sounds clueless to me.

Financial is also used and is taken into the equation regarding it meets the uscis criteria.

A 'good' CSR can give you the number yes. Also a Tier 2 can.

Good luck, and hope all goes well for you guys.

Yeah, indeed. This is what our attorney said:

Sorry, there is no expedite process to this other than the K-3 petition we are doing.

[RichiJenny 14]

Although you dont have to be specific re expedite reasons on VJ - you have to be specific in your expedite request. And if you can send as much supporting information as you can with your request.

[RichiJenny 14]

Yeah, indeed. This is what our attorney said:

Sorry, there is no expedite process to this other than the K-3 petition we are doing.

Im not aware of rules and laws in the US - but this attorney would belong to a bar of a certain state? If I were in your shoes, Id demand a refund, and / or report the attorney to the bar if they do not comply with your request in any way shape or form.

What your attorney was incorrect > therefore 'legally' incorrect.

[Val and Gary 29]

Ive discovered several professional folk saying you cannot expedite. id say its up to the petitioner to apply and the uscis to approve or decline. The attorney sounds clueless to me.

Financial is also used and is taken into the equation regarding it meets the uscis criteria.

A 'good' CSR can give you the number yes. Also a Tier 2 can.

Good luck, and hope all goes well for you guys.

Thanks so much......I have 2 case numbers and now I have the 2 e-mail addresses you gave me....I"m going to E-mail now.....I can get doctor documentation for both my son and I .....and as for Financial.....the person I spoke to listed off 10 qualifications necessary to qualify for and expedite he read them off to me......so the person who said financial will not qualify you is incorrect. Financial is a big one.......

[RichiJenny 14]

Ive seen expedites approved for the most surprising things too. When I did the K1 - I knew nothing about it. And my then wife was in dire need of assistance at that time, but the K1 only took 4 months all in, in 2005/6

Now, we became aware of the process after thorough research as it was/is essential. Im so glad we did it. Whether its my observations but the requests seem to be getting more and more frequent, in recent months. Whether the USCIS will raise the bar, so to speak in the distant future will remain to be seen. My advice - get it in while you can, and keep on top of it. make notes of names, numbers and dates. If you find you're struggling, contact your senator. Thus far our senator has been less than useless, but others have had great success with theirs.

[Val and Gary 29]

Im not aware of rules and laws in the US - but this attorney would belong to a bar of a certain state? If I were in your shoes, Id demand a refund, and / or report the attorney to the bar if they do not comply with your request in any way shape or form.

What your attorney was incorrect > therefore 'legally' incorrect.

I will not say how angry I am at this situation with our attorney until I have my husband legally in the country...

Edited November 17, 2010 by Val and Gary