Today I sent E-mails to all of my Senators and Representatives

[huskerfan 0]

Hey Patrick...I got you beat by 12 days!!!! I guess I need something to be excited about. I have tried senators, congressman and ombudsman. They all seem useless. I really wish there was something we could all do. Keep us posted on how it goes with your editor. Good luck to you in your crazy journey. The name check just seems like such a waste of time.

[ca-girl 0]

Hey Patrick...I got you beat by 12 days!!!! I guess I need something to be excited about. I have tried senators, congressman and ombudsman. They all seem useless. I really wish there was something we could all do. Keep us posted on how it goes with your editor. Good luck to you in your crazy journey. The name check just seems like such a waste of time.

Patrick's or his spouse's case has been approved. The last time he posted in this thread was sometime in July...

Edited November 21, 2007 by ca-girl

[journeyman 0]

I am going to try writing a "Letter to my Editor" in our local newspaper, and see how that comes out.

What about TV?

[sunnyisland 0]

Hi Patrick,

We are one of the old timers as well waiting since Oct of 2005.

We have done everything. Now the Senator tells us only to contact them once every six months because the FBI has restricted their inquiries since there is such a huge backlog.

I get the same "sorry" letter from both senator, congressman and ombudsman. I think writing to the ombudsman was totally useless after sending them an entire package, all we got back was a short form letter saying what we already knew in the beginning.

Wondering if anyone has ventured with the WOM and the cost of starting that. We will be on our fourth EAD come the beginning of next year. I cringe when I think of all this $ knowing that we are just wanting to get on with our lives.

Being Patient is getting tiring when you see ones just going through, it gets to the point of upsetting. If they contacted us right from the start and gave us some timeline maximum I would even feel better.

Hi Sunnyisland,

I haven't thought about the WOM yet.

If I may ask, how was the contact you've had with the senators of your state? I'm getting impatient with the one I've contacted. This is a timetime of my contact with my senator's office:

09/25/07 - sent her office a fax asking them to do an inquiry

10/04/07 - spoke to her immigration liason because my fax had been transfered from one office to another

11/03/07 - sent my senator's office a letter asking if they've heard from the USCIS

now I'm wondering if I should just wait for a reply, call her office, or show up there in person. What has been your experience?

Thanks!

[sunnyisland 0]

Ca-Girl...

After the initial contact with the congressman, it took an additional phone call. All together about 7 weeks to get the standard form response letter that there was nothing they could do. The senator responded within 5 weeks, still neither claims they can do anything to help. Not encouraging at all.

[ca-girl 0]

Thanks SunnyIsland!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

I contacted one of our senators (Kyl) nearly a year ago. Someone from the office got back to me right away with some clarification questions. I thought that was encouraging, especially because we live in a border state, and Kyl presents himself as one of these "tough on immigration" types. But sadly, nothing came of it. It took nearly four months for someone from his office to get back to us, which they did by phone. A spacey-sounding lady called to say that our application was "normal" and that the FBI has a huge backlog (gee, thanks!).

The media tend to report on the more compelling stories that have to do with naturalization cases. I've read about medical researchers who can't get grants, or people who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years who have been waiting five years or more for naturalization. Sadly, the green card holdups don't seem to get as much attention. Having citizenship held up would be a drag, but at least applicants don't have to renew expensive interim benefits every year.

I wish that more attention were paid to the how faulty the system is, and the questionable criteria used to hold up cases indefinitely. I suspect that a lot of Americans would be surprised and distressed to know how inefficient and ineffectual the FBI is vis-a-vis clearing background checks, and the ridiculous criteria used by USCIS that are working against its stated purposes. And that most people stuck in the quagmire are here legally, travelling internatinally, and working.

[LondonGooner 0]

Here's my experience. I wrote letters to Laura Bush, Michael Chertoff, Robert Muller (Director of the FBI), the Station Chief in charge of the name check process, and the department head for the FBI's record's keeping branch. After three months I eventually got a response from Mr Chertoff and it was a standard form letter, "USCIS works hard to ensure delivery of services, blah, blah, blah..." "We must ensure those applying for immigration benefits are entitled to apply for them, blah, blah, blah..." And I haven't received anything from any of the others.

The Ombudsman were not much use either. After three months of waiting they wrote to say that they were forwarding my case onto the USCIS for investigation... and I should wait 45 days for a response! Arg!!! USCIS is the freaking problem not the solution.

My Senator has been courteous to an extent in that he always responds to my letters but it seems that he has no authority to chase the FBI and petition them to hurry up the name check.

[ca-girl 0]

Here's my experience. I wrote letters to Laura Bush, Michael Chertoff, Robert Muller (Director of the FBI), the Station Chief in charge of the name check process, and the department head for the FBI's record's keeping branch. After three months I eventually got a response from Mr Chertoff and it was a standard form letter, "USCIS works hard to ensure delivery of services, blah, blah, blah..." "We must ensure those applying for immigration benefits are entitled to apply for them, blah, blah, blah..." And I haven't received anything from any of the others.

The Ombudsman were not much use either. After three months of waiting they wrote to say that they were forwarding my case onto the USCIS for investigation... and I should wait 45 days for a response! Arg!!! USCIS is the freaking problem not the solution.

My Senator has been courteous to an extent in that he always responds to my letters but it seems that he has no authority to chase the FBI and petition them to hurry up the name check.

Thanks for sharing your experience.