Waiting 19 months for I-130 approval, WHAT CAN WE DO?

[Budapest 0]

We filed in December 2023. Since then there has been ZERO activity on our case, just endless waiting. I have contacted the office of my Congressional rep, they said they could only assist if we met one of the conditions for expedited processing -- in which case, I wouldn't need the office's help, I would just file the petition with USCIS directly.

I contacted the office of my US Senator, with no response.

 

What can we do? Can we hire a lawyer? It seems like our application has disappeared into a black hole.

[Edward and Jaycel 1,903]

28 minutes ago, Budapest said:

We filed in December 2023. Since then there has been ZERO activity on our case, just endless waiting. I have contacted the office of my Congressional rep, they said they could only assist if we met one of the conditions for expedited processing -- in which case, I wouldn't need the office's help, I would just file the petition with USCIS directly.

I contacted the office of my US Senator, with no response.

 

What can we do? Can we hire a lawyer? It seems like our application has disappeared into a black hole.

 

The average processing time for an I-130 filed by a US Citizen for an immediate relative these days is 15-17 months. Mind you this is the average time. Each case is unique and some take longer than others. You are not that far outside the 80% of cases completed for the Service Center OPS timeline which right now is sitting right at 17 months. Depending on what your receipt date is in December 2023, you are not considered outside of normal processing time until after October 2025, at which time you can submit a service request. The congressional offices can't really do much for you if you are not outside the normal processing time. Hiring a lawyer won't do much for you at this point either. It's too soon for a mandamus lawsuit. Go here and select the I-130, your category and where it's being processed and then scroll down and put your exact receipt date into the tool to find out when you can put in a service request

 

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

[S2N 312]

Contact both senators and your congressman. USCIS will give them a non-answer but it will force it to be looked at. Feel free to stagger inquiries with Congress-critters and senators so that it keeps annoying them.

You’re outside of the 17 month 80% window, but USCIS doesn’t consider something outside of normal processing times until 90% are passed.

 

If you don’t hear back by December file a writ. The congressional inquiries will help you with this as it will show the court/US attorney that you have been trying to find a resolution.

 

I don’t see any benefit in inquiring with them directly even when it’s taken so long. They have no accountability outside Congress or the courts and while I don’t mind giving them the benefit of the doubt up to two years, it’s a well known strategy within the federal space that agencies never deny things they don’t want to approve but is in a grey area, as that gives a right of appeal. They just delay until you give up. Bringing in outside accountability and they actually take action.

Edited Saturday at 01:33 AM by S2N

[Reynal2m 36]

13 hours ago, Budapest said:

We filed in December 2023. Since then there has been ZERO activity on our case, just endless waiting. I have contacted the office of my Congressional rep, they said they could only assist if we met one of the conditions for expedited processing -- in which case, I wouldn't need the office's help, I would just file the petition with USCIS directly.

I contacted the office of my US Senator, with no response.

 

What can we do? Can we hire a lawyer? It seems like our application has disappeared into a black hole.

We totally understand how you feel—we’re in the same boat. We’ve been waiting 16 months, and it’s painful to see others who filed the same day, (even earlier), already get approved. What makes it even harder is knowing there’s a backlog at our embassy, with interview wait times over a year. So even if USCIS finally approves us, we’re still looking at more than a year before we can even try to reunite in the U.S.

 

After reviewing various recommendations online, I wanted to share a few strategies that have reportedly helped others in similar situations:

1. Contact a Tier 2 USCIS officer – This can sometimes provide more detailed information or trigger movement on your case.

2. Upload unsolicited evidence – 

3. Refile or submit Form I-129F (K-3 visa) – 

4. Reach out to your Senator and House Representative – Especially if you submitted a K-3 inquiry (this typically helps with the K-3, not the I-130 as they will say it's under normal timeframe).

5. Write to the White House – Yes, really. Surprisingly, some people have received responses or seen progress after doing this.

6. Send a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Another way to raise awareness of your case at a higher level.

7. File a CIS Ombudsman case assistance request – Helpful when your case is outside normal processing times and USCIS isn’t responding.

8. As a last resort: File a writ of mandamus – This is a federal lawsuit to compel USCIS to make a decision when they’ve unreasonably delayed action.

We wish you the best of luck and hope you receive an update from USCIS very soon.

 

Warm regards,
Reynaldo and Renzo

 

[Reynal2m 36]

2 minutes ago, Reynal2m said:

We totally understand how you feel—we’re in the same boat. We’ve been waiting 16 months, and it’s painful to see others who filed the same day, (even earlier), already get approved. What makes it even harder is knowing there’s a backlog at our embassy, with interview wait times over a year. So even if USCIS finally approves us, we’re still looking at more than a year before we can even try to reunite in the U.S.

 

After reviewing various recommendations online, I wanted to share a few strategies that have reportedly helped others in similar situations:

1. Contact a Tier 2 USCIS officer – This can sometimes provide more detailed information or trigger movement on your case.

