OVER ONE YEAR SINCE ALL PAPERS COMPLETE

[wizzard166 0]

We would appreciate any input we can get on a heartbreaking situation.  I brought my Wife here and married fourteen years ago this coming July 8.  Not long after she got her Green Card, she filed a Petition to bring her Son here from the Philippines under the category Unmarried Son Over The Age 21.  The Visa was approved within weeks, but as many of you know the Waiting Period For Available Visa for a Filipino back then was 12 Years.  I followed online the current wait time, and date then being worked on for many years.  My Wife ultimately got her Citizenship after five years, but we left her status the same as the original Petition as Permanent Resident.  I didn't try to change her Status to Citizen, because the waiting period and date being worked was actually one year and a half sooner for Permanent Resident than it was for a Citizen.  I researched it here and also called USCIS and found out it was our option to change her status to Citizen or leave it as Permanent Resident, so we left it as Permanent Resident for the shorter time period.  The years went on and our date finally came up as being reviewed, back in November of 2021.  Then they contacted us and said I had to be added as a Co Sponsor and not just a Family Member on the Petition.  I submitted the extra application, they reviewed it, and we finally got status of all paperwork and fees having been successfully submitted in March of 2022.  

 

In March of 2022, with the online account showing all paperwork and fees successfully submitted, we began the wait of getting a notice of an interview date from the Embassy.  My understanding was that the NVC at that point would send our case to the US Embassy in Manila, and we would now just wait for the notice of an Interview Date.  That notice has never come, and it is now ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS since all of our fees and paperwork were successfully processed.  I've tried calling the NVC, which I had done years ago and spoke to people, but now there is a recording saying they no longer take phone calls.  They refer you to the online form to ask questions.  So I tried that unsuccessfully, and simply got a reply that they were waiting for the Embassy to give them a date.  Next I called the US Embassy Manila, they too don't take calls about cases, and refer you to the HOTLINE.  I called the Hotline and expressed all of this, and they put me on hold to review.  They came back on phone and said that they never received our case from the NVC.  SO I WAS TOLD BY NVC THAT THEY WERE WAITING FOR AN INTERVIEW DATE TO SEND THE CASE TO THE EMBASSY, AND THE EMBASSY TOLD ME THEY DO NOT SET DATES FOR INTERVIEWS UNTIL THEY RECEIVE THE CASE FROM THE NVC.  This is a disgusting case of both sides making excuses that they are waiting for the other side to do something.

 

Every  Month I get an email from the NVC thanking us for our patience, expressing that Embassies are still behind on scheduling things from the experience with COVID.   They claim they are waiting for a list of available dates from the Embassy to be sent to the NVC,  so they the NVC can assign individual cases (on a first come first served basis) to the Embassy.  This is exact wording from the June 2023 email I received:

 

This notice is to inform you that your case for an immigrant visa is documentarily complete at the National Visa Center (NVC) and has been since 17-Mar-2022.  NVC has received all of the fees, forms and documents required prior to attending an immigrant visa interview. Your petition is awaiting an interview appointment. At this time, no further action is required.  We appreciate your patience.

 

Your case will remain at NVC until an appointment is scheduled, at which time we will send it to the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate General.  We will notify the applicant, petitioner, and attorney (if applicable) when an appointment is scheduled.

 

The U.S. Embassy or Consulate tells NVC which dates they are holding interviews. NVC fills these appointments on a first-in, first-out basis and is unable to predict when an interview will be scheduled

 

PLEASE I NEED HELP.  SOMETING SEEMS TO BE VERY WRONG; YET, AS THE EMAILS IMPLY EVERYTHING IS PROGRESSING NORMALLY.  Normally they say; in other words it is alright to make us wait twelve years to have our case worked on for a VISA, and then jokingly tell us they are now waiting for the Embassy approaching a year and a half to tell them a date is available for an  interview?  Is this Normal?  Is there something I don't understand, where we have been singled out to torture?  Is there anything I can or should be doing to make this end and get an interview for my Wife's Son?

 

Thank you in advance for any input any or all of you can give to me.

 

The Wizzard

[Mike E 11,730]

If his date in the final action chart has been current for over a year, then his mother can file a writ of mandamus.

 

@igoyougoduke

[igoyougoduke 1,618]

40 minutes ago, Mike E said:

If his date in the final action chart has been current for over a year, then his mother can file a writ of mandamus.

 

@igoyougoduke

this case is hearbreaking they are doing donkey kong of he said she said scenario. 100% the case qualifies for mandamus against NVC and the embassy.

[jan22 2,924]

This is all frustrating, but it is undoubtedly related to the unavailability of a visa number.  The Priority Date (PD) is set in anticipation of the number of cases that might become qualified in the fiscal year, to keep a steady stream of applicants.  It is never an exact calculation for several reasons.   For example, until the visa application forms (DS-260) are actually filled, there is no count of the derivatives that will take up extra visa numbers above and beyond the principal applicant.  Backlogs created by COVID, with months where no F2Bs were issued, made it all much more complicated.

 

There are only about 114,200 F2 visas available each fiscal year.  Only 23% of that total (26,266) can be F2Bs.  Add in the 7% per-country (no country can receive more than 7% of the 366,000 total family-preferences based and employment-based visas), and it boils down to there likely being less than 2,000 total F2B visas available to Filipinos every year.

 

An Embassy does not ask for specific cases; rather, they tell NVC the number of appointment slots (per category) that they have available for the specific month.  NVC then goes down the list of DQed cases on the waiting list (in the order they were DQed) and schedules that number of appointments.  Only then will they forward the case to the Embassy.  The waiting list can have more cases than can be seen in a month; the remaining cases stay on the list until the next month's number of appointments are requested by the Embassy and the cycle repeats.

 

The PD for F2Bs is moving at a glacial pace, especially for countries like the Phillipines which is over-subscribed (i.e., more applicants per year than the 7% allows to be processed).  For example:

• October 2020 Current PD was 01 Aug 2011
• January 2021 Current PD was 15 Aug 2011 (2 week advancement in 4 months)
• May 2021 Current PD was 15 Sept 2011 (1 month advancement in 1 month -- highly unusual!)
• June 2021 Current PD was 15 Oct 2011 (another 1 month advancement in 1 month)
• Aug 2021 Current PD was 22 Oct 2011 (a one week advancement in 2 months)

And there the Current PD still sits today -- no adancement in 21 months.  This could likely be a result of applicants not filing documentation during COVID because they couldn't get it or didn't see any reason to do so when the case would not move forward anyway.  It may have appeared that the PD needed to be advanced more quickly (resulting in the out-of-tbe-norm advancements in May and June 2021) to increase the pool of applicants ready for interview. Then, suddenly -- a rush of people submitted all at once, making the DQed list far exceed the available visa numbers. 

 

As frustrating as it is, NVC clearly has your case on the list to be scheduled and will do so when it reaches the top of the list. Not what you want to hear, but possibly an explanation for the prolonged wait. Hope it clears soon!

Edited June 25, 2023 by jan22

[igoyougoduke 1,618]

9 minutes ago, jan22 said:

This is all frustrating, but it is undoubtedly related to the unavailability of a visa number.  The Priority Date (PD) is set in anticipation of the number of cases that might become qualified in the fiscal year, to keep a steady stream of applicants.  It is never an exact calculation for several reasons.   For example, until the visa application forms (DS-260) are actually filled, there is no count of the derivatives that will take up extra visa numbers above and beyond the principal applicant.  Backlogs created by COVID, with months where no F2Bs were issued, made it all much more complicated.

 

There are only about 114,200 F2 visas available each fiscal year.  Only 23% of that total (26,266) can be F2Bs.  Add in the 7% per-country (no country can receive more than 7% of the 366,000 total family-preferences based and employment-based visas), and it boils down to there likely being less than 2,000 total F2B visas available to Filipinos every year.

 

An Embassy does not ask for specific cases; rather, they tell NVC the number of appointment slots (per category) that they have available for the specific month.  NVC then goes down the list of DQed cases on the waiting list (in the order they were DQed) and schedules that number of appointments.  Only then will they forward the case to the Embassy.  The waiting list can have more cases than can be seen in a month; the remaining cases stay on the list until the next month's number of appointments are requested by the Embassy and the cycle repeats.

 

The PD for F2Bs is moving at a glacial pace, especially for countries like the Phillipines which is over-subscribed (i.e., more applicants per year than the 7% allows to be processed).  For example:

• October 2020 Current PD was 01 Aug 2011
• January 2021 Current PD was 15 Aug 2011 (2 week advancement in 4 months)
• May 2021 Current PD was 15 Sept 2011 (1 month advancement in 1 month -- highly unusual!)
• June 2021 Current PD was 15 Oct 2011 (another 1 month advancement in 1 month)
• Aug 2021 Current PD was 22 Oct 2011 (a one week advancement in 2 months)

And there the Current PD still sits today -- no adancement in 21 months.  This could likely be a result of applicants not filing documentation during COVID because they couldn't get it or didn't see any reason to do so when the case would not move forward anyway.  It may have appeared that the PD needed to be advanced more quickly (resulting in the out-of-tbe-norm advancements in May and June 2021) to increase the pool of applicants ready for interview. Then, suddenly -- a rush of people submitted all at once, making the DQed list far exceed the available visa numbers. 

 

As frustrating as it is, NVC clearly has your case on the list to be scheduled and will do so when it reaches the top of the list. Not what you want to hear, but possibly an explanation for the prolonged wait. Hope it clears soon!

All of this irrelevant for OP . If PD is current he should be getting an appointment . We all know Uscis has no process or order . They process randomly cause there is no one to question them .  The only solution for OP to take infront of judge 
And i can guaranteee they will setup an emergency appointment to give the visa

 

unfortunately this is what it has come down to. Play the game or get screwed with lengthy delays  

 

 

 

 

[Mike E 11,730]

OP’s timeline for the wife is a bit of a mess, but it is safe to deduce she became an LPR in 2010. If she filed I-130 in 2010, then her son’s PD is current. From the June visa bulletin, F2B, Philippines:  

 

22OCT11 - final action
01OCT13 - date of filing

 

The presumed filing date, 2010 is before either date. So a visa number is available. 
 

4 hours ago, wizzard166 said:

I didn't try to change her Status to Citizen, because the waiting period and date being worked was actually one year and a half sooner for Permanent Resident than it was for a Citizen

This has not been the case of Filipinos for a while, assuming it ever was. From the June visa bulletin, F1, Philippines:  

01MAR12 - Final Action

22APR15 - date of filing

 

As you can see F1s from the Philippines wait less than F2Bs from the Philippines.

[jan22 2,924]

Sorry -- even if the PD is current, it is based on an estimate of the demand/availability.  An actual visa number is not assigned until after a case is DQed  and assigned an interview date.  They are counted against the fiscal year total (used) only when the case is sent to interview, with an individual visa number being used for each applicant in the case. 

[Mike E 11,730]

NVC told OP case was

 

5 hours ago, wizzard166 said:

 documentarily complete at the National Visa Center (NVC) and has been since 17-Mar-2022. 

If there in fact is no visa number, then DoS has complete control to retrogress, and in fact has had 13 opportunities to do so.

 

WoM seems appropriate. Would love to see an AUSA explain this to a judge. But I think AUSA is going to tell NVC to schedule the interview.

 

 

 

[igoyougoduke 1,618]

55 minutes ago, Mike E said:

NVC told OP case was

 

If there in fact is no visa number, then DoS has complete control to retrogress, and in fact has had 13 opportunities to do so.

 

WoM seems appropriate. Would love to see an AUSA explain this to a judge. But I think AUSA is going to tell NVC to schedule the interview.

 

 

 

You nailed it . I don’t think they will even bother defending it.  They will email NVc to schedule appointment and embassy to make a decision asap with a deadline 

[Family 3,568]

5 hours ago, igoyougoduke said:

it . I don’t think they will even bother defending it.  They will email NVc to schedule appointment and embassy to make a decision asap with a deadline

For preference categories where there is no visa available, WOM won’t succeed. The gov’s challenge will likely read exactly as @jan22 very clearly stated. 

[Mike E 11,730]

Why don’t they retrogress the visa bulletin if there are no visa numbers?

[manyfudge 275]

@Family, @jan22, so the consulate sends out slots and NVC fills them based on what exactly?

 

We know that F2Bs have been granted visas who have priority dates of August 2011, October 2011. If cases earlier than OP's stepson were interviewed, is that because they were DQed earlier?

 

Meaning that someone who has a priority date of October 2011 but DQed 2021 would have "leapfrogged" over @wizzard166's stepson?

Edited June 26, 2023 by manyfudge

[Family 3,568]

3 minutes ago, manyfudge said:

what is the "normal workflow" - NVC sends to consulate OR consulate sends interview dates to NVC

NVC sends to consulate .exactly as described by previous poster.

[manyfudge 275]

2 minutes ago, Family said:

NVC sends to consulate .exactly as described by previous poster.

I amended my question.  

[nelmagriffin 143]

Greetings!

My brothers were documentarily qualified long time ago under F2B category. This year marks their third year of waiting for their interview.

Every two months is the same update of the exact letter that you got from NVC. I think the embassy will notify NVC if there is a slot for interview availability, NVC then will notify the petitioner as well as the beneficiary. Yes, I read and heard many heart-breaking stories, example, the petitioner gets sick and some even passed away and still no interview for their loved ones. I know a gentleman before who told me that he needed to be okay, at that time he was a day old in our facility. He further told me that he needed to be okay, because he has kids that he petitioned and is just waiting for their interview, and his story reminded of my brothers' current situation, if something will happen.

NG

Edited June 26, 2023 by nelmagriffin