PLEASE ADVISE: USCIS APPROVED, NEVER SENT, PROB LOST OUR CASE 106 DAYS & COUNTING

[lady3jane 39]

Hi,

 

We have a huge problem and we would like to hear any suggestions or tips on how to proceed from here on.

We got approved on May17th from Texas Service Center after 7 + months. We received the I-797, then the waiting began. June turned to July and I started calling NVC always receiving the same answer, that they haven't received our case and that we should wait.

 

Around the 87th day mark, on August 8th,  my husband calls USCIS and talks to a tier-1 rep who tells him that the case was never sent, apologizes and says it will be taken care of and we should give it  30 days tops. On August 16th, we see that finally our case was assigned to an officer. Around 22nd, it all gets scrubbed off from the online log, this time the request is assigned to an officer with that date stamp.  Still no movement other than these, last date the case was touched still looks 24th of May. 

 

So my husband calls again on August 28th, talks to a lady who contradicts the first rep and tells him he didn't send it and puts another service request without our knowledge or consent while on hold, framing it as if we are inquiring why it was taking this long. I already advised my husband to try to reach a tier-2 and not put any more service requests. But the rep goes ahead and puts words into our mouth anyways. Next day, he takes a day off from work and calls again. The third tier-1 contradicts both previous reps, agreeing that the second one overstepped boundaries and provision, but does not let him get through a tier-2 officer. He calls one more time , finally gets a transfer and is told the wait time is "several hours". Tier-2 officer never calls him back. 

 

 

At this point we are way over normal processing times and USCIS call center only made things more convoluted and we couldn't even get to speak with a tier-2 officer after 4 calls.

 

So my question is: What to do next? Should we try to get through a tier-2 until we succeed? Do they really help or wil they trigger more grace periods to wait around for us?

 

Should we try to reach the USCIS ombudsman? My husband lives in NY state and our senators are seasoned veterans but I am guessing there must be tons of similar requests since it is NY with a large volume and flow of immigrants. I read on a legal advice page that trying to do both at the same time usually backfires.So they advise picking one and sticking with it until you can locate your file  and rectify the situation.

 

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. We did not hire a lawyer, because we thought we had a straightforward case. We dated and cohabited for 6 years while i was living in the States  on F1, then we got married, i left to finish up my thesis then we applied to start the process. Now our approved case is stuck and we have no idea what to do next to make USCIS locate, reissue and send our case to NVC. 

 

Thank you very much for your kind replies in advance.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by lady3jane

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

35 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

What to do next? Should we try to get through a tier-2 until we succeed? Do they really help or wil they trigger more grace periods to wait around for us?

So you have an approved I-130 and it just hasn't made it way through to the NVC. I guess it's just fallen through the cracks (USCIS has pretty big cracks). Anyway, I think the most efficient way is to try to get to  Tier 2 officer and from what I hear, they can make it happen. That is the most efficient way. All you need to do is to for them to send the case to NVC right? Contacting Ombusperson or Congressman is fine, I just think either of those will take time. 

[lady3jane 39]

1 minute ago, USS_Voyager said:

So you have an approved I-130 and it just hasn't made it way through to the NVC. I guess it's just fallen through the cracks (USCIS has pretty big cracks). Anyway, I think the most efficient way is to try to get to  Tier 2 officer and from what I hear, they can make it happen. That is the most efficient way. All you need to do is to for them to send the case to NVC right? Contacting Ombusperson or Congressman is fine, I just think either of those will take time. 

Thank you. Yes, that was our logic as well. But we could not manage to do that yet despite our best efforts. Especially after yesterday when he waited around all day for a call that never happened. We should try one more time I suppose..

 

Thank you for your input. I truly appreciate it. 

[Crazy Cat 39,256]

I would have already contacted an outside entity such as my Senators.........they can get an answer.....

[lady3jane 39]

1 minute ago, missileman said:

I would have already contacted an outside entity such as my Senators.........they can get an answer.....

I see that angle as well, as we are getting very antsy. So  you would advise the senator route rather than the ombudsman I figure. Thank you. This is a process much harder than I thought it would be.  We will try to reach a tier-2 one last time after that I guess that should be our next step.

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

13 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

This is a process much harder than I thought it would be

It is not supposed to be this hard. The vast vast majority of cases are transferred automatically to NVC without incidents within 1 weeks or several weeks. Occasionally, there is one that's fallen through the cracks, and I guess you're just unfortunate. It is a delay, but you know, in the grand scheme of thing, really won't be a big deal. I know you're very frustrating right now but one year from now, everything will be just fine and this will be just slightly unpleasant memory.

[saladboye 166]

22 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

I see that angle as well, as we are getting very antsy. So  you would advise the senator route rather than the ombudsman I figure. Thank you. This is a process much harder than I thought it would be.  We will try to reach a tier-2 one last time after that I guess that should be our next step.

