Green card processing took forever

[intuitionsys 0]

My wife crossed the border with an IR-1 visa last March. After three months we finally decided enough was enough and made an appointment with our local USCIS office after getting nowhere on the phone. After two such visits we finally found out the Montreal consulate used the wrong number on her visa so the packet we sent to Texas from our initial border crossing was just sitting there. They just extended her visa expiry date and told us to wait for several months.

Several months later after another call to USCIS went nowhere again we were off to the local USCIS office. This time we find out supposedly nothing is wrong they just haven't started processing it yet. Of course they couldn't have just told us that on the phone. We were advised at that time all we could do was pray, call, wait, e-mail and pray some more. So we waited about a month like they suggested and tried calling, got nowhere, e-mailed, no answer.

We recently moved so I sent in the change of address form. Within about a week and a half whamo she finally gets her welcome letter notice and that she should receive her green card within 30 days. There is no way that could be coincidence. Especially since the letter had our correct new address on it. Obviously the change of address notification triggered something and somebody (or something) noticed our packet has been waiting to be processed for a very very long time.

I'm certainly glad she's finally getting her card but man oh man we had to constantly pester them to get anything at all done or find out anything. Very frustrating. They always want a receipt number especially over the phone but she never even got that so we were stuck in limbo (the receipt from the welcome letter we never received). Why sending in a change of address form should finally get the ball rolling I have no idea but as long as it did we're happy I guess. Our local USCIS people were nice enough; it seems they are just as frustrated as everyone else.

If we hadn't moved recently we'd probably be off to the Ombudsman at the recommendation of the guy at the local office. At the last visit they told us they'd just have to keep extending her visa expiration until the Texas processing center would do something as they won't respond to any communication. What a wonderful system!