Writing A Letter To Your Congressmen

[amaraimee 109]

Hello everyone!

Our k-1 is at 78 Days! Woo!

Ive been considering a lot lately as we come closer to our 90 Days, and I was thinking of sending a letter to my congressmen explaining mine/my fiancé’s situation, how we met (our story), how we’re struggling to understand the longer and longer processing times, etc.

I wouldn’t send this out until after the 90 Days, maybe even 100 just to be safe. But, I’m not sure how to start it or even what to include in the letter. 

Has anyone done this or know someone who has? How did you go about it? What was the outcome? Did it help?

I’m not necessarily ONLY trying to get a push, but I also want to make them aware that I’m trying to bring him over so that they know our relationship is legit!

Any advice is helpful!

* I understand the average processing time is 120+ Days, but this shouldn’t be the case. It’s getting higher and higher and this problem needs to be fixed! Maybe I’m just impatient but like everyone, I miss the love of my life. 

[kris&me 572]

the way i did it was to explain that our 3 branches of government were created as checks and balances on each other

immigration is suppose to be under Homeland Security under the rule of Congress

Even with everyone saying immigration (legal and illegal ) is a problem , Congress has not set up a committee to study the issues

they need to take the power back as they are allowing a President to rule over them with no consciences

next, i said,  yes, we realize application are sky high and have increased by hundreds of thousands( there is better wording here for this but i am tired) 

but that also means more money as immigraiton is controlled by our fees / it is not part of the federal budget

therefore, seems like they could hire more people (helping our economy ) and helping immigration more efficient

lastly, i would tell a few situations that were totally unfair to the USC (without names or with their permission)

your case is not what some have gone thru

good luck

i wrote my letter when seeing how a member spent 5 or 6 years and multiple visits to get spouse visa 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

19 minutes ago, amaraimee said:

Hello everyone!

Our k-1 is at 78 Days! Woo!

Ive been considering a lot lately as we come closer to our 90 Days, and I was thinking of sending a letter to my congressmen explaining mine/my fiancé’s situation, how we met (our story), how we’re struggling to understand the longer and longer processing times, etc.

I wouldn’t send this out until after the 90 Days, maybe even 100 just to be safe. But, I’m not sure how to start it or even what to include in the letter. 

Has anyone done this or know someone who has? How did you go about it? What was the outcome? Did it help?

I’m not necessarily ONLY trying to get a push, but I also want to make them aware that I’m trying to bring him over so that they know our relationship is legit!

Any advice is helpful!

* I understand the average processing time is 120+ Days, but this shouldn’t be the case. It’s getting higher and higher and this problem needs to be fixed! Maybe I’m just impatient but like everyone, I miss the love of my life. 

It has been like that for several years now and I seriously doubt a letter from you will make the USCIS change their timelines. Just because you feel the timeline shouldn't be what they are doesn't mean that you can try to change it. 

 

You do realize that their are burdened because since Trump was elected people are trying to get either get naturalization or make sure they are in status. So that's why the timelines are getting longer.

[amaraimee 109]

17 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

It has been like that for several years now and I seriously doubt a letter from you will make the USCIS change their timelines. Just because you feel the timeline shouldn't be what they are doesn't mean that you can try to change it. 

 

You do realize that their are burdened because since Trump was elected people are trying to get either get naturalization or make sure they are in status. So that's why the timelines are getting longer.

I do understand that, yes. I’m not trying to change anything, just trying to urge them to make improvements for everyone seeking a visa (not just me and my fiancé).

Also, as the visa fees go up, that money should be spent employing more people and speeding up timelines. But that’s just my opinion.

[lyra14 6]

I sought the help of my senator once my fiance's case was at the embassy, whose immigration section of his office then contacted the embassy regarding his file. Although I'm not sure just how much of an effect it had on our case, my fiance was approved on the spot 

 

Best of luck to you!

[amaraimee 109]

5 minutes ago, lyra14 said:

I sought the help of my senator once my fiance's case was at the embassy, whose immigration section of his office then contacted the embassy regarding his file. Although I'm not sure just how much of an effect it had on our case, my fiance was approved on the spot 

 

Best of luck to you!

So once it was already approved and ready for interview? 

Awesome!! Thank you

[lyra14 6]

Yup! 

[janet3 1,170]

I too went to my congressman's office. I went to them after waiting 150 days for the NOA2. Here is what they told me...."you are in normal processing times". 

When I filed my I 129f  (in February) the estimated date was the first week of May......obviously, the time frames are different now....the average isn't 90 days....it's 120 - 160 days. A lot of the February filers waited well over 140 days (mine was issued at day 163). 

I hope your wait isn't as long as a lot of ours has been....but....you might want to prepare yourself for the wait. 

Good luck in your journey. 

[K&N2609 68]

9 hours ago, amaraimee said:

Hello everyone!

