January filers

[rok 3]

I saw a NOA 1 dated Jan 3rd, and got approved May 10th, Country was Peru, now it is getting exciting

Whereas my file dated Jan 3rd pending. country is India

By the way how country affects the timing of approval?

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[unlockingsky 94]

i called uscis cust rep and they said vsc is working jan23 i-130 usc for spouse.

[PleaseDeleteAcct 7]

i called uscis cust rep and they said vsc is working jan23 i-130 usc for spouse.

^^ They are really pissing me off... They told me Jan 16 a week and a half ago, then they e-mailed an answer to service request saying that they were sorry for the information but they are actually working on NOVEMBER 2011 cases... yet they told you they are working on Jan 23.

Ours is Jan 12th (USC filing i130 for spouse from England)

We sent plenty of evidence, pics, shared accounts, plane tickets, etc. It's not anything "complicated", I just can't understand why they are giving people different information all the time. Ugh.

((I also just realized you had responded to a diff post about how i got a service request before june, i wrote back to that and attached the e-mail))

I can't believe how much I can't handle all the lies they are telling.. I don't know what is true and what isn't as this point.

Edited May 18, 2012 by xxJaym

[Musashii 21]

They usually tell that they process on "FIFO", First in, First Out but it is NOT true.

My NOA1 date is 3 January, 2012 but I see petitions being approved as far as 17 and 24 January 2012.

This is annoying and ridiculous. Sorry if you don't like it but I am not going to sugarcoat it.

They tell us something else when we call and they do something totally different. Telling lies is all they do.

Even after waiting for 5 months which is supposed to be their standard national goal for processing, when you ask for a service request you are told they are still working 2 months behind. Is it our fault? And if they are really working on petitions from November 2011 then how and why are they approving petitions from January?

Edited May 18, 2012 by Musashii

[PleaseDeleteAcct 7]

And if they are really working on petitions from November 2011 then how and why are they approving petitions from January?

Exactly my question!! This has been the most frustrating thing I've done in my life. There are different answers every time you call and speak to a tier 2 on what date is being processed, then the answer to service request is just "oh, sorry, they told you wrong, we are working on november 2011" when we all know that isn't true when Dec, Jan and a couple Feb cases are being approved. I just don't get it.

[Musashii 21]

Exactly my question!! This has been the most frustrating thing I've done in my life. There are different answers every time you call and speak to a tier 2 on what date is being processed, then the answer to service request is just "oh, sorry, they told you wrong, we are working on november 2011" when we all know that isn't true when Dec, Jan and a couple Feb cases are being approved. I just don't get it.

I would understand if they had looked at our petitions and then classified them as complicated (hope not but if they thought so) and put under the deeper scanning or checks But from the last updated I can tell they have not even looked at it yet they are approving petitions from later dates. Not fair and not funny at all.

Just wait till you reach your 5 months time and then give them a call if you still have not received any action on your petition. Carefully listen and remember what you are told by the tier 2 person and then contact your congressman. When a congressional inquiry will go in they will be forced to look in to your petition.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Musashii

[PleaseDeleteAcct 7]

I would understand if they had looked at our petitions and then classified them as complicated (hope not but if they thought so) and put under the deeper scanning or checks But from the last updated I can tell they have not even looked at it yet they are approving petitions from later dates. Not fair and not funny at all.

Just wait till you reach your 5 months time and then give them a call if you still have not received any action on your petition. Carefully listen and remember what you are told by the tier 2 person and then contact your congressman. When a congressional inquiry will go in they will be forced to look in to your petition.

Yea, I have the date of every call I made and I have what they told me on each call written down, I also have a copy of the service request showing completely different information than what the phone calls were giving me...

I already have a letter written out for a congressman/senator and all the information on who and where to send it. If I don't hear something in about 2.5 more weeks I will be sending that out (just a few days short of 5 months) so that the information gets there just at the 5 month mark.

Also, my husband will be trying to visit here on June 20th, a week after the 5 month mark, and it would be nice for us to be able to get all the NVC stuff together and ready to be sent out while he's actually here so that we have everything set. I say "trying" to visit because you always hear the horror stories about him possibly being turned down at POE while in the process.

We are hoping given his history (coming here numerous times and always leaving within a couple weeks) and proof of being in the process -hopefully NOA2-- and "doing it the right way" should hopefully show that he doesn't plan to stay since we've already put so much into the CR-1 visa process, a return ticket home and whatever else we can think of that show ties to home will ensure he has no problems... but like with this whole process so far we can only hope and cross our fingers!

[RobbyUSA 26]

why can't they tell you ahead of time if the visit is okay?

so if you don't make it through customs here in the USA, you are down about one thousand dollars.

(airline tickets are expensive!)

this is why so many people are fed up with the US Gov. it's all about being re-elected and money.

Yea, I have the date of every call I made and I have what they told me on each call written down, I also have a copy of the service request showing completely different information than what the phone calls were giving me...

I already have a letter written out for a congressman/senator and all the information on who and where to send it. If I don't hear something in about 2.5 more weeks I will be sending that out (just a few days short of 5 months) so that the information gets there just at the 5 month mark.

Also, my husband will be trying to visit here on June 20th, a week after the 5 month mark, and it would be nice for us to be able to get all the NVC stuff together and ready to be sent out while he's actually here so that we have everything set. I say "trying" to visit because you always hear the horror stories about him possibly being turned down at POE while in the process.

We are hoping given his history (coming here numerous times and always leaving within a couple weeks) and proof of being in the process -hopefully NOA2-- and "doing it the right way" should hopefully show that he doesn't plan to stay since we've already put so much into the CR-1 visa process, a return ticket home and whatever else we can think of that show ties to home will ensure he has no problems... but like with this whole process so far we can only hope and cross our fingers!

[PleaseDeleteAcct 7]

why can't they tell you ahead of time if the visit is okay?

so if you don't make it through customs here in the USA, you are down about one thousand dollars.

(airline tickets are expensive!)

this is why so many people are fed up with the US Gov. it's all about being re-elected and money.

Yea I dont know why they can't say ahead of time... I guess its all about whether my husband can sufficiently prove to the boarder patrol people that he doesn't intend to just stay here and adjust his status (which he obviously doesnt... if we were going to do that then he would have just stayed when we got married in jan instead of returning home and going through this long, heart breaking and stressful process)

Hopefully he has enough evidence to prove his intent to return home.. and if they don't believe him he will be back on a plane home without me ever even seeing him :/

I think that would be the worst part... its a 3 hour drive to the airport then me waiting for him to clear customs, etc... and then me having to drive 3 hours back home knowing he was in the same building as me and not even getting to see him or hug him I will be completely devestated if they turn him away but we both feel it's worth the risk to see eachother because it's already been much longer than any other time apart that we have spent... and if we are out $1,000 for the plane ticket that will suck, but if they allow him to come for 2 weeks it would mean the world to us.

[jaycali 415]

why can't they tell you ahead of time if the visit is okay?so if you don't make it through customs here in the USA, you are down about one thousand dollars.(airline tickets are expensive!)this is why so many people are fed up with the US Gov. it's all about being re-elected and money.

Yea I dont know why they can't say ahead of time... I guess its all about whether my husband can sufficiently prove to the boarder patrol people that he doesn't intend to just stay here and adjust his status (which he obviously doesnt... if we were going to do that then he would have just stayed when we got married in jan instead of returning home and going through this long, heart breaking and stressful process)Hopefully he has enough evidence to prove his intent to return home.. and if they don't believe him he will be back on a plane home without me ever even seeing him :/I think that would be the worst part... its a 3 hour drive to the airport then me waiting for him to clear customs, etc... and then me having to drive 3 hours back home knowing he was in the same building as me and not even getting to see him or hug him I will be completely devestated if they turn him away but we both feel it's worth the risk to see eachother because it's already been much longer than any other time apart that we have spent... and if we are out $1,000 for the plane ticket that will suck, but if they allow him to come for 2 weeks it would mean the world to us.

Let me give you some hope here..

I just visited my wife on the VWP for 12 days. Got back home today. Since we went on a cruise through Canada, it meant me entering the US twice, once by myself at Newark, and once with my wife at Vancouver. I was very "reckless" and went with no supporting evidence except a return ticket and my boss' phone number on a post-it note. First entry at Newark went like this:

CBP: "What's the purpose of your visit today?"

Me: "Vacation.. 12 days."

CBP: "When is your connectiong flight?

Me: "In an hour."

CBP: "You meeting people out in California?"

Me: "Yep. We're going on a cruise."

CBP: "Ok, have a nice day."

After the cruise docked in Vancouver, Canada, we were flying back. My wife, her grandmother (both USCs) and I went to the same booth as a family.

CBP: "How are you all related?"

Me: "This is my wife, and this is my grandmother-in-law."

CBP: "What were you all doing in Canada?"

Wife: "We went on a cruise."

CBP: "Norwegian.. What's your status in the US?"

Me: "Tourist for now."

CBP: "Do you have ESTA?"

Me: "Yes."

CBP: "When are you going back to Norway?"

Me: "Tuesday."

He then saw a VWP stamp from last year that said I had to leave by Dec 24th, and was about to say something, probably thinking I was still on that one. I then said the current entry stamp from May 12th was on a different page.

CBP: "Oh, there we go. Perfect. Hmm.. I'm gonna put the stamp in front of the Canadian stamp. You can't go back to Norway with a Canadian stamp that looks bigger and better than the US one."

Wife: "Can I have a stamp too?" (She collects passport stamps)

CBP: "I already gave your husband one! You just want to make my day harder don't you? Here, grandma can have one too, as long as they're both in front on the Canadian stamps."

I know this is off topic, but in my experience (and I may have been lucky) entry on VWP with a pending I-130 is no big deal. At least not if you're only coming for a short visit. If he's confident and honest in all his answers, he'll be fine. The most important thing is not lying. He doesn't have to volunteer any info, as long as he's always truthful. At Newark, I suppose I was lucky that the officer only asked if I was meeting people and not who I was meeting. I was worried going through POE at Vancouver too as my wife and I had to go together as family, but it was one of the smoothest entries I've ever experienced!

Edited May 23, 2012 by jaejayC

[jaycali 415]

Yea I dont know why they can't say ahead of time...

Because only CBP has the authority to approve or deny entry. If he's eligible for the VWP, he's eligible, period, and normally, there wouldn't be any issues. It's fully legal and legit to visit family on the VWP, so like any other VWP traveler, no special "pre-clearance" is given ahead of time.

For peace of mind during the flight, you might want to consider having him get on a flight from Ireland. Dublin and Shannon airports have CBP checkpoints, meaning he goes through POE in Ireland instead of whatever US airport he lands at. If he was to be denied entry, at least he would know in Ireland and not after a grueling transatlantic flight.

Edited May 23, 2012 by jaejayC