I130 Stuck at Background Check

[vizthum 9]

I thought I'd start this forum for people stuck at USCIS because of a pending background check.

Our NOA1 is 10/06/2016. Around the middle of April, I started calling USCIS customer service to talk to to a tier 2 about our case. I was told that a background check started on April 11, 2017 and that we are waiting on this before our case can move forward. I'm wondering how many other people also are waiting for the background check.

I'm also looking to see if there are any common factors that we have that would trigger a longer background check.

These are some of the other details of our case:

-We're both divorced, but neither of us has applied for immigration benefits before.

-My wife had been to the US on a J1 visa before, but she didn't have the two year limit. (she's from Japan).

- She had interviewed for an E2 visa, but was denied during her interview at the Tokyo Embassy. She was denied because she wasn't able to answer some questions about the company's management.

- She has never overstayed a visa.

 

[sy1983 31]

I think your suspicions are all in all plausible, I pretty much filed the same visa, a month after you, at same service center and my wife is already in her medical check up and interview stage. You are allow to ask for your case to be expedite with good reasons. My wife's case was expedite under the grounds of humanitarian and safety reasons due to her geographic location, and it went from NVC to the embassy in just a week. 

[vizthum 9]

Just now, sy1983 said:

I think your suspicions are all in all plausible, I pretty much filed the same visa, a month after you, at same service center and my wife is already in her medical check up and interview stage. You are allow to ask for your case to be expedite with good reasons. My wife's case was expedite under the grounds of humanitarian and safety reasons due to her geographic location, and it went from NVC to the embassy in just a week. 

I've requested an expedite three times so far, each one was denied...

[sy1983 31]

Maybe consider hiring an immigration lawyer to look into your case. 

 

[vizthum 9]

2 minutes ago, sy1983 said:

I think your suspicions are all in all plausible, I pretty much filed the same visa, a month after you, at same service center and my wife is already in her medical check up and interview stage. You are allow to ask for your case to be expedite with good reasons. My wife's case was expedite under the grounds of humanitarian and safety reasons due to her geographic location, and it went from NVC to the embassy in just a week. 

The background check is finished in less than 72 hours for most people. Ours has taken almost a month. I talk to Tier 2 customer service almost everyday, and this is the information they told me.

[vizthum 9]

Just now, sy1983 said:

Maybe consider hiring an immigration lawyer to look into your case. 

 

If it wasn't so expensive...

[geowrian 22,336]

An expedite won't affect background checks anyway. USCIS doesn't do the checks themselves - they submit requests with various agencies and then wait for them to complete their checks. An expedite with USCIS cannot make those other agencies go any faster.

 

You can request a congressional inquiry. They can't make them go any faster, but getting a little pressure doesn't hurt either. Beyond that, it's a waiting game. An attorney cannot make it go faster (with the exception of a WoM suit but that would very likely result in a denial).

 

38 minutes ago, vizthum said:

-We're both divorced, but neither of us has applied for immigration benefits before.

-My wife had been to the US on a J1 visa before, but she didn't have the two year limit. (she's from Japan).

- She had interviewed for an E2 visa, but was denied during her interview at the Tokyo Embassy. She was denied because she wasn't able to answer some questions about the company's management.

This is a contradictory...if she obtained a J-1 visa or applied for an E-2 visa, then she has seeked immigration benefits. Visas are an immigration benefit. Not that it matters for a background check, though.

 

Edit: Technically, the background check could be on either you or her. It's more likely on her side since as a USC, they only need to do a fairly basic check and look for criminal records.

Edited May 8, 2017 by geowrian

[vizthum 9]

Just now, geowrian said:

An expedite won't affect background checks anyway. USCIS doesn't do the checks themselves - they submit requests with various agencies and then wait for them to complete their checks. An expedite with USCIS cannot make those other agencies go any faster.

 

You can request a congressional inquiry. They can't make them go any faster, but getting a little pressure doesn't hurt either. Beyond that, it's a waiting game. An attorney cannot make it go faster (with the exception of a WoM suit but that would very likely result in a denial).

 

This is a contradictory...if she obtained a J-1 visa or applied for an E-2 visa, then she has seeked immigration benefits. Visas are an immigration benefit. Not that it matters for a background check, though.

Thanks. I meant the visas that she had applied to before were  non-immigrant visas. She has never applied for an immigrant visa before.

[Mado & bobbie 3]

2 hours ago, vizthum said:

The background check is finished in less than 72 hours for most people. Ours has taken almost a month. I talk to Tier 2 customer service almost everyday, and this is the information they told me.

don't worry mine Pd was sep 12 2016 and we did call tier 2 and

told that our case went through the background check in march 27 

and then my wife went to infopass appointment through local office

and that nice officer told her that everything fine and they are done with our background check after 2 days at march 29

so now our case processing and i hope to hear good news this week

.so i suggest to you to go through infopass appointment . . goodluck

Edited May 9, 2017 by Mado & bobbie

[vizthum 9]

On 5/8/2017 at 5:45 PM, Mado & bobbie said:

don't worry mine Pd was sep 12 2016 and we did call tier 2 and

told that our case went through the background check in march 27 

and then my wife went to infopass appointment through local office

and that nice officer told her that everything fine and they are done with our background check after 2 days at march 29

so now our case processing and i hope to hear good news this week

.so i suggest to you to go through infopass appointment . . goodluck

Congrats! I went into the Infopass appointment and they said that the background check has been pending since April 11, 2017. I call USCIS Tier 2 Officers a few times a week and it still is in the same pending check.