Your congressman may be a better option than Senators.

 

My congressman helped me a lot!

 

6 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

It is not supposed to be this hard. The vast vast majority of cases are transferred automatically to NVC without incidents within 1 weeks or several weeks. Occasionally, there is one that's fallen through the cracks, and I guess you're just unfortunate. It is a delay, but you know, in the grand scheme of thing, really won't be a big deal. I know you're very frustrating right now but one year from now, everything will be just fine and this will be just slightly unpleasant memory.

Yeah it is not hard, it is just time consuming that's it.

[lady3jane 39]

3 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

It is not supposed to be this hard. The vast vast majority of cases are transferred automatically to NVC without incidents within 1 weeks or several weeks. Occasionally, there is one that's fallen through the cracks, and I guess you're just unfortunate. It is a delay, but you know, in the grand scheme of thing, really won't be a big deal. I know you're very frustrating right now but one year from now, everything will be just fine and this will be just slightly unpleasant memory.

Thank you for your comforting words. I guess we should carry on. It's been hard especially after 6 years of living like peas in a pod. :/

3 minutes ago, saladboye said:

Your congressman may be a better option than Senators.

 

My congressman helped me a lot!

 

Yeah it is not hard, it is just time consuming that's it.

I had no idea. Thank you so much for the tip!

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

11 minutes ago, lady3jane said:

Thank you for your comforting words. I guess we should carry on. It's been hard especially after 6 years of living like peas in a pod. 😕

I understand. Unfortunately, it's part of the game. And we have no choice but to play the game. I'll soon pass, I'm sure of it. 

[lady3jane 39]

1 minute ago, USS_Voyager said:

I understand. Unfortunately, it's part of the game. And we have no choice but to play the game. I'll soon pass, I'm sure of it. 

Indeed. Best luck to us all. 

[Cathi 5,610]

Contact the immigration liaison at your U.S. Senator's office. That's what we did when our case was stuck at NVC for no good reason and they had our case moving within 24 hours. Don't waste time with congresspeople, I tried that route and they just aren't staffed very well.

[Richard Purves 58]

My recent experience of TSC but on a different visa: I also got stuck in processing. My consular return got to 180 days and I asked a certain CA Congressman for help. That in a few weeks (Christmas was in the middle) got me a response. I then waited another 132 days and set the same Congressman's staffers on them again. The response was promised in 10 days but took 14.

 

Short version, TSC is ridiculously overloaded with cases and their processes are taking longer than ever. You have to wait at least 120 days which it looks like you have. Find a pro immigration Congressman, preferably in the state you're intending to move to and file a release form asking for help. It's the best way.

[lady3jane 39]

On 8/30/2019 at 4:39 PM, USS_Voyager said:

So you have an approved I-130 and it just hasn't made it way through to the NVC. I guess it's just fallen through the cracks (USCIS has pretty big cracks). Anyway, I think the most efficient way is to try to get to  Tier 2 officer and from what I hear, they can make it happen. That is the most efficient way. All you need to do is to for them to send the case to NVC right? Contacting Ombusperson or Congressman is fine, I just think either of those will take time. 

Hi,

 

I have some updates. He calls one more time   and then finds out that his request to talk to a tier-2 on August 29th  was never processed so he waited all day in vain. Next time, which is Sept 3rd,  he calls the USCIS first thing in the morning and after 40 minutes , some lady calls him back, I presume to be a tier-2 officer. She says she cannot reissue or resend the case and that we have to wait for a formal response from USCIS by September 12 for the initial service request we put on August 8th. According to his account, she was curt and uncooperative.

 

When i log in USCIS online account the next day, it says that our service request, which was put on August 8th is now   complete. Although the problem is not even close to getting resolved.

 

WE really have no idea what we are doing wrong and why after numerous attempts, the tier-2 we could reach  says she cant help but then the USCIS account shows that our service request is complete. 

 

What shall we do?

 

Call again?

 

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

2 hours ago, lady3jane said:

What shall we do?

 

Call again?

Now contact your local Congressman, Senators and what not. They had to chance to resolve this. 

[lady3jane 39]

12 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

Now contact your local Congressman, Senators and what not. They had to chance to resolve this. 

Yes, we will do that. There is one more bizarre aspect to all this. If that person was really a tier-2, she told us to wait until September 12,that's when we are supposed to hear a formal reply. But then I logged on to the USCISaccount and saw two updates, purporting to have completed the case on the day my husband made that phone call. I attach a screen grab here. Then there is that other service request we DID NOT put but the lady did while keepin my husband on hold. I'll include that one here too.

 

I understand the senator's office takes time, in the mean time would there be any down sides to keep trying to reach a supervisor who is actually willing to help?