Calling USCIS - advice much needed

[Clemjam 8]

So I just called the 1 800 number to reach the USCIS and request an expedite for our applications on medical ground.

I am the beneficiary, my husband is the petitionner.

Whilst on the phone, I was advised that each time I ll call I will need to have the petitioner on the line with me, else they can not confirm anything to me (though I am in the file).

My husband is 5000 miles away and can not call during the day as he works.

How has anyone got round this? Any tips and advice?

Im calling the USCIS from a landline and can not make conference calls, how do you guys do?

Thanks as usual for all your precious help!

[fcat 79]

Its only when you get to the NVC stage that you yourself (the beneficiary) can talk to them without the petitioner on the line too.

The USCIS is open till 11pm or midnight i believe so phoning them after work shouldn't be a problem ?

[samy + janet aly 9]

So I just called the 1 800 number to reach the USCIS and request an expedite for our applications on medical ground.

I am the beneficiary, my husband is the petitionner.

Whilst on the phone, I was advised that each time I ll call I will need to have the petitioner on the line with me, else they can not confirm anything to me (though I am in the file).

My husband is 5000 miles away and can not call during the day as he works.

How has anyone got round this? Any tips and advice?

Im calling the USCIS from a landline and can not make conference calls, how do you guys do?

Thanks as usual for all your precious help!

i do believe that the petitioner has to file the application to expedite the paperwork.

he will have to make the time to make the calls, it is important that he does.

to call the service center they are open moday thru friday from 8am to 8pm eastern standard time.

NVC IS OPEN FROM 8AM TO 12AM EASTERN TIME, USCIS IS ONLY FROM 8AM TO 8PM EASTERN TIME

you have just started and i dont think they will expedite your application since the petition is new, has the petition evenbeen approved yet by USCIS?

if you look at my story i think i can request for everything to be expedited since our journey has been over 2 1/2 years and we gone thru alot of mess.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=30e001e301b76310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

check that out and see if it helps.

make sure your husband knows since he is the petitioner, stay on top of things ok. make the time. i do always to do what i need to get my hsuband here,

good luck!

Edited March 20, 2013 by samy + janet aly

[The Mean Lady 604]

USCIS is open 8-8 local time from where you husband is calling.

No, you can't get around it.

i do believe that the petitioner has to file the application to expedite the paperwork.

he will have to make the time to make the calls, it is important that he does.

to call the service center they are open moday thru friday from 8am to 8pm eastern standard time.

you have just started and i dont think they will expedite your application since the petition is new, has the petition evenbeen approved yet by USCIS?

if you look at my story i think i can request for everything to be expedited since our journey has been over 2 1/2 years and we gone thru alot of mess.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=30e001e301b76310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

check that out and see if it helps.

make sure your husband knows since he is the petitioner, stay on top of things ok. make the time. i do always to do what i need to get my hsuband here,

good luck!

It is not eastern standard, it is local time from where the call is placed.

[Clemjam 8]

Thanks for all your help, I ll FORCE him to call tonight for him.

I ve even taken jotes of the options to press as he can not be bothered to listen to all the recorded messages and simply hang up.

Good thing that we re going to visit him in 3 week s time, so at least we MAY be able to get somewhere.

We got our I797 from them, certain people people advised me to request for an expedite now due to the problems we are facing (my son has autism and his behaviour has dramatically changed since my husband's departure, to the point where the teachers are giving up on him). We can always try the expedite, I know its acceptance is not guaranteed but we ll see!

[Clemjam 8]

Ok, I just talked to my husband who called USCIS who said they could not talk to him because he is not the applicant, and they ll only talk to applicants!!!

Can anyone enlighten me on the term 'applicant' please. Who is it? My husband or me?

[NikLR 13,227]

The petitioner, the USC is the only person who can call the USCIS.

[Ms Hogan 295]

Just to clarify your husband IS the "petitioner" AND the "applicant" at this stage. You are the beneficiary. He has applied for I-130 which is a petition.

During USCIS he is petitioner/applicant. You are beneficiary.

During NVC YOU are the applicant/beneficiary. And he is simply the petitioner.

I know it sounds stupid but hoping this will help.

During NVC I had problems getting information about my children's cases (4 & 7 years old) because I was not the applicant/beneficiary (they were) OR the petitioner (my USC husband was) OY!

[Clemjam 8]

After having been told by a USCIS officer last week that our case would be online by Monday, well it isn't! What a shock

My husband waited on the line for well over an hour to speak to a Tier 2 yesterday who told him that our case was being investigated by the National Visa Centre and that they were checking my criminal background (first red flag: how can the NVC check it when it's not even been approved)

Then the Tier 2 told him that by now our case should be in the Paris Embassy and he was just going to check it in his databse (second red flag: he hadn t even looked into our case to say that it was being investigated).

He then said that when he opened it 2 red flags came up: one he asked lots of questions to know why I had spent 14 years of my life in the UK, which seems to be a concern for them (well, we re in the EEC and free to live inany European nation!) so apparently there ll be some delay as they need to check my criminal records there too (I have all the documentation ready for the NVC).

Secondly, when we got married in 2010, I came to the States on a NWP visa as we stayed just under 3 months and fully intended to return to the UK where I was studying with my husband. The Tier 2 told him that we should have applied for an AOS for the foreign spouse of a US citizen with intent of residing abroad - has anyone heard of this status or is it a load of rubbish? 3 Embassies were notified of our marriage (French on in San Francisco and in London, and US one in London), and no one advised us of this AOS...

Finally, my husband mentioned the autoexpedite cases for the USCs living abroad to which he was replied that it did not exist and that they were in the queue like everyone else.

Consequences? Our case will apparently be delayed for 4 months because pf those red flags, despite our son s autism getting worse.

Next step? We are writing to our Senator (we have contacts) to see if he can do something and get clear info.

The USCIS line truly makes its nickname of "misinformation line" proud! My husband shall be calling again on Thursday to see if he gets the same information.

After having been told by a USCIS officer last week that our case would be online by Monday, well it isn't! What a shock

My husband waited on the line for well over an hour to speak to a Tier 2 yesterday who told him that our case was being investigated by the National Visa Centre and that they were checking my criminal background (first red flag: how can the NVC check it when it's not even been approved)

Then the Tier 2 told him that by now our case should be in the Paris Embassy and he was just going to check it in his databse (second red flag: he hadn t even looked into our case to say that it was being investigated).

He then said that when he opened it 2 red flags came up: one he asked lots of questions to know why I had spent 14 years of my life in the UK, which seems to be a concern for them (well, we re in the EEC and free to live inany European nation!) so apparently there ll be some delay as they need to check my criminal records there too (I have all the documentation ready for the NVC).

Secondly, when we got married in 2010, I came to the States on a NWP visa as we stayed just under 3 months and fully intended to return to the UK where I was studying with my husband. The Tier 2 told him that we should have applied for an AOS for the foreign spouse of a US citizen with intent of residing abroad - has anyone heard of this status or is it a load of rubbish? 3 Embassies were notified of our marriage (French on in San Francisco and in London, and US one in London), and no one advised us of this AOS...

Finally, my husband mentioned the autoexpedite cases for the USCs living abroad to which he was replied that it did not exist and that they were in the queue like everyone else.

Consequences? Our case will apparently be delayed for 4 months because pf those red flags, despite our son s autism getting worse.

Next step? We are writing to our Senator (we have contacts) to see if he can do something and get clear info.

The USCIS line truly makes its nickname of "misinformation line" proud! My husband shall be calling again on Thursday to see if he gets the same information.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

After having been told by a USCIS officer last week that our case would be online by Monday, well it isn't! What a shock

My husband waited on the line for well over an hour to speak to a Tier 2 yesterday who told him that our case was being investigated by the National Visa Centre and that they were checking my criminal background (first red flag: how can the NVC check it when it's not even been approved)

Then the Tier 2 told him that by now our case should be in the Paris Embassy and he was just going to check it in his databse (second red flag: he hadn t even looked into our case to say that it was being investigated).

He then said that when he opened it 2 red flags came up: one he asked lots of questions to know why I had spent 14 years of my life in the UK, which seems to be a concern for them (well, we re in the EEC and free to live inany European nation!) so apparently there ll be some delay as they need to check my criminal records there too (I have all the documentation ready for the NVC).

Secondly, when we got married in 2010, I came to the States on a NWP visa as we stayed just under 3 months and fully intended to return to the UK where I was studying with my husband. The Tier 2 told him that we should have applied for an AOS for the foreign spouse of a US citizen with intent of residing abroad - has anyone heard of this status or is it a load of rubbish? 3 Embassies were notified of our marriage (French on in San Francisco and in London, and US one in London), and no one advised us of this AOS...

Finally, my husband mentioned the autoexpedite cases for the USCs living abroad to which he was replied that it did not exist and that they were in the queue like everyone else.

Did your husband use his foreign address on all the forms? It says that you applied at the Phoenix Lockbox, USC residing abroad apply at Chicago. They do deny the existence of the "auto-expedite" thing, but it does exist.

I think if you talk to a different ISO, that you will get different information for sure. Yes you could have adjusted status in 2010, but if you weren't intending on living in the US at the time why would you?

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Wow, normally Tier 2s are more knowledgeable than that. Almost makes me wonder, with the 1 hour wait time till he got one, if it was ust shunted to another phone monkey rather than a tier 2.

[Clemjam 8]

Did your husband use his foreign address on all the forms? It says that you applied at the Phoenix Lockbox, USC residing abroad apply at Chicago. They do deny the existence of the "auto-expedite" thing, but it does exist.

I think if you talk to a different ISO, that you will get different information for sure. Yes you could have adjusted status in 2010, but if you weren't intending on living in the US at the time why would you?

That s exactly my point! We would have filed for a fiancé visa had we wanted to stay in the States! I don t think we should have amended our status there and then as we immediately applied for a visa for my husband to live in the UK with us!

That s exactly what my husband will do Thursday: talk to a different ISO and hear a completely different story!

[NikLR 13,227]

Wow. That ISO must be either really bored or really stupid to make up that whole line of bologna.

I hope the next call actually gets you some answers.