Our k-1 is at 78 Days! Woo!

Ive been considering a lot lately as we come closer to our 90 Days, and I was thinking of sending a letter to my congressmen explaining mine/my fiancé’s situation, how we met (our story), how we’re struggling to understand the longer and longer processing times, etc.

I wouldn’t send this out until after the 90 Days, maybe even 100 just to be safe. But, I’m not sure how to start it or even what to include in the letter. 

Has anyone done this or know someone who has? How did you go about it? What was the outcome? Did it help?

I’m not necessarily ONLY trying to get a push, but I also want to make them aware that I’m trying to bring him over so that they know our relationship is legit!

Any advice is helpful!

* I understand the average processing time is 120+ Days, but this shouldn’t be the case. It’s getting higher and higher and this problem needs to be fixed! Maybe I’m just impatient but like everyone, I miss the love of my life. 

I hope you can have more patience on your end. Currents times are around 150+ right now

[amaraimee 109]

1 hour ago, K&N2609 said:

I hope you can have more patience on your end. Currents times are around 150+ right now

I have patience, but I do need more. 

[dentsflogged 352]

12 hours ago, amaraimee said:

Also, as the visa fees go up, that money should be spent employing more people and speeding up timelines. But that’s just my opinion.

Sadly, those fees are nowhere even close to the real cost of running the whole show. 
 

K-1 visa fee is $535. Assume the average government employee who deals with Immigration gets paid $35k per year (I don't know if this is accurate, government employees here in Australia would earn 2-3x that, but I know in the US wages are quite a lot lower). 

That's 65 applications per year for K1 visas that are required to subsidise the wages of just ONE employee.  I believe that these files are touched by a minimum of 4-5 people over the lifespan. 

Not to mention cost of running the offices where they all work, including the ones overseas.

Cost of security in embassies would be phenominal.  Again, using Australia as an example, I'm told there are 3 Security officers at the Sydney embassy.  Minimum wage for Security Guards here (I used to do that job) is $22.00 per hour - higher for 'high risk' jobs, which this would fall under, so goes up to around $26 per hour, depending on the company. 

Then there's the incidentals - stationary, hardware (computers/phones), office equipment, cost of maintaining websites with redundancies, cost of maintaining online databases with redundancies, internet/phone for staff etc. 

 

I don't disagree that wait times are a problem, but if we really wanted to suggest that the cost of application should cover the cost of more staff, I think we would find that the fees would be much more in line with that of other Western countries that have high cost of living/wages. For example, if my partner wanted to come to Australia, the cost of the visa for him would be US$4710 as of this year (Plus Australia requires proof of saving on behalf of the beneficiary - I believe I was told the magic number is AU$10,000 - because they have no recourse to public funds OR our Publicly funded health care, so our Gov wants to make sure that you're not going to have issues) -  I don't think anyone wants to be paying that. 

 

Now all that said, I'm keen to get our paperwork filed ASAP so that I can spend at least some of the waiting time with him while I'm there for 2 months at the end of the year.  The wait time will be much better if at least some of it can be together.

 

[Diane and Chris 651]

14 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

It has been like that for several years now and I seriously doubt a letter from you will make the USCIS change their timelines. Just because you feel the timeline shouldn't be what they are doesn't mean that you can try to change it. 

 

You do realize that their are burdened because since Trump was elected people are trying to get either get naturalization or make sure they are in status. So that's why the timelines are getting longer.

In other words, many people are finally doing what they should have done long ago to be legal.  

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

43 minutes ago, Diane and Chris said:

In other words, many people are finally doing what they should have done long ago to be legal.  

Exactly, or they were permanent residents before and now are trying to be citizens so they can't be deported.

[Salty2305 504]

We did an congressional inquiry at almost 5 months of waiting and even that was impatient. Yes the waiting is hard and we all miss our partners but I think given the average waiting time at the minute is 5-6 months, 100 days is far too early to even think about contacting your congress office but it’s completely your call. We’ve all been in the situation of being frustrated with the wait times but unfortunately it’s a necessary evil. Immigration is a privilege not an automatic right

 

If you do submit an inquiry, I would advise just giving them the facts. It’s not their call or even in their interest to decide if your relationship is genuine or legitimate. That’s down to USCIS initially. Double check your local office deals with immigration matter and if so, they usually have a release form that you will need to complete. We literally only put pertinent information on ours, something along the lines of we submitted a i129f petition of x date as part of the k1 visa process. We have not had any update so far and have been unable to talk to a tier 2 officer with a view to our case to check on the status of our application. 

 

Good of luck with whatever you decide to do! 

 

 

[EandH0904 1,184]

11 hours ago, amaraimee said:

I have patience, but I do need more. 

What more do you "need"? Why do you think you are entitled or deserve something more than every single other applicant who goes through this? 

Edited October 8, 2017 by EandH0904