2. Upload unsolicited evidence – 

3. Refile or submit Form I-129F (K-3 visa) – 

4. Reach out to your Senator and House Representative – Especially if you submitted a K-3 inquiry (this typically helps with the K-3, not the I-130 as they will say it's under normal timeframe).

5. Write to the White House – Yes, really. Surprisingly, some people have received responses or seen progress after doing this.

6. Send a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Another way to raise awareness of your case at a higher level.

7. File a CIS Ombudsman case assistance request – Helpful when your case is outside normal processing times and USCIS isn’t responding.

8. As a last resort: File a writ of mandamus – This is a federal lawsuit to compel USCIS to make a decision when they’ve unreasonably delayed action.

We wish you the best of luck and hope you receive an update from USCIS very soon.

 

Warm regards,
Reynaldo and Renzo

 

Try the White House one, is simple and easy:

[JeanneAdil 7,078]

your ex wife got green card in 2019 and divorced in foreign in a couple of years (divorce has no stamp) so did she return to Hungary?

did she surrender her green card?

now married to another from same country and you asked "can USCIS delay the new petition?"   

looks like they are doing just that

 

Congressman can do inquires on your case 

check the following site for getting help

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/5 117 - New Member Outreach FAQs 01042021.pdf

 

page 2 says

How can I submit inquiries to USCIS? Submit case inquiries and policy inquiries through the Congressional Web Portal. 1 The Congressional Liaison located in your local USCIS Field Office is often your best initial contact. This Liaison should serve as your primary point of contact for assistance with your casework inquiries. The Congressional Liaison Contact Information page on www.uscis.gov/congress provides a contact list for all USCIS offices. USCIS OLA prefers to receive inquiries via the Congressional Web Portal, but can also receive inquiries via telephone, fax, email, or in writing

 

Please refer to the “Congressional Casework” tab on uscis.gov/congress. There you will find information on the procedures for submitting congressional inquiries, including a sample privacy release which is also included in this package for reference purposes. The privacy release elicits the information USCIS requires to be submitted with case inquiries to allow our liaisons to respond to your offices as quickly and completely as possible. The Congressional Web Portal also prompts you for information that is necessary for processing an inquiry.

[OldUser 9,884]

1 hour ago, Reynal2m said:

We totally understand how you feel—we’re in the same boat. We’ve been waiting 16 months, and it’s painful to see others who filed the same day, (even earlier), already get approved. What makes it even harder is knowing there’s a backlog at our embassy, with interview wait times over a year. So even if USCIS finally approves us, we’re still looking at more than a year before we can even try to reunite in the U.S.

 

After reviewing various recommendations online, I wanted to share a few strategies that have reportedly helped others in similar situations:

1. Contact a Tier 2 USCIS officer – This can sometimes provide more detailed information or trigger movement on your case.

2. Upload unsolicited evidence – 

3. Refile or submit Form I-129F (K-3 visa) – 

4. Reach out to your Senator and House Representative – Especially if you submitted a K-3 inquiry (this typically helps with the K-3, not the I-130 as they will say it's under normal timeframe).

5. Write to the White House – Yes, really. Surprisingly, some people have received responses or seen progress after doing this.

6. Send a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Another way to raise awareness of your case at a higher level.

7. File a CIS Ombudsman case assistance request – Helpful when your case is outside normal processing times and USCIS isn’t responding.

8. As a last resort: File a writ of mandamus – This is a federal lawsuit to compel USCIS to make a decision when they’ve unreasonably delayed action.

We wish you the best of luck and hope you receive an update from USCIS very soon.

 

Warm regards,
Reynaldo and Renzo

 

Agree with most of this, other than K-3 that's been dead for years.

[S2N 312]

Reading through the post history here that @JeanneAdil mentions, I’m guessing that this is likely a case of USCIS delaying in hopes you eventually withdraw the petition. Background checks likely wouldn’t be an issue causing delay in Hungary.

 

Keep the pressure on them through multiple avenues, but I could easily see this case ending in filing a writ. It checks a lot of boxes for red flags based on the history, but there’s also no clear grounds to deny. Those are the cases (in any agency, not just USCIS) that the government tends to just not act upon.

 

Give them two years: hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but give them that. Once that happens, contact a lawyer about filing a WoM.

Edited Saturday at 03:41 PM by S2N

[TiffAndMike 106]

We were December 2023 filers and we got approved in March. Idk why you haven't gotten an approval yet unless maybe you had some serious red flags that warranted a more stringent review. 

 

If your congressman and representatives won't help, I would contact JD Vance or Donald Trump.  Their offices do make inquiries to USCIS on behalf of United States Citizens. 

 

I know this for a fact as I contacted Kamala Harris' office when she was VP due to the ever growing processing times and I recieved an email back from USCIS as